New Year, New Challange

Alright. So I am blogging daily over at http://maudesmysteries.com, but because I like to torture myself, I am recommitting to this blog as well. Actually, it is not torture--crafting with kids is something that I enjoy immensely! This time around, I am going to come up with a stock of posts first, so I am not writing the day of. That should keep me going when I am feeling uninspired.
So, there will be changes. They will be good ones. I am thinking of having a contribution section where you can submit your crafty ideas and pictures. Definitely pictures. So keep me to task and stop in (often) starting Jan. 1.
Happy Holidays!
In the meantime, enjoy this fabulous holiday craft! We made this ornament last year and to date, it is my favorite, hands down.

Supplies Needed:
Green Acrylic Paint
Old Puzzle with missing pieces (I found the smaller 1000 piece puzzles were too small and difficult for the kids to manipulate. Larger pieces, like from a 24, or 100 piece kid's puzzle, should work much better.)
Colorful buttons or beads
Glue--tacky or white
Ribbon
Any other holiday themed swag

To Begin:
Paint the puzzle pieces green and let dry. Do this the day before you want to make the wreath.

The Craft:
1. Take the painted green puzzle pieces and glue them, one on top of another in a circular shape.
2. To simplify for the littler kids, cut out a piece of cardboard from a paper plate or cereal box in a doughnut shape. They can glue the puzzle pieces directly to the cardboard.
3. Pile on several layers of puzzle pieces. I used four in the example.
4. Let dry for a few minutes to give the glue time to set.
5. Glue on the buttons, beads, and swag in an appealing manner.
6. Tie a bow out of the ribbon and glue it on. If your child is having trouble with the ribbon, you can tie it and have them glue it on.
7. Cut a length of ribbon to act as the hanger for the tree. Glue it to the back of the wreath, using another puzzle piece on top of it to secure it.


This is a fun, quick and easy craft that can be passed down as a keepsake.

So tell me, what is *your* favorite holiday craft? Feel free to include images! I love to see what others are up to!

Cute game for Crafty Tuesday!

Obtain an empty pizza box from a pizza place. They usually give them out at a small cost, if any. We got the 12" size.
I created a title page, with instructions on them. (You can have one of the kids draw a teddy bear, use clip art, etc.)
The instructions are:

Rules for Teddy Bears Picnic

1. The youngest person goes first!
2. Roll the dice.
3. You get whatever you roll. The goal is to make a complete meal—hot dog, carrot, apple, milk and cupcake.
4. If you land on an ant with an apple, you lose a piece.
5. Have fun playing!

--I then got clip art for a place setting, and all the items listed above--hot dog, carrot, apple, milk and cupcake--or you can fashion your own.
--Cover the food with contact paper to make it last longer!
--I glued the place setting onto a paper plate, to add interest.
--I printed a paper dice blank, with a clip of all the food on each side and an ant carrying away an apple.
--Cut out the die and fold/glue it together.
--Add a old piece of fabric to the mix as a picnic blanket. I used tissue paper since I was doing this on a large scale.

Viola! You have a nice, new game. And it is fun, too!!

Wow.

I have been seriously lax about this blog. Hard to get into the habit of working on it daily when things are so BUSY during the summers. I think we'll start off as a WEEKLY blog, then move it up to two or more a week once fall comes and weather isn't so nice. But right now, we are outside all the time, and while we might do crafts here and there, it is nothing to write home about. LOL. So I'll update the blog on Tuesday nights---AFTER I have done the craft at Sprout Soup. (Those in Columbus, FREE crafts at Sprout Soup, 4310 N. High St. every Tuesday!)

Oh dear

SLACKER!!!!!!! I am SUCH a slacker! This is kicking my butt, man! Who knew that trying to do a craft a day would be so hard, when my kids are like crafting wizards? Anyway, I'll post soon, I promise.
Tomorrow we are making Father's Day gifts. That ought to be good for at least three days of craft! Maybe.

Crafty Tuesdays

So, did you know this is National Zoo and Aquarium Month? It is! So, today we made animal masks! We had a dog, a sheep, two tigers and even an elephant!!

Needed:
Paper plates
scissors or craft knife
crayons
tissue paper
yarn
hole punch
imagination!!

You can make whatever your imagination permits! Using the paper plate as the face, decorate as you want. Here is an example of our elephantine fun!!

Finger fatigue! But here is Monday's craft!

