Easiest 4th of July Craft Ever

Lorie @ Reading Confetti seriously deserves an award for this craft idea. It's my favorite kind - super quick, easy, and nearly every mom will already have everything they need for it.

spring tissue paper wreath

It's SPRING and the cherry blossoms, dogwoods, and bradford pears are all in bloom! I planned on making a handprint-trunk, tissue paper-blossom tree artwork with A this morning, but she had other plans.

Heart Crayon Valentines & a free printable

I'm finished with A's class valentines! Aren't they sweet? If you'd like to create your own, scroll to the bottom of this post to download the printable.

String & Glue Angel

I found the inspiration for this angel on Family Fun. I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical on the ability of school glue to hold together a bunch of string, but it looked too fun not to try.

What you'll need:
- string
- white school glue
- water
- styrofoam or wooden ball
- gold wire/string
- paint
- scrapbook paper

1. Mix the glue and a little bit of water in a cup. It should look more like cream than milk.

2. Make a cone out of paper and size to fit your wooden ball. I found a template here. Place on top of a water bottle for easier handling.

3. Immerse the string in the cup of glue and wrap carefully around the cone. We ended up using multiple pieces of string. Set out to dry overnight.

4. On a piece of wax paper, arrange glue-strings into a wing shape. 

 5. Curl and layer smaller cuts of string to fill in the wings.

6. Paint the angel's head as desired.

7. When the wings and body are dry, peel carefully from the wax paper and cone.

8. Hot glue everything together, adding the halo and pillow fluff hair if desired.

Now we have the perfect little topper for our playroom tree!

Some tips: I tried both watered down school glue and mod podge. As you can see the mod podge (right wing) left a lot more glue between the strings. Stick with the school glue for the wings, but if you want to brush your finished body with mod podge, it might help hold the body together better. I also ran some lines of hot glue on the inside of the body to add stability.

My two favorite "angel" books:

Great Joy
by Kate DiCamillo
Read my review.

 

The Littlest Angel
by Charles Tazewell
Read my review.

 

Easy "Clay" Ornaments

When I saw this "homemade clay" recipe from Busy Bee Kids Crafts, I knew I needed to try it. Our salt dough ornaments from several years ago were looking a little worse for wear, and I figured A deserved the whole cookie-cutter ornament experience.

The clay was simple enough to make: 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 1/2 cups water. Just mix in a pot over heat until it forms the right consistency. Then cool enough to touch and knead, just like you would when making playdough. The clay begins to dry immediately, so you need to work fast. Roll out the dough on wax or parchment paper and cut out the ornaments with cookie cutters. Use a toothpick to create holes for hangers. Leave out for one to two days to dry.

I found the thinner and smaller the ornament, the better it dried. Our larger, thicker ornaments cracked horribly, some into pieces. If you want larger ornaments, stick with salt dough. The clay  did paint beautifully, though, using acrylic paints. We tied ours onto the girls little playroom tree using yarn, and I think the final effect turned out charming.

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates

I've got this one on hold at the library and I can't wait to get it. Because nothing says Christmas like pirates, right?

(If you're in the mood for more traditional Christmas books, click the label "Christmas" under the title of this post to get a full list of all my past Christmas posts and book reviews.)

Simple Child-made Christmas Story Book

Last year I ran across Musings of Me who posted an adorable 8-page Christmas storybook she made with her toddler son. I remember thinking, "I need to do that next year!" Thankfully someone pinned one of the pages, and I found out Michelle was now selling the instructions for the book as a downloadable pdf.

So now A and I have a project to work on together between now and Christmas. I'm taking my own creative liberties with the instructions, using the craft materials we have on hand and giving the project our own unique style. When we're done, we'll have a handmade keepsake book, telling A the Christmas story through her own artwork!

Oh Christmas Tree! Trimmed Trunk Plaque

Here's an easy craft you can do with paper scraps and the trimmed trunk of your Christmas tree.

This weekend we took our annual pilgrimage into the country to cut down our own Christmas tree. White pine don't grow well here, so we're left trying to find the perfect cypress or spruce. Some were too big...

Others too small...

But we eventually found one that was "just right." (Actually it's still about a foot shorter than I would have preferred but after two farms and an hour of driving, we decided it was "good enough".)

When we got the tree home, my husband trimmed off the bottom of the trunk to make a more even platform. I saw the wood coin lying in the yard and snatched it up for this simple craft.

