Crafts for Kids: Rainbows & Shamrocks Watercolor Garland

We love St. Patrick's Day around here, simply because our heritage makes us part Irish. Plus we love holidays, and there's just something fun about rainbows, leprechauns, shamrocks, and pots of gold. Do don't go all out, but my kids definitely know when I holiday is approaching. 

Since my school children are out this week for Spring Break, I decided to keep them busy with some fun activities. The beginning of the week was warm, dare I say HOT outside, so we spent a lot of time outside. However, when we woke up today, we were a bit fooled because as bright and sunny as it was, it was bitterly cold out there. This mom is not a fan of the cold, so inside activities for us today!

Rainbows & Shamrocks Watercolor Garland

You will need:

• Watercolor paper
• Watercolor paint
• Paint brushes
• Baker's twine
• Hole puncher
• Scissors
• Tape
• Shamrock printout
• Rainbow printout

Because I only had really thin printer paper and super thick watercolor paper, I printed out the two pages (I had to shrink the rainbow down some), cut out one of the shamrocks, and the rainbow, and traced them onto the watercolor paper. However, if print onto card stock, you should be good. 

I just simply let my kids paint as they wanted and let them cut them out, after they dried. Then, we punched two holes in the top of each one and threaded the baker's twine through. Lastly, hang it up anywhere you want. 

We also had fun talking about the real meaning of St. Patrick's Day and finding Ireland on our new globe. Get yourself a globe! My kids love to look at that thing for hours! I see an atlas in our future as well. 

I knew Elijah was going to struggle with cutting his own shapes out, so I cut his for him, and allowed him to cut my shamrocks instead. I really wanted to make sure that his rainbow and shamrocks got hung up, but I also wanted him to get the opportunity to cut as well. My sweet boy definitely needs a little more practice! He tried so hard though. 

Of course, there are so many ways this can be done. The idea is to just have fun, am I right? If you don't have watercolors or any type of paint at all, use crayons, markers, or even allow your child to glue fabric scraps, for a fun twist. 

If you make a fun St. Patrick's Day garland, I'd love for you to share it with me. 

                    

Disney's Frozen Olaf Valentine's with Free Printable Tags

 

I have seen some similar Valentine's like this floating around, but when I saw them, I just knew I wanted to do a collab with Crystalyn over at Flavor Pink to come up with our very own version of these cute Valentine handouts. All three of my youngest children love the Frozen movie, so there was no question that these were the perfect Valentine's for their friends at church. Crystalyn did an amazing job coming up with these Olaf tags to go on each bag. Each Valentine includes a snack of "parts" to create your very own Olaf the Snowman, and perfect for kids of all ages.

Not only is this a fun little snack (because how often do we actually allow our kids to play with their food?), but it is a great activity for your child to do themselves. I actually made a little chart for Elijah to go by that showed him with a picture and number, how many of each item to put in each bag. He had fun helping me put them together, and practiced his counting at the same time. Phoenix and Tyler were able to cut each Olaf tag, glue them, and tie them on each bag as well.

Olaf Valentines

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 You will need: 

• Jumbo Marshmallows (1 per bag)
• Regular Size Marshmallows (2 per bag)
• Mini Marshmallows (2 per bag)
• Pretzel Sticks (2 per bag)
• Chocolate Chips (5 per bag)
• Candy Corns (1 per bag)
• Clear Plastic bags
• Baker's Twine
• Free Printable Disney's Frozen Olaf Tags

Fill each clear plastic bag with the number of ingredients required and then close using the baker's twine. Cut out the Olaf tag and attach before tying it closed. I used red card stock for the backing and glued them on, but you can simply print these on white card stock and cut them out as well. Just punch and hole in the top and thread the bakers twine through, then tie in a bow.

Thanks so much to Crystalyn for these adorable tags! Be sure to head over and print our your very own Olaf the Snowman tags and create some of these fun Valentines with your child. 

You can also find Crystalyn in her Etsy shop where she does watercolor paintings. If her work looks familiar, it's because she also did my header and sidebar profile picture! Amazing, right?

Be sure to come back and share with us your Olaf Valentine's if you decide to make some of your own!

                    

A Quick & Simple DIY for those Christmas Cards You Received

I am not a keeper of many things, but I can't stand just throwing all of those Christmas cards we get from friends and family every year. This year, I decided that instead of tossing them all in the trash, I would punch holes in each of them and let the kids enjoy them. I will keep them out for a couple more weeks, but then I plan to put them away and bring them back out at Christmas. I think it will be fun to make a book each year and then have them out at Christmas each year for the kids to enjoy looking back at.

It literally takes less than 10 minutes to put one of these little "books" together. Just punch holes in each of your cards, hook them all on a binder ring, and that's it. I added a twine bow on mine just to give it a little more pizzazz. 

 

This year, I started a Holiday Friends Card Exchange where I invited some of my Instagram friends to participate in a card exchange with our children. Each family participated made cards with their kids and then sent them out to each family. Our children had so much fun receiving cards from different places and looked forward to checking the mail each day as well. They love flipping through all of the cards they received.

I will actually be doing a Valentine's Friends Card Exchange also, for anyone who is interested in participating. This is a great opportunity for those families of children who are not yet in school or home schooled and don't get the chance to exchange cards with friends like so many children who are in school get to do. Space is limited, so be sure to follow me on Instagram and lookout for the sign up announcement.


                    

Salt Dough Leaf Bunting

 

I came across the recipe for salt dough the other day and it reminded me of the Christmas ornaments we make every year. As I was sitting there thinking about how we could do our ornaments differently this year, I thought about using the recipe to make something for Fall. I remembered I have a small Pampered Chef set of cookie cutters, and that there was a leaf shape in the box, so I decided to use it to make this leaf bunting. Originally, I had planned to just make the dough and then let the kids paint them, but then I decided to mix food coloring with the dough instead to make Fall colors, and whatever dough was leftover, the kids could play with it.

