This project is bright and cheery and ridiculously easy to make! All the supplies can be purchased at a Dollar Store so its super inexpensive too!
You will need:
- cork
- bright pompoms (plan for 40 per coaster)
- ruler
- scissors
- hot glue gun
- hot glue sticks
Gather your supplies!
Initially I used a roll of cork but its too light and curvy (you can see in the photo above that it doesn’t lie flat) so use the 12 inch by 12 inch cork square tiles and cut it to the size you like. I cut mine to 4 inches by 4 inches.
Attach the Pompoms with hot glue. Watch your fingers kids!
My coaster took nearly 40 pompoms and didn’t have enough the same size. You want them to be fairly consistent so your cup of coffee isn’t tippy on the coaster. Fill in any gaps with smaller ones so you can’t see the cork.
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The colors are quite cheery on this grey February morning! It makes me smile every time I look at it!
This would make a great gift for your 10 year old to make and give. I hope you have had fun with color and this very jolly craft!
Remember to pin it on Pinterest or share it with your social media networks.
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Painted Ceramic Bowls – Paint Your Own Dishes Your Way!
Hand Painting your own dishes is so easy! I had no idea you could just write or paint a message on a dish and bake it and you have a personalized dish, vase, mug… You can buy plain bowls and mugs anywhere. These were from Dollar Tree for $1.25.
I had so much fun painting the first 4 bright colored designs I sent out the hubby and kids to get us another 4 so we could all decorate our own!
In the paint section of your craft store there is several kinds of paints that can use on glass and ceramics. You can choose from pots of paint like the photo above or pens/markers.
Multi-surface pens are also found in the paint section. They can be used for writing on metal, ceramic, glass etc. The pens cost approximately $5.99. I purchased one black one.
The pots of paints cost more….$20 if I remember correctly. But I had a 40% off coupon so I got one that has 18 small pots of “Brights” paint in the kit by Craft Smart.
You will need:
- Multi-Surface Pens and Paint
- Art Paint Brush
- Plain Dishes
- Toothpicks
- Oven
I mentioned to have some toothpicks handy because each little pot will need to be stirred after opening.
Decorate the bowls in whatever style you wish.
Just a word of caution, the marker dries immediately, where as, the paint in the pots could be wiped off if you realized you needed to fix it. Holding the bowl while painting is tricky-you really need to watch that you don’t smear it.
Here I am dipping the end of a paintbrush to make perfect dots.
“Craft Smart” Paint says:
Durable, weather-resistant satin paint. Excellent adhesion on glass ceramics, wood, metal, rigid plastic, fabric, canvas, paper and terra cotta. (Well doesn’t that just bring 100 projects on the to do list to your mind)
Directions: Water-base, apply 1-2 coats until desired coverage is achieved. For glass or ceramics, first clean surface with alcohol. For top rack dishwasher-safe finish: Let paint cure for 72 hours. Place in a cool oven, heat to 350 degrees F (176C) for 30 mins. Cool in oven.
So you waited 72 hours right?
Then you can put the bowls in the cool oven and turn on the stove to 350 degrees. After the 30 mins is done, turn off the oven and allow to cool in the stove before moving.
I know I’m being repetitive but you gotta follow the instructions. If your paint is another brand follow what it says to do.
This super cool project does require some time. If you are planning to put a message on a vase you are bringing flowers in to an anniversary party on Saturday you need to plan ahead and paint it by Wednesday to let it cure for 2 days and then bake…and cool.
Also, it doesn’t say this is “food safe”. So I wouldn’t put it on the inside of the bowls, mugs and middle of plates your eating off of. Maybe I’m being over cautious….I like to be on the safe side.
Now we have a cereal bowl personalized for everyone!
I loved this project and now I want to do more! Next Dog Bowls!
Please pin this or share it with your social media friends.
