Tired of Hannah Montana ( an alternative)

[rantinraven]

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3844/cupcakesk.jpg

This is my first picture post here. My oldest daughter is 9 and then I also have a 8yo, and a 6yo daughter. Because of television they are all obsessed with Hannah Montana. I sat down to sculpt yesterday and they were chatting about this accessory of hers or that. They know I don't buy into all the name brand stuff, its very seldom that they get something that is "in". So in trying to give them an alternative yesterday I sculpted these little necklaces. They are super easy, I sculpted them from polymer clay and then fired them in my toaster over. They are presently throwing fits since they just received their finished necklaces. Anyways I just wanted to share what I had done as I said its super easy, so if you want to try let me know and I'll tell you how I did it. Raven

[jen_in_southtexas]

Those are so cute Raven. Nice job.

-j

[TNDadx4]

Very nice!
With 2 daughters, I'd like to know how it's done.

[mtwildflower]

Way cute.

I have five daughters, 21,17,16,14 and 7 months. (and two sons ;-))

I so totally know what you mean about the current fads. We had HM here for oh the smallest amount of time as the now 16 and 14 year olds were getting a bit too old at the time HM was becoming a big hit.

My girls are big into making beads with the FIMO clay and so forth. We always have a good supply of it here.

I like the toaster oven idea though. Hadn't thought of that.

[CarolAnn]

I'm glad you're making pretty things for (and hopefully with) your daughters. There's a lot more fun to be had with something that someone loved you enough to make with their own hands, or to spend the time making it with you than just that purchased stuff.

I've never been a parent, so I don't know if it's possible to do this, but can you use Hanna Montana as a teaching tool to help your girls learn to be more critical of ads aimed at kids? I've seen so many of my sister's kids (and now, their kids) see something on TV and just yearn for it - either they're "damaged forever" because they didn't get it and all the other kids did . . . or they actually got it and discovered that it was NO FUN AT ALL having it, other than bragging rights against the kids who didn't get it.

In particular, I had one nephew who got absolutely every robot and transformer toy, and I'm saying THOUSANDS of dollars of this junk - and he didn't play with them or even look at them much after getting them out of the box. A great niece is now the collector of hundreds of plastic and stuffed horses; she doesn't get anything else for gifts and since she's allergic to real ones, she'll never really grow into something that can give her joy as an adult as actual horse riding might. She's not a happy kid, nor was the boy that got every robot and transformer. Another great niece had 35 Barbie dolls by the time she was three. She had so many presents at that birthday that she cried before she had them all open - she was overwhelmed and tired. She didn't want to be a spoiled brat - but her grown-ups were working hard to try to make her one.

I've seen ads for kids where the children are squealing with joy over the stupidest non-toy junk imaginable. Kids see those happy faces and want that; not the STUFF, the happiness. They just aren't sophisticated enough to know the stuff isn't want caused those children to look happy. (Possibly it was the actor's paycheck . . . or even Stage Mom telling them they'll be rich and famous?) If your children can develop a clear eye to what is going on, it'll be the most valuable lesson they ever get.

[rantinraven]

Thanks everyone for the nice reply's. MTwildflower I am using the sculpy brand but from what I understand it all works the same. Today I will try them out of salt dough. I have the sculpy glaze so I am going to try and gkaze them and give it to the kids to put through the wringer. I will write a tutorial tonight and post for thsoe that want to do them and I have also made some more little things that I will write for as well. Carol Ann i completely agree with you. I know so many kids that get everything and still arent happy. Luckily my kids know we are poor (LMBO). they get new toys only when its birthday or Christmas the rest we make. I home school so there isn't as much pressure to always have the "latest and greatest". We make clothes for the dolls (that we made) and we are constantly trying something different. Every once in a while I wish I could really spend the cash to get them some of the stuff but there are 5 of them so you cant really stretch that far if they all want a 30 dollar toy. I know there have been times when they did get something and were disappointed when it broke not long after. I think they are slowly learning that what we can make is better than what we can buy, at least in most cases.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3754/cupcakes031.jpg

[rantinraven]

Here is the tutorial for making the cupcakes. you can get Sculpey clay in white for under 10 dollars at Walmart. i think it is a 2 pound slab. You can color the clay using food coloring, although if you use this method I strongly suggest mixing it inside a plastic bag. Although I have learned that shampoo removes food coloring really well.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4908064_polymer-clay-cupcake.html

I hope you enjoy the tutorial and have a great time!