Once Upon a Holidaytag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//262010-03-19T14:36:16ZMovable Type 3.33Make a Bird's Nest for Springtag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.29022010-03-18T13:17:18Z2010-03-19T14:36:16ZWelcome spring by making this simple bird's nest with your kids using recycled paper bags. Or, try colored pastel paper for an Easter decoration. Ellen Baker
By Ellen Luckett Baker
Welcome spring by making a bird's nest with your kids. This simple project can be made with recycled paper bags for a natural look or you could try colored pastel paper for an Easter decoration. The kids will love working with the shredded bags and glue to make a grand mess.
Supplies:
Shredded paper bags (about one per nest)
Clear school glue
Plastic wrap
Bowl for the nest mold
Bowl for glue mixture
Tarp or outside surface for getting messy
1. Gather your materials and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
2. Mix the glue with equal parts water.
3. Dip the shredded paper bags into the glue mixture and pat them onto the bowl mold, completely covering it. Then add some dry shredded paper on top to make it have the messy nest look.
4. Allow to dry for 24-48 hours.
I was not able to get any photos of the kids actually working with the shredded paper and glue because my hands were covered in it! Messy stuff. We also painted some wooden eggs to go inside the nest. The kids enjoyed this project and it was a great way to welcome spring!
After we made these bowls, I searched the internet to see if there were other bird's nest projects out there and saw that Patricia Zapata has a similar project in her book Home, Paper, Scissors: Decorative Paper Accessories for the Home. It looks like a great book and she also has a very nice blog and shop.
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Happy Pi Day: let's celebrate with some PIE!tag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28902010-03-12T05:04:48Z2010-03-14T18:11:47ZYes, Sunday is Pi Day and celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. For those of you slow on the uptake, Pi = 3.141592653... and is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Before you disappear from here thinking we're going to give you math quiz or something, rest assured we can think of no better way to celebrate this mathtastic day but to recommend PIE! Isabel
Pi Day and celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. For those of you slow on the uptake, Pi = 3.141592653... and is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
Before you disappear from here thinking we're going to give you math quiz or something, rest assured we can think of no better way to celebrate this mathtastic day but to recommend PIE! And, your very own single-serving of pie.
I found a couple of different recipes of single serving pies made in tiny jars. So cute!
From Not Martha:
Megan from Not Martha made adorable cherry pies in tiny jars an imparts her been-there-done-that wisdom when working with the petite sizes.
From Our Best Bites:
The gals at Our Best Bites also have fun making Pies in a Jar with different pie tops like lattice and crumble. Check out their tutorial as well.
I could not think of a better way to celebrate a weekend Pi Day.
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Special Advertising Offer: Our friends at Zulily, the sales event site, are giving our readers a $10 discount to be used on a first purchase. Sign up as a new member through this special link and use the promo code ALPHAMOM10.]]>
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St. Patrick's Day & Spring Blingtag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28862010-03-11T13:52:54Z2010-03-12T16:57:10ZMake some pretty necklaces out of salt dough beads that you bake in your own oven. Isabel
By Cindy Hopper
To make these special beads mix up some flour, salt, oil and water.
Salt Dough Recipe
* 3 Cups flour
* 1 Cup salt
* 1 tablespoon oil
* 3/4 to 1 cup water
* Mix well and knead with hands.
Instructions:
Begin making beads by rolling small pieces of dough between hands.
Use a skewer to make a hole in the middle of the bead. Make the holes really large. The dough will shrink during baking.
Cookie Cutters can be used to make pendants for the necklaces. To make the shamrock cut out three small hearts, press together and then add a piece of dough for the stem.
Once all the beads are made they need to be baked. Bake beads and pendants at 300 degrees for about an hour (turning once).
After the beads have been baked and cooled they are ready to paint. (We used acrylic paint.)
Once the paint has dried, give the beads a coat of clear spray paint.
Use a yarn needle to thread the beads onto crochet thread (what we used), embroidery floss or yarn. Placing a clip on the end will keep the beads from slipping off the end while stringing.
Carefully thread the beads onto the thread. We used this opportunity to talk about pattern and symmetry.
Place necklace around neck and tie in the back. Now you have some bling for spring too!
