Let’s Make Beaded Snowflakes

January is here and so are cold temperatures and snow for some of us! Let’s make some snowflakes today that won’t make us any colder! These are easy to make and so pretty! (And they are great for practicing some fine motor skills.)

You’ll need 3 pipe cleaners (or chenille stems), a pair of scissors or wire cutters and some colored pony beads.

Cut the 3 pipe cleaners in half.

3 half pieces will make 1 snowflake so you now have enough pipe cleaner pieces for 2 snowflakes. Here are 2 different ways to wrap the pipe cleaners into the snowflake shape: #1.) Fold 2 pieces into a “v” shape.

Put the 2 pieces together at the bends.

Wrap the 3rd pipe cleaner around the center of the other 2.

OR way #2.) Hold the 3 pieces of pipe cleaner together…

And give them a twist or two in the center.

Now it’s time to use the pony beads. You will need 5 beads for each “spoke” of the snowflake for a total of 30 beads. The colored beads can be in whatever order you decide to use. You can make a pattern of colors for your child to duplicate like the following pattern: green, white, blue, pink and purple.

When they have enough beads laid out in the right order, it might look something like this:

Slide the beads onto the piper cleaner spokes in the same order.

After the 5 beads are on the pipe cleaner, bend the rest of the pipe cleaner spoke into a circle and push the end back into the last bead.

Continue sliding the beads onto each pipe cleaner spoke and bending the end in until all 6 spokes have been done. Isn’t it pretty?!

You could also have your child find 5 beads of the same color for each spoke. These beads match the color of the pipe cleaner spoke they will be placed on.

This way is also quite pretty!

Or you can let your child put the beads on in any order that they like. If you would like to hang your snowflakes up, simply add a piece of thread or string through one of the circles. I hope you will have fun making these beaded snowflakes! 🙂

Do You Have the After Christmas Blues?

When all the hustle and bustle and excitement leading up to Christmas has passed, do the After-Christmas Blues show up at your house? Sometimes taking a break from all the “new” toys and kits that arrived on Christmas Day, can be a help. Try going back to some of the “old” crafts they’ve done before but haven’t thought about in a while. New toys and things will seem more fun again after the kids have had a little break from them. There is comfort to be found in the tried-and-true. Here are a couple of suggestions of things we’ve done on here before but might be fun to pop out for the kids again.

#1.) Making paper snowflakes. It’s still obviously winter and cold outside so how about doing a craft with snowflakes that don’t make your fingers cold when you play with them. Follow the link to this project:

Do You Want to Make Snowflakes?

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#2.) You can even make a snowman with your paper snowflakes.

Do You Wanna Build a Snowman from Paper Snowflakes?

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#3.) Hide and Seek Snacks. Try making up a fun snack in little cups and hiding the cups for the kids to find. Look for that post here:

Hide and Seek Snacks

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#4.) Make some craft stick snowflakes. These are easy and fun! Follow the link to see how they’re made:

https://wordpress.com/post/thekidsniche.com/3254

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There are over 450 posts here on my blog so I hope you can find some fun things to do with your kids to help everyone get back on an even keel again. Those new gifts will look even better afterwards! Have fun! Hugs to all of you! 🙂

Dollar Tree Felt Craft Kits

I found a couple of felt craft kits at the Dollar Tree store and wanted to share this idea with you. At just $1.00 for each kit, you can craft with up to 5 kids! Pretty good price, right?! So here’s the 2 kits I found:

Let’s look at the penguin felt ornament kit first.

This little guy is so cute!

When you open the package, you will find 5 individually packaged kits.

In each individual package, you will find this:

The felt pieces for making the penguin have been punched and for the most part you can gently pull them apart to get the pieces ready to use. Have a pair of small scissors handy in case any pieces need a little help getting free.

Once all the pieces are separated, you are ready to put your penguin together. I would recommend using a craft glue like Tacky Glue instead of Elmer’s glue. I used the Elmer’s glue when making my penguin and I had some trouble getting the pieces to stay together. I switched to the Tacky Glue.

There weren’t any instructions included in the package, but you can figure out how to put the penguin together by looking at the picture on the front of the package. (Remember, this kit only cost $1.) 😉 And here is my finished penguin! I think he’s a cutie!

Now let’s look at the second kit I bought. This kit is for making animal finger puppets.

They are cute too!

I had more difficulty getting these felt pieces separated and I did resort to using a pair of scissors at times. Also this package did not have the kits divided into separate kits already, so you will have to figure out which felt pieces go with each finger puppet. It’s rather like making a puzzle. 😉

Here they are separated into the pieces for each animal. I didn’t go ahead and make the puppets because I wanted to save them for a fun project for some kids I know. 😉

These kits might be a little too difficult for really young children but I’m sure ages 7 or 8 and up will enjoy making them. I’m not sure if the felt pieces will stick together well enough to be used as finger puppets, but they would definitely make some very cute ornaments to hang around your house. 🙂 Mark these down as 2 more fun projects from Dollar Tree! 🙂

Let’s Make a Christmas Tree With Buttons!

