Spring Craft for the Crafty

This past weekend was one of those rare breaks that actually felt longer than it was, probably because I got to partake in such a wide variety of activities: eating Ethiopian food, playing pool at what turned out to be a gay bar, wandering the streets of San Francisco late at night, hanging out at my parents' house, eating delicious traditional Easter meals, going to a Santa Cruz party with my fave Santa Cruz girl, holding baby chicks, going to church, driving along the coast, barbecuing in the backyard of the apartment complex, and actually being a bit productive amongst all my playing.

In honor of spring having sprung, here is a craft that I made up last year at the adult day health care center where I used to work.


Easter Bonnets

Supplies:
- paper plates (large)
- paper bowls
- Paint in bright, springy colors, and painting implements (we used acrylic paint, but other types will probably work, too) (I'm not too familiar with paint varieties).
- tape and glue
- scissors
- paper flowers, glitter, colored poof balls, feathers, etc.

Instructions:
- Paint plates and bowls any color you want (they can match or not match, whatever) and allow them to dry.
- Turn the plate upside down. Tape or glue the bowl to the center of it, also upside down.
- Cut a hole in the center of the paper plate slightly smaller than the bowl (so the edges of the bowl are still glued/taped to the plate but you can see the inside of the bowl if you hold your "hat" upside down). The plate/bowl combo will sit more hat-like on your head (since plates are flat but heads are roundish)(depending on the head).
- Glue on flowers, glitter, poof balls, feathers, or other decorative items.
- Poke holes in the sides of the "brim" of the hats (the paper plate). Tie pieces of ribbon on both sides of the hat so you can tie it around your chin so it stays on.
- Wear your bonnet to church on Easter (or to your favorite springtime activity).

I made this craft up after my budget at the center was cut essentially to nothing. So I went into the kitchen and helped myself to the paper tableware and then scrounged around the activity cabinets for the rest of the supplies. We had actually been doing things like making paper flowers so the decorative items were easy to come by. When I first announced this craft, people kind of rolled their eyes-- Painting bowls, you say? Making silly hats out of what exactly?? But once the pieces started coming together, everybody got pretty excited about how they were turning out. We had a spring party and everyone wanted to wear a hat. Fabulous.


And my parents were doing some extensive babysitting this past week, so I sent them a list of craft ideas. Apparently they had a lot of fun making the hats over a couple of days with the kiddos.


So, to sum up, this craft:
1. is easy.
2. is CHEAP.
3. can be used to fill fairly large chunks of time, depending on how creative and detailed you get.
4. is good for children and adults alike.
5. was MY idea.