Valentine's Day cards, crafts and recipes

The Family Fun website always has really neat ideas for all things holiday. If you are looking for ideas, here is a link to all their Valentine's Day ideas.

For Valentine Day's past, we have made the sweet shovel (we filled it with stickers, little raisin boxes and a couple chocolate kisses) and the sweet for the sweet - naturally for my oldest son's friends. Both were a huge success. These are just two, there are many more really cute Valentine card ideas on their site, click here to see them.

In addition to the card ideas, there are also a ton of fun recipes, games and party ideas, which are not only fun for doing at home but also provide great ideas for those room mothers out there who are planning their child's classroom party.

Do you have other great website resources for fun Valentine card, craft and recipe ideas? Please share by commenting below!

Kelly's Art Easel: Homemade Card Trees and Advent Calendars

For December, I thought it would be fun to give you some create ideas for displaying your cards and creating advent calendars... homemade, easy, fun for all ages and inexpensive!

Tomato Cage Card Trees:
This craft is so easy and so functional! A unique way to display your holiday cards this season. I saw this in Real Simple magazine a while back and then again in this year’s Family Fun magazine. There are many variations, but here’s mine:

Materials:

• scissors
• tin foil
• cardboard
• tomato cage
• ribbon
• Binder clips or mini clothes pins
  

Instructions:

Get a tomato cage from a garden supply store (or if you’re lucky like me, on garbage day from your neighbors!)

Turn the cage upside down so the part you stick in the ground is up.


Either duct tape (Family Fun instructions) the tips together, or I just tied a little ribbon around the points to hold them together, much like the top of a tepee.


I then cut star shape (out a cereal box) and wrapped it in tin foil to make it silver. I left a bit extra to make a “pocket” for the points of the top of the tomato cage to hold the start in place.

I bought mini clothes pins, but mini binder clips also work. Use this to pin the cards to make the “branches”.

Next up, Advent Calendars!

I LOVE advent calendars and want to challenge myself to make a different one each year and this year I found 2 great ideas to share…

Christmas Tree Advent Calendar: Countdown to Christmas!

Materials:

• Download template from Family Fun here.
• Construction paper
• Clothes pins
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaners
• Scotch tape
• Markers/crayons
  

Instructions:

Cut out template and trace onto paper (we didn’t have enough construction paper, so I had my kids color copy paper and I used that instead).

Cut out the “cones”, right now they’ll just be 1/3 of a circle.

Put a thin line of elmer’s glue on one side of the circle third.

Roll carefully into a cone and then use a clothes pin to hold the cone together until the cone dries.

Repeat this again with either 12 or 24 cones (depending on how long you want to countdown until Christmas).

Next, fold paper like an accordion and draw some stars. Cut them out and write on each one the days numbered, 1-24 etc.

Cut a piece of pipe cleaner into about 1-2 in. pieces and tape to the back of each star.

Once the cones are dry, remove the clothes pins and place the pipe cleaner end into the top hole of the cones.

Don’t forget to place some treats under each tree. Some ideas are candy, little toys, handmade coupons (good for a hug, 10 minutes of tv, etc.) and anything else you can fit!

I display my calendar on a serving tray, so I may move it off the table for mealtimes.

;) ENJOY!

Here’s one more easy idea, from Family Fun, for an advent calendar that uses photos of doors you cut from magazines! Click here for the instructions.

I hope you and your kids have fun making these projects AND enjoying them all month! Happy holidays!