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St. Patrick's Day Craft: Rainbow Friendship Braceletstag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28692010-03-04T11:19:04Z2010-03-05T17:20:23ZWe're celebrating St. Patrick's Day by making Rainbow Friendship Bracelets. These are easy to make and fun to give out to friends on this Spring holiday!
Marie LeBaron http://www.makeandtakes.com
By Marie LeBaron
We're celebrating St. Patrick's Day by making Rainbow Friendship Bracelets. These are easy to make and fun to give out to friends on this Spring holiday!
Supplies for Rainbow Bracelets:
- yarn in all rainbow colors (yarn is great for smaller fingers, but if you're child is older, you can make these with embroidery floss)
- scissors
- safety pin, one per person
- large colored beads
Roll out your yarn and cut each color to 18 inches long. Then tie a knot at the top with all 6 colors of yarn.
Attach a safety pin to the top of the knotted yarn. Then you'll need to attach this same safety pin to something firm as you braid your yarn. I like to attach it to the seam in my jeans. Or you could attach it to your sock. I've even attached it to the seam in my couch and sat on the floor as I've braided.
Now start to braid. I did this first one in a simple braid, putting 2 colors together, for 3 groups of yarn to braid.
Here's a bracelet I made with knots all down the length of yarn, alternating each color after 5 knots.
Here's a bracelet we made by adding a bead into each thread as I braided.
Or here's a beaded bracelet with 10 beads on each color of yarn, then tied together. We left the yarn hanging down a bit off the bracelet to make a fun rainbow stream!
Once your bracelets are made, you can either remove the safety pin and tie them together in a knot, or attach the other end of the yarn to the safety pin, using it like a clasp.
With so many ways to design your bracelets, you can now give them to all your friends. It's even more fun as a play-date or party and make them together, swapping bracelets with friends. ]]>
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Celebrate International Women's Day with a rocking Girl Power T-shirt!tag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28522010-02-25T10:58:24Z2010-02-26T15:57:50ZRock your girl power with a customized t-shirt. All you need is some iron-on-transfer paper, a printer and your mad coloring skillz!Brenda Ponnay
By Brenda Ponnay
This month we decided to skip the glitter and glue and stay far away from any paint or cutting of cardboard. We felt like coloring! What's a better way to celebrate International Woman's Day on March 8th than sporting a hand-colored Girl Power t-shirt!
Everybody likes to color. We actually printed out the designs, colored them in with washable markers and then scanned them in again to be printed out on iron-on transfer paper but you could buy special iron-on transfer crayons and skip the scanning step if you don't have a scanner. For the iron-on directions just follow the directions on the package. You can find iron-on transfer paper at most office supply stores or craft stores in the paper section. (My best iron-on-transfer paper advice: make sure your iron is bone dry before you iron!)
Click HERE for a variety of downloads you can print out to customize your t-shirt in your own special way. If you don't see a design that works for you, feel free to email me and I'll customize if it's not too big of a change. Just remember these are for personal use only. So turn on your printer and get ready to rock your girl power!
We even made one for boys. Cause boys rock too!]]>
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Make a Book for Read Across America Daytag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28392010-02-18T06:12:06Z2010-02-19T21:36:45ZMarch 2nd is Read Across America Day, celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday. Nurture your children's love of reading by helping them create their own storybook. Made from a cereal box, paper and yarn, these books are simple to make.Ellen Baker
By Ellen Luckett Baker
March 2nd is Read Across America Day, celebrated on the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Nurture your children's love of reading by helping them create their own storybook. Made from a cereal box, paper and yarn, these books are simple to make and offer many possibilities. An adult will need to do most of the cutting in the first steps, but then kids can sew the book together and make it their own with drawings and words.
Supplies:
-Cereal box
-Paper
-Scissors or paper cutter
-Rounded corner punch (optional)
-Hammer and nail or awl
-Paper clips
-Tapestry needle
-Twine
Instructions:
1. Cut the front and back rectangles from your cereal box. You can make two books from each box. Cut these in any size or shape you choose. You can round the corners with a paper punch if you'd like.
2. Cut the paper slightly smaller than the dimensions of your box. About five sheets of paper works well. Stagger the papers before you cut them so that the book will close nicely. Again, you can round the corners if you'd like.
3. Mark the center of your box cover on the inside and score down this line with a blunt tool. I used my closed scissors for this.
