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Lazy Days: 7 summer crafts to make for your home

The summer holidays are fast approaching and if you’re looking for ways to entertain the kids while they’re home from school, or if you’re searching for some quick and easy DIY tips and ideas to update your homes, then here’s our pick of summer crafts to keep the whole family busy.

Ladybird Garden Pebbles

painted ladybird pebbles

Help turn little fingers into green fingers with these adorable DIY painted ladybird pebbles,  from Crafts by Amanda, that’ll surely get the kids interested in gardening. Pick up some smooth stones on days out at the beach and bring them home to decorate. Use acrylic outdoor paint to ensure the design won’t rub off in wetter weather. For a grown-up take on this craft – consider painting herb or flower names on the stones to create individual plant markers.

Frosted Lanterns

glass jar lanterns with star

This is a super simple DIY project. Create a magical mood-making lantern, like the example below, by collecting old jam jars and spray painting a design onto them using glass-frosting spray. Draw and cut out your design from a piece of cardboard, then draw around it on some sticky-backed plastic. Cut the shape out and stick it onto the clean glass. Put some newspaper down on the table and spray the entire jar – preferably outside. Peel off the sticker to leave your design. Add tea lights and wait for the sun to go down before lighting them.

Tissue Paper Pom-poms

hanging tissue paper pom poms

Paper pom-poms make the perfect outdoor decoration for a summer party or wedding. Gather up between 5-8 sheets of tissue paper (the more you use the fuller the finished pom-pom will be) and lay them out flat. Then fold from one edge in a concertina that’s about 1.5 inches thick. When you’ve folded the whole thing into a concertina, fold in the centre and fasten using some wire string. Round off the two ends using scissors; the closer to the centre you cut, the smaller the pom-pom will be. Fan the concertina paper out into a full circle and Then gradually, and very, very carefully, begin to pull each sheet of paper up towards the centre. Repeat until you’ve fanned out all the layers on both sides and hang the finished article using string.

Travel Noughts & Crosses

pebble noughts and crosses

This is such a cute and simple idea for a travel game, or even a small gift. This mini naughts-and-crosses game, from Balancing Home’s blog, is so easy to make. Collect some pebbles that are roughly the same size and use a marker pen to draw some ‘0’s on half and ‘x’s on the other. Use a small cotton or burlap bag to draw the playing grid onto and away you go.

Hanging Birdseed Ornaments

birdseed star

A lovely idea for a summer craft are these hanging birdseed ornaments. They’ll get the kids excited in nature and remind them to spend time outdoors looking for their new feathered friends. Here’s the method and recipe.

Chalkboard Herb Garden

chalk flower pots

Not all of us have gardens, and some of us just need the convenience of windowsill herbs. These DIY painted terracotta pots are chic and handy. Take some ordinary plant pots and paint below the rim using black chalkboard paint. When dry, use chalk to write the names of your potted herbs.

Fabric Bunting

multi-colour bunting

The perfect summer decor for garden parties, children's bedrooms or even weddings, bunting is always a winner. To make your bunting, cut out a triangle template to the size you want leaving an extra 5mm gap around the edges. Use your template to draw onto your pieces of material – top tip – fold it over to cut out two flags at a time. Pin two pieces together with the right sides facing inwards. Sew along the diagonal edges. Turn the flags inside out and iron. Fold your desired length of binding in half and pin each triangle inside the fold, leaving about an inch or two gap between them. Sew along the binding to secure all the flags in place. Hang for an instant, fun update.

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