And two minutes later we had (sort of) egg-shaped necklaces:
We've been busy doing Valentine's stuff from around blogland. Here are some links of what we've been up too.
It's winter. There's snow on the ground, but you're just too lazy to spend 45 minutes to get your kids ready to go outside and make a real snowman. Instead you sit inside in the warmth and make a snowman at your kitchen table. And this snowman promises to be around long after the snow has melted.For this project you will need:
1) Mom: attach the head (sm. plate) to the body (large plate) using the stapler. (Don't worry, it will get covered up with the scarf).
2) Kids: design the snowman by adding a face and by decorating the body with the buttons and ribbons that are are provided.
Eli, Sadie and I made a Gingerbread House from a kit. I was in charge of the frosting, Eli was in charge of decorating and Sadie was in charge of dumping all of the candy onto the floor. It turned out kind of cute. The candy didn't get too excessive. The kids are like Hansel and Gretel now. Every time I turn around they are nibbling at the house!
Last winter my mom (the felt queen) and I put together this little felt gingerbread house. I was inspired by this little number and decided that with my mom's help it would be easy enough to make. I purchased an already made paper mache box in the shape of a house that I just happened to find at Hobby Lobby (sorry I can't find the exact one on-line). We covered the house in wool felt by just tacky gluing it onto the box, added some frosting-like trim and cut out hundreds of candy pieces. It took some time, but it wasn't really that hard. I think it's even cuter than it's inspiration. Plus, I can store all of the pieces inside the house. I love decorating the house and sometimes I even let the kids play with it.
Eli markered up these two wooden ornaments to give his pre-school teachers for Christmas. He is very proud of them and I hope Miss Molly and Miss Lucy love them as much as I do.
I just finished decorating our windows with these easy coffee filter snowflakes. Yes, you could use regular paper, but coffee filters are already a perfect circle so it makes the job a little easier. Just fold your coffee filter into eighths by folding the circle in half (making sure the rounded edge is lined up with each fold) four times. Then trim away, unfold, and ooh and ahh over your pretty snowflake. Sorry, about the pictures. I don't know what's going on with my camera...
Materials:
Directions:
1) Paint the coffee filters using water colors (or with the markers and spray bottle, like we did when we made butterflies). I don't have the cake water-colors. We use the squeeze-tube kind and add water to it, which works better for the little kids as not everything turns brown. Allow the coffee filters to dry.
2) Fold the coffee filters not quite in half, but so it looks like the turkey has two rows of feathers. Add a little glue to keep the coffee filter halves together.
3) Glue the brown turkey body onto the center of the coffee filter.
4) Add the eyes and the wattle.
Gobble, Gobble!!
Do you want to know how to scare your dad when he gets home from work? Put on one of these scary paper bag monster masks that you made and jump out from behind the door and yell "BOO!" really really loud. I promise it will work. Honest. Your dad will be really really scared.
Did you know that if you cut an apple through the middle (versus through the stem and bottom part) that there is a little star hidden inside? Somewhere there is a story about that... Let me find it... Here it is. Using the apples we picked, I showed the kids the star inside the apple without telling them the story, because I just remembered that now (obviously)! We used the apples as stamps: dunked them into paint and printed them on big sheets of paper (that my husband very wisely pulled from the trash). Because I was making fajitas for supper, they also used pepper tops, lime and onion and some Indian corn (not that I put that into the fajitas) to make prints. My kids love this kind of activity most of all. They don't have to think too creatively, yet it looks kind of cool and they can make a huge mess.
I just have to mention something that bothers me with projects like this and others that involve food (sorting beans, stringing Cheerios, etc.). I feel so guilty using food as a manipulative, art supply or toy. While I use food because it is inexpensive and readily available I also know that somewhere in the world (maybe even in my neighborhood) someone would love to be eating what I let my child play with. I wonder what the hidden message is that I'm sending my children? That it's ok to waste food? That food is to be played with? I guess I don't have any answers. It's just something I think about. Sorry to be such a downer. Just makes you want to do apple prints doesn't it!?!
I never promised that these activities were going to be creative! But, well, there you have it: another activity to do with your kids when they are driving you up a wall from all of the loud screeching noises they seem to making lately. I think you could go crazy with this idea: big pumpkins, little pumpkins, stickers, ribbons, googly eyes, or glitter. My grandma taught me that there is no such thing as too much glitter!
If you are a Kid Craft Weekly subscriber, you will recognize this print project from this week's newsletter. If you are not a subscriber, you should be. It's free and the newletters come in the form of emails direct to your inbox. You don't even have to go outside to your mailbox; it's that easy. 
Kid Craft recommends that you use all sorts of different sized boxes (toilet paper roll, Toberlone Chocolate box, matchbox, etc.), but that just seemed like way too much work especially when you have one of those great Tupperware shape sorters. They wash up really easy too if you use washable paint.
The kids actually did a pretty good job this time keeping each shape in it's own paint. That's a first, usually the colors get mixed up pretty quickly. Another first: Eli and Sadie enjoyed this project more than me! Yea!!!
She added some glitter:
After putting another piece of contact paper over her finished product, it was ready to hang up:
Mix together equal parts shaving cream and white school glue. I used 1/2 cup of each and it was enough for 4 kids to make a couple of pictures each. 
Paint away. (I must admit that Ienjoyed painting way more than the kids did.)
Let dry. It takes several hours but the result is a soft fluffy cloud! **If you wanted to tie this into a book, you could always read It Looked Like Spillt Milk by George Shaw.