Last night, hubby comes running into the house--there is a bird in our front yard!! I was nonplussed. We often have birds in our front yard. However, when he said he had accidentally THROWN A HOSE on the bird, I knew that all was not well. AS an ardent bird lover (who has been banned from feeding birds by aforementioned hubby due to attracting small furry creatures as well as the winged ones) I rushed outside. Totally leaving my kids INSIDE. Oops. But hey, the house didn't burn down and no one died, so I guess it all ended up alright!
Sure enough, there was a bird, a mourning dove, to be exact, sitting there. Alive. Stunned. And unable to fly. As hubby was telling oldest son not to touch the bird, I (you guessed it) caught it (in a towel, I am not a total moron!). It was hurt, indeed, though I did not see any blood it was missing quite a few feathers from a wing. I called Ohio Wildlife Center, but they were not in office anymore, so I checked with Dr. Google.
I put the dove in a box, taped it shut and put it in out closet. (I an not cruel! That is what they told me to do at Dr. Google!) So the bird spent the night in our closet. This morning, we took it to the Ohio Wildlife Center, where it was admitted.
When it gets better, they are going to call us and we will go get it, bring it home and release it. I am excited for that bit.
In the meantime, I figured what we could do for its family is to make a bird feeder and feed them!

And this craft (borrowed from: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/nature/bird-feeder.shtml)

How to Make a Milk Carton Bird Feeder

You can recycle a milk carton or juice carton and make an it into an excellent bird feeder for finches, sparrows, chickadees and other feathered friends.

Keep in mind, though, that feeding the birds is a year-long commitment--they don't only need fed in the winter! Keep a birding book by the window and mark them off as you see them! You can even keep tabs on them for http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.

To make a Milk Carton Bird Feeder, you will need:

milk or juice carton scissors wax pencil or crayon ruler or straight edge two small lengths of tape two bamboo skewers or straight, small diameter twigs to use as perches bird seed hole punch twine to make a hanger Milk Carton Bird Feeder Instructions: 1. Use the wax pencil or crayon and draw the shape of the opening on the front of the milk carton. You should allow at least two inches at the bottom of the carton to hold a good amount of seed. 2. Cut out the opening with craft knife or scissors. (Kids! You need an adult to do this!) 3. Fold the piece you just cut in half. 4. Attach a length of tape to each flap. 5. Use this piece to form a roof over the opening so that the birds can sit in shelter. 6. Poke a bamboo skewer through the wall of the milk carton, just below the left side of the opening. Repeat on the right side. Poke skewers all the way through and out the back wall of the carton. This keeps the perches straight and secure. 7. Punch two holes through the top line of the carton. 8. Thread twine through the two holes to make a hanger. 9. Fill the bottom of the feeder a bird seed mixture. Hang your milk carton bird feeder from a tree branch that you can reach easily when you need to add more bird seed. Suggestions: For bird watching, hang the feeder in a spot that you can see clearly from a window. Buy a good bird identification book and keep a record of all the species that turn up at your backyard feeding station. Record the date that you saw each bird, whether it was a male or female, or a pair of a birds. You may also want to add other observations about their size, appearance, special markings and behaviour.

Sunday Funday!

Salt Dough Sundays?

I am thinking maybe we will do a salt dough sculpture every Sunday! Salt dough is easy to make and very fun to play with.

(recipe from: http://www.artsncrafts-ideas.com/salt-dough-recipe.php)

Salt dough recipe

- 1 cup of salt - 2 cups of flour 3/4 to 1 cup of lukewarm water (the amount of water depends on relative humidity). Mix the salt and flour together in a bowl, using a wooden spatula. Then add the water until a large ball has formed. Knead at length on a lightly floured work surface (somewhere smooth and easy to clean). The quality of dough you finish with will depend on the time spent on kneading.

If the dough is sticky (too much water), add a mix in the right proportions of flour and salt.
You can also use coarser salt : mix it with water to dissolve it.

Any leftover clay will keep several days in a closed plastic bag.
Salt dough can be colored before baking, either with natural colorings, (instant coffee, curry or chocolate powder) or with food coloring.

Baking
Baking time : 3 to 4 hours at 100 celsius (212 fahrenheit) in a fan assisted oven, filling two or three of the racks. After one hour, take the models off the baking sheet and greaseproof paper and place them directly on the rack. This allows for more even baking. Bring the temperature down very low, to let the salt dough dry without losing its shape.


