whatever

Blog

Category Archives: christmas craft week

christmas craft #3

December 17, 2011

ok….

this craft is a bit more time consuming
BUT
all three kids said "that is AWESOME!" when i showed them.
sean said "it's so creative!"
🙂

i saw one at the hallmark store that was similar but clearly mass produced & i thought "i bet i could make that"
so we did!

you will need clear ornaments, foam balls that are smaller than the glass ornament, fake snow and scrap fabric.
i found those all at hobby lobby.

i did this step apart from when the kids were working.
i carved a hole in the foam that was exactly the size of the top of the ornament where it hangs from.
i used a screwdriver….? it was what i found in my drawer.
the foam is really soft and easy to work with.

it will look like that.

take the silver ornament hanger off the ornament.
make a cone with paper and fill your ornament with fake snow….as much or as little as you want.
this stuff goes everywhere so the cone was the least messy way we found to work.

add hot glue to the top of the ornament… around the top ring.

then you IMMEDIATELY push the foam ball that was hollowed out onto the ornament.
it should be tight… i had to help annie.

we made hats by cutting a circle of black paper for the brim and rolled paper to fit inside the silver ornament hanger.
and hot glued it all together.
there is a close up picture of the hats below.

cut a strip of fabric or felt for a scarf about 12" long.

tie it around the head in a knot.

we cut some "fringe" on the ends.

the faces are painted onto the head before the hats are glued on.
and buttons on their tummies.

and we added a little scrap of fabric or felt for the hat.
(p.s. mine is the one with the really wide set eyes…i like my snowmen that way. :)

sean

for this hat we hot glued felt around the head and tied the top together.
then snipped the end into fringe.

IMG_4807-12
annie

we watched frosty the snowman tonight on tv.
man….frosty returns was on afterwards….ummm….yuck.
how did that movie become a "classic?"
seriously.

we watched "it's a Wonderful Life" last night.
i cried from the start.
love that movie.
but i fell asleep at the last 10 minutes.
like…i was out cold…missed the best part.

DID YOU WATCH MY CRAZY VLOG???

the sound was nuts wasn't it?

DID YOU DONATE TO CHARITY: WATER??

do it.

come on….join us!

it's $10 to change lives!

CHANGE LIVES!!!!

it's real.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

you make a difference.

your heart is big.

you matter.

HELP OTHERS.

🙂

don't forget to enter my giveaway (and the others) if you donated!

show hide 25 comments

add a comment

crystalbeutler - What a fun craft!!!! Hey, did you change your hair?? Super cute photos of you. 🙂

Katrina - My 7 year old saw me reading this post and said “I want to make that!”. Looks like I’m going to have to head over to the craft store.

Valerie @ Chateau A La Mode - L O V E !!!

Lori Austin - Such cute snowman. Love the flannel.
Just watched the weather – looks like a white Christmas for you. Hope you have a lot more crafts stashed.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

Amber Pamper - Meg I am so grateful to have your blog. I’ve been reading for a long time and I look forward to your new posts!! :o) Merry Christmas!

Gretchen - The nearest Hobby Lobby is about an hour away, but it is SO worth it! Thank you for inspiring me to do more crafts with my kids. Before finding your blog, I had forgotten that crafts are still magical, even for older kids. Hugs!!!

Jen Brandt - I am crazy about snowmen and have added this to our craft list for next Christmas. Thank you!
Meg, on an I’ve-never-met-you, but love your blog kind of way – I love you. Your blog is very uplifting. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Kayla - My kids say that my “catch phrase” is….”I bet we can make that ourselves!” Drives them crazy….and I do sort of say it a lot! But it is true….and it always saves us money. I love this idea and that each snowman has a personality all its own!

Kara @ June & Bear - crazy cute snowpeople. and we are with you on the frosty returns. it’s not good.

Hannah - seriously. the. cutest! i love it!

Kati - Super cute!!! I will be ‘pinning’ this for next year! My son makes ornaments every year for our family. I love this one.

stacey - Super cute! Living overseas makes me miss good craft stores 🙂
Merry Christmas!

tami - that is too cool! Love snowmans!

Kristen - That is an adorable craft. I’m tucking it away for future crafts.

gramme joy - … adorable snow people!

Sarah @ Handbags*N*Pigtails - These are such cute ornaments! Love love love. And those zebra scissors? Ive been eyeing them at Walmart since this past summer. Maybe Santa will put them in my stocking:)

Rachel - Love your snowmen! I am a collector of snowmen so I know a good one when I see one 😉

sheryl salik - where did you get your fabric? no where ive found had chevron!!

Leah - That is an AWESOME craft! I’m not sure if my 4-year-old can do it, but I certainly want to try it. And though I have not seen Frosty Returns, we did watch some of Rudolph’s Shiny New Year today and all I can say is BIZARE! Glad I didn’t waste money buying that one.

Katy @ Live Laugh Love Craft - So pinning this to make next year with my girls!
And can I just tell you that that picture of Annie is SO adorable! Her sweet face, the shirt, zebra scissors (!), polka dot fabric, the chippy paint chair in the background.. Love it all. 🙂
Happy Holidays, Meg!

Nikki - That is adorable!! I’m so doing this!

shannon - so adorable! how do you come up with these things. I’ll have to make these next year when my girls are a bit older.

Holly - those are super cute!

Charlene @ Adventures In Mommy Land - Really love this one…might give a whirl one day when I have time.

