Crafts
Creative Kids: Sidewalk Chalk Paint
With the warm weather just around the corner (it was in the 70’s here this past weekend). I want to share one of our family’s favorite outside crafts with you. Sidewalk Chalk Paint is super easy to make and can entertain the kids for hours. The sidewalk chalk paint can take the place of traditional chalk and is inexpensive to make at home. You can make whatever colors you want; we’ve done all the colors of the rainbow, including Charleston Green (which was requested by the girls).
We’ve had kids from 1 years old and up play with this neat paint and love it!
Sidewalk Chalk Paint
- 1/2 cup cold Water
- 1/2 cup Cornstarch
- Food Coloring
- Jumbo Muffin Tin
- Variety of Old Paint Brushes
Stir the cold water and cornstarch together until you have a smooth consistency. Mix in 3 to 6 drops of food coloring. Repeat the process until you have filled your muffin tin with a rainbow of colors. If you want to make less you can do 1/4 cup cold water and 1/4 cup cornstarch. You can make your sidewalk chalk paint darker by adding a few more drops of food coloring.
My niece Noelle and I were having fun doing her name together!
This works on any sidewalk or driveway, although smooth surfaces may be a little better. Our driveway is rough but the kids always have a blast doing this activity. When Jake’s sister and family was here a few months ago we did this activity with the kids.
Brina painted her name on the sidewalk
The sidewalk chalk paint will wash off your sidewalk or driveway and is safe for your grass and plants. If you have leftovers you can put them into empty yogurt containers and store them until the next time the kids are ready for sidewalk chalk paint. You may have to add a few drops of water if the paint has become a little dry but it should revive well after adding a little more water.
Creative Kids: Invisible Writing
The girls love to do crafts and all kinds of fun activities…..(so do I)! 🙂 As I was getting ready to leave for a few hours the other day I left a “secret” note on the girls bar stools. They didn’t realize it was a note because it was invisible . The night before the girls had asked if they could paint again soon so I decided that since the paints were going to be out anyway I might as well leave an invisible note for them to discover the next morning.
These invisible notes were a hit and super easy to do. Take a white piece of paper, write a message in white crayon, and have the kids paint over the letters to decode the message. Once the girls figured out it wasn’t just a plain white piece of paper on their bar stools they quickly decoded the message.
They decided it was pretty neat and the next spent hour writing invisible notes back and forth to each other. I love it when I start a fun activity and they run with it. Thankful that the girls get excited over the little stuff.
These would work really well for younger kids too. You could do a picture instead of a note as well.
Fresh Christmas Wreath
I DID IT!!!!! I made my first ever fresh Christmas Wreath and it actually looks……like a wreath! A friend hosted a Christmas Wreath get together recently and a bunch of us put together wreaths. At first I was not entirely sure why I was there….it seemed like all the women in attendance were crafty and have excellent decorating tastes and then me (the person who has been in the same house for 10 years and still doesn’t have curtains up, gulp).
I am thankful that Dee took the time to show me how to get started because without her guidance it would have been interesting I am sure. It was nice catching up with friends (some who I hadn’t seen in months) while I put together my wreath. It only took me a few minutes to get the base completed but as I was talking I continued stuffing more greens into the wreath and by the end this is what it looked like.
I am not really sure how or what I did but I was pleased that it at least turned out well enough to hang on the front door especially for a “not-so-crafty” person! Don’t get me wrong, I love crafts, its just mine rarely turn out looking like the picture or something I would want to hang on the front door!
It was a fun night of food, fellowship, and wreaths. I was shocked when I looked a my watch and several hours had gone by! Guess, its true “time flies when your having fun” or in this case catching up with friends and making wreaths. I am thankful for an opportunity to get together with some amazing women and for all the greenery people brought to share. There were piles of greens in the garage, kitchen, dining, etc…. I am not sure exactly where all my greens came from but they are beautiful and smell awesome. The only thing not fresh on the wreath is the berries. They did have fresh berries at the party, however, I was told they dry up and will drop on the floor so I decided to use the fake berries because they would not get tracked across the carpet.
