Heart Suncatcher...Or Not

I planned for O to make a heart suncatcher using contact paper and crepe paper streamers. I cut a heart out of the contact paper and taped it (sticky side out) onto our sliding glass door. I gave her a basket of crepe paper streamers and a pair of scissors. I told her she could cut or tear the streamers and then put them on the sticky heart. She cut a few streamers, but then decided that she'd rather her heart have tails. My little artist has a mind of her own!

Heart Family

When I saw these heart people at The Crafty Crow, I thought they would be fun for O and I to make. To make the heart people, you need a construction paper heart for each person, 4 pieces of pipe cleaners for the arms and legs, and a hole puncher.

I set up a tray with all the necessary materials. I punched the holes in the hearts while O decorated the faces. She decorated 4 hearts, one for each member of our family. She was so funny when she was drawing the face on E's heart. She kept staring at E's face and looking back and forth from E's face to the heart as if she were copying it exactly onto the heart.

O was surprisingly uninterested in this project, so we didn't finish it until the next day. After she finished drawing the faces on all 4 hearts, we joined their pipe cleaner hands (she made sure that the children were in the middle with the mama and daddy on either side) and hung them from our mantel.

A Drawing of "Baby Sister"

O loves to sell things, so she decided she'd sell artwork a few nights ago. I was her first customer, and I requested that she draw a portrait of E. Luckily, she was taking custom orders, and she got right to work. I LOVE her drawing, and she was very proud!

Family Art Night

We're trying to have Family Art Night once a week (or every other week) and last Saturday was the night! I planned for us to cut paper snowflakes. I folded the paper for the snowflakes to simplify the process and had them in a basket on the table. However, O and Elliott had other plans :) O immediately asked if she could make whatever she wanted. Of course, I said yes. She had a great time cutting and tearing the leftover scraps of paper from the snowflakes. She mentioned that she was making a mask, and Elliott immediately began making a mask and was very involved in that. I finally convinced O to make a few cuts for a snowflake. She unfolded it and seemed quite proud. Then she started tearing it to make it even more original :) E sat in the table in the Bumbo and enjoyed watching all of the craziness. It was a fun night, and I'm looking forward to our next Family Art Night.

A Snowman Vase

O and I decorated a white container (Crystal Light, I think) to look like a snowman vase for our centerpiece. We used sharpie markers and put cut Rosemary in the snowman vase when we were finished. O was very proud and the rosemary smells great! The idea for this activity came from the Frugal Family Fun Blog.

Model Magic Hand & Footprint Ornaments

O, E, Elliott, and I made hand and footprint ornaments using Model Magic a few days ago. It was SO much easier and works SO much better than using plaster of paris (we made ornaments using O's hand and footprints for her 1st Christmas using plaster of paris. It was difficult to get the footprints just right because the mixture was too watery, and the ornaments are heavy and easily breakable).

To make the ornaments, I rolled the Model Magic into a ball and then used one of O's playdough rolling pins to roll it out. I cut out an appropriately sized circle using a bowl. Elliott brought E over and we pressed her hand and then her foot into the Model Magic. We let the ornaments dry for 24 hours before adding a ribbon and putting them on the tree. I need to sand around the edges, but I'll worry about that after Christmas. I'm VERY pleased with how they turned out :)

O was excited that we also made an ornament using her handprint. She had a lot of fun playing with the Model Magic while we were making the ornaments. We also made handprints of both girls for O to paint that we'll display all year long.

Model Magic is fairly expensive. I bought a large tub months ago (to use for making landforms...maybe I'll eventually do that :) from Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon. One package from the tub (it came with 4 packages) made 7 ornaments.

Felt Sugar Cookies

I can't believe I finished these cookies before Christmas Eve! They weren't top priority on my long list, but since they were so simple to make they eventually made their way to the top while other more important things were cut :)

To make the cookies, I traced cookie cutter shapes onto ecospun felt and cut out 2 of each of the shapes (I did this at least 6 months ago...before having a baby and forgetting about them completely until just a few weeks ago). Once I remembered the cookies, I started carrying them around with me for a couple of weeks hoping for a few minutes to work on them. I finally found the (less than) 20 minutes that I needed while waiting for Elliott's workday to be finished (we ride together) last week, and I sewed the 2 sides together using embroidery thread. I decided not to stuff the cookies.

The girls both went to sleep fairly early (gasp!) a couple of nights ago, and I worked furiously on Christmas gifts...the cookies made the cut once again, so I painted them with fabric paint. It's supposed to look like icing, and I guess it does. I think they'd look better with felt embellishments instead of paint, but they're done and that makes me happy. I packaged them in a Martha Stewart cookie box (bought at 75% off after Christmas last year), and they are under the tree!

Handpainted Santa Trivets

O painted these cork trivets (from IKEA) using her handprint for her aunts, grandmamas, and me! These gifts were super easy to make and turned out better than I expected.

To make the Santas I painted her fingers white for Santa's beard, and I painted her palm pink. I painted the bottom of her palm and thumb red with a little dot of white on the tip of her thumb (we used acrylic craft paint and tempura paint). Then we mashed her hand onto the trivet. I repainted her hand for each trivet. I added the eyes with a permanent black marker. I thought about adding a few more facial features, but then decided to keep it simple. I didn't seal them with anything, so I hope they will last...

