9 Cool Craft Ideas for Teens and Tweens

Teenagers need occupying in the holidays too.  We have some craft activities ideas for them.  Check them out in our Craft Activities for Teenagers article.

By the time your child is a teenager, you will know whether arts and crafts is something they are interested in.

If it is, they will already have lots of skills, and may have a favourite craft that they do on a regular basis.

These craft ideas are projects that can easily be adapted to suit your teenagers style, and they are all cool enough for an adolescent stamp of approval.

1. Mobile Phone Case Charms

Most teenagers have a mobile phone these days, and having a charm hanging from the top or bottom of their phone case is a great way to personalise their phone.

The materials are all available from good craft or jewellery making stores, and you should be able to make a complete phone charm for less than $5.

You will need:

• A length of tiger tail wire, twice as long as you would like your charm.
• 3 crimp beads
• A selection of beads or charms
• Flat nosed pliers

To make:

1. Thread the tiger tail wire through one of the cutouts in your mobile phone case. You’ll find there are cutouts on the top, sides and bottoms of most phone cases. Then pull the wire through so that the two ends are equal.
2. Slide a crimp bead over both ends of the wire, and pull it up towards the latch as far as you can go. Use your flat nose pliers to crimp the bead into place.
3. Thread beads and charms onto one side of the wire, and finish with a crimp bead. Flatten the crimp to hold all the other beads in place.
4. Repeat step 3 with the other piece of wire, and you are done.

2. Junk Mirror

Junk mirrors are so much fun to make, and they cost next to nothing.

Either use an existing framed mirror, or get some mirror cut at your local glass repair shop and mount it on to board. You can usually find old mirrors at secondhand stores, and recycling outfits. Recyclers are also great for finding little treasures to use too.

Use a hot glue gun or silicone glue to stick on charms, trinkets and ‘junk’ from around the house, or that you salvage from the recyclers. You can either follow a theme, or put on a random selection of your favourite things. You can also try spray painting all the items one colour, like gold or silver, before gluing them on for a great effect.

Some great items to use are:

• Buttons
• Old Keys
• Coins
• Beads
• Broken Glass
• Playing Cards and Counters
• Stickers
• Bottle Caps and Tags
• Ribbon and Lace
• Old CD’s

If you don’t have a mirror, you can decorate a plain photo frame in the same way. These can make really cute gifts for friends.

3. Polymer Clay Drawer Knobs

Teenagers can seriously funk up their room by making fun and unique drawer knobs for their dressing table or desk. It really is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

You will need:

• Existing drawer knobs, or new plain knobs (available from hardware stores)
• Quick set, air drying, polymer clay (available from DIY stores and craft shops)
• Acrylic semigloss paints and brushes
• Beads and charms for decoration (optional)

To make:

1. Mix, or knead the polymer clay together by following the instructions on the packet. Then mold the clay around the drawer knob. You may find it easier to remove the drawer knobs, but it can also be done without removing them.
2. You can mold the clay into any shape you like, geometric, love hearts, or even just organic with beads and charms pushed in for texture. The geometric shape in the image above is made by pressing the clay into a roundish shape. Then slicing edges from the clay once it has dried.
3. Once the clay is set hard, use acrylic paints to decorate. You can try them all one colour, or different shades of the same colour, or even tape off part of each knob and do them in contrasting colours.

These drawer handles are so much fun to make. Chances are your teen will start making knobs for every cupboard and drawer in the house… hmmm!

4. Ribbon and Bead Bookmark

This bookmark makes a really nice gift, and can be made to look quite different depending on the beads and ribbon you choose.

There are all sorts of ribbons available with teenage themed words, pictures and symbols, and all the materials are available from good craft shops or jewellery supply stores.

You will need:

• 2 x Cone End Caps (Jewellery Findings)
• 1m Tiger Tail Wire
• Wire Cutters
• Flat Nose Pliers
• Small packet of Crimp Beads
• Selection of Beads
• 30cm ribbon

To make:

1. Cut off approximately 10cm of tiger tail wire and fold it around one end of your ribbon, to make a loop.
2. Thread both tails of the wire through a crimp, and slide the crimp up as far as you can to secure the loop around the ribbon. Press the crimp flat using your flat nosed pliers.
3. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 with two more pieces of wire.
4. Thread all your wire tails through the cone end cap, and pull it hard to hold it in place. Slide a crimp over 2 tails of wire at a time, and press the crimps flat right at the base of the cone. This will form the tassel.
5. Thread your beads onto the wire strands, and finish with a crimp to hold them in place.
6. Repeat Steps 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 at the other end of your ribbon, and your bookmark is complete.

5 more quick and easy craft ideas

• Decorate a plain cork notice board to make a great message centre for school notices, photographs, certificates and notes.
• Glue photographs and embellishments onto old CDs. Drill a hole in the top of each one, and loop them together with a ribbon or metal ring to make a truly unique photo album.
• Mosaic over rocks or old gumboots to make great looking garden art.
• Have your favourite photographs printed onto material, then stitch them together to make a pillow, quilt, or bag. Most copy centres can copy photographs onto canvas while you wait.
• Make a great mobile by stringing together a whole heap of old CD’s or records. It looks particularly good hanging in the sun.

We hope you found these cool craft ideas for teenagers inspiring, for more great ideas check out our Activities for teens section.