Entertaining Six Year Olds (And a Giveaway Coming Soon)

My youngest daughter just turned six.  She insisted on a party at home (although I really though a party at the local bounce place sounded nice)!  So home party is what we did.  There is really not much that scares me more in life than sixteen bored six year olds.  To ensure that I didn't have a wide-eyed six year staring at me saying, "I'm bored," I tried to come up with as many activities as possible.

We are a crafty bunch in this house, so I thought up a few craft projects.  My choices were limited by the fact that I really don't care for fun foam.  That knocks lot's of prefab ideas off the list.  I was also limited by cost.  Entertaining sixteen children can get expensive.  Finally, I like things that might actually get used.  I was wandering through the dollar section at Michaels one day and saw some chipboard albums that were shaped like flowers.  So armed with 4 chipboard albums (each had 4 pages), I went to work.

I came up with this, a chalkboard door hanger.

Here is what I started with ...

You can make it as simple or complicated as you like.  This is what I used..

• Chalkboard Paper from DCVW (This is seriously cool stuff.  You can write on it and then wash it off.  I wiped mine down with a wet paper towel and it worked perfectly.  It doesn't absorb the water, how great is that?)
• Chipboard Albums (Mine came from the dollar spot at Michaels.) 
• Big Shot (I love this tool since I can cut pretty much anything with it.)
• Nestibilities Circle Dies (If you don't have a die cutting machine and circle dies, a small plate or jar works well for tracing a circle.  You can then hand cut the paper).
• Self Adhesive Gems (I always look for these when Michaels has clearance sale.)
• Patterned Paper and Plain Cardstock (I used most of the rest of the Pocketful of Posies pad from DCWV that I had bought years ago.  This is a great way to use up old paper.)
• A Hole Punch (to punch a hole for the ribbon.)
• Ribbon (mine was about 1/2" wide)
• Chalk!

I traced the chipboard shape onto the back of a piece of patterned paper.  I then flipped the shape over and did the same thing on the back of a piece of cardstock.  (This step was probably overkill, but I like options.  This allowed the girls to decide which side they wanted to decorate.)

Once the shapes were cut out, I glued them onto the chipboard using an Elmer's Craft Bond Extra Strength Glue Stick.  I am a huge fan of this adhesive.  It goes on blue, so you can see where you have put it, then dries clear.  It also holds very well. 

I used the Big Shot to cut the chalk paper into circles that fit in the middle of the chipboard flower.  The largest circle in the set of circle Nestibilities that I had worked well for this purpose.  We gave each of the girls the following items ...

• A chipboard flower, covered on one side with patterned paper and cardstock on the other. 
• A circle cut from the chalkboard paper.
• Some self adhesive gems. 
• Glue to stick the chalkboard paper to the middle of the flower.

Since the girls at our party were young and the flower shape irregular, I decided to cover the chipboard with the paper before they arrived.  If the girls had been a little older and the shape easier to work with (say a nice simple heart), I would have the children do this step too. 

The girls had a great time sticking lots of gems on their flowers and then writing messages on their chalkboards.  I had my party helpers punch the holes and run the ribbon through the flowers.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting me in the green house on the hill.  Come back on Monday, I will be joining some of the super talented ladies from Creating Keepsakes in a blog hop.