The idea for painting cork trivets from IKEA came from Let's Explore. Thanks Amy for all of your inspiring ideas!

Oh, we also put a handprint turkey on the back of my trivet, so I can use it for Christmas or Thanksgiving (although I doubt I'll actually use it for anything other than decoration). We ran out of time before we could put turkeys on the backs of the other trivets :( Next year I really will finish our handmade gifts earlier...it's so much more enjoyable to make gifts without a deadline weighing down on you.

Glittery Letter Ornaments

We had a GREAT time making glittery letter ornaments! First, we sanded the edges of the letters (bought from Hobby Lobby in packs of 2 for a dollar).

Then she painted the letters with glue.

Then she went crazy with the glitter. I was distracted by a phone call during this activity, and we somehow ended up with glitter EVERYWHERE in our house...even in the toilets! Next time, I'll just let the phone ring :)

O made ornaments for herself, her baby sister, and one of her favorite people.

I'm glad she had fun making these ornaments because I think it's the last time we'll use glitter for a while...if Elliott has his way!

Handprint & Paper Plate Reindeer

When I saw this reindeer craft at my school on Wednesday, I knew that O would love making it, and I would love having it as a keepsake (since I love to make things with O and E's handprints).

To make the reindeer, O colored a paper plate with a crayon rock (our favorite crayons!). She went a little crazy with a glue stick and covered almost the whole plate before placing the eyes and nose on the plate. I traced her hands onto stiff brown felt and then cut them out. I hot glued her felt hands to the back of the plate, punched a hole in the top, and looped a ribbon through the hole.

O was excited and proud to hang the reindeer on our tree. He's a little big for our 4 ft tree, but we don't mind a bit! This activity went along perfectly with our advent book, Snappy Little Christmas. (Somehow, I keep getting lucky and our activities and books are fitting together nicely without any planning :)

Painted Glass Ornaments

O and I had fun making painted glass ornaments again this year.

To make these ornaments you need clear glass ornaments with removable tops and craft paint. I removed the tops, and O squeezed the paint into the ornament. She twirled the ornament around to let the paint spread. After a few minutes, we added another color. We used lime green and hot pink paint in these ornaments since they are gifts for her dance teachers, and the dance studio's colors are pink and green. This was fun, easy, and quick, and the ornaments look great!

Paint Your Own Dollhouse

I've put together a "Paint Your Own Dollhouse" kit for a couple of little girls on our list this year. Included in the kit are an unfinished dollhouse (it's marketed as a cd holder and sold in the unfinished wood section at Michael's), a family of unfinished peg dolls, and craft paint. I hope the little girls who receive this gift will have lots of creative fun with it!

Another Handmade Gift For Grandparents

We try to make all of the gifts for O and E's grandparents since handmade gifts are the best, especially for grandparents :) Canvases painted by O are much loved gifts that are easy to make, and O is always so proud to give the gift of her artwork.

O used washable tempera paint (the paint she uses at her easel) and painted on a 5 X 7 canvas.

Fall Handprint Art

O and I had fun making a handprint tree a few days ago. The idea for this activity came from Montessori Moments. I traced O's arm and hand on construction paper (she chose the colors) and then cut them out. She glued the arm and hand "tree" to a piece of paper and glued leaves on the tree. She really enjoyed collecting the leaves, and she especially enjoyed spreading the glue all over her paper!

Mixing Colors with Shaving Cream

O LOVES to play with shaving cream! We decided to mix yellow and red to make orange in honor of Autumn. We placed cardstock on top of the shaving cream and food coloring to make marblized art. However, O was not very interested in making artwork. She just loved playing with the shaving cream. She mixed it around with spoons, spatulas, and forks. She put it in her plastic ice cream cones and "sold" me an ice cream cone :) She also hid tiny plastic animals in the shaving cream. This kept her happily occupied while I cleaned the kitchen :)

A Candy Collage

What should you do with all of that Halloween candy??? Make a candy collage, of course :) I was surprised and pleased that O was so willing to use her candy to make a collage. She really enjoyed mashing the candy and making a sculpture, too. This may become a "day after Halloween" tradition!

Egg Carton Spiders

O and I recently made egg carton spiders. I cut the cups out of a cardboard egg carton. O painted the spiders and glued on the eyes. I cut slits in the side and put the pipe cleaners through them for legs. O had fun playing with her spiders in the rice pit.

Paper Plate Pumpkin Craft

O had fun making a paper plate pumpkin this morning! The idea for this activity came from My Montessori Journey. I gave O a paper plate, strips of orange construction paper, a glue stick, scissors, and a green pipe cleaner. I told her she could use either side of the plate, and she chose to use the back. She also had the option of tearing or cutting the orange strips, and she chose to cut them. She really enjoyed cutting the paper and glueing the pieces to the plate to make her pumpkin. I made a hole in the top of the plate, and she threaded the pipe cleaner through the hole to make a stem that doubles as a hook for hanging. Quick, fun, and easy!

Another Halloween Puppet

I'm SO glad that I stocked up on these Martha Stewart puppet kits after Halloween last year. O LOVES making the puppets, and it's SO nice to have a quick and easy activity ready to go at any time :) She doesn't play with puppets that much after they are made, but she really enjoys the process of making them. We accidentally left her cat puppet at Guh-guh and Grandpa's house, and she was SO upset because she wanted to show it to her daddy :(