crafty moms: need some help re: glue guns

[tmarie]

we're having dd#1's 5th bday party here in a couple of weeks. it's a faux slumber party and we're doing pizza and cake, little mani/pedis, and then i wanted to do a craft, then freeze dance if we have time. for the craft i thought it would be fun to make flower hair clips or head bands...but i don't even own a glue gun, so i don't know if this is feasible. if we use a glue gun (or other strong glue...i'm open to suggestions!), would the materials dry fast enough for the girls to take them home? the party is only lasting a couple of hours. i found a utube video that describes how to use silk flowers and little metal clippies to make a cute barrette/hair clip. but it said to let them dry for 24 hours!

my other idea was to decorate flip flops, but i thought this could get costly, more time intensive, and again, we'd have to worry about glue drying, right?

any ideas would be appreciated! i'm pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff!

tmarie

[infomama]

Take pictures of each attendee with your Dd when they arrive (maybe by some balloons or something). Decorate frames (lots of ideas online to do this) and insert the photo of the two of them into the frame. Someone runs up to a photo kiosk as the frames are being decorated to print the digital pictures. I would just use elmers or the like as shuffling around to all the kids with a glue gun will be tough (and they have to be plugged in, they get hot...you get the idea). Just choose embellishments to match the party theme.
Acts as a favor, too!

[misshollygolightly]

Glue gun glue hardens practically instantly--you wouldn't have to worry about the crafts not being "dry" in time. But,a as a pp mentioned, glue guns are hot and would require lots of supervision. You can buy "low-temp" glue guns (which is definitely what I'd recommend in your circumstance). They are cheap, easy to use, and somewhat safer with less risk of burns. I don't have a really good sense of what 5 year olds are capable of in terms of using glue guns or doing craft projects, but as an easy alternative, I'd strongly recommend using "glue dots": http://www.gluedots.com/display/router.aspx?DocID=743

You can find these at most any craft store and many office supply type places. They work sort of like double-stick stickers but they are *much* stronger. There is no "drying" time. Very easy to use and not messy at all! Should work for the types of crafts you're imagining, I think.

[tmarie]

Glue gun glue hardens practically instantly--you wouldn't have to worry about the crafts not being "dry" in time. But,a as a pp mentioned, glue guns are hot and would require lots of supervision. You can buy "low-temp" glue guns (which is definitely what I'd recommend in your circumstance). They are cheap, easy to use, and somewhat safer with less risk of burns. I don't have a really good sense of what 5 year olds are capable of in terms of using glue guns or doing craft projects, but as an easy alternative, I'd strongly recommend using "glue dots": http://www.gluedots.com/display/router.aspx?DocID=743

You can find these at most any craft store and many office supply type places. They work sort of like double-stick stickers but they are *much* stronger. There is no "drying" time. Very easy to use and not messy at all! Should work for the types of crafts you're imagining, I think.

OMG--I actually have some of those! I didn't realize they were so strong. I'll have to do a test run and see if they hold the flowers, if in fact I attempt that craft. Thanks!!

[tmarie]

Take pictures of each attendee with your Dd when they arrive (maybe by some balloons or something). Decorate frames (lots of ideas online to do this) and insert the photo of the two of them into the frame. Someone runs up to a photo kiosk as the frames are being decorated to print the digital pictures. I would just use elmers or the like as shuffling around to all the kids with a glue gun will be tough (and they have to be plugged in, they get hot...you get the idea). Just choose embellishments to match the party theme.
Acts as a favor, too!

That's a great idea too! I will look at frames when I go to the craft store tomorrow. Thanks!!

tmarie

[daisymommy]

Going along with the picture frame craft idea, you could also get those little containers filled with stick on jewels/gems, or foam hearts, flowers, butterflies, etc. You just peel the backing off and stick it all over the frame (about $1 for a wooden one). You can find all of these things at a craft store. Then the project becomes totally child made.

I do have to admit though, I like the idea of hair clips and headbands, but you do have to be very careful about kids not getting burned with the glue gun. There is always the option of you doing it at a table, and each girl coming to you one by one to have their flowers glued on. But then you are doing the craft, and not really them.

[misshollygolightly]

OMG--I actually have some of those! I didn't realize they were so strong. I'll have to do a test run and see if they hold the flowers, if in fact I attempt that craft. Thanks!!

Be sure to come back and let us know if the glue dots end up working for your project--it'd be good to know for sure. I've used them on somewhat similar projects before (I think I used them to adhere a silk flower to a journal, for instance), but never actually for hair clips. Hope you find something that works for you!

[MamaSnoo]

I love the idea of the glue dots. I will try that out with DD soon! I did not even know those existed. I love the idea of minimal cleanup, because it could be a really short term project in terms of time (both for her attention span and my clean-up time).

[tmarie]

Going along with the picture frame craft idea, you could also get those little containers filled with stick on jewels/gems, or foam hearts, flowers, butterflies, etc. You just peel the backing off and stick it all over the frame (about $1 for a wooden one). You can find all of these things at a craft store. Then the project becomes totally child made.

I do have to admit though, I like the idea of hair clips and headbands, but you do have to be very careful about kids not getting burned with the glue gun. There is always the option of you doing it at a table, and each girl coming to you one by one to have their flowers glued on. But then you are doing the craft, and not really them.

That's a really good idea and good point about us essentially doing the craft. I only scheduled the party for 2 hrs, and we have pizza, cake, pedicures (which I'm guessing could take A WHILE), and freeze dance. My dd begged me to buy those plastic mircrophones at Target last night, so that they could pretend they're Hanna Montana and sing while they dance. So I guess my concern is that the craft needs to be pretty quick! I also found a box of rock star bracelets that come with foam and jewel stick ons at Target...so the craft could be sticking on those little jewels and then they have a bracelet..and then it sort of goes along with the rock star activity!

[tmarie]

Be sure to come back and let us know if the glue dots end up working for your project--it'd be good to know for sure. I've used them on somewhat similar projects before (I think I used them to adhere a silk flower to a journal, for instance), but never actually for hair clips. Hope you find something that works for you!

Well, I tried it last night and the glue dots didn't work, but they were glue dots for memory books, so I'm assuming they weren't the right strength. Instead I used tacky glue. Here is how my sample turned out. My dds LOVE it, in fact they are fighting over it as we speak.
I wish I could figure out how to paste a photo to show you all how they turned out!

tmarie