Mothers have been the subject of tattoos since forever. Popeye, sailors, scruffy looking biker dudes…they all have tattoos in honor of their moms. Isn’t it time that Dad got some ink action? How about some temporary tattoo ink action? Now we’re talking. That’s something the kids can wear?! And wouldn’t it be fun if they wore their “World’s Greatest Dad” and “I Love Dad” temporary tattoos on Father’s Day? I think that would make Dad’s day.

Surprisingly, temporary tattoos are pretty easy to make. Tracking down the temporary tattoo paper is a little harder. You can buy it online and find it in fancy boutique stores. Here are the two I bought via Amazon, which pretty much are the same in terms of quality: Inkjet Temporary Tattoo and Silhouette Temporary Tattoo Paper. (We apologize if this is too tight a time frame to find, buy and then make before Father’s Day but we’re hoping that maybe you bought some temporary tattoo paper a while back and you’re just waiting for something fun to print on it.)

All you need is an inkjet printer, temporary tattoo paper (see above) and the clear adhesive that comes with it. You can follow the directions that come with the temporary tattoo paper pretty easily but we’ll break it down here too.

The temporary tattoo paper will be printed on the back. This is what you need to put in your printer. Depending on how your printer prints (see your printer’s directions) you’ll insert the paper’s printed side up or down so that you can print on the unprinted side. Does that make sense? If you aren’t sure put a small “x” on a blank piece of paper and test your printer to see if it prints on the top or the bottom (printing direction).

Next you can click and download our handy Father’s Day Temporary Tattoos Printable and print it out on your temporary tattoo paper. It has both “World’s Greatest Dad” and “I Love Dad” on one sheet.

The next step is the trickiest part, but don’t stress about it too much. You are going to apply the adhesive over your printed temporary tattoos. The adhesive is kind of like a clear sticker. You separate it from its backing and gently line up the top edges with your printed temporary tattoo paper. Then pull the backing off and stick the clear adhesive to your tattoo paper, working your way downwards. The directions will tell you to be careful to smooth it out so you don’t have air bubbles. That’s pretty much impossible. There will be air bubbles unless you are some kind of master wall-paper-paster or something. Try not to get air bubbles but if you do have some, you can work them out later when you cut your tattoos into separate pieces.

Like so! Now you’re ready to apply the temporary tattoos.

The best way to apply temporary tattoos is to peel the clear adhesive off, stick it on your skin where you want your tattoo to sit and then dampen the paper with a moist paper towel. Hold down the wet paper towel for 30 seconds. If the tattoo paper isn’t covered by the wet paper towel you can do it in sections. Just make sure that the entire tattoo gets covered. We like to sing the alphabet song while we dampen the tattoos so that the applying time goes by faster.

Happy Father’s Day!

With Father’s Day around the corner and lots of graduations to attend, my thoughts have turned to neck ties. Admit it, as cliched as it is, they are rather practical gifts for these celebrations. Ties are elegant and appropriate and fashionable! I wanted to say timeless and classic but, you know how neck tie styles change.

What if your gift recipient doesn’t know How To Tie a Neck Tie!?! I don’t. I did some research and made up this handy little cheat sheet. Here it is in smaller cards in case you want to tuck it into a present box. Download and print the cards below:

How to Knot a Tie Tutorial Printable Card
How to Knot a Tie Tutorial Small Card

Also, you can hang the How to Tie-a-Tie Tutorial card on a wall for little ones or stick it to the back of the door for an older one who might be challenged. Or, just tuck it in the box underneath that fancy neck tie, as a just-in-case.

Whatever you do, just bookmark this. It might come in handy. Maybe even for yourself! Not everyone is lucky enough to have a kindly father, grandfather, or uncle who will teach them the ropes.

p.s. Don’t you love my Dad’s groovy 70′s tie? I have pictures of him wearing it when I was a baby.

Some kids all you have to do is give them a piece of blank piece of paper and they will spend hours creating the most amazing masterpiece. Others like to fill in the blanks and color in the lines. This Father’s Day Card printable is for those kids.

