Acorn Picture Frame

I saw a project similar to this one in Family Fun magazine a month or so back. This week we decided to give our own acorn frame a try as a cute home made birthday gift for my mom. (M1 & M2's Grandma) It would have been 100% easier had I had one of those $1.00 unfinished wood frames from Michael's, but I didn't & we made it work!!

Supplies- A bag full of acorns, Hot glue gun, Paint, Large Craft Sticks, Glue, Cardboard & Scissors

1. M2 & I began by taking a walk & collecting a brown bag full of acorns. We really just wanted the top of the acorns but got a little of each.
2. Then once we got home, we painted 8 craft sticks a neutral brown/khaki color.

3. I glued the craft sticks together using a few other unpainted craft sticks as a base to hold them together. The frame itself is pictured below.

4. Once the frame was completely dry, M1 & I began gluing the acorn tops around the outside of the picture frame. We covered it as much as we could. ** We did use hot glue to secure the acorns to the frame. I was in charge of the glue gun & M1 was very careful only to touch the acorns. Most of them had little stems which made it much easier.)

 

5. We placed one of our favorite pictures into the frame & taped it into place.

6. In an effort to make my somewhat flimsy frame much stronger, I cut out a piece of cardboard & glued it over the picture covering the entire back of the frame. (Pic. below)
7. I used another piece of cardboard cut into a somewhat triangular shape to create the picture stand. Glued it on & it worked great!

Done! Lots of creativity to make this one work w/o an actual picture frame but it turned out pretty darn cute.

And Grandma loved it!

Enjoy! s.b.

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

Looking for a festive appetizer to bring to a Halloween gathering? Look no further...I made this pumpkin shaped Carmelized Onion Cheese Ball last year for a Halloween party & am looking forward to making another next weekend.

It turned out so cute & tasted pretty good as well. Added bonus: the orange on the outside is created from crushed Goldfish crackers... a staple in most houses with little ones.

I found the recipe here- Taste of Home 

Did I mention I love Halloween??!!

Enjoy! s.b.

Lunch Bag Pumpkin

It's always fun to bring some of my past classroom projects back & do them with the girls. This paper bag pumpkin project was always a favorite & it was fun to see the different pumpkins that were created. I had to give my girls a little  more assistance with this one.. but as usual, it can be modified for little ones of any age.

Supplies- 1 Small Brown Paper Bag, Orange/Green Paint, Paint Brush/Sponge, Green Pipe Cleaner or Green Ribbon, Glue, Black Construction Paper, Scissors & Newspaper

1. Crinkle up a few sheets of newspaper into a ball shape.

2. Stuff the bottom of the paper bag with the newspaper balls.

3. Tie the bag shut 3/4 of the way up with a green pipe cleaner or green ribbon.

4. Begin painting the lower 3/4 of the bag orange until it's covered to the little one's liking... M2 definitely didn't even come close to covering her's but it looked great.
5. Continue by painting the top portion (above the tie) with the green paint.

6. Cut out two triangle eyes, a triangle nose & a jack-o-lantern mouth using the black construction paper. (I did this for M2 but if you have older children you could allow them to create their own shapes for the face.)

7. Glue them into place.

Finished... allow time to dry.

Handprint Fall Colors Tree

Fall is by far my favorite time of the year. I could craft fall stuff all day long! This week the girls (with my assistance of course!) created fall trees using their cute little hand prints.

Supplies- Colored Paint, Glue, Scissors, Brown & White Construction Paper & A Green Crayon.

1. Trace & cut out your little one's hand and arm print. (A small amount of the arm must be traced to create the "tree trunk".)

2. Glue the brown hand/arm print to a 8x11 piece of white construction paper.

 

3. Using the fall tree colors (red, yellow, green, brown, orange) begin dipping little fingers into the paint & stamping them onto the paper to create small colored "leaves."

*We used one color at a time & I washed their fingers off with a damp towel in between colors.

4. Once we were done with the paint, M1 wanted to add a little grass to her picture. Of course monkey see, monkey do...M2 had to make some grass under her tree as well! (Using a green crayon.)

5. Allow to dry.

M1 on the left & M2 on the right...LOVE it!!!

Enjoy! s.b.