Thanks Dee for hosting and for giving me a gentle shove out of my comfort zone to try something new. You’re a great teacher! I love having the fresh wreath on our front door! While I won’t be teaching professional wreath making classes any time soon I would be more comfortable putting together another one in the future after this experience.
Brina and Karlie were super excited to check out my wreath the next morning. When I opened the door and they saw it this was their first responses:
Karlie -“Wow, Mom that is beautiful!”
Brina – “The goats would LOVE to eat it!”
Love my girls, they know how to make my day so much brighter!
My first fresh Christmas Wreath hanging on the front door!
Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas
It’s that time of year again…..excitement is building and the countdown to the final days of Christmas draws nearer. This year we decided to spread the Holiday Cheer out at our house this year by doing the 12 Days of Christmas again. I did this last year and the year before; both years it was a huge hit!
Christmas morning can be so busy and this allows an opportunity to spread the fun over 12 days instead of packing everything into one day. Starting December 13th the girls will be able to open one a day with the last one being opened on Christmas Eve. The cost in the previous years was less than $20 total, including boxes and wrapping paper, however, we decided to add their “big” gift to this stack. Most of the gifts were bought on clearance over the past year and their big gift really wasn’t that much because we got a great deal on it. We did a joint stack for both of our girls, although you can choose to do a stack for each person.
12 Days of Christmas
- Day 1: Reindeer Christmas Socks (purchase last year after Christmas on clearance with rewards)
- Day 2: White Christmas Teddy Bear Shaped Soap (purchased last year after Christmas on clearance and with rewards)
- Day 3: “B” and “K” Candy Cane Striped Christmas Ornament for each girl (purchased last year after Christmas on clearance with rewards)
- Day 4: Christmas Stocking Sticker Craft (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 5: Two Colgate Kids Christmas Toothpastes (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 6: Two Christmas Games – Pin the Star on the Tree & Christmas Checkers (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 7: Christmas Bear Pez Dispensers and Pez Candy Packs (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 8: Disney Cars Christmas Spiral Notebooks (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 9: Gingerbread House Kit (purchased on clearance)
- Day 10: Princess and Frosty Hot Chocolate Tins Sets (found on clearance at Kmart and used gift card)
- Day 11: New Winter PJ’s for each to wear (picked up on sale)
- Day 12: New Digital Camera’s (purchased when it was on sale with Swagbucks gift cards)
Their cameras are their “big” items for Christmas this year. Jake and I decided to give them to the girls for the last day of their 12 Days of Christmas so they would have the cameras to use on Christmas Day. The girls are taking more and more pictures these days. The inexpensive, non-English digital cameras that we bought for them several years ago have held up remarkably well. Whenever their cameras are not working over the past several months they were asking to borrow mine to use so we decided to do a little research, save up (including earning Swagbucks) and get them a little better quality cameras this year since they both are showing a big interest in photography and creative writing. The cameras made my typical $20 or less 12 Days of Christmas gifts a little higher this year but since it included their big gift for the Holidays I am okay with that because they will be so excited to start using them. This time around we got the same camera, but in different colors to help keep track whose is whose without putting names on each camera.
Other Ideas for 12 Days of Christmas:
- Hair Accessories
- Facial Cleansers or Make Up – if you have a teenager just starting to wear makeup or want to update your collection my Mary Kay contact is doing a 12 Day of Christmas set! If your husband is looking for something awesome to get you he may want to contact Ann too.
- Socks or Tights
- Chapstick
- Socks
- Gloves or Scarf
- Card Game
- Construction Paper
- Markers or Crayons
- Matchbox cars
- Small Toys
- Baby Doll Clothes
- Christmas Underwear
- The ideas are endless!
I wrapped them in the original boxes or found ones around the house to put the items into. The Christmas paper was purchased on clearance and I used a coupon. Many of the items we purchased on clearance throughout the year and / or used CVS – ECBs and Walgreens – Register Rewards, Swagbucks Gift Cards or Coupons. I cannot remember the price for all the items but with the rewards it very reasonable price for 12 gifts and some days had multiple items in them.
