Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sooo, anyone who's worked with kids before knows that getting them to do anything you actually want them to do (as opposed to doing things of their own volition) is like pulling teeth from a crocodile.

Anyway, my son just had a birthday and, in the past years, getting him to write thank you cards has been the worst. He likes to draw and gets it in his head to draw each of the cards but after the 3rd one he gets burnt out and whiny about finishing.

So, this year I had him draw 1 picture (tree with owls and birds and "Thank You" across the middle), scanned it for him, re-sized and formatted it 4x/page, printed out enough pages to have a couple left overs and used pinking shears to cut each piece out:


Then I had some large index cards lying around (which I usually use for templates) that, when folded in half, worked perfectly as cards. However, they were a little bland:


I used water color to stain each of the cards in various colors, focusing on the outer edges inward:


Then I had him glue each of the clipped pics on each card and write his name on the inside:


The index cards worked well because one side was ruled. This was handy since he has just learned how to write. smile

This is the first time I have actually got my son to, not only make his thank you cards but actually FINISH them!

Those are awesome!!! I remember doing that when I was younger. I loved it. Are you using Modge Podge?

I used to make my switch plates with Mod Podge and collage (I once had an 18 gal bin of just collage scraps - got tired of moving it so I donated it.) I would also do hat boxes and frames. IT was a lot of fun! The only thing I remember being a pain was the streakiness of the goo that showed up when it dried. I know now that a little bit of water helps but, haven't worked with the stuff in a long while.

Those are amazing! It gives me the inspiration to want to do that in my apartment!

Yeah, I worked for Tower Records and almost all of the returnable magazines were only required to return the stripped cover and through out the book itself. I would scavenge those for inspiring clippings and stash them in my tub for later use.