Thankful tree craft-Make as a family!

You can make this darling and simple Thanksgiving tree memo sheet to help your family remember what they are thankful for this season. I bet you have this stuff on hand at home and can make it ASAP! All you need is: scrapbooking paper, wooden clothespins, buttons, and ribbon. Plus, you cut out your own simple leaves and ask each family member to write what they are thankful for. Then clip the leaves to the bottom of the board and put on the fridge for the holiday season. Go to the Amazing Mom site to make a thankful tree craft!

Project Materials:

• Scrapbooking paper, I bet you have it on hand
• Buttons, from your stash
• 4 clothespins, on hand or $1 at the Dollar Store
  
• Wooden letters that spell "thankful", $1 (I got a package of wooden alphabet letters at the dollar store awhile back-Or just write them)
• Ribbon, from your stash or the dollar store
• Leafs (just cut your own and save $$)
  
• Thanksgiving Tree Template

Total: $1-ish and up

Reusing cereal boxes for organizing magazines and more!

Check out this free organizational idea for your cabinets.

A cereal box transformed into an upright organizational item. Go HERE for all the details on this easy project. This is a great idea for back to school homework papers (one per kid), magazines, cookbooks, summer workbooks, coloring books, etc.

Thanks, PYP for the idea!

April showers bring May flowers art project

Rain Rain go away....oh wait it's good for the flowers. Here's an easy fun art project. Draw a flower scene with crayons. Get out some blue paint and wax paper and splatter some rain on the wax paper. Then glue or tape the wax paper on the front as if it was raining. Then glue some cotton balls for clouds above the sky. Lift the wax paper and talk about the rain outside!
Have a great rainy Utah spring day.

Daffodil flower picture

Isn't this Daffodil flower picture cute? You might have the materials on hand to make it today. Construction paper, a half of a Dixie cup, glue, and 2 egg carton cups painted.

I love spring art especially when it's raining outside!

Easter Crafts

The Jelly Bean Prayer

Author: Unknown

Red is for the blood he gave,

Green is for the grass he made.

Yellow is for the sun so bright,

Orange is for the edge of the night.

Black is for the sins we made,

White is for the grace he gave.

Purple is for his hour of sorrow,

Pink is for our new tomorrow.

An egg full of jelly beans, colorful and sweet, is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat.

May the joy of Christ's Resurrection fill your heart and bless your life.

(Note: On the card the words red, blue, green, etc. were printed in appropriate ink color.)

Materials needed: A sheet of white painting paper, a piece of construction paper with a thick cross cut out, finger paints, and little fingers. First, finger paint the white piece of paper and let dry. Tape the finger painted paper to the underside of the cut out cross construction paper.

Happy Easter everyone.

Dr. Seuss hat craft

Here's a Dr. Seuss hat to make. Just glue the front part on to a "head band" of each child. Sorry there is no template but you could free hand the hat shape and cut the stripes out yourself.

St. Patrick's Day Pot of Gold craft

Make this St. Patty's day craft for $.25-ish this weekend!I was looking for an easy and fun craft to make with the kids this weekend since I am trying to enjoy them more (and not be so task oriented). Here's one I saw and said "I can do that this weekend."

Staci's take on it: I only need to buy the gold coins instead of butterscotch candies. I am using a white pipe cleaner for the bucket handle, clear plastic cups I have on hand, a pencil to hold up the rainbow, easter grass for a little inside filler, and paper instead of foam. Now that's using up what ya got! Go to Dollar Store Crafts for full instructions and material lists.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Girly Shadow box

Is your baby growing up and your wondering what to do with her precious newborn stuff? You could make this shadow box (maybe a more attractive outfit instead, though). I saw this and remembered I have a shadow box unfinished like this in my basement. So maybe one day I will make something like this and use the box I already have on hand.

Thanks to The Mama Dramalogues for the mini-tutorial on how to make it. I like the pink and black accents.

Hand print ornament for Mom!

A hand print snowman ornament with a poem! This is a neat keepsake ornament for your children.

The thumb and face of the snowman.

It's time to plant bulbs outside and create flowers inside!

I posted earlier this week that it's time to plant fall bulbs outside. Go ahead call Home Depot and/or Lowe's to see if they are clearancing their fall bulbs this week. In the meanwhile, create this flower inside with the kids. It is made out of a coffee pot liner, crepe paper, and construction paper. Have fun today.

Elmo craft!

La la la la Elmo's world.

What 2 year doesn't love Elmo! You can make this today. Click to enlarge the photo. I like the ones that look they have mustaches, googly eyes, and frowns. My funny favorite it the bottom left.