Since we are starting salt dough this week, we will do a simple craft and build up to more complex ones!

After creating the dough, roll it out on a floured surface. Find a favorite cookie cutter and cut out some shapes. If you want, you can make summer "ornaments" to display in the garden! Pick a bug or a flower. Or a few circles and ovals.
You can join together multiple cutouts by scoring the dough (XXXXX marks on the parts of the cut outs that are to be joined) and use a little bit of water to meld the dough together.
After you are happy with the raw product, stick it in the oven and bake at 200F for an hour, remove from cookie tray, and replace in oven for longer at a lower temp.

After it has cooked, and cooled, PAINT!! :)

Saturday Craft

So, for lazy family days, the craft should be easy and yet still fun! So, here is something fun and uber-messy!! Recommend doing this one in OLD clothes outside!

Supplies:
Paint (acrylic, or poster)
Water
Brushes
Paper or sheet

Get a large piece of paper, or even better, an old sheet.
Put the paint into a cup, and water it down. If you do not have paint, you can use food coloring, but it might not last as long.
Add your creative expression to the paper, Pollock style! Drip, drop. Drip, drop.
Display your masterpiece! (after it dries!)

Fantastic Friday!

So I GROSSLY overestimated my ability to do a craft a day. Or even pretend to do one and blog about it. But, I am not one to give up easily, so I will keep trying--just need to figure out how to work it into our busy schedule.

I am going to cheat a little. We went to the Columbus Arts Festival this weekend and they had so many cool things! So here is an idea for a Family Friday Night craft!

Family Flags!
There are 2 different ways to do this crafts. Each person can create their own flag, or you can work together to crate a family flag! How fun would it be to crate a family flag and display it on your door!

Supplies:
If doing individual flags, each person gets a piece of paper. If doing a family flag, a bigger piece of paper might work better.
Dowel rods--one for each person, or one big one if doing a family craft.
Markers
Spray bottle

1. Using markers, design a flag and color it.
2. Lightly spray the paper with the water--in the mist setting. It will make the marker run and create a lovely effect.
3. Attach the flag to the dowel using tape.
4. Display your flag!

And for even more fun, crate a name for your family nation. And a constitution!

Patience

...they say it is a virtue. I say it is needed to read this blog! LOL. I will post yesterday and today's craft...in a bit. Stay tuned!

Dinosaur Days

Today was a perfect day! And after yesterday's bad-momness, my kids deserved a good day. LOL.

So the craft today is a paper plate dinosaur, made from two paper plates. I got the idea from a picture posted on the kidscraftweekly.com site**. Basically, you take two plates per child, and paint them. Here are my kids painting away.

















So we painted these plates, then let them dry while we went to the park to visit with a friend I do not get to spend enough time with anymore. It was, altogether, a fabulous afternoon!

After dinner, we did the finishing touches.

Fold the paper plates in half. Choose one to be the body, and one to be the head, tail and legs. I used the rim of the plate for the tail, to give it texture. I cut it so that it was 2 layers thick (along the bend), then I attached it to the "body" paper plate with a brad.
The headless dino can now wag his tail!!
For the head, I cut a neck and head and attached it to the body with a brad. But I cut it on the crease where it met the "back" so that the head could go up and down.
4 more brads, 4 more bits of paper plate and the dino is done-o. It really was a super easy, super fun craft. And I think it is adorable.

Finished project:

















Not sure if you can tell or not, but I have the tail attached on the inside of the body, and the head on the outside. And I used a wee bit of tape (or glue would work too) to keep the head and tail together.
Once the dino is assembled, you can apply finishing touches, such as spots, rhinestones, hair, feathers---there are no rules to what your dino should look like.

And a wee confession. The baby's--which is the one I finished, but he did do all the painting--was the only one that was finished today. I imagine the others will find their bodies tomorrow. :P

For those that want to craft without the commentary:

Materials:
2 paper plates
paint
6 brads
Embellishments

Procedure:
1. Paint the plates
2. After the plates have dried, fold both in half. One will be the body, the other will be cut into head and neck, tail and legs.
3. Cut a crescent shape for the tail. Cut a "j" shape for the head and neck. Cut 4 legs from the remaining plate.
4. Poke through the plates and use the brads to attach the neck, tail and legs to the body.
5. Cut up the neck about 1 inch, so that it can raise and lower.
6. Embellish as desired.

