#throwback Christmas Projects for Children

I'm throwing it back to when I used to design craft projects for children- 

just in case you are looking for some meaningful projects for this season and a way to spend creative time with your children or grandchildren!

(Follow all of the links for early blog posts with details and/or instructions)

Oh, and these posts are very old - pardon the primitiveness of my blogging! 

First up, an inexpensive and easy Advent Wreath. It just takes a little bit of time because of drying times but it's not too late to get this going for this year and the whole family could make it together.

This Advent Calendar was a huge hit. It's reusable and cost about $2.00 to make. Seriously!

I still have parents tell me that it's the first thing they pull out when they decorate and I taught their children a decade ago! Some of them are in college! 

But Christmas traditions are strong!

I wish I had a better picture - it's so cute filled with all of the ornaments and #25 is the star!
It's so, so simple. It's made from a Dollar Store cookie sheet, some spray paint I had on hand, craft paint and some foam shapes. Most people have to buy magnet tape for this but if you have some of the free advertising refrigerator magnets people send in the mail then you might have everything you need on hand. 

And here is a tiny Nativity that anyone and everyone can make! 

I've taught 3 year olds all the way up to senior adults to create these.

I used Altoid tins for a while that I spray painted black. They were free but it became difficult to collect the hundreds I needed when my craft camps were full so I switched to the little paper mache boxes and I really liked the simplicity and texture they added to the project. They are less than a dollar so it's still economical. 

You can also put the verse sticker on the back of the box, use the lid for another tiny Nativity and add a hanger to the top and hang it on the Christmas tree.

So gather up some supplies and found items, dollar tree finds and things on hand and create some Christmas crafting memories.

Sometimes I Wonder and Bob Dylan

Sometimes I think about projects I want to try. 

Just to see if it will turn out like I think

Sometimes they do. 

Sometimes I don't even finish.

Often I have zero idea what I will do with it once I finish.

If it's really BIG, like this project, then it's a bit crazy.

Someone gave me a huge frame with a big ugly canvas in it and a small pucker in the canvas.

Like about 3 x 4 feet big!

I was really in it for the frame and then... I started thinking. 

So I painted it black.

The whole thing. Canvas. Frame. Liner. All of it.

This was over a year ago and I was binge watching Parenthood on Netflix cause it was Winter and I don't function well when it's gray every.single.day.

So I had this rolling around in my head.

And BTW, I preferred a little Dylan (watch this - awesome!) at the beginning of the show. #dontchangethethemesonghalfwaythrough

And since I've had this blog post sitting in "drafts" a while

 and now Bob Dylan is a BIG DEAL Nobel Prize Winner I decided to post it!!

I started cutting out letters using my Cricut cutter. 

I wanted to create a gradation from cool to warm.

And have lots of texture.

And just see if it would 'turn out."

I just cut and spaced the letters and then used Mod Podge to glue them down.

It's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. 

It's currently homeless as I have moved it around a few times at the house but it really hasn't "stuck" anywhere.

I'm thinking it may go to the office with me. 

I've been in my office 4 years and I have one personal item in it. Shocking, I know.

*No sponsorships by Cricut or Mod Podge. Just what I happened to use to do this.

And Yay for Bob!

The Favorites of Christmases Past.

As mentioned previously I haven't done a thing toward Christmas decorating.

 Nothing.

Bupkis!

( Remember Bupkis??) 

Actually that's not completely true.

I have looked at all the blog tours of already decorated homes.

#seekinginspiration

#seekingmotivationtoo

Does decorating the dog count??
#notthrilled

But in years past I have been spot on

and accomplished Christmas décor greatness 
 (ok, at least gotten the tree up - with lights!) in a timely manner.

I also used to make cute Christmas projects and share the DIY!

Let's remember fondly and revisit my top Christmas posts.

In case you,too, are #seekingmajormotivation.

They are all simple and easy I can assure you!

This guy is and has been my number one blog post "view"

and my number one "pin" on Pinterest!

This paint stick project of the Three Wisemen

is also a top post.

It is practically a "free" green craft.

This simple outdoor Nativity that I first did with children

waaaaay back in 2011 is still a top 10 post year round.

