Make: Heart Art

At least once a week I try to do a crafty little project with Landon. Paint is definitely his favorite medium...I'm sure you're surprised. :) If you're brave enough to pop those acrylic caps, here's a fun way to decorate your house with genuine love this Valentines Day.

Step 1:

Let your child paint a large piece of paper. We used red, brown, and white.The great thing about this project is there are no "lines" to stay inside of, or particular shapes or outlines to create. Just let your little one enjoy covering the paper with color!

Helpful hint: Paper Plates make great paint trays (in a home or in a classroom).

Step 2:

Trace various sizes of heart-shaped cookie cutters all over your child's painting. If your child is old enough, he or she can do this step too. The more mixed colors, the better!

Step 3:

Cut out the hearts and find fun ways to display them around your house! Here's my favorite way to show off Landon's love-ly art!

Make: Easy Snow Globe

Waiting for a white Christmas? Create one inside a simple, plastic container!

Have you child pick out an item or two to put inside your snow globe. Happy Meal toys work great! We actually found this festive tree at the local Dollar Store ($1/each). Use a glue gun to adhere the figurine to the inside of the lid. Press down firmly.

While the glue is drying, allow your child fill the plastic container 3/4 of the way full with some sort of household oil. We used baby oil, but canola or olive would work too. Oil is preferred to water so that the sparkles float and flutter more slowly when shaken.

Add a couple teaspoons of glitter to the oil. Landon loved this part! 

Mom can now put the lid back onto the container. For an extra tight seal, I applied a thick layer of hot glue all the way around the lid.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Make: Light-Up Coffee Filter Ornaments

Pardon the hiatus...we've had some big things going on at our place. We have managed to fit some fun into the mix though! Here's a simple, fun little activity that I came across from Kids Craft Weekly. We altered the idea a bit to make our creations into light-catching ornaments. Hope you're having a fun holiday season! 

Materials: 

coffee filters, scissors, markers, clothespins, glue, water (spray bottle)

Cut Christmas bulb shapes out of coffee filters.

Color with washable markers. Press down firmly, and cover all white space.

Spray a little bit of water (one or two squirts) on each light. Let dry.

Glue a clothespin to the back of each light.

Clip to tree branches, turn on "real" Christmas lights, and be amazed! 

Make: Christmas Crayons

FunMoms is so happy to introduce Marcie from  www.dontwasteyourhomemaking.com!! She has a GREAT idea to share with us. Spoiler alert: If my little boy is friends with your child, THIS is what he or she will be getting from Landon this Christmas...Cute. Easy. Practical. Affordable! It doesn't get better than that! Thanks, Marcie!

This past week I have seen cutsie crayons popping up all over the web! I thought I would try them and see if I could make a few for Christmas gifts for the little ones. I tried it and I LOVE it! It's super easy to make and fun!

Ingredients

Crayons (Box of 64 for $1 @ Dollar Tree)

Ribbon and jewels (craft room)
Silicone Bakeware (mine cost $2.50 @ Target)

 

Step 1

Peel all the wrappings off the crayons. This is the longest process of the project... don't do it alone! I took a ton of crayons to the youth and asked for their help before church. 

Step 2 Break the crayons into small pieces {the smaller the pieces the better they will blend}. You can use the same color or mix colors. For thick crayons fill to the top of the shape, for skinnier ones only fill half way in the shape.

Step 3

Place in the oven at 200 degrees for approx. 20 minutes. I checked on the crayons and stirred them about halfway through. Once the crayons are completely melted remove the bakeware from the oven. Let the crayons cool completely before getting them out.

Here's what they look like when their cooled off! So cute, I can't wait to give these to my kids!

You can also fancy it up a little with some ribbon on hand and a jewel!

 

 

Marcie says, "I'm a girl who has been undeservedly saved by grace through Jesus Christ. I've been a wife for four years and love serving God through my home. It's my passion not to waste my life but, to make it count for the glory of God. Therefore,I am seeking to do this in every area of my life including my role in the home. I want to encourage women who are homemakers to use this delightful occupation for the glory of God."

Munch: Gingerbread Nativity

A fun way to bring the "Reason for the Season" into the kitchen...and to other people's doors! These turn out so cute, you won't even want to eat them! But don't worry, your kids probably won't hesitate at all! :)

L-R: King, Shepherd, Jesus, Mary, Joseph

A whole batch, ready to be sorted and given to our neighbors. 