Print out our weekly printable (new! and cool!) this week here is a Father’s Day Card. Just let your kids have at it. If you haven’t figured out how to print back-to-back on your printer, don’t worry, you can just glue the pages together using some rubber cement or a glue stick.

Color away and then let them fill in the blanks on the inside. It’s like a fun Mad Lib game for Dad!

Download our Father’s Day Card Printable.

Yes, I totally filled that out with my left hand to simulate kid writing but you get the idea.

You know what I think Dad needs for Father’s Day this year? He needs some more tchotchkes for his dresser. He needs a whole traffic jam of photo cubes that the kids made just scootin’ around his desk to remind him who’s number one on Father’s Day. Here’s how you can make a car photo cube just for Dad.

First, you’ll need your supplies:

Father’s Day Car Photo Cube Supplies

1. wood blocks – maybe you have some on hand from a home project or you can buy an 8 foot long 6×4 at your local hardware store and ask them to cut it down for you into five inch blocks. Too many blocks for you? Save them for your teachers’ or holiday gifts!

2. paint in Dad’s favorite color and black for the wheels – we used spray paint* but you can use any type of paint you feel comfortable with.

3. four large bottle caps and two small bottle caps

4. sand paper

5. rubber cement for photos

6. mod podge or white glue

7. a paint brush (for glue or paint or both)

8. photos that can be trimmed down to 2 inches x 4 inches

9. a hammer (not pictured)

10. six small nails (not pictured)

11. Our handy dandy specially-made printable for license plates and other extras (also not pictured) for this Father’s Day Car Photo Cube. Click here to download and print.

Directions to Make Father’s Day Car Photo Cube:

First you’ll need to sand your wood block. This is an easy step and great for kids of all ages. Just sand down the rough edges and the corners so they are nice and smooth. You might want to give your bottle caps a swipe or two also with the sand paper so your paint sticks to the plastic.

Next you’ll paint your block. We used spray paint because it goes on quickly and dries quickly. But you can paint your block with any paint you feel comfortable with. Just make sure to paint outside or in a well-ventilated area and follow paint directions on technique and drying times.

Paint all four sides of your wooden block and the top. You don’t need to paint the bottom unless you’re feeling extra productive. Feel free to get creative with your paint too. You can pimp out Dad’s car with flames, pin stripes or even ombre color blends if you’re feeling the vibe.

While you’ve got the paint out you can also paint your large bottle caps black so they look like wheels. We painted some of our smaller bottle caps orange but that is up to you.

Once your paint is has dried, you can now add wheels to your Car Photo Cube. Make sure you have a responsible adult on hand to get nails started through the plastic lids. They can be a bit tricky sometimes, especially if you need to hammer into a knot in the wood. Once the plastic lid is started, position the wheels just on the edge (at least a quarter inch away from the edge) of your wood block and hammer them down. If your nails are long enough, your wheels might still spin a little but it’s not necessary. The wheels on the car photo cube are mostly just for looks. Do the same with your smaller bottle caps which are for creating “headlights” on your Car Photo Cube.

Now it’s time to adhere photos and other extras like license plates, radiator grills and flames from our free printable, if you like.

You can select and use photos you have on hand or set up some chairs against a white wall and have your kids pose against it as a background, simulating that they are driving in the car. We used a pot lid for a pretend steering wheel in our photos, but a hula hoop would work well too. It’s fun to have different poses for all sides of the car but you can pretty much put whatever you like in those photo areas. If you have a big family, have everyone pose like they are smashed inside, like a clown car.

Cut your photos down to 4 inches wide and two inches high and round the edges to mimic real car windows. (Use our printable template to get your photos the right size if you need some help.)

Dab on a bit of glue on the back of your photos then stick them along the top of your block so they look like windows. You can cut your side photos in half so they look like the front seat and back. Or, just the front seat if you only have one child. Apply the extras, that come in the printable, the same way.

