1. A box of crayons—best served with a side of paper.
My favorite crayon memory: creating a puppet show of Cinderella. I made the
characters out of a white shirt box and the theatre out of a brown cardboard
box; I worked on that project for days, and enjoyed it for months afterwards.
2. Pipe cleaners—I haven’t seen anyone with a pipe in thirty
years, but I presume pipe cleaners still exist—for crafters, if not for
pipe-smokers! Great entertainment for road trips (for passengers, not drivers),
shopping trips (the kids may not even notice how long it’s taking you to try on
those clothes), and those challenging
too-old-for-children’s-church-but-too-young-for-the-sermon years!
3. Duct tape—There’s pretty much nothing you can’t create
from duct tape. My son has made DT cell phone holders, DT shoes, DT glasses
cases, DT wallets…and did you know your teen could win a cash scholarship (https://www.duckbrand.com/stuck-at-prom) for creating duct tape prom outfits?
4. Old magazines—Give me a magazine and I can stay
busy for days. Paper dolls, collages, “found” poems, writing prompts, paper
jewelry, examples of great ads, term paper topics, etc. etc. etc. Needless to
say, some titles offer more potential than others. I recently flipped through a
copy of Us magazine; oh, my, what a waste of a tree!
5. Fabric remnants—If you like to sew or quilt, the
possibilities here are obvious, but even if you don’t, I think scraps of
material can set off a maelstrom of ideas. If you have remnants of different
textures (like fleece, fur, or satin), that’s even more fun. One of my sons’
pediatricians had a fabric collage of a farm covering one wall of his waiting
room, with quilted white batting for clouds, beige burlap for hay, red and
white gingham for the barn, etc. Even after all these years, every time I remember
that wonderful mural, it makes me want to start piecing together grass and
cornstalks!
6. A can of spray paint—This option is probably not good for
the under 10 set, but otherwise, a can of spray paint and an ugly, worn out, or
cast aside object can make for a busy and productive afternoon. Who knows what
“repurposing” possibilities you might have lurking under your sink or in your
garden shed?
7. A wicker basket—Any size, any style. Give it a coat of
spray paint (see #6!), weave in a length of ribbon or a few silk flowers, add a
few cookies, and you have a terrific gift that’s filled with lots of love.
Baskets also offer great possibilities as storage containers and wall
decorations.
8. Shoeboxes -- Now I tend to fill them with toys and donate
them to Operation Christmas Child (https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/) but, as a child, I turned them into beds for my dolls,
decorated them and used them to store “special treasures,” turned them into
buildings and made shoebox “villages,” glued same-size ones together to make
shelving units, and created custom-decorated homes for critters ranging from
frogs to baby chicks.
9. Buttons—Well, you could hunt down the
garments they came from and sew them back on, but if the buttons in your button
box are like mine, they’ve probably been around so long you have no idea from
whence they came. Use them to make jewelry instead, or mix them with construction
paper and a few scraps of #5 to create adorable greeting cards. 4-year-olds and
up can string them into “button people” with shoelaces or yarn, or arrange them
into pictures and glue them onto paper or cardboard.
10. A legal pad—Ah, now this is the best tool of all to get
those creative juices flowing! What’s on your mind: a grocery list? Things to
do today? An overdue letter to your favorite aunt? A few lines about the chat
you had with your son this morning? You’d be surprised how easily the words
come when you give them a chance.
My snowman, by the way, which I built last week on the rail
of our deck, was inspired by a tiny little box I found rolling around among
some giftwrap. I thought it looked like it had great potential as a hat. When I
found a little piece of gingham ribbon a few moments later, and a leftover
marker from some long-disposed of game, I knew instantly they had a new purpose
in life!
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