By SANDI GENOVESE
Scripps Howard News Service The best craft projects for kids are quick, easy, inexpensive and don't require a lot of adult supervision. Consider rubber-band books.
Rubber-band books are simply small stacks of colored paper that are folded in half with a rubber band slipped over the folded edge as the book binding.
I quickly discovered that hair bands work as well as rubber bands, and both types of elastic bindings are available in many different colors and sizes.
I found rubber bands at stationery and office-supply stores and both plain and decorated hair bands at Target and Wal-Mart as well as beauty-supply stores and drugstores.
In addition, I was able to recycle rubber bands that held asparagus and other foods in the grocery store for environmentally friendly bookbindings.
Select the rubber band. Then trim the paper so that its width is just a hair wider than the band.
Avoid over-stretching the band to prevent it from wearing out. Hair bands are more resilient than rubber bands, but will also wear out if stretched too far. A bonus feature of rubber bands is their ability to be decorated and customized.
I chose a silver marker to create the look of a checkered trim on a black rubber band and a permanent red marker to create polka dots on a pink rubber band. If the rubber band is fairly wide, it can also be decorated with rubber stamped designs.
Decorate the book cover with stickers, die cuts, rubber stamps or drawings that coordinate with the theme of the book.
Rubber-band books make good journals, diaries, address books, sketch books, autograph books and scrapbooks for all occasions.
They are perfect as party favors and can be pre-made or created by the kids as one of their party activities. Record each of the gifts your child received at his party, with a photo and short journal entry, in a birthday book.
When the party is over and it's time to write thank-you notes, it's easy to pair up guests with gifts, even if the present has disappeared or fallen apart.
If you and your kids are looking for a surefire way to stave off summer boredom, consider these pint size books that require only a handful of rubber bands, a stack of colored paper and a sticker or two. What could be easier?
