Back to School Projects

The ringing of the first day of school bell is fastly approaching and, depending on their age, the mood can range from excitement to dread. 

Why not try to create some on of a kind projects to help build or harness excitement for the new school year.  Somethings are as simple as applying a few stickers while others take a little bit more work.

Try your hand at some of these Back to School projects:
1) Handy Bookmarks

This is a great project for those wary First Day of Schoolers.  Trace around their hand  on a piece of felt and then decorate any which way they would like with Stick-It Felt Stickers.

You can spell your name, choose a subject, or turn it into a turkey. 

If you are inspired, you can create 10 different hands to help teach colors, numbers, or shapes.

2) Pencil Pouch

With just a little bit of glue and some imagination, you can transform a simple 9 x 12 felt sheet into a brand new pencil pouch. 

These look great in our new printed felt designs!



Check out the rest of our project pages to find more fun back to school crafts!

Flag Placemat

Having a fun barbeque this weekend? Why not dress it up by making these Flag Placemats! They are a great way to add Patriotic flair to your table setting!

Star Table Toppers

Looking for an easy AND affordable way to decorate your house for Fourth of July this year?  Why not try your hand at making these dimensional star table toppers!  You can even string them together to make a lovely garland to acccent your barbeque!

Beach Trip Frame

Summer is finally kicking into gear!  Why not commerate your first beach trip with this fun Beach Frame!  It will be a perfect rainy day project!

Fish Bowl Tic/Tac/Toe

This is a fun project to make that gets to be used over and over again!  It is especially helpful on car rides or rainy day!  Just a few sheets of EZ Felt and Stick-It Felt get you on your way to many fun tic tac toe games!

Find out how to make it here!

Puppet Golf Club Cover

With Father's Day coming up in a few weeks, here is a fun Mommy and Me project that gets everybody involved in making something special for Dad!

With one of our adorable puppets and a sock, you can transform a golf club into any fun character you want!

Find out how to make it here.

Memorial Day Project Ideas at FaveCrafts Blog

Check out our first guest blogging experience with our friends over at FaveCrafts!

They are a variety of affordable and fun party decor ideas to get your holiday party off to the right start!

Also, don't forget to set your calender to listen to The New Image Group on FaveCrafts Radio at 7:00 PM this Sunday!

Gear Up for Summertime with Puppet Kit Activities!

We are about to hit those summer months and I don't know about you, but I have been looking for a way to keep my nieces and nephew entertained on our outings.

On a whim, I took some of CPE's felt puppet kits to the park in an effort to keep them entertained after their several trips down the slide and it worked! This got my mind working overtime and I couldn't wait to share some other ideas with you.

Here are some great ideas to use Puppet Kits at the park, zoo, beach, and car rides below:

At the Park: I brought the fairy tales puppet kit with me and transformed the playground area into a magical castle where we needed to save the princess from a witch's curse. It was a great way to get my niece and nephew involved- even playing characters of their own.


At the Zoo:Create a puppet led scavenger hunt trying to find out where each animal lives at the zoo. Use whatever animal you are searching for to help guide you on your journey and tell interesting facts about it at the same time. It also never hurts to create a fun voice for each animal!



Relaxing on the Beach: Using the supplies around you at the beach, create a jungle safari where your cast of critters is looking to find the oasis!





Car Rides: If you have younger children traveling with you and a passenger ready to be puppet master, alternate animals through games of peek-a-boo. When they spot each critter, add the sound it makes to help familiarize them with the noise.

Memorial Day Party Flag Placemats

Are you getting ready for the kick-off of the summer season by throwing a Memorial Day party?  Why not add an extra special touch (and have the kids help out) by making these flag placemats!  They are perfect for your picnic table.  The best part is you can reuse them for Fourth of July!

Find out how to make them here.

Make Mom A Bouquet of Roses!

Mother's Day is just around the corner.  Surprise her with a handmade bouquet of roses! 

