Foam Christmas Tree

Day 5 of our crafts.  Bella gets up every morning and asks when we are going to do our craft for the day.  We didn't start this one until 8pm.  We ran a little past bedtime tonight.  Hopefully she will sleep in tomorrow.  We don't want any crabby crafters!

Today we decorated a foam Christmas tree.   You can use green paper if you don't have foam.  Works just the same!

Supplies:
Green foam
glitter
sequins
glue

Well, the glitter was flying for this craft!  I usually am very cautious with glitter.   I let loose a little and, well, you'll see.

First you need to draw and cutout a tree template.  I already had one from previous projects.  Outline your tree onto the foam and start cutting.

a little sequin explosion happened while we were getting ready

squeeze some glue where you want your glitter to be on your tree

Then, watch out for the flying glitter

The second one that Bella decided to do was REALLY full of glitter.  The picture that is not shown is when we took the glitter off the tree.  Next time.  :)

Now you can start decorating your tree.  We used sequins

And, we're done!

Looking good!

So, as I was saying earlier about the glitter.  We had a mountain of glitter that we wanted to try and save to reuse for another project.  So, we tried getting it back into the container.  As you can see, that wasn't an easy job.

So, we improvised and are now using a tupperware container that you can shake (and has a larger opening to pour all of that excess glitter into).

We'll try and start earlier tomorrow!  Good night!

Thought I would do an easy craft today.  After yesterday's card holder, I think we need an easy one.  Well, and Bella has some homework today.  She's Top Banana this week at school.

Today we are making paper snowflakes. 

Big supply list for today:
Paper
Scissors
Optional items: glitter glue, crayons, markers

Today we have a special guest helping us out with our craft.  We took a little drive to see Nona (grandma) and asked her to play with us.  I think she had a good time.

Ok, you need to start out with a square piece of paper and fold in half

then once more

and start cutting into the paper (shapes, slits, etc)

They got a little goofy on me 

Then decorate with glitter, glue, markers

We'll have to pick these up next time

Thanks for playing with us, Nona!

Christmas Card Holder

I feel like these crafts are consuming me.  I live, eat, breathe and dream about Christmas crafts now.  Bella can't wait to start each day's crafts (she even wants to work ahead or do extras).  I'll let you know when I start dreaming about it raining beads, being chased by markers into a dark foam alley and a large bottle of glitter glue starts throwing little sparkly pom poms at me.  Let's just hope it doesn't get to that point.

Today we are making a Christmas Card Holder.  What to do with all those lovely cards that you get in the mail?  Throw them out?  Put them in a pile?  Shove them in a drawer?  Burn them?  How about putting them on your new Christmas Card Holder! 

Supplies for the day:
20 clothespins (and no, we're not doing laundry)
green acrylic paint (I'm using two, dark forest green and vineyard green)
red pony beads
green pipe cleaner (or red)
ribbon
coat hanger
wire cutter
paper plate
glue dots

I skipped the picture of the supplies.  I'm thinking if you got this far, you can figure it out, right?

Ok, first you will need to use the wire cutters to cut off the top of the wire coat hanger.  Try to shape the wire into a circle (easier said than done, believe me)  Next, put two red beads onto the wire

follow this by a green clothespin (through the holes on the side)

Bella made a patter out of the clothespins and had it set up and ready to go

Once you are finished adding all of the beads and clothespins, you're finished!  Just kidding.  I took my paper plate and cut off the rounded edges.  (you could probably leave them on)  Then cut a circle in the center of the plate and then place under your project

Put glue dots on the back of the clothes pins and stick to the paper plate

You gotta love glue dots!  I think I need to become a spokesperson for glue dots.  These things are great!  This picture is courtesy of Bella.  She took my camera and went a little crazy with it

Almost finished.  Now to add some ribbon

add a card or two and, you're done!  Good job!

This project looked easy on paper but became a little challenging trying to get it to stay on the plate.  We tried hot glue and then settled on glue dots (my new favorite product).

Here are a few more pictures that Bella felt we needed to have while doing this project.  She is quite the photographer these days.

toes

blue fingernails with purple sparkles

Thanks for stopping by.  Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

We had our daisy meeting today.  I was in charge of the craft for the girls.  Yes, 24 days of crafts PLUS a daisy craft.  Crazy, I know.

We decorated picture frames that we will give to the parents.  This craft took the majority of the meeting.  I keep forgetting that girls LOVE crafts and really pour their hearts into them.  Thought I would show you some a group  picture of their artwork.  I think they did a great job!

Bella's is in the middle of the 2nd row

I'm not supposed to know, it's supposed to be a surprise

It's crazy, after every Daisy meeting, I get home and am STARVING!  The thought of having to cook makes it worse, especially when you could probably eat wood because you're so hungry.  RT saved the day.  My gourmet chef made (Nicholas' birthday dinner) steak and pierogies.   He did a wonderful job.  So good, in fact, I might just make him the chef on Daisy days.  I also hire him out, let me know if you need a chef. (just kidding, honey)

Gingerbread House

Today we are making and decorating a Gingerbread house.  This is the non-food Gingerbread house. 

Your Supply List for this craft:

Brown foam (we used black)
White foam strips
Sparkly pom poms
Pony beads
glue
glue dots
green and silver pipe cleaners

As I am typing this, Bella is embellishing her house a little more.  I will try to get a picture of the her  finished project and put it at the end.

Gather your supplies

Trim foam to outline the sides of the house

We added a door and window

Add sparkly pom poms to the roof

Cut the pipe cleaners about an inch and twist.  Use glue dots to get them to stick

Use glue dots for the beads

 

Here is the first completed Gingerbread House

Happy crafting!

On this day, every year, I reflect how my life has changed.  Fifteen years ago today, I had a little (well, if you call 9lbs 3oz little) baby boy.   I became a mom.  My life changed (for the better).

This morning I got to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.  (of course, someone woke up and had to make her way to the kitchen) (And, yes, there was the, "Go back to bed!")

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

   

It's Here, It's Here!

The day has finally come!  The first day of our 24 craft days!  I'm so excited!  Let's go!

Today's craft is a Brazilian Holiday Flower.   This craft can be conveniently found  here.   Holiday decorations in Brazil are flowers that are picked from their garden (backyard).  These flowers are fresh.  Since it is winter here in the Midwest, we don't have any flowers growing outside, so, we are going to have to make our own.  I don't know about you, but, anything that keeps me thinking about warm weather makes me happy. 

You don't need a lot of supplies for this project:
Wooden craft spoons
brown paint or markers
2 foam flower stickers (the same size)
4 foam dots
2 green foam hearts
glue

Let the fun begin!

First, gather your supplies

 

Now, color the sticks.  We used markers, but, feel free to use brown paint

Next is the sticker.  If you don't have a foam flower sticker, you can always draw a flower on construction paper and cut it out.

We used small green foam hearts for the leaves.  Cut in half, thenround the leaf out by giving it a little trim

And, there you have it!

They make great accessories, too!

We had fun making our craft.  Hope you enjoyed it, too.  Looking forward to day two.  See you tomorrow!