Let’s get started with the items that you will need to make these:

Terra Cotta Pot (any size), foam paint brushes, small paint brush and then some acrylic craft paint in pink, light green, kelly green and black.  Red paint would also be a great choice if you like that look better instead of pink.

Start by taking a foam brush and painting the bottom part of the pot with the pink paint.  Let completely dry.  Paint another coat if needed.

Paint the rim of your pot with the Kelly green paint and let dry again.

Add some light green paint on the rim to make it look like a watermelon rind. 

Last but not least, it’s time to make the watermelon seeds.  Use your small paintbrush and black paint and dot away!

Let all paint completely dry and then you are ready to plant.  You can plant flowers but we love the look that the succulents make in these Watermelon Flower Pots.

These are fun to  put in kids bedrooms because succulents are so easy to take care of but they also make great gifts!

More fun crafts:

Clothes Pin Bird Craft

Coffee Filter Butterflies

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Hello TGIF Readers! We’ve got a fun printable for you today with this Patriotic Paper Chain.  A paper chain is one of the most easiest craft that a child can do.  At Christmas time, they are a favorite to decorate a homemade Christmas tree.  Why not for a patriotic holiday?

For the best quality, print this printable at a copy store on photo paper.  Your colors will be much more bright like in these photos.

Grab some kids scissors and a stapler.  You can also use a glue stick but that will take a little time to dry.  Cut out all of your strips.

Start making your loops and alternate between the stars and the stripes.  Staple or glue together.

Now you have a darling paper chain that you can hang up as a garland around the house.  I love the red, white and blue that makes it look so festive! 

Download Patriotic Paper Chain Down HERE

More patriotic craft ideas:

Bomb Pop Cookies

4th of July Firecrackers

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The items needed for this craft are toilet paper tubes or paper towel tubes cut in half, red, white and blue tissue paper, red, white and blue pipe cleaners and some patriotic ribbon, then lots of treats as a filler.  We used small candies but you could also put in small toys or balloons. Anything goes that would fit in the tubes.

Cut your tissue paper into about 10 inch squares.  You will want 2-3 layers of whatever color you are working with.

Roll your tube around the tissue paper.  You can either glue with a glue gun (with supervision if you have little kids!) or Elmer’s glue works also but will take a little longer time to dry.

Cut some of your pipe cleaners into smaller pieces and wrap these around the bottom of the tissue paper.  Twist tightly and then put the pipe cleaner into the end of the tube to hide it.  Don’t cut all of your pipe cleaners though.  You’ll  need some longer ones later.

Now fill your tubes with all of the goodies that you have gathered.

You can decorate the outside of your 4th of July Firecrackers by gluing on some ribbon but I think that some patriotic stickers would also look cute!

To close your tube, wrap a full length pipe cleaner around the top of the tissue paper and twist tightly. Make the pipe cleaner curly by wrapping it around a pencil.  We also fashioned a star popping out of the top.

Now you are ready for any 4th of July party with these fun poppers! Kid love cracking them open to find their surprises! 

Thank you to How Does She for a great patriotic kids craft!

Need a little more patriotic spirit?  Try out these crafts!

Kids Teeshirt              Popsicle Stick Flag

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I love this state in the Spring because it has the most beautiful flowering trees.  There is even somewhat of a state song that is called “Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Trees” and it truly does looks like popcorn all over our trees in the spring. What better time to make a Tissue Paper Flower Bracelet for the little girls in your life.  My granddaughters loved them!

To get started you will need tissue paper in a bunch of different colors, pipe cleaners, a single hole punch, some beads and baubles with a big enough hole that a pipe cleaner can be pushed through and some scissors.

Instructions:

1.  Stack a bunch of small tissue paper sheets together. The order of your colors will determine how your flower will look.  We recommend stacking 15-20 layers.  More layers make for a fuller flower.

2. Cut out a circle about 3″ in diameter.  You can make them smaller or bigger depending on the size of your child’s wrist.

3.  Punch two holes in the middle of the circles and line up the punches as close as possible.

4.  Take the pipe cleaner and thread it through the two holes. Have the same length of pipe cleaner on each side.

5.  Twist the pipe cleaner in the back.

6.  Now it is time to make your flower bloom!  Take the top layer of tissue paper and give it a little crumple.  Follow this process with every layer.