Best part, they make a perfect decoration on her desk so she will always have a nice reminder of you :)

Fun Kitchen Playset Project

Have your kids help out in the kitchen by making these simple to create kitchen playset accessories!  From basic fruits to your cooking essentials of milk and any variety of boxes, you can find a wonderful source of inspiration here!

Find out how to make them here.

Spring Cleaning Has Never Looked So Cute!

Show off those memorable bath moments with this Bath Time Frame.  And with all this effort of Spring Cleaning going around, it is a fun reward for all your hardwork!

Get all the steps to make this here.

Fun & Games!

With all these April Showers, I know the kids are beginning to get a little restless.  Help keep them busy with this Squirrel and Acorn Handball Game!  It is a simple felt craft project that will keep the kids occupied on those rainy days.

Find out how to make it here!

Wood Critters!

Looking for a fun way to use Lara's Crafts Unfinished Wood pieces?  Why not try your hand at making these adorable Wood Animals.

Spring has Sprung!

The recent rainy days have reminded me that soon we will have green grass and flowers blooming again just in time for Spring.

Something else that is green, is The New Image Group's True Green initiative with the CPE Felt product line.

Read more about how we are giving back to the environment here.

Writing with a Friend!

Pencil toppers are always a favorite project of mine to do with my nieces and nephews.  They are relatively simple and they last for a long time.

I just love that they have so many places to use them and show them off to their friends.  This weekend, I will be surprising my niece and her friends with all the fixings to make this Bunny Pencil Pal just in time for Easter!

Find out how to make it here.

Avoid Getting Pinched!

If you are like me, it always ends up St. Patrick's Day and there I stand with no green anywhere near me- ending up with the inevitable, dreaded pinch.

Here is an easy way to make sure you have something green within arm's reach of you throughout the day.  Try making these clover clothespins and decorate your desk, office, sweater, etc with them.  This way you are definitely covered for showing off your St. Patrick's Day spirit!

Learn how to make them here.

Get Ready for Easter

With Easter just a few short weeks away, why not try to put a little spin on your Easter Basket this year?  We love this Bunny Treat Cone felt craft idea.  You can set it up a week before Easter and start sprinkling little tid bits in there to get everybody excited for when the Bunny arrives!

Get ready for St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner.  Are you looking for a fun activity with the kids and a little bit of Holiday Decor at the same time?  Well, we have just the project for you.  Try making this Shamrock Garland to help get the house ready for your St. Patrick's Day festivities!

School Spirit

Rally behind your school by creating a special team inspired pennant!  We used our EZ Felt Pennants and Stick-It Felt Shapes to show off our Tiger Pride!

Decorate a Shoe Box Project

Looking for a simple craft project that opens up an almost infinite possibility in creativity?  Why not take an old show box and decorate it?!  One of our favorite crafters, Patrick, created this Valentine's Day box using Stick-It Felt Stickers, Felt Sheets, and his imagination.  What will your project turn into? 

See more images after the jump

Safari Wall Art

I guess we are in a very jungle inspired mood this February as this is our second safari themed project this month!

All you need is some of our adorable and inspiring Wood & Felt characters and paint to help craft the perfect addition to your child's room!

The great thing about it is that it goes great with the Safari Mobile project from earlier this month!

Crafting with a Green Thumb!

We are all doing our part these days to help reduce our carbon footprint and make the world a better place for our future.

The New Image Group has been doing this for years on our own accord.  In fact, all the way back in 1998, we won our first  Manufacturer of the Year award due to our efforts in environmental stewardship.  We have continued on that tradition with our True Green initiative utilizing post-consumer recyclable material.

Read more about it here!

Race Track Project

Did you already make the race car project from earlier this week and are now looking for a track to race on?  Well have no fear!  We have all you need to make the perfect race track for your race cars.  The great thing is that once you are done with it, you can fold it up and put it away without taking up a lot of space!  Make yours this weekend.

