crafts

January 8, 2013 No Comments

kid craft: red bird handprint art

My boys crafted red bird handprint art canvases for their grandmothers this Christmas. Aren’t they fun?! The perfect kid art activity!

And you should have heard the responses. What mom, grandmother, dad, grandpa doesn’t want handprint art gifts from their little ones? Well none in my family and I’m obsessed a bit with capturing their little hands anyway before they get any bigger.

Just imagine your little person’s hand smothered in paint… okay and maybe their little bottoms buckled to the chair {smirk}… but the outcome is adorable.

My mom’s absolute favorite is the cardinal bird. Here in Ohio I see them everyday in my backyard. Such beautiful birds!

But you know, these handprint red birds (or any color) would be perfect for kid crafted Mother’s Day gifts too… just saying!

By the way, I did so many crafts over the holidays that I really wanted to share and just ran out of time. So if you see a Christmas craft here in July don’t judge…

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own red bird handprint art canvases:

Kids… it’s just not as cute if it’s your hand. {grin}
White canvas (you can get a 8×10 for about $7 at your local craft store)
Paint colors: red, brown, black, yellow and silver (if you want snowflakes)
Paint brushes
Optional: Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch to make a stencil

Easy how to steps to make your own red bird handprint art:

Paint your child’s hand with red paint, making sure to get in any creases.
Apply to canvas quickly, lightly pushing on their hand to make sure all areas touch the canvas. (Wash little one’s hand… like you need me to tell you!)
Using black, let your child paint on legs and a dot for the eye.
Using brown, let your child paint whispy tree branches.
Using yellow, let your child paint a triangle for the beak.
Using silver, let your child stencil on a snowflake using the template you made from the punch.
Sign it! Let your kiddos write their name at the end of the wing tip and don’t forget the year.
Tip: Let the canvas dry a few minutes in between each color/application if your child’s hand might brush wet paint. The canvas isn’t very forgiving.

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and celebrate!

Join The Celebration Shoppe on facebook, sign-up for the daily ideas to come right to your inbox (never miss an idea, giveaway or free printable!), follow Kim on twitter, pinterest and on instagram. And don’t forget to shop the party store for birthday, baby shower and holiday party supplies. Follow my blog with Bloglovin.

UP movie balloon birthday party supplies

For my friend, Francesca of the SITS Girls, we designed a bright “UP” balloon birthday party collection for her little girl. I’ll feature pictures from the big day in my next post, but first I want to share all of the fun new birthday party printable designs and supplies making their way to the shoppe this week!

Fran’s little one was turning two so she wanted lots of activities to keep the kiddos busy. She hosted an outdoor movie viewing, and a magic show, plus we made fun coloring sheets. Needless to say that between the activities, all the yummy treats, like the s’ mores dessert bar and balloon cookies (that our partners at Sweet Tooth Cottage baked up), guests went home smiling!

Here’s what you can find in this UP MOVIE balloon birthday party (invitation and party decor, all items can be customized):

Balloon invitation and thank you note
Welcome guests with a Large Movie Premier Sign (11×17; TIP: print at Costco for $5.99)
Balloon cupcake picks and multi-colored cupcake wrappers
Book Adventures favor mat (5×7)
Balloon favor tag
Adventure awaits balloon bookmarks
S’ mores dessert bar mat
Balloon dessert tags
Balloon beverage wrappers
Magic show activity poster
Activity balloon coloring page
Balloon napkin rings
Balloon placemats (11×17)
Custom balloon butter cookies (from our partners at Sweet Tooth Cottage)

All items will be in the shoppe later this week! Until then, you can e-mail us at customercare@celebrationshoppe.com if you need something right away or are interested in a custom collection created just for you!

As always, we hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and CELEBRATE!

Join The Celebration Shoppe on facebook, sign-up for the daily ideas to come right to your inbox (a box in the right-side navigation bar), follow us on twitter, pinterest and on instagram at@thecelebrationshoppe

DIY Frankenstein coin wrapper favors

Excited to have Jen of Passion for Parties guest posting this morning and sharing her adorable Frankenstein coin wrapper party favors, perfect Halloween kids craft and so inexpensive to make!

