Paper Plate Owl Mask

Let me start today by saying that even though this is the second kids craft I have posted in the last week, I'm generally not a kids craft kind of person. This little mask came about because of my daughter's preschool group. There are five kids in the group and all of the mom's take turns hosting. This week was my turn and I actually had in my brain all week that I was supposed to be teaching the letter N, but when I checked the schedule last night right before bed I realized I was actually on the letter O. After a slight panic I started thinking back to my childhood and the different things my mom did to keep us entertained when we complained of boredom. We didn't have a T.V. so putting us in front of cartoons was not an option. And most of the time when we complained she would say something like "well, I can think of something for you to do...like clean the bathroom." Occasionally though she would make homemade play dough for us or another favorite was paper plate hats. She pulled out some paper plates, string, and whatever craft items she had on hand and let us go to work with a hot glue gun.

So, obviously hat doesn't start with the letter O, but owl does, and I started thinking, instead of a hat how about a mask. And that is how the paper plate owl mask came about. It does require some adult help, but most kids could do the majority of it on their own.

Start by cutting two slits into the top of your paper plate about 1 1/2 inches long, then fold down the rectangular flap.

Trim off about an inch of the flap and glue the rest of it to the plate. You can have the kids color or paint the plate brown at this point or just leave it white.

Cut out two large yellow eyes, and one orange triangle for the nose. I discovered that my half cup measuring cup was the perfect size for the eyes. The nose I just did freehand.

Glue the eyes and nose to the plate and trace two smaller circles inside the eyes. Very carefully, use a sharp knife to poke a hole in the center of the eyes and then use scissors to cut out the smaller circles. (tip: use the thinnest paper plates you can find and construction paper instead of card stock)

Poke holes on either side and tie on some elastic or string.


And if your kids keep saying "that doesn't look like an owl" reassure them that it will when they put it on

So my noses were maybe a little too big, but they still turned out cute and the kids had fun making them.

Borax Crystal Snowflakes

I know in some parts of the country the sun is starting to shine and and you can throw on a jacket and take your kids to the park. In my part of the country though, we still look like this! And it will for several more months I'm told, so thinking about snowflakes is not unusual at all.

I actually saw these fun snowflakes on the Martha Stewart show a couple months ago, and I have to tell you, I was so excited to try them that I ran right out to the store and bought all the supplies as soon as the show was over. And really, you will probably have most of what you need for these at home already. Pipe cleaner, borax, string, and water is all you need for these little beauties. I didn't even wait until my kids got home to get started. These really are supposed to be a fun craft for kids, not moms. Instructions here.

After I made the first two snowflakes I had this whole plan that I was going to make a bunch of them and string them up along the back window. It never happened. I have a good excuse though. I really good one. It's the kind of excuse that means you are nauseated for 24 hours a day for weeks on end and the only thing you want to eat is pizza, or maybe chili dogs. Anyway, I just wasn't feeling up to it, but I'm hoping we can do it next year, because I think it would be such a fun way to decorate for winter.

You can also get really creative and make a whole bunch of other shapes as well. I was even planning on doing some red hearts for Valentines day. I only made this one though and never took a picture of it finished. Adding food coloring is a fun way to make some variation.

So, if winter is still on you doorstep and your kids are going to be home for a mid winter break next week like mine are, this will be the perfect boredom buster.

Cookie Cutter Ornaments, and a little Fabulous Friday

A couple years ago when I was realizing how incredibly bare our Christmas tree was, I came up with a fun kid friendly craft project to add some sparkle to our tree. At the time, our oldest daughter was the only one I trusted to be in control of the glitter, so this year I decided to try it again but let all three of our kids in on the fun. And it was a lot of fun, but I must warn you. Glitter is glitter is glitter, no matter what you do, that stuff gets everywhere. At least it's pretty though right?




I'm guessing that most of you could figure this out on your own just from the title, but just because I want to, I'm going to walk you through it a little.

First off is what you will need...

cookie cutters (mine were plastic, and I got a bag of six for a buck at the dollar store)
white glue (I used mod podge, but I'm sure Elmer's glue would work too)
Glitter
Clear sealant (I used Krylon clear finishing spray. It was right next to the glitter)
string or ribbon for hanging

Optional...
Beads
collapsible eye beading needles (If your going to use beads, these are not optional, they are a must)

Let me pause for a minute to tell you about these wonderful beading needles. I didn't even know they existed until Thanksgiving weekend when my Mom found them for me at Micheal's. They were only a couple dollars, and if you plan on making any ribbon necklaces in the future, don't follow these instructions I gave for a makeshift needle, just use one of these. They work wonderful!

OK, back to the ornaments. First up is to cover your table in newspaper! Then give your kids a paint brush and let them go to work on their ornaments. It works best to do this in stages though so that one side has time to dry and then you can flip it over and do the other side. We did the front and inside first.


Next, and this is very important, (I learned this the hard way) if your glitter doesn't have a shaky thing on top, don't just let your kids dump the glitter on the ornament, it will end up in every crevice of your house and their bodies. Pour the glitter into a sandwich bag, and glitter your ornaments shake and bake style, only shake gently. You may have to touch up a few of the edges, but believe me, that's a whole lot cleaner than doing it all by hand.

Set the cookie cutters on the newspaper to dry and spray on a light coat of clear finish. You can skip the clear finish if you really want to, but you'll be finding a lot more glitter around your house if you do. Let the whole thing dry and do the other side.

At this point you can tie on some ribbon and be done, which is what we did the first time, but this year I wanted to make them a little more fun so we added on some beads.

I wanted to use some really skinny white ribbon, but Michigan seems to be experiencing a skinny white ribbon shortage right now, so I had to settle for white beading string.

The first step here is to just cut a long piece of string. You can cut off the excess when your done. Then, loop it around the ornament and tie a knot. If your using large beads, you will need a pretty big knot. In the end, I ended up doing two small beads and one larger bead in the middle, so I went back a re-tied a smaller knot than this.

Next, get out that awesome beading needle and thread your string through it. String on your beads.

Finally, give yourself whatever size loop you want for hanging, and tie another knot on top. And, it's never a bad idea to add a drop of super glue to the knot.

Now, just let your excited kids, who have been waiting forever for these to be finished, hang up their special ornaments.

What's fun, is that every day now since we made these, I've heard my kids tell each other "hey look, I found my ornament!"

Since our cookie cutters came from the dollar store, were not 100% sure what all of them are supposed to be, but we think this is a snowman.

And I'm still not sure if this is supposed to be an angel, or just a ginger bread woman. We made her into an angel though.

OK, enough pictures of sparkly cookie cutters. Here is my very short Fabulous Friday tip.

It's winter, which means we've got a lot of this flying around!

It's the most frustrating on Sundays when I've spent so much time torturing them, I mean fixing their hair, and then we get to church, they take their coats off and you can literally see the sparks jumping from their coats to their hair.

The quick fix to this is simply rub some lotion on your hands, and then right before it's all the way rubbed in, run your hands through their hair. Or your own. Mine isn't much better right now.

PS. If you need more fun Holiday ideas, check out this party and this party that I linked up to!