Make: Thanksgiving Cards

A few years ago, I started doing Thanksgiving Cards, instead of Christmas Cards. I've been asked why many times. For us, there are several reasons. First, it makes my budget a little bit happier in December.  Second, I have more time to enjoy making them (which I love to do!), and sending them out before the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Third, and most importantly, I love the opportunity to share why Jesus should be the reason for this season too! And, finally, we really do feel so tremendously blessed, we can't help but share it with all of our loved ones!

I don't have your home address, or I'd send one your way. So, this is for you, friend. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Leslie

And the Winner Is...

Thank you to everyone that left a comment on yesterday's post, Mayflower Mercy Ship and Giveaway. Your sweet words meant so much! I just visited www.random.org to get our winner for the book. 

Congratulations to...the 6th commenter, Alyssa, from Loving Life 365!!

I will be announcing the winner of our OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD GIVEAWAY on Tuesday morning. If you packed a shoebox this year, please click here. The giveaway for that drawing is the VeggieTales movie, Saint Nicholas,  a Story of Joyful Giving. Good luck! :)

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Make: Mayflower Mercy Ship and Giveaway!!

Today I'm posting over at one of my favorite sites, Women Living Well about how to make this yummy decoration. My little boy and I have been calling it our Mayflower Mercies Ship, and our family has been filling it with notes of thankfulness all week. It has created such a feeling of gratitude in our house, and was fun (and tasty!) to create!

I also used the following book to teach Landon about the first Thanksgiving, and the pilgrims journey on the Mayflower. It's a GREAT resource! He likes it so much I think we're going to still be reading about Thanksgiving in February! :) If you'd like to be entered to win a copy of this book, simply leave a comment below! In hopes to get the book to the winner as quickly as possible (before Thanksgiving?!?), this Giveaway is for today only. Name will be announced Saturday morning. Good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!!

~Leslie

PS. If you participated in Operation Christmas Child this year, be sure to leave a comment under this recent post too! We're giving away a Christmas Veggie Tales DVD about the joy of giving to others. :)

Make: Thankful Trees

This great idea was shared by BEV. You can visit her regularly at her blog, Sweet Tea and Sass.

Thankful Trees

Here’s a fun, simple project to do with your kids, or grandkids. 

Materials needed: 

A sheet from a large drawing pad

Markers

An egg carton

Several tubes of finger paint

Package of sticky googly eyes. 

My grandsons went with brown for the trunk of the tree, but you might want to let your child use his imagination. Imagination is fun! 

Have them trace their entire arm, or help them if they’re a bit too young, opening their fingers up at the top of the ‘tree’. The arm will form the trunk and the branches will be formed by the fingers reaching up and out. 

Once the trunk and limbs are drawn, they can dip their finger(s) into the finger paint, making ‘leaves’ on the trees. We used a lot of fun colors for this part, and layered the leaves on top of each other. We even added some that had fallen on the ground. 

When the leaves have dried, the kids can stick a pair of googly eyes on each leaf, two for each member of their family, or even for other things they might be thankful for. Grayson added some of the characters from Star Wars, and one for his great-grandmother, who is in heaven. Caiden added family pets, and friends. I helped Grayson with some labeling of the leaves because he’s just learning to read and write. 

The front of many refrigerators are not magnetic these days, but a piece of tape will easily remedy that.  

The googly eyes, added to the boys’ foreheads, are optional but they sure had fun wearing them the rest of the day, as we went out to lunch and ran errands 

Make: Treasured Turkey

One of the best parts of decorating for Christmas is pulling memories out of boxes. For me, this means ornaments my husband made in Kindergarten, a 25-year-old nativity sheep missing two legs (thanks to my childhood Golden Retriever), and a picture of my little boy as a slumpy, sleepy infant on Santa's knee. Why not add some sentiment to Thanksgiving too? Landon and I made this picture last year...there's not much to it, but it made me smile to pull it out of storage last week. I held it for a minute remembering us making it together...how chubby his sweet little fingers were...how proud he was to show it to Daddy later that night. And then, I marveled at how much he's grown in the last year! I found it a place of prominence in our house, where it's bringing smiles to others' faces. :)

Step 1: Cover your child's hand in either paint or stamp ink. Help them press firmly onto the paper.

Step 2: Use paint or stamp ink to add a red thumbprint below Turkey's head. 

Step 3: Add legs, beak, eye, and year it was done.

Step 4: Frame. Display. Remember.  

Move: Carving Jesus into Halloween

Pumpkin Patch Salvation 

A Hands-On (Holiday) Family Bible Study

Being a Christian is kind-of like being a pumpkin!