Next, paint a generous layer of Mod Podge (or white glue that dries clear) over your photos and the entire car to seal it and make it look shiny. If some Mod Podge gets on the wheels that’s okay. It dries clear and peels off pretty easily too.

Let the Car Photo Cube dry and wrap with some cool wrapping paper for Father’s Day.

Then, when Father’s Day gets here just add some Happy Father’s Day sound effects and Dad will be pleased as punch!

Beep! Beep!

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Difficulty Level: Easy
Appropriate Age levels: Any age for sanding. Older children can use paint and glue and even a hammer but please make sure a responsible adult is on hand to help at all times.

*Always paint in a well-ventilated area and follow paint manufacturer directions.

Need something you can whip up quick that is sure to put a smile on your mother’s or grandmother’s face this coming Sunday for Mother’s Day? How about a framed bouquet!?! It’s really easy and quick to make and she’ll enjoy it all year long.

Here is what you’ll need:

Supplies for Mother’s Day Framed Bouquet

1. a frame (we found ours at a thrift store) minus the glass but keep the cardboard

2. some silk flowers in mom’s favorite colors

3. a hot glue gun* (you can use traditional white Elmer’s glue here but it will make the job take ten times longer)

4. an exacto knife*

5. some letters spelling out something sweet for mom

6. some decorative pins

Now let’s get started!

Grab your flowers…

And pull all the flowers off their stems! You may want to clip off the remaining pedicle parts too if they extend off the backside of the flower too far. You want your flowers to be pretty flat so they will glue easily to your cardboard.

Next, arrange your flowers however you think they look pretty.

Once you have them arranged how you want them, you can glue them down with your hot glue gun*.

Now you can add your paper letters that say, “love you mom.” You can print out our handy-dandy printable and cut them out with an exacto knife** OR you can pick up stenciled letters or stickers from your local craft store and say whatever you like!

Pin your letters through your flowers (into the cardboard) with your push pins. If you find that your letters are not staying put on the pins, a little dab of glue to the underside of the pin head will hold your paper letters nice and still.

Then present it to mom and say, “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, MOM!”

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Difficulty Level: Easy
Appropriate Age levels: any age for the flower arranging but when it comes to hot glue or using an exacto knife, ALWAYS have a responsible adult on hand for the gluing or cutting.
*Never let a child use a hot glue gun. Hot glue can burn!
**Never let a child use an exacto knife unsupervised. Sharp blades can cut!

You know who deserves a gold star for excellence? Your kids’ teachers. They’ve put up with snotty noses and possibly snotty attitudes all year. They’ve plastered on a smile through and after the heartbreaking tragedies our nation has faced recently. They’ve loved your child like their own and may have taken flak from all sides.

As a small gesture of thank you, we’d like to give them a gold star. And hope they understand that the gratitude it symbolizes is much greater.

How about an edible gold chocolate star!?! Now we’re talking.

Before you take out a loan to pay for something out of a jewelry catalog or mail away for some fine artisanal chocolates from Switzerland, let me share with you some chocolate-making tips that might just be the perfect gift! You can make fine chocolates right in your very own kitchen with these easy steps. It’s all about ingredients and love and care.

(Yes, this is definitely still a splurge gift, but we think teachers are worth it).

Supplies for making Edible Chocolate Gold Stars:

* Star candy molds You can find these in any craft store or online. We picked some that could be made into a sucker.

* Chocolate You can buy chocolate melts at your local craft store or online that are really easy to work with but keep in mind that you want your chocolate to taste good. So don’t buy the cheap stuff. You can even use your gourmet dark chocolate chips. When you are working with chocolate remember that it will harden to the state that it was originally. If it was a hard chip it will harden into a hard chip. So chocolate chips work great! And if you really want to go crazy you can make chocolate ganache and insert that into the center of your hard chocolate star. But we’ll leave those instructions to the chocolate experts.

* Edible gold leaf You can buy this online. It’s a bit pricey. (Our package came with 25 gold leaves).

* Wooden skewers or lollipop sticks We used wooden skewers trimmed to fit the chocolate mold but any lollipop stick the right size should work too.