4. Arrange the paper in the center of the back side of your box cover and use paper clips to hold it in place.
5. Flip over the stack and make four marks for your holes on the front cover. With a hammer and nail or an awl, make your holes. Be sure to work on a surface that won't be damaged.
6. With the paper clips still holding the paper in place, thread the yarn onto the tapestry needle. Your child can now sew through the holes. This can be done however you'd like, but we used a backstitch like this: starting from the inside and holding the tail, come up through the second hole, down through the first hole, back up through the second hole, down through the third, up through the fourth and back down through the third again. Tie the two ends together in the center.
My plan was to read some Dr. Seuss books then make the cereal box book into a rhyming book so that my five-year-old can practice her rhyming skills, but creativity took over and she immediately started drawing in her new book.
Visit the NEA website for more information about Read Across America Day and links to resources, including the Dr. Seuss website. ]]>
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Olympic Medal Cookies!tag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28262010-02-11T14:55:34Z2010-02-12T15:55:23ZThe Olympic Winter Games begin tomorrow and then for a couple of weeks kids will be figure skating in kitchens and skiing off the sofa. Be ready with our Gold Medal cookies for your champs. Isabel
Go for the gold with these Olympic medal cookies!
By Cindy Hopper
Make your favorite cookies and gather some gold foil, patriotic ribbon and hot glue.
Wrap cookies in the gold foil.
Fasten with a drop of hot glue, making sure not to touch the cookie. Attach ribbon to back of wrapped cookie with hot glue.
Finish off back by gluing a circle of the gold foil on top of the ribbon. Kids might want to embellish the front with a picture of their favorite sport.
Get fired up with an Olympic torch!
Draw around the end of a toilet paper tube in the center of a small paper plate.
Pierce center of plate with scissors and cut slits to the edge all the way around the circle.
Cover toilet paper tube with gold foil and then glue plate to top of the tube by folding cuts into the center of the tube. (This takes a generous amount of glue stick)
Stuff red and orange tissue paper into the center of the tube.
Let the games begin!
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Best FREE Valentine Cards for Kids (more!) tag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28242010-02-09T18:19:10Z2010-02-10T18:18:22ZWe loved your enthusiasm for our 1st round up of the Best Free Printable Valentines for Kids. This year we visited the same artists and found that most had created new valentine printables for kids. More! Yay! FREE! Yay! Isabel
Best Free Printable Valentines for Kids. This year we visited the same artists and found that most had created new valentine printables for kids. More! Yay!
Again, if you're new to the kid valentine scene, let us school you. Kids love to give and receive Valentines. At every school I know of, it's give to all or none. (Which can get very expensive). So, we scoured the web and found the most adorable free valentines for kids. Now, all you have to do is just print, add your child's name and you're done.
Yup, that's right.
Last year, my son chose Cottage Industrialist's Giddyup and Dinosaur valentines to gift his classmates. I have a feeling, he'll be choosing Love and Rockets this year!
These animal valentines are FREE but a donation is suggested (if you'll be printing by the bucket-load) as the artist SAJ--our own contributor Brenda Ponnay-- needs a new printer.
Love this adorable lollipop holder valentine printable. Tricia Rennea has lots of other free sweet valentine printables for kids, so hop on over.
Oliebollen has some adorable and free printables (they make them for almost every holiday) to just print out or to print and color in.
Lastly, we have some resources to free vintage and retro-styled valentine printables from my era and an awesomely modern personalized online Valentine card generator. ]]>
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Valentine Vanilla Pudding Cream Pietag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28102010-02-05T09:39:37Z2010-02-05T19:00:04ZBy Marie LeBaron This vanilla pudding pie will be the hit of the party as you tempt your guests with this heart shaped dessert! Supplies for Vanilla Pudding Pie: - heart shaped pan or muffin tins with pink cupcake liners...Marie LeBaron http://www.makeandtakes.com
By Marie LeBaron
This vanilla pudding pie will be the hit of the party as you tempt your guests with this heart shaped dessert!
Supplies for Vanilla Pudding Pie:
- heart shaped pan or muffin tins with pink cupcake liners
- homemade graham cracker crust
- vanilla pudding
- red food coloring
- whip cream
- Valentine candies
First, you'll get your graham cracker crust ready. See this recipe for Homemade Graham Cracker Crust. Mix 1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
You'll press it into a heart shaped cake pan or into muffin tins with cupcake liners. Bake for 7 minutes and let cool completely.
