6th Day of Christmas Craft

On the sixth day of Christmas, my girls made for me...

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Handprint!

(Em's are on top, Kat's are on bottom.)

Again, I got this idea from my Family Fun Mag. The girls loved making their hands into reindeer! Kat had to add a little 'bling' to hers! Em didn't add too much detail to hers. It was a fun activity!

http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-crafts-stockings/christmas-character-crafts/rudolph-the-red-nosed-handprint-668155/

5th Day of Christmas Craft

On the Fifth day of Christmas, my girls made for me...

Foam Snowmen!

I have been working on things for a Primary Party this week and had some extra white foam from snowmen I made. I cut the girls three circles each and let them decorate! They used beads and buttons for the face and tummy. We cut hats and scarves out of felt. Once the glue dries (Em's might take a few days!) I am going to hang them in the window.

I think they are getting sick of me pulling out the camera every time we craft! Oh well, I have to show off their masterpieces, don't I?

PS. It is a good thing that you can't really see Em's shirt, because there is glue and marker all over! I need to make her wear an apron when crafting because she likes to wipe excess on herself!

4th Day of Christmas Craft

On the fourth day of Christmas my girls made for me...

Retro Ornaments!

What better to use your old TP rolls for than to hang on your Christmas Tree!?!

This fun idea came from my Family Fun Magazine. All you need is two TP tubes per ornaments and two and a half pipe cleaners. I let my girls paint them, which then we had to let dry. If I did it again I would probably just let them use markers instead.

Here is the link if you would like more info http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/retro-ornaments-807089/

My girls would paint all day if I let them, so they were excited for this craft! Em wanted glue as well, but I wouldn't give it to her! (She is a glue addict now. I think I need to have an intervention!)

Kat went with pink and blue paint. I think it turned out darling! She made designs on the tube, and was afraid you wouldn't be able to see them. But I think it makes it a little more interesting to look at!

~

Em went with blue and yellow (mostly blue!)

I was sceptical about this craft. I mean, come on, TP rolls? Really? But I think they turned out pretty cute for a kids crafty ornament!

3rd Day of Christmas Craft

On the third day of Christmas my girls made for me...

Christmas Tree Garland!

I cut out a bunch of paper trees for the girls to decorate. At the time I wasn't sure what we were going to do with them. After they had each made 5 or so, I realized we were going to have a lot of trees! That's when I decided to staple them on ribbon and hang them up.

I have to say, doing crafts with my girls has given me the opportunity to get rid of alot of scrapbooking stuff that I probably never will use! I gave them each a plate of different buttons, beads, glitter, stickers, and glitter glue!

I turned on Christmas music while they were crafting (and I was getting ready for work!) They were gluing and glittering for more than an hour and a half! It was amazing! They probably would have gone longer but it was lunch time!

We had to let the trees dry over night, and then today after church I stapled them and we hung them in the window by the Christmas tree!

Yes, it is not the most glamorous of decorations, but I love it! I love seeing my girls be creative and have fun.

2nd Day of Christmas Craft

On the second day of Christmas Crafting....my girls made for me...

Tissue Paper Crafts!

I really wasn't trying to be lazy on the third day of my quest to do a craft a day! The girls loved making trees yesterday! When I told them it was craft time, Em went and grabbed the glue and started drawing 'spiders'. She told me she wanted to glue the papers on like we had yesterday! I figured 'What the heck?' Why try to come up with something new if they are content to make what they like?

They played with glue and paper for an hour! All I had to do was draw circles for wreaths (my only creative advice on what they should make!) and cut more squares of paper! I was able to get couple of things done while they occupied themselves! It was beautiful!

1st Day of Christmas Craft

Em's ---->


                                                                                                                                     <-----Kat's

This morning we made Christmas Trees! I drew a tree on the paper and cut out small squares of tissue paper. The girls scrunched up the paper. We used white glue and put a little on at a time, so it wouldn't dry out too fast. I had some tiny buttons and gems that I let then use to glue on top of the tissue paper for ornaments. We added a trunk and star to finish it off. Total time - about 45 minutes.

I think they turned out pretty cute!

Make-Believe Day 3 - Tea Party!

Today we had a fabulous Tea Party!  We 'made believe' we were Royalty!  It was fabulous!

First we decorated our 'staffs' (from the dollar store).  The girls made sure to bling them out with beads, pom-poms, feathers, and stickers!  They turned out marvelous!

 Next, we made a Royal Bunting out of paper and more embellishments!

(This is from the book "Princess Things to Make and Do" that I also featured in my post yesterday)

 These will be hanging in their bedroom for a long time - I am pretty sure!

Now we were ready for our Tea Party!

Add some toothpicks to anything and it makes it Fancy!  (Thank you Fancy Nancy!)