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Good morning everyone! Here’s what you’ll need for this easy craft:

Coin wrappers for quarters (I bought an entire bag of wrappers at the dollar store)
One-inch gumballs (in a pretzel cello bag) or other wrapped candies
Black duct tape
Scissors
Black crepe paper
Black cardstock
Double-sided tape
Hot glue
Google eyes
Black and red sharpies

And here are the easy DIY how tos:

Stuff the coin wrappers with gumballs in food safe pretzel cello bags, or other prepackaged candies, as you would with coins, folding over the edges to secure.
Cut a piece of duct tape large enough to cover the opening of the wrapper and fold down the sides a bit.
Rest the tape on top of one end of the wrapper.
Use scissor to cut slits in the tape, then fold the edges down and secure.
Measure and cut a piece of green paper long enough and wide enough to fit around the coin wrapper.
Use double-sided tape to secure it in place.
Measure and cut a piece of crepe paper long enough to wrap around the top edge of the coin wrapper.
Cut the crepe paper in half lengthwise, then cut triangular snips out of the paper to create hair.
Use double-sided tape to secure the crepe paper around the tape-wrapped edge of the coin wrapper.
Use scissors or a large heart-shaped paper punch to make a 2 to 2 ½ inch heart out of black cardstock.
Fold the tip of the heart over about ¼ of an inch, then secure it to the back of the coin wrapper with a dot of hot glue to serve as “feet.”
Attach the google eyes to the face of your Frankenstein, then use the sharpies to add accents like eyebrows, a mouth, and stitches.

Thanks so much for having me Kim!

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You can find more of Jen’s fabulous ideas on her blog at Passion for Parties! And as always, we hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and CELEBRATE!

easy Halloween party favors

I LOVE this time of year. I just get giddy over the weather, the fun costumes, the decorations, the baking, the photo ops with my kiddos… and oh yeah… the crafts! {grin}

And I’m thrilled to have hung out with the fabulous ladies of Eighteen 25 this week sharing a little Spooktacular fun for their annual Halloween blog party! So many fun ideas from so many talented bloggers. You’ll want to check it out!

For me, I made these easy and totally kid friendly jack-o-lantern Halloween party favor crafts using plastic Easter eggs. You needed something to do with all of those anyway, right?! {snicker}

You’ll need:

Plastic Easter eggs
Mod Podge & brush
Crepe paper (orange, black and green)

Super simple steps:

Fill your egg with candies.
Paint your closed egg with Mod Podge and wrap it with orange crepe. Allow it to set for a few minutes.
Add a funny or scary jack-o-lantern face with black crepe and Mod Podge.
Twist a 4″ piece of green crepe for the stem and attach with Mod Podge.
Allow the eggs to set for several hours until completely dry.

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and CELEBRATE!

DIY Halloween trick-or-treat bags

I’m hanging out over on my blog at Kellogg’s Snackpicks.com today sharing some fun and creative DIY Halloween trick-or-treat bag ideas!

With Halloween just around the corner I’m getting excited. And as you ladies know, I love to craft, bake and in general create with my two boys and the holidays just give me a specific reason to pull them into the kitchen or the craft room.

I also like to volunteer in their classrooms and these simple, economical and creative Halloween treat bags will be perfect for their class Halloween parties this year.

I whipped up four ideas using colorful lunch bags: a Monster, Owl, Spider Web and Cat. I hope you’ll hop over to Snackpicks.com and join me for all the easy DIY details and of course a step-by-step pictorial of how to make each bag!

Oh, and there might be a coupon or two for your favorite Kellogg’s products if you join the newsletter! {grin}

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and celebrate!

easy DIY paper pumpkins

For my Harvest Party Collection photo shoot, pumpkins weren’t yet in season so we crafted paper pumpkins in various shapes and sizes. They’re very simple to make and a wonderful kids craft for the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays. And, if you live in a warm climate like I did when I was a kid, these may be the only pumpkins you’ll get! {grin}

You’ll need:

Various shades of orange scrapbook paper (giving the pumpkins variation),
Scrapbook brads (to hold the pumpkin together),
Raffia (for the vine),
Green scrapbook paper (for the leaves),
Optional: skinny dowels with hot glue (to make Cinderella pumpkins, insert inside papers and pull top and bottom together as seen below)
Optional: white floral wire (hide inside rafia to give your vines dimension and to be able to mold them in any direction you want)

Easy how to steps: Cut the orange scrapbook paper in various widths and combine colors for interest. Attach the paper with brads at top and bottom. Add a leaf and raffia vine. And if you want a Cinderella pumpkin, cut a small dowel to height and insert it into the center of the pumpkin pulling the papers together with hot glue.

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and CELEBRATE!

party popcorn + free tailgate printables

Hi everyone! It’s Deanna of Mirabelle Creations contributing today! I live in the South, where tailgating is not to be taken lightly. It’s an event and must be treated as such from the clothing you wear, to the food you serve, all details are carefully planned.

I recently had the opportunity to style a tailgating party for an appearance on LEX 18′s News and this is a bit of what I shared!

And while planning my appearance I began looking for new recipes and ideas and found this candied popcorn. I instantly thought of all the great football color combination possibilities. My Alma Mater is blue and white, so I chose the Berry Blue Jell-O for my popcorn. But, by simply changing the Jell-O flavor, you can change the color to match your own team colors.

After I tested the recipe, I posted a picture of it on Instagram. Instantly, several of my friends contacted me asking for the recipe, commenting that it would be perfect for tailgating so I knew I had a keeper!