Mix up your vanilla pudding, following the directions on the package. As you're whisking the pudding, add in 8-10 drops of food coloring. The more you put in, the less orange and more red/pink it will become. As you can see, mine is even a little too orange and I should have added a couple more drops.
Pour your pudding onto your cooled crust or into your muffin tins.
Using a spatula, spread and smooth out your pudding. Then place this is the fridge for a few hours to help it set up.
Once you're ready for your party, add a little more cream to the pie with whipped cream. I used whipped cream from a can so I could write with it as I placed it on, but you can make your own and simply pipe it with a frosting bag.
I also added a few m&m candies for a little flare. Who doesn't love chocolate, pudding, and pie?!! Enjoy this yummy Valentine Pudding Pie at your next Holiday gathering!
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Free Vintage Valentines for Kidstag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28112010-02-03T15:02:20Z2010-02-04T19:11:35ZThere are galleries of gorgeous vintage valentines across the web and we have found the most adorable (and most-PC) ones for your kids. Isabel
Free Printable Vintage & Retro Valentines for Kids
Last year, we found the most adorable free printable valentines for kids created by current artists from around the web. (And this year we plan do a similar roundup once all the artists have posted their most recent valentine printables.) But lately I have been pining for the vintage and retro look of the sweet valentines of my youth in the 70s. These were colorful cards sold in box sets much like they do with Christmas cards.
So, I decided to do some searching and while the options are limited, I found three sources that have done a great job at collecting and uploading vintage valentines that you can then print out at home on card stock. So, without further ado, here are our favorites. Just go to these sites to get the enlarged versions of the artwork.
Hearts Atwirl is a website dedicated to curating vintage valentine cards from the early to mid 20th century. How cool, huh? Here are some of my favorite finds from there. I would definitely click over and peruse the extensive collection.
Vintage Holiday Crafts is another resource that you should check out. Here are my faves:
Lastly the folks at About.com created a very nice and extensive gallery as well. I've also plucked my favorites. But since these things are personal, I suggest you go on over and see if any strike your fancy.
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Valentine Gift: Scented Pencilstag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.28092010-02-01T05:37:52Z2010-02-02T15:14:52ZGreat candy valentine alternative for your kids to hand out to their school mates by our favorite scented pencil company... Smencils. Isabel
We've written about Smencils before. They're scented pencils made of 100% recycled materials. But the kicker is that the scents are super special, not run-of-the-mill.
Now, the Smencil folks have upped the ante and developed special scented pencils for Valentine's Day. Better yet, they come topped with a heart charm and neck chain that detaches from the scented pencil. The special Valentine scents are vanilla cream, raspberry truffle, love candy, strawberry cream and chocolate mint-- yum!
This is a great (albeit a bit pricey) candy valentine alternative for your kids to hand out to their school mates.
Homepage picture by aussiegall]]>
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Dangling Garland Valentines!tag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.27892010-01-28T06:23:37Z2010-01-29T15:51:17ZSurprise someone with an Amazing Expandable Valentine or just decorate a dreary window. This funny Valentine craft will brighten up anyone's day! Brenda Ponnay
By Brenda Ponnay
I've been on a bit of a garland kick lately so I decided it might be fun to incorporate my new love of sewing paper into a valentine! I like to call it the Amazing Expanding Valentine! Mostly because when you lift it out of an envelope it just grows and grows and grows. What fun it would be to receive and then hang up in a dreary winter window, don't you think?
Here's how you can make them too:
First you need to cut a bunch of hearts. I set up a smorgasbord of hearts in all different colors and sizes and let the kids pick and choose what they would like from the stacks of paper hearts. One by one each child would make her selection and stand beside me while I sewed the hearts together. They all loved this part. Some of the littler ones even sat in my lap.
Of course if you are not the sewing type, you don't have to sew the hearts together. You could use yarn or string and glue the string between two paper hearts. This would accomplish the same effect, minus the fun of hearing your sewing machine munch through paper.
After you have a string of five or six hearts now you can decorate!
Just set out some glitter, glue, sequins, stickers or stamps and let your kids go crazy.
When they're done, and the glue has dried, you'll have a masterpiece pretty enough to hang or mail off to Grandma!]]>
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Create Your Own FREE Printable Valentinetag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.27912010-01-22T15:06:24Z2010-01-25T18:56:09ZNow this is easy peasy! In a matter of seconds you can customize and personalize your very own gorgeous valentine card and then have it emailed to you as a PDF to print out at home.