First, God picks you from the pumpkin patch and brings you in from the field. The Bible says He created you in a unique and special way, and that He loves you! 

"Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being." Isaiah 66:2

He then washes all the "dirt" off of us. 

"Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sin." Act 22:16

Then He carefully removes all the yucky stuff, called sin, from inside us. 

Create in me a pure heart, O God." Psalm 51:10

Next He carves us a new, smiling face! We are changed by the power of His hand in our lives! We are so thankful for these changes, we can't help but show it on our faces. 

"A cheerful look brings joy to the hearts of others." Proverbs 15:30

Finally, He puts his Spirit in us, so that we can shine from the inside out! Jesus is called the Light of the World, and when He lives in us, we shine before others! 

"Let your light so shine before men that they may be able to see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." Matthew 5:16

Just a fun way to make Jesus the reason for this season too! :)

~Leslie

Make: A Very-Hairy Beard

This year Landon wanted to be a viking for Halloween. Sort-of random, but very Landon. He's just quirky like that. I actually think he might get it from his mama...Ha!

 We found the hat on sale without a problem at a Halloween store (though shielding precious, innocent eyes at said store was a bit difficult...Yikes!). 

Next, I took Landon to Jo-Ann Fabrics to help me pick out the material for the body of the costume. He liked the hairiest they had (because it "looked like a bear"). I simply folded it in half, cut a hole in it for his head, threw it over his shoulders, and then tied a piece of rope around his waist. I hot glued the extra material to a pair of rubber boats. 

The only thing missing was a beard. A viking has to have a beard. 

I priced them (wow!), and then decided it was time to get crafty!

MATERIALS:

Elastic

Scissors

1 piece of felt

The hairiest yarn you can find

Glue (Note: Hot Glue works MUCH better than Tacky Glue)

STEPS:

1. Cut felt into a beard shape that fits your child's face (mouth and nose). 

2. Cut/divide hairy yarn into several big "chunks". Individual strands will get messy, will take much longer to apply, and won't give the desired effect as well as big sections. 

3. Cover an area of felt with hot glue. Immediately apply a section of yarn to the area. Press firmly. 

4. When beard is covered with yarn, trim away stray pieces (especially around mouth and nose area). 

5. Attach a piece of elastic to top of each side (I sewed ours on, but hot glue could work). 

Cheap ($3.80). Easy. FUN!

Make: Super-Duper Slime!

I came across this festive little experiment a couple of weeks ago. Simply put, you should definitely make this with your kids!! It's easy. Cheap. Festive. Even educational! AND, your kids will probably think they have just about the COOLEST mom in the whole wide world! Because, of course, as you already know, they do! :)

MATERIALS: 

Borax (found at KMart-$4.50/box)

Elmers Glue (8 oz bottle)

Food coloring (optional)

Water

Measuring Cup

Glass Bowl

Spoon

1. Empty glue into bowl. 

2. Fill empty glue bottle with water (can add color too). Shake. Add to bowl. 

3. Stir glue mixture.

4. Add 1 tsp of Borax to 1/2 a cup of water (separate container).

5. Stir Borax solution. 

6. Slowly pour a little bit of the Borax solution into the glue mixture and begin stirring. Keep adding and stirring until desired consistency. 

7. Ta Da! Now you have a polymer!

7. Store slime in air-tight container (after your kids have spent countless hours playing with it, of course). 

Make: Glow-in-the-Dark Pumpkins

I did this experiment for my MOPS group yesterday, and it received a round of applause in approval! So, I'm passing along to you, my fellow fun moms, the trick(s) to making an amazing, jaw-dropping, Glow-in-the-Dark Pumpkin. 

1. White pumpkins glow brighter.

2. Plaid Glo Away ($4.99 at Walmart) is the best glow paint for the money. Good stuff!

3. Use a "sponging" technique when applying  your paint. 

4. Do two coats, but make sure they're completely dry before handling.

Personal Recommendation: A glowing pumpkin makes a REALLY fun nightlight!

Make: Pumpkin Shirt

Wanna make your lil' pumpkin nice and festive? 

Here's an easy DIY seasonal shirt that you can make together: 

1. Cut an apple in half. Insert a popsicle stick for easy handling.

2. Paint the apple with orange fabric paint (the thicker the better).

3. Let your lil' pumpkins firmly press the apple onto a shirt. It's a good idea to place a plastic bag or piece of cardboard inside the shirt to protect the back from the paint. 

4. Add the stem by dipping your kiddo's pointer finger in green fabric paint. Landon loved trying to get it placed in just the right spot.

4. Set out to dry. 

5. Wear!