Easy Indoor Crafts for Kids

Transform a plain metal carrier into a fun tote by letting your child decorate it with patterned paper and stickers. Cut large designs from sheets of colored paper and adhere them to the carrier, or use die cuts or stickers. Use punches to create a robot from square and circle shapes.

These fancy pencil toppers make homework and coloring fun! Attach feathers to the top of each pencil by wrapping them with florist's tape. Using crafts glue, cover the florist's tape with a fun ribbon. Add a bow for more pizzazz.

Plain jewelry elastic threaded with buttons makes it simple to create accessories. Vary the sizes of the buttons on a bracelet for a fun look.

Don't toss those colorful caps! Put them to work as refrigerator magnets by hot-gluing small magnets to the back.

Get wrapping on a craft that can hang on your child's door once it's done. Start with a wreath form and add yarn; just wrap, wrap, wrap your way around the circle, using hot glue to keep each new color in place. A faux flower provides the final flourish.

Toilet paper rolls and a paper towel roll become pretty display pieces for kids' jewelry. Decorate the rolls with ribbon scraps. For the earring holder, punch a hole at the top of the toilet paper rolls and push a pipe cleaner through the hole. To stabilize the projects, wrap a piece of cardboard with fabric and hot-glue the rolls to the platform.

Give special greetings with a cutout letters card. Let children page through old magazines to find the letters needed for their message. Glue their efforts to folded cardstock.

Help kids decorate a flowerpot for an easy gift or a personalized way to grow a favorite bloom. Paint a pot in a color of choice. Create a fun border message by applying letter stickers around the top. Punch shapes from patterned paper to add as embellishments. Use decoupage medium to attach the punched shapes. Once they're dry, add epoxy accents.

Cut vinyl tubing into a 10-inch-long piece. For a connector, cut a 1-inch-long piece from smaller tubing that fits snugly into the longer piece. Slide the small piece 1/2 inch into one end of the longer piece. Use a funnel to fill the long piece with candy, beads, or glitter. Bend the long piece into a circle. Slide the open end over the exposed end of the connector to complete the bracelet.

This frame puts your child's latest creations on display. Paint a wooden frame a color to match your child's decor; let dry. Add foam shapes using crafts glue or fun stickers. Hang on the wall and let your child hang his or her favorite work of art from a clip attached to the wall inside the frame.

Young readers will love these bookmarks personalized with trendy pins. Cut and layer two 14-inch-long ribbons. Fold over the top and secure with a pin; add a second pin below it and one near the bottom. Trim the ribbon bottoms at the same angle, with the top layer slightly shorter. Secure the top ribbon to the bottom one by stitching large cross-stitches using embroidery floss.

With favorite colors as inspiration, kids can easily make one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces to wear or give.

Lunch boxes will be boring no more! With permanent marker, construction paper, pom-poms, and glue, decorate as desired. Make animal faces, clown faces, or just a pretty design.

Let kids practice their braiding skills by making friendship bracelets. Teamwork is required: Tie one end of three plastic craft cords together. Have one child hold the tied end while another child braids. Knot the opposite ends at the desired length.

Collect rocks. Clean the rocks, then paint them with several coats of acrylic paint. Let dry and decorate with letters, dots, symbols, or other imaginative motifs. Protect the paint with several coats of spray varnish.

Decorate a paper wreath with pretty hearts. Kids can use paper punches to cut hearts from colored vellum and lightweight decorative papers. Use other shapes of paper punches--stars, circles, triangles, etc.--for another effect. Curl the cutouts by sliding them between your thumb and a butter knife just as you would curling ribbon. Then layer them on a round card stock base and attach with a dab of clear-drying glue. Hang it with ribbon.

Head to a thrift store to pick up inexpensive glass vases. Tear pieces of patterned tissue paper into 2-inch squares. Brush decoupage medium onto the vases, then cover them with paper squares. Brush decoupage medium over the paper-covered vases; let dry.

Download our star template below. Cut out two star shapes from card stock. Slit one star from the top point to the middle and the second from the bottom to the center point. Adorn each star with leftover buttons, gems, and stickers. Slide the two stars together, punch a hole at the top, and thread ribbon through the hole for hanging.

Jazz up plain shoelaces with colorful designs. Cover the work space with waxed paper or a grocery bag. Tape the lace ends to the work surface. Using fabric markers, decorate one side of each shoelace with a bright pattern or stripes. Let the ink dry. Repeat the design on the other side of each lace.

Nature lovers will enjoy this tic-tac-toe set. Gather a wood cross section, twigs, four tiny pebbles for the intersections, and eight rocks in two different colors. Clean the cross section with a damp rag. Use a pencil or piece of chalk to draw a grid onto the wood. Break twigs into 12 pieces to fit the grid. Glue the twigs and small pebbles along the grid on the cross section. Let the glue dry. If you like, spray the surface with clear gloss.

Cover a journal in felt to make it extra cute. Place a journal on top of felt to determine the pattern. Cut felt about 1/2 inch larger on all sides than the journal, wrap the felt around the journal, and secure in place with fabric glue. Cut various decorations from other colors of felt. Adhere to the journal front.

Get your family band jamming with bead drums made from household items.

Cut bookmark from card stock. Cut a slightly smaller piece in a coordinating color. Adhere the smaller piece to the larger piece. Choose a picture of a best friend or family member and place on the front. Add other embellishments as desired. Punch a hole at the bottom, and add a grommet so the paper hole does not tear with use. Cut a 6-inch length of vinyl cording, fold it in half, and loop it through the grommet. Add beads to both ends and knot.

Cover the work surface with newspapers. Paint wood spools and other wood blocks and spheres in colors of your choice. Let dry. Using paint markers, draw dots or other designs on the painted shapes. Let dry. Cut a piece of string long enough for a necklace, plus about 4 inches for tying. Thread the string with painted beads, plastic beads, and painted spools.

Share love around the home all year round with a pretty heart garland. Draw several hearts on card stock and cut out. For each heart, punch out two holes, one on each side. Sponge-paint, color, or stamp hearts, then glue on embellishments. Once hearts are dry, string them onto yarn. Use 1-inch pieces of straws as spacers. Hang horizontally across a mantel or window or vertically in a doorway.

Cut shapes from tissue paper and use a clear-drying glue to adhere them to a glass votive. When the candle is lit, the light will glow through, bouncing fun colors on the walls.

These charming characters make great best-pal gifts for boys and girls.

There's no man like a snowman, especially when he playfully watches over sweet treats.

Kids will have a leapin' good time making their crickets chirp.

Remind Dad how much he means to you with this personalized baseball that sends dear sentiments.

Tell Mom you love her by crafting her favorite animal to watch over her important papers.

Lace plain white sneakers with colorful yarn. Help young children glue on sparkly jewels. For last-day-of-school fun or a slumber party, have friends sign the shoes with fabric markers.