One thing children undoubtedly know how to do is paint and craft and plop in glue. It seems for many children, this is inherent; they seem born just knowing this skill. There are no guidebooks on this. Just patience and in many cases the proper set-up: a wet cloth nearby, some wipes, a newspaper lined work area, or a garbage bag. A child's artwork is an amazing feat, a masterpiece, in which they pour all their might, and in many cases their heart.

A couple years ago a woman walked by my display table and stopped to talk with me. She asked me what age my craft kits were suited for. When I told her that virtually any 2-year-old could do a kit with some guidance, (as did both my children) she quickly retorted that her Grandson couldn't do any of this because his mother would not tolerate or approve of a mess. (How very sad for the child that won't ever experience green paint squishing between his fingers, his fingers so crazily stuck together from white glue, and his mother never in possession of his precious artwork, full of laughter and memories!)

Crafts can be messy, but they can also create imagination, esteem, smiles, learning, and all these far surpass any mess. Crafts keep kids busy and having fun. There are limitless ways for a child to interpret and create a craft, and more importantly, crafts don't require batteries -- the TV, computer, and games systems can all have a chance to cool down!

Sew North features over 12 unassembled craft kits to cater to kids ages 2-99! The kits have nearly all supplies and very clear instructions to make 1 great, quality, keepsake craft (something you can hang, frame, or give away to Grandma). The craft kit titles are relevant, specific to the craft, and written with unique, clear fonts, on colorful cardstock. All of Sew North's craft kit labeling can be reworked to be made into personalized goodie bags. There are 2 sizes of kits (smaller and bigger). Smaller kits include: 3 Scrapbooking Card Kit, Create-a-Canvas Kit, Flutterby Magnet Kit, Jurassic Eggsperiment Kit, Make Bars of Soap! Kit, String the Bling Bead Kit, and the Terra Cotta Pot Magnet Kit. (The contents of the kits may be slightly different from the photos, as the kits may vary according to available materials.)

The 3 Scrapbooking card kit features sparkle glue, stickers, cardstock, envelopes, and more for children to create and give away/mail 3 precious cards. Children get to be Mommy's very own Picasso with the Create-a-Canvas Kit. The Flutterby Magnet Kit can be made with a sibling or a friend, as it makes 2, unique butterfly magnets with rhinestones. The Jurassic Eggsperiment is uniquely an experiment craft; children bury a plastic dinosaur into a mixture of coffee grounds, flour, salt, sand, and water and form it into an egg shape. While the egg is drying, they fashion their own hammer, with a wooden block, a dowel piece, and non-toxic white glue. When the rock is dry, much like a paleontology dig, they get to smash the rock with the hammer, brush with the paintbrush, and free the dinosaur. Make Bars of Soap! Kit is a soapy craft kit with all the supplies and picture instructions to make and create 2 unique bars of glycerin soap (with plastic critters!). The String the Bling Bead Kit includes a bag of bedazzling beads and all the supplies necessary to make some fabulous bracelets/necklaces. Lastly, the Terra Cotta Pot Magnet Kit makes a stunning flower pot that will adorn any fridge and accent fridge artwork.

Bean Bag Craft Kits

(Just Bean Bag Kits are located in the Bean Bag Section!)

Bigger kits include: Flower Power Pack, Doodle Bug Kit, Deluxe Da Vinci Kit, Shiver Me Timbers Treasure Box Kit, and Sticks and Stones Frame Kit. The Doodle Bug Kit, Flower Power Pack and the O' Canada Eh! Pack are all considered Bean Bag Craft Kits and include either notebooks or sketchbooks, pencils and erasers, 3 bean bags, and juggling instructions. The Deluxe Da Vinci Kit is the Create-a-Canvas Kit multiplied by oil pastels and a wooden frame. The Shiver Me Timbers Treasure Box Kit features a treasure box with gemstones, a bottle/container of white glue, some paint, and a brush.

Children get to create their own embellished, keepsake treasure box to keep their own treasures/jewelry. The Sticks and Stones Kit features a frame with eye hooks and jute, 2 bottles/containers of white glue (1 to glue on the rocks, the other to use as a non-toxic sealant), and pea gravel. The last craft kit, the Rainy Daze Activitaze Kit is just that, it occupies children on those rainy, windy, gusty in-days, featuring 5 craft kits: 1 large kit and 4 smaller kits to keep children and their siblings busy (and allow Mom and Dad to sit down at the table with a cup of coffee/tea!)

Keep checking for more exciting kits in the works!

Earth Friendly Packaging

Brand new this year, and keeping more in-line with our ever-changing environment, is a new line of reusable or "green" packaging craft kits. At present, there are 5 craft kits in this line: the Hopscotch Kit, the River Rock Frame Kit, the Soap-on-the-Rope Kit, the Sunday Doll Kit, and the Toy'n'Treasure Kit.

The Hopscotch Kit is designed more for a craft-on-the-go and gives children an opportunity to play the classic game of hopscotch outdoors (or indoors with masking tape). The kit includes one large piece of homemade chalk, 2 perfect hopscotch pebbles, and a thorough set of instructions of the game, along with many game pattern variations.

The Sunday Doll Kit is unique in that the packaging is also the key material in the craft: the handkerchief. The kit includes a page with the facts and history behind Sunday dolls -- the dolls were fashioned in the early to mid 1900's to help entertain and occupy children during outrageously long, ceremonial church services. The dolls would not only act as a fiddle toy, occupying the children during the lengthy service, but be extremely quiet, with little distraction, if the toy was dropped.

The River Rock Frame Kit is a spin-off of the aforementioned Sticks and Stones Frame Kit and gives children an opportunity to create a beautiful, sealed river rock frame.

Now the Soap-on-the-Rope Kit features enough natural honey and goat glycerin soap to fashion 1 large, unique soap-on-the-rope in a reusable, keepsake, enamel mug.

The Toy'n'Treasure Kit (just like the Jurassic Eggsperiment) is the first of the kits to be more like an experiment craft. The children bury a wooden, toy top into a mixture of coffee grounds, flour, salt, sand, and water and form it into a rock shape. Also, while the rock is drying, they get to fashion their own hammer, with a wooden block, a dowel piece, and non-toxic white glue. When the rock is dry, they get to smash the rock with the hammer, and brush with the paintbrush, to free the toy top.