~Kelly

~~~~~

Check out Kelly's Etsy store here. Or you can find her on Facebook here.

Kelly's Art Easel - Countdown to Thanksgiving Turkey Centerpiece

COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING TURKEY CENTERPIECE

Create a memento of this holiday season, while appreciating with your kids everything they’re thankful for, with this fun centerpiece turkey.



Materials:

• Construction paper
• Cardboard
• 2 styrofoam balls *1 large (cantaloupe size) and 1 small (softball) size
• Scissors
• Elmer’s glue
• Orange pipe cleaner
• Popsicle (craft) sticks
  
  

Directions:

1) Stick a popsicle stick into the smaller of the stryofoam ball. Then stick the other end of the popsicle stick into the larger ball to form the body with the head toward the top.
2) Cut an orange pipe cleaner in half and bend it to look like a turkey foot. I cut a 2 inch piece off each end, formed a letter "V” and then wrapped it around the end to create the three “toes”.

3) Stick the ends into the bottom front of the ball to balance the body upright on the table.

4) Cut out eyes and glue (or glue on googly eyes).

5) To make the turkey’s beak, fold a piece of orange construction paper in half and draw a “tear” shape with the large part of the tear on the folded end. Cut out so the there's a folded beak that opens. Tape a small piece of orange pipe clear to the back and insert into the face of the turkey.

6) Don’t forget the “wattle” that red thingy that hangs from the beak!

7) Fold a piece of cardboard, draw a “wing” shape and cut it out so that you have 2 identical wings. Glue a craft stick to the back of the wings, leaving about an inch of the popsicle stick exposed.

8) Use these ends to insert into either side of the turkey’s body (large Styrofoam ball).

9) Next, fold the yellow, red, orange construction paper (so you can make several at once) and draw a “feather” shape. Cut out at least 25. If you only do one per day till thanksgiving that’s all you need, but feel free to add more! ;)

10) With a thin line, draw a line of glue on a popsicle stick and glue to each feather leaving about an inch of the stick out the bottom.

11) Every night, during dinner, as a family or take turns, write on a feather something that you’re thankful for and then insert into the tush of the turkey. (You can jump start your thankful turkey's feathers on the first night by asking each person at dinner to say something they are thankful for, so you start with multiple feathers instead of just one).

Then, for thanksgiving you have a great centerpiece and also talking piece (of thanks!) for the big feast!

Here are a couple other variations and other directions for this Countdown to Thanksgiving Turkey Centerpiece which I found here, here and here.

And here’s a super cute idea from another mom of twins that I just love: A popcorn turkey centerpiece!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

~ Kelly

Kelly's Art Easel - Egg Carton Creepy Eyes (and pinecone spider)

This is a fun Halloween inspired project for many different age groups. I actually completed my project with my 2 year old twins and a friend’s 3 year-old.

Enjoy!

Egg Carton Creepy Eyes:

Materials:

• Egg Carton (cardboard works best, as some paint may crack off the Styrofoam, but either will work)
• Assorted pipe cleaners
• Scissors
• Acrylic (or similar) project paint
• Paint shirts/smocksFeathers, paper, or anything else to add to your “eyes”

I cut the egg carton to form 6 pairs of “eyes"


Next, I cut holes for the “eyes” so the kids could look through them like goggles.

Then, I set the kids loose with some paint and paint brushes. (I love using old plates to hold the paint.

They painted their “eyes”. For the age group I did it with (2 and 3 year olds), it works best if you help hold the "eyes" while they paint. But the older the child, the more they can do and the more intricate and creative they can be.

Jack made zombie eyes, I made cat eyes, and my friend Lauren made Egyptian eyes.

There are tons of possibilities as each carton makes 6, make a few pairs!


Pine Cone Spiders:

We had a bunch of left over pipe cleaners from the “creepy eyes” project, and we have lots of pine cones in our yard, so we also made this very easy and very clean project!

All you need for each spider is four pipe cleaners and a pine cone.

We wrapped a pipe cleaner around the middle of the pine cone, twisted it to hold it in place and then bent the ends to create a pair of “legs”. We then repeated that three more times to form all eight legs.

I used them to make a centerpiece, but they’d also make a great mobile or even hanging from a tree!

Happy Halloween!

If you have any suggestions or requests for future Kelly's Art Easel columns, please comment below or email (columbusmultiples@gmail.com). As well, if you have any art questions for yourself or your little ones, let me know!

~Kelly

Art Project: Recycled Jar Jack O'Lanterns and Glowing Monsters Jars!

A super cool art project for making Jar Jack O'Lanterns and glowing monster jars out of used jars (spaghetti sauce, jelly, mayo, pickles, salsa, or whatever!). A great way to recycle those jars, decorate for Halloween and have a fun activity for you and your child of any age!

~~~~~~~~~

Instructions and photos found at instructables.com

By kellybasinger

Recycled Jar Jack O'Lanterns!

I love to reuse my spaghetti sauce jars to create these beautiful pumpkin lights for All Hallow's Eve! You can use different size jars to make a spooktacular display!