Hi there! Today we’re making another Christmas craft using buttons. Yep, it will be a Christmas tree! What’s nice about this project is that there is an easy version for younger kids, but also a more challenging version for older kids or even adults. 🙂 You will need some green buttons, 1 brown button, 1 star button (or sticker or cutout), a piece of cardstock and glue.

Start making your Christmas tree by laying 1 green button in the first row, then 2 green buttons in the second row, and 3 green buttons in the third row. Look at the following picture to see how to place the buttons. You can glue the buttons down as you go or get them all in place and then go back and glue them.

Continue in this manner, adding 1 more green button for each new row until you have laid out 6 rows of buttons.

Add the brown button at the bottom in the center for the trunk of the tree. And put the star above the top button.

And there is your Christmas tree! 🙂 How cute is that?!

Next, I’ll show you version #2, which is still a simple version, but uses different colors and only 5 rows of buttons. This time you’ll need 6 red buttons, 9 green buttons, 1 brown button and 1 star.

Row #1 is 1 green button. Row #2 is 2 red buttons. Row #3 is 3 green buttons. Row #4 is 4 red buttons. And finally row #5 is 5 green buttons. Add the star to the top and the brown button for the trunk at the bottom. And this tree is done! 🙂

For the last (harder) version for today, make the tree part with all green buttons and add in as many rows as you’d like to make the tree larger. The tree shown here has 9 rows of green buttons. I used slightly different shades of green for my Christmas tree. I used 2 brown buttons for the trunk of this larger tree.

If you would like to decorate your tree, make sure all the tree buttons are glued in place and have had a chance to dry before continuing. I had some tiny heart shaped buttons that I used to make it look like 2 strings of lights on my tree.

Or you can place your decorations randomly around the tree for this effect.

You could also use bits of pretty yarn or thin ribbon to decorate your tree. So whatever skill level your kids are at, I hope they can have fun making their own Christmas tree! 🙂

I’m back! Let’s Make Santa’s Hat!

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday and weekend! I’m sorry I didn’t get to post last week but things were pretty crazy here! I’m here now and I have an adorable craft for you today. I’ll show you how to make Santa’s hat using buttons and a pom pom. 🙂

You’ll need an off white or darker colored piece of cardstock, approximately 15 red buttons and 7 white buttons and 1 white pom pom. And glue to hold it all in place. The number of buttons will vary according to the size of buttons you use and how large you want to make your Santa’s hat.

Start by placing 1 red button toward the top of your piece of paper. In the second row, place 2 red buttons. You can glue the buttons down as you go or go back and glue them down after you have them all in place.

Row 3 will have 3 red buttons, row 4 will have 4 red buttons and row 5 will have 5 red buttons. Your Santa’s hat should look like this so far.

Now it’s time for the white buttons. They will go in row 6 along the bottom to be the white edging on Santa’s hat.

Add your white pom pom to the top and you’ve finished making your Santa’s hat! Great job!

I wanted to use the darker brown craft paper for my background, but I didn’t have any on hand. I would suggest using a darker color of cardstock than I did for mine because the white of the hat will show up better. Here it is on green:

And one more time using a blue background.

Which way is your favorite? I think I like the blue background best. 🙂 You can make Santa’s hat as a decoration to hang up or make it on the front of a card for a special Christmas card. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you will have fun making a Santa’s hat from buttons! 🙂

Let’s Make Simple Yarn Dolls

The other day I was thinking about the yarn dolls that we used to make. I can’t quite remember who taught me to make them but I think it might have been a family thing that was passed down to me.

At any rate, making yarn dolls can be fun and all you need is yarn, a piece of cardboard and a pair of scissors.

The size of your yarn doll will be determined by the size of your piece of cardboard. My cardboard piece was about 6″ long. Begin by wrapping the yarn around the piece of cardboard.

Wrap it around at least 50 times. Then cut the yarn.

There is a step that I forgot to do while I was making the pink doll, so I will be showing that step with the orange yarn I used for a second doll. While the yarn is still on the cardboard, cut another piece of yarn about 5-6″ long and slide it under the yarn on the cardboard. (I added the yarn to the pink doll but at a later time which made it harder to do. Ooops!)

Pull it up toward the top and tie a knot. This piece of yarn will help keep the doll’s head in a nice shape and can be used to add hair or to hang the doll.

Slide the yarn off the cardboard.

