I Hate Crafts

I do. Truly. I know, I do several "craft-y" things myself, particularly knitting and sewing, but they don't seem like "crafts" to me. I'm thinking about the kid's painting, cutting, gluing, glitter, "making"-type crafts. You know, the ones that involve:

1. a huge mess
2. loads of materials
3. several perfectionist children who all want help doing their thing all at the same time
4. a huge mess
5. an inordinate amount of time
6. massive amounts of room to dry/harden/store said crafts
7. a huge mess that I have to clean up

Problem: my kids love crafts. Excuse me, they LOVE crafts. They don't care much what kind, as long as there is some kind of "making" involved. So, I've been looking for crafts that they like and that I can cope with without committing some gross sin against the Lord. So, top three Kelly-style crafts for kids:

1. Paperclip necklaces. We made these yesterday. Took half an hour, no drying or mess, and when I start finding little paperclips scattered about, I'll commandeer them for my own intentions.
2. Rubbings. Leaves, coins, flowers, almost anything can be rubbed with crayon and paper. Why have I never thought of this before? I mean, Abigail's almost 7! And it can easily feature in our nature studies for school...
3. Finger print drawings. We've made turkeys, people, chicks, flowers, etc. They like it because it's one of the rare times they are actually allowed to put stuff on their hands, and I like it because the mess is still minimal and we actually use some of the stamping inks I just had to have.

So there you have it. Anyone else have an excellent idea to share? We're all ears!

Oh, and respect to Mum, who spent more than any sane person's fair share of crafting with the girls. They had a ball, and I kept well out of the way (hiding in the sewing room). Thanks, Mum!