FUN KIDS PROJECTS:  ECO-ART BY TINKER

Tinker is a fantastic drop-in arts and crafts studio in Sherman Oaks, California where kids and parents can come in and do projects inspired by recycled materials.  In addition to the hundreds of projects they have on-hand, they also offer fabulous classes, workshops and summer camps.  We are a big fan of Tinker and took a moment to talk to Leeanna Gantt, one of Tinker's co-founders, who provided us with some great gifts for Dad that can be created out of simple household materials.

One Shirt, Three Great Gifts!

Let's face it dad has gotten enough shirts for fathers day and let's not even start with how many grandpa has. So this year let's recycle one of those long forgotten shirts and make three great new gifts:

1. A reusable coffee cozy
2. A wine bag
3. A night shirt that doubles as a Father’s Day banner.

Here's the supply list for all three projects:

• One mens dress shirt (from dad's own closet, not a new one)
• Permanent markers (various colors)
• Scissors

Optional:

• glitter glue
• old neck tie, ribbon or scrap of fabric from the shirt to tie bag     closed

All three projects take a total of about half and hour depending on the speed of the artist. For the younger kids, keep it simple and just use the markers to color and decorate as they wish. Older kids can have fun embellishing with glitter glue or sewing on buttons or other fabric scraps that you might have on hand.

Coffee Cozy

First we'll make a reusable coffee cozy for dad. Not only will it be so cute that all the girls in Starbucks will say “aaaw”, it will save a few trees as well.

1.  Carefully cut off the cuff right where it meets the shirt sleeve.
2.  If your child is really young just let them go to it with the markers and decorate away. If you want to help write a little message or the date at the when your child is finished you can. If your child is a little older, you might want to sketch out a message or design with a pencil before you start with the markers. Once you are done with the markers you can decorate with a little glitter glue or sew on some other embellishments for fun.

3. All that’s left is to simply button the cuff shut and “ta-da”, you are all done.

Wine Gift Bag

Next we'll use the other sleeve to wrap up a nice bottle of wine for grandpa. Because it's time to face facts, grandpa would love to sit and have a nice conversation and drink with his wonderful child much more that he'd like to muster up a smile as he opens another tie.......and once again, it's a reusable gift which is always nice.

1. Take the sleeve that still has the cuff, and cut it off the shirt where the sleeve meets the body of the shirt.
2. Turn the sleeve inside out.
3. Take the cut end of the shirt and either tie it in a knot or fold the edges over and staple or sew them shut.
4. Turn the sleeve right side out again.
5. If you want to let the little ones decorate the bag you can, or simply leave it as-is.
6. Slip in the nice bottle of wine and tie the bag shut around the  neck of the bottle and fold the cuff over. We used the end of an old tie, which we thought was cute. But you can use ribbon or a piece of fabric from the sleeve that is still on the shirt too.
7. Ta-da! Two down one to go!

Nighty-Night

Lastly - you have the body of a dress shirt with one sleeve and no  cuff. Don't fret, we aren't going to waste all that great fabric! You can make a super comfy nightshirt for your little one to great Dad in on Father’s Day morning. Really, what is cuter than a little kid in dad's shirt? It just has “photo op” written all over it.

1. Cut the remaining sleeve off where it meets the body of the shirt.
2. Decorate away!  Some ideas- Have your little one try to draw a picture of dad, write “happy father's day" or "I have the world's
best daddy". If your kids are a little older let them have fun cutting up the extra sleeve and using the pieces to decorate the shirt.
Make fringe for the bottom of the shirt or lace fabric strips through the sides to cinch it up a bit.