Isabel
Now this is easy peasy!
The folks at Invys, an online design-it-yourself event invitation company, are providing a crafty tool for us all for FREE!
In a matter of seconds you can customize and personalize your very own valentine card and then they will email you the PDF to print out at home. I tested it out and it took 60 seconds from start to finish-- that's right, I timed myself.
Their Valentine Creation Tool uses WSIWYG (what you see is what you get) to change colors and add text. But, better yet, the original designs you can choose from are simple and refined. Thank you Invys!
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Simple Handmade Valentine's Day Cardstag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.27872010-01-21T10:23:22Z2010-01-22T15:33:28ZI love to make crafts, yet find Valentine's Day cards to be a chore. I always start with grand plans, but after my kids have made about 10 cards they lose interest, even when we start well before. So I was looking for ideas that truly are easy but will make you feel good about creating handmade cards.Ellen Baker
By Ellen Luckett Baker
Help your children make handmade cards this year with these easy assembly-line heart crafts. Even as someone who loves to make crafts with my children, I find Valentine's Day cards to be a chore. We always start with grand plans, but after my kids have made about 10 cards they lose interest, even when we start well before Valentine's Day. So I was looking for ideas that truly are easy but will make you feel good about creating handmade cards.
If you're little one is too young to sign her name, try using letter stamps or print her name on stickers and let her put them on the cards. If she can sign her name, but it's just too tedious for her to sign 20 cards, try making a custom styrofoam stamp like I did here. I know, you're re-thinking that long name now, aren't you?
All of these heart crafts can be made with recycled materials, so open up the recycling bin and start crafting!
Pencil with Felt Heart: Like to sew? Cut out two hearts from felt and sew them together with an opening for the pencil top. Let your kids place the hearts on the pencils and glue on a printed banner.
Accordion Paper Hearts: Simply fold your paper accordion-style five times and cut a half heart shape to reveal three hearts inside. Or try the opposite and make hearts like you would make paper dolls.
Cereal Box Bookmarks: Upcycle your cereal boxes to make these easy bookmarks. Here we used a rounded corner punch and a heart punch, then added some twine. You could use recycled materials for the hearts as well, making it a fully upcycled project.
Heart Potato Stamps: Cut a potato in the shape of a heart and stamp away. We used washable tempera paint on white card stock.
Heart Stick Puppet: With some paper, glue and a popsicle stick, you can make this sweet little heart puppet. We used the heart punch and added a face with pen. You could also add pipe cleaners for arms.
Pop-up Heart Card: My six-year-old enjoyed making these last year. We watched this video to learn how to make them, but we used regular paper as it is easier for children to fold than card stock. Here we added an extra red heart made with a paper punch to give some color to the plain white background.
Woven Heart Envelope: This one is a little more difficult, so I'd recommend it for third grade and up, but it has great results. The woven heart opens, so you can slip a note inside or add a hanger and make it into a basket for a small treat. You can find a nice tutorial with photos here. Just remember that you aren't really weaving, but rather making a woven pattern by slipping the strips into the strips of the other color. ]]>
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Really Easy Kids' Valentinestag:www.alphamom.com,2010:/holiday//26.27882010-01-20T19:01:30Z2010-01-21T13:45:19ZAre you already plotting Valentine's Day cards and gifts? Or, is that just us? Anyway, we've got some high impact, low effort ideas for you. Trust us, these ideas are reallllly simple. Isabel
Valentine's Day cards and gifts? Or, is that just us?
If you know me, then you know my mantra is "little effort, high impact." I'm a big fan of recipes, projects, and just about anything that requires little effort, but delivers a big impact when eaten or presented, etc.
As such, for awhile I've been collecting ideas for kids' Valentine's Day gifts that are easy to make but that look like oh-so-much work. Trust us, these ideas are reallllly simple.
Homemade ChocolatesHomemade chocolates in heart and flower shapes are super simple and very delicious if you use the Wilton candy melts. You can choose from lots of colors like chocolate and red and they make lots of candy molds like hearts,roses, and even lollipops. You don't need to get all fancy and create a multi-colored chocolate masterpiece. Plain ol' chocolate candy wrapped in a treat bag with a pretty ribbon around it will hit the right note. (don't forget to buy the lollipop sticks). To personalize, attach it to a free Valentine's Day card or add a cute sticker to the bag.