Back to the pink doll! Ha! Using your scissors, cut the yarn on the opposite end from where it’s tied.

Keep the yarn bent in half.

Cut another piece of yarn to be used to make the dolls head and lay it out on your work surface. Lay the folded yarn on top of it.

Tie a knot with the additional piece of yarn and that makes the head.

Separate a section on each side of the body. I did approximately 15-18 pieces of yarn in each side section.

Using a small piece of yarn, tie the 2 side sections close to the ends. Trim and there are your doll’s arms. 🙂

Cut another piece of yarn and lay under your doll, just a little past the arms. Tie a knot. This will make the doll’s waist.

I made this doll to be a girl wearing a dress. So all I did to finish her was trim the bottom yarn to look neater. She’s ready for playing!

Now, what if you want your doll to be a boy? There are just a couple more steps for that! We’ll pick up with the orange yarn doll at the point where we’ve already made his arms and waist.

Divide the bottom yarn into 2 sections.

Using 2 more pieces of yarn, tie around each leg in the same way you did the arms. Trim, and your boy doll is now finished too! 🙂

The dolls are ready to be played with now and this is how I remember them. But if you are feeling ambitious, I’ll show you a way to add hair to your doll. Get some more yarn…can be the same color or different. Wrap the yarn around your hand 20 times or so.

Slide it off your hand, keeping the loops together. Cut one end of the loops like we did for the doll.

This time you will lay the hair pieces out flat.

Lay the yarn bundle up at the top of the doll’s head. Using the yarn that is tied to the top of the doll’s head, put one yarn string on top of the bundle and the other yarn string under it. This is so you can tie the hair to the doll.

Tie the knot.

Now you can arrange the hair as you would like. I put it into 2 pony tails and tied each with a piece of yarn tied in a bow.

One more extra detail you can add is to give the dolls some eyes. Simply glue on a pair of wiggly eyes. (I actually prefer the dolls without the eyes, but that’s your choice.)

You can leave the string on the top in case you want to hang the doll up or you can trim it close and get rid of it. I’ve show you one doll done each way.

Yarn dolls are fun and easy to make! I hope you will try a few! 🙂

A Handy Trick When Someone’s Sick

Hey, there! I just wanted to share a quick tip that might help you the next time someone at your house isn’t feeling their best. Sometimes while recovering from being sick, your child may have time when he or she feels like doing a little something while still laying in bed or on the couch. But how do you contain the pieces of say, Lego? My suggestion is use a cookie sheet that has sides on it. 🙂

A cookie sheet will give a flat space for playing and can keep the pieces from falling onto the floor.

It works well for putting together a small puzzle. A second cookie sheet would be great for holding the extra puzzle pieces too.

A small craft project can be nicely contained on a cookie sheet. Markers or crayons can only roll as far as the edge! 😉

A cookie sheet is a convenient place for playing a game of cards. This deck is a miniature set, but a regular size set will work too. Solitaire or Go Fish, anyone?

If you lay a towel down on the cookie sheet, it could work well for serving a meal or a snack. I’m guessing you will come up with even more ways to use a cookie sheet! Hope this helps you! 🙂

Make a Halloween Spider!

Are you looking for something fun to help decorate your house for Halloween? You might enjoy making some Halloween pom pom spiders with your kids. They are more cute than scary, but they could be scary in the right situation. 😉

Here’s what you’ll need for this project: a black pom pom (I used a 2 inch size), 2 black pipe cleaners or chenille stems, some glue and 2 wiggly eyes. You will need to cut the pipe cleaners so a pair of wire cutters or a sturdy pair of scissors is helpful.

Begin by bending 1 pipe cleaner in half.

Then cut it on the crease so you have 2 halves.

Fold each of those pieces in half again and cut them on the crease also.

Do the same with the second pipe cleaner so you have 8 pieces.

Bend each of these pieces into a letter V shape. These will be the spider’s legs. I know that spiders actually have 8 legs, but that is a lot of legs to glue onto 1 pom pom so you may want to do like I did and let your spider have just 6 legs. 😉

Now switch to working on the pom pom and glue the 2 wiggly eyes onto it.

Make sure the eyes will stay in place before moving to the next step. Apply glue all around one end of a “leg”.

Stick the leg into the side of the pom pom, leaving space for the other 2 or 3 legs to be added to that side.

I found it helpful to sit the spider’s body (the pom pom) on an upside down Dixie cup.

Hold each leg in place for a little bit so the leg doesn’t just fall back off. After putting 3 or 4 legs on one side, turn the spider so you can add the 3 or 4 legs to the opposite side.

You might want to let your spider sit and dry for a little bit before you move him around much. Once he is dry enough, that’s when the fun begins! 🙂

Where can you put your spider to make people laugh or even to give them a little Halloween scare? If you are careful and move the legs gently, you can reposition the spider’s legs to make him sit in different locations.

