A Happy Mum | Singapore Parenting Blog

So, we have been staying home more than usual in the hope that all of us will recover from our coughing fits soon. That said, we still brought the kids to watch The Amazing Spiderman 2 on Labour Day, attended a birthday party, visited the library and went out for late night suppers. Seriously, who brings two kids out for fishball noodles at 10pm at night? Well, we just did last night. I guess, life goes on, right?

Anyway, among all of us, Angel has been the least sick and I thought it was a little unfair that she has been missing out on a lot of fun just because Mummy has been feeling more tired than usual. Thus, in this week's Creativity 521, I decided to let her get crafty using supplies we can find at home.

We did something really simple, straightforward but fun - DIY Cuff Bracelets! The main material you need is toilet rolls!

What we used:

1) Toilet rolls
2) Acrylic paint
3) Painting tools
4) Glue
5) Scissors
6) Scrapbooking paper
7) Decorations like alphabet stickers, gem stickers, sequins, shape die-cuts or other embellishments of your choice

Firstly, cut the toilet rolls into the desired widths and make slits for the opening. For small kids, a good width will be 1"-1.5" (3 cuffs per toilet roll) and for bigger kids or adults, keep it to 2" (2 cuffs per toilet roll).

It's time to paint! Let your child apply paint in a colour of her choice onto each of the cuffs, both inside and out. To make it more consistent, apply two coats of paint and allow to dry completely.

If you find that the openings tend to enlarge when drying, secure them together using clothes pegs.

Next, it's time to unleash your child's creativity! Using the embellishments, let her decorate the cuff bracelets in any way she likes. This craft can be for boys too, you just need to use less girly decorations! You can paste on gem stickers or glue on die-cuts.

You can cut out strips of scrapbooking paper and glue it onto the bracelets to jazz them up.

You can use alphabet stickers to let your child spell her name and make a personalised bracelet.

Whatever she tries to do, remember this is her bracelet and she has complete freedom to decorate it any way she pleases. I'm still trying to learn that part too - to refrain from giving my own suggestions or stepping in to interfere with her designs.

I want her to feel proud of her work, to know that she owns the design and that it is an achievement for her to do everything, or nearly everything, by herself.

Ta-dah! How do you like her final cuff bracelets? I told you they were simple, but being simple doesn't mean they can't be beautiful, right? If anything, I'm so proud that she did all these and guess what, we finished everything in less than an hour!

That big smile that she gave when she put on the cuff bracelets, well, that was priceless and it was awesome knowing that a simple craft session could cheer us up and chase away the gloom.

I am actually looking forward to wearing these out with my girl, and if anyone asks, I will be happy to say that we are wearing toilet rolls on our wrists. Why not?

Now, are you in the mood to make your own DIY cuff bracelets too?

For more ideas on crafts for kids, visit my gallery here.

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To fellow bloggers who have a fun craft session, DIY tip or creative idea to share, come join in the party! Highlight and press Ctrl + C to copy my button above, include it in your post/sidebar and add your link below. I will be hosting Creativity 521 on the 5th and 21st of every month, do hop over for more inspiration. Remember: The sky's the limit when it comes to creativity!