Homemade Gummi Candy
If you already bought the candy molds or you're more of a gummi bears than chocolate person, consider making gummi hearts for Valentine's Day. I had no idea how easy it was until our own contributor Cindy Hopper showed us how to make homemade gummi candy on her own site. Look at how fantastic these are! All you need is flavored and unflavored gelatin (like Jello & Knox) and then package up a handful and tie a red ribbon around the treat bag.
Fruit Roll-Up Roses
All you need to make these edible fruit roll-up roses are fruit leather and a circle cookie/ biscuit cutter. Unbelievably simple to make and very impressive. Well done Jessica at Zakka Life!
Candy Cane Hearts
Along the same lines of playing with your food, Marie at Make and Takes deconstructs left over candy canes into food art or candy cane hearts. She also took the same strategy and applied it to making valentine messages from candy canes. Now, kids will need a lot of supervision on this food craft as it involves touching (aka bending) softened (and HOT) candy canes. You should definitely do the candy cane bending. I'm sure they'll be exhausted breaking apart the candy canes by that time anyway.
Matchbox Valentine Candies
Brooke at Inchmark is a lovely creative force and I just love visiting her site. Last year she filled empty matchboxes with valentine candies. I adore this craft because kids can do so much of it by themselves: empty the boxes, fill the boxes, cut the wrapping paper strips and decorate the boxes as well. Brava, Brooke!
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Welcome spring by making a bird's nest with your kids. This simple project can be made with recycled paper bags for a natural look or you could try colored pastel paper for an Easter decoration. The kids will love working with the shredded bags and glue to make a grand mess.
Supplies:
Shredded paper bags (about one per nest)
Clear school glue
Plastic wrap
Bowl for the nest mold
Bowl for glue mixture
Tarp or outside surface for getting messy
1. Gather your materials and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
2. Mix the glue with equal parts water.
3. Dip the shredded paper bags into the glue mixture and pat them onto the bowl mold, completely covering it. Then add some dry shredded paper on top to make it have the messy nest look.
4. Allow to dry for 24-48 hours.
I was not able to get any photos of the kids actually working with the shredded paper and glue because my hands were covered in it! Messy stuff. We also painted some wooden eggs to go inside the nest. The kids enjoyed this project and it was a great way to welcome spring!
After we made these bowls, I searched the internet to see if there were other bird's nest projects out there and saw that Patricia Zapata has a similar project in her book Home, Paper, Scissors: Decorative Paper Accessories for the Home. It looks like a great book and she also has a very nice blog and shop.
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Special Advertising Offer: Our friends at Zulily, the sales event site, are giving our readers a $10 discount to be used on a first purchase. Sign up as a new member through this special link and use the promo code ALPHAMOM10.]]>
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The gals at Our Best Bites also have fun making Pies in a Jar with different pie tops like lattice and crumble. Check out their tutorial as well.
I could not think of a better way to celebrate a weekend Pi Day.
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Special Advertising Offer: Our friends at Zulily, the sales event site, are giving our readers a $10 discount to be used on a first purchase. Sign up as a new member through this special link and use the promo code ALPHAMOM10.]]>
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Supplies for Rainbow Bracelets:
- yarn in all rainbow colors (yarn is great for smaller fingers, but if you're child is older, you can make these with embroidery floss)
- scissors
- safety pin, one per person
- large colored beads
Roll out your yarn and cut each color to 18 inches long. Then tie a knot at the top with all 6 colors of yarn.
Attach a safety pin to the top of the knotted yarn. Then you'll need to attach this same safety pin to something firm as you braid your yarn. I like to attach it to the seam in my jeans. Or you could attach it to your sock. I've even attached it to the seam in my couch and sat on the floor as I've braided.
Now start to braid. I did this first one in a simple braid, putting 2 colors together, for 3 groups of yarn to braid.
Here's a bracelet I made with knots all down the length of yarn, alternating each color after 5 knots.
Here's a bracelet we made by adding a bead into each thread as I braided.
Or here's a beaded bracelet with 10 beads on each color of yarn, then tied together. We left the yarn hanging down a bit off the bracelet to make a fun rainbow stream!
