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Even younger children can make these easy homemade gifts. The
supplies are inexpensive, and an afternoon of creative crafting
will produce enough gifts for several members of the family and
several friends as well.
Braided Shoelaces
Knot three 36" strands of embroidery floss together a half an
inch from one end. Pin the knot to a pillow or clip to the
fridge with a magnet, in order to provide tension as you work.
Begin braiding, bringing the left strand over the middle strand,
then the right strand over this new middle strand, untangling the
long ends as you go.
When you have the desired length, knot all strand ends together,
leaving a half inch beyond knot. Rub the ends with your
fingertips to form a firm single strand. Dip this, up to the
knot, into nail polish for easy threading when inserting laces.
Using the same colors of floss, braid another shoelace to make a
pair. For thicker shoelaces, put two strands of floss together
and use as one.
Layered Bath Salts
You will need small jars, such as baby food jars, 6 bowls for
mixing, a bag of epsom salts, food coloring, a funnel, a spoon,
paper doily or fabric scrap, rubber band.
Using a funnel, fill the jars with epsom salts so you know how
much of the epsom salts you will need. Now empty the epsom salts,
more or less equally, into six bowls. Add a few drops of food
coloring to each bowl, stirring to make yellow, pink, blue,
green, mauve and orange colored salts. (Don't worry...the food
coloring will not stain bathtubs or people)
Optional: Add a few drops of fragrance oil, or spritz the epsom
salts with your favourite perfume.
Now use the funnel to make colored layers of epsom salts in each
jar, like sand art. Pack each layer down with a spoon before
adding the next layer, and make sure the jar is filled to the top
before screwing the lid on tightly.
Decorate the lid of the jar with a circle of fabric or a paper
doily held in place with a rubber band. Cover the rubber band
with ribbon.
About The Author: Copyright 2003 Jane Lake AllFreeCrafts For more free crafts and easy homemade gift ideas, visit http://www.allfreecrafts.com">http://www.allfreecrafts.com
Jane Lake is the editor of All Free Crafts, http://www.allfreecrafts.com">http://www.allfreecrafts.com , an award winning craft site that offers free crafts to make easy homemade gifts, and All Free Printables, http://www.allfreeprintables.com , which offers free printable shopping lists, recipe cards, bookmarks and chore coupons.
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