Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New Year's Noise Maker

I have found a few fun ideas for the kiddos to make for New Year's. Here is one of my favorites...I got it off of http://crafts.kaboose.com/.



What you'll need:
Miniature paper plate
Colorful paper streamers or tissue paper
Craft jewels, large and medium
Peach craft paint (optional)
White craft glue or hot glue gun
Scissors
Beans or beads

How to make it:
If you like, paint the paper plate with peach paint. Let dry.
Fold paper plate in half to find center. Make a crease that you can see and unfold.
Place paper plate onto work surface. Cut streamers or tissue paper into thin strips about 4-5” long.
Glue the strips to the rim of the plate, only on one side (see your crease) leaving most of the strip sticking out. The glued end of the strips will be on the inside of the plate once folded. Glue colors in an alternating pattern.
Fold the plate and place a handful of beans or beads inside. Glue the plate closed.
Decorate the outside of the plate with craft jewels.

Tips:
You can purchase craft jewels in variety bags at your local craft supply store.
Make decorating this craft easier by using stickers instead of craft jewels, a great option for smaller children.
Save leftover crepe paper streamers from birthday parties for future craft projects.

Here is another off of that website:



What you'll need:
Empty plastic water bottle
Beans, coins, or other items to place inside
1 sheet white tissue paper
Scraps of tissue paper in various colors, cut into small squares
24” long strip of light blue crepe paper streamer
24” long strip of pink crepe paper streamer
White craft glue
Water
Scissors

How to make it:
Place a handful of beads or coins inside the clean, dry water bottle. Run some glue around the mouth of the bottle and replace the cap.
Make a mixture of 1/2 white craft glue and 1/2 water that will be enough to cover the bottle a few times over.
Tear white tissue paper into large chunks, approximately 4”x2”.
Paint a small section of the outside of the water bottle with the glue mixture. Place a torn piece of white tissue paper onto the glue mixture and paint over it with the glue mixture. Repeat this process, covering the entire bottle with 2-3 coats of white.
Apply small colorful squares of tissue paper randomly over the white tissue paper to resemble confetti.
Cut each strip of crepe paper streamer in half. Carefully tie one of the pieces around the neck of the bottle. Repeat with other lengths of crepe paper. Use scissors to cut each length to about 4” hanging length, and then cut upwards into thin strips. Use a couple pieces of the excess crepe paper you just cut off to twist around the neck of the bottle and glue in place. Allow to dry for several hours.

Tips:
Save tissue paper from birthday parties to use in projects such as these.
Always save extra, and used crepe paper streamers from parties to use in craft projects.
If you don’t have any crepe paper you can use regular ribbon.

Monday, December 29, 2008

The Finished Product

So, we got our Salt Dough ornaments finished on Christmas Eve...nothing like cutting it close!! I love how they turned out & we will definitely make more for next year!!





Royal Icing

I have an awesome butter cream frosting recipe, but have wanted to try out Royal Icing. I have been concerned about the raw egg whites, but have found this recipe off http://www.allrecipes.com/ . It says that it yields 3 cups of icing.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons meringue powder
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons water

Here's what you do:

Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7 to 10 minutes, or until icing forms peaks. Tip: Keep icing covered with a wet kitchen towel at all times. Icing can dry out quickly.

I plan on making sugar cookies with royal icing some time this week. We'll see how it goes!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Teacher Gifts

This is my first year doing teacher gifts. I nearly forgot. My sister in law & I (but mostly her) did tile magnets. The tiles are tiny & then we bought vinyl to put on the tile that said "Live", "Laugh", & "Love". I then attached magnets to the back of the tile. They were pretty easy & super cute. I wrapped them up & they were ready to go! Thanks Val for all that you did! They turned out super cute!!!



Ribbon Bookmarks--Part 2

The bookmarks are finished. Kaden was a huge helper. We used a hot glue gun to attach the buttons to each other & then to attach the buttons to the ribbon. I used the glue gun & put some glue on & then Kaden (my 4 year old) would stick the buttons on. He did a great job & was super excited to be making his Christmas gifts.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Ribbon Bookmarks

With Christmas approaching (quickly), I decided that I should probably go through my ribbons & buttons to make sure that we have everything that we need to make them.

First, I gathered my stash...



Then, I cut the ribbon to the right size (I did just a bit over 12 inches). I layed out my ribbons & matched up the buttons that I wanted to use.



My last step was trimming & burning the ends so that they wouldn't fray. I had to trim the thicker ribbon down so that the corners didn't show.



Here is my ending product for tonight. I am pretty happy with how they turned out! I knew that my dollar ribbons would come in handy some day!! Tomorrow morning we will sit down & glue all of the buttons on & decide which bookmark is for who. If you get one of these, just act surprised for the boy's sake! Thanks!



Tomorrow & Tuesday will include painting the ornaments that are still sitting on my counter & gluing the buttons on the ribbon. Somewhere in there we will also be making cookies. There will be more posts to follow...so keep checking back. :)

Friday, December 19, 2008

A change in plans...

Well, there will be no painting today! There has been a HUGE snow storm & I spent most of my day driving to the tire store & then getting my tires replaced. We will get them painted & as soon as I do...I promise to post the finished product. Sorry!

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