Share on Facebook•Tweet this Post•Pin Images to Pinterest•Back to Top

christmas craft #1

December 12, 2011

today's craft is a christmas wreath made out of paper.

we started with a paper plate and cut out the center.
then painted it green with acrylic craft paint.

while it dried we cut holly leaf shapes out of green paper.
we used heavier scrapbook paper (since i don't scrapbook anymore…)

i drew a leaf and we traced it on the paper a bunch of times.

i helped them along by stacking four leaf sized pieces of paper and cutting them all at the same time.
repeating that process a few times made it go a little quicker.
we used between 30 and 40 leaves on our plate.

we folded them down the center for some depth.

we used a hot glue gun to attach the holly leaves.
you could use school glue but it would take longer and may not hold as well.

we glued some with the fold pointed up and some with fold angling down.
nestling the leaves into each other, overlapping each other until the entire green circle is covered.

using a circle punch we made red circles for holly berries.
you could, of course, just cut out some small circles with scissors…but punches are so fun!

we hot glued those in clumps of two or three on the leaves.
talby added glitter to those.

to make the bow we took a strip of red paper…. about 10" x 2" and folded it into the loop shapes.
we hot glued that in the center so it would stay.
then took a smaller 2" x 4" strip of red paper and wraped it over the front of the loops for the center of the bow.
we cut two strips for the ribbon that hangs down and glued it to the back of the bow.
ANd hot glued the bow to the holly leaves.

i used a small piece of yarn and hot glued it in a loop to the back for hanging.

isn't it cute?!!

we were inspired by this one from the Paper Source.
we had all the supplies so instead of spending $19.50 on it…we made it for free!

we sent it in the mail to my great aunt who is 101 years old for some christmas cheer.
and a pair of Santa Claus socks.

🙂

…………………..

did you have a good weekend?

i am happy to report the remainder of my weekend was CLEAN and decent.
i watched 5 basketball games of my kids.
i got to play with babies in the church nursery.
i took annie to pick our some christmas gifts for her to give her siblings.
i finished our indoor decorations.
craig made sunday lunch….Pancakes.
i made saturday night dinner….Lynette's Noodles with Ham.…one of my kids' FAVORITE meals.
i searched our entire town for peppermint ice cream with no luck….bummer.
we watched home alone as a family last night…with a cozy fire in the fireplace….and had milkshakes after.

so even with the crazy friday that i had….it all turned out ok.
i knew you guys would like that story.
who wouldn't?!
it makes you appreciate ANY day that goes by without cleaning poo off of anything.

show hide 38 comments

add a comment

Courtney - Hey! I haven’t been around blogland too much lately, but I just saw your Mpix add in Prof. Photographer, so I thought I’d come say hi 🙂 It’s great! Congrats on everything!
Sidenote *my husband makes icecream for a living… I can get whatever I want, whenever I want 🙂 lol!

Kimber-Leigh - Braums has peppermint ice cream year-round. 🙂 It’s my favorite brand of peppermint too!

Kerry - oh this is too cute Meg!

Lisa - Super cute wreath!

Allison - Did you try ALDI for the ice cream, they have it here in Carthage. A great place to find fun holiday goodies that many forget about!

Amber L Peters - that wreath is so cute!
Peppermint stick ice cream is our FAVORITE in our household! We always look forward to it this time of year!
Dairy Queen has candy cane blizzards if you are in a pinch- and they are YUMMY. Also, Pioneer Woman recently posted a recipe for peppermint ice cream. I just bought the ingredients to try it! I think her recipe calls for vanilla extract, but i think i might try it with peppermint extract. Although, usually her recipes are amazing….

Ashley - I just want you to know how much I enjoy your blog, your craft time with your kids, and your creativity! So much so I dreamed last night that you and I were hanging out in my kitchen like old time friends oodling over new craft ideas and fabrics we were going to use to create things 🙂 I hope to one day meet you in person and maybe be lucky enough to attend a Craft Weekend getaway! Hugs from VA

Tressa - We always make peppermint milkshakes after we decorate the tree.
We simply add crushed candy canes to our vanilla ice cream. I used to be stuck whacking at the canes with a hammer, but now the kids like to take a turn at it. Just put the unwrapped canes in a large ziploc freezer bag and cover with a kitchen towel and start whacking away. You could put them in the processor ,but that would be the easy way!! either way make sure you mix the milk and ice cream first and then add the peppermint last,elsewise you gum up the mixer with the candy and it will not mix well. Merry CHRISTmas!

Mary - Do you have a Braum’s nearby? I love their peppermint ice cream.

Meredith N. - You should try Pioneer Woman’s recipe for peppermint Ice Cream, it looks delish, http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/12/peppermint-ice-cream/

julie - No peppermint ice cream around these parts either. WHAT IS THE DEAL?
But no poop. As in a kid is having a whole different kind of poop issue. Which is it’s own kind of not fun.
Glamourous. Oh such a glamourous life we lead.

annonymous - You really don’t scrapbook anymore? Will you scrapbook again somday soon? No time or are you all digital? Just curious! 🙂

Michelle From Australia - Why is peppermint icecream SO hard to find? I’m having the same problem here in Brisbane (city of over one million people), Australia. My son LOVES his ‘green’ icecream but I have only found ONE supermarket with it. Which is where I will be going this afternoon.
p.s. The bauble wreath that I made following your Mama Craft Day from last year is proudly hanging in our stairwell. I’ve received TONS of compliments on it. And a few requests for me to make some for people. Who would have thought, no craft me, making craft for others. Meg, you can work wonders!!

Tammy (Not Merely A House) - Such a cute craft! So glad you had a great weekend!

Jenna@CallHerHappy - I’m glad the rest of your weekend wasn’t as poopy! I can’t wait until my gal is old enough to craft with me!
Jenna
callherhappy.com

Astrid - Oh! I am in love with that wreath! That looks like a craft project we can manage while we are living in China. We are leaving at the beginning of January! Ack! Needless to say it doesn’t feel very christmassy around here. 🙁

amy - love how the wreaths turned out and it’s funny because we just made the cardinal ornaments also from the paper source site…ummm…not paying for the kit when i have construction paper and scissors, is what i thought when i saw them, too : )

Cheryl E. - You make me laugh!

Southern Gal - I was going to ask you what you do with all the crafts your kids create? Do you keep them for a while and then toss them after taking pictures? Give them all away? How do you manage all that? I would love to know!

amanda - This is so cute! I’ll have to do this with my crew this week. Thanks for sharing 🙂

Alaina Bennett - Meg~ I’ve seen peppermint ice cream at Walmart. It wasn’t with all the ice cream but an end cap of special ice creams (did that even make sense?). Anyway, i live in a different state than you so maybe yours has it too. Good luck

Alicia @ La Famille - love your craft!! and so glad you had a better weekend…no poo involved 🙂 did you get your washer fixed?? this is an essential thing, girl!!

tiffany gardner - so sweet! glad there was no poo involved for your weekend.

Sarah - I remember making these in school! You think of such great thing Meg!

Jennifer - Yummy…peppermint ice cream. 🙂 Love the craft idea–thanks for sharing.

Sarah - What a great weekend (after a bit of a rough start…)! That wreath is gorgeous!

happygirl - I went to AC this weekend and won $30. It was AWESOME. LOVE the wreath. I miss the crafting by kids at my house. 🙂

Lori Austin - So glad your weekend turned around.
No cleaning poo – yeah!
Super cute craft – yeah!
Family movie night with milkshakes – yeah!
My weekend highlights were watching The Holiday alone and drinking my first cup of eggnog for the season. Yeah for me!
Cutting tons of snowflakes from coffee filters and attaching them all over the sliding glass door with my daughter.
Finding the Bob’s peppermint sticks at Wal-mart!

Leah - Sounds like a lovely weekend! We’ve already watched Home Alone a few times. It’s required December watching. And totally know what you mean about the peppermint ice cream. I actually like it year-round and yet it’s off the shelves in December. I actually found peppermint bark ice cream. It’s heavenly and best part is I don’t have to share it since my husband’s not a peppermint fan 🙂

Jackie - Did you try Walgreens for the peppermint icecream? We got some from Walgreens right before Thanksgiving. Yum-o!

Tina Jacobsen - Love the craft…totally doing this one with my girl!! And we have all the supplies in the craft cupboard!! Excited to see what’s next…we are total crafters here!! I’ve never had peppermint ice cream…putting that on my list this week..hope I can find it 🙂
Tina

Laura Phelps - crafting is much better than cleaning poo 🙂

seriously sassy mama - I love the wreath. My girls wold so love making one of those. I think it will be one of the crafts we make while we are on Christmas break. Cannot wait to see what you have next!

elisabeth (bovagoods) - oh, i just hate it when i can’t find peppermint ice cream! it’s one of my favorites and i think it’s a darn shame that it’s “seasonal”. i hope you find some soon!

Kristen - Do you have a Fresh and Easy grocery store close by? Best Peppermint icecream EVER.

Maya Catching Butterflies - Love it!!

Holly - cute wreath! I found peppermint sugar cookie dough this weekend! We cant wait to try it!

Nancy - That craft looks perfect. SImple, independent, colorful, perfect. Next week, we are adding that our list. thankyouverymuch!
I totally appreciate your story. How about this one: my dog ate a popsicle out of my kid’s hand. He pooped it out. It looked like a corndog. Sorry. Had to share.

Share on Facebook•Tweet this Post•Pin Images to Pinterest•Back to Top

christmas craft #5

December 27, 2010

talby wanted to show me how to make a poinsettia….her teacher taught her.
i took pictures of each step as she taught me.

1. cut the corners of the red paper about 6 inches toward the center.

2. fold one side of each corner to the center.

3. put all the petals together with a brad.

4. cut leaves out of green paper.

5. open the brad and add in the leaves….re-close the brad.

6. TA – DA!!! beautiful poinsettia in 3D.

i love it.
think how cool it would be to make a bunch….in pink and white and red!
so pretty.

show hide 12 comments

add a comment

Annie - I love pinwheels!! these are so cute. Love reading about all the crafts you do with your children. Making wonderful memories of time spent together-that they’ll take with them forever! Blessings, Annie

MGF - My middle son would love this paper craft. Thanks for the idea

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - Great job, Talby! This is beautiful!

Lucylu ~ - i bought a Poinsettia for my neighbor today! (weird!)

danielle - love this!

Natasha - That’s so cool! When I was in school, we used to make something similar, but attached it to a long dowel or straw so it would be used as a windmill/pinwheel. I never realized how much they look like flowers too; thanks Talby!

amber - lovin the hannah montana pjs…

Janie Fox - LOVE this! so cute! I agree a bunch in pink, red and white… too great! I am so happy you take time to enjoy your kids. Their childhood truly does go so fast! Happy New Year to you!

kat - That is so adorable!!! I love it! Talby did a great job demonstrating! She is such a cutie!!!

Holly - very cute!

april - those are cool…thanks for sharing!!!

Kirsten P - Tell Talby thanks for showing me how to make a poinsettia. And also tell Talby that I like her name.

Share on Facebook•Tweet this Post•Pin Images to Pinterest•Back to Top

christmas craft #4

December 26, 2010

we used the felt squares from this wreath craft and cut the squares even smaller.
for this craft the squares were about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch.

we took two squares together and put a pin through them pushing them hard into the styrafoam ball.

at some point before you get too far make a loop with ribbon and push a pin in it….to hang it later.

then fill it in until it's full.

i made the squares really close together and pushed the pins in as far as i could to make it look like flowers.

annie's hands were smaller so she got tired quicker…..i like hers the way it is too.

talby's was filled in but the pins not pushed in as far as the top one.

i like this version too.

there is no wrong way to make art.

🙂

show hide 10 comments

add a comment

melissa - i just made your pom-pom and felt wreath ornies the other night…and i have extra styrofoam balls and felt squares. i’ll be sure to pick up straight pins tomorrow at walmart to make these!!
you’re awesome!

Kimberlee J. - Do you remember me telling you that my art teacher was judgmental and maybe that’s why I hyperventilate when I have to “craft” something???? I so smiled and felt validated when I read the last line of your post. Thank YOU. 🙂

COZY KITCHEN BY THE SEA - CUTE.CUTE.CUTE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Debra - Lovely!
Merii Kurisumasu from Japan!

Lucylu ~ - man!!! we made the SAME thing last year except we used pompoms!

Sugar Mama - Oh, I LOVE this idea! I think it would be awesome to have a small tree covered in these. I’m saving it to my pinterest for next year.

Beth - THERE IS NO WRONG WAY TO MAKE ART!!!!! YEAH! I wish everyone would hear those words and believe them!

Jenn A. - I don’t even have kids (yet) but I love seeing your craft ideas! Thank you for taking the time to post them-these turned out so cute!

Sonia - great idea! {again!} we have tons of felt left over from the wreath project. i just wish i had some girls to craft with me! my boys didn’t care for the craft projects that much. oh well. i had fun doing them!! thanks again for all you’re great ideas! i love your blog.

Share on Facebook•Tweet this Post•Pin Images to Pinterest•Back to Top

christmas craft #3

December 21, 2010

this craft idea i got from my neighbor AMY.

i save christmas cards.
and i make my husband bring home his corporate cards he gets at work too….and his co-workers' cards too.
🙂

so this year i took my stack and used my OLD creative memories rotary circle cutter and cut them up.

you could use a circle punch from a craft store too.
or cut them by hand.
or use circle dot stickers in the office supply isle instead…..

i put green paint on a paper plate and they stamped their hand into it.
and made a tree.

three hand prints across the bottom.
then two.
then one.

they added a star out of yellow construction paper.
and GLITTER.

the glitter stuck to the wet paint.

then they covered their tree with ornaments…..christmas card circles.

i let them use the mini hot glue guns to stick the ornaments on.
i just bought enough for everyone to have their own….the are $3 at wal-mart.
we will get LOTS of use out of them….worth it.

annie decided it was for her teacher so she wrote a greeting on it.

sean decided to paint his greeting.

this was minimally messy even with paint and glitter.
all three kids REALLY liked it.
and it was actually done very quickly.

are you having fun crafting at your house?
or do you think i am crazy lady who has way too much time and hot glue on her hands…..

show hide 32 comments

add a comment

Karen Gerstenberger - LOVE this craft! Thanks for brightening so many of my (and lots of other people’s) days, Meg.

amber - You’re not crazy…you’re adventurous:). Courageous? Brave?
And…thanks for being…whatever you are. My 3 year old & one year old (I’m brave too) had a lot of fun with white paint, ornament balls, & tiny felt scarves the other day thanks to your post:)…

Lindsey - You aren’t crazy! I love checking out the crafts you guys do! I can’t wait for my daughter to be old enough to do crafts! I love your ideas! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!!!!!

Leah - This is a fabulous idea! I pulled out all my old Christmas cards and made circles as well. I also made the tree out of construction paper. I’m not brave enough for paint with my 3-year-old. Oh, and I have that CM circle cutter (and the oval too).

Juliann Brenner - Hi Megan – can you make a section of Christmas crafts to look up? Like a category you have, but a “subcategory” for Christmas?? Weird request, I know, but I am super computer challenged and would LOVE to do these next year and know I will never be able to find them. Better yet, how about publishing a craft book with your family craft days and a Christmas section? I’d buy it, and I’d tell everyone to get a copy!!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Tara - having so much fun….
will try this one today!

karen - love it…very nice idea. It is such a shame to throw away any card…crafts are a good way to get more life out of them.

Katrina - Oooops….I did NOT just spell “our” with an “h” so it’s the word “hour” — did I? Gosh, I sure did! I am pulling the holiday-frazzled-mom-of-nine card on that one!

Katrina - Hey, I love this craft idea! We’ve been doing crafts at hour house and my kids are having a blast. I am going to start collecting this year’s cards so that next year we can do your project! Thanks for the idea!
Merry Christmas!
Katrina @ mommyninetimes.blogspot.com

Sugar Mama - Is that an Outer Banks t-shirt your daughter has on? Oh how I miss living in NC and visiting the Outer Banks!
That craft looks like something the daycare kids could do tomorrow with minimal prep time. We made the Christmas bulbs with hand print snowmen yesterday…. even the 9 month olds made one. That was interesting.
Again, thanks for sharing another great idea!

Tanya @ Life in 3D - We have done more crafts this month than ever before! My kiddos are 3 1/2 and almost 2 and they’re really starting to get it 🙂 We’ve had a lot of fun. You’re inspiring!

deborah@applesinwonderland - love that i’m not the only one asking for other people’s christmas cards. (so i suppose this means you won’t send me yours?) we are painting and making big messy messes everyday. with food and paint….and glitter. i’m in heaven. 🙂

Yasna - I love it.. really!
I have a few days off since my son has no school and I plan on making some of your crafts with him. I miss all of that being at work but I ll sneak some here and there. Thanks for the idea!

Amanda-ThriceBlessed - We’ve been crafting and baking and decorating for days at our house too. You have to have something to do with the kids for TWO WEEKS while there is no school!
We did a gingerbread house decorating party today with a few of their friends, it was a big hit. My girls all have summer birthdays so bday parties are rare, this is a nice alternative for sure.

TAB - I love your crafts! I just wish I had the patience to do them! I have been inspired though! This one looks great.

Mary - when i saw the stack of circles cut from the cards i instantly thought of a garland. run the circles through the sewing maching and make a cute garland for the tree from old c-mas cards. thanks for the idea!

Trish - I wish I lived at your house 🙂

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - Well that’s just cute. Great green idea:)

jamie - you are not a crazy lady. we have been crafting this week and will continue crafting through christmas eve. you have been our inspiration. i have twin daughters that are 21, a 15 year old daughter, and a 7 year old son. they are all crafting and loving it. baking too with christmas music playing in the background. {love}

valerie - What a great craft idea for my 3 year old Sunday School class (next year). I’m filing this one away. Waaay cute!

Marcia - I just discovered your blog and I love all of your craft ideas! I’m not sure how to follow you over here on typepad though 🙂
Have a glorious Christmas!
Blessings,
Marcia

Cristen - I am SOOO loving these posts. Keeping them bookmarked for next year. Thank you for the wonderful ideas.

Lynda@Me and My Pink Mixer - Cute idea! I used to love doing crafts with my daughter, but she is 17 now and doesn’t want anything to do with crafts or sometimes me for that matter 🙂

Karen - Absolutely not crazy for crafting with your kids. Doesn’t matter how messy the project is. They will remember these times for the rest of their lives.

Bethany {3SonsPlus1} - What a fun idea! I recycle and refurbish old cards in much the same way, but we use ours as gift tags or labels…definitely not as much fun, ha! Merry Christmas!

Angel/TaDa! Creations - I’ve been enjoying your craft posts a lot. We made the snowman ornaments yesterday and today I’m doing it with my day care kiddo to surprise his parents. Super easy and fun! Thank you for all the great ideas.

T Galle - We are having a blast! My whole family….from youngest nephew to my Dad & step-mom made the snowman ornaments on Sunday. We left them with my Dad for him to hang on his tree. We are going to make them here on Christmas eve so I can have some from my kids (19 & 24) on my tree! 🙂

Katy - What a great craft! My 3 year old daughter has a new found love for paint so this is perfect. 🙂 Thanks Meg!

Lisa - I also save my Christmas cards, use the circle punch on them and make them into gift tags. Just punch a small hole in the top and slip a little string, embroidery thread or ribbon through it.

jill tracy - I think it is fantastic! I love that you are taking time with them to do this. It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season…so kudos to you:) Maybe it will get me motivated!

Gretchen - We love crafting at our house. In fact, I’ve gotten some many great ideas from you! Thanks. 🙂

Sonia - love it! my littlest one would def love this the most! he loves to paint!

Share on Facebook•Tweet this Post•Pin Images to Pinterest•Back to Top

christmas craft #2

December 18, 2010

this craft was quiet and calm.
when the kids were at school i cut the felt into small squares….about 1 square inch.
i just bought the rainbow of colors and a few extra of red and green.
using a rotary cutter would have been easier….but mine is BURIED under fabric and christmas.

the sheets of felt were 4 for $1.00.
so this craft is really cheap!

i strung large needles (18 Darners is what the package says….) with DMC floss.
i tied a knot at one end.
then we strung the thread with felt squares.

annie kept pulling her string off the needle so this was our solution.
i held the needle and she filled it up.
team work!

talby made several.

when they are about this size we stopped.
when you could bend it into a good sized circle….

then i tied the two ends together….and hot glued it too….

we added ribbon and voila!
a tiny christmas wreath!

or a rainbow wreath…..

or a KU wreath…

if i would change anything about this craft i would make the squares a little smaller.
i did try using wire but it was hard to get through the felt and the needle was not.

they would be really cute in all green and adding red beads or jingle bells too!

show hide 33 comments

add a comment

New Coach Bags - Hear this idea, DengHua DE repeatedly said: “grateful fans, but I can’t talk about the question, of course, I want to thank them care.” This night, no matter how cross-examine, DengHua DE reporter refused to evaluate foreign aid performance.

Kelli - I thought for sure you were making a garland for the tree! The ornaments are so cute! A garland would be fabulous too but lots more work! Maybe a year round project. 😉 (Like anyone needs another one of those.) Thanks for sharing all your craft projects. It inspires me just to see your consistency. When my boys are older we can do more of these crafts. I’m not ready to give my oldest (3 1/2 yrs.) a needle yet. Nor glitter and rarely a glue stick. Yikes.

Tracy - Just made these with Reese’s 1st grade class for their Christmas Party….so fun and all the kids liked making them…cute and easy. I used my rotary cutter and it took no time at all to cut all those squares. Thanks for the great idea!

Catherine - so much fun!!! thank you for this, and for all of the tips! i cut our squares a little smaller, used hot glue and knew exactly what kind of needle to use and string {DMC floss is embroidery floss for the reader that asked!} I also really appreciated your comment about the rotary cutter. I have wanted one and this was a great excuse to get one. Plus! I found a 50% off coupon for Michaels craft store, so I got the nicer one for less than the cheaper one is regularly priced! Yay!!! It held the attention of my 3 1/2 year old boy for awhile, but I didn’t mind finishing… it was secretly for me anyway. Thanks Megan!!!

Lucylu ~ - Ooooooooh nice we (Alex and I) Strung popcorn

kristine - super cute! i love that you give reviews about what works and what doesn’t. thanks!! love this!

kristin - oh. my.
just 2 days ago i cut up an old indian fabric blanket for this project.
it did not work.
felt would have been perfect.
next time.
merry christmas, friend.

Janna - So cute;) But I’m commenting for a totally off the wall reason:) I notice you have the same denim furniture we do. I got it 2nd hand so have no idea where its originally from (I’d LOVE to find a slipcover for it) and it so super comfy I don’t want to get rid of it. But I can’t get it clean. Do you have the same problem? I’d love love it if you have a min to email me back, if its after Christmas that is JUST fine, don’t expect you to worry about me before;) I’m wondering if you have found something that works on the denim? I’ve had it professionally cleaned too and it didn’t make one bit of difference:( Thanks! And I LOVE your blog, so inspiring!!

kat - Those are adorable!!! Garland would be super fun too!

Jenn Thomas - london love her wreath she made the other night – it is hanging on the from door knob – she has to show it to everyone that comes overs

Ellen J - I love love this craft!! I’m storing it away to pull out next year for my class to do at Christmas! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!

Dana D@BoysMyJoys - So very cute!
Love them!
I also love the star lights in the kitchen… want to show us what they look like from outside at night?!?!
🙂
I bet they are darling!

Rhonda Roo - please adopt me. STAT. xoxoxo

Michelle - love these. . .i think i made them at school when i was little (like 20 years ago. . .wow)

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - So pretty and easy. I bet my kiddos would love this! My favorite was the red and green. The polka dot ribbon made it though:)

Heather (Lorel's *other* college roomie!!) - Adorable — definitely making next year when my oldest is five!
One tip that I’ve learned the hard way with our crafting sessions — if you double the thread on the needle and knot both ends at the bottom (so it’s a loop) then the needle can’t come off! 🙂

Holly - very cute!

meaghan - this is AWESOME!!!! i’m def doing this. i mean, not with the kids, but i’m still doing it!

AshleyAnn - Your Christmas crafts are killing me…so cute. Maybe I’ll make them next year. Though if I can convince myself to go to Target to ornaments I really want to do those handprint ones…such a great idea.

Natasha - Super easy and way cute! Thanks!!

amy cloud - We did the snowmen yesterday and my girls are very excited to do the wreaths today. Many Thanks!

Joni - I am always looking for easy, safe, low mess crafts with four little ones 7 and under….so this looks FABULOUS!
Thank you for all the great craft ideas:)

danielle - love these!

sara @ it's good to be queen - i LOVE this. oh how i love a quiet craft. 😉 and they turned out so pretty!

Tara - such great ideas for ornaments!
we buy ornaments for our kids this year…
I think we’re making them…all thanks to you!

Grace - Meg, these are fantastic! And they fit three perfect categories: adorable, easy for little hands, and inexpensive. Thank you for the idea. 🙂

Cynthia - So cute, I can’t wait to try these, but what is DMC floss?

Amanda-ThriceBlessed - Very cute, and even better than buying felt I can use up little scraps!

Kelly - Super cute! It would be really fun to leave it straight as a garland too!

Mindy Harris - too too cute. i love your crafts. wilder and i did a snowman tonite and i put away my control freak tendencies and just let him do what he wanted.

Debbie Smallie - Keep the crafts coming. We have a 17 day break and I need time-fillers!!!

Sonia - as usual, LOVE IT!!

tania willis - my 8 year old, looking over my shoulder just said, “oh my gosh, i wanna make one!” SO cute meg! thanks for sharing the idea. this is perfect for keeping little hands busy during the winter break from school.

Share on Facebook•Tweet this Post•Pin Images to Pinterest•Back to Top

christmas craft #1

December 17, 2010

this idea came from crystal in an email to me.
thanks so much!

super easy but SUPER DUPER cute!

we started with these ornaments from target.
they are big.
i loved the colors so i picked these…..but any glass ball ornaments would work.

i did this one child at a time….you'll see why.

first i painted their hand with regular craft paint.

set the ornament in the middle of their flat palm….fingers out.

slowly have them close their hand so an entire handprint is made.
make sure they don't move their fingers….just close their hand.

then they slowly take their fingers off the ornament.

set it somewhere to dry.
then you can choose if you want to yell at your child ……
"DON"T TOUCH ANYTHING! GO WASH YOUR HAND AND DON"T USE MY GOOD TOWEL TO DRY IT!"
or not.

let the white paint dry….we waited overnight….just to be safe.
then use a Sharpie to add faces.

we used a glue gun and cut out tiny little scarves.
we didn't have black felt or we would've made hats too.

and they add snow falling also.

i think they are about the cutest ornaments i have ever seen.

then write their name and date on the palm and you created a keepsake!

have fun.

show hide 107 comments

add a comment

Catherine Vitolo - That is the cool idea for home make

marcia culler - Great idea! And your instructions are so good I think I can do this! Thanks!

Laura - Maybe try a clear spray/sealer. Found at most hardware sections in spraypaint aisle, and sometimes in the craft Dept. I am absolutely doing this this coming year.

Staci - What kind of paint do you use? I got tempera paint and it just peels/flakes 🙁

myriam - queste idee sono bellissime
grazie per il consiglio

Jackie - We made these in Kindergarten and we used the small tip puff paint to make the faces, hats, scarves, etc.

Karen @ Sugartown Sweets - Love!! I make a Christmas craft every year with my grandbabies! My daughter always says they are her favorite Christmas gift. Thank you. 🙂

Kim - Kandi, I have bought or made my children an ornament every year as well, and for the same reason. My son who is now 25 years old has refused to take his with him. He wants his ornaments on his momma’s tree. lol But….. he still comes over every year to decorate the tree with his younger sister (21) and they still have a blast hanging their ornaments. They still try to hide the other’s ornaments with their own. It’s really great to see them still being “kids” at Christmas.

Nancy - what a PERFECT to give to g’ma that has everything!

Kandi - I used to make ornaments with my kids, or they would make them at school. Every year, I make each of them one too, as a gift. That way when they move out and have a tree of their own, they will take the ones I made them, and have meaningful (hopefully) ornaments on it already. And, I am left with all of the ornaments that they have made for me over the years.

Tiffany - Oh thank you so much! I think we will be doing these this year! I ADORE it!!

Debra - i so just love this going to do this with my grand kids when they come over (:

Belize - Beth Mayhew – Oh Krista these are amazing! The tea party with Kaitlyn and Bryan just mleted my heart. Who would have ever thought our husbands hearts would be stolen by another woman and we’d ok with it our daughters have captured them both? I love you all so much and thanks for sharing.

Mel - This just popped up on my facebook news feed…Meg you are everywhere!! So cute , will have to try it 🙂

Air Jordan Shoes - after all disadvantage. Game in third quarter end phase, the lakers leading superiority already exceeded 20 points, that makes the game early into the garbage time.

Cheap Jordan Shoes - after all disadvantage. Game in third quarter end phase, the lakers leading superiority already exceeded 20 points, that makes the game early into the garbage time.

Kelli - Oh my gosh! These are so cute! Perfect grandma gift too. So, I have to ask how you keep (have room on the tree for) all of your kids Christmas ornaments? Do you occasionally get rid of any? (I really hope you aren’t “gasp”ing at that last sentence just now). I know people who don’t throw any of their children’s pictures/drawings away. I could easily become one of those people but I don’t have the storage space and I only have 2 small children. I’d love to know your “system”. Thanks!

Holly Rhodes - I feel like a bad mom! I never do crafts with my kids (3 and 1) I just do not have the patience!! Maybe I should work on that! Your kids look so happy doing crafts =(
Did you do crafts when they were 3 and 1 too???

liz from LIzzies RAggs Primitives - LOve the idea of the ornaments! I printed out the directions for a next Christmas project with the grandkids. Thanks!

Lisa - Hi Meg,
I am Cassie Burback’s sister in law. I loved this project. My oldest daughter did this with a friend yesterday and they turned out adorable. Thanks for the idea. We also did hand prints on cardstock for Christmas cards!
Love your blog!
Lisa Borglum

Tami - Hey Megan, totally enjoy your blog. Wish i could do all the crafts you guys do. I put the ideas in the back of my head and then they get lost back there. However, we actually did this one! Thank you for the great idea! We had a neighborhood party and had all the kids make one. You have inspired me! Thank you!

cathy - Love this!

Jen Brandt - Guess what the grandparents will be getting for Christmas next year? Great idea! Thank you and Merry Christmas!

katie w - this is adorable! and love the poem that amy shared too 😉

elz - LOVE this craft. I have been hemming and hawing about what ornaments to make for my parents this year-then Boom! I found your post. Perfect. Thanks.

BecZhang - This is so awesome. I am definitely going to try this with my six year old. I’m not very crafty so it should be interesting.

Courtney - OMG!!! This is the CUTEST PROJECT IN AMERICA!!!!!

Ellen J - I love this one too! I’ll have lots to choose from next year for Christmas crafts! Thanks 🙂

Janelle - My girls are 2 & 4 – this is going to be messy! But what a cute keepsake!

tania willis - we’re SO making these for the grandparents! AWESOME!

Kristin S - adorable!!!

Sugar Mama - Crazy! I just got back from Wal-Mart and bought the stuff to make those with my daycare kids. Get online to check my fave blogs and see that you just made them too. We won’t be doing the scarves, it will be enough just to get them to gently grasp the ornament… and it will be very interesting to see how it will work for the 9 month old kids!

Kathleen - My son just gave us one with the poem attached….his class made them in preschool. I love them and hopefully I will remember to have him make one next year! The ornaments your kids made turned out great and I love the idea of adding scarves to the snowmen!

Eva - I Love love love these – I’m tempted to try on my almost one year old – I may be pushing my luck hahah

Dawn - So super cute!!

visart-dali.com - This so very cute!!!!! Thank you for the idea!!!!

Gemma - Wow this is SO NICE!!! LOVE IT!!
Gemma x

Joye - I LOVE these! Just adorable 🙂 You are so creative!

Tanya H - This is FABULOUS!!! We must do this! TFS! 🙂

Maria - Made these with the kids! So cute. Thanks for sharing the idea! Way easy. Even Mom and Dad made one with the kids =0)

Jenny Logan - Those are the cutest ornaments ever!! Thanks for the great idea!!

Kait - I’ve been looking for a hand print ornament I can make with my girls. This is adorable! I might have to squeeze in a little craft time before Christmas.

Shannon Davis - I make these every year with my kindergarteners! I add the poem as mentioned above — they only difference is that we use paint pens for all the details and shatterproof ornaments. We do add black hats with a black paint pen. I also buy teeny little buttons and they glue on two buttons per snowman — adorable — colorful — and each one is unique 🙂

Sharla - These are adorable – I got big ornaments on my way home last night – also snagged some dollar aisle ornaments so I can start making my wreath 🙂 Thanks for great ideas!

Lindsey@ Piecefully Home - so cute!! i have to do this one with my kids!

Jill - Oh my gosh!!!! I am a teacher and have been trying to come up with a quick and cute gift idea for my kids to make for their parents…. I love this!!!! thank you!!!!

Jill - ooomygosh! That is Super Cute!

Tracy - Meg, the fact that you think to take the time to take photos while explaining is simply awesome. These are adorable and the memory of making them adds to the fun! Thanks for sharing.

Julianne Brimner - my daughter just made one at school and brought it home for a Christmas present for me. I think they just did three fingers….with a classroom of first graders, I think she has the bravest teacher in the world. I love it.

Lindsay - LOVE this idea & plan on buying stuff to make them today!!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

Erin - So cute! I will be saving this craft for when I have children 🙂 Very fun.

Candi @ Sweet Designs Boutique - Love these. Just shared on Facebook at facebook.com/sweetdesignsboutique

Jenny B. - My oldest son did one of those at preschool a couple of years ago, and I love it! 🙂

Bobbie Henry - What a cute idea! This is something that my daughter-in-law could do with our two little grandsons and send to us (hint)! Love them!!!

maribeth - my kids have made these at preschool for years, but i love the fun variation of doing it with older children who can contribute more than the handprint itself. love the felt scarves and the falling snow!! i think those will be special keepsakes on their own trees one day, too! (though i am sure you are hoping that one day is far, far away!)

Grace - Those are so cute! Would make a cute teacher gift too…

Jess Mead - So cute and MESSY! My boys would love it!

Kimberlee J. - Talia brought one of these home from daycare last year and I loved it! It’s hanging on my tree high so she can’t get a hold of it. 🙂

sara's art house - LOVE THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Giuseppina - this might be one of the cutest things i’ve ever seen!!
thanks for sharing 🙂

Lisa @ Shine Your Light - I’m in love with this craft – thank you for sharing! As my kids get older we do less and less crafting together – but I think I can get even my boys to do this one! So cute.

T Galle - Doing this at our Christmas gathering at my Dad’s this Sunday!

Jeannette - Those are the cutest things!!!!! I LOVE snowmen, one my favorites :o) thanks for sharing this

Holly - very cute!

Heather G. - What a cute idea!!

a-m - Absolutely brilliant! Thanks!!!

Leah - Awesome idea. Love it!

erlfisher - THE BEST!! Will most certainly try this!

Lucylu ~ - Oh my goodness i *LOVE* the purple one!

JustMommer - Can’t wait to try this

creativechaos - LOVE this!

kristine - i love this idea!!

Tracy - The toddlers at my daycare center make these every year as a Christmas present to their parents….love it!!!

Monica Huete - Awww, it is so cute !!! What a great idea !!! Thanks so much for sharing … ^___^

Amy Petz - I cannot wait to do this with my boys. Thanks Meg!

Alison Richardson - Those are so adorable! I’m definitely doing this!

Maria - This is one of our favorite crafts to do…we have a small collection of them now (the ones that have survived over the years at least!)

Georgia - IS that another Bauble dining room picture?! ohhhh the suspense.
:o)

Micky - This is so clever! I have never seen this done before. When I saw the hands being painted to be placed on the ornament, I thought, “how’s this going to turn out?”, but it is so cute. I am DEFINITLY doing this one with the kids. Thanks for sharing.
Micky

Beth - Oh, and gotta tell you, at my other school my art room is in a seperate building from the regular school and there is NO WATER in the building. I did one of those big Christmas Cards that is on display outside the library? With all my students? And we did hand prints to make the picture????? Imagine me with a room full of 18-22 kids, with paint on their hands! Wow. I was kind of a basket case at the end of that week!

Beth - ADORABLE! Well worth the wait (sorry about the sick kiddo)! I think I might try this with my girls too!

Tanya @ Life in 3D - I’m in love 🙂 So adorable!
My kids would NEVER just leave their fingers there though…too little still. We did hand prints in salt dough for daddy for Christmas today and even for that…I found myself yelling…”DON’T spread your fingers!”
Proud moments…

Jodi - SO CUTE!! My daughter is 16, but I think I’m gonna get her to do one anyway. Thanks for sharing!

Amy - My pre-K daughter came home with one yesterday with this poem attached –
“These aren’t just 5 snowmen
as anyone can see.
I made them with my hand
which is a part of me.
Now each year when you trim the tree,
you’ll look back and recall
Christmas of 2010
when my hand was this small!”
They also attached a nice polka dot bow at the top. Very cute!

megan k - totally the project for our weekend!!

Hollie - How fast can I get to Target?

Sonia - i love it! i’m going to go get supplies to make them tonight!

Selina - Love this. So clever!

Marisa - SO cute! I’d be afraid to use glass, though, in case my little one squeezed too hard. Good thing there are so many cute plastic ornaments these days.

jennibell - LOVE this — thanks for the idea!!!

the leonard 4 - oh my gawh…thhis is the cutest thing i’ve ever seen, and we will definitely be doing this little craft over winter break! happy holidays! 🙂

shelley - love it ! gonna get all the supplies to do this while the little one is napping…that way we can do it straight away when he wakes!

amanda - love this – will definitely try it this weekend!

Christy - My son just came home with one of these yesterday from school! How funny. His was not as perfect as yours though, probably b/c one Teacher & 25 kids. 🙂 Love these, might have to try it again at home, plus would be great for the grandparents.

mandy madison - Totally stealing this idea!!! SO CUTE!

Lisa - Very very cool!

Cherish Stockdale - umm those are ADORABLE! I love them!

amy cloud - I am going to have a craft week next week with the kids. THis is a great idea and we are going to target tonight. Thanks

mel - LOVE this!!! Totally making these with my girls. SO excited!!! 🙂

Hoosier at Heart - Just darling!

twolittletots - i just saw this the other day and was going to do it with the girls next week. i think it would be great grandparent gifts too!

Donje - That is such a cute craft idea! I LOVE it! Thanks for sharing.

jennifer - I’m totally not a crafty girl, but I just might need to try those. They are super duper cute!

april - these are awesome!!!! I must make these!!!!!

virginia - so cute! crystal always has such great ideas!

Heather @ Cookie Mondays - very cute!

Amanda-ThriceBlessed - Cute! My middle DD did this last year at preschool, if you flip the hand over the ornament the opposite way it creates Santa’s beard, you just add the hat and face! Its just as cute as the snowmen!

Share on Facebook•Tweet this Post•Pin Images to Pinterest•Back to Top

search

Search for:
Instagram
Categories

Categories
Archives
Archives

Category Archives: christmas craft week

search

Instagram

Categories

Archives