Thankful Tree

November 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

We do crafts on Thanksgiving.

Last year we made a Turkey with an apple.

This year I needed to combine our home craft with a project for my son’s class.

We made the Thankful Tree.

It’s very simple.  All you will need is a tan piece of felt, 5 paint colors, and a sponge.

Now get the fingers ready for some leaves!

After you have added enough leaves take a step back and admire.

I added the Happy Thanksgiving to our final project.

Extremely simple and inexpensive!

I am making about 23 of these tomorrow with a kindergarten class and then again with family members on Thanksgiving.

Filed Under: Crafts, Holiday, Kid Crafts Tagged With: , , ,

How to make a Muppet Wreath

October 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

It started out as a great idea.

But now I am not so sure.

I like an aspect of the wreath but I am unsure with the final result.

Either way, here we go.

DIY Muppet Halloween Wreath*

Here is a way to spice up your decor this Halloween and if you are really talented yours will look better than mine.

Supplies:

Styrofoam wreath

Two styrofoam balls (I bought eggs and then halved them)

Craft paint

Hot glue

3 Muppet Boas

Straight Pins

Paint your eyes on the balls and allow to dry

Begin wrapping the fur around the wreath.  Hot glue the end of the Boa to the underside and begin wrapping.

Hot glue random wraps to help it stay in place

After all have been wrapped

Now comes the part that I am torn on and I will probably change in the coming weeks.

I attached the eyes with straight pins. I pushed the flat end into the ball and the sharp end into the wreath.  This way the eyes stay in place but can be removed easily.

Eye options

After placing the eyes in the fur my husband pointed out the obvious.

Something is missing.

So I added teeth

Hmmm…Still not sure….

The teeth are made of felt and are only held in place with a few straight pins. This will allow me to remove them quickly without destroying the fur.

I am undecided on the final product however I really do like the wreath.

Another option for this type of wreath is to use feather boas. They look fantastic however they are fairly pricey and I am pretty cheap.

I hope you give this a shot and if your result is much better than mine, which I don’t doubt it will be, feel free to send me a link!

*No muppets were harmed in the making of this wreath




Filed Under: Crafts, DIY, Kid Crafts Tagged With: , , , ,

Floating Paper Mache Balls

August 19, 2012 by 2 Comments

Occasionally I come up with crafts for the boys to do in their free time.

If it is interesting enough they don’t ask to watch TV or play video games for at least 30 minutes.

A few of these include

Splatter Painting

Melted Crayons

Make your own Creeper

This week we made paper mache art and decided to hang it.

It was supposed to look like balls but because it was made on balloons they have an egg shape.

First Step:

Get your supplies ready.

 These included shredded newspaper, paper mache mix, and balloons. (Paper mache recipe: Flour and Water.  Get the consistency creamy. Not too thick and no lumps)

Second:

Dip the strips into the mache mix and layer on the balloon.  You do not want to see any balloon color peeking out anywhere.

Third:

Dry. Dry. Dry.  Make sure the ENTIRE thing is dry.

Also – DO NOT POP THE BALLOON.  If the paper mache is painted it will collapse without the balloon inside.

Fourth:

Once the balls are dry you can begin your base paint.

My boys and I did a white base coat.

Fifth:

After the base coat has dried then start the color painting.

We used simple craft paint that we had on hand.

I realize that he isn’t painting with the colors yet BUT they are in the picture…

Sixth: 

DRY DRY DRY.

Once it is dry either give it a coat of Mod Podge or Spray a coat on…There is Spray Paint Modge now and I LOVE IT.

Seventh:

After the craft has dried from the paint and Mod Podge, POP THE BALLOON.

Then figure out if you want to hang your art work.  We chose to hang ours and I decided to use buttons and hot glue them into the opening of the balloons.

Eighth:

Hang and admire.

I made my own yesterday because my children didn’t like my idea so I needed to quench my crafty craving.

My kids love them and my seven year old said that this was by far his favorite project that we have worked on.  I just think he liked the mess.

We had a lot of fun working on these and it encouraged my children to be more artistic.

 I do believe this craft probably isn’t the best for really young children.

Have fun!

Filed Under: Kid Crafts Tagged With: , , ,

Box Fort

May 18, 2012 by 1 Comment

In my quest for activities for the boys combined with blog stalking I had an epiphany.

Instead of  just having the boys use sheets and pillows for forts why not boxes?

The grocery store produce department has tons of boxes and they will give them to you for free.

So I asked and I got over 30 boxes.

A good start

Fort with boxes

Do you remember that vinyl shower curtain from the dollar store?

Time to color

And now to let them construct…

Fort with shower curtain and boxes

A giant fort with boxes and the shower curtain for the roof.

After they are done with the boxes we store them in a spare room and when they are destroyed they can be recycled.

This afternoon of imagination cost us a dollar.

Perfect!

Filed Under: How to, Kid Crafts, summer Tagged With: , , , ,

How to make a Creeper

May 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Minecraft, it’s a game and an addiction.

We are big fans of the game and today I found myself with a lot of boxes, green craft paint and a brilliant idea. It ties into my summer activity box…

We made ourselves a Creeper and good news YOU can too..

