"Prayer Journal" Craft Kit
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This is a GREAT craft kit, but think about a few things...
1. It is a 2-class thing or an all-day thing, you can't just do it in an hour because the glue needs to dry.
2. Don't know who said to use hot glue, but Elmer's or Tacky Glue is fine and dries clear. You don't have to worry about making it even or anything, let the kids pile it on and the foam will stick! Note: glue sticks will not work!
3. Dip the end of the string in clear nail polish an hour or so before class to make it stiff enough to thread easily.
4. Me and my 72 year old mom were able to string a book together in 5 minutes or less per book, and complete a book in 45 minutes. It's not that hard!
To make it easier in class and to save time, we pre-made the books and let the kids just decorate the crosses, and after the crosses dried we put them on the books.
If you have to do this in class in one day or session, make the crosses first, then string the books, then glue the letters on the books - make enough space for the crosses - then glue the decorated crosses in place. This way you don't have to worry about messing up the letters while decorating the crosses on the book covers, etc.
I don't even think the words "Prayer Journal" are even needed because the crosses are so pretty. Feel free to just skip that part if it takes up too much time or stresses you out.
Also, don't worry about the string for the bookmark, if you run out or don't leave enough, just use some of the extra string or a ribbon.
The paper is thin, recycled I think, so we made labels on our computer with basic prayers on them and let the kids stick them in the book and told them to write in whatever else they wanted.
For the price I can't imagine having all the pieces for any cheaper, and the kids got more out of decorating the crosses than I think they would have had we rushed to do the whole thing in class!
February 13, 2011
Nice for the price
Got these for VBS. I pre-strung the ones for the smaller kids, and I didn't have the problems some others reported. I could do a dozen in an hour, easily. Just wrap the ends of the string with some scotch tape to make an aglet, and they thread really easily. Used a toothpick to punch through some of the places where the holes weren't completely perfect. Printed labels for the little kids with the verses on them, had the bigger ones write them for themselves. Great for the price!
January 31, 2012
Great Kit
I agree with Reggi's review. Great kit but hard to thread. Wish I had thought of the clear nail polish idea. We slightly melted the end of the string with a lighter to make it easier. Tried it out with my 4 & 5 grade Sunday school class. Plan on using it at church summer camp. Took 2 classes for that age to complete the project. Very nice when completed.
May 5, 2011
Patience is needed
Liked the idea of giving kids a prayer journal of their own. But it was hard for them to thread the string and the letters didn't stick on very good.
November 13, 2010
Great Value
These can be used for so many things. Easy to assemble.
August 30, 2010
ok purchase
We let the older kids make these. They really wanted to make them. It would have been nice instead of having to glue everything if there was some self adhesive to attach things. The lacing was very hard to do also. I only recommend these for older students.
August 9, 2010
The foam letters were small and did not stick well with the hot glue. THey kept coming off and the decorations for the cross were really hard to hot glue. We finally gave up and used permant markers to write and draw on them. The paper did need to have lines on it also
June 6, 2010
You get what you pay for
The prayer journals are more work than I thought. They are cute when finished. I don't see this as a child project. Can be messy because of all the glue. Will serve it's purpose.
November 1, 2009
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