Grand total:
Plates: had them
Paint: had them
brads: had them.
This craft cost me nothing. If you had none of the supplies, I am guessing you could get it done for under $5--but might be more since you can rarely buy just one plate, or a handful of brads. Wait for a birthday party and take home extra plates. LOL.


**after returning to the site and looking further, I found that this craft was in an issue of kidscraftweekly.com. Issue 72 to be exact. I did my version a bit differently, but it is still a cool craft no matter how you do it. To see the original, go to: http://www.kidscraftweekly.com/paper_plates_issue.html

Fail Whale!

Well, *I* get the big ole fail whale for today. *I* did not get my act together for a craft. However, ever resourceful, my daughter created her own game out of scotch tape and construction paper. Lots of complicated rules and hard to see (tape on the paper is the board). At least someone was feeling more creative today than a paper bag.

Oh, and continuing along the crafts=let's make a mess trend, apparently the baby dumped a REALLY BIG jar of beads all over the floor while I was out getting some much needed me time. Ah well. Still hadn't cleaned up the ribbon mess, so what is a few (hundred) beads?

Tomorrow is cleaning day. I mean it.

Hoping inspiration hits in the night

........but not too hard! I am a light sleeper!

Anyway, I have not a clue what to do tomorrow, um, I mean today, for craft. Maybe kids and I will go on a rock hunt (fave activity for the boys) and paint them as paperweights.

Speaking of paperweights--come to Sprout Soup on the 13th of June and have your kids handcraft a present for dad. Why yes, paperweights is going to be one of those projects! How did you know?!?! Psychic? .....rustle rustle rustle...where did I put that tin foil hat?

(ok, quite OBVIOUSLY I should be removed from the chair--which I swear has its own gravity field--and get my buns to bed. When the (attempted) humor gets this bad, folks, it is time to close shop!!)

OH! And if we do do the paperweights, the cost is delish! FREE!! Or at minimum the cost of the paints.

Celebrate Hot Air Balloons!

On June 4th, 1783 some crazy fellas (The brothers, Joseph Michel Montgolfier (26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799--and I really can't speak to their sanity since I never met them! LOL) strapped themselves into a basket, tied the basket onto a balloon and voila! The world's first hot air balloon flight! Personally, I prefer to keep my feet on the solid ground, but I am boring like that. Afterall, you are much more likely to die in a car accident than in an air transport disaster--but I don't relinquish the element of control over easily.

Anyway, my point is that, being the Quasquibicentennial (plus one!) of the first flight---er, glide? float?--we decided to make a hot air balloon craft. I posted the supplies yesterday, as well as a cost list. The cups ended up being 3.50, but there were 200 of them so we have them for future crafts (that is, if the girl doesn't use them all stacking them first!).

Anyway, I was pleased with the results. Granted, this is a fleeting craft, as the air in the balloon lasts 3 days at most, but this dramatically reduces the "Looks Great honey (now what do I do with it?)" factor. :P

So, without further ado, here are the pics of the craft!
















































**all joking aside, I would like to extend my most heartfelt condolences to those that lost loved ones on Flight 447.

The drawbacks of crafts

I have crafting materials available to my children whenever they want to make a mess, I mean masterpiece. Generally, this means lots of messes for me to clean up.
Sometimes, I just have to giggle. This is what the snowflakes got into this morning! Nothing like having warpaint!! LOL. And it looks like a ribbon rainstorm too!

Hot Air Balloon Craft

So this is what I was thinking about! I would love to do this tomorrow.

Basically, get a balloon, tissue paper, small paper cups and thin ribbon. Cover the cup in tissue paper and secure it with tape. Attach 4 pieces of ribbon equidistant around the cup. Then, inflate your balloon. Take 2 long pieces of ribbon and form an "x" over the top of the balloon, securing with a piece of tape. Tie the cup to the balloon ribbons. Then, decorate as you wish. If time permits, you can either create your own people, or cut out some from magazines and give them a ride! You can also attach a short piece of ribbon underneath the top ribbon and use this to hang your balloon.

So, here is the grand total for the craft!
25 balloons--$1.00
300 yds of ribbon--$1.00
Tissue paper--$1.00
Dixie Cups. Whoops! Still need to get these. I am thinking $2.00? So grand total for a day of crafts--$5.00 or less.

