March 12, 2020
Activities, Animals, Decor, DIY Home, Early Elementary, Everyday Crafts, Family Bonding, Older Elementary, Organization, Preschool, Tween to Teen, Unplugged Time
I think we are all moving through this scary, confusing time with so many questions. How will the coronavirus pandemic affect me and my kids? Will my kids get sick? And what am I going to do with my kids all day long indefinitely if schools are closed because of Covid-19? This is a legit concern, and while I’m not a doctor here to dispense any knowledge on the reality that upon us, I can speak to that indefinite stretch of time that you may see ahead of you with your kids at home due to school closings.
Ok, so first, you need to have supplies on hand (and I’m not talking hand-sanitizer—though you should have that too). Start there. I’ve made this nifty Amazon list of materials that are open-ended enough to give your kids so many options for crafting. You can check out this post for different ways to use those materials, for the ones that might feel a little more mysterious to you.
Here are some of my favorite projects that will keep your kids busy and unplugged during all of this open-ended time at home!
I think my kids might choose their stuffed animals over their actual parents in a true emergency. They love and revere these stuffed creatures beyond imagination. Grab for that felt, ribbon, and Aleene’s® Fabric Fusion (I love the pen version for kids!) to make these precious super-hero capes for their favorite furry friends. Decorate with pompoms, rhinestones, buttons, or whatever you have on hand.
Making marbleized paper with shaving cream and food coloring is addictive (I swear you’ll find yourself wanting a tray all to yourself to make notecards and gift-tags!). Spread shaving cream evenly on a plate (for small projects) or cookie sheet (for large projects) and drop a few dots of food coloring around the surface of the shaving cream. Use a toothpick to swirl the color around, and then press the paper onto the shaving cream. Visit the original post for more detailed instructions.
I love this project (and this pic of my daughter) so much! This easy craft is made just from felt and string. And truly, you could do any design and just cut it in half to make a BFF necklace!
Nothing makes me happier than the return of the 90s scrunchie craze! You can make your own with a skinny strip of fabric and some of this amazing Fabric Fuse tape. (I’m loving this fruit-inspired fabric bundle!)
These DIY bulletin boards are super fun to make! We chose three designs that all had pointy surfaces, but you could really make any shape! Start with cork squares and cut them into any shape your heart desires! Acrylic paint works really to cover the brown and get into the nooks and crannies of the surface of your bulletin board.
Honestly, you will not regret getting a craft supply reserve going! It allows your kids to experiment and play…and maybe you’ll discover some of your own creative gifts at the same time! Click here to find my favorite (and sometimes totally weird) craft supply faves!
March 10, 2020
ad, Early Elementary, Older Elementary, Paper, Spring, St. Patrick's Day, Upcycled
This easy paper craft for St. Patrick’s Day is guaranteed to get the kiddos out for some springtime fun! Tap into their creativity – and their playtime imaginations – with a Leprechaun Finder that’ll have them searching high and low for mysterious little guys dressed in green.
We teamed up with our favorite sticky-stuff (a.k.a. glue) maker, Aleene’s®, and made these with their nontoxic Aleene’s® Original Tacky Glue® and a few simple craft supplies for a project that keeps the fun going after the art part is done. And hey, you never know, they might just stumble upon a pot of gold!
Check out this little video that will show you how easy these are to make!
Visit the Aleene’s® project page for the full how-to!
January 29, 2020
Holidays, Valentine's Day
If you are looking for a low-craft, but not exactly store-bought valentine, this one is perfect-o!
Just print out these free tags, cut out, then punch holes in the corners, and voila! There are four tags that read…”Love always wins” “Let’s Play a Game of Love” “Hugs + Kisses…coming your way” and “With love, no one loses!”
You just have to sign your name and you’re done. Oh yeah, and head over to Amazon to buy these cute little tic-tac-toe key chains. Perfectly suited for Valentine’s Day with the Xs and Os!
Download the free printable tags here!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
January 28, 2020
Uncategorized
Of all the magical process-art techniques, there are none that I love more than the shaving cream/food dye method. I’ve seen adults gasp at the results of this combo, and I’m most def one of them.