1. Go to your local grocery store and ask the produce department for some boxes. They will be free

2. Find a green paint that will be suitable and start working on your new friend.  We mixed a leaf green with army green

3. After everything is dry stack them on top of each other and draw the sad face.  I think he is just lonely and has anger issues (They blow things up in the game)

Ta Da!  A Minecraft Creeper is in your home. It took us about an hour from start to finish.

However….

He came to life after his face and we put him outside

He promised to play nice and now he is following me everywhere I go.

Easy and inexpensive fun. Let’s see if we can scare the crap out of my husband by hiding this guy in the dark bathroom.




Filed Under: Crafts, Humor, Ideas, Kid Crafts Tagged With: , , , ,

Box of activities

May 15, 2012 by 2 Comments

I am not a crafty person by nature.  I cannot walk into a dollar store and see a treasure trove of supplies that can produce endless hours of fun for my children or potential home decor options.  That is why there are bloggers that ARE crafty and teach me how to think outside the box

I recently found All for the Boys on Pinterest and I was thrown into a world of ideas and it was through her site that I was inspired!  Our summer last year was painfully long and boring so I decided that this year was going to be different; crafty if you will. (I also don’t have a ton of cash laying around to enroll my kids in a million different summer programs  so this a helpful alternative)

I have started out small.  A simple box of supplies for a few ideas.

Contents:

Clothes pins (1.88 for 100 at Wal-mart)

Paintbrushes (had on hand)

Masking Tape (1.00 at the dollar store)

Shower curtain rings (1.00 at the dollar store)

Glue stick (came in a pack of the 3 – 1.00 at the dollar store)

Balloons (1.00 at the dollar store)

Vinyl Shower curtain (1.00 at the dollar store)

Playing cards (came in a pack of 2 at the dollar store; 1.00)

Puzzle (1.00 at the dollar store- I bought 2)

Plastic container  (.96 cents at Wal-mart)

So for approximately 12 dollars I have the beginnings of a box activities for the boys.  If you have scanned the list you may ask what is the point of the shower curtain and rings.  Over at All for the Boys she hosts Fort Friday. I figured, since the the curtain and rings cost a whopping 2 dollars I will allow the boys to color on the curtain and we will figure out a way to hang it for a fort.  I am also having my husband pick up produce boxes at the grocery store for the boys to build a fort.  I am going to post the results on Friday!

I don’t expect this box to stay this small.  It will (hopefully) grow over time. As I have been writing this post my four year old has already raided it….

This box thing just may work.

Filed Under: boys, Crafts, Ideas, Kid Crafts, summer Tagged With: , , ,

Thanksgiving Craft

November 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

If you are looking for a simple Thanksgiving craft to keep your kiddos hands out of your kitchen, I may just have what you are looking for.

Apple Turkeys

How to make an Apple TurkeyThese guys are incredibly easy and my kids loved making them.

What you need

Apples – any color

Marshmallows – large and small

Raisins

Candy Corn

Tooth picks or anything that will keep the marshmallows on

That’s it.  I had to help my four year old and it was a little sticky but otherwise this is a great craft for kids.  Our turkeys will be used as decor for tomorrow.  The kids enjoy knowing that they are adding to the day tomorrow.

Have fun and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!




Filed Under: Crafts, Holiday, Kid Crafts Tagged With: , , , ,

Hanging Halloween Bats and a link up

October 20, 2011 by 1 Comment

I’m late, I know.  Don’t hate me.

Do you have a project to share?  I just did mine today and I felt the need to get it done before I began the linky party.

This project cost me two dollars.

Hanging Halloween Bats

Two six packs of Halloween Bats from Target ($1 each)

Tape

Thread – Clear would be the best but if you are like me and you don’t have any on hand, white will do
Simple Halloween Decoration for kids1. Take each bat and punch a hole in their wing with a hole puncher.

2. Tie the string in the hole

3. Tap it to the roof.

That’s it!  I currently have a black light on my front porch to make my glow in the dark bats glow.

Hanging Halloween Bats is an easy craft for kids
Super simple and the kids can help! Beware, too close to the door will prove disastrous and there may be a Bat massacre.

Do you have something to link up! Go for it.

 




Filed Under: Crafts, Kid Crafts Tagged With: , , ,

Sidewalk Paint , Sightword Hopscotch, and Chalk Body Outlines. Outside fun!

March 3, 2011 by 2 Comments

Yesterday I learned some new tricks for outdoor fun with my kiddos.  A steering team member in my MOPS group spoke about fun activities to do with your little ones.   She gave out some great recipes and today I am going to share one with you AND show you some of the fun we had outside…and yes, Chalk body outlines will be included.

Sidewalk Paint
1/4 Cornstarch
1/4 cold water
Food coloring of your choice
Mix together and paint.  (Yes – it does wash off)
Here they are hard at work.  The cornstarch dried with a nice green tint.  They loved it. Our sidewalk leading up to the front door is very festive.
I had another idea while they were creating their masterpieces.
Sight word Hopscotch
My six year old loves math and is not a huge fan of reading. He gets frustrated and impatient when trying to sound out words.  However this game proved to be very effective for his frustration. He didn’t mind reading while he hopped from square to square and his confidence was on a major high! Now, little does he know, I am going to start including words that are a little more challenging!Here is my favorite art project:
Chalk body outlines

I always get a chuckle out of it! I can’t help it!!!

Do you have any tips for outside fun?!

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