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Glasswork in Nairobi

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enviro19More glass from around the world. This stop is Kenya, where our President here in the US has family. The glass shop is in Nairobi, opposite the Nairobi National Park. It’s the Kitengela Glass Studio and they make some absolutely wonderful work. There are beads and jewelry and blown glass and mosaic work and stained glass. It’s more like, what don’t they have? the concept for the studio is inspiring. They use recycled materials, give back to their community, offer scholarships, help fund the local orphanage among other things. They are an example of all that is right in how a studio can be run.

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The founder of the glass facility is Nani Croze and her and her family have created a community of artists that make amazing art, are paid fair wages and give so much back to their community while being conscientious to their surroundings and environment. Check out they’re web site and see about a Nairobi glass vacation!

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Printable Houses to Use as Christmas Decorations

I guess this isn’t exclusively a kid’s craft or learning activity (though cutting and folding are great for developing fine motor skills!) but I think kids would love having some of these printable holiday houses around the house or classroom to play with in the holiday season. Because they’re made of paper, they’re inexpensive to make, and while there is assembly involved the results are well worth the work.

If you have a cutting machine you can use the cut files from Delia Creates to make making your own paper village that much easier. She actually cut out all her buildings in different colors of card stock and used them to decorate a wreath, but you could also put them on the mantle or on a low table for kids to play with. Make a whole small world scene complete with fake snow, little characters and other elements, and kids are sure to start making their own stories to go with the setup.

This set of houses is printed and cut out using a craft knife. It’s meant to be an advent calendar, with each of the buildings numbered and you can stick a treat inside. But you could also just play with the buildings! You can get a free download of four buildings from Little House on the Corner, or head to the post to see where you can buy the whole set.

The Mavelo website isn’t in English, but their printable gingerbread house template is super cute to use as a gift box or to play with. If you need the instructions the website is in Polish but Google Translate seems to do a pretty good job.

Bora Illustrates has an adorable little house to print, cut and assemble featuring a cat, bird and gingerbread person. You could probably print it in black and white and have your kiddo color it, too.