Last Minute Christmas Crafts Kids Can Make

If you are still looking for a fun little project for the kids to make in time for Christmas, I have a couple suggestions for you!

These Snowman hand-print ornaments are adorable decorations, great keepsakes, and can be given as gifts to family or friends.

These ornaments are easy and fun to make!

You will need:

~a solid colored round ornament (I like blue because it looks like sky,but any color would work)

~white non-toxic paint

~a paint brush

~Sharpie permanent markers in black, orange, and whatever colors you like for scarves

~A kid to say “that tickles” when you paint their hand !

To make the ornament:

~Practice having your child wrap their hand around the bottom of the ornament so they know what to expect. Place the ornament in their palm and wrap each little finger straight up.

~Paint the child’s hand and place on the ornament.

~Let the paint dry

~Use Sharpies to add details as you like

Here’s a view of the bottom so you can see how the hand-print looks.

 

Another idea: Gum Drop Pomanders

These are just as easy to make, and the kiddies will enjoy snitching a few of your crafting supplies for a treat!

Materials needed:

~Styrofoam Ball(s)

~Ribbon or string

~Low Temp glue and glue gun (low temp so the little fingers don’t get burned!)

~Gumdrops

How to make it:

~Poke a hole in the center of the styrofoam ball from top to bottom, all the way through the middle. I used the handle of a paint brush.

~Thread both ends of a piece of ribbon through the hole and knot together at the bottom. This forms the hanger.

~Glue gumdrops on the styrofoam starting at the top and working down and around. Only place enough glue on the ball for 1 gumdrop at a time. This keeps the glue from hardening too soon and little fingers from getting into it.

~Hang up and enjoy!

Free Printable Cupcake Toppers / Picks – Autumn theme

Some of us like Halloween and the spooky aspect, and some of us don’t care for that part and prefer the cuter, fun side of the holiday. For that reason, I have a second set of cupcake picks for you to print and use. This set is actually great for the whole fall season as it contains a pumpkin, a smiling kitty cat (a bit more Halloween themed , but you can leave it out if you want) ,  a piece of candy corn, and text with the word “Autumn”.  You can click HERE or on the image at the top of this post to print the page of cupcake picks. Then just punch them out with a 2″ circle punch (scalloped gives a nice touch) and tape a toothpick to the back. For a more polished look you can glue the toothpick between 2 circles as well. To get a good idea of how the picks will look in the cupcakes, see my PREVIOUS POST about the Halloween cupcake toppers. They are the same size, just a different design. Enjoy!

Easy Pumpkin Craft Idea

I was reading through a list of pumpkin carving options, and they all seemed like they would take quite a lot of time, and that is something I just don’t have a surplus of right now. So, I was curious to see what Rachel from Grasping for Objectivity had come up with when she said she had made and easy pumpkin craft. She claimed that it was fairly simple (if you don’t mind some glitter up your nose), and she has an active preschooler like I do, so I thought I would try it. It looked pretty straightforward, so we gathered up pumpkins, glue, glitter, and some newspaper and started creating. It was a little more complicated with 3 active boys, but we had fun and were happy with how our pumpkins turned out. I think the kids’ favorite part was yelling “PIXIE DUST, PIXIE DUST ON MY FACE, AND UP MY NOSE, AND LOOOOOOK, THERE’S PIXIE DUST EVERYWHERE!”  (yes, they really ARE boys, they just like Disney, ok?! 🙂 ) They were completely right, there was sparkly glitter in every corner…and in the air, all over the deck boards, and on the patio furniture. That’s ok though, because it was fun! I know you are just dying to spread the Pixie Dust through your home as well, so visit RACHEL’S POST to see how to create your very own glittered pumpkins! Thanks for the idea, Rachel!

Free Printable Halloween Cupcake Topper Picks- UPDATED with pic!

It’s almost time for Halloween…and Trick or Treating and goodies is foremost in the minds of kids everywhere! I wanted to make it a little easier to have cute Halloween themed cupcakes, so I created a new set of CUPCAKE TOPPERS (or picks). It’s been a while since I made a set of these little guys, and I still get a few search engine hits every day from people looking for cupcake toppers. So, I thought I would give you a set for the upcoming holiday! Just like before, all you need to do is PRINT THE PAGE of designs & punch them out with any  2″  circular paper punch. I use Martha Stewart brand from my local craft store (think I probably used a 40% off coupon to get it)  and sometimes use a scalloped edge punch. Then you simply tape a toothpick to the back of each circle, or glue a toothpick in the middle of 2 circles (sandwich style) to make it a bit fancier. I don’t have any photos of this new Halloween design on a cupcake, but since the holiday is almost here I am going to post this anyways. I will add a photo a.s.a.p.  If you want to get an idea of how the cupcake picks look on a cupcake, see my LAST  CUPCAKE POST with picks I designed for Easter.

Free Halloween Crafts Ebook from FaveCrafts

One source of fun ideas for crafty projects is FaveCrafts. They are currently offering a free Halloween Crafts Ebook. It has lots of ideas for decorations and goodies to make the holiday a blast. You can download your free ebook HERE. I like the pumpkin luminaries made from coffee cans- recycled materials, cheap, and cute!

Printable Easter Place Cards

Easter is just a few days away! Are you having a big dinner with family? I have always wanted to set a traditional Easter table with the fancy little name cards, egg cups, cloth napkins, and the whole setting! However, with little kids, paper plates and napkins keep me sane make much more sense. That doesn’t mean I can’t dress up our place settings, though! I designed these easy print-and-fold place cards to add some simple flair to the Easter table.

