So we’ve established that moms need magnets for Mother’s Day, right? How about some other magnet crafts? You can pretty much stick a magnet on anything and slap it on the fridge but here is something that might intrigue the little ones. How about a bubble diorama magnet? And to make it even more interesting what if we made it inside a slurpie drink lid! You needed an excuse to head to your favorite coffee shop for an iced drink right?

Do it for the kids!

Here are the supplies you will need:

• Slurpy drink or iced coffee dome lids
• card stock
• origami or scrapbook paper
• little face photos
• glue (a hot glue gun* is nifty but any quick-drying glue will do)
• toothpicks
• pencil
• scissors
• crayons or anything you might like to use to decorate a little scene

First you’ll need to create your scene. Do this by cutting a circle out of card stock that is just a smidge (1/4 inch) smaller than your dome lid. You can do this by tracing the lid and then cutting out your circle and trimming it down by a quarter inch or less.

You’ll need it to fit just into the lip of the lid like the photo above.

Now to create your scene: You can color a picture with crayons or markers or you can do like I did and create a layered diorama with cut-out shapes from origami or scrapbook paper. Just start with the object that is furthest away like the sky.

Then add shapes that look like mountains, working your way forwards with lower and lower shapes. To create a sense of distance you can put spacers between your layers.

I created spacers with small tabs of card stock folded like into a lightning bolt shape but you could also use those thick sticky round tabs or thick glue dots from your local craft store. You just want to create a tiny bit of space between each layer.

When the landscape was all glued in, I added a little body made out of an origami dress, some quickly drawn arms and a cut-out face attached to a toothpick and glued the whole she-bang behind the first hill.

Then I glued a fine bead of glue along the inner lip of the slurpie dome lid and dropped in my scene.

She’s trapped forever!

Then I added a magnet to the top of the back and voila! Genie in a bottle! I mean cute little bobble faced kid in a magnet!

My daughter opted to draw in her scene and add some decorative moss we had on hand as her landscape. Whatever way you do it, it will be fun to look at a little scene like this on your refrigerator.

Especially next to some letter magnets that say “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!”

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Difficulty Level: Medium (gluing can be tricky but coloring and assembly is great for all ages)
Appropriate Age levels: School Age and Up

*Remember glue-guns are for grown-ups who don’t cry if they burn their fingers.

You know what mothers spend a lot of time doing? They spend a lot of time staring at the refrigerator. Whether’s it’s to study the family calendar, keep track of the various invitations that have come in the mail or just plain try to figure out what to cook for dinner, a mother spends a lot of time in the kitchen standing right there in front of the fridge thinking and pondering ways to take care of her family. So why not put something that says you love her right smack in plain view?

Why not say you love her with some simple fun magnets with cheery smiling faces? They’re easy to make and everyone knows refrigerators always need more magnets!

There are a million tutorials for this craft online but I thought I’d go ahead and put mine here so you don’t have to go searching. Feel free to cross reference though.

First you’ll need to gather your supplies:

• 1.25 inch clear flat glass marbles or gems
• Industrial strength clear transparent glue or silicon sealant* (it will usually say for glass and photographs right on the tube)
• Photos on photo paper that you can cut to 1.25 inch circles
• scissors or a 1.25 inch round hole punch
• 1/2 inch medium strength magnets (don’t get the super strong ones they will make your magnet want to pull apart)
• toothpicks

Now you’re ready to get started.

First cut out your photos. Then apply a very small dab of glue to the front of your photo. This will seem counter-intuitive but trust me, the marble goes on top of the photo so that your cute smiling little kid face is magnified by the beveled glass. Spread the glue around with a toothpick. Little kids will get a kick out of thinking the glue is a glob of snot they are smearing from their nose all around their faces.

When the glue is evenly spread over the entire circle, carefully press the glass marble flat side down on top of the face. Smooth out bubbles with your fingers.

While that is drying you can turn the magnet over and with another dab of glue attach the magnet to the underside of the photo.

Let those dry and you’re good to go!

We added some googly eyes just for fun but that’s not necessary at all.