And if you drink pink milk from a champagne flute it makes you feel like you are Royalty!

The girls dressed up in their 'best' dresses and put on their hats.

 (Yes, the flutes are from a wedding anniversary.  We use them all the time never, so the girls thought it was a fabulous treat to use them!)

 While the girls were eating their lunch, I made cupcakes and frosting.  They got to help decorate (and eat) the cupcakes!  Yum!

Super Fun!

What have you and your kiddos been up to this summer? 

Make-Believe Day 2 - Princess Hats

We got this idea from one of our favorite go-to's for all things Princessy! 

The instructions were super easy!

First, cut a piece of card stock or poster board into a half circle.

 Then fold it over to make a cone.  Fit it to your child's head and tape in place.

 Then I cut the pointy pieces off in a rounded shape (this part goes at the back of their head.  I am hoping it will help keep it on better!)

 Now you get to start gluing tissue paper on!

I cut two pieces of tissue paper (one pink, one floral) into squares.  Don't worry, they don't have to be perfect!

  I used some school glue and added a little water to make it thinner and easier for my girls to use.

 Next, we attached some ribbons to the inside of the point to make the 'tassels'.

Here is the 'almost' finished project.  I am going to add some ribbon to tie under their chins to help them stay on their heads!

Super Fun!  They love their new Princess Hats!

Summertime Week 4 - Make Believe

Welcome to week #4 of Summertime fun!  I almost stopped (I know, after only three weeks?  Smells like a quitter to me!) but my girls were totally bugging me yesterday (Monday) to do their 'projects'!  I guess it has become our summertime routine and they are enjoying it!  Who woulda figured?  :)

So, this week we are all about "Make Believe".  Which in my home is pretty much princesses and fairies!  I am going to try to give ideas and incorporate boys into the equation when I can for you with boys running around your homes!

Yesterday we went to the library and checked out a bunch of crafty book ideas and princessy themed reading books.  This is how we always start our weeks - at the Library.  My girls love going there and it is F.R.E.E.!!!  The best part!  I had to grab some idea books because, like I mentioned, I wasn't prepared for this week at all!  I also found some ideas online for our week!

Here are some fun ideas I found online!

Princesses & Princes:
Princess Hair and Faces - I think it would be totally fun to print some of these off and let your kids color them, and then put pics of your kids in!  Kind of a crafty cute frame!
Paper Mache Shields - great prop for sword fights and saving damsel's in distress!
Flower Tiara - This is one I am sure we will be making!


Pirates:
Milk Carton Pirate Ship - Fun way to recycle old milk cartons or boxes!
Parchment Paper - Fun idea for a treasure hunt!
Spyglass - it even is collapsible!!!  What?!?
Treasure Box - made out of a tissue box!

Fairy:
Fairy Wand - Every fairy needs a magical wand!  We will most likely try something similar to this!
Flower Fairies - Make fairies from flowers and leaves!

Alrighty, so that is a start.  Tonight I will (hopefully) post pics from our activities today!

Animals Day 4

Today was a pretty laid back day.  The girls have been working on their workbooks and playing with their bottle animals all morning!

This afternoon we made the girls' names with animals!  I printed a whole bunch of letters and animal pictures off the computer and let them have at it.  They had to figure out which animals went with the letters in their names and put it all together on their boards.  They enjoyed cutting and gluing they enjoy anything with scissors and glue!

You could also do this same idea with the whole alphabet and have your kiddos match up the animals to the letters.  I was originally going to do that, but ran out of time (and printer ink) so we went with names!  They are turning out pretty adorable!

They are still working on their names, so obviously the above pic isn't the finished project.  However, I have a hot date with my birthday hubby tonight and wanted to get this post up before we left!

Have a great weekend!

Animals Day 3 - Safari and Masks

Today we had a Safari Hunt!  On one of my friend's private blogs, I saw her do this with her kids and knew my girls would love it!  Thanks Ruby!

I had the girls go round up all the little animals they could find.  We had everything from Little People farm animals to Webkinz, to Sea World animals that they play with in the bath!  I had them go into my room while I hid the animals all over the family room and dining room.

My little monkey even put on her monkey costume to get into the spirit of the game!

They had so much fun looking for animals!  It felt like an Easter Egg hunt!  It was great!

When we were pretty sure we had found all the animals (I am sure we will be finding little animals hiding for a while!) I had the girls sort the animals into groups ex. farm animals, pets, sea creatures, ect.

It was a good learning game, especially for my little one!

Then to clean it all up, I had them play 'toss' into the baskets.  Even this they enjoyed!  I haven't ever seen them clean up so quickly!

After our Safari, we made animal masks that I printed off of http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ .  The girls colored them and we glued them to popsicle sticks.