Random Act of Kindness Craft

Have you ever read something and had only part of the information stick in your brain?

I experienced that just this week.

I saw something on the Internet about the Random Acts of Kindness Day. And that it was sometime next week.

My thoughts starting whirring about crafts that I could do with my granddaughters who would soon be coming for a visit. I finally decided on one.

I busily prepared the craft. I was happy as a clam.

My granddaughters came today and we had a great time together making this craft.

Before I started writing this post, I wanted to know exactly when the Random Act of Kindness Day was so that I could share it here with you, Dear Readers.

I googled it.

The Random Act of Kindness Day is the 17th — of February! So my brain absorbed the fact that the day was on the 17th but didn’t realize that it was in February!

Regardless when the day is, it is always good when children are encouraged to be kind to others.

Oh well.

(NOTE: I’m adding this little addendum on November 12 which is 4 days after I wrote this post. I just learned that World Kindness Day is November 13. THAT is probably what I saw and my muddled pea brain thought of Random Act of Kindness Day. Sigh . . . )

So.

My idea for the random act of kindness craft was for my granddaughters to paint rocks, add kind words, and then hide the rocks for someone to find.

With that in mind, here are the items that you need:

• Spray paint
• Scissors
• Foam brush
• Dishwasher safe Mod Podge
• Acts of Kindness printable printed on a laster printer

I realized that I didn’t have the Mod Podge included in the picture above. Yikes! It is critical that you see it because it is a special Mod Podge. It’s not the ordinary run-of-the-mill orangish-redish label. No siree, Bob!

You need to have the dishwasher safe Mod Podge. (I’ll explain why in a minute.)

Here’s a picture of the poor, neglected Mod Podge.

Ready to do the random act of kindness craft? Great! Let’s get going.

Since we own 2 acres out in the countryside, and since our 2 acres has a plethora (yes, a plethora!) of rocks, I merely went outside and got some rocks out in the garden.

Since those rocks were in the garden, they had dirt on them. So I had to scrub them. And scrub. And scrub.

If you get your rocks from a craft store (you lucky rascal, you), you probably can skip this step.

When your rocks are ready, it’s time to paint them.

I know that some people have painted their rocks using acrylic paint. However, I felt that our time today would be too limited to paint all of the rocks with acrylic paint and wait for it to dry.

I decided to spray paint the rocks before my granddaughters came.

I took the rocks outside to paint them. The gold paint went on beautifully.

Let’s pause now for a moment and talk about paint.

In the picture of the supplies, you might have noticed that I had a can of gold spray paint and one of yellow. These were the colors I already had on hand.

I don’t know what was wrong with the yellow paint but it came out in watery splotches. (Yes, yes, I shook the can. Really good.) Maybe that paint was too old. I dunno.

Regardless, it was awful. I threw the can away.

I got out a can of pink paint which I also had on hand. It went on wonderfully. Sweet!

I sprayed one coat on the rocks and let it dry. I sprayed another coat and let that dry. I turned the rocks over and painted those sides with 2 coats.

Now the rocks were ready for when my granddaughters came!

Here’s a picture of the free printable for the graphics. You’ll want to make sure that it is printed on a laser printer. If it’s printed on an ink jet printer, the ink could smear when you cover the graphics with Mod Podge.

These graphics are one-and-a-half inches in diameter. (You’ll need to make sure that your rocks are big enough for them.)

Have your grandkids rough cut around the ones that they want to use. (Remember, a rough cut is where you don’t cut exactly on the lines of the graphic. You cut about 1/4th of an inch away from the edge of graphic.)

Have your grandkids spread a good coat of dishwasher safe Mod Podge on a rock.

Then, press the graphic firmly down onto the rock.

Cover the graphic with a coat of Mod Podge.

When that coat is dry, spread another coat over the graphic. Let it dry.

Voilá! Your random act of kindness craft is finished.

Help your grandkids decide where they want to hide their kindness rocks. Maybe at a park or library. If it’s somewhere outside, THAT’S why you needed the dishwasher safe Mod Podge. If the rock gets wet, the paper design won’t get ruined.

Maybe they could put a rock in a friend’s desk or in her backpack at school.

The main thing is to hide the rock without being seen!

Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day — even if won’t be for another 4 months!