Now you can surprise mom by placing them strategically on the refrigerator for her to find or you can do what we did and place them in a spray-painted Altoids tin. Altoid tins are super useful for this because they are metal and the magnets stick to them like glue!

Now how sweet is that? Tie it up with a pretty ribbon and you have yourself a nifty little gift that would make any mother (or grandmother!) smile.

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Difficulty Level: Easy (just be careful that children do not ingest glue or get it in their eyes)
Appropriate Age levels: School Age and Up

*Make sure to do this craft in a well ventilated room as glue can be a bit smelly.

If you’re planning a Cinco de Mayo fiesta this year you might just want to add some mini piñatas to your table decor! They’re fun to make and you can hide candy inside them! Don’t worry, you don’t need to break out the mini baseball bat and blindfold to open them. They simply pop apart to reveal their candy inside.

First you’ll need to gather your supplies. You will need:

1. small 3 oz paper drink cups or snack cups
2. elastic string
3. 1 small bead (per piñata)
4. tissue paper in festive colors
5. white glue and a paintbrush to apply it with
6. decorative ric rac (optional)
7. card stock
8. scissors
9. a pencil
10. an exacto knife or something sharp to poke holes through paper (the pointy end of your scissors will do)

I’ve designed two kinds of piñatas to make. We’ll start with the mini sombrero or Mexican hat.

First you’ll need to cut a circle out of card stock for the brim of your hat. It needs to be bigger than your drink cup so grab a bowl and trace around it. Any size will do as long as it’s at least an inch wider than the drink cup.

Next cut tiny little hatch cuts all the way around the card stock circle. These will bend upwards later to create that curled sombrero brim look.

Now for assembly: Cut tiny little “x” marks in the bottom of your cup and in the center of your card stock circle.

Take your elastic thread (about 10 inches worth) and punch it through your holes in both the round circle card stock and the cup. You shouldn’t need a needle but if your thread doesn’t want to go through the hole, give it a little push with your exacto knife or end of your scissors. Please note that children should not use sharp knives or scissors. Make sure a responsible adult is on hand for this step.

Now for the fun part!: Decorating! It is easiest if you prepare your fringed tissue strips first before your hands get sticky with glue. Cut a one-inch wide strip of tissue paper in various colors. You will need some long ones (5 inches long or so) and some small one inch squares. Make sure you make plenty. To create the fringe look just cut into the tissue paper 3/4 of the way through. You can save time by folding your strips and cutting through more than one layer at a time.

The next steps are photographed for the kid-friendly version without the elastic string and bead but you can follow them the same instructions for decorating, you just won’t be able to pull your hat top and hat bottom apart as far and you’ll skip the last part where you glue the top of the hat to the base.

Now take your paintbrush and lightly paint a stripe of glue around the top of your drink cup.

Add fringe in your first color making sure the cut edges are facing upwards. Trim off excess.

Add stripes, working your way downwards.

When the cup is done set aside to dry. Then paint a stripe of glue around your card stock circle.

Add your one inch squares of tissue around the edge, rotating so that the fringe covers all the way around.

When you are done adding fringe all the way around add a second layer on top. This should reach far enough into the center to be covered by the cup but if not, add another layer. When you’re done curl your brim upwards.

Now add some glue to the edge of your cup and affix securely to the hat base. Make sure you let the glue dry.

For the elastic string version, when you are done decorating tie a knot in the top and attach a bead to the bottom. This is so the base can be removed by simply pulling on the bead. Trim excess.

Hide candy inside and you’re ready to party!

Now for the burro!

First you’ll need to print out your handy dandy template. Make sure to use the stiffest card stock your printer can handle. If it’s not that thick, don’t worry you can double up. That’s why there are two bodies to cut out.

Cut out your parts.

If you want to hide candy inside your burro, simply cut out your “x” mark on the burro’s nose, on the bottom of your cup and on the end piece where the burro’s tail would be. Thread your elastic string through all pieces making sure that the cup is facing so that the side end is towards the front of the burro. Attach a bead for a nose (or just knot it if you’d rather make a paper nose) and tie a knot for the tail:

Now decorate with fringe the same way you decorated the sombrero.