Candied Popcorn Recipe (adapted from Clair’s Creations)

3 bags of microwave popcorn, popped
½ cup margarine
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
3 tablespoons water
3oz box Berry Blue Jell-O
Wilton’s Icing Color in Royal Blue and Violet

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray.
Combine margarine, sugar, corn syrup, water, and Jell-O powder in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until boiling. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat. The Berry Blue Jell-O is more of a teal color. For more of a royal blue color, first add a small amount of royal blue icing color using a toothpick. Repeat, using violet icing color. Stir and add more violet if not quite dark enough.
Empty popcorn into large bowl. Pour sugar mixture over popcorn. Stir with a large spoon. Pour popcorn onto baking sheet. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring once. Remove from oven. Cool completely on pan, then break apart.

And if your team is blue and white, hop over to my blog for more details and to DOWNLOAD my free football tailgating party printables!

As always, we hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and celebrate!

Join The Celebration Shoppe on facebook, sign-up for the daily ideas to come right to your inbox (a box in the right-side navigation bar), follow us on twitter, pinterest and on instagram at @thecelebrationshoppe

art camp + project ideas

Images taken with my iPhone and edited with Camera+ and PicFrame

My oldest attended an art camp this summer hosted by the art teacher from his school. When he told me she had a barn on her property and she was holding art classes, and that he R-E-A-L-L-Y wanted to go, this is not what I envisioned…

This barn is beautiful on the inside. My camera phone doesn’t do it justice. But I really wanted to show you some of her organization ideas, as well as a few of the art projects and crafts he did over the week. Mrs. Gilbert, the owner of Hands On Art Barn, is such a creative soul and her space made me want to go home and incorporate some of her organizational ideas into my own craft room! I mean, how clever is the utensil caddy for all her brushes. She can let them dry in the containers since they have holes in them. LOVE it!

And the projects that they created over the week were adorable, plus they learned a great deal about technique. This pottery owl was my favorite. He’s hanging in my kitchen now!

And these are the paper art projects they created: a tropical fish mobile (that was really cool), a button tree, a spider and spider web and a watercolor castle. I was really impressed with all the kids’ work. And I know my guy left with an even deeper love for art.

A big thanks to Mrs. Gilbert for all she does in the classroom and at her Hands On Art Barn! If you’re near the Columbus, Ohio area I strongly encourage you to give her a try. She has classes for everyone from preschool to adult. She even has “parents night out” packages! Your kiddos get to have fun and you get date night! {grin}

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create! Happy Tuesday everyone!

DIY dry erase homework chart

My oldest in now in second grade. He’s had homework since Kindergarten, but this year he will be taking much more responsibility for it’s completion. See, I’ve played a bit of a cheerleader role for two years now… that tends to turn into a warden role as we go through the year… {smirk}

So this year I’ve chosen a new approach. I created a homework chart that he can manage on his own. That is visible in the kitchen for all to see, and that offers an incentive if completed without my constant… reminding.

And since it’s in my kitchen, it had to be cute! So I sat down at my laptop and created a simple chart that works for his weekly homework responsibilities: reading, math and spelling. Then I headed out to Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores and picked up a few things:

8×10 frame
self-adhesive magnetic strips
spray paint
dry erase markers

And here are a few simple steps:

Remove glass from your frame
Spray paint frame, it will likely take two coats (careful about dripping because once it’s there… well… it’s there!)
Allow to dry
Apply magnetic strips on top and bottom of frame (just cut to length, peel off back and stick)
Insert your chart
Hang

I love that not only can he keep track of his homework, I can easily see when it has been done and that it looks nice on our refrigerator, but that he can also easily clean off one week’s activity and start over the next.

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create! Happy back to school everyone!

how to make a paper airplane video

This summer has been amazing and I’m honestly having a hard time with it coming to a close… but before I tear up, I want to share with you the first of hopefully many The Kid’s Perspective videos that my boys are so super tickled about being a part of.

I was blessed with two boys who love to be in front of the camera. Thank goodness, right! My blog would be much less interesting and have far fewer photos if my boys were camera shy! {grin}

So when I mentioned that I was going to start vlogging myself about various craft projects, they started asking if they could make videos of their projects (they’re always making, building, drawing, creating something) and I thought why not start with them… I mean, they’re cute no matter what so I could save myself some angst and learn the ropes with their videos. That’s not terrible of me is it? {wink}

For the very first installment of The Kid’s Perspective, Alex is sharing how to make a flat nosed paper airplane in celebration of National Aviation Day. My uncle, a pilot (and attorney, he’s a super talented overachiever and we all love him dearly!) shared this design with my boys a few months ago and now they make no other kind of paper airplane. They claim, “Uncle Billy’s fly the best and the farthest!”

Yes, my home is often littered in a paper airplane war… {sigh}, and now yours can be too!