Ingredients:

• Glass jar
• Orange tissue paper
• Black construction paper
• Green acrylic paint
• Decoupage glue
• Paint brush
• Scissors

Optional: other things to decorate, a hammer and nail to punch holes in the lid if you want to use the lid but light the candle inside.

Recipe:
Tear orange tissue paper and place glue in an easy to use container. You will be applying the tissue and glue with one hand and the other will be inside the jar.

If your hand is small enough, insert your non-dominant hand inside the jar and then use the other hand to coat the jar with decoupage glue. Lay the strips of orange paper over the jar. Glue and place the paper until the entire surface is covered. Go over the entire surface of the jar with one more thin layer of glue.

Allow to dry for a few hours. In the mean time, create your face with the black paper. When the orange layer is completely dry, glue the black paper on and decorate as you wish.
If you want, you can either paint the lip of the jar green for the stem or punch holes in the jar lid and paint that green. Either works fine!
When the jack o'lantern is completely dry (give it 24 hours after the last coat of glue) place a candle inside and light or place electric lights inside and plug in! Either one gives the pumpkin a lovely glow!

There are great step by step instuctions on notsoidlehands.com using this "recipe".

~~~~~~~~~

Glowing Monster Jars

A variation of the Jar Jack O'Lanterns, these monsters are super fun. They can be found at notsoidlehands.com. She also included, in that post, an image of the faces which you can cut out and use.

Kelly's Art Easel - Fall Leave Prints

This is a fun project that allows you to incorporate nature and art. It's a perfect fall project and gives your children (and you) a unique wearable (t-shirt) afterwards. This project can be done with children of any age. For the young ones, like mine, you might need to assist more. However for each age range, children can customize these shirts to their skills, even making cool collages, shapes and words with their nature art.

Fall Leave Prints

Materials:

• plastic baggies (for collecting leaves)
• leaves
• masking tape
• large sheets of paper (place mat size is best)
• acrylic paint (or similar paints for fabric/paper)
• t-shirts
• art smocks (or old shirts of daddy's)
• small plates (or something else flat to put paint on for printing)
  

How to: We completed this project with our friends Elaina and Miles who are 2 and 1/2 (Rhys & Kyle are 2 yrs old).

We started by giving each child a plastic baggie and then we went and collected sticks and leaves from around the neighborhood. Flowers are great for this project as well, if you can find them! While we were walking, we named different things we saw and collected the items we wanted in our bags. We tried to only take things off the ground and not remove them from the trees.

Once we finished collecting, we brought them back where Shana (Elaina's and Miles' mom) and I had taped down large sheets of practice paper. We also had filled small plates (cake/dessert plates) with a small amount of acrylic paint that we spread out on the plate so it was flat. For this project, we spread out six different paint colors thinly onto six plates. Let your children put the used leaves into different colors, which will mix the paint nicely for cool color combinations. Once we had the paint ready, we showed the kids how to take a leaf, stick or flower and to dip it into the paint. The key is smearing the paint around the entire shape (of the object) as even as possible. Too much paint makes for a sloppy prints because it moves, just think about stamping with ink - the less ink, the better the print. Once our objects were covered, we pressed it onto the paper, having the kids help. They were amazed when we pealed it off to reveal the shape in paint on the paper. Our kids were able to mimic what we did with some help from us spreading out the paint on the shape and pressing it onto the paper. Of course, finger painting was added, which is fun and fine (and great for sensory)!

Once we "practiced" on the paper and the kids got the hang of it, we went to the t-shirts. I used Hane's t-shirts (which are currently buy 2 get one free at Hane's.com)! Note: it does help to place a piece of cardboard inside the shirts so there's a firm background on which to press. I used the backs of old notebooks, and another idea is boxes (like a cereal box) cut to size. Once the shirts were prepped and ready, we used the same process as above to stamp the t-shirts with the leaves, sticks, flowers, etc. that we had collected. The kids enjoyed being creative with their t-shirt nature stamping. Note: the shirts will need at least 24 hours to dry before wear and I'd suggest 48 hours before washing.

Bonus craft: we loved the practice paper stamping pieces so much that we laminated them for great fall place mats!

Have fun and enjoy!

If you have any suggestions or requests for future Kelly's Art Easel columns, please comment below or email (columbusmultiples@gmail.com). As well, if you have any art questions for yourself or your little ones, let me know!

Kelly

Special thanks to Shana and her twins for trying this project with us! ;)