To add candy simply pull the burro’s head away from it’s body and add candy inside.

If you want to get really fancy you can add fringe to the burro’s entire body. I’ve included a nose piece in the template just in case you want to go that route.

Now set your table and get ready for your fiesta! Tacos anyone?

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Difficulty Level: Medium (tissue and glue requires some patience)
Appropriate Age levels: School Age and Up

Neon has been turning up everywhere lately. Fashion, food…crafting supplies! And why not? Life is vivid we say, seize the day! Trends are fun so why not set your Easter Table this year with your best crisp white linens and then add just a touch of unexpected color!

Below are three different methods for coloring your eggs neon: some with neon food dye, some with neon craft paint and lastly for a no-fuss no-mess method we wrapped some with small strips of fluorescent duck tape.

Neon Food Dyed Easter Eggs

For this method you will need:

• hardboiled eggs
• neon food dye found in your local grocery store (25 drops of each color)
• 1 tsp of vinegar
• 1/2 cup of boiling hot water
• an egg dyeing kit or a muffin tin and strips of tape
• a drying rack
• tongs for handling they eggs when they are hot

Before you begin you might want to prepare your area for possible spills. Cover your table with newspaper or butcher paper and make sure you have gloves if you want to keep your hands pretty. Food dye is non-toxic but it can turn your fingers a lovely shade for a few days that might not go with your pretty Easter dress.

If you’re like us you’ll plow on through and not be afraid of a little color.

Next set up your coloring receptacles: You can buy an egg dyeing kit at the grocery store that comes with handy little egg-shaped cups or you can use small drinking glasses or even a muffin tin. We taped off our muffin tin with strips of duct tape (any kind of tape will work) so that the eggs would stand up on end and we could color them half one color and half another on the other end. All your traditional egg dyeing methods work here.

Add your boiling water to the receptacles then add 25 drops of neon food dye and 1 teaspoon of vinegar. When that is ready, let your egg sit in it’s tiny little dunk tank of color for a minute or more. The longer you let the eggs sit, the more intense the color will be. We let some sit as long as 15 minutes!

As you can see we got all kinds of great results.

Neon Craft Paint Easter Eggs

For these eggs, since they are not edible, we opted to hollow them out. That way we could make a few omelettes and not waste the eggs themselves. This can be done by carefully poking a small hole in each end of the egg with a thumb tack or needle and then blowing out the egg into a bowl. If you’re super handy you might even have a drill for this step. We did not.

You will need:

• hollowed out eggs
• craft paint in neon colors
• paint brushes and a cup of water to wash your brush with
• a paper towel to blot your paintbrush dry
• optional: small cup filled with rice

Painting with neon craft paint on eggs is a little like painting your nails with fingernail polish. The paint goes on thinly (requiring extra coats) and doesn’t always want to stick to the egg. Stripes are possible but we found that the easiest way to get most the saturated color was to dab it on in dots and dashes.

Since holding the egg while painting can be tricky, we propped our eggs up in little cups of rice. We only painted one side at a time and waited for the paint to dry before moving the egg and painting the other side. Who am I kidding, we totally smudged things up by moving them around with our hands and getting rice stuck in the paint but if you were SMART this is what you would do. Take your time and let the paint dry. It actually dries pretty quickly.

Another way to get nice even dots is to use the other end of the paint brush. Whatever you do, don’t get frustrated. This method is messy but totally worth the effort.

Not to mention the mess is quite pretty to clean up.

Neon Duck Tape Easter Eggs

This last method is a cinch and looks pretty fantastic for how simple it is. You can even combine this taping method with the other methods above and really knock people’s socks off. You might even have to hand out sunglasses at your Easter dinner.

You will need:

• fluorescent duck tape (found in hardware stores and craft stores)
• scissors
• mad tearing skills

You probably know from experience that duck tape does not like to tear horizontally but lucky for us it does like to tear vertically. So first you will need to cut a small strip about 4-5 inches long and then take your scissors and cut a small 1/4 inch cut at one end of your tape strip. Then give that little tab a good tear until you have a tiny 1/4 inch strip. Sometimes the tape will want to curl so experiment with widths until you get a strip you feel comfortable handling. Once you have a few strips in the colors of your choice simply wrap them around your egg in your desired pattern. You can also cut small squares of tape and press them on the eggs too.

