Congratulations JellyFishJelly!

Summer Tea Light Holders

Summer/beach tea light holders using cellophane, a glass, paper glue, and a tealight.

Congratulations Weareborgswife!

Patriotic Play Blanket

Congratulations Gma2rjc!

Photo Tin Project

You’ll need:

-A container
-pictures
-ribbon (a color that coordinates with your pictures)
-colored paper
-scissors or any tool to cut the pictures and paper to the size you need
-double sided tape

For this I’m using a CD tin I got in a package at a yard sale last year.

I measured the size of the circle I needed to cut and made the pictures about 1/4″ smaller than the inside of it. You could also use a bowl or trace around the outside of the container you’re using.

Then I found cardstock that is close to the most noticeable colors in the pictures.

I made the cardstock about 1/8″ larger than the pictures. It serves two purposes. One, it frames the picture and makes it look nicer, and two, you’ll be able to hide the ribbon between the two layers.

Next, I cut a piece of paper to fit inside the bottom of the tin.

Then the ribbon was taped to the bottom of that piece of paper.

Put extra tape on the paper all around the ribbon to help it stick to the bottom of the tin. Then set the paper in the tin and press firmly all around so the tape sticks.

Allow about 3/4″ (this doesn’t have to be exact, but you don’t want it to be too long) of the ribbon to hang out and lay the cardstock for the first picture under the ribbon.

Cover a good portion of the ribbon as you tape it to the paper. Press it down pretty good, because you don’t want it to slip later.

Put several pieces of tape on the back of the picture and place it over the ribbon. Center it on the cardstock so that it’s even all the way around.

In the center of the string of pictures, I put the picture Ryan drew for his dad. The other one he drew is on a circle the same size, taped to the back.

Once all of the pictures were strung together, I made a loop with the ribbon behind the top picture.

This is what they look like all in a row.

Next you fold them all into the tin, acordian style, starting with the one closest to the tin.

This is what it will look like when they are all inside.

Then you put the lid on.

You can tuck the loop inside or let it hang out.

I’m going to have Ryan color on another circle of paper tomorrow to tape to the lid.

It would be fun to do this with Christmas pictures and have the kids paint the outside of the lid. Then hang it on the Christmas tree with the loop. There are lots of possibilities.

If your kids are anything like mine when it comes to coloring, they hold the crayon wrong and press too hard and then that beautiful 48 pack of brand new crayons has turned into a 96 pack of broken bits. It seems like such a waste to toss out the broken ones, after all they still color, so they go into our crayon bucket with the hundreds of other pieces of crayons that we have collected over the years.

Well, after a trip to the craft store, mama came home with a candy mold and an idea and that’s how this new life tutorial came to be. 

Materials:

crayon bits (I guess you could use new ones if you wanted)
an old 1qt sauce pan that you don’t mind never using for food again
a plastic candy mold or 2 or 3 (it could be metal too I guess but the plastic makes removal pretty easy) 

1) peel all the crayons. This can be a really tedious task if not done correctly. I found that slicing through the wrap with a paring knife and then having the kids peel made for quick work of an otherwise slow process.
 

2) sort crayons. We sorted by the rainbow. You can sort any way you choose.
 

3) melt down the crayons. I made a make shift double boiler. Also, instead of just letting the crayons sit till they were melting, I pretty much continually swirled them around in the pan so they melted fast and melted at the coolest temperature they would melt.
**note: please remember that crayons are wax and wax is flamable. Don’t let them melt unsupervised. Don’t let them stay on the burner longer than they need to. Make sure you have a pot lid close at hand to smother any fire that may flare up. Water will not put out a wax fire.**
 

4) pour the melted wax into the mold. Keep a couple paper towels handy for this step. After you pour, wipe the edge of the pot with a paper towel to clean off the excess wax. 

5) continue melting and molding untill you run out of crayons or you run out of mold, whichever comes first. 

6) let the wax cool completely before removing from the mold. I filled a baking sheet with a bit of cold water and then carefully placed the mold in it to help speed up the cooling process.
 

7) remove the crayons from the mold and enjoy your new creations.
 

Feel free to get as creative as you want with these. Because you make them, they don’t have to be boring old single color crayons. Just make sure that the first layer is cool enough that it can support having another layer poured on it without caving in.

Lulu was invented when my daughter came home with a kindergarten project that was due. The project was to either collect a live spider and bring it in to class, or to make a spider and share it. Being the Arachnophobe that I am, I opted to make a spider. With the plethora of rocks and pipe cleaners our house has… mama had an idea! After applying some paint, glue and googly eyes, Lulu the rock spider was born.

How to make your own rock spider

Supplies:

1 medium/large rock
1 small/medium rock
4 pipe cleaners (if your large rock is a really large rock, you’ll probably need 8 pipe cleaners)
(note: there are enough rocks and pipe cleaners in the picture to make two spiders)
2 googly eyes (not pictured)
glue gun with glue sticks (epoxy would work better but epoxy can get messy with kids)
acrylic paint and paintbrush (and items needed to paint, water, papertowels, etc.)
other decorations if wanted

1) wash off the rocks with soapy water and then dry thoroughly. the dirt will make it so that the glue doesn’t stick very well and the paint rubs off so be sure to wash really well.

2) Figure out where you want to place the smaller rock “head” and apply glue liberally to attach the smaller rock onto the larger rock “body”

3) paint and decorate the rocks as desired and let dry. We didn’t paint the underside of our rocks which make it easier for them to dry without sticking to the paper towel.

4) glue the eyes on the head. Yes, we know that spiders have more than two eyes… but it’s pretty hard to fit 8 googly eyes onto one small rock. If you’re trying for something more life like as a teaching tool, you can always paint the eyes on.

5) Hot glue the legs under the body. If you space them out a little, your spider is more likely to sit flat instead of tilt forward or backward when you’re done.

6) Put glue over the top of the legs too so they will stay more secure.

7) After the glue dries well, flip your spider over and shap the legs.

Enjoy your new little creation!

MATERIALS YOU’LL NEED:

A pull tab can with a bottom that can be opened with a can opener.
Smooth edge can opener (the kind that doesn’t leave sharp edges on the lid)
Cardstock or construction paper tall enough and wide enough to cover your can
Paper cutter or a ruler to draw a straight line and scissors
double-sided tape
Pen or pencil
Stickers (optional)
Ribbon (optional)
Candy or other treats to fill the can

The size of can you use is up to you, as long as there is a pull tab on the top to open it. Tip the can upside-down, so the pull tab is on the bottom.

Open the BOTTOM of the can (the end without the pull tab). Once you’ve gone all the way around the lid, carefully lift it up. If it doesn’t come off easily, run the can opener around it again. The lid has to stay perfectly flat, so you don’t want to have to pry it off.

Pour the contents out into a container and remove the label. Thoroughly wash the inside of the can and the lid that’s been removed and dry it. There will be some ugly stuff around the rim of the can and the inner edge of the lid. This probably won’t wash off as it is the adhesive that held the lid on the can.

Set the lid aside, you won’t need it right away.

Hold the paper against the top edge of the can and mark a line on it where the bottom edge of the can is. Cut the paper.

Wrap the paper around the can and mark it where it is overlapped by 1/4″ to 1/2″. Cut it where the mark is.

On the back of the piece of paper, run tape along all four edges. You can also put a few strips in the center of the paper.

Wrap the paper around the can and press the edges so that the tape sticks really well.

Decorate it to your liking. You can use stickers, but it’s also cute when the kids draw on the paper before you add the tape on the other side. The way you decorate it and the materials you use are only limited to what your imagination comes up with. Rubber stamps and beads are fun to use.

Prior to decorating it, you can spray paint the top of the can if you want to.

Fill the can with whatever you want: candy, gift cards, snacks, money, etc. But not anything liquid, unless it’s in its own container.

To replace the lid, you can use one of several kinds of adhesives. I used Glue Dots, but anything that dries quickly and will hold the two pieces of metal together permanently will work.

This is with the lid (now the bottom) attached. You can see the old adhesive a little bit. A ribbon glued around the bottom rim will cover that.

Note: If you are going to use a liquid adhesive to hold the lid on, anything edible inside the can should put be inside of a plastic baggie.

I added some ribbon to the tab, just to decorate it a little bit. A big bow on top would look nice too.

One fun thing about giving someone one of these is watching them examine the can to see how you put something in it without pulling the lid off. Remember – you don’t have to tell them. Always keep ‘em guessing!