Want to give Mom a surprise? Hide him somewhere in the kitchen. 😉

Or maybe in the bathroom so Dad finds him?

On someone’s computer keyboard? (Yes, it’s rather dusty, isn’t it? But since the owner is sick right now, we won’t mention it.) 😉

On a lamp in the living room?

In the refrigerator??!

Or maybe you should just keep him in with the Fall decorations. 😉 Wherever you put him, just be sure the person who will find him has a good sense of humor and they won’t mind!

I hope making this little Halloween spider will help bring some Halloween fun to your house! 🙂

Be an Explorer Like Christopher Columbus

Happy Columbus Day! How many times have you heard the saying, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”? 😉 I know, I know…now there is a lot of disagreement about what Christopher Columbus did or didn’t do, but one thing I think we can safely say is he was an explorer. So to celebrate Columbus Day today, let’s help the kids become explorers!

The first thing an explorer needs is a cool hat, right? 😉 I’m going to show you how to make a cool explorer’s hat out of paper. I am using a piece of construction paper so you can see more clearly how to make it, but you might want to use something bigger like newspaper. Just depends on how big the person’s head is that you are making it for.

To start, I got a piece of green construction paper.

Here’s how to make your hat. Fold it in half the long way.

Open it back up.

Now fold it in half the other way.

Leaving the paper folded, fold in one top corner of the paper to the middle line so it looks like a triangle.

Now do the same thing on the other side.

Fold one side of the paper’s straight edge up so the fold is at the bottom of the triangles.

Turn the paper over.

And fold the other side up the same way.

Your hat is done! Pull it open at the bottom folded edge.

This little guy was happy to be a model for your new explorer’s hat. 🙂

As I already mentioned, you can use different sizes of paper to make different sizes of hats. Here is the one I made with construction paper, one made with a single sheet of newspaper and one made with a full sheet of newspaper.

For the full sheet of newspaper size, you might need to let your triangles not meet in the middle so that you still have paper left over to fold the edges up.

Barbie and Ken thought it would be fun to be explorers too!

What else does an explorer need to go exploring? Maybe a spyglass? Let’s make one of those too! All you need is an empty paper towel or toilet paper roll, a piece of paper and markers or crayons.

Cover the tube with the construction paper if it has a lot of glue marks on it like this one does. Use glue or tape to hold it in place. (I used tape because it doesn’t need drying time.)

Let your kids decorate their spyglass with markers or crayons.

You are now ready to be an explorer!! What does an explorer do? Well, they put their explorer hats on and walk around the house or outside and they look through their spyglass to see what they can spy! They use their imagination to discover a new land. Be careful because you never know what kind of strange animals you might find!

Also watch out for things like carpet that might have quicksand or lava! You might need to jump from rug to rug in order to not get sucked in! 😉 I hope your new hat and spyglass will make exploring a ton of fun!

Science Experiment With a Balloon

Hello again! Gather around, all you budding scientist! Let’s do a fun experiment today. It’s an experiment that has been around for a long time, but is always fun to show to kids. You’ll need the following items: some vinegar, some baking soda, an empty water bottle, a balloon and a funnel.

The idea of this experiment is to show that you can blow up a balloon by making a chemical reaction. No blowing involved! 😉 Begin by filling the empty water bottle about 1/3 of the way up with the vinegar.

Insert the end of the funnel into the opening of the balloon. You might need to stretch the balloon a bit to get it on.

Put 2-3 spoonsful of baking soda in the funnel and shake it down into the balloon.

When you are finished with that step, remove the balloon from the funnel.

This next step is important. Stretch the opening of the balloon over the opening of the water bottle, BUT make sure to keep the balloon hanging down so that none of the baking soda falls into the bottle! Look at the next picture to help you understand what I mean.

Pull the balloon down over the bottle opening so it is completely sealed by the balloon. After you are sure the balloon is on the bottle, slowly pour the baking soda in the balloon into the bottle. It will begin to fizz – this is the chemical reaction! Your balloon will start to inflate!

As the reaction in the bottle continues to take place, your balloon will grow bigger.

And bigger!

And BIGGER! As you can see, I was afraid to let go of the balloon on the bottle! LOL I could just imagine it coming off and flying all over my kitchen and dining room!

So why did the chemical reaction happen? Well, the baking soda is a base and the vinegar is an acid. When they are combined, the reaction gives off a gas called carbon dioxide. That’s what inflated your balloon. 🙂 After most of the fizzing reaction was over, I did get brave enough to let go of the balloon finally. 😉

I hope you have fun trying this experiment! Congratulations on being a scientist today! 🙂