How to Make Mini Garden Gnomes!

Socialphy Craft Photo

Oops! With staff vacations and the upcoming Summer Reading Program, we are sad to say that we didn't get to make the craft this week ourselves. However, we found this excellent Garden Gnome craft at Socialphy. It looks fun as well as easy. For those folks who try this craft, let us know how the finished product came out! Click here to go to the craft.

Paper Fan Butterflies

Since we just love colorful flying creatures we thought this would be a nice late spring craft made from reclaimed magazine pages and Chenille Stems!

Thanks to Family Fun for the great idea!

These are the materials you will need:

• Chenille Stems
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Old Magazine with glossy, colorful pictures

For specific instructions click here to visit the craft at the Family Fun site.

 

We did note that the fan folds should be rather small, less than a quarter inch. The smaller the folds the easier it twists into the chenille stems.

Also the skinnier the chenille stems are, the better the butterfly body will look after the few twists needed to add in the wings. The fatter the stems the bulkier the body.

Enjoy!

Mother's Day Flowers

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 13!  Here’s a fun and easy craft for kids to make (with a little help) to show Mom that they are great!

What you’ll need:

Vase:

• Plastic cup
• Glue
• Scraps of tissue paper

 Flowers:

• Pipe cleaners
• Construction paper
• Markers
• Playdough/clay
• Pictures of you

 1. Glue the scraps of tissue paper onto the cup using a brush and let dry.

 2. Have your child decorate the construction paper (one sheet per flower) then cut them into three pieces lengthwise.  Tape the ends of each strip together to make a circle, then staple the three circles of each color together to make the flower shape.

 3. Glue pictures of your child to the front of the flowers, and attach the pipe cleaners to the back using tape.  You may need to use something more rugged than pipe cleaners, like colored craft sticks, to support your flowers.

4. Finally, place the Playdough/clay at the bottom of your vase and press the flowers in to it to secure them.

 Happy Mother's Day!

Moon Sand

We found this recipe for form-holding Moon Sand and gave it a try.

The materials you will need are:

     

     * All Purpose Flour

     * Baby Oil

     * Measuring Cup

     * Mixing Vessel

Measure out one (1) cup of Baby Oil

and add to mixing vessel.

Measure out and add eight (8) cups of All Purpose Flour to your mixing vessel.

Hand mix!

This part was great fun and smelled good too!

While the Moon Sand is not really able to be hand sculpted, it will hold the shape of a form. 

We used a shell (on the right) to make the two shell shapes (both on the left) out of Moon Sand.

Here we used a small plastic container. 

Have fun and experiment with different forms and share your results with us!

Bird Nesting Bag

Bring the birds to your backyard with nesting materials in a leftover onion bag. I first saw this craft on Family Fun!

Simply fill the bag with materials that are around the house and backyard, such as yarn, cotton balls, leaves, and twigs!

There are all kinds of things birds can use to build nests, so don't stop at what we used - get creative!

We used pine needles, twigs, cotton balls, bits of yarn, and bits of crepe paper to create a colorful mix that would be attractive to the birds.

For example, Family Fun suggests using pet hair in the mix - after brushing your cat or dog, use what's left on the brush!

Tie off the open end with string and secure the bag to a branch on a nearby tree.Make a few and watch as the birds flock to your backyard!

The instructions suggest using an onion bag, but I used an orange bag and it worked just as well!

These are easy to make and are perfect for spring when birds are busy building their nests. If you use colorful yarn, it will be easier to spot their newly-made nests.

Daffodil Candy Cup

These Daffodil Candy Cups are super easy to make with coffee filters, food coloring and paper cups.  I originally saw these on the Martha Stewart website.  If children are making these use white glue instead of the hot glue gun; it works just as well.
 Try making these in other colors. They would make great birthday party decorations in pinks, oranges and reds and yellows!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

These kites meet all our requirements for a great craft:
1. They are easy.
2. The materials are readily available
3. They work!
4.  They are fun.

We've made these many times for many different groups of kids and they are a hit every single time.  All you need is colored paper (construction or copy), masking tape, bamboo skewers, surveyors tape, and string! Older kids can make these on their own, and even young children can make them with a little help on the folding and taping. And once the kites are made the kite flying begins!  Take them outside to see how well these work with just a little bit of running. The full instructions are available from FamilyFun and are clear and easy to follow.   Have fun!