However you end up coloring your eggs neon, you can pretty much guarantee they won’t be boring.

When I am trying to think up Easter crafts I’m usually trying to think of something we can use to make an Easter egg. Well, what if we used Easter eggs to make something else? They’re plastic, they’re inexpensive and they’re pretty easy to work with. Why didn’t I think of this before!

How about an Easter Egg wreath crown? That should be pretty simple.

All you will need are:

• some plastic Easter Eggs that pop open in the middle
• 1 yard of craft yarn
• flowers and chenille stems for embellishment (optional)
• a hot glue gun* (optional)

Take your yarn and lay it straight. Open the eggs and close them over the yarn, keeping the yarn taught in the middle. Add your eggs one by one keeping them as close together as possible. When you’ve filled up your piece of yarn try it on for size.

Add an egg or take one off until it fits just right on your head. Tie with a bow or knot and pop another egg over top to cover your knot.

If you’re handy with a glue gun (and you’re a responsible adult) you can glue your eggs together to make them more secure. This step is not necessary but helpful if your crown-wearer tends to jump and around and get crazy. And if you’re handy with a glue gun you can also add some pretty flowers to make your wreath even more springy. Add some springy chenille stems by coiling them around a pencil for shape and then simply bending one end around your wreath. When you’re done you’ll have something pretty enough for your head or your front door!

Now wear and plot your hostile takeover of the Easter Egg Hunt.

If that wasn’t enough fun for you, we’ve got another version.

I like to call it the Whirly Easter Jester Crown.

All you’ll need is a 22-inch wide piece of poster board (or construction paper taped together). You just need it big enough to wrap around your child’s head. The height of the crown is up to you. We decided to go big. Cut triangles out of your paper like the pattern above, then staple together and pop the eggs onto the dangling crown points.

Attach to child’s head with some secure clippies or bobby pins and give it a spin!

*As always please, use a hot glue gun responsibly. This step is not for children.

I’ve always loved the story of Esther–the beautiful Jewish queen of Persia who saved her people from an evil advisor to the king who was plotting to kill all the Israelites in the land. This story is still celebrated today in a Jewish holiday called Purim which this year starts at sundown this Wednesday (March 7th) and ends the evening of Thursday, March 8th.

To bring some of that fun of Purim here I thought I would create some easy printable face masks that you can download and print at home and play along. Have your children act out the parts as you read them the ancient story.

Click to print:

King Ahasuerus (aka King Xerxes)
Queen Vashti
Haman
Mordecai
Queen Esther

Simply print and cut then carefully cut out the black eye-holes. You can attach a dowel or popsicle stick to hold the mask to your face or even punch holes and attach some elastic string.

Chag Purim Sameach! (Happy Purim Holiday!)

Here’s a fun way to keep those mischievous little leprechauns busy this coming St. Patrick’s Day: Build them a leprechaun house!

It’s simple really. You don’t need to get as elaborate as I do. We just have a thing for cardboard houses around here so we go all out. But if you’d like to make one like ours all you will need are:

1. two large moving boxes and one small one

2. house paint in the colors you’d like your house to be. Many hardware stores will make up sample tubs for you in any color you like for a few dollars.

3. poster paint in a rainbow of colors for your smaller details

4. a paint roller and several small paint brushes for detail

5. a box cutter or serrated knife

6. lots of imagination

Of course you need to leave the cutting to an adult but don’t think the kids can’t paint. That’s the most fun for them. Everyone thinks that playing in the house once it is done is the fun part but really, between you and me: it’s the making of it that is the most fun. So go put on your painting clothes and get ready for a busy afternoon of bonding time with your kids.

First you’ll need to assemble your house. Cut the corners off two ends of each end flap to create a triangle gable like so. Then use the side flaps as part of the roof. You can secure them to the gable with with packing tape but it’s not really necessary. They’ll be covered by your roof anyway.