Felt Knee Patch – Little birds Cover Holes in Pants
These are way cuter than the big rectangle patches I had to patch up the holes in my pants when I was a kid. Trust me! In my frugal family, growing up with 4 sisters, holes were mended, socks were darned…things were not thrown out if they got a hole they were put in the mending basket-next to the sewing machine. Every item of clothing was in the process of being a hand-me-down and would be again as soon as we had outgrown it.
I love felt! Its so easy to create an applique just for fun but if your kiddo has a hole in her pants its a fast way to patch it up. Choose a shape and colour and sew it on. Yellow stars, red hearts are classic but if you want to get more complicated then do so. Layers of flowers tempted me on this project but then I remembered she might be in gym class on her hands and knees and be wishing I didn’t put little beads on it.
So I chose a simple bird for these leggings. There was only a hole in one knee but I thought they should match. One looked lonely.
I drew a very easy bird on paper so I could cut out the pattern easily. It looks like a big paisley with a small paisley for a wing and a triangle beak. Normally a little bead would make a great little eye for the bird but I was thinking of her crawling on her knees and that could hurt so I just cut a little circle and used a knot in the thread to make it look like an eye.
As soon as I had Miss M put the freshly mended pants on she noticed there was still a hole on her bum. Hmm….I hadn’t noticed that…good thing I made extra birds… This would look really cute on the back pocket of some jeans!
Family Self Portrait Painting by Everyone – So original!
Family Self-Portrait Painting – The whole family made together!
Years ago I had this calendar that had really nice pictures in it of fabric birds and butterflies. I thought the photos were so nice that I would cut them out for card making or something….I just didn’t know what.
One day I came across the file folder and clippings and a light bulb came on! Maybe I could use it on mixed up painting/collage of sorts, and it would decorate our play area. I got a big white canvas…..dimensions 20 inches by 39 inches but you could make this much smaller…an 8 x 10 maybe…using sharpies instead of paint brushes…
First, I started out by drawing the circles for the heads and then had each family member decide how to draw their face and hair and body. After Miss M…quite an artist and then only 3 years old….after she drew my body for me quite sideways I had a bit of correcting to do.
Mommy was going through a bit of a hippy fashion stage so we painted me in a poncho and typical clothes I though I was pretty hip. Daddy likes soccer, the color green and hates dandelions which I actually like…so that is why the we have yellow dots on the ground. Tee Hee!
Miss B was taking classical guitar at the time so we painted that in and Miss M’s favorite stuffy…Hello kitty! Also we had a hamster named Happy Homer so he is in the window of our house. M loves sunflowers and I like crafts made out of tin-foil (so shiny!) so I put that in the path.
I actually could have added all sorts of things from the craft cupboard to make this even more interesting but I think the family lost interest. Cotton ball clouds, gold glitter glue on the sun….the pink roof could you sunflower seeds for texture…
Marshmallow Snowman Edible Winter Craft Project
What a fun winter project to do with the kids! Snowmen made out of marshmallows!
What a fun winter project to do with the kids! Snowmen made out of marshmallows!
This post should probably be divided into 2 sections. The tidy marshmallow family made with toothpicks and icing gel. Or part 2 the crazy looking marshmallow family that was tipping over because of all the candy stuck to them. Much like a making a gingerbread house the second family though a bit ugly was very fun and creative to make….and nibble on.
Marshmallow Snowman Part 1
For this you just need marshmallows, toothpicks and Wilton’s decorating Gel in black and orange.
This is so easy! Just use toothpicks to connect the marshmallows. Draw on dots for the eyes, mouth and buttons, draw on stick arms (optional) and use the orange for the carrot nose.
It takes a few hours for the gel to set so try not to move them right away.
Marshmallow Snowman – Part 2
This time it was much more of an adventure – trying different things to see what would work.
I happen to have 3 sizes of marshmallows in the house-which never normally happen since I only buy one bag of them once a year at camping time for roasting on the campfire and s’mores. But we just made 2 batches of rice crispy squares for a class goodbye party for my daughter’s teacher.
