Making Cards: Tissue Paper Candles

It is great to involve children in meaningful opportunities for writing and creating homemade stationary can be half the fun!

Materials

Tissue paper
Modge Podge glue (you could also dillute white craft glue)
Blank cards (can be purchased at craft, dollar, office or stationary stores) or make your own, folding over pieces of cardstock.
Envelopes
Scissors
Yellow circle stickers or circles of paper (can be purchased at a Dollar or Office supplies store)
Gold Leaf or similar product (optional)
Smock
Craft tray
Paint brush

Directions

Have your child cut strips of tissue paper of various colours.

Apply gold leaf to your circle stickers, following the product directions.

Brush a thin layer of Modge Podge on the front of the blank card. Lay the strips vertically in the glue to create candles. Cover carefully with a thin layer of Modge Podge. We recommended you brush only up and down the strips. Apply another layer of tissue paper strips and glue. Finally apply your circle stickers and cover carefully with a thin layer of glue. Allow to dry overnight.

Be sure to add your child’s name and the year on the bottom corner and share your personalized cards.

Additional Tips:

If your child is learning how to write, ruled paper (with the red and blue lines, often with a dotted centre) can be quite helpful. Have them write on this and glue it in the inside of the card. You can find it in educational stores and often dollar stores. If they need assistance with the letters dot the outline of the letters in a word for them to trace. When they are comfortable forming letters, write out messages that they would like (we would use sticky notes) and have them scribe them onto the paper. When they know the letters and are getting familiar with the letter sounds try working on figuring out the spelling of words together. You could do a practice run on a sticky note and then copy it onto the card. Be sure to use pencil and an eraser- they are a most forgiving tool set! This is what works with our children, do you have any tips that you have found helpful in writing basic messages with children?