Camp Shine: Get crafty idea no. 3 - Outdoor art

The 80-degree weather in my hood made me feel like staying in the garden all day. Only with kids home on summer break, it means finding ways to get them involved beyond pulling weeds and having water fights (always more of the latter than the former).

If the weather is nice in your area, here's a way to bring crafty projects outdoors: make garden art.

I saw this idea at Sunset magazine's Celebration Weekend and thought it would be a cute project for summer. Also? A fun activity for summer birthday parties and as a gift for grandparents or other special friends.

You can use any small terracotta planter. Run about 12- to 14-inches of 1/2-inch thick rope through it, and tie a knot on the end that will remain inside the pot. Then, let your kids paint the planter using washable acrylic paint. When the paint is dry, an adult should spray it with clear acrylic spray to preserve the color so it doesn't wash away.

What do you do with them? Hang them from a tree branch! Or you can take the rope out and plant a flower in it.

Here's an idea of how you could set up a table to run this activity at a summer birthday party:




























More from Camp Shine:
Camp Shine: Get crafty idea #2 -- DIY purse (with some parental help)
Cooking with kids idea #1 -- DIY strawberry fruit leather
Camp Shine: Get outside idea #1 - Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles