craft extravaganza

We are still busy crafting away here in our corner of the world. The elves will be hard at work until Friday and then it's all systems go for Christmas. Here is a sampling of some gifts the kids made with their two little hands.

snowflake

This snowflake requires adult assembly ahead of time and it involves glitter. So, if that hasn't scared you off read on for what you'll need.

six no roll wooden clothes pegs

two wooden discs about the size of an American silver dollar

glue gun

white paint

silver and iridescent glitter

lid to a shirt box

I assembled the snowflakes ahead of time and it goes together very quickly. Lay one disc down and dab some hot glue on the end of one of the clothes pegs. Press it onto the disc. Continue gluing the pegs to the disc until all six are glued on. You should only be able to fit six. Now run glue along the edge of the second disc and sandwich it on top of the pegs and first disc. Done. That wasn't too bad.

The kids can now paint the snowflake. I had them paint one side and place it in a box lid. They could then shake glitter all over the snowflake as it's in the box lid and the glitter will be somewhat contained. Let this dry. Once dry, the other side can be painted and glittered and presto! These would look very pretty grouped together.

reindeer

Isn't this one of the cutest little Rudolphs ever? It's super simple too. Once again I assembled the little guy ahead of time using my trusty glue gun. What did crafters do before glue guns were invented? You will need

2 no roll clothes pegs

2 teeny gogglely eyes

one teeny red pom pom

brown paint

a paint brush

white glue

paper clip

and the glue gun of course

I glued the two clothes pegs head to head. The kids painted little Rudy with the brown paint. Once he dried they glued on the eyes and nose using white glue. After the eyes and nose have dried I hot glued a paperclip to the back so he can be hung from the tree.

This little guy is even easier than his brother. No glue gun required here folks.

brown construction paper

craft sticks

gogglely eyes

pom pom nose

white glue

I traced the children's hands and cut them out. They will become the reindeer's antlers. I then had the children make a triangle with their craft sticks and they glued them together. They then glued on the eyes and nose in the appropriate places. Once it had dried, they could glue on the antlers. And that's it. It'll be a sweet reminder in years to come of how tiny your little one's hands once were.

wreaths

The end result of this project is one of my favorites we did this year but the actual process to create sends shivers down my spine. It involved my using fabric paint and I hate the way that paint feels on my hands. I strongly recommend gloves for the adult helpers with this one. But maybe that's just my weird hangup. I did do this with all my kids from one year to 4 years. It was a breeze with the two preschoolers but much more work with the little ones. Anywho...you will need

green and red fabric paint

fabric (I bought plain white bandannas but you can use fabric from the fabric store, old sheets or pillowcases, or what have you)

straight pins

wire rimmed ribbon

safety pin

paintbrush

paper plate

paper template

old towel or some other drop cloth

wet paper towels or wash cloth

This project is fairly easy with the older kids but very messy with the little ones. Have lots of paper towels on hand because they get the paint everywhere. I also stripped them down to a diaper so the fabric paint didn't get on their clothing. It would be a good idea for the adult helpers to wear an art smock or old tee shirt too. Just a friendly little tip. Unless you like your clothing smeared with red and green fabric paint.

Lay down the towel on the table and put the paper template down. I use a template because I can't make a circle without. We'd end up with wreaths in the shape of blimps or eggs. Okay, moving on...I also taped the template to the towel so it wouldn't shift around. Next lay the fabric on top of the template and use the straight pins to pin it to the towel. Squirt some green paint onto the plate and using a paint brush paint one of the child's hands. Starting at the top make a print onto the fabric. Continue painting and making prints along the edge of the template. I started along the top then turned the towel so the fingers of the prints are all facing in the same direction. Just keep turning the towel until you've made your way around the circle. Wipe the hand off. You probably won't get all the paint off but as long as you get most you're good to go. You can do a thorough cleanup afterwards. Now squirt a little bit of the red paint onto the plate and have the child use his pointer finger to dip into the paint and make little berries all around the wreath. I also used the red paint to write the child's name and date. My oldest preschooler was able to write her name on her own. Now's the time for cleanup. It doesn't take long for the wreath to dry and once it's dried you can pin on a bow made with the wire rimmed ribbon.