Our Family Rocks

I know..another cheesy title... what can I say. So, the girls wanted to go into the woods and find rocks to paint. They came back with about 6 rocks a piece, but I helped them narrow it down to 3 each. So we just got out all the paint, glitter, yarn, pom poms and anything else we could find. I didn't bother to add a materials list since anything goes!

                                                             This was the result:

This was a great project. It got the kids outside (which gives me 5 minutes of alone time...), and of course the rocks were free! What could be better? Here is a word of warning though, I did find the left over rocks that we didn't paint in with all of Z.'s hair bows. I think she was trying to still dress them up. So, you might want to throw your "extra rocks" back outside :)

More with Maps

First it was V. and me, but now we have another one..Little Z. She just came to live with us this week, so we haven't had much crafting time. I have to admit, this craft I did on my own because it took a little more attention to detail (and my two mini divas are very random). I hope to do something crazy with paint and glitter this weekend....we'll see how much stamina I have on Saturday.

I still had lots of maps and wanted to do one more project with them. This was the end result:

Supplies: 

Block of wood

Paint

Modge Podge

Letters -I got these at Michaels for 50 cents a piece

Old Maps

Scissors

Glue Gun

Steps: I found an old block of wood in the garage and painted it blue. While the blue paint was drying, a put the letters on the maps and traced them. 

Step 2: I used the Modge Podge and glued the maps to the letters. 

Step 3: After the letters dried, I painted the edges a dark blue color. 

Step: After everything dried, I glued the letters to the block of wood and Voila! 

I display this next to our travel pictures frames. It was fairly easy and is a great memory of our various travels. 

"Can" We Build A Snowman

Cheesy title, I know. So I hate throwing things away...especially if I can reuse them. We had a huge sweet potato can and a smaller condensed milk can. They seemed like the perfect pair to make a snowman. We also used a toilet paper tube to make his hat. I have to admit that this project took a little bit of time because all the paint had to dry, but it was pretty easy. I also had all the materials laying around so I didn't have to make trip to the store.

Supplies: 

2 cans

two tubes of white paint

1 orange tube of paint

3 small foam brushes

1 tube black paint

black construction paper

toilet paper tube cut in half

buttons

scrap of material

2 twigs

glue gun

1 kabob stick

Step 1: We painted both cans. They needed a thick coat. If you can see the silver through the first coat, it may require a second one. 

Step 2: While waiting for the cans to dry, we painted the t.p. tube black. I then broke the tip off of the kabob stick and painted it orange.

Step 3: After everything dries, glue the small can on top of the large can. Decorate the rest of your snowman by gluing on buttons and the orange kabob stick. I tied the scrap of material around the small can. It could be glued, but I didn't think it was necessary. I then glued on the twigs for arms. 

Step 4: To make the hat, cut the black construction paper to fit the top and a large circle for the bottom of the t.p. tube. Glue both circles on the tube. Next glue the hat on. 

Now you have an amazing recycled snowman that will never melt!

Kickin' Winter Blues with Crafts

This is that time of year when my daughter, V. can't play outside as much as she would like....so we have to find other fun projects and activities for us. Since we both love to paint, we created this simple snowman canvas. It took about 15 minutes to complete and 2 hours to dry. I have to admit that I am terrible at taking pictures of all the steps of the process since we are usually up to our elbows in glue, paint, or glitter. So, I will briefly explain and I think you'll get the idea.

Supplies:

8x10 Black Canvas- A.C. Moore $8.99 (We used our weekly 40% off coupon)
1 tube of white acrylic paint
1 tube of black acrylic paint
Small twig
2 -3 colorful buttons
2 Small foam brushes
1 artist's paint brush
Glue gun

Step 1: We painted the snowman with the foam brush. We did not trace it or anything fancy, we just painted 3 circles.

Step 2: We used the artist's brush to paint the word "snow". We did it free hand, but you could always print letters from the computer, cut them out, trace, and paint.

Step 3: I dipped the end of the artist's brush in the white paint and dabbed on the canvas for the snow.

Step 4: After letting the paint dry, I used the glue gun to put the twig for the arm and the buttons. I then dabbed the end of the foam brush in the black paint and painted the snowman's eyes and mouth. Buttons could be used for the eyes and nose as an alternative.

All done! This was an inexpensive and easy project. We put it in our living room, but it could also be a gift.