7.  Thread your beads onto each side of the pipe cleaner. Put on enough for the size that you need but leave some room at the end so you can twist the pipe cleaner to close your bracelet. Snip the ends off and your kids are ready to have a fashion show to show off their creation!

Happy Spring Everyone!

Flowers and butterflies just go together don’t they?  Here is a super fun and easy Butterfly Craft.

Coffee Filter Butterflies

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For this craft, you will need:

Square clothes pins, ceramic paints in your desired colors, colored feathers, googly eyes, paint brushes, a sheet of yellow foam or felt and some Tacky Glue.

Let the kids go to town and paint their wooden clothes pins.  If they want to do polka dots, a q-tip works great for this.

Let paint completely dry. Then with the tacky glue, glue on the colored feathers on to the back of the clothes pin.  Regular glue can also be used.  Just make sure it gets completely dry.

Turn over to the front and finish your creation by gluing on the googly eyes.  Cut a triangle out of the foam or felt and glue that on as the beak. 

We didn’t do it in these pictures, but you can also glue a magnet onto the back of the bird and then they can be put on your refrigerator to greet you every morning!  What did I tell you? Isn’t this Clothes Pin Birds Craft easy and fun?  

Create your own aviary today.  Your kids will love it!

Are you needing another easy kids craft?  Check this one out!

Coffee Filter Butterflies

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With only four ingredients, kids can make these up super fast and that’s the kind of food craft that this Grandma is looking for.

And the end result has a cherry on top?  Can’t get any better than that.

Alrightee.  Let’s get poppin’!

Print

Firecracker Marshmallows

Course Snack

Author This Grandma Is Fun

Ingredients

• 1 bag of large marshmallows - approx 30
• 6 oz of white candy melts or white almond bark
• Blue Sprinkles
• 1 jar of maraschino cherries with the stem still attached

Instructions

• Melt the white chocolate melts per the instructions on the bag making sure not to burn the chocolate
• Dip the marshmallow into the melted chocolate and then into the blue sprinkles
• Place on parchment paper or waxed paper
• Gently dip the maraschino cherry into the melted white chocolate and place on top of the marshmallow.
• Let cool before eating.

These Firecracker Marshmallows were a super fun food craft that we got from Kid Friendly Things To Do.

If you are feeling brave, you can also try making your own homemade marshmallows.   Check this out!

The post Firecracker Marshmallows appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

Items needed for this craft:

Coffee filter papers

Washable markers

Pipe cleaners

Spray bottle

You will need four coffee filters for each butterfly. 

Put two filters together so that you have two piles of two filters.

Color the top coffee filter with the washable markers.  Let your kids creativity flow!  Make a design, make a pattern or just let them scribble.   It will all turn out beautiful. Bright colors usually work out best.

Now here’s the part that all kids love! Using water and getting a little wet! With your spray bottle, spray water all over the top filter. Make sure every inch of the coffee filter gets wet enough to soak through to the layer underneath.

You should now have four Tie-dyed filters. 

Peel the layered filters apart and lay them out to dry. 

When they are fully dry, accordion fold each filter.  Fold one way and then turn and fold the other way.

Overlap the two filters together as shown below.

Fold your pipe cleaner in half and then wrap it around the center of the coffee filters.  Make sure you twist the pipe cleaner real good so that all four pieces are tightly secured.  Curl the ends of your pipe cleaners to make them look like the butterfly’s antenna.

And there you have it!  Darling Coffee Filter Butterflies to adorn your house while you wait for Spring!

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Items needed for this craft:

Socks – You can either purchase or use mismatched socks from home.

Satin Ribbon   – Or use any kind of ribbon that you have at home.

Scunci Polybands – Plain rubber bands will also work.

Long Grain Rice – About 1 cup per bunny

Needle and black thread or Black Sharpie Marker

Let’s get started!  First stretch your sock over a sturdy glass, then fill the sock with 1 cup of rice.

Take a polyband or rubber band and tie the top closed.

Then take another band and wrap it around near the top to create the body and the head.

Use another band to make the tail for the bunny

Cut any excess sock off at the top.  If you leave a lot of sock at the top, your ears will be floppy.  If you cut it closer to the head, they will stand up.  It’s all up to you!

Cut down the center of the top of the sock. Then cut each ear at an angle to make the curve for the ears.

