Mayflower Thankfulness Boat {Tutorial + Giveaway}

Thanks to Scotch(R) Double Sided Tape for sponsoring my writing about crafts. Add your comment below to be entered for a chance to win free sample rolls to help with your upcoming holiday needs.

November is such an odd month for decorating, after the Halloween let-down. While I love scattering natural elements throughout the house, like mini gourds, pumpkins, acorns and leaves, sometimes I just feel like making something. With the theme of "thanks" that permeates this season, I decided to create a Thankfulness boat based on the Mayflower.

This is a great craft to do with kids, and it doesn't require much in way of materials, just a paper grocery bag, Scotch tape, copier paper, scissors, a skewer and crayons.

STEP ONE
Cut the bottom off of your paper bag. Save the rest of the bag for using later.

STEP TWO
You will now cut along the seams along the bottom of the bag, which will make the template for your boat.  It should look like this:

Since you don't want to see that label on the side of your boat (unless you want to paint it, then don't bother with the next step), you'll use this piece to trace this same shape onto a logo-free area on some other part of the bag. 

Trace and cut it out.  If you'd like to make more than one boat, you can trace more out of the bag.

  

STEP THREE
Time to fold the boat! Begin by folding it in half 

 Then fold the sides in, following the line where the angle meets the rectangle in the center.

Do the same on the other side so it looks like this:

 

STEP FOUR
Tape the edges closed.  Kids love this part, at least in my experience as an art teacher, they went crazy for tape and staplers.

Layer a few pieces, reinforcing the sides of the boat.  This would work equally well with Scotch Double-Sided tape too.

This would be the time to decorate the boat with crayons, if you wish. It's better to color it when flat.

Next, open up the boat. On the inside of it, flatten out the floor a bit. You might need to fold the inner ends, just to keep it open.

STEP FIVE
On to the sails.  Fold your piece of copier paper in half, 

and draw 2 half-sails, one small and one large.  They should be sized appropriately to your skewer so both will fit.  You can always trim them later to fit.

Cut out the sails

and write "Give" and "Thanks" on them. You could also use these as place cards and write guests' names on them instead.

Poke the skewer through the sails, and if you'd like, add a little colored flag on top.

STEP SIX
Assemble the boat. I filled mine with crinkly paper, but you could use cotton, reindeer moss, or just shredded paper.

Stick the sail into the boat.  For mine, the paper held it in place enough, but you may need to tape it to the bottom of the boat or stick it in a piece of play dough hidden beneath the filler.

I cut out some leaves from the extra paper and wrote some things I was thankful for on them.

This would be nice for kids to do on Thanksgiving, while waiting to eat.  Just cut out a bunch, leave out some crayons and markers, and let them have fun.

 

WIN IT!
And just in case you were interested in scoring some free tape of your own, Scotch 3M is giving away 10 rolls of double-sided tape to 10 randomly chosen winners.
To Enter
Leave a comment letting me know how you'd use your double-sided tape.
Extra Entry: Share this giveaway either via Twitter, your blog, or in a linky and get an extra entry for each step you do. 

You must do the first entry in order to enter ("I want to win, thanks!" comments will NOT be considered). You will have until Wednesday November 10th at 11:59pm EST to enter. The winner will be chosen via random number generator the next day and notified by email. I'll also post the winners on my blog HERE. If I don't hear back from the winner within 72 hours, I'll pick another.

Please learn more about Scotch(R) Double Sided Tape and other Scotch(R) Products, and join the conversation on the Scotch(R) Brand Facebook Page and via Twitter. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.