Acorn Snowmen Craft

If you don't have snow to make snowmen with, create some! 

These little ornaments are made with two acorns glued together and a couple of ribbon scraps.  White acrylic painted coated with nail polish gives them a clear shine.  3D Fabric paint is great for holly on their hats, face features, and buttons.  We made a bunch and hung them from our kitchen table lamp.

Merriness!

Wine Cork Tree

This idea was posted on Stonewall Kitchen.  Just darling, so I had to pin it to my Christmas board on pinterest so I wouldn't forget!  It looked simple enough... a bunch of corks, some paint, ribbon, wood pieces.  Hey, I wouldn't have to buy anything!

Finding a stick 2" in diameter was no problem in the woods near our house. Finding a straight one, especially one that would be straight after my handsaw attacked it was a bit more difficult!  I just did the best I could and vowed to make it do with gobs of hot glue.

I painted corks first, though the original directions say to decorate and paint afterwards.  I thought I'd add more flair to it later. Of course, I haven't gotten around to it!  Start with gluing the bottom row, and add more layers as you go up, alternating colors. My tree is bigger the original... just seemed to need more layers to balance with the stem.

I couldn't find anything precious to top the tree so I made star from gold paper (template below).  Merry Christmas!

3d Paper Star

Reindeer Cork Craft

Santa dear, never fear.  These clever deer will make you cheer!

Materials: straightish sticks for legs and neck, branched sticks for antlers (these are from huckleberries), 2 corks, tacky glue, paint, ribbon, paper ears and tail

Tips:  Use an awl or nail to poke holes in the body for the sticks (legs and neck), and shave a bit of cork off the head with a knife to give it a more head-like shape.  For the eyes, dot white paint on with a Q-tip (cotton swab).  For pupils and nose, use 3D fabric paint (shiny and sticks out a bit).

I linked here:

Chestnut & Pistachio Shell Turkey Craft

Letting a toddler take you for a walk in the fall can bless you with pockets full of treasures!

Add a pompom head, some googly eyes, craft foam feet, and a pistachio shell beak with a little hot glue and you never know what kind of treasure creature may emerge...

Hey, who said all turkeys had to be cute, anyway?  :)  These goofy guys make us giggle!

Halloween Craft: Cork Skeleton

HOWDY!

Feeling a little corky? I mean quirky? It could be that all trouble you've been gettin' into has gone deep into your bones.... A few glasses, oops, I mean bottles, may get you on your feet and runnin'!

Skeleton man was made from 11 wine corks and one champagne cork (skull).  His backbone is a bamboo skewer fitted with pony bead vertebrate.  His hands and feet are cut from the ends of Popsicle sticks (the rounded kind, like from Healthy Choice/Cove/Haagan-Dazs) and his shoulder blades come from a piece of straight, narrow Popsicle stick.  To connect his bones, half paperclips were inserted into each side of the cork then connected with small rings (jewelry section of craft store).  His hands and feet are hot-glued onto white twisty ties so they can be positioned. 

One of these days I'll remember to pick up a small eye screw for the top of his head so he can dangle properly.  For now, he's just hangin' around.

For more great ideas, check out these parties!

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Bean Mosaics: Easy Halloween Kids Craft

Here's an easy and thrifty Halloween craft to get fingers moving and creativity flowing.  Warning though, if you are preparing this for a "mommy and me" class, be sure to prepare a separate one for mommy because she'll want to do this, too.  This project has broad appeal to all ages.. playing with beans is fun! 


(Hint:  I was feeling gloomy that my boys weren't interested in crafts any more... I've had this out for awhile but couldn't get them to do it.  Then I had a moment of inspiration. Our school starts late, and when they get home, the boys want to run around outside. Soon enough it is homework, dinner and bedtime. But what about BEFORE school? This was my ticket. I set it up for them when they woke up... they're early risers.  They were so attentive and enjoyed this so much, they would have made more if I'd had more shapes ready. Whoo hoo!!!)


