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Ask A Denver Expert: Easy Crafts To Do With Your Kids

By Daily Meal Staff Sept. 26, 2014 7:00 am EST

(credit: Fancy Tiger Crafts)

Fancy Tiger Crafts has been one of the best craft stores in the Denver area since it opened on South Broadway in 2006. Today, this center for fabric crafts has grown from its small store into a much larger space, sharing the new location with its partner store, Fancy Tiger Clothing. Co-owners Jaime Jennings and Amber Corcoran offer lots of fun and creative ways to play with fabric, wool, yarn and more. Whether you are just looking for a little craft to keep the kids busy on a rainy fall day, or if you are hoping to help your kiddos find a more long-term passion for creative endeavors, Fancy Tiger Crafts is the place to start.

Jaime Jennings
Fancy Tiger Crafts
59 Broadway
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 733-3855
www.fancytigercrafts.com

Try Wet Felting

Felting is basically the process of turning raw wool into felt. There are several different processes to create the felt and wet felting is a great activity for the kids because it doesn't involve any sharp tools or supplies. "My number one suggestion for little kids, for 8 and up, is wet felting," offers Jennings. "Using wool roving, which is a raw wool product, all they have to do is have a bowl or bucket of warm soapy water and you dip the wool in it and rub it vigorously between your hands and it will felt up into a ball or round shape. Just doing that can be a lot of fun, and it's something that kids can get really creative with and is lots of fun."

Create a Wool Geode

You can then take that concept of making your own felt one step further into a wool version of a geode. Jennings explains the process very easily, "We have this fun project with the wool roving. You start with one color and then you keep wrapping other colors around and it gets bigger and bigger. You can make it as big as you want, usually up to the size of a tennis ball. Then you let it dry and have an adult cut it in half and it looks like an awesome geode or rock with all the colors you've used."

The best part about getting your kids into felting is the price. It's very affordable and an easy way to come up with some fun crafts for the whole family. "The wool we have is somewhere in the range of 60 different colors. It's sold in bulk and it's really affordable; it's only $2.50 an ounce and an ounce is plenty. It's a really affordable way to let kids to play with the wool and learn to start working with fiber. It's really forgiving and easy."

Hand Stitching

Once your kids are a little older, at least old enough to easily handle a needle and thread, you can start getting them into some hand stitching. You can certainly come up with some hand stitching ideas at home, or swing by Fancy Tiger for a kit that comes with everything you need to get started. "We have kits for kids to make what we call softies, or little animal creatures. The kids use wool felt and they then sew it together using a very basic running stitch around the outside and stuff it with some stuffing. We have set ones if they want to make a particular animal like an owl or unicorn."

Make Your Own Stuffed Animal

Using the concept of the softie project at Fancy Tiger, you can really let your kids' imagination take over into his or her own stuffed animal project. The best part about this project is that there is no limit to the different ideas that your kids can come up with. As Jennings explains, "Have them draw a creature from their imagination, like their own version of an animal like a tiger or horse, and then just cut their drawing out of the paper and use that as a template to make their softie out of, so they are creating the pattern themselves." You can use that pattern to trace onto the felt, then use the same process in the pre-assembled kits to stuff the animal and sew around the outside. "It's a fun way to let kids use their imagination to create their own animal."

Take A Class

As the kids get even older, you may want to involve them in a class, especially if your child has really expressed some interest in the art of fabric crafts. "Once kids are a little older, we love to get them started in crochet or knitting or sewing with sewing machines. Kids are so fearless that once they are trained on how to use a sewing machine, there are no pieces of fabric in your house that are safe."

Fancy Tiger Crafts offers lots of different types of classes that are great for kids. "We have classes for 8 and up. We have needle felting, which is another form of felting but instead of using the water you are using a sharp barbed needle, so we want the kids to be a little older before they do that. But it's a really forgiving craft and kids can get really creative with that. It's really good for tweens and older kids." Or you can involve them in any of the other classes on everything from sewing to knitting, crochet and felting. Fabric crafts are a great way to spark some imagination with your child's activities, plus it's one of the more affordable craft projects and it usually doesn't make a huge mess, which is a big plus for mom and dad too.

Deborah Flomberg is a theater professional, freelance writer and Denver native. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.