To make your place cards:

Just print the page on cardstock or heavy paper  by clicking HERE or on the image above. Then cut along the lines of the 3 large rectangles. Then fold on the horizontal lines and glue or tape the bottom 2 flaps over each other to make a triangular standing place card. You can write the name of each family member or guest on the card with a pretty pen. Each page prints 3 place cards. You can also print the matching cupcake toppers found in an earlier post by clicking HERE.

5 easy Easter crafts to make with your kids

I’ve been brainstorming ideas for Easter decorations and crafts that my kids and I can make together. I have found so many things that look both easy and fun to create!  I have found at least 7 that I want to attempt to make this year. Here they are :

1. Felt Easter Bags found at Martha Stewart . Just cut it out and run a few fast seams. Then the bags can be reused after Easter is over. Plus, they are really cute and easy to personalize with your own creative touches.  Cute, easy, and green!

2. Jelly Bean Carrot favors also from Martha Stewart. These are quick and easy, and basically mess-free. You can use them as favors for guests, stick them in Easter baskets,or let your kids take them to school for their teachers and classmates.

3. Easter Basket Cupcakes found at Family Fun . These look lik eyou spent alot of time on them, but can be assembled quickly. Just add candy, chenille sticks and ribbon , and voila! You can  print my Easter cupcake toppers and use them with these cupcakes,too!

4. Bunny Ears for Kids found at Kaboose . These are simple ears made from construction paper that kids can make in a few minutes and “hop” right into playing.

5. Handprint Lillies found at Enchanted Learning look like fun. They would also provide a keepsake of small little hands.

6. Easter Pencil Toppers found at Busy Bee Kids Crafts look to be easy and fun! We plan to make these to add a little something special to school work this week.

7. The Easter Egg Tree found at Martha Stewart (I think I am seeing a pattern here!) . I am planning to make this a bit easier for my young kids by using plastic eggs instead of blown eggs. It won’t have quite the same effect, but should be just as enjoyable for the kidlets. 🙂

Now, to get it all done! Do you think there’s ANY chance I will?? Not likely, but a girl can dream!

Printable Cupcake Toppers for your Easter Celebration!

I got such a great response from the cupcake toppers that I designed for St. Patrick’s Day (lots of clicks, and lots of prints makes me smile!) that I decided to create some for Easter as well!

We had a lot of fun designing these little cupcake picks! My kids helped punch them out and put them in the cupcakes, so it was a family project. You can print your own EasterCupcakes to use at home (for free, of course!) very easily.

To assemble your toppers:

1.Print the page. Click HERE to print.

2. Cut them out .I used a 2″scalloped edge paper punch to make this realllllly easy and add a special touch.

3. Tape a toothpick to the back of the cut-out with a piece of everday gift wrap (scotch) tape. You can use a glue stick to sandwich the toothpick between 2 cut-outs if you want to be extra fancy. 🙂

4. Marvel at how pretty your handiwork looks for so little effort!

5. EAT! 😉

Enjoy, and please, let me know if you like my printable cupcake toppers!!

Printable Saint Patrick’s Day Cup Wrapper and Napkin Rings

Edited to Add: I also designed a printable page of St. Patrick’s Day napkin rings for you! There is now a coordinated set of Cupcake Toppers(see post below), Cup Wrappers, and Napkin Rings! Get the napkin ring printable by clicking the following link. St. Patrick’s Day Napkin Rings

Since I have a bit of “free time” on my hands with my sprained ankle and all, I decided to design some printable accessories to coordinate with the printable cupcake picks that I told you about this morning. Now you can download and print my free St. Patrick’s Day cup wrapper to add some festive flair to your everyday paper cups.  St Patrick’s Day Cup Wrapper Just click on the link to see the cup wrapper and print as many as you like. To use the wrappers, just cut out the wrapper, wrap it around and secure with scotch tape or a glue stick. Very easy! I will post pics as soon as I get to the store to get some paper cups, but since St. Patty’s is tomorrow, I will go ahead and give you this printable now! As always, please feel free to share this with your friends and to let me know what you think!

Free St. Patrick’s Day Printable Cupcake Toppers!

I have heard from some of you that you would like to find some great St. Patrick’s Day recipes to share with your kids and also a free printable for quick and easy decorating. So, I did some research and came up with this idea: make rainbow cupcakes from Family Fun and top them with my free printable cupcake toppers!

Here is a glimpse of the rainbow cupcakes:

You can find the recipe and instructions at Family Fun magazine by clicking the image above.

I wanted something a bit more interesting for the decorating than plain white frosting, but I also wanted it to be something that my kids could do.  I found some adorable cupcake picks at Martha Stewart,but couldn’t find any that were St. Patty’s themed. SO, I MADE some! 😉 Yay! I love designing my own stuff, and I love sharing it! These little guys are cute and fun. The same directions apply as to the Martha Stewart cupcake toppers. You can get the pdf and print my designs for free by this link:  St Patrick’s Day Cupcake Toppers Just print the page on some cardstock or paper of your choice, cut the circles out, and use tape to secure  a toothpick to the back of the topper. You can also use 2 circles per topper if you don’t want tape to show on the backs. Just use a glue stick and glue 2 circles together with the toothpick in between. Then the kids can help by placing the picks into the cupcakes. Here are some photos of the cupcake toppers that we made at our house. I think they are really cute!

I would love to see photos of anyones cupcakes made with my printable and to hear your opinions! I really hope you like these as much as I do! Feel free to pass them along to anyone else who may want them as well!