Requires: Construction paper, glue, scissors, and cotton balls for the eyes

Laminated homemade place mats

The girls and I made dinner place mats and had them laminated. My kids said they felt like real artists. I hope this will encourage them to set the table for dinner and eat their broccoli because their picture is watching them. Ha ha!! I like simple crafts for kids.

Flower hair bows

My daughter's love to have their hair done. So for school this year (and for friend gifts) we made white, hot pink, reddish maroon, and light pink flower hair bows.The supplies!

$4.00 flower bunches- I bought 4 bunches of flowers for $1.00 each from the dollar store with about 6-9 flowers in a bunch.
$ 0.00 Glue sticks & gun (I already had them)
$3-4.00 A pack of jewels for center of flowers- Purchased from Michael's-Use a coupon for 40% off one regular priced item
$0.00 old jeweled earrings from Grandma
$5.39 box of Alligator hair clips- Purchased from Sally Beauty supply (Walmart & Target don't sell them)

I had some old earrings & fake pearl necklaces from my husband's grandma who passed away a few years back. We removed the clip on earring part and used them as the flower center. This white jeweled one is my favorite. They are easy to make. We removed the stem part of the flower and glued the petals to the alligator clip (sometimes twice). TIP- Make sure the glue doesn't' ooze onto the underside of the clip and get stuck.

We made 28 flower clips for about $13.39 during nap time! My daughters were thrilled and want to give one to every girl cousin and girl neighbor for their birthdays. We had a great time making them. They are easy and cute too.

A little about me..from back in the day.

Have you read my About me post found HERE?

My mother was my main influence to my career choice of being an Interior Designer. She encouraged me in my teens to use my artistic ability in new ways and to just GO FOR IT. While I was vacationing at her house this summer I was remind of one of my teenage design projects. So, I took a picture for you to see. We redid my bedroom in an ivy theme. Stencils were in and so was dark green. Check it out! So mid 1990's huh? We were a mother/daughter team and I learned how to paint, strip furniture, sand, and stencil. I also learned patience with stenciling, it wasn't easy to get even. I look forward to many of these types of decor projects with my girls as they grow. If you have teens or tweens what have you done with them lately to encourage their creativity? Please share both girl and boy ideas.

When coupons inserts expire...simple fun for kids.

We cut up the coupon inserts and I create a teaching moment on healthy eating.

We cut and paste to create a "healthy food" page and a "sometimes foods" page. Their favorite part is making a card for Dad and the pictures of pets. I like the lazy days of summer when you just make your own fun at the kitchen table.

A basketball necklace

My daughter just wrapped up her first basketball season. A teammate and her mom made these stretchy basketball pendant necklaces and handed them out to the girls at the last game. I thought is was a thoughtful gesture. I know soccer season is starting so may be you could make some for your girls teammates with a soccer ball (tennis, softball, etc) on them.

You go GIRL!

Home Depot Kid Workshop-More FREE family fun!

Today we stumbled across the Home Depot Kid Workshop (it only occurs on the first Saturday of each month) We didn't sign up in advance (you can and I think it's encouraged) and were there at 10:15 am-ish. The employees directed us to the back of the store to participate. We had a good time and the craft was easy and well made! The kids received the famous kid orange apron and an apron pin upon completing the craft (not pictured). They also were passing out free Valentine chocolates and salty popcorn! We already marked our calendar for next month-Saturday, March 7th. The HD website shows a neat HD Raceway wood craft for March. Wanna tag along with us?

Feburary's craft- A felt lined jewlery box

Now that it has dried we plan on sanding and painting it. Pink of course!

Here's the details from the Home Depot website:
The Home Depot's Kids Workshops offer useful projects including the creation of toolboxes, fire trucks and mail organizers, as well as more educational projects, such as a window birdhouse, bughouse or Declaration of Independence frame kit.The workshops teach children do-it-yourself skills and tool safety, while at the same time helping to instill a sense of accomplishment. Additionally, this fun time allows for quality one-on-one time between adults and children. In addition to the newly constructed project kit, each child receives a kid-sized orange apron, similar to The Home Depot associates' aprons, and an achievement pin.

It is designed for kids 5-12, these free workshops teach do-it-yourself skills and tool safety, while instilling a sense of accomplishment. Offered on the first Saturday of each month between 9 a.m. and noon* at The Home Depot®. *until supplies last*

NOTE: Our Home Depot didn't limit ages. The parents had to be present to participate. They had us sign up including our signature, home addresses, and child's age. We have two under 5 years old and they got a craft no problem.

Nap time Model Magic creations

Have you ever tried Crayola Model Magic? I loved playing with clay when I was a kid. Model Magic is a fun alternative and it dries hard. We only had yellow, green, and black left-BORING! Here's what we made one day during nap time.

Snowman, spider, snail, and of course snakes!