It is made with concrete landscape pavers.

 Mine still looks like it did when I painted it four years ago!

(And we do use it outside)

A little more involved but a keeper from year to year-


is this Advent Candle Wreath made from terra cotta pots.
I made it with groups of children for a few years in a row so we painted the pots and made candles and "flames" from TP rolls and tissue paper. 
Many of their parents supervised its use and substituted real candles. 
It is equally pretty left in its natural terra cotta state and filled in with real greenery.
One of my  volunteer moms had her children craft them for their grandparents one year and it was a HUGE hit!


And I have a bunch of Snowman projects
 but this one is the second most viewed post of all time.

Snowman in a Baggie!!!
It was a simple idea I cooked up for a school party activity and it is still being used year after year.
So easy and inexpensive but everyone loves to make him and then squish that nose around!

If you are looking for more projects then check the archives!
I have several Nativity projects, more snowmen and some burlap and painted canvas projects that are 'oldies but goodies."

And maybe I'll be back soon with some actual Christmas decorating pictures -
from my actual house!!!
#icanhope

...And Coming in at Number Three!!!!

The air has been clear and crisp in Atlanta the last few days.

A change from our humid, Summer days

 (which I love and I'm not ready for Summer to go)

but everyone else  is excited for Pumpkins Spice lattes and

 Pinterest is one big Pumpkinfest!!

This blog post about this stack of pumpkins from a few years ago

 is my third most popular post of all time!!

If this seems a bit too large or involved then

 you can always make these - a much smaller scale!

But if you are into bigger and better than I "mustache" you to make this guy!!

or you can keep it simple and squishy fun

and just make these with the kiddos!!

Linking up:
at Zevy Joy's Fall Inspiration!
and  White Spray Paint Blog!



Chick Night

Two weeks ago we had our second ladies night at church.

I realized I never posted about the first one :)

 

 

The theme for the first one was literally chick night

 and somehow that became the name of our ladies night

 even though the theme changes every year.

I say "every" tongue in cheek because I changed church jobs a little over two years ago

 and we have just had our second chick night at my new church.

 

But it has caught on and we are already thinking about the next theme.

 

Chick Night was a super cute, fun and easy theme.

We went with pink and yellow for everything so it was very cheerful and perky.

I made tons of signs with these cute chick faces on them.

Just circles cut from yellow scrapbook papers - solids and patterns.

 Orange triangle beaks and button eyes.

 And I bought one package of real yellow feathers to add a fun touch.

 I hot glued those and pink ribbon bows on the tops of my chicks' heads.

The signs had funny sayings that were plays on the words having to do with the chick theme.

 

"Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to Chick Night!!"

 

"Which came first? The chicken or Chick Night?"

 

You get the idea.

We had fun door prizes. We had Peeps and feather boas for one thing!

 Just silly little 'peep' and chicken themed prizes.

 

I  used chicken wire and twinkle lights on the serving table.

 I stretched the wire in old frames I had and around some scrap squares of wood I had at home  and had already  painted white.

We draped them with twinkle lights and cute pink and yellow buntings.

 

Easy and used items I had at home because the budget was very, very small.

 



I bought fake daisies at the dollar store and put them in mason jars I had on hand.

 

 

I made the chicks from yellow paper lanterns.

I found them for a dollar and they were already yellow

 but I had already planned to spray paint them

if all I could find at the dollar store was white.

 I've painted them before and it works just fine if you do light coats.

Again, I used a triangle of orange scrapbook paper for the beak and buttons for eyes.

I cut ovals of yellow paper for the wings and added some yellow feathers

with little dabs of hot glue.

I cut a strip of yellow scrapbook paper about 3 inches by twelve and cut it into a fringe.

 I just rolled it up and slipped it in the opening at the top of the paper lantern.

You can secure it with a dab of hot glue if you need to.

I put them in galvanized buckets that I found at the dollar store and the Target Dollar Spot.

We put some raffia around them to look like straw.

 

These lanterns are great for fun, inexpensive décor.

I've used them for this and this.

 

But the table centerpieces were the hit of the evening!