This next part you can either use some black thread to make two eyes and “x” for the nose or you can use a sharpie marker.

Give your bunny a little bow around the neck and he is ready to go!  Kids love playing with these because the rice inside makes it soft to hold and easy for them to stand this bunny up. 

A big thank you to Feeling Nifty for this great Sock Bunnies Craft.  It was a big success!

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Here’s what you’ll need to get started.  Rolling pin, egg shape cookie cutter, straw, parchment paper, acrylic paint, clear coat sealer (not pictured), paint brushes or foam brushes, paint pens (optional) and some twine.

Mix together the items (see below for the salt dough recipe). Then roll with the rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness.  Little hands love to do this part!

With your egg shape cookie cutter, cut out your shapes from the dough

Take the straw and poke holes at the top of the oval.

Bake the ornaments per the recipe below.  Now comes the creative part!  After these have baked and are completely cooled, let the creative juices flow and paint your ornaments!

The foam brush is better to paint the whole egg with while the smaller brushes are better for details. I love to watch the creativity of my grandkids.

Let paint completely dry then spray with a clear top coat and let dry.  Attach some twine and you are ready to hang!  They are darling on a tree outside, on a branch inside your house or hanging from a shelf. 

Print

Salt Dough Easter Egg Ornaments

Course Craft

Author This Grandma Is Fun

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup water
• Rolling pin
• Egg shape cookie cutter
• Straw
• Parchment paper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• Mix first three ingredients together and knead until a dough forms.
• With rolling pin, roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Some flour sprinkled on the counter might be needed to avoid sticking.
• Take your egg shape cookie cutter and cut out your shapes from the dough.
• Next, use the straw to make holes at the top of the oval.
• Place eggs on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Bake at 250 for 2 hours. Watch to make sure they don't overcook and crack.
• Items needed for painting:
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brushes
• Foam brushes
• Clear coat sealer (not pictured)
• Twine
• Paint pens (optional)
• After the eggs are completely cooled, now is the creative part! Take your acrylic paint and paint away! The foam brushes are better to paint the whole egg with and the smaller brushes will be better for the details.
• When the paint has completely dried, spray with a coat of clear sealer. After drying completely, attach some twine and you are ready to go!

Our grandkids had a great time making these Easter Egg Ornaments and a big thank you to Design Mom for the great idea!

Happy Easter!

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A few years ago, I made some cootie catcher Valentines for my husband and son using scrapbook paper, and they were a big hit. This year, I decided to make some printable versions that anyone could use for their Valentine.

The idea for the printable cootie catcher Valentines came from this cool seasonal cootie catcher from Bren Did that I found on Pinterest.

I know you remember folding cootie catchers or fortune tellers when you were in school. Well, kids are still making them and having as much fun as we did!

For these free printables, I made one lovey-dovey version filled with sweet nothings, perfect to give to your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day.

Each flap opens to reveal a sweet, loving message.

Since I am also the mom of a 9-year-old boy who bristles at the thought of having to pass out any kind of remotely sappy Valentines to his classmates, I also made a boy-approved version.

In fact, there’s not a mention of Valentine’s Day at all on the boy version. Just lots of “punny” punchlines to the joke, “I really mustache you a question.”

When I made my original cootie catchers, I filmed a video tutorial that shows exactly how to fold one. You might find that useful as you’re making these.

First, you need to download the free printable of your choice.

Mustache Cootie Catcher Printable
Printable Valentine’s Day Cootie Catcher

Print it out on your home computer on a sheet of 8.5X11-inch paper. Then use scissors or a paper trimmer (this affiliate link is the one I use and recommend) to cut out the cootie catcher.

Fold the paper in half, left to right along the center line. Then unfold and fold, top to bottom, along the center line. Unfold and place the paper face down.

Fold the points to the center.

Then turn the cootie catcher over.

Fold each corner to the center again.

Like so.

And your cootie catcher is finished!

To play with it and start predicting your (romantic) future, just slide your thumb and index finger into the flaps on the underside.

Lift a flap to reveal your future.