Use your other box to create the roof. When it is flattened, cut it in half. Place it on top of your gable and if it’s too big just trim off the excess. We used a rectangle box so our roof is longer on one side but we let it be, thinking it gave the house more charm.

Add your windows and doors and any decorative cut-outs you might want. A shamrock window perhaps? Just be careful with that box cutter and make sure you’re always cutting away from yourself. But you knew that already.

If you want to create a rainbow like we did (and I strongly recommend you do) you can cut an arc from the other half of the box you cut the roof from. Attach it to your house by cutting a 1/4 inch groove in the roof for it to fit into. You’ll need to cut through both the roof piece and the smaller roof flap on the house box so everything holds securely. Don’t give up. It’s fiddly but worth it.

Now the fun part: painting! Rollers work really well on cardboard. So do cute green outfits but you might want to change into something you don’t mind ruining with house paint. House paint is usually water-soluable so if you rinse it out quickly you can save your clothes but what’s the fun in that? Everyone needs painting clothes anyway. You can save them for Halloween and call yourself an artist if you need a quick costume!

Painting painting painting!

Don’t forget the rainbow! We made our pot of gold out of the small box. We just cut off the flaps and painted it black.

Try your best to wait until the paint dries before you assemble your house.

Then haul it off to the backyard for some Leprechaun fun! For best results place cookies in the pot.

It’s still quite cold outside in February so we decided we’d make some hand-warmer Valentines!

What’s better to give than the gift of warm hands after all and of course there’s always the wonderful idea of walking around with a cozy warm heart in your pocket. The messages to go along with these funny little hearts are endless.

Here’s how to make the hand-warmers:

First you’ll need to gather your supplies:

1. 100% cotton or 100% wool fabric. This is very important because your hand-warmers will need to be able to be microwaved and anything with synthetic fibers will melt, smoke or burn in the microwave. You don’t really want to be giving away charred hearts on valentines! (Well, unless you’re giving them to your ex but that’s a different post.)

2. Feed corn (not popcorn), rice or any kind of hard, dried bean like a split pea or lentil.

3. Thread or yarn (again make sure it’s 100% cotton or 100% wool)

4. All the regular sewing supplies: scissors, pins, a pointy-ended crewel (a heavy needle with a head big enough to thread yarn) if you’re going to be doing a blanket stitch or a sewing machine if you are not.

5. A funnel

If you want to make the blanket-stitched felt hearts like the ones above you’ll need to cut your hearts out of your 100% wool felt. Wool felt is a little harder to find but some fabric stores carry it and many have it available online. Just make sure that it’s all wool and not a rayon blend (for the safety reasons listed above) .

The rest is easy. Simply cut out your hearts and stitch them up with a blanket stitch. If you aren’t familiar with how to do a blanket stitch I recommend doing a search on YouTube for some easy tutorials. (That’s what I did.)

Then fill it with feed corn or beans with a spoon (not rice for this version because the small grains will escape through your stitches) and stitch it the rest away. Easy peasy!

If you’re making hand-warmers with other fabrics that fray on the ends, you’ll want to sew them with a sewing machine. I’m not the most experienced seamstress on the planet but here are the basic steps I followed:

1. Choose your fabrics: again make sure it’s 100% wool or cotton (for the safety reason listed above). This can include suiting-material, flannel or even some pretty home-decorating materials. When you’re shopping at fabric stores the fabric blends will be printed on the end of the cardboard spool.

2. Cut your hearts, keeping in mind that your actual heart will be a seam-allowance-width smaller than your shape. (I did this wrong a few times and ended up with pointy wide hearts.)

3. Making sure your fabric is wrong-side-out, stitch around the edge but leave a small 1-1.5 inch opening to put your filling in later.

4. Snip your corners. Just be careful not to accidentally snip your threads. (Kids will have a tendency to want to use these as bean-bags so you’ll want to make them durable.)

5. Turn inside-out, press if you’re the ironing type, and fill with rice using your handy dandy funnel. (Or spoon in your other filling of choice.)