Elijah enjoyed watching me roll the dough and even helped me cut some of the leaf shapes. Then, I used a straw to poke holes in the tops of each leaf and baked according to the recipe. Once the leaves had baked for several hours, I took them out, let them cool, and then threaded a long piece of jute twine through them. I tied a knot in the top of each leaf along the way and made sure to leave about 2 inches between each one.

I had planned to hang this elsewhere, but this lamp of mine was crying for some attention so I tied it around the top of the shade . During the day, you can see the colors, but at night, when the lamp is on, I love how you can see them as a silhouette. Minus the baking and cooling time, this was a super quick project.

I made so many of these leaves that I had a ton left over, so I put the rest in a bowl and added a little bit of gingerbread essential oil and turned them into potpourri. Just a few drops and the leaves soaked the oil right up. I also made something else that I will be sharing with you this Wednesday! Be on the lookout!

If you are interested in making your own salt dough ornaments, here is the recipe that I used. Just a few simple ingredients!

                    

ninja turtle ooze & a borax giveaway

elijah's new obsession is the teenage mutant ninja turtles. my mom got him the entire ninja turtles set for christmas so i couldn't wait to make him his very first batch of ninja turtle ooze. i basically made elijah's day when i made ooze for him to play with yesterday. surprisingly, i was sent this large box of 20 mule team borax right around the same time i got my brilliant idea to make it, so it worked out perfectly.

it is very simple to make, the ingredients are cheap, and they lead to hours of fun. below is the list of ingredients along with the recipe to get you on your way to making ooze for your little one.

stay tuned...

as if this project isn't inexpensive enough, two six cherries on top readers will get the chance to win a box of borax to make hundreds of batches of ooze.

ninja turtle ooze

materials

• 20 mule team borax
• 5 oz. bottle of clear school glue
• yellow food coloring
• green food coloring
• water
• 2 containers

step 1:

in the FIRST container, mix...

• 1 cup of warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon of borax 

stir until dissolved. 


step 2:

in the SECOND container, mix...

• 1/2 cup of water
• the entire 5 oz. bottle of glue

then add...

• 2 drops of green food coloring
• 5 drops of yellow food coloring

stir it all together until it is neon green color.


step 3:

pour the mixture in the FIRST container into the mixture in the SECOND container (be sure to do it exactly like this because it does make a difference) and watch your ooze come to life.

stir a little if needed.

elijah played with this for over an hour and i actually had to be the bad guy and take it away or he would have continued to play with it well past lunch time. i plan on making some more for phoenix and tyler since they weren't here to witness the magical change when you add the two mixtures together. the color can easily be changed by choosing different food colorings. they are dying for purple. and by the way, the food coloring does not pose any problems getting on clothes or hands. 

so, how about a giveaway? how would you like to win a 4 lb. box of 20 mule team borax to make ooze with your kids?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

disclosure: as a purex insider, the coupons, and a 4 lb. box of 20 mule team borax was provided to me at no charge.. i was not compensated for this review and all opinions and ideas are my own and in no way influenced. six cherries on top disclaimer/terms of use.

please monitor little ones that tend to put things in their mouths. the ooze material could possibly be considered a choking hazard. i would also recommend mom or dad making the mixture. although borax is a natural product, it is considered toxic in it's natural form, and harmful if swallowed. however, it poses no problems once made into ooze, but it is still best if not ingested. google borax to read more about this product if you would like further information about any safety concerns you may have. i personally feel okay giving the ooze product to my children to play with, however, please make your own informed decisions. six cherries on top is not responsible for any incidents that occur.

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram

guest post: wreath craft with brittany from the denny buzz

Hi! I'm Brittany from The Denny Buzz! I'm so excited to be stopping by!  

The Denny Buzz is about our family of three and the daily buzz of our lives!  

From recipes, crafts, weekend adventures and more!  

Today I'm excited to share a fun craft that I recently made!
It's a super cute & easy burlap wreath! 

 I originally made this to hang on our front door for my daughter's first birthday party 

........but I had some secret plans in mind when I made it! 

I intentionally wanted to make it in black so I could also turn it into a Halloween wreath!

I followed this tutorial to make the Burlap Bubble Wreath and I found the tutorial off of Katy's blog!  Below are tips that I found useful while following the tutorial 

Supplies:

10" foam wreath 

(I found mine at Hobby Lobby in the back by scrapbooking not with the rest of the wreaths! Also, it's much smaller than you think so yes, you are buying the right thing!  (bc I sure thought I wasn't!)

1.5 yards burlap

Large headed pins

I found it was easiest to make it with someone else (aka super mom!) to help it go faster & to help you judge where you need to fill in empty spots!  Mom started ahead of time by being an angel and cutting our 4"x4" squares for us.  This was the most time consuming step....according to her! ;)  The next step is where the extra set of hands come into play!  My mom folded and stuck the pin in, handed it off to me, and then I placed them into the wreath.  We followed the steps from the tutorial and it turned out great!  

I attached the bumble bee for her birthday party to the burlap with super glue.  It was easy to pop off when I was ready to switch it out and if needed, you can always replace the one or two squares it was attached to!  I found the middle "Trick or Treat" decorative/oversized bottle cap at Hobby Lobby.  I attached it to the ribbon to where it hangs perfectly centered in the wreath!  I loved spending a fun evening with my mom making a craft!  Especially a craft for two separate occasions!       

Make sure to check out the awesome tutorial above and I hope my tips make it that much easier!  Thank you again Joni for having me here today!  I hope you'll buzz on over to The Denny Buzz and say hi!  Have a great week!  

 ....................

 joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: sixcherries