You might enjoy these other Valentine’s Day projects:

No-Sew Embellished Heart Cocktail Napkins

Valentine’s Day Vignette (and love story)

Sew Cute Printable Valentines

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DIY Kids Christmas Tree Ornament You are going to LOVE creating these DIY Kids Christmas Tree Ornaments! This is a quick and easy craft for you and your kids, you can make 7-10 trees in under an hour. Make your tree unique by using different paint colors and embellishments, the possibilities are endless. They cost pennies to make and will look darling on any Christmas tree!”
Mom would always catch me before too much damage was done and would send me on my merry way. We would wake up the next morning to a beautifully decorated tree!

These Craft Stick Christmas Tree Ornaments are darling and a quick easy craft that requires little or no patience!

Feel free to use the supplies listed below or decorate the Christmas with any craft items of your choice. They would also be fun when decorated with fruit loops cereal, gummy Bears, popcorn, yarn etc.

Supplies 

Jumbo Size Craft Sticks
2 mm Jute, 20lb by Bead Landing
Turf Green Paint from DecoArt Multi -Surface Satin Paint
Emerald Green Paint from DecoArt Ultra Fine Green Glitter Paint
White Fuzzy Sticks (pipe cleaners)
Sparkling White Fuzzy Sticks (pipe cleaners)
Yellow Scrapbook Paper
Brown Striped or Corrugated Scrapbook Paper
Scissors
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Embellishments
Coarse Glitter White by Martha Stewart
Paper Christmas Tree Jolee’s Boutique Embellishments
White Sugar Pearls by Wilton
Sprinkles White Sparkling Sugar by Wilton
Big Bag of Buttons from Favorite Findings 3.5 oz I

Instructions 

Figure out how many trees you are going to make, you will need 3 jumbo size craft sticks per tree. Paint your sticks the desired color, allow them to dry thoroughly.

Make a triangle with 3 sticks, gently lift up a corner and apply a small dab of hot glue, press down gently until the glue cools. Repeat the process with the other two corners of the triangle.

Glue your star and tree trunk on next.

Time to glue on an ornament hanger and buttons onto your tree.

We would love to hear one of your favorite Christmas memories! Please feel free to share one in a comment below.

Happy Holidays,

We are excited to be linking this post to Creative Family Fun and Simply Designing!

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It is super easy and fun  to make and a perfect way to use the kid’s imagination and creativity!

Isn’t it so beautiful outside this time of the year!?! Everywhere you look, Fall is showing off its golden colors.

Your kiddos will love this Fall activity! So what are you waiting for?!?

To make Leaf Art you will need:

-leaves from outside

-googly eyes

-glue

-black marker

-paper

Let your munchkin make anything they can imagine, for example, my daughter wanted to make leaf monsters and a little baby hedgehog.

Here is a little puppy made of red and yellow leaves and, of course, huge googly eyes!

I hope you enjoyed these leaf art ideas!

Share it with your friends and family on Munchkin Time, Munchkin Time, Facebook and other social media!

If you make Super Cute Leaf Art for Kids PLEASE tag @munchkintimeblog and use a hashtag #munchkintimeblog on Instagram, we would LOVE to see your creation

Thank you for stopping by!

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Hi Everyone! This is Melanie from Artzy Creations here to share with you another fun craft for kids. Summer is a perfect time to try simple and fun projects with the kiddos. Especially when the kids are looking for a good boredom buster. Having taught art for 18 years now, I have also looked for projects that you can upcycle/recycle. These Bottle Cap Bugs are great for kids for all ages because they can be as simple and intricate as you want. Kids can create all different types of bugs. Bees, Lady Bugs, Beetles, and all sorts of imaginary bugs are possible. Plus, you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg for your supplies.

Supplies Needed:

• Bottle Caps
• Transparency Paper
• Sharpie Markers
• Scissors
• Hot Glue or Elemer’s Glue (You can use Elemer’s Glue to glue the wings and eyes of the
• Hot Glue Gun
• Googly Eyes

Step 1: Using the transparency paper, cut any shape of wing.

Step 2: Color the wings in using the Sharpie markers using any pattern or design.

Step 3: Hot glue or use Elmer’s Glue to glue the wings onto the bottle cap.

Step 4: Glue the googly eyes on to the front of the bottle cap.

A couple of tips to share while making these cute bottle cap bugs. Sharpie Markers as you can see can get a little streaky. If you have younger kids make these, they might have to slow down a bit when coloring to make sure the marker is not too streaky. Also, remind kids to not drag their hands over areas that have just been colored. The marker will smear.