* A clean paintbrush (never used for paint)

* A spoon or two

* A glass dish in which to melt chocolate

Now you are ready to start!

Directions to make Edible Chocolate Gold Stars:

In a glass dish melt your chocolate. You can do this with a double boiler or use the microwave. Personally, I think the microwave is a lot easier. Just make sure to set your microwave power at half power and only microwave in one minute increments. You can always heat chocolate up more but you can’t unburn it. So go slow and stir as you go.

When it’s thick and creamy you are ready to pour your chocolate into your molds. Since your chocolate is pretty high in oil (or cocoa butter) you won’t need to grease your molds.

Gently spoon your chocolate into the mold.

Lay your sticks into the chocolate and roll them around until they are covered with a layer of chocolate. There might be air bubbles in your chocolate so pick up the mold about an inch off your table or counter and let it drop down a few times to work out those bubbles. The fewer bubbles the better because they might disfigure your star if one is near the surface. Let them set at room temperature until the chocolate is completely cool and hard.

When they are cool and hard you can pop your chocolate stars out of their molds just like you would pop ice cubes out of an ice cube tray. Just make sure you do this gently because you don’t want your any star tips to break off. If there are any deformities or chocolate tags hanging off you can easily carve them off with a knife or sharp end of a wooden skewer.

Directions for applying gold leaf to your chocolate stars:

Now for the fun part: Adding the gold leaf! Gold leaf is very, very thin and very, very fragile. In fact, you won’t even want to touch it with your bare hands. Make sure you are working in a still quiet place because you don’t want a breeze to come along and blow five dollars worth of gold right out the window. It’s that light.

You can easily lift a sheet of gold leaf with just your paint brush or wooden skewer. Gently lay it over your gold star and brush the gold down with your paint brush. It’s pretty tricky to cover chocolate completely, it will lift up if brushed repeatedly but that’s okay because it looks pretty when it goes down marbled or “burnished”. So let the gold leaf stick where it will and don’t try to get it too perfect.

You’re almost done! Now you just need to package up your star. Packaging is everything. We’ve made some Teacher Appreciation Gift Card printables (just click here) that you can use if you like. Just download, print them out, cut and attach your chocolate gold stars by their sticks with some pretty tape!

Who wouldn’t like to receive a gift like this? You can slip these Teacher Appreciation cards into a glassine candy sleeve or better yet wrap them up in tissue and set them in a thin box.

Add a pretty ribbon and it looks like a million bucks!

That’s how we like to say Thank you, teachers, for everything you do!

What’s better than a store-bought Easter tree for a centerpiece at your big Easter Dinner? Mini Easter trees set at everyone’s place instead! It’s cute and fun and your guests can take them home. Now, that’s my kind of dinner decoration.

If this hits your cute bone like it does mine, here is what you’ll need:

1. Sticks
2. Pom poms
3. Clay or play dough
4. mini canning jars
5. glue (hot glue or tacky glue, depending on your comfort level*)
6. spray paint or acrylic paint** (optional)
7. colored paper cut into small flags
8. toothpicks
9. a pen

I chose to spray paint my sticks but you really don’t have to. You could leave them natural or paint them white with good old fashioned acrylic paint (if children are doing the painting, water-based paints are the safest options). It’s really up to you and what you’d like your color palette to be. Since I knew I was setting my table with white linens and dishes I wanted my Easter trees to really pop with color. But natural sticks with pastelle pom poms would be really pretty too.

Caution: Always be careful when you spray paint. Spray out doors and it helps if you have a box you can spray into to keep the spray somewhat contained.

Once we were done painting our sticks and they had dried we set to preparing our jars.

I had some air-dry clay on hand but any colored play dough would work too. In fact I kind of wish I had some neon play dough. That would have looked really cool or some brown to look like dirt.

We filled the jars all the way to the top, making sure there wasn’t any clay stuck on the outside edges and then covered the clay with some dry floral moss. You can find it at most of your craft stores these days or a floral supply store. It’s pretty easy to handle, just gently press it down into the clay and it will hold.