So gather up the supplies, marshmallows, skittles, pretzel arms, gold coins/pepperment patties etc. for hat, toothpicks to hold the body together, licorice and chocolate chips. I walked through the local bulk supply store and looked for things you would use for gingerbread house-like their icing for gluing buttons on.
The chocolate hat made this guy very top heavy. For the gal on the left I ate a chocolate cup and turned the foil into her hat. Eating the snacks along the way is a bit of a problem when you only bought a few of this and a few of that. Tee hee….
Other snowy projects to try….
Clothes Pin Snowman – Make Easy Kids Craft
It’s the adorable pompom nose that really got me wanting to make this quick and easy children’s craft. Paint a clothes pin white and start building a snowman.
Gather up your usual basket of crafts. You’ll need pipe cleaners or a bit of yarn for the scarves. Clothes pegs, paint brushes, white paint, a black sharpie and little scraps of black paper or felt for the hat.
Paint your clothes pegs white and wait at least an hour for drying time.
Cut off a bit of yarn or half of a pipe cleaner and tie your snowmen a cozy scarf. Take your black marker and make his coal eyes , mouth and buttons.
Take your black marker and make his coal eyes , mouth and buttons. One of my snow men felt he wanted to dress it up a bit and put on some small rhinestones. Glue on the pompom noses. I thought originally that they should be orange noses for a carrot but my craft kit only had one orange one left.
Finally I put on some little hats to finish off the outfit. Super cute kiddie craft!
Make a Felt Pizza Toy in minutes – No sew
How to make an easy, no-sew felt pizza! It’s super easy and fun to make with very little skill needed. Since kids are always trying to imitate parents in the kitchen this will be a hit!
You will need felt in the following colours:
- 1 tan/light brown for the crust
- 1 red for pizza sauce
- 1 white/cream for mozzarella cheese
- dark red for pepperoni
- green for peppers
- grey for mushrooms
- pink for ham
- black for olives
- yellow for pineapple
- orange for extra cheese
- PLUS – bowls and plates to trace for big circles
- marker
Cream Felt-Pizza Crust: Trace a large bowl or plate for your crust.
Bright Red Felt-Pizza Sauce: Using a plate or bowl slightly smaller than the last one, cut a slightly smaller circle.
White Felt-Mozzerella Cheese: Cut the cheese…tee hee…out of a piece of white felt. Trace a slightly smaller plate or bowl than the piece of pizza sauce red felt.
Dark Red Felt-Pepperoni: Cut 6 circles tracing something small like a vitamin bottle.
Grey/Beige Felt-Mushrooms: Draw a mushroom shape and cut it out. Cut 5 mushrooms.
Green Felt-Peppers – It looks like a wiggly square, then outline it again and cut it out. Cut 4 peppers.
The rest of the toppings are up to you….
Black Felt-Olives: Cut a small circle and trace it a second time. Cut 8 olives.
Orange and White Felt-Grated Cheese: Cut long rectangles for some shredded cheese on top. Cut 6 of each.
Pink Felt Squares-Ham: Cut into squares-6 pink ham squares will be enough.
Orange/Yellow-Pineapple: This begins a great debate about whether you should have pineapple on a pizza. I’m for it! Hawaiian Pizza is my favorite. If you feel the same cut 6 pineapple pieces.
Store your pizza pieces in a large ziplock bag.
Clothes Peg Caterpiller Easy Craft for Kids!
This caterpillar is such an easy project with just a clothes pin googly eyes, white glue or hot glue gun (for heavens sake choose the hot glue-for everyone’s sanity) and pom poms.
This clothes peg caterpillar craft is such a cute little project. It reminds me of a set of little pom-pom fridge magnets my grand parents had on their fridge. Their names were Henry and Henrietta. They were just as simple, pom poms and googly eyes and a fridge magnet glued on to the back.
You will need small pom poms and a big one for his head. Five or so small pom poms for his body and nose, googly eyes and glue.
