Total Time Needed: 1 Hour
These beaded "candles" are a creative way to introduce the seven principles of Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday that begins December 26.
Materials
- 1/2-inch wooden craft cubes
- Red, green, and black acrylic paint
- Small paintbrush
- Glue
- Letter beads
- Yellow oval-shaped bead
- Ribbon
Instructions
- Count out the number of cubes you need for each candle (5 for imani, for example). Paint the wooden cubes in the appropriate colors and let them dry.
- Glue the cubes together, remembering to glue the top cube so that the hole faces out for threading the ribbon (if the cubes don't have holes, you can glue the ribbon between the top two cubes).
- Use the letter beads to glue the name of the principle to the stack of cubes. Glue the yellow bead on top for a flame, thread with the ribbon, and hang.
Tips:
Each principle corresponds with a color and has a Swahili name: unity (umoja: black), self-determination (kujichagulia: red), collective work and responsibility (ujima: green), cooperative economics (ujamaa: red), purpose (nia: green), creativity (kuumba: red), and faith (imani: green).
Crafts
