Native American themed crafts

My friend Courtney is doing a unit study on American Indians. She came up with some unique ideas to make Indian corn necklaces and cornhusk dolls. It reminded me of a craft my dad use to do with us. (Maybe sometime I'll find a picture of my brother and I dressed up in our creations to post.)

Find a paper bag from the grocery store. Usually, they have print on the outside, so you might want to flip it inside out before you get started. So, first step- you have your brown paper bag. Secondly, you cut down the middle of one side, and continue cutting into the bottom of the bag. Cut out a circle in the bottom of the bag (step 3). This will now be the top where a little head will be poking through. Next you need to cut out arm holes on each side (step 4). Cut them high up on the sides and make them large enough for some flexibility. Cut fringe (step 5) along the bottom of the bag (which was once the top, remember). Then decorate!

You might want to make an Indian headband (as shown in the drawing) to go along with the vest. If you do this project, post it on your blog and send me the link, or send me a picture link to post here.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush (Tomie dePaola). I loved to paint then just as much as I do now. This book spurred me to look into the old-fashioned ways of making paint colors.

Another good book (also by Tomie dePaola) is The Legend of the Bluebonnet (my state's flower, and also my favorite!). The illustrations are so beautiful. I'm one of those people who never outgrew children's books because I love the art!

Enchanted Learning has a bunch of neat Native American crafts, like paper towel totem poles, dream catchers, and rain sticks!

I also found this link, which has pretty cool ideas as well. The Indian Leather Painting (also using a brown paper bag) is really cool. I did that when I was a kid as well!