Paper Apple Tree

We are still talking about & eating a lot of apples around here! The girls can't get enough of them, so this week we crafted an apple tree. M1 did most of this one, although M2 helped crinkle up the "apples."  This is a craft that I did with my classroom while teaching kindergarten. I've seen several different variations but it's always a hit...

Supplies- Glue, Toilet Paper Roll, Green Construction Paper, Red Tissue Paper Squares (about 1 inch) & Scissors.

1. Cut out a "tree" using the green construction paper.

     2. Begin crinkling up the square pieces of red construction paper to create little "apples."

3. Place small dots of glue all over the green tree.

4. Once you've got a good amount of glue dots, begin placing the "apples" on the dots until all the dots are covered. Allow to dry.

*If you don't have red tissue paper, the "apples" could also be created using painted red fingerprints, stickers or marker dots.

5. Cut two small (1 inch) slits across from one another in the side of the toilet paper roll.

6. Once the apples are all dry, slide the green construction paper into the small slits of the toilet paper tube.

 So easy & very cute...

Enjoy! s.b.

Another Apple Creation...

No tutorial here... this is M1's apple wreath that she created at school. Sooo cute! I really enjoy the projects she does at home with me, but there's something about the crafts she does away from home. The seem so much more special! Maybe it's fact that she's so excited to show me & tell me exactly how she made it.

This particular project was stamped with real apples & then the bow was decorated with apple stickers. Another cute one that would be pretty easy to do with minimal materials.

Enjoy! s.b.

M2's Apple Craft

We are LOVING the cooler temps & fall-like weather. It is my favorite time of the year. There are so many festive things to do together as a family as we approach Halloween & our new house being completed!!! This past weekend we decorated Grandma's house (our current home) with pumpkins & other fall decor. The girls are thrilled! We also made our first trip to the apple orchard to pick apples. Since then, we've been eating lots of apples... apple crisp, squash & apple bake, apple bread, etc. It's so fun. Today while M1 was at school M2 & I decided to continue with the apple fun & make one of her own.

Supplies: Red/White Construction Paper, 1 Small Paper Plate, Glue, Green or Brown Paint, Paint Brush & Scissors

1. Cut 1 inch squares of red paper... enough to cover the entire plate.

2. Cover the paper plate with glue.

3. Begin placing the red squares all over the plate until it's covered.

4. Paint your little one's hand green (as seen below). After I did this, I realized that an apple stem is actually brown. So if you want to be correct, use brown instead!

 

5. Stamp his/her hand onto the white piece of construction paper. Allow to dry.

6. Cut out the handprint & glue it to the top of the "apple."

Another creation from M2... I can't believe she is big enough to be crafting with me already. (She'll be 2 in January) Although we miss having M1 around Tues/Thurs. morning while she's at school... we also enjoy our time with just the two of us!

Enjoy! s.b.

Time for School!

The time has arrived... school starts this week! M1 is starting to show small signs that she's a little scared, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that her first day starts with a smile. We'll see...

To celebrate the beginning of school, we created a pencil. This is a project that I often created in my classroom. Upon completion, we hung them from the desks to display the students' names.

Supplies- *Yellow Paint, *6 Craft Sticks, *Glue, *Paint Brush/Sponge, *Tape, *Cream, Red & Black Construction Paper, *Scissors, *Ribbon

1. Begin by painting five of the craft sticks yellow. Allow to dry.

2. Cut out a large cream colored triangle & a much smaller black triangle to use as the tip of the pencil. (I used a manila folder for the cream color.)

3. Glue the black triangle to the large cream triangle.

4. Cut out a large rectangle. This will become the eraser.

5. Tape the yellow sticks together for a quick hold.

6. Use the 6th (unpainted) craft stick & glue it to the back of the yellow sticks to hold them together. We glued at a diagonal.

7. Glue the triangle onto the end of the craft sticks & the rectangle to the other end.

8. Tape a small piece of ribbon onto the back to hang the pencil.

Done! It turned out to be a great start-of-school craft. Afterwards M1 added stickers to her pencil spelling out her teacher's name. She's so excited to give it to her tomorrow when we go in for Open House. Hopefully Mrs.B enjoys it as much as we do!

 

Enjoy! s.b.