Posts Tagged ‘crafts’

This year the P’s made a gift for Father’s Day.  Since Daddy is preparing to head out again we thought a pillowcase to take with him would be perfect!

I bought a tan pillow case to match the sheets he’ll be using and we used red and blue paint to add each of the P’s handprints.  Since the P’s say “Now I lay me down to sleep” everynight as part of their bedtime routine I came up with a little verse that started with the same phrase.  I used silver puff paint to print it onto the pillow case.

It reads:

 Now I lay me down to sleep, 

Our handprints are here for you to keep,

To remember exactly the way they are,

 Even when you are so far. 

And we will keep you in our hearts,

Until the day we’re no longer apart.

We Love You Daddy!

For the thrid year in a row we have set an excellent trap but those Sneaky Leprechauns seem to have evaded us once again!  Peyton was disappointed but has decided next year our trap should be bigger

The Trap was set

And when they woke up….

We found green footprints, Chocolate Coins, Shamrock Confetti, and Green Rock Candy…but NO Leprechauns!  We have underestimated them again!

Pixi following the trail

She was very concerned about the footprints

But thought the Green milk was lots of fun!

P2 didn’t want to check the trap…He made me do it!

Enjoying her Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow

Rainbow Breakfast~Fruit and Marshmallows

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Tomorrow, March 2nd, is National Read Across America Day.

National Read Across America Day is a nationwide reading celebration that takes place on March 2nd, Dr. Seuss’ Birthday, every year.  Schools and Libraries across the country will be be celebrating the joy of reading with fun games and activities and of course BOOKS!

There is know denying that reading is a gateway to learning.  When a child learns to read it builds their confidence, opens their imagination, and educates them about the world around them.  With a young reader in our house, and one that is right behind her, we are encouraging as much reading as possible.  We keep their books readily accessible in the playroom, take them with us in the car and to appointments for entertainment (thankfully my kids don’t get carsick), and read books to each of them, every night,  as part of their bedtime routine.  With Peyton in school this year (and Reading!) she has been doing lots of activities in her classroom and I am trying to incorporate as much Dr. Seuss fun as possible into our home routine this week.  Because, you know, READING is FUN!

 

So, how can you join in on the Celebration?

Read Read Read:  Early in the week we visited the local children’s library and checked out several Dr. Seuss books to have on hand and today I found that Target has their hard back, Dr. Seuss books on sale 2 for $10!  We got two more to add to our collection, Green Eggs and Ham (Peyton’s Favorite), and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Community Events:  Check with your local library, schools, book stores, and community centers to see if they have anything planned.  There is also a list of Events posted on Seussville.com.  Most Libraries and Barnes and Noble book stores host weekly story times for the kids, by doing a quick online search I was able to find several options for story time in our area.

Activities:  There are so many fun ideas over on Seussville.com.  Check out their activity section for lots of printable word finds, mazes, and color sheets.  You may want to jazz up your wardrobe and make a paper Cat in the Hat tall hat or cut out Stars to wear on your belly like the sneetches.  Maybe a Daisy headband to wear like Daisy Head Mayzie.

Fun Snacks:  You can’t have a celebration without fun foods!  Try one of these fun Dr Seuss themed treats.

• Cat in the Hat Parfait:  layer fresh sliced strawberries with vanilla yogurt in a glass.
• Cat in the Hat Kabobs:  Alternate Strawberries and Bananas on a skewer.
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish:  Colored Goldfish Crackers~that’s an easy one!
• Green Eggs and Ham:  Add Food coloring to your scrambled eggs, serve with ham, bacon, or sausage.

 

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is all about indulgince.  So you know those sweets you’re going to give up for Lent?  This is your day to get it all in before the fasting season (which starts tomorrow, Ash Wednesday).  Typically you think of wild parties in New Orleans but around here, the kids are getting in on some of the fun.

Mardi Gras Masks

I found these plastic masks at the Dollar Tree but you can also find plain ones at craft stores like Michaels.  We used some glitter glue, feathers, and beads to jazz them up a little.

 Mardi Gras Beads

Forget the store bought kind, we’re making our own!  Using the pasta that we dyed purple, green and gold yesterday and some simple twine, the kids get to string their own beads.  Visit my tutorial for instructions on how to Dye your own pasta.

King Cake

This is the first year I’m going to make a King Cake.  They look like so much fun and the kids loved that we made our own colored sugars to put on top!

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home

Today we dyed pasta to string on neclaces…we are making Mardi Gras beads!  It is easy to do but you need a full 24 hours for the pasta to be ready for use.

