DIY Rainbow Art

This is a super cute craft to do with your little one's fingerprints!

Simply start with red and work your way down the rainbow colors!  Leave room for the clouds at the bottom of the page!

Outline the clouds in black, then add grey paint and glitter!

Viola!  You have a cute rainbow piece of art hand painted by your little one :)

Sassy Children's Artwork

Want to do some fun, cute artwork with your little one on a chilly winter day?  Here are some easy DIY artwork ideas!

This sweet cupid was made with a footprint!  Simply paint the child's foot red and have them step on the paper.  Embellish with a bow and arrow (I used silver Sharpie), goggly eyes and a smile!

This sweet heart was painted on a little 3 x 3 canvas using two overlapping thumbprints.  The background was creatively finger painted by the child artist as well!  I embellished by drawing an arrow using a fine point black Sharpie!  Don't forget to write the child's initials and date.

These snowmen were made using a footprint! I painted one foot white and had the child step on the colored paper three times.  I used different color paint to embellish the snowmen with hats, scarves, arms, buttons and faces!

You can also just do one snowman instead of three using the same technique!

Here is a little baby snowman made using fingerprints on a 3 x 3 canvas.  I used white paint on the thumbs to make the body, after I let him finger paint the background his favorite color (green) of course!  I then used different colors of paint to embellish the body of the snowman!

Don't forget to put names and dates on these fun crafts!  I hope you enjoy them!

Frosty the Snowman Stops By...

Surprise your kids with a fun visit from Frosty himself this winter!  Here's how!

This exciting visitor is so easy to make come to life for your kids in your bathtub!

You will need:

-2 large buttons for eyes

-1 carrot for nose

-a scarf

-a top hat (ours was a NYE hat from Party City for $2.99)

-quilting batting

-2 sticks from the yard for arms

-loose pillow batting
-styrofoam half moon (hollow on inside)

-toothpicks
-a bathtub
-hot glue & gun
-towels

First, glue some of the loose pillow batting on the convex side of the half moon.  This will be Frosty's head/face.  Be careful, the batting is thin and the glue is hot!
Glue the top hat on Frosty's head.  The cut out part will be against the wall of the tub, so make sure the hat is more in front of the head.
Now, glue the buttons on as Frosty's eyes.
Last for the face, stick a toothpick into a baby carrot.  Insert the carrot into the styrofoam and Frosty's face is all done!

Now for the body.  First, I recommend putting some towels in the the tub as fillers.  Then rip up about half the bag of the loose pillow batting to fill the tub.  Next use the quilting batting to lay over the pillow batting.  Then use the rest of the pillow batting to fill the tub.  

Lay Frosty's head in, wrap the scarf around his neck, add the twigs in the sides and you're all set to show your kids who came to visit!

Frosty can be enjoyed all winter long-- he will never melt ;)

Unique Glass Decor for the Holidays

I love to fill glass containers with festive items especially around the holiday season.  This is such an easy way to add a little Christmas sparkle to any part of the room!

Candy canes are great fillers!  They add a festive look and a little color.  Another personal favorite of mine is to use big jingle bells!  I got these brown ones at Hobby Lobby.  I like to place reindeer moss at the bottom of the glass container then fill it with bells, just so there are two different colors in the container.  You can always place these containers on a silver tray and then accent with fresh greenery.

Another way to add a little holiday cheer (emphasis on the "little") is to take small antique glass pieces and fill them with reindeer moss.  I added baby pinecones, small ornaments, and spray painted walnuts.  I bought a bag of walnuts at the grocery store and spray painted them silver.  You can separate these or mix them altogether.  These are cute in a bathroom, end table, etc.  Accent with fresh greenery.

This is where I added my small ornaments and walnuts.  This is on a small table near my back door entryway.  Notice I added fresh greenery as well!

Here is a small centerpiece on a table in my living room.  I have a glass container of large gold ornaments.  I have a chocolate Santa that I bought from eBay.  I also have a piece of framed artwork that one of my children drew years ago around Christmas time.  This is a great way to keep your kid's art and bring it out to enjoy during the holiday!

Here is a better look at the gold ornaments in the glass dome on the coffee table!

I took my nativity scene out of the traditional barn setting and put it on a cake stand!  I put reindeer moss down and then put a glass dome over the whole scene.  I put a tassel on top of the dome.  The stand was placed on a silver tray on top of some stacked books.  I added fresh greenery and a few gold and silver bells around the tray.

I hope you enjoy these decorating tips!  Please comment and tell me how creative you got with your decorating this holiday season :)

Special Reindeer Food

Making reindeer food is an easy and fun craft to turn into a tradition for you and your little one!  You can make these bags of food for your kid's friends and keep one for your house!  Put out this special mix on Christmas Eve so Santa's reindeer will be sure to find your house and so they will have a treat to eat while Santa is putting presents under your tree :)

This craft is super easy to make.  You can use almost any ingredients you have in your pantry!  I used Cheerios, sprinkles, dry oatmeal and marshmallows to ensure that everything was edible just in case any of the young children I made this with decided to eat the ingredients.

In years past, I have used glitter, Fruit Loops (any type of cereal works great), and candy!

Make sure you have little baggies to put the mix in.  I happened to have clear gift bags but small Ziploc bags work great as well.

If you're giving a bag away, be sure to add a tag explaining what this special mix is!  I printed one from Thomcat Studios (see below).

Printable tags from the thomkat studios

Be sure to put this bag in a special place so you don't forget to sprinkle it in your yard on Christmas Eve!  Santa's reindeer will surely get into this treat!

DIY Christmas Light Craft

These little gems are something I enjoy displaying year after year.  The kids love to make them and each one is unique- no two are alike!

For this craft, all you need are lightbulbs, ribbon and paint.  You can save up lightbulbs that have burnt out over the year and use those to paint!

You simply use acrylic paint and a small paintbrush to paint the lightbulb (which can be any shape or size).  Then tie some ribbon the the end and you have a cute crafted light!

You will want to paint the year and maybe kid's initials to remind yourself when this craft was done!

Sweet Gumdrop Tree!

This easy craft is sure to be a favorite among your children this holiday season!

To create these gumdrop trees, you only need a few items:

• styrofoam cones (available at local craft store)
• toothpicks
• gumdrops

Set the styrofoam cone flat side down- this will be your tree.  

Break the toothpicks in half, adding the gumdrops to each toothpick.  Stick the remaining part of the toothpick into the cone.  It's easiest to start from the bottom and work your way to the top of the tree, and it's easiest to work in rows, moving from right to left.

To preserve your tree for future years, spray it with clear acrylic spray paint (also available at a local craft store).  Then cut out round piece of felt and write your child's name and year on it and glue it to the bottom of the tree, for memory's sake.

Remember, this sweet treat is for looks only!

Sassy Ornament Craft for Kids

Here's a fun way to pass time with your kids and create a holiday memory.

Buy a box of ornaments from a local craft store.  Shadow proof or glass will work.  The ones I used below are shadow proof.

1. Santa's Sleigh:

Using acrylic paint and your children's thumb, create Santa's sleigh with three red thumbprints, and Santa's face with one pink thumbprint.  Add a beard with white paint, and add white and red paint for hat with paintbrush.  Once dry, use Sharpie markers to embellish. 

For the reindeer, use two brown painted thumbprints for the body.  Add jingle bells with yellow paint and of course, red paint for Rudolph's red nose! Once dry, embellish with black Sharpie.

For best results, hang ornament to dry.

2. Snowman Hand:

Paint child's entire hand with white acrylic paint.  Let the child grab the ornament with their hand (carefully).  Once dry, paint hat, scarf and button embellishments with a tiny paintbrush.

For best results, hang to dry.

Don't forget to add child's name/initials and date/year!