 Remember, we are in the metro Atlanta area,

 but I found a feed store between home and where College Girl is at school

 and bought galvanized chicken feeders for less than $3.00 each!

I had the mason jars at home.

 I washed the heck out of those new feeders and

then went on a quest to find something fun to fill them with.

The custom pink and yellow m and m's were too expensive.

I explored a couple of other possibilities and

then I saw the bags of pre-popped popcorn at the dollar store!

Seriously, I should have thought of that first.

Corn. Chicken feed!! Brilliant.

And it was the right color for our theme too!!

 

 

We put one in the center of each table and the ladies of all ages went crazy over them!!

There wasn't a speck of popcorn left at the end of the night!

 

Every chick there had a great time!

 

We really changed it up for the Chick Night we had a couple of weeks ago-

Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Everything was white and Tiffany blue and pearls.

We challenged the ladies to wear black and white, their pearls or even a tiara.

Some of them channeled their inner Audrey and came dressed to the nines!

Such fun!



I Love Paintsticks.

I love paintsticks.

True story.

Sounds silly but I have a zillion projects with paintsticks.

I almost hate to use them to stir paint :)

A while back I had a super fun art day with a group of 4th and 5th grade girls. 

I had lots of creative activities planned but I decided to cover the basics before 

I turned them loose with a bunch of exciting supplies. 

We used a paintstick to learn about the spectrum and color mixing.

This may seem remedial to you for 4th and 5th graders but a few years ago I saw an adult do a little segment on Good Morning America

 and she said the primary colors were red, yellow, blue and green.

Maybe she was nervous but I never got over it :)

So I run through a color lesson in a variety of fun ways when I have an art activity with children. 

A little paint, a little color mixing fun and ... ta-da! Rainbow Sticks!!

** My nice Sherwin Williams guy, Todd, gives me paintsticks for the children to use :)

Baby In the Manger

We had a very fun family event at church last Friday night. It was planned to kick off our Advent season. We were about a  week early but the way Thanksgiving hit we had to schedule this way and it was really perfect. Everyone was relaxed and not rushed because we weren't in the busy December season where everyone has 2 or 3 events every weekend night.
The event was called "Starry Night" and we served dinner so we needed centerpieces to go with the theme for each table and the budget was small - really small. Like $0.00 :)
So I scrounged around at home and this is what I came up with.
I had some large wooden balls and large jumbo craft sticks. I painted cute little faces on the balls and glued them to one end of the craft stick (which I broke in half)

 

 

Then I tore long strips of white sheeting that I had on hand.
 The strips were about an inch wide and about 30 inches long. 

I put a dab of hot glue on the top of the poor baby's head and glued the strip of fabric down. Then I just started wrapping the baby's head and body 
until it looked like a little baby all "swaddled" up!

 

And there you have the cutest little baby all wrapped up!

I went out in the yard and grabbed some 6 inch clay pots I had stacked up. I soaked them in Clorox water in the sink and washed them out very well. They were going on tables where we would eat so I didn't want some creature to come crawling out :)
I stuffed a couple of plastic Publix bags in the pots after they were dry.

Then I snipped a bundle of raffia into strips and
 filled my clay pot (manger) with the raffia (hay.)

Then I printed the verse that was our theme for the event onto some gold chevron scrapbook paper. I punched two holes and threaded it onto a skewer. This made a cute banner that I stuck in the pot and secured with a dab of hot glue.

 I glued the baby in the manger and 
then I repeated it until all the centerpieces were finished. 

 

 
I tied some scraps of ribbon on each skewer and when we got them placed on the tables I tied a star shaped gold helium balloon to each skewer. I didn't  take a picture of all of them on the tables but it was the perfect centerpiece - the baby in a manger was nice and low and then the bobbing gold star balloon was up high and out of the way of conversation around the tables. They were festive, the children loved them, they were perfect for our theme and I didn't have to buy a single thing other than the gold star balloons at the Dollar Tree!

And because the theme for our Advent Kick-Off was appropriately stars, we had a huge inflatable planetarium in our gym. This thing was awesome and can seat 60 people inside. Our families loved it - the tickets were $5.00 and 
benefited our Youth International Mission Trip 2014.

It was a fun and exciting Starry Night!