We did a joint stack for our girls to save money, however, the items we picked match their individual interests (for example, the pj’s were themed to match each girls tastes). When the girls walked into the room and saw the stack of gifts they were super excited. Love seeing their faces and hearing their comments when they first see the stack.
Easy Snowflake Marshmallows
The girls loved having these marshmallows in their hot chocolate!
Yes, I know you can make fabulous homemade marshmallows, but if you are limited on time and resources this is a quick, easy, and fun food craft you can do with your kids. You only need 2 items to do these cute snowflake marshmallows (and you probably have these items in your kitchen already). The kids will LOVE these marshmallows in their next cup of hot chocolate!
Easy Snowflake Marshmallows
- 1 bag Large White Marshmallows
- 1 pair clean Kitchen Scissors
- Optional – Small Cookie Cutters
Take one large marshmallow and flatten it with a rolling pin (it doesn’t need to be completely flat just enough so you can cut it easily). Use your scissors to cut snowflake or other shape for your marshmallow. If you have small cookie cutters you can use those to cut out the shapes. You can do as many or few marshmallows as you like. Place the marshmallows on a serving platter and enjoy with your next cup of hot chocolate.
I did a mix of scissor and cookie cutter snowflakes. You can do snowflakes, stars, trees, or whatever shapes you want. The girls wanted to help, they did more of the cookie cutter ones but enjoyed experimenting with cutting the snowflakes with scissors. These are cute for a fun evening with the family or a get together with a larger group.
One of the super easy cookie cutter marshmallow treats the girls made! They ended up eating some of the snowflake outlines and the rest they used in their hot chocolates.
Snowflake melting in a mug of hot chocolate
Another cool “experiment” the kids can do with their snowflakes…..have them check out how much the snowflakes grow (expand) while in the hot chocolate! Take a tooth pick and carefully pull the marshmallow out of the hot chocolate after it has been in only 30 seconds or so (depending on temperature of your hot chocolate) and see how plump your snowflake looks now. The kids will LOVE it! 🙂
Creative Kids: Packing Peanut & Wallpaper Craft
Fun craft for the kids
There are many great uses for the styrofoam packing peanuts. Not only are the styrofoam packing peanuts used to protect items that are being stored or transported they can be a wonderful kids craft once they are no longer needed. The colorful ones are the most fun (at least according to the kids). You can also pick up a big bag of them at your local craft store.
When Jake’s sister and her family came to visit they spent one of their evenings here with friends. Their friends introduced them to this easy and entertaining craft for the kids. They brought home a baggie full of packing peanuts so I got out some wallpaper samples and the kids had a blast building all kids of items with the craft.
The kids used paint brushes and water to wet down the styrofoam peanuts. The wet peanuts would stick together and to the wallpaper like glue once they dried. They can use their imagination and build whatever they want. On the fireplace we had towers, houses, forts, pools and more fun stuff.
If your looking for a fun craft and have a few extra packing peanuts around you should try it.
Colortime Crafts and Markers – Promo Code for 15% Off All Orders
Are you looking for a great gift for a budding artist? Do you have a little one who loves to color? Colortime offers a large assortment of items to color from shirts, pillowcases, tote bags, backpacks, bandanas, headwraps, and more!
If you are looking for a neat gift for a kid or want to do a fun craft for a group of kids (Girl Scouts, Birthday Parties, Sunday School, VBS, etc…) Colortime has the perfect product for you. The kids can use their markers to color a variety of fun items.
Get 15% off all orders using Promo Code: 15USFG
Since 1990, over 5 million children and adults have loved creating t-shirts, pillowcases, backpacks, tote bags, bandannas, and more for parties, slumber parties, and scout meetings with our permanent fabric markers. We have provided our customers the opportunity to entertain their guests with a creative activity that becomes a permanent keepsake. Also, we are a licensed vendor of the Girl Scouts of America. Check out our wholesale program, great for your organizations.