What you need:

•   Pasta
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Food Coloring
• Glass Jars

Directions:

1. Pour pasta into the glass jars leaving enough room for the pasta to move around.
2. Add in food coloring (I let the kids do this part so they added quite a bit)
3. Pour in a tablespoon or two of rubbing alcohol-enough to cover the bottom of the jar
4. cover tightly with lids
5. shake jars until pasta is completely covered
6. Leave the jars closed for several hours (we left ours for about 8 hours) making sure to shake them every so often to keep the pasta evenly coated.
7. Pour the pasta out onto paper towels and let dry over night

I am so excited that we tried this and that it was so easy!  I see endless crafting possibilities in our future

***WORD OF CAUTION:  The smell of the Alcohol when the pasta was spread out onto the towels is VERY strong.  I had all of the kitchen windows open and ended up taking them outside for about an hour and then switch the alcohol soaked paper towels for dry ones when I brought them back in.

 

 

I made these on a whim after wandering the Dollar Tree looking for some cheap crafting inspiration.  My total cost for supplies ended up being $2.16!  The votive candles came in a two-pack and the conversation hearts candies were 4 box-packs.  All I needed was a hot glue gun and about 10 minutes to finish the project.

I just may be as excited as my 3 year old, who has been asking every morning since Thanksgiving “Is it Christmas?”.  The tree is up, the house is decorated…I LOVE this time of year! 

I have decided to bring you 25 days of Christmas, through Tutus and Tantrums.  Each day I will have something new up relating to the Holiday season.  Plenty of recipes, crafts, and decorating ideas.  I may even have a guest blog or two! 

I hope you’ll join me!

 

Celebrate all that your child is Thankful for with this cute and easy handprint craft.

You will need:

• White Paper (thicker paper or cardstock is better)
• Brown Paint
• Red, Yellow, Orange Construction Paper
• Scissors
• Glue Stick

Start by painting the inside of the child’s arm and palm with brown paint.  Press onto the white paper to form the tree trunk and branches.  Let dry.

Cut leaf shapes out of the consturction paper.  If child is old enough have them write things they are thankful for on the leaves.  I also did this project with my 1 and 3 year olds.  The 3 year old dictated to me and I wrote for him and the 1 year old’s tree has blank leaves.

Have child glue their leaves onto the tree branches.

Frame and display for the Thankful Season!

 

 

Whether you are somewhere where it’s snowing but just too dang cold to go outside or in sunny, warm weather and there is no snow…you can still have a ‘Snowman’ day!

It’s just too cold here to play outside everyday, even if we are bundled up.  We came up with this ‘winter’ themed craft for some indoor fun!

What you will need:

3 different sized paper plates (I used a 7″, 9″, and 10″)

various beans

hole punch

2 pieces of 3″ long string

1 piece of 6″ long string

1 piece approx. 12″ long ribbon tied in a bow

markers, crayons, etc.

2 small twigs

glue

First, punch a hole in the top of the large plate, one hole on each end of the medium plate, and one hole on each end of the small plate.  Take the 2 pieces of 3″ long string and tie the plates together, face up.  Turn the plates over.

Next, decorate the plates however you’d like.  Then, glue beans to the small plate to make a face and the twigs to either side of the medium plate for the arms.

If your ‘Snowperson’ is a girl use the bow at the top of the small plate as a hair ribbon.  If you are making a ‘Snowboy’ place the bow at the top of the middle plate to be used as a bow tie.

Let glue dry completely and then tie the 6″ long piece of string to the top of the Snowperson and hang.

Top off the day with a fun treat!

To make the snowman snacks connect 3 marshmallows together with 2 pretzel sticks.  Use 2 more pretzel sticks as the arms and 2 chocolate chips for the eyes.  Serve with some hot chocolate for a perfect winter treat!

A fun and easy (although a bit messy) way to give your pumpkins a face-lift! Kids of all ages will enjoy this and even the little ones can take part (We let our 18 month old get in on the action and he loved it)!

Here’s what you need:

Pumpkins -if you’d like to reuse them, buy the fake pumpkins from a craft store
Glue -Elmer’s will work just fine, you want to be sure it’s runny enough to paint it on
Paint Brush -I always get the sponge one’s, they are cheap and you can throw them away when you’re done
Glitter -Peyton chose purple and green but you can do any colors that match your Halloween theme or home decor

Start with glue on a paper plate or bowl. From their, the kids can dip their paintbrushes in it to paint the pumpkins and you can toss the plate when your done. I helped out at the end to make sure that they had every inch covered.

Next, sprinkle the glitter over the pumpkins (make sure you get enough glitter. We had small pumpkins and used 2 tubes of glitter on each). We ended up with a lot of glitter on the paper towels so after we had sprinkled we rolled the pumpkins in it to cover them.
When your done, let them dry and display anywhere! They make great center pieces!

Oh, and have fun cleaning up!