Materials
piece of thin cardboard
scissors, pen
tacky glue, sharpie
yarn
assorted beans
glossy clear spray paint

1) Start by tracing simple halloween shapes (free templates below) onto a piece of cardboard that's thin enough to cut easily but thick enough to hold a thick layer of glue and heavy beans.  If you are making these for a class, choose the pumpkin for easy cutting.

2) Place a thin line of glue along the entire edge of the shape.  Starting from the top, wrap a length of yarn around the edge, forming a hanging loop when you reach the top again.  The yarn "frame" will help the seeds stay in place.  Set the shape to dry on something that you'll be able to peel it off from (some glue will likely stick to the bottom).


3) Gather assorted beans. We used "red" lentils (they look orange), black beans, navy beans, and lima beans. Tapioca pearls or rice would also work well. (Red lentils are a key ingredient in dahl, a type of Indian soup, so you may need to check out the Indian food section of your grocer to find them.)

4) Smear the shape with glue. We used tacky glue, but school glue would work, too. 

5) Have your kids form the eyes and mouths (and fangs!) first, then let them have at it!  Use a sharpie to add pupils to eyes or other features.

6)  After the glue has dried, spray the creations with a coat or two of clear, glossy spray paint to give them shine and deepen the colors. 


7) Hang your creations on a wall, put magnets on for the fridge, or as you like! If you have several shapes, consider re-purposing and old picture frame by arranging the shapes inside.... that's what I'm doing next!


Seed Mosaic Halloween Shapes

I've linked up here!  Thanks for the parties!

Be sure to check out Meg at her MEGA-SPOOKY all Halloween, all the time blog: http://www.megaspooky.com/2011/10/easy-kids-bean-art-project-and-free.html
I couldn't find her button, but she's got a really great collection of Halloween ideas, and I sure appreciate the nice things she said about this project!  :)

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Ode to Magicada: A Cicada Craft

We had so much fun observing the periodical cicadas that emerged in our area this spring that we just had to do something crafty about it to keep our memories alive.  So, we decorated a rectangular canvas to look like a tree trunk and glued on some cicada shapes carved from corks! It took us a month to make this... divided into many little bitty projects... finally on our wall.  It was worth it though. Just looking at it reminds us of the wonder these little enchanting creatures inspired.

Here's what we saw LOTS of: Cicadas!  Climbing up trees!  We partied while they molted then enjoyed hearing them sing for a month. 

I cut some wine corks in half and crudely carved them into cicada shapes.  I had painting helpers waiting, so I couldn't spend much time on perfection!  My painters mixed up a blackish brown body color, then I added dots of red fabric paint to make the 3D eyes.



The wings were cut from a clear plastic strawberry container. (If anyone wants a template, let me know).  I bent the wings a bit to give them a rounded look.  We then used gold paint pens to add wing veins. 

My boys protested at first that we were only making 2 wings (Mom, they have FOUR) but then they tired of wing decorating and thought two were fine...

I hot-glued the wings to the bodies.  Cute, but now what would we do with them?

We did some crayon rubbings of tree bark one morning.  At this point, the kids didn't know what I was up to.  ("We did this at preschool, Mom." But we still went through half a dozen sheets of paper!)  I brought the rubbings out when it came for the next step to help them visualize the project.

The canvas came from a craft store.  After looking at our crayon rubbings, the kids cut thin, wavy strips of black fabric and helped me arrange them on the canvas.  I glued them on as fast as they cut, until we had a zebra-looking tree trunk and the kids lost interest in cutting... falling on the floor in a wrestling match.   Boys!

The kids painted over the whole canvas in shades of black, brown and gray.  They enjoyed blending the colors and remembering who cut which stripe in the process...

Here is the final painted tree trunk.  The fabric gives a 3D bark-like texture.

Then, a little hot glue to add the crawling cicadas.... Ta da!  Our masterpiece!



I've crawled over here to link up: