Snowman Playscape

Head on over to CBC Kids Parents site to see how to make this

sweet snowman playscape!

It's SO cold outside here in Ontario…this is a perfect craft for staying indoors and having fun!

Stay warm!

Sumac Valentine Wreath

  

I was on a beautiful winter walk recently and happened to spot a sweet small forest of sumac. As I admired their bright red against the white snow ~ inspiration hit ~ such lovely gift from nature to create a love-filled wreath with! 

I gathered up an armload of the velvety berries (being sure to leave lots for the birds) and headed home to give it a try. 

To create you will need:

cardboard ( I used an old pizza box)

Sumac berries (staghorn sumac  ~ be sure you know exactly what they are meant to look like before heading out to collect!)

glue gun 

ribbon

To begin, draw what ever size heart you want your wreath on to be and it cut out.

Fold your heart in half and cut out half a heart shape from of the center.

Tada!

You can then fire up your glue gun...

and begin gluing your berry clusters onto the heart until all the cardboard is fully covered.

Next, fold your ribbon in half and glue the folded part to the back of your wreath for hanging. 

Then if you choose you can then add a little glitter to bring some extra sparkle to your love. To encourage the glitter to stick as well as to help preserve your wreath, give it a spray down of hairspray before shaking on the glitter.

We shook it on and then took if outside in the sunshine to test its "sparkleability". It passed! 

Ready for its new home.

 Our heart full of love now hangs as a welcome to all!

May love and sparkles find you where ever you are.

A Warm Fuzzy for Valentines Day!

We just put Christmas away…now let the LOVE crafts commence!!!

Here is our latest craft over at the "gnomestead"…the WARM FUZZY.

(because who wouldn't want a warm fuzzy little pal to keep you company on a cold winters day)!

To make your own you will need:

white roving

pipe cleaners

needle felting needle

peg person

fake "fun" fur

wool felt

glue gun and glue

To start cut a pipe cleaner in half…now wrap a little bit of roving tightly around your pipe cleaner…needle felt it into place…this should take you a minute tops.

When both sides of the pipe cleaner are done, wrap it just under the "head" of your peg

(you can glue it into place, but I found it held just fine like this).

Now take a small rectangle of "fun fur" and wrap it around the base…

hot glue this into place.  

Do the same with a square of "fur" around the head…glue it into place…

glue all the seams down.

(the fur will cover up any weird spots where the seams have overlapped etc.)

Glue on a couple of googly eyes…just one eye…it's up to you.

And lastly, cut out a tiny heart from felt…glue it to your fuzzy monsters tummy.

Here's an example of the other warm fuzzy monster we made!  

And here are some cards…click on picture and enlarge however you wish…

I designed them on PicMonkey.  

I got the term "warm fuzzy" from my guidance councillor in elementary school.  

She used to call HUGS, "warm fuzzies"…one of those things that has stuck with me!

These might also just be nice for a day when your children just need a "pick me up"…

who wouldn't want a warm fuzzy monster to hang out with?!

Wishing you all a warm and fuzzy day!

Ice Rainbow Sun Catchers

Here in our neck of the woods of Canada, we are in the midst of a real deep freeze. We decided to take advantage of the frosty temperatures and create an ice craft!

To create you will need:

6 Round foil cake tins

Bits of nature in all the colors of the rainbow ~ outside, your kitchen and anything you may have pressed over the summer/fall are great for inspiration!

Food Coloring

String

To begin:

Place the natural objects that you found into the tins ~ 

one for each color of the rainbow.

Add food coloring into a jar of water and pour it into its corresponding pan.

Some items will stay where you want, but no need to spend too much time arranging... once the water hits the the pan all the bits seem to have a mind of their own!

Carefully bring your tins outside to a flat surface and allow to fully freeze.

Once they are frozen, tuck string inside the tin around the circumference of the ice (the ice seems to slip out fairly easily to allow you to do this).

Then pour some cold water into the tin and wait for it to all freeze again ~ this will secure your string for hanging.

Once it is re-frozen it is ready to be hung...

and admired...

while it twirls in the sun, bringing color to the white blanket of winter.

As they all melt ~ eventually! ~ they will leave some lovely little treats for the birds behind. 

Hope you are finding yourself amidst bits of beauty where ever you are in the world!

Winter Wonderland Snow Globe

Today on CBC kids learn how to create a winter wonderland snow globe with a simple Twig & Toadstool tutorial!

Love & Light

Rainbow STAR Transparencies!

Today was a snow day for us here in Ontario, so in order to chase the winter doldrums away, 

(and procrastinate snow shovelling), 

we decided to bring some beautiful colour into our day.

Enter the Rainbow Star Transparency!!

To make your own you will need:

cardstock, (for the frame)

tissue paper in white and rainbow colours

gluestick

scissors

star template…

I used the one from Don't Eat the Paste…it has stars in various sizes which I like!

To start, cut out the centre of your "frame" like so:

(you will want both pieces of card stock cut out the same)

Then take your white tissue paper and glue it to the underside of your frame…

try to get it "wrinkle free"

Then using your star template, cut out stars in various sizes…

I did 6 of each colour, each in a different size.

Then start gluing them on in order…I started with red…

(then orange, yellow, green, blue and violet)

Use a gluestick for this part and be very gentle!

Here you can see them layer by layer…overlap them…don't be shy!

Then take your other piece of card stock…you will glue tissue paper to the underside of it as well…

sandwich it on top of your stars and glue the sides together.

(this is a good time to trim the sides if they are don't match)!

Then hang it up in a sunny window and revel in the colour…the simple beauty…*sigh*

And then…back to reality…time to get shovelling!

Happy Crafting!!

                Silver Star Sparkle Headband

Head on over to CBC kids parents website to see how to make a Silver Star Sparkle headband for your  New Years festivities tomorrow!

Super easy to make and a fun way to add some shimmer to the magic of the night. 

Excitement is in the air!

Happy New Year to all. May your new year overflow with laughter and love.