More than one billion Colorforms sets have been sold since the ’50s. They started with basic geometric shapes, then moved on to branded playsets.
vintage crafts for kids
Do you remember Shrinky Dinks? They were DIY crafts that could be made by coloring on a plastic sheet, cutting out the various shapes, and then shrinking them down using heat.
This easy-to-make vintage cardboard dollhouse is a project that can grow with your children! Here’s how you can make it – along with tips for cute ways to decorating the little play house.
Back in the late sixties, a small company started selling these vintage Make-A-Plate kits, which were a huge hit with kids, parents and teachers. What better gift for mom or grandma than a one-of-a-kind melamine plate featuring a child’s artwork?
These vintage Rig-a-Jig toy sets were popular back in the fifties, and were sort of a hybrid of TInkertoys, Lego and an Erector Set. See how they worked, and what you could create with them, here!
Folk-art painted furniture: Upcycle & renew furniture with tips from famed vintage artist Peter Hunt
For decades, artist Peter Hunt specialized in upcycling furniture and found objects by renewing them with colorful peasant designs. Here are examples of his work, and tips for how you can create your own folk-art painted furniture!
Artist Peter Hunt was known for his colorful peasant-style folk-art paint designs. He insisted that everyone – even people who couldn’t draw a straight line – could create these whimsical designs, using the simple techniques he explains here.
Find some elegantly vintage Easter egg crafts and artsy inspiration right here! The ideas may be old, but they’ll probably seem new to you.
Here’s a cute way to upcycle an old milk carton (or even a similar juice carton). See how you can build it with this craft idea from the 1960s!
With this easy vintage DIY puffy happy face pin project, it’s easy to put on a happy face, a funny face, or any kind of face you fancy with soft, cuddly cotton creatures!
These pretty and old-fashioned paper Christmas ornaments are so easy to make, kids and adults can work on them together! As a bonus, they’re very cheap to create. Get directions and diagrams here.
This creative collection of ideas came from Crayola, the famous crayon maker, back in the 1950s. They suggest some simple old-fashioned ways for kids to have quiet fun at home with crayons and paper.
Looking for a fun and creative holiday project that’s a little different? Check out these crafty and cute vintage Christmas decorations, based on ideas popular back in the sixties.
Find out how to make these colorful Christmas decorations: Translucent Tissue paper stained glass art panels to make your rooms blaze with jewel-toned light.
From homemade ornaments to DIY candy crafts, this collection of retro Christmas trimmings and craft ideas will give you some new ideas for old-fashioned holiday fun!
You can make these super easy wax & tissue paper flowers for Christmas or any time of year! This vintage craft uses basic supplies, but creates a surprisingly beautiful result!
Remember apple head dolls – an early American craft with folk art roots that was popular again in the ’60s and ’70s? Find out how to make these shrunken apple dolls, and more about the art of dollmaking.
As long as there have been kids, there have been _bored_ kids. For parents in the ’60s, one magazine offered these great old-fashioned ways to have fun.
Here are some easy, clever & cute vintage pasta crafts that you can make, including a pineapple that would make a great centerpiece, and some pretty dried noodle trees.
Here’s a whole year’s worth of cute printable retro calendar icons that you can even print or save to use to make your own planner or calendar!
Don’t toss your old metal cans – make them into something delightful, like these retro-style night lights with your own punched patterns!
Bake an overnight bag for the Easter bunny, and something to put in it: An adorable retro-style salt dough Easter bread basket!
Find out how to make some sweet vintage Easter egg crafts for spring – everything from bunny-decorated eggs to lacquered lace eggshells.
Want to make natural Easter egg dyes the old-fashioned way? Find out how to use roots, berries, herbs and vegetables to color eggs for a vintage-style celebration.
A terrarium is not only easy and fun to put together, it’s a snap to care for. Here are several vintage ideas to help you make your own!
Learn to macrame with the classic technique to create some vintage-style projects – a plant hanger, a belt, basket-style coasters & an owl wall hanging – from macrame’s ’70s heyday.
Use an old milk or juice carton, wax and ice to make a fancy-looking DIY milk carton candle! It’s inexpensive, and the directions are easy enough for a kid to follow.
Incredible Edibles, the candy-making Thingmaker counterpart, said that their Sooper Gooper would mold sugarless liquid Gobble Degoop into chewy gumdrop-like morsels in 4 flavors. Here’s how it worked.
Vintage Thingmaker toys were pretty basic – but so fun. Fill a mold with colorful plastic goo, then heat it up. The result: rubber bugs… and flowers, dragons, monsters, cars and more.
The vintage Spirograph toys let you create millions of colorful, startlingly beautiful extraordinarily intricate designs in infinite variety – all you needed were pens, paper and the kit’s plastic gears and wheels. Take a look!
Here’s how to make salt dough – also called baker’s clay – to craft creative Christmas ornaments at home! It’s easy to stir up a batch, and makes getting into the holiday spirit extra fun.
With a few cardboard boxes and some aluminum foil, you can make robot costumes that will be the hit of the party. Some easy-to-make masks of aluminum foil will help to make each costume a little different.
Holly Hobbie was the old-fashioned girl dressed in calico with lace-up boots and an enormous sunbonnet who appeared on everything from curtains to clothing.
Here’s how you can make vintage stained-glass style Christmas ornaments from hard candy! This crafty project is probably easier than you’d think.
People of all ages will love these cute vintage Christmas cookie houses, which can be made easily and inexpensively. See examples and get directions here!
Christmas toy cookies for kids of all ages 44 fabulous designs, from drums to choo-choo trains… fun to bake, even more fun to eat! Christmas
When you joined this Young Model Builders Club back in the 1960s, with each kit, your child would get a booklet outlining the history and development of the original car or other object upon which the model was based
This retro-style bulletin board is framed by satiny stars, clouds, and moon crescents is guaranteed to add a soft touch to your room.
What better use to make of those big, clumsy cartons that once held ar new refrigerator or range? Make a fun toyland for the kids with these creative DIY cardboard box fort & playhouse ideas!
Get crafty and recycle to create party decorations! Gathered kitchen ‘trash’ – and with a tiny bit of cash, make some props for your next big bash.
Say “I love you” with your heart and hands. You can do it. All it takes are a few odds and ends and some Elmer’s glue.
Stocking stuffers are child’s play These Christmas stocking stuffers decorated by the children for mom and dad show how deodorant cans can be used for
Preserving autumn leaves It is very natural that one should wish to preserve permanently the bright-colored beauty of the leaves of fall; and many are
Spider webs are amazing creations and fun to collect Watch nature’s most gifted spinners weave. Know a collector’s delight in finding and mounting their silken
Fashions for fun – with teen jive! America’s feminine teenagers, who have acquired a reputation as inventors of their own fashion fads — plus their own colorful
There is never a boy child who does not love to play soldier. The young soldier will be happier if he has a soldier cap. Either of the paper ones represented here in reduced size will answer the purpose.
Model kits: Build guided missile ships… jet planes (1956) with Revell Authentic Kits from Woolworth’s U.S.S. BOSTON, first Guided Missile Cruiser, built 1955. Revell model
Idea factory: Color a bird Johnny drew a bird for grandma to put up in her kitchen Idea factory: Paper flowers Jackie colored paper