More fun stuff from Colortime
- FREE Downloadable Coloring Pages from Colortime
- Join Colortime’s Birthday Club to get special incentives
Below is a great Christmas craft you can do with the kids!
Make sure you get 15% off your order by using Promo Code: 15USFG when you check out at Colortime!
A special thanks to U.S. Family Guide and Colortime for sponsoring this post. Any specific product information was provided by Colortime and U.S. Family Guide, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own. Blessings Multiplied will be receiving a free craft for this post.
Family Fun: Our Cousins Came for a Visit
Nano bugs play time
Earlier this year Jake’s sister and her family came to visit us. We had a blast spending some extra time with them. The kids played well together and we were able to squeeze in a lot of fun activities. Thankful for time spent with family.
Going for a ride on the go cart or “green monster” as the girls like to call it
It takes a team to change a baby doll diaper! 🙂
Yes, that is a snake in his hands!
Making litter bugs at Roper Mountain Science Center
Trying out a new game
A full hammock
Halloween Rice Krispie Treats
Green cat with a “K” on it….wonder who that one is for? We also found a purple cat with a “B” on it too! 🙂
While Grandma Penny and Great Grandma Willa were here visiting we made some delicious rice krispie treats. I made regular rice krispie treats and cut them out with Halloween (pumpkin, ghost, and cat) cookie cutters then the kids and Grandmas decorated them. It was a lot of fun making these tasty treats together.
Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treat
Someone ate a Black Cat…….Karlie!
Brina enjoying one of the rice krispie treats after she finished helping decorate!
Colorful pumpkin!
Spooky green rice krispie ghost!
Decorating rice krispie treats with Grandma Penny and Great Grandma Willa. The decorating team was MUCH faster than the cookie cutter, ha! 🙂
A plate full of decorated rice krispie treats!
Another tray full of pumpkins, ghosts, and cats…….
After the girls got a chance to taste test one cookie we sent some of the treats home with the Grandmas, 1 went into each of the girls lunches for the next day, and the rest we brought to Community Group to share with friends. This was a fun and easy Halloween activity for everyone to do.
Family Activities: 3 Big Pumpkins with 6 Different Faces!
One side of the pumpkins had a Mr. Potato Head type face on it! Karlie’s “serious” pumpkin, Grandma Penny & Great Grandma Willa’s “silly” pumpkin, and Brina’s “puppy dog” pumpkin! This side of the pumpkin took a lot less time to do. It was super easy and if you don’t want to mess with carving or cleaning out a pumpkin this is a great alternative. The girls loved picking out the pieces for their pumpkins and designing a face.We were super excited to have Grandma Penny and Great Grandma Willa come visit us for a few days in October. During their visit we were able to squeeze in a lot of fun activities. One of the activities was carving pumpkins! The girls had a blast hanging out with both Grandmas and have a lot of great memories of their time with us. Thankful that they were able to come visit us. 🙂
The other side of the pumpkins had the carved version on it which was perfect for the evening. Karlie’s “scary” pumpkin, Grandma Penny & Great Grandma Willa’s “cat” pumpkin, and Brina’s “happy” pumpkin sitting on the front porch.
The PROCESS……
Scooping out the pumpkin seeds
Gross……slimy pumpkin hands!
Karlie designed her own “scary” pumpkin face complete with eyelashes! She drew her face on a piece of paper and Jake helped her transfer it to her pumpkin. So proud of her scary pumpkin!
Brina wanted a “happy” pumpkin!
Trying to get Skip-A-Doo to pose with them in front of the pumpkins…..ha! Skipper wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I have to give them credit for trying to get her to cooperate for the picture!
The girls had a lot of fun doing the pumpkins with Grandma Penny and Great Grandma Willa. They thought it was neat having a “2 sided” pumpkin with different faces on each side. The jack-o-lantern that they carved was their night pumpkin and the silly faces were their day pumpkins. We used the pumpkins seeds to make 3 Seasoned Pumpkin Seed recipes. Did you carve or decorate pumpkins? I would love to see your pumpkins, feel free to post a link to your pictures in the comment section below!
