Felt Christmas tree }{ Crafting with kids

A while back I came across this project from Olives and Pickles on Pinterest, and I knew I wanted to try it with the princess. We love Christmas projects and this was easy and fun.

I also had this tray frame that I got on sale and that begged to be used for framing something fun. I put the two together - let the princess make some art and then frame it with the tray. My plan is to use it for different seasons and holidays. Simply change the background and the art piece as the year goes by.

Materials:

• green and brown felt
• yellow felt or gold card stock
• buttons of several colors
• glue
• silver glitter
• a large piece of card stock in a color that contrasts with green and gold
• a frame

Steps:

1. Draw a Christmas Tree on a sheet of green craft felt (or you can use a template) and then cut it out.
2. Cut out a small square of brown felt to be the tree trunk.
3. Draw and cut the yellow felt or gold card stock in the shape of a star.
4. Gather some buttons, the glue, and the glitter. 
5. Let the child decorate the tree. With older kids they could actually do the previous steps as well, but I decided to have it all ready for her to make it a quicker activity. She can get tired quick if it's too hard and involved.
6. Add the tree and the trunk in the frame facing down.
7. Place a contrasting card stock sheet on top of the tree for a background. I chose silver since it's sparkly for Christmas and out of the card stock I have it provided the biggest contrast.
8. Close up the frame and place it somewhere where everyone can see, and show your kiddo how proud you are of their work.

So I did turn the original project into a little art project rather than math play. The great thing about inspiration is that you can turn something you find into something entirely different and have two activities instead of one.

 

Glittery Spider Webs }{ holiday crafting

Ready for a "why didn't I think of that" moment? At least that's how I felt when I saw this idea on Pinterest (originally on Redbook). So easy. Why didn't I think of that?

We did this with a 4 year old and a 7 year old, and it was a hit with both. It was also messy and a bit hard for them to get it just right. So we helped. The hardest part is waiting for the glue to dry.

Materials:
glue
glitter
wax paper
patience

What to do:

1. Cut a piece of wax paper larger than you want the web to be and place it over some cardboard.
2. With glue, draw a spider web on the wax paper - start with 8 straight lines, like you're cutting a pie into 8 equal pieces; then draw curved lines connecting the adjacent straight lines to each other. Look at the picture to see what I mean.
3. Cover the glue in glitter. This was hard for the kiddos to do thoroughly, so we helped by shaking the cardboard and wax paper around a bit until all the glue was covered.
4. Wait until it's dry (3-4 days) and carefully peel the web off the wax paper.

The cool thing is that you can use the technique to make all kinds of designs. Sooo many glittery possibilities...

Are you ready for Halloween?

Card-making, merry-making

I couldn't resist. I was inspired by Scarlett at Blue, Purple, and Scarlett and her beautiful cards and just had to go try some of my own. Ok, ok, I know I'm not anywhere near as good as she is, I mean wow! But I wanted some card-making fun anyway.

So, here's what I did:

First I found some colors and patterns that I liked.

I measured everything to scale and to make sure it was centered.

Then I cut up the papers and pasted them together.

Added some embellishments

Until I thought it would do.

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!