Birthday Sleepover

Beaded Jewelry Who Knew It Was So Easy?

Have you seen beaded jewelry on your friends? Maybe you even have a beaded bracelet or necklace of your own. Now is the perfect time to learn how to make beaded jewelry, for you or your friends or family. Here are the instructions to make the perfect Valentine's Day necklace or bracelet.

Whether you decide to make a necklace or a bracelet (or even an anklet), the materials you need are basically the same.

What you need to get started:

Pony Beads or Heart Beads
Scissors
Elastic Thread

Pony beads come in lots of colors and sizes. Pony beads are small beads about the size of pencil erasers and you can find them at most craft stores. Some of the bigger varieties are made from glass or clay, but most of them are made out of plastic. Some have designs on them and some are multi-colored. It's all up to you which beads to use! You can pick red, pink, or white for Valentine's Day. You can pick ones that are in the shape of a heart or ones that spell out words like LOVE or FRIEND. The choice of which beads to use is all yours! Just be sure to pick beads with holes big enough for the elastic thread to go through.

Instructions:

Cut a piece of elastic thread or bead cord

8 inches long for a bracelet,

10 inches long for an anklet, or

16 inches long for a necklace.

Tie a bead onto one end of the piece of thread. This will keep the other beads from falling off.

String all of the beads onto the elastic thread.

Tie the ends of the thread together so it fits around your wrist, ankle, or neck.

Cut off the extra thread.

Voila! You have just made your Valentine's Day jewelry.

Helpful Hints:

If you lay your beads out in a pattern before you string them, you can see how your necklace or bracelet is going to look. You can rearrange the pattern until you get it just the way you like it.

Lay the beads on a washcloth or towel to keep them from rolling away.

Bead Buddies Kit

Heart Bead Bracelet Kit

Make Your Own Scrunchie

After the school day winds down cool nights with friends are ahead. What better way to spend some of these nights than making a scrunchie? If you thought that scrunchies were just for girls with long hair, you'd be wrong. Scrunchie's can be used in a variety of ways including:

Flower bouquet decoration
Gift package tie
Card deck holder
Glass condensation catcher
Preserve jar decoration
Flower pot decoration
Bracelet
Anklet

Curtain tiebacks
Pencil stack holder
Door knob decoration
Bookmark band
Lamp decoration
Light fixture chain decoration
Bottle decorations

What You Will Need:

So how do you begin a project like this? Well, first you need materials! Below is a list of things you will need in order to start.

Fabric Rectangle 16 �" x 5"

Elastic: 10" of �"

1 Large Safety Pin

1 Small Safety Pin

Needle and thread-unless there is a sewing machine available

Once you have your materials, make sure you have a parent or guardian present as needles are sharp objects and you could get hurt.

Directions:

Okay now you're ready to begin work on a scrunchie! Although the instructions look difficult, don't worry, the project isn't as hard as it sounds! Follow the directions below to create your own homemade scrunchie.

Fold the fabric along the long sides together to make a long tube-16 �" by 2"

Stitch the long edge together about �" from the edge. Turn the tube right side out.

Use the small safety pin to pin one end of the elastic to the scrunchie at one end of the tube. This will keep you from losing the elastic as you thread it through.

Pin the large safety pin to the other end of the elastic and then use it to thread the elastic through the scrunchie.

Take both ends of the elastic and tie a knot, leaving 2" of elastic sticking out past the knot when you are done.

Now tuck the raw edges of the tube in, tuck the elastic ends in, and sew the two sides together, finishing the tube.

Predict Your Future: Cootie Catcher

Follow these directions to make a cootie catcher.

How to Play Cootie Catcher:
You'll need 2-4 players. Have a player choose a color on the cootie catcher. Open and close the Cootie Catcher one time for every letter of the color. Have a player choose a number from 1 to 10. Open and close the Cootie Catcher that number of times. The player then selects 1 of the 4 visible flaps revealed when you stop. Read the player's fortune. Remember, this is just for fun, and only you can determine your future!

1. Start with a rectangular sheet of paper. Fold the bottom of the paper to the side of the page to make a triangle.	2. Then cut off the flap above the triangle.
3. Now open the triangle and you'll have a square.	4. Fold one corner to the other corner diagonally.
5. Open paper.	6. Fold corners toward center of paper.
7. When all 4 corners are folded, your paper will look like this.	8. Flip your paper over so the folded sides are face down.
9. Again, fold corners toward center diagonally.	10. When all 4 corners are folded, your paper will look like this.
11. On the same side, write the numbers 1 through 8, putting one number in each triangle.	12. Hold the paper in front of you like a square. Fold it in half vertically and open it back up again.
13. Then fold the square in half horizontally and open it back up again. Make sure that the numbers you've written are facing you.	14. Open each flap and write a fortune on each triangle inside. When your fortunes are written, close all the flaps. Read below for some fortune ideas to get you started, but feel free to make up some of your own.
15. Flip the paper over and color each square with a different color.	16. Flip the paper over again so that the numbers are face up. Fold the square in half, either horizontally or vertically. Slide your thumbs and fingers under the four flaps.
17. Finally, rotate your hands, bringing your thumbs and index fingers together. The cootie catcher should expand. The numbered triangles will disappear inside, like the middle of a flower when the petals close. Then open and play!
Fortune Ideas Someday you will be an astronaut. Today you will score a goal at practice. You will be the President of the United States. You will travel somewhere cool. You will help someone this week. You will receive an award this month. You will attend a Girl Power! event soon. There is a great hair day in your future. You will meet a new friend soon. You will do really well in school this year. You will get a raise in your allowance. You will help your parents make dinner sometime this week. You will learn a new game. You will receive a nice surprise in the mail. You will succeed at something you didn't know you could do.