Handprint Grinch and Max

This was a fun craft for the kids. Who doesn't love the Grinch and his adorable dog, Max? I've seen a lot of handprint Grinches around, but I couldn't find any of Max so I just kind of made it up. For the Grinch I painted the palm green and the four fingers red (I didn't paint the thumb at all) and made a print. For the dog, the thumb and pinky (pinkie?) finger were painted dark brown (for the ears) and the palm and three other fingers were a lighter brown. And I made the print upside down. When the prints were dry, the kids added cotton balls to the Grinch's hat, yellow eyes made from construction paper, and drew in a nose and smile.

For Max I cut out an "antler" and the kids glued it to the top of the dog. I drew in a little bow. Then they glued on white ovals for eyes and drew in the nose and mouth. And just to make it a little more festive, they drew a curly line all around their paper and added colorful fingerprints for Christmas lights.

They turned out so cute!

Vampirina Craft

My daughter really likes Vampirina, a new show on the Disney Junior channel. So I quickly came up with a craft for her and a friend to make. We used a small paper plate for the face, painting it with a mix of white and purple paint with a touch of blue. When it was dry we added the facial features and hair. I cut out hair and bat-wing pigtails, as well as eyes, fangs and little pink pigtail holders.

The kids used a glue stick to attach everything. The pigtails were glued onto the back of the paper plate and I later added tape to secure them even more.

They used a black marker to make eyelashes, eyebrows, a nose and a mouth.

The pigtail holders were glued onto the hair, but I think it would look better if they were glued onto the actual pigtails. The reason I didn't have the kids do this was because I was planning on having the other side of the plate be a regular bat. (In the show, Vampirina can change from a little girl to a bat.) The pigtails would be the wings so I didn't want the pink holders to show on the other side. However, we never ended up doing that because the Vampirina craft already looked like a bat.

I added a large craft stick (from CraftProjectIdeas.com) so the girls could use them like puppets. The pigtails actually flap like wings when they play with it. It's quite cool! And for that reason I recommend using black card stock paper so the bat-wing pigtails are sturdy. They turned out so cute and the girls have been playing with them for days!

Marble-Painted Bunnies

These adorable bunnies will definitely add some Spring color to your home or classroom!

I traced my bunny template onto white cardstock and the kids marble-painted it with bright colors.

I used a colored marker to outline the bunny so when I cut it out it would have a border. But it also helped me see where to cut when the paper was covered in paint!

The kids picked out a little pom pom to glue on for the tail.

They would also look good glued onto another piece of paper, either a bright color or even black.

But I decided to leave them alone. I did, however, end up using the rest of the marble-painted paper because it was too pretty to throw away. I glued it onto another piece of paper and added a cotton ball for the tail. This way each child had 2 bunny crafts!

Just be sure to cut the bunny out carefully, only making one small cut on the bottom that can easily be hidden.

Printed Igloos

My daughter and I made really "cool" igloos by painting a piece of bubble wrap and making a print. I got the idea from Crafty Kids at Home. You want to have your paper ready before you paint. We used blue cardstock with a strip of white on the bottom for snow. Then draw a simple igloo shape on the smooth side of bubble wrap and cut it out. Have your child paint the bubble side with white paint. We used a sponge brush.

Quickly flip the bubble wrap over onto the paper before the paint starts to dry. Press down gently without moving the bubble wrap around.

Then carefully peel off the bubble wrap. We also made snowflakes with a Q-tip dipped in white paint. And to finish it off, we added a snowman sticker!

I traced around the igloo with a white crayon just to define it more. I also liked how it looked without painting the bubble wrap. You could just glue it on your paper and the glue would dry clear.

But the painted print does stand out more.

Make sure you check your bubble wrap for popped bubbles. Sometimes a whole row will be flat and won't leave a good print. Have fun adding all kinds of things to the scene!

Peppermint Candy Craft

Here's a cute and fun way to make a peppermint candy! We made a marbled candy using shaving cream and paint, but you could decorate the candy part any way you'd like.
To get the marbled look, spread out shaving cream on one paper plate.

Add drops of paint (or food coloring) and gently swirl them around using a toothpick or craft stick.

Then put another paper plate on top of the first and gently push down.

Separate the plates,

and use a craft stick to scrape off the shaving cream from the plate that was on top. You are left with a beautiful design.

To avoid too much smearing and mixing of colors, wipe the craft stick off after each scrape. Or just use one color of paint. When it's dry, cut out the middle circle of the plate and glue it to construction paper. Add white hand prints to the sides to look like the wrapper.

Cut it out.

You could wrap it in plastic wrap or add some ribbons to the sides, but I think it's cute as is!

Pasta Footprint Turkey

Here's a fun, cute and quick turkey craft for you! Paint your child's foot brown and make a print. When it dries, have them glue tri-colored pasta on to make the turkey feathers. Add a beak, eye and snood. I helped out by putting the glue on the paper for the kids so they'd know where to put the noodles. (I was planning on having it be a front-facing turkey, but every child's foot had a high arch, so I thought it looked better to have the turkey facing sideways and just put the feathers on one side.)

We used construction paper for the beak, a wiggle eye, and red yarn for the snood.

They are adorable!

For the youngest one in my group (19 months), I traced her hand and she glued on the noodles (with a little help!).

Handprint Apple Craft

Here's a simple apple craft I made with the kids recently.

They painted a small paper plate by dipping a pom pom into red paint and dabbing their plate.

I painted their palm and fingers green (for a leaf) and their thumb brown (for a stem) and made a print.

I cut out the handprint when it was dry and glued it to the top of the plate.That's it!

Easy and cute!

Stained-Glass Birds

We've been having a little problem with birds hitting our front windows lately. It used to happen a couple times a year, but recently it's been happening a couple times a week. We have some feeders near the windows and we don't want to move them because they are fun to look at (and the cats really enjoy it as well!). I've noticed black bird decals on windows of some buildings and at the zoo, so I thought we'd try that at home. Of course, I wanted something more colorful. So I found a flying bird template (here), printed it out the size I needed, and traced it on black construction paper. Then I traced around it, about 1/4" away from my original tracing. I cut along the outside line first, then along the inside line so I had a nice thick outline of the bird. I put it on the inside of a laminating sheet and my daughter filled it in with colorful tissue paper squares.

We didn't use any glue. Everything just sat on top of the laminating sheet. You can also use contact paper, but I like how the laminator makes it extra glossy. She covered the entire inside of the bird.

We didn't worry about staying inside the black outline because it was getting trimmed after it was laminated.

Only one side will have the black outline, but you could always use a Sharpie to draw in an outline on the other side. I didn't mind. I just made sure the outline was facing in when I hung them in the windows. I also decided to hang up the black bird that was cut from the middle. The display looked beautiful this morning!

Yes, that is a squirrel down there eating all the leftovers! And no, I didn't wash my windows before putting them up. Don't judge me! We ended up making a couple more today for the bottom windows as well. Hopefully we won't have any more feathered friends flying into our windows!