I will try to post the cost of each craft as I do it too. And I will have pictures. Keep in mind on Tuesdays I do crafts for a large group of people at Sprout Soup! (What is Sprout Soup? A really great, natural family, community building store!! Check it out: www.sproutsoup.com Make sure to check in the events calendar--we do lots of crafty things and typically have a lot of fun!)

Last Day of School

Wow. This year has flown by! Seems like just yesterday I was walking the girl off to her first day, and now it is the last. Now she is a big first grader!! How did that happen?

Today, we are going to do bookmarks and handprints on a tote for the teacher. I wish I could do more, but I have a lot of stuff to get done that was supposed to happen yesterday. Like the chapter to edit for work.

But I am planning a hot air balloon craft for tomorrow at Sprout Soup since it is the anniversary of the first hot air balloon flight in 17something or another. I have it written somewhere. Maybe we could incorporate something about the new Pixar movie UP. Interweb, here I come!! Will post details here soon.

Sunday Funday

Well, today was the day to paint the mache. We did not, however. Extenuating circumstances. I had to put my cat of 14 years to sleep. :( Why am I posting this in a crafting blog? Well, the time marches on and things must be done. Tomorrow is the last day of school for my girl, and I am in charge of the craft.
We are doing a tote bag with handprints and a poem for the teacher. I am going to use my acrylic paints and have each kid do a print and write their name. Then to take home, each kid will make a book mark with foamies. Not my best work, not all that creative, but I am working with some serious depression about my kitty and just don't have it in me. But I would like to say that having a purpose to work on really helps. Which is why I mentioned it in the blog.

I have a goal for the summer. One craft a day---in reality---not just words in the interweb.

Saturday

So how is the paper mache going? Today is the day for layer 2! Just rinse and repeat.

I am trying to do a craft for the girl's end of the school year party on Monday. For this, I need to do something for 21 kids. My thoughts are to do two crafts, actually...one for the teacher to keep, and one for the kids to keep. On the shirt list for the teachers is an apron or bag with all 21 kids putting handprints on it. I got into the game a day late and dollar short to do the "forget me not" craft that I read about on FamilyFun.com. Maybe for next year---and for both kids. It is a really cute idea! Basically, get a copt of the class picture, decoupage it on the plastic (PLASTIC!! terra cotta seeps water!) pot. Then, on a large craft-stick, write the year of the class and the name of your child. Add a baggie of dirt and a packet of seeds and voila! A forget-me-not pot. Simple and timeless. :)

Fantastic Family Fridays

Here is a craft that will take you through the weekend! Create a paper mache sculpture. Best done when the weather is warm and everyone can get outside. While dad is grilling dinner Friday night, mom and the kids can be slathering a scuplture form with newspaper strips and glue. Let dry overnight, apply another coat on Saturday and you can finish with painting on Sunday.

Supplies needed:
Base form**
flour
water
Strips of newspaper

Making the Paste:
Mix 1 part flour to 2 parts water. You want a mixture that is thick like paste, but runnier. You can add more water or flour as needed. This is an excellent job for the younger crowd that liked to mix and stir!
To add interest to the project, add a dash of cinnamon for an aromatic sculpture.
Add a few tablespoons of salt to prevent mold.

**Making a Base Form:
A standard base for paper mache is the balloon. It makes nice, round sculpture that you can decorate as a pinata or a globe--or anything round, really. Or you could use, well, anything. Coat a shoe box to make a decorative box. Create a chicken wire frame (with a lot of adult help), use pie tins, toilet paper tubes...anything that can hold up its shape under mooshy paper and glue. There is no limit to what you can create! This is a time comsuming, but very fun, family activity. Everyone agreeing on what to make is a different issue all together!

Friday:
Make the paper mache form, and coat with first layer of material.

The way to paper mache:
1. Mix the paste and tear newspaper into many strips. Do not cut! Torm pieces lay flatter and are stronger.
2. Dip the paper in the mixture and coat it evenly with the paste.
3. Run your fingers along the moistened strip to remove excess paste.
4. Apply to form. Overlap a lot.
5. Repeat ad nauseum until the entire form is covered.
6. After the first layer is applied, let it dry over night. Spray off the kids with the garden hose before letting them back in your house.
7. Eat dinner. Craft is done for the day! (Mom--how much did you end up doing?)