It turns out that gluing pom poms takes a lot of glue and they are still not on tight. Its a frustrating project. So if you are working on this with a toddler when they have lost interest move it aside and at nap time hot glue the pieces on firmly. If you glued magnets to the clothes pin you’d have a cute fridge magnet.
I think he looks very smart! He’s a clothes pin so he could be holding up artwork that is trying from a clothes line.
He kind of reminds me of the very hungry caterpillar book.
Snowman Craft – Use a sock and rice! Super Fun Craft!
Looking for a sweet and easy craft project? This sock snowman is adorable and so easy for any crafting skill level. Grab your crafting kit and the lost sock basket on the dryer and we are ready to make this snowman project!
You will need: a white sock, a colored sock for the hat, 1 hat pom pom and 2 orange pom poms, a few buttons, 4 cups of rice (more if you want a big one or less if you want is smaller), elastics or yarn to tie off the rice, glue gun, black permanent marker, pink marker or highlighter.
I made a funnel using a piece of cardstock and placed it inside the white sock. When you have it to the size you like tie it off with an elastic. Pour more rice into the sock to make the head for the snow-lady.
Draw dots for eyes and mouth with the black permanent marker. Glue buttons down her front. Tie a ribbon for her scarf-I used a scrap of bias tape from my sewing basket. Now you’ll need to make a carrot shaped nose. I glued 2 orange pom-poms together with a dab of hot glue and then trimmed it into the shape of the carrot. I thought it turned out pretty well. The hat is made out of the other colored sock. Just trim off a few inches from the toe area and roll it up once or twice. Hot glue a pom pom on the top.
And that is how you do it! Pretty easy project the kids will enjoy making and a good gift for Grandma’s kitchen window.
I wonder if you could put him in the freezer and use him as a cold compress for the kids boo boos…..just a thought.
Decorating wooden memory or jewellry boxes. Easy Craft!
Pick up some plain wood boxes from the craft store or dollar store and paint gives it a make over! Jewelry box or memory box whatever you want to use it for!
You will need:
- A wooden box
- Craft Paint
- Paint Brushes
- Stick on Gems
- Clear Coat Polyurethane Spray or in a Paint Tin (Optional)
Start by peeling off all the price tags and labels. Choose the theme of your box. I love the cool whites but today we were feeling jazzy! My girls and I decided on bright colors…… pink, red, purple, navy blue and turquoise.
My box had a window to see the treasures inside so I painted the interior of the box also.
Protect your table because this can get messy!
This box got stripes on the top and color blocking for the bottom turquoise and the lid rim got a splash of red paint. Literally…LOL.
It looks a mess in the photo above but check out a sneak peak of her final results!
My 8 year old artist decorated this one. Using the gorgeous gem stickers (from the Dollarstore) distracts the eye from areas she colored outside the lines. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s get back to decorating it!
It’s completely up to you if you would like to pain the inside or not.
My favorite technique for adding dots is to dip the tip of the handle into the white paint and dot it on the box. Clusters of dots and curves of white dots.
After this dried I put a clear coat of polyurethane on the boxes just to make it a bit shiny and smoother for me to wipe and dust. You can skip this step if you don’t have it or put it on later. You can get it in a spray paint or a short tin of paint. If you decide to put on the clear coat it wont take much varnish or time since this project is small. You could do the inside of the box too while your at it.
After the memory box is dry, we got out the sequins! These came as stickers with glue on the back. This is such a great cheat compared to gluing each one on.
I was really pleased with how it turned out.
What a great time we 3 had decorating these!
Candy Box
My Miss M. plans to hide candy in her box. She is often given a treat by friends and not allowed to have it right away. Now she can put it in her box.
Treasure Box
Miss B. plans to keep special mementos in her box. She has photos and tickets and trinkets she wants to keep for happy memories.
Love Letter Box
I told them I planned to put love letters in mine and Miss B said “Mom no one writes letters anymore!” Shocking! Well fortunately my daughters do still write me love letters and their daddy does every now and again too.
Thanks for reading this! Leave a comment or pin this to pinterest.
