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!

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!

Candy Cane Reindeer

Here is a seriously simple reindeer craft my daughter and I made the other day. I got the idea from One Crafty Place, but changed it a bit. I cut out a reindeer head shape from brown construction paper, as well as two ears. My daughter glued them onto a green piece of paper. We left the top middle of the head open so we could put in a special treat!

Then she put on wiggle eyes and a red nose. Instead of a mint, we used a glitter gum drop foam sticker I had bought at Hobby Lobby awhile back. And for the antlers, we used Root Beer-flavored candy canes because they were brown (and yummy!).

I tucked the candy canes in and used a little tape to secure them. So fast, so easy, so sweet!

Happy Holidays!

Finger-Painted Candy Canes

I was trying to think of a toddler-friendly Christmas art project, and what's easier than finger painting, right? So I drew two candy cane shapes on each piece of card stock paper.

Then I used painter's tape to make stripes.

I put green and red paint on a plate and the kids used their fingers and hands to smear the paint all over the paper.

Even the youngest (20 months) was able to do this by himself and he loved it!

It's best to get all the white spaces covered in paint, but I let the kids stop whenever they wanted to. When they were done, I immediately pulled the tape off. It came off very well for the most part. There were a few times where it tore some paper off with it.

When the paint was dry, I cut out the candy canes.

Love them! And it was so quick and easy!

Rudolph Nylon Craft

When I was at my sister's house this past weekend to celebrate our family's Christmas, I noticed this really cute craft hanging on a door knob.

Her son had made it at school. I took a closer look and realized it was nylons stretched over a wire hanger! How cool is that? I knew I would not have enough time to collect old nylons and hangers for my whole class, so I made one with my daughter instead. But next year I'm totally going to do this with my class! I started with a pair of old nylons (or "old lady socks" as my nephew called them) and a wire hanger.

I stretched the hanger by pulling the middle part down. Then I pulled on the nylons. I ended up using both legs to make it a little darker. Then I tied them at the top.

My daughter dipped a big red pom pom in glue and put it on the tip of the hanger, where the nose would be. Then she added eyes cut from paper. I showed her where to put them.

For the antlers, I wanted to use handprints. But hers were a little too small!

So I traced my husband's hands and attached those to the top by the hook. They covered up the knot. I used masking tape on the back to hold them in place. Then I found some fun craft paper and made holly and berries from it. I helped Elise stick them on.

And here's how it looks!

I love how it already has a hanger. I hung it from a stocking holder for the pictures, but now it's on the door knob of our closet.

So cute!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Framed Ornaments Craft

When it came time to think of a holiday gift the kids could make for their parents, I remembered what they made last year.

I loved them! (You can read about them here.) I wanted to do something similar, but a little different. And I was looking around the room and saw our stained glass ornaments hanging from yarn in the windows.

Perfect! So this year we made ornaments.

Actually, I let the kids decide if they wanted to make trees or ornaments. This project takes several steps. I put the frames together for them ahead of time. I used jumbo craft sticks and glue dots. The kids decorated them with sequins. Then I cut squares from white card stock to fit the frame. The kids used blue watercolor to paint the square.

They also painted a strip of card stock with watered-down glue, added tissue paper squares, painted over them with the glue again and added a touch of glitter.

When they were dry, I flipped them over and drew on two triangles or three circles, depending on what the child wanted to make. Those who chose trees cut the triangles out themselves. I cut out the circles for those who wanted ornaments because the kids have a hard time cutting circles. For the ones that were making trees, I added some snow to the bottom of the blue watercolored square with extra white card stock. I just trimmed it to fit.

Then I glued on tiny trunks made from brown construction paper and the kids glued the trees to the square.

For the ornament craft, I left the whole background blue and the kids glued the circles on. They glued one on each side and one in the middle and put them at different heights. I set the frame on top of the square so they wouldn't put the circles too far over on the sides, but it wasn't glued on yet.

I used a clear ruler so I could see the exact middle of each circle and drew a line from the top of the circle up to the top of the frame. After having each child practice making a bow (an oval on one side of the line and an oval on the other side of the line), they made their bows on their craft. I glued the square to the frame using glue dots.

This year I added magnets on the back instead of ribbon for hanging. Still love how they turned out and I'm sure the parents will as well!

And speaking of gifts, my daughter has two college students who help out in her room at day care. I didn't want to forget about them this holiday season, but I also don't have a lot of money to spend. I love all the "mistletoe" gifts I've been seeing online so I decided to do that for them. I found a nail file, some foot scrub, nail polish and fuzzy slipper socks. I put them together in a little bucket that I found at Walgreens and added a tag from The Classy It Girl.

They turned out pretty cute!

Gingerbread Sweeties {Class Display}

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I've been crazy busy lately. I just stopped in to share my holiday class display. The kids decorated a gingerbread boy or girl with glitter glue and buttons.

They didn't make a head because I would be adding their own face!

Then they partnered off and colored a gingerbread house together.

I displayed everything in the hall with the title, The Holidays Are Sweeter With Friends!

I put their gingerbread person next to the house they colored.

Short and sweet! I'll be back soon to share the gifts the kids made for their parents!