Look at all of this cuteness! I can’t pick a favorite because I love them all. My daughter’s just love making these and I’m sure your kids will too.

Thank you to the wonderful Made From Pinterest sisters for having me.

Hope you all continue to have a wonderful summer and enjoy all of the fun Bottle Cap Bug Making. See you next month!

You can follow Artzy Creations on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google +.

Check out these fun projects too:

DIY Mason Jar Aquarium Lamp

10 Minute Dinosaur Mason Jar For Kids

10 Minute Dinosaur Mason Jar For Kids

END POST

This awesome post has been shared with Home Stories A to Z

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Notes of appreciation are a simple and effective way to teach children how to do this.  And who doesn’t love a thank-you note written by a child?

We’ve created a super-handy printable that you can use to get kids excited about writing thank-you notes.  We designed it so that kids can color one side and write on the other.  Aaaaand, it’s not holiday specific, so you can use this template year round for any occasion!

Click the button below to print your FREE Thank-You Postcard Template:

The post Thank You Notes Kids Can Make – FREE Printable appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

‘Tis the Season….for giving and receiving!  And we’ve made a FREE printable for you that is just perfect for teaching kids to show appreciation for all of the gifts that they’ve received.

Scroll down to download the PDF file below and print it out on your computer or send it off to your local copy store and let them print it for you.

The printable file will print four postcards per page.  When trimmed, each postcard meets U.S. Postal service regulations for size and shape, and only costs $0.34 to mail.  (We recommend printing these on sturdy cardstock.)

One side of the postcard is blank.  It’s the perfect spot for kids to use their imagination to create a special work of art for the recipient of their postcard.

The other side has just enough room for a note of thanks, an address, and a stamp.

You’ll notice that we’ve kept the postcard pretty simple and it is not holiday specific.  This is one you can use year round, for any occasion!

Our little helpers went the extra mile by pulling out craft scissors to cut their postcards so that they would have decorative edges.  Nice!

Click on the image below to download and save the file for this printable thank-you postcard template.

Just in case you missed it up above, you can click on the highlighted text  to download the PDF file for this printable right here:

Thank You Postcard

The post December Free Printable appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

For some kids, snow is a normal part of their holiday season. Deb, Sherri and I are southern California girls, so snow was a rarity for us. Going to the beach and laying on the sand were the norm for us during the Christmas season. A few years after graduating from High School I moved to Bay area. About every 5 years our local mountains would get some snow that would last for a day, sometimes 2 if was really cold.

It was quite the event when ever it happened, we would load the kids up in the car (so would most of our neighbors!) and head up to the mountains. Even though there was only an inch or two of snow our family would have a blast sledding and throwing snowballs. It was just enough to remind me that given a choice I prefer visiting the snow over living in an area that gets snow on a regular basis.  I’m a beach girl through and through!

This DIY Sparkle Snow from Crystal at Growing a Jeweled Rose  is my kind of snow.  You don’t have to bundle up and go outside to play with it, it doesn’t get you wet or cold. It is silky soft, fluffy and can be formed into a perfect snowball for making snowmen. The best part is the sparkling iridescent glitter, I can’t wait to make a batch of this for my granddaughter to play with!

If you have never visited Growing a Jeweled Rose you should head on over. Crystal  has 14 different categories with over 1,000 fun and educational activities for kids of all ages. Crystal’s blog is my go to place whenever I’m looking for an creative activity to do with my granddaughter.

Supplies

• 2 16oz boxes of cornstarch
• 1 can shaving cream
• peppermint extract (optional)
• Buffalo Snow Iridescent Flakes pictured below

Instructions

• Place both 16 oz boxes of  cornstarch in a large rectangular box
• Spray the shaving cream over the cornstarch
• Sprinkle peppermint extract over the shaving cream
• Mix until all ingredients are incorporated
• Add Buffalo Snow Iridescent Flakes and mix well
• 

I love my snowman! I used a regular size Reeses Peanut Butter cup for the base of his hat, a mini Reeses Peanut Butter cup for the top, chocolate chips for his nose and buttons, a small cut carrot for his nose and small sticks for his arms. This is a perfect activity to keep little ones busy and out of your hair during the busy holiday season!

This Pin TOTALLY Rocks!

 This amazing idea has been shared with Whipperberry

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