Once your bracelets are made, you can either remove the safety pin and tie them together in a knot, or attach the other end of the yarn to the safety pin, using it like a clasp.
With so many ways to design your bracelets, you can now give them to all your friends. It's even more fun as a play-date or party and make them together, swapping bracelets with friends. ]]>
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March 2nd is Read Across America Day, celebrated on the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Nurture your children's love of reading by helping them create their own storybook. Made from a cereal box, paper and yarn, these books are simple to make and offer many possibilities. An adult will need to do most of the cutting in the first steps, but then kids can sew the book together and make it their own with drawings and words.
Supplies:
-Cereal box
-Paper
-Scissors or paper cutter
-Rounded corner punch (optional)
-Hammer and nail or awl
-Paper clips
-Tapestry needle
-Twine
Instructions:
1. Cut the front and back rectangles from your cereal box. You can make two books from each box. Cut these in any size or shape you choose. You can round the corners with a paper punch if you'd like.
2. Cut the paper slightly smaller than the dimensions of your box. About five sheets of paper works well. Stagger the papers before you cut them so that the book will close nicely. Again, you can round the corners if you'd like.
3. Mark the center of your box cover on the inside and score down this line with a blunt tool. I used my closed scissors for this.
4. Arrange the paper in the center of the back side of your box cover and use paper clips to hold it in place.
5. Flip over the stack and make four marks for your holes on the front cover. With a hammer and nail or an awl, make your holes. Be sure to work on a surface that won't be damaged.
6. With the paper clips still holding the paper in place, thread the yarn onto the tapestry needle. Your child can now sew through the holes. This can be done however you'd like, but we used a backstitch like this: starting from the inside and holding the tail, come up through the second hole, down through the first hole, back up through the second hole, down through the third, up through the fourth and back down through the third again. Tie the two ends together in the center.
My plan was to read some Dr. Seuss books then make the cereal box book into a rhyming book so that my five-year-old can practice her rhyming skills, but creativity took over and she immediately started drawing in her new book.
Visit the NEA website for more information about Read Across America Day and links to resources, including the Dr. Seuss website. ]]>
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Last year, my son chose Cottage Industrialist's Giddyup and Dinosaur valentines to gift his classmates. I have a feeling, he'll be choosing Love and Rockets this year!
These animal valentines are FREE but a donation is suggested (if you'll be printing by the bucket-load) as the artist SAJ--our own contributor Brenda Ponnay-- needs a new printer.
Supplies for Vanilla Pudding Pie:
- heart shaped pan or muffin tins with pink cupcake liners
- homemade graham cracker crust
- vanilla pudding
- red food coloring
- whip cream
- Valentine candies
First, you'll get your graham cracker crust ready. See this recipe for Homemade Graham Cracker Crust. Mix 1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
You'll press it into a heart shaped cake pan or into muffin tins with cupcake liners. Bake for 7 minutes and let cool completely.
Mix up your vanilla pudding, following the directions on the package. As you're whisking the pudding, add in 8-10 drops of food coloring. The more you put in, the less orange and more red/pink it will become. As you can see, mine is even a little too orange and I should have added a couple more drops.
Pour your pudding onto your cooled crust or into your muffin tins.
Using a spatula, spread and smooth out your pudding. Then place this is the fridge for a few hours to help it set up.
Once you're ready for your party, add a little more cream to the pie with whipped cream. I used whipped cream from a can so I could write with it as I placed it on, but you can make your own and simply pipe it with a frosting bag.
I also added a few m&m candies for a little flare. Who doesn't love chocolate, pudding, and pie?!! Enjoy this yummy Valentine Pudding Pie at your next Holiday gathering!
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We've written about Smencils before. They're scented pencils made of 100% recycled materials. But the kicker is that the scents are super special, not run-of-the-mill.
Now, the Smencil folks have upped the ante and developed special scented pencils for Valentine's Day. Better yet, they come topped with a heart charm and neck chain that detaches from the scented pencil. The special Valentine scents are vanilla cream, raspberry truffle, love candy, strawberry cream and chocolate mint-- yum!
This is a great (albeit a bit pricey) candy valentine alternative for your kids to hand out to their school mates.
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Now this is easy peasy!
The folks at Invys, an online design-it-yourself event invitation company, are providing a crafty tool for us all for FREE!
