looking for project inspiration for my clients

[april again]

I work as a youth counselor for a residental center that does psychological and behavioral treatments and therapies for kids. My kids are about 14-20 years old and all girls. I am going to be doing the arts and crafting group but I am having problem thinking of projects.

Reasons:

They want stuff they can keep in their room , but nothing can have breakable material or sharp edges they can harm themselves with i.e. no glass, pottery, sharp edges etc.

They want things they can decorate their rooms with, but it has to be light enough to be TAPED up...no nails or anything.

I have some ideas for different pillows and things but thats about it.

Also, money is an issue, I gotta keep it cheap.

They like to have stuff they can personalize with their names.

Anyone have any good ideas? I am glad to hear anything and everything!

Thanks in advance

April

[mrs_stroozi]

I remember a craft a friend of mine did with seniors - taking a plastic jar or bottle, covering it with layers of torn pieces of masking tape, sort of in pine-cone-ish layers, and then using a stain of sorts to bring out the details...

Applique? Decopage? ( I KNOW I'm misspelling it...) I did a box in 7th grade summer day camp I still have -- we cut out pictures from magazines, covered boxes with them and brushed shellac over everything, which has mellowed to a lovely golden in the decades since. Easy to personalize with their names, too.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

How about those sort of satin or felt retro "mobiles" teenage girls used to hang from their ceilings? They'd be stars or hearts or unicorns or (given it's recent resurgence) Hello Kitty... At least it would be cheerful for them.
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Hope you'll stop by my blog and say 'hi' at: http://web.mac.com/thriftshopromantic/iWeb/

[craftfetish]

Paper crafts would give you a lot of affordable options.

You could make paper, make or embellish journals, use origami to make decorations, etc.

Personalizing or altering t-shirts, bags, pillows, etc would be fun. Freezer paper stencils are my favorite.

Shrink plastic charms for back packs or purses?
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I only work to support my crafting habit.

[micrafty]

Can you clarify, do the tools to make the finished item have to 100% safe too? Or only the finished items?

Kinda tough if they can't use scissors, any sorts of needles, etc, to make the items with.
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[april again]

They can use needles and scissors etc..but I have to sueprvise when we do the craft and I have to collect the "dangerous" supplies before the session is over. (they go in a locked closet).

Thanks for all your help!

[anjanetteopal]

I lead a craft group of girls the same age and last time we made paper mache tropical fish for magnets or mobiles and painted them. I got the pattern for the fish and the instructions from the book Papier Mache by Juliet Bawden. It's worth checking out as it has quite a few cute ideas.

Next time we meet, they are to bring any white fabric the want (curtains, underwear, tshirt, pillowcases) and we are going to tie-die.

Also, if you know how to knit or crochet there are lots of things they could make. This necklack for instance would be fast: http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/70007.html?n
oImages=0 and if they had time/patience they could use the pattern to make "beaded" curtains.

Glad you are doing this with these girls. I know from growing up in a rough situation that having something that *you* can do and enjoy that inspires you makes coping and recovering a ton easier.
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[Leonie]

Hi April,

I thought it would be nice to make picture frames. It is nice to decorate their room with and this does not have to be expensive at all. The girls will love to make it! Below I wrote down several links with some nice examples. The familycrafts link gives you several examples of totaly different picture frames with pictures. This is the result of a short google session, I'm sure if you'll google yourself you'll find a lot more examples!

http://www.ehow.com/how_16358_make-cardboard-pic
ture.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_1284_decorate-picture-fr
ame.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2049163_button-picture-f
rame.html



http://familycrafts.about.com/od/pictureframes/<
/a>


Good luck!

Leonie

[blissbyheather]

How about some cute pillowcase purses. I imagine that you could find lots of pillowcases at a secondhand store. I haven't made this project but it looks like it could be easily handsewn and would be a good project for beginners :)

Here is a link to the instructions on the Martha Stewart website:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/m
enuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=d496330b00a2
2110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
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Trendy Purses and Accessories:
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[Thrift Shop Romantic]

How about Sculpy projects? You can't get much safer than Sculpy, and I know people who have done great things like make clever jewelry out of it. I can see teens/pre-teens loving that.
_________________
--Jenn
Hope you'll stop by my blog and say 'hi' at: http://web.mac.com/thriftshopromantic/iWeb/

[Astrid]

I found this website today and I thougt 'shit, I don't read Italian', but the pictures are explaining the projects so well that you don't realy need to read the instructions. It's all done with scrap and waste, so if you need really cheap ideas, you might find something here:
http://www.ioricreo.altervista.org/
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My Etsy Shop with crocheted tea cosies and much more: http://www.LeChatCrochet.etsy.com
Weblog about frugal living and giving unwanted stuff a new life: http://trashcollector.blogspot.com

[craftfetish]