I made these simple heart cards for the 2020 issue of Parents magazine, and once the issue arrived, my 7-year-old daughter was all over it! It’s not uncommon for work and life to collide around here! If you want to make these, here’s what you’ll need to do:
Spread shaving cream (the creamy kind, not a foaming gel) to make an even layer in a tray large enough to hold your paper. Have your child dribble 6 to 8 drops of food coloring into the shaving cream, and use a toothpick to gently swirl the colors through the cream. When the colors are spread out, have your kid press a piece of thick, white paper onto the colored foam. Scrape the shaving cream off the page with a ruler. Repeat with more pages. Once dry, cut 3 1/2 x 5-in. heart shapes from the sheets. Cut 8×6-in. pieces of colored paper and fold each in half to make a card. Glue cutout hearts to folded cards. Write, “My heart’s in a swirl!” inside.
January 27, 2020
Age, Early Elementary, Everyday Crafts, Holidays, Older Elementary, Preschool, Toddler, Tween to Teen, Valentine's Day
When February rolls around, it’s hard to decide on just one Valentine’s Day craft to make for friends and family. Everyone has a special place in your heart, and therefore they deserve a unique craft to commemorate it! I made these 5 Valentine’s crafts that all use Metallic Corrugated Hearts for Fun365, from turning them into kissing fish to making a love-shower mobile to making Valentine award ribbons. Pick one (or all five!) and craft your little heart out!
To make these projects, visit Fun365 and the shopping list is right there…just hit “add to cart!”.
VALENTINE HEART MOBILE
Shower someone with a lot of love with this Valentine’s room decoration. Fold three Metallic Corrugated Hearts in half and glue them back to back around a string that’s between four and eight inches long. Repeat to make about 12 total in varying lengths. Paint your embroidery hoop (this step is optional), and once it’s dry, glue or tie the stringed hearts onto the center ring of the hoop, staggering their lengths. Secure the outer ring around by tightening the screw. Cut three long pieces of string and loop them around the entire hoop; gather these together and knot at the top to hang. Make it for a Valentine’s party or to just remind your loved one that love is all around!
VALENTINE KISSING FISH
We’ve all heard of love birds, but this craft is all about kissing fish! Glue two Metallic Corrugated Hearts together, overlapping just the top edges to form an almond shape. Glue the point of another corrugated heart to the back, and create fins by adhering Bright Self-Adhesive Heart Shapes to the top and bottom of the fish’s body. Fold a heart in half and glue it to the middle of the fish to make the side fin. Glue a googly eye to the fish’s face and stick a mini heart sticker under the fish’s eye as the mouth. Make these with your kids as school valentines or just as a fun, unplugged craft project.
VALENTINE HEART CARDS
Grab your pack of 100 Metallic Corrugated Heartsand make quick and simple cards for everyone—your BFF, your favorite cousin, your bus driver and your babysitter! These are so fast to make that you can spread the love far and wide in a short period of time. Cut colored cardstock down to various card sizes: 4×6 inches, 5×7 inches, or 3×3 inches, and glue the hearts on with Aleene’s® Tacky Glue®. Vary your sizes and designs, and get creative as you go. You can cut letters freehand from scraps of cardstock to add messages like “I ♥ U”!
VALENTINE HEART-SHAPED PALS
Add some metallic chenille stem arms and legs to a corrugated heart and you have a cute little Valentine friend! First glue googly eyes to the front of the heart. Cut your chenille stem in half—use one half for the arms and one half for the legs. Fold one in half and glue the bend behind the bottom point of the heart. Bend the feet up and glue a small bead on as a shoe. Glue the other half of the chenille stem to the middle back of the heart and add a bead on either end as hands. If you want to turn these into class valentines, glue a cardstock talk bubble to the heart that says Happy Valentine’s Day!
VALENTINE HEART AWARD RIBBONS
Who gives the best hugs? Who’s your number-one teacher? Make these Valentine award ribbons with your kids to decorate the loved ones in their lives. First, flatten two cupcake liners, and fringe the ruffled part of one liner. Trim the ruffled part of the second in half, making a small cupcake liner and then fringe the ends. Glue the small liner on top of the larger one, and then glue a Metallic Corrugated Heart to the center. Cut two 3/4-inch strips of cardstock that are about 3-4 inches long. Trim the ends to look like ribbon and glue them to the back of the larger cupcake liner. Use the space on the ribbons to write love-filled messages to the award-winner!
