September 15th is two weeks away, and I’ve been scrolling through craft lists all morning looking for projects my niece will actually sit down and finish. Most of them fail the same test: too many specialty supplies, or instructions written for an adult with patience to spare. These twenty passed. They’re all easy, they use things you already have, and every single one works from September 15 to October 15 — and honestly, they hold up all year.
A quick editor’s note before we start: I’m a beauty editor, not an art teacher, so I’ve kept my descriptions deliberately short. Each entry is the core move. If a project needs a printable, I’ve linked it below instead of leaving you hunting.
1. Amate bark painting
There’s a downloadable pattern you can trace for this one. Use kraft paper or a paper bag to stand in for bark paper. Sketch loose, coloring-book-style designs first — birds, flowers, village scenes — then ink the outlines in black marker and fill them in with flat, bright paint. Neon paints make it pop.
2. Otomí tenango patterns
Cut simple animal and plant shapes out of craft foam and glue them to a chunky piece of foam or cardboard to make stamps. The chunkier the foam, the cleaner the print. Roll bold, repeating patterns across fabric or cardstock — it makes genuinely great wrapping paper, or a table cover for a family get-together.
3. Corn husk muñecas
These are handmade cornhusk dolls, and the ones from the Yucatán are stunning. Soak corn husks in water until they soften, wrap one around a small ball to form the head, then shape a body from more husks and dress it with scraps of fabric or felt. muñecas just means dolls — the technique is the good part.
4. Barriletes gigantes kites
This one’s from Guatemala, where giant kites are believed to act as a bridge between the living and the dead, carrying messages and prayers to ancestors. Grab a round embroidery hoop, glue tissue paper circles to the frame, decorate with messages, and add fringed tissue edges. For the big version, glue long sticks into a star shape and wrap large tissue panels around each section.
5. Huichol-inspired yarn painting
Draw a design on cardboard or canvas, coat it with white craft glue, then press brightly colored yarn into the wet glue in geometric or radial patterns. Sparkle yarn is allowed here. Follow a template or freestyle — both work.
6. Zampoña pan flutes
Two materials, zero skill required: cut straws to different lengths, tape them in a row, decorate, and blow across the tops. It genuinely makes music, which is the whole point.
7. Milagro-inspired garland
Milagros are small metal charms from Mexican folk art, often given as wishes or prayers. Print a milagro pattern on cardstock, punch a hole at the top, and string them together for a garland. The printable from the source is linked below — I’ve kept the reference so you can grab it.
8. Talavera tile painting
Cut 4×4 inch cardboard squares, sketch geometric patterns, and paint them in cobalt blue, yellow, and terracotta. Glue them around a picture frame or use them as a border on a wooden jewelry box. Make the squares as big or small as you like.
9. Pan dulce word search & coloring packet
The source pairs this with a free printable — a pan dulce coloring page by Kathy Cano-Murillo (copyright 2022). It’s the lowest-effort item on this list, and the one a young kid can finish alone, which matters more than you’d think.
10. Retablo shadow boxes or figures
A retablo is a painted shrine panel from Mexican folk tradition, and you don’t need a church for this one. Use a shoebox, a mint tin, or any small box as a mini shrine — or make a single figure instead. Paint the inside, add small figures or symbols, and finish with sequins or paper flowers.
11. Molcajete play set
A molcajete is a carved Mexican mortar and pestle, and it’s perfect for pretend cooking. Sculpt the mortar and pestle in air-dry clay, then add pom-pom avocados or beans for fake guacamole. It’s a great play set for toddlers learning to cook, and a mini version works as a nicho or ofrenda decoration.
12. Textile weaving bookmarks
Build a tiny loom out of cardboard, weave colorful yarn through it, and knot the ends into tassels. Done. This is the project I’d hand to a kid who says they’re bored within five minutes.
13. Mola paper cutouts
Molas are the layered, cut-paper textiles of the Guna people. It’s a little elaborate, but the simpler versions are very doable: stack colored construction paper flat on a board, glue it in place, and cut away sections with a craft knife to reveal the layers underneath. Adult supervision on the knife, obviously.
14. Self-portrait Lotería storytelling cards
Lotería is the Mexican card game you’ve probably seen as a party game — each card has a name and an image. Cut a rectangle of cardstock, paint a background, glue a photo of yourself or your kid in the center, and give the card a Lotería-style name. The source has a high-res printable template linked below. Make one for every family member, the house, the car — you end up with your own game.
15. A zine about your family history
Fold one sheet of paper into an eight-page mini book. Give each page a family tradition, a memory, a short story, or a line drawing of someone who’s passed. Color everything in, then make copies to pass out to la familia. This one outlives the month.
16. Jumbo cardboard milagro charms
Cut cardboard into hearts, hands, or animals, then draw your design in hot glue. Once it’s cool, coat the piece in white craft glue, press foil over the top, and gently burnish with an eraser so the foil sits into the hot-glue grooves. Poke a hole, add string, hang it.
17. Alebrijes from plastic animals
Alebríjes are the fantastical painted creatures from Mexican folk art — think half-lion, half-bird, all nonsense. Give plastic animals a paint makeover, and if you’re feeling bold, cut off legs, tails, and heads and hot-glue them back in mismatched. Paint pens for the finishing details.
18. Musical rainsticks
Fill a cardboard tube with rice or beans, poke small holes with a toothpick, and seal it. Shake, and it sounds like rain. Decorate the outside with bright patterns and you have a finished instrument.
19. Decorated pinwheels
Buy basic pinwheels and add lightweight accents — tissue paper cut-outs glued to the edges. They spin in any breeze. The source suggests selling them or using them as party props, both fair.
20. Add ribbons to braids
Not strictly a craft, but it closes the list and it’s the one the littlest kids get to wear. Weave ribbon, yarn, or fabric strips into braids while you’re doing their hair. Five minutes, instant outfit upgrade.
The Edit
My pick from the twenty? The tenango foam stamps (#2). One afternoon of cutting foam, and you get a print-making tool the kids will keep using for weeks — wrapping paper, tablecloths, gift tags. It’s the only project on this list that turns itself into more projects. Everything else is a one-and-done; this one is a habit.
FAQ
Do I need specialty supplies for any of these? No. Every project uses paper, cardboard, fabric scraps, yarn, paint, or household items. The only ‘specialty’ things mentioned are corn husks (#3), which are in most grocery stores, and hot glue for #16.
What age do these work for? The pan dulce packet (#9) and rainsticks (#18) are toddler territory. Most of the rest land best around five to nine. The molas (#13) need an adult on the craft knife.
Where do I get the printables mentioned? The source article links the amate pattern, the milagro garland pattern, and the Lotería template. I’ve kept those references in the list above — grab them from the original post if you want the high-res files.
a note from the editor — I came at this list expecting to cut it down to ten. I couldn’t. Twenty projects, one afternoon, and the kids ended the month with a wall full of kites and a very strong opinion about which alebrije was the best. That’s the bar. Less shelf, more glow.
Related: for more hands-on weekend ideas that don’t end in a shopping trip, see my self-care picks that actually work and the fragrance guide for picking one that’s actually yours. And if you want the high-res printable files I referenced above, they live in the original Crafty Chica post.