I love to craft. However, the mess that the kids make drives me batty. I'm a bit of a clean freak with that stuff. I let the kids paint for a while, but then they start getting out of hand and painting the table, their arms, etc! LOL
I've had great success with these two ideas and hope it may help you. The children will still be proud of their projects. I just bought some pre-cut wooden shapes 5 for 1.00 at AC Moore. Let the children decorate the shapes by coloring with the ever popular markers from Crayola or Rose Art. It only requires a little sanding by you or the kids with fine sand paper or these new sanding sponges you can get at the hardware store. They could also lightly color the shapes with watercolor pencils and then take water and a brush to paint over it. They will be delighted since it will involve painting. Older children can use as much detail as they like.
I'm not sure of the ages of your kids that you want less messy ideas but, here's a couple ideas we have tried when we need less mess! I'm new here so I apoligize if they have been listed already.
Make placemats from colored, torn tissue paper, construction paper and clear contact paper. Rip up the tissue (maybe pick seasonal colors) and have the kids use a glue stick to put tissue onto construction paper, then mom can fold contact paper over front and back - trim and you have a cute placemat. You can also do this with their drawings, photo's etc..
Butterflies made with markers, coffee filters, pipe cleaners and a clothespin. Magnet optional for back. Have child color coffee filter and clothes pin (add wiggle eyes if you want to clothespin) then scrunch the coffee filter in the center, clip with clothespin and a cute butterfly is created. If doing outside - spritz the filter with water to get a tye dye effect.
an addition to the butterflies: instead of clothes pins just use the pipe cleaners to wrap around the coffee filter then leave the two ends sticking up for antena (this is for less weight) then attach string/thread and hang near air vent or fan and when comes on looks like they are flying around.
for the less messy idea : use large flannel backed tablecloth
to cover table when painting when done just hang outside till dry then fold and put away untill next time. with younger kids use vanilla pudding seperate and add food color to get the different colors of "paint" don't know how much less messy this is but clean up is eaiser (when take tablecloth outside just hose off, for that matter you could hose kids off also-LOL!)
As a former pre-K teacher, Amanda, let me say this: it is important that children get some Messy Time.
There is a wonderful series of books called Process Art, which is about doing arts and crafts just for the sake of doing them, for the creativity, without worrying about the end result or what it looks like or even having something to display on the fridge. Just DO. I highly recommend the books.
You say you don't like messes, but I bet the truth of the matter is that you don't like messes IN YOUR CLEAN HOME. That said, think about giving them places they can get messy and creative that YOU can live with. For instance, how about making some soap-based fingerpaint and letting them fingerpaint in the bathtub? If you live in a place that has snow, put some food-coloring-tinted water in spray bottles and let them "paint the snow." Make edible play doh (peanut butter, honey, and powdered milk)... they eat the mess, not leave the mess!
It is important that children learn to control their materials, including paint, glue, glitter, scissors, and so on, and the only way they will learn is to do. I used to have a large Cutting Box in my classroom filled, one child at a time could sit in it and just sit and cut to his heart's content. I'd put old catalogs and the ads from the Sunday paper in it, as well as plain and colored paper of different types. Periodically, I'd have to throw some of it out. But the end result was a group of children who handled scissors beautifully. It was also actually a good time-out place... sometimes when a child is upset, a controlled "destroy" environment is therapeutic.
When children are first exposed to glue, ohh, how they love to squeeze it out, and oh, what a mess and waste! I used to make a goopy solution from cornstarch and water, tinted with food coloring, and give them a washtub with an empty syrup bottle. They'd squeeze it all out and refill it and squeeze it out again, over and over. A glorious mess! And what was the end result? They had the joy of "making a mess" and they learned to control the squeezing process.
The fun of arts and crafts comes with it the responsibility for cleaning up. It is not for them to make the mess and Mom to clean it up. Each child in my class had a sponge with his or her name on it and we learned how to clean things. It's a technique, you know... dip the sponge, squeeze out the excess, scrub/clean, rinse the sponge. Children will want to clean everything in sight, given a bucket and their own sponges. They may not do it to your standards, but it's a very valuable skill to learn.
Thank you so much for your ideas. I especially liked the one about painting snow. I hope we get some snow just to try it. You must be an excellent teacher. Instead of squirt guns in the summer, I let my grandchildren use squirt bottles to get each other wet.
Rani, please don't misunderstand me. I enjoy all the time I get with my kids, and I know that getting messy is a way of learning, I'm not arguing that. But there are times that I would like to not have to hose the entire house down after they are done! LOL
I particularly like the tablecloth idea, I think I will use my old shower curtain for a tablecloth. I'm ready for a new one and this will be a good way to recycle it.
Well, I *was* an excellent teacher, those days are behind me now. But I sure loved it. My kids are way past this now, 15 and 20, and the only person who really makes artistic messes anymore is ME, LOL!
Messy vs. not messy? 
I'm a bit of a clean freak with that stuff. I let the kids paint for a while, but then they start getting out of hand and painting the table, their arms, etc! LOL
But there are times that I would like to not have to hose the entire house down after they are done! LOL