To make your own, you'll need five strips of colored or scrapbook paper, one star cut-out, mod podge, and of course the trimmings from a tree trunk. Most nurseries will trim any pre-cut Christmas tree you buy, so be sure to snag that extra piece of wood.

To begin, let your child spread mod podge over the surface of the plaque. While it's still wet, they can arrange the paper strips onto the plaque. Paint mod podge over the strips and allow to dry.

Ta-da! A cute little Christmas plaque ready to add a little cheer to a bookshelf, mantle, or (if you add a hook) the wall.


A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

This charming Christmas tales features gentle rhymes, simply lovely illustrations, and a sweet message of friendship and kindness. 

Every year, one lonely tree watches all the other trees on the farm get chosen to become someone's Christmas tree. He's been overlooked too many times and is now too large to be taken home. His forest animal friends see his grief and take it upon themselves to decorate him for Christmas, letting him know he is truly loved and appreciated all year round.

A Mayflower for a rainy day...

We woke up this morning to rain clouds and snotty noses.

I was supposed to run errands.

She was supposed to attend the Thanksgiving party at preschool.

But we stayed in our jammies, left our hair unbrushed, and opened up the art box.

Cotton balls and glue. Paper and paint.

And the story of believers who left their home for the hope of a new life in a new world.

It's a beautiful day. :)

I'm linking up to:

Colorful Leaf Printing

The leaves are finally changing here in Virginia, and the trees are all golden and russet in the afternoon sunlight. On our walk today we came across a tree with huge yellow leaves and immediately plucked the largest for this craft. I've been just dying to try out leaf printing since I ran across the idea on Pinterest.

 We started by squirting different colored acrylic paints onto a baking a sheet. I then smudged them with paper towel into the general shape of the leaf.

 E pressed the leaf into the paint and then carefully placed the leaf onto the paper, pressing it some more. We made sure we placed the leaf vein-side down.

 She peeled back the leaf to reveal a gorgeous fall print. We made two prints, but there was still plenty of paint left on the pan. Kleas used one pan for an entire class of preschoolers, but since I didn't have other (awake) children in the house, I printed off this tree template for E to paint.

 Although its meant as a wedding keepsake (get your guests to ink their fingerprints onto either side of the tree), I added the word "thankful" and let E fill it in with her own sweet prints.

I truly am thankful for smudgy prints and the dear little fingers they belong to!

Autumn Walk by Kelly Asbury

I mention this book every year, but that's because I love it. Ignore the average illustrations and instead listen to the rhythmical, stimulating language throughout the book. After reading this to your kids, you're both going to want to romp through fallen leaves, sip hot apple cider, and glory in all that autumn offers.




Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

A classic Ehlert, this book follows the life of a sugar maple from the viewpoint of a young child. Gorgeous watercolor collages fill the pages while the narration provides interesting information about the beginnings of the maple tree.

Naughty Toes: Book & Craft

We're two months into dance lessons and E is doing great. She originally begged me to let her learn tap, but I'm more of a ballet sort of mama.  So we were both very happy when I found a class that teaches both. Right around that time I also discovered this darling little picture book.

Naughty Toes by Ann Bonwill

Chloe and her sister Belinda join Madame Mina's class with very different results. While Belinda is a natural dancer, Chloe has what Madame considers "naughty toes." She spins when she should float, she flashes when she should shine. Through it all she defends herself with a quiet confidence, until Mr. Tiempo recognizes her true talent and sends her a present: tap shoes!

I love Chloe's positive attitude and insistence on being herself. The book draws clear differences between Chloe and her sister without falling into sibling rivalry, which I appreciated. The illustrations use a lovely pastel color scheme, and the story flows with a beat Chloe would appreciate. A fun book for the little dancers in your life!

To go with the book, we made these ballerina paper doll chains. I found the ballerina template here at The Crafty Crow and resized it to fit a regular 8.5x11 sheet of paper. I cut out the dolls and we decorated them using crayons and colored pencils.

For the tutus I simply sewed a line down the middle of a crepe paper streamer and then pulled on the thread to bunch. Then I cut off pieces for the tutu, folded in half and glued in place. They did unruffle quite a bit once cut, in which case we just gathered and glued until it looked right. Once they dried those little dancers were ready to flit and float across the room... as were MY little dancers!

Disclaimer: Naughty Toes was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.