Race Car Project Idea

Using some wood from Lara's Crafts, some suncatcher stain from Kelly's Crafts, and felt from CPE, you can turn them into a "speed defying" race car that will entertain children for hours.  They are large enough to fit several different kinds of drivers!

Find out how to make one now!

New Unfinished Wood Signs Available!

Just in time to help get over those winter blues and start looking ahead into Spring, Lara's Crafts has introduced new Unfinished Wood Signs to help get your home, garden, and everywhere in between ready for warmer temperatures and new blooms.

Try them with any of our unfinished wood stakes to get the whole package for your garden!

Safari Mobile

Bring the beauty of our Kelly's Crafts Suncatchers and Lara's Crafts Wood & Felt Characters together in perfect harmony with our Safari Theme Mobile.  

This is an especially fun project for big brothers and big sisters to help work on to welcome their new sibling!

Find out how to make it here! 

Stuck Inside?

These winter storms have gotten everybody bunkered down this week.  Why not use some of those scrap pieces of felt to create a  bunch of these alien pencil toppers?  Once they are made you can create a wonderful story to fly them around the house and whisk away to far away places!

Glimmer Heart Frame!

Here is a simple project to make with your children or for yourself this Valentine's Day!  All you need is a wood frame, some paint, and Stick-It Felt glimmer hearts.

Find out how to make this project here.

Rose Pencil Topper

Looking to give your Valentine a dozen roses this year?  Make them last longer by creating a pencil bouquet of roses with this easy to create Felt Rose Pencil Topper.

Valentine's Day Heart Garland

Love is in the air!  Now you can show off your love of Valentine's Day with this affordable and easy decor option.

This garland can be made in a variety of lengths and colors out of EZ Felt with just some scissors, ribbon, and a hole punch.

Find out how to make it here.

Conversation Heart Pins

Looking for a fun spin on a classic Valentine's favorite?  Let everybody know how you feel about them this Valentine's Day with a fun take on Conversation Heart Candy! 

Take any phrase, place it on a heart shaped pin, and spend your Valentine's Day creating new conversations!

Learn how to make them here.

Winter Time Blues?!

Even though we are based out of South Carolina, we still get the wintertime blues too!

Start spreading Spring-time thinking right before Groundhog's Day with these easy to make Felt Flower Pins. 

Find out how to make them here!

Felt Treasure Chest Project

Looking for a fun activity for the kid's during the winter?  Why not try making this simple to make Felt Treasure Chest!  When they are done they get to stash their treasure in it.  For an extra spin, why not hide your own treasure in it and make a treasure map to go on a scavenger hunt for the afternoon?

Find out how to make it here.

Felt Puppet Pocket Apron

Our Director of Sales made this adorable Puppet Pocket Apron last night and I could not wait to show it off to you guys (modeled by one of our Product Managers!).

Here's how she made it:
1) She cut out the apron piece from a piece of felt sold by the yard using an existing pattern (like an apron you already own!)

2) She stitched the puppets onto the apron leaving the tops open so you can access the pocket.

3) She sewed across the edges with some 1" Grosgrain Ribbon to add a nice finishing detail and added some extra to go over your head and to tie around your back.

The beauty of this is that it can be altered for all shapes and sizes and makes playtime just that much more fun!

ABC Blocks Project

This is a fun craft that can be done in sync with your child's classroom or for a fun learning experience anytime!

My niece had a blast spelling out all the different words she knew when she say these laying around house!

Get instructions for the ABC Blocks here!

New Projects Added!

We just added a few new projects for January!  Check out all the new ideas.  You can make them just as described or add your own spin on them!


Head over to the projects section now!

Handy Felt Bookmarks

With the cold temperatures continuing to climb, try your "hand" at making these simple to make Handy Felt Bookmarks using our EZ Felt and Stick-It Felt Stickers.

All you need is a hand, scissors, and some imagination to get your creativity started!

Find out how to make them here.