In a matter of seconds you can customize and personalize your very own valentine card and then they will email you the PDF to print out at home. I tested it out and it took 60 seconds from start to finish-- that's right, I timed myself.
Their Valentine Creation Tool uses WSIWYG (what you see is what you get) to change colors and add text. But, better yet, the original designs you can choose from are simple and refined. Thank you Invys!
Help your children make handmade cards this year with these easy assembly-line heart crafts. Even as someone who loves to make crafts with my children, I find Valentine's Day cards to be a chore. We always start with grand plans, but after my kids have made about 10 cards they lose interest, even when we start well before Valentine's Day. So I was looking for ideas that truly are easy but will make you feel good about creating handmade cards.
If you're little one is too young to sign her name, try using letter stamps or print her name on stickers and let her put them on the cards. If she can sign her name, but it's just too tedious for her to sign 20 cards, try making a custom styrofoam stamp like I did here. I know, you're re-thinking that long name now, aren't you?
All of these heart crafts can be made with recycled materials, so open up the recycling bin and start crafting!
Pencil with Felt Heart: Like to sew? Cut out two hearts from felt and sew them together with an opening for the pencil top. Let your kids place the hearts on the pencils and glue on a printed banner.
Accordion Paper Hearts: Simply fold your paper accordion-style five times and cut a half heart shape to reveal three hearts inside. Or try the opposite and make hearts like you would make paper dolls.
Cereal Box Bookmarks: Upcycle your cereal boxes to make these easy bookmarks. Here we used a rounded corner punch and a heart punch, then added some twine. You could use recycled materials for the hearts as well, making it a fully upcycled project.
Heart Potato Stamps: Cut a potato in the shape of a heart and stamp away. We used washable tempera paint on white card stock.
Heart Stick Puppet: With some paper, glue and a popsicle stick, you can make this sweet little heart puppet. We used the heart punch and added a face with pen. You could also add pipe cleaners for arms.
Pop-up Heart Card: My six-year-old enjoyed making these last year. We watched this video to learn how to make them, but we used regular paper as it is easier for children to fold than card stock. Here we added an extra red heart made with a paper punch to give some color to the plain white background.
Woven Heart Envelope: This one is a little more difficult, so I'd recommend it for third grade and up, but it has great results. The woven heart opens, so you can slip a note inside or add a hanger and make it into a basket for a small treat. You can find a nice tutorial with photos here. Just remember that you aren't really weaving, but rather making a woven pattern by slipping the strips into the strips of the other color. ]]>
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Homemade chocolates in heart and flower shapes are super simple and very delicious if you use the Wilton candy melts. You can choose from lots of colors like chocolate and red and they make lots of candy molds like hearts, roses, and even lollipops. You don't need to get all fancy and create a multi-colored chocolate masterpiece. Plain ol' chocolate candy wrapped in a treat bag with a pretty ribbon around it will hit the right note. (don't forget to buy the lollipop sticks). To personalize, attach it to a free Valentine's Day card or add a cute sticker to the bag.
Homemade Gummi Candy
If you already bought the candy molds or you're more of a gummi bears than chocolate person, consider making gummi hearts for Valentine's Day. I had no idea how easy it was until our own contributor Cindy Hopper showed us how to make homemade gummi candy on her own site. Look at how fantastic these are! All you need is flavored and unflavored gelatin (like Jello & Knox) and then package up a handful and tie a red ribbon around the treat bag.
Fruit Roll-Up Roses
All you need to make these edible fruit roll-up roses are fruit leather and a circle cookie/ biscuit cutter. Unbelievably simple to make and very impressive. Well done Jessica at Zakka Life!
Candy Cane Hearts
Along the same lines of playing with your food, Marie at Make and Takes deconstructs left over candy canes into food art or candy cane hearts. She also took the same strategy and applied it to making valentine messages from candy canes. Now, kids will need a lot of supervision on this food craft as it involves touching (aka bending) softened (and HOT) candy canes. You should definitely do the candy cane bending. I'm sure they'll be exhausted breaking apart the candy canes by that time anyway.
Matchbox Valentine Candies
Brooke at Inchmark is a lovely creative force and I just love visiting her site. Last year she filled empty matchboxes with valentine candies. I adore this craft because kids can do so much of it by themselves: empty the boxes, fill the boxes, cut the wrapping paper strips and decorate the boxes as well. Brava, Brooke!
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