6. Stitch the opening closed and you’re done!

For use: just stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds (less or a bit more depending on your microwave) and they’re ready to hand out! Mmmmmmmmm….. warm and toasty! Perfect for your little Valentine!

If you want to hand them out as Valentines you could wrap with a simple printed Valentine message and include the microwaving instructions like so (for safety, remind your recipient not leave the warmers unattended when microwaving for the 30 seconds).

We’re planning a woodland fairy-themed party for my daughter who is turning six in a week so I thought I would share some of our woodland crafts with you that we’re planning to do during the party. As you probably know, not every guest at the party wants to dress up in a tutu and wings so we’ve got some options for them: Woodland creature masks! I have some pre-printed ones you can download here if you have a printer with plenty of toner:

fox mask
owl mask
bear mask
raccoon mask

And some you can let the kids color here:

fox mask
owl mask
bear mask
raccoon mask

Coloring is our favorite pastime.

After you’ve printed them (and colored them if you’re coloring) simply cut them out. Little ones might need some help with the eye-holes (Hint: bend slightly and cut a letter x first in the eye-hole and then trim the rest, it’s easier that way.)

We decorated the owlet one with soft downy feathers. Just swipe with a glue stick and apply the feathers to the glue gently. There’s not much mess and the effect is adorable.

Instead of punching holes on both sides and attaching elastic string that made the mask bend around the children’s faces we opted for some branchy sticks instead. A little piece of packing tape held the stick to the mask firm and strong.

Then out to the garden the little woodland creatures went to play!

Snow globes are such a funny thing. They are meant to be shaken and yet so many of them are breakable and expensive and we’re always telling kids not to touch. That’s just cruel, I think. What if we made a snow globe that was meant to be shaken? What if it was a craft that kids could make themselves!?! Now that’s an idea!

I present to you: Waterless Snow Globes. So easy to make, even a kid could do it!

First you’ll need to gather your supplies:

1. clear plastic ornaments that snap apart
2. snow glitter
3. canning jar lids (size small) (milk caps will do for smaller ornaments)
4. cotton balls
5. small toys, ornaments or festive doodads
6. white glue or a hot glue gun (not for kids)
7. cardboard cut into 2-inch discs
8. decorative ribbon

Now let’s set the scene:

On your round 2-inch cardboard disc you’ll create your snowy scene. First, put down a layer of glue. (White glue will do but you know me, I love my glue gun. Just make sure if you’re using a glue gun not to let little kids touch the hot glue.) Then pull apart a fluffy white cotton ball and firmly stick it down onto the glue. Now you’re ready for your toys.

A word about snow globe toys: It’s difficult to find vintage plastic reindeer these days. They used to be everywhere but due to toy manufacturer regulations it’s getting harder and harder to find small bits to put inside a snow globe. You can order them online in some places but you can also use mini ornaments—just cut off the hanging loop. Miniature trees from model train sets work well too. I found some winter garland and cut the top off of a glittered fern to look like a small tree. You can even make a small snowman like I did with some styrofoam balls and tiny sticks.

Once you’ve found your toys and glued them into your snowy scene, you’re ready to pop them into your plastic globes. It’s easiest to work with your globe if you set it into the canning lid that will eventually become your snow globe base. Don’t glue it yet though. Just use the base as a little stand until you have everything in place.

Take your cardboard disc (that has a snow scene on top of it) and gently put a line of glue around the back outside edge. This will attach to the back inside curve of one half of your open globe. Once that is nice and secure, add some glue to the bottom of your open globe and the bottom of your cardboard disc and then stuff some cotton under the disc in the remaining space. This will help your snow scene stay nice and secure when it’s getting shaken like a polaroid.

Now the fun part: Add your glitter snow! A pinch or two will do.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Once everything is in place, close the globe with the other half and get ready to glue it to your canning lid base. Just apply the glue to the canning lid and then set your globe down in it, making sure your snow scene is nice and level.

Add some decorative ribbon to the top and you’re done!

Perfect for any mantle, shelf or little kid hands!

Go ahead and let them shake up a snowstorm or two!

It won’t break, it’s plastic!

Photo credit: Thinkstock