I have used them for book marks. Most can be cut with either scissors or a craft saw. cut the ends rounded, then let the kids paint them, use markers, etc. I have let them use crayon to decorate, then cover with waxed paper. Use an iron on low setting to lightly go over them. colors meld together - every piece is different! Have fun!
I've heard of cutting the narrow plastic & metal ones into lengths of about 8" and using them for plant identification markers when you are planting in the spring. You would have to see if pencil or marker worked best to write on them.good luck.
They make amazing siding for doll houses & indoor birdhouses. You can also use them to cut fimo & cookie dough. Also, remember how we'd take playing cards & using clothespins attack them to the spokes of our bikes so they'd make noises when we road? These would work even better that playing cards. I bet you could make some wonderful hanging mobiles as well! I bet they would work wonders to keep mice & cockroaches out of cupboards & drawers. We have a crack the runs along ours where mice were getting in & I placed a plastic ruler along this crack keep tiny critters out, but a mini blind would have worked better.
Come to think of it, you could use them as makeshift "rulers" to draw a straight line with. But unlike a ruler, because they're bendable you could use them on curved surfaces like on pillars, rocks, spheres, etc. If they are flat you could cut little them into squares then use them as "mosaics", by first spray painting, then gluing & "grouting" with craft glue or a dimensional sealer. etc.
If you cover them with copper tape, you could attach it with double-sided tape, tacks or tiny screws to areas where you need to keep slugs or snails away. I had some blinds that were made of wood & I wove them through my chain-link fence for added privacy after spray painting them. I'm sure aluminum would work even better. You usually weave them at an angle, but if the blinds are super skinny, you can sometimes weave them vertically.
This pages has been archived 1 time. You can view older posts and feedback below.
Request: Crafts Using Window Blinds (10/11/2009)
I am looking for a craft idea using broken window blind slats for children who range in ages from 2 1/2 to 8 years old.
Post Feedback:
Login using the form on the top of the page to post feedback (if you are a registered user). If you have not yet registered, click here to do so. It's FREE!.
Archives:
Request: Crafts Using Window Blinds
Archived on 10/11/2009
I am looking for a craft idea using broken window blind slats for children who range in ages from 2 1/2 to 8 years old. Thanks.
Dee from Charlevoix, MI
Feedback:
RE: Crafts Using Window Blinds
Window Blind Slats? I wish I could help. I will tell you what I do when I run into the question of making a craft or reusing something.I take the item into my hand and think of possibilities. I haven't seen a window blind slat in years. I remember as a child finding one in the trash and breaking it apart. I remember the sound they made how I would listen to the click like sound when I swung it and it folded a bit I remember I got a scratch after I kept bending the slat until it broke.
I would guess you could make a kind of wind chime. You would have to paint the slats to prevent rusting and that might change it's sound. After the base paint coat you could go create and drawer little characters on the one side and give the other side a different color of paint on it's second coat. Somebody is going to have to use tin snips to cut away the string hole at the bottom and still keep it from being sharp. Or from those same holes you could string and attached little bells.
No, I haven't done this, but the possibility is there.
One other possibility is to paint and line the slats into a wind wheel. Now when I say a wind wheel I mean picture a large tin can sitting on a table now the top and bottom part you install your slats into. Again there is a lot of cutting, painting maybe a bright color and also paint a moving design on the slats so as the wheel spins around the design looks like it moves.
The only other possibility I can come up with is using those slats as hills for Hot Wheels cars to get up speed from? Perhaps a side by side Hot Wheels starter hill racetrack attach them to a card board box base decorated. At the top design a barrier which can be moved to start the Hot Wheels at the same time. In fact you could even fence in this racetrack using painted and decorated slats. I find with the use of imagination almost anything is possible.
The children you have still use their imagination a pity most of us seem to throw ours away as we get older.
I hope I help and I hope others will come up with even better projects.
Best wishes.
Mr Thrifty (07/01/2006)
I purchased plants from a garden club and they used the plastic slats from blinds as tags to identify the plants. They cut them in 6 inch lengths and used a permanent marker to write on them. The kids could plant seeds? Depending on how many blinds you can access. I would think you could have the kids weave them into placemats. Or they could use them to make tic tac toe grids or hopscotch patterns on the floor. (07/05/2006)
By Kate
RE: Crafts Using Window Blinds
How about making bird houses. You could use cardboard for the structure and use the slats for the "siding" and roof. (07/09/2006)
The birdhouses are an excellent idea. You could even buy preassembled wooden houses from a local hobby store and use the slats as "vinyl siding". I just moved into a new house and had to buy blinds. Adjusting for the length of the windows has left me with a plethora of excess slats. This will be a great idea to use them rather than put them in the trash. (07/29/2007)
By Eual
RE: Crafts Using Window Blinds
Some are made of wood, some are metal and some are plastic. Depending on what kind you have. Do what you can with popcycle stick art, but adjust for the width of your slat. (11/13/2008)