Then we stuck in our sticks!

They looked cute enough to stop right there but no, we had to pump it up with pom poms! That’s what spring is all about after all: crazy popping color!

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Very very carefully I dabbed a bit of hot glue on each pom-pom and gently stuck it to the branch where my daughter directed. This is not really a step you want kids to get too close to. Just be really careful if you are using hot glue because it burns. If you are using tacky glue you might want to glue the pom-poms on the sticks while they are laying down and then put them in the jars after the glue has dried.

Next we decided to make little flags to stick into the ground to act as name cards. That way everyone will know where they sit at the table and which little tree they can take home. We just wrote everyone’s name down on a little flag and glued the paper to toothpicks, easy peasy!

Like so!

And then we set the table! I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces light up when they sit down to eat.

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Difficulty Level: Easy
Appropriate Age levels: 3 and up (have an adult on hand for the gluing and/or painting steps)
*Never let a child use a hot glue gun. Hot glue can burn!
**Always paint outdoors or in a well ventilated space.

This post is sponsored by The Honest Company.

When you’re a mom and an artist you are bound to make big beautiful artsy messes. It comes with the territory. However, there are tips and tricks to keeping the crafting mayhem managed. Before you start twitching because there is glitter all over your floor or you redecorate your entire house to match your kid’s finger paint palette, read on for a few effective and safe clean-up tips that might just save you a headache or two.

1. When you can craft outdoors, do craft outdoors. This is helpful for so many reasons. Many paints and glues emit fumes that can be harmful if inhaled for long periods of time. I always make sure I use non-toxic water-based paints but I pretty much follow this rule: if you can smell it, then you need to get a breath of fresh air. That might mean moving closer to a window or moving the whole craft outdoors. When it comes to using products like paints, glues and markers (Sharpie even makes in water-based versions of its pens) I err on the side of being careful.  I always read and follow the directions for crafting materials and ventilate my apartment. But, if you can, you should work outdoors. Plus, it is so much easier to clean up when outside. It’s not like you can use a hose to spray down paint messes in your dining room!

2. Have your cleaning products handy. I don’t know about you but I have an arsenal of cleaning products that I keep within arms’ distance when I’m crafting with kids. First and foremost are wipes. Wipes are a mother’s best friend. They wipe bottoms, they catch drips, they can even get paint out of a dry-clean-only designer blouse if you move fast enough. I swear wipes have some kind of magic formula in them that will clean things you never expect them to be tough enough to handle.

Plus they are super gentle on skin. Face-painting is super popular with my daughter and her friends, so I always keep a pouch of wipes in my toolbox. They are gentle on the most sensitive of skin and a lot handier than carrying around a kitchen sink.  And, thinking about safety issues on the clean-up side of the crafting equation is as important. Luckily, companies like The Honest Company and its team spend all day, every day making sure their personal and cleaning products are effective, eco-friendly,  affordable and best of all, safe.

3. Cover everything. I keep a roll of butcher paper in my craft closet and roll it out on whatever surface we are crafting upon. It’s pretty cheap and it saves a lot of time when it comes to clean-up. When we’re done making messes we just wrap up the paper and throw it away or we cut it up and make recycled crafts with it. It’s amazing the beautiful creations you can come up with from messes from other crafts. How does that saying go? One man’s painting mess is another man’s masterpiece…or something like that?

4. Stock up on Multi-Surface Cleaner. Whatever can’t be wrapped up can usually be wiped away. I use cloth napkins and a quick squirt from my favorite cleaning spray. If that doesn’t do it, my secret is to grab a credit card or a plastic bread tab and scrape it off. But usually the cleaning spray does the trick. Which brings me to my fifth trick:

5. Act quick! The sooner you can wipe up messes, the more likely you are to get them out. If you get paint on your clothes, take them off immediately, squirt them with stain treatment and let them soak, soak, soak in the washer. Pretend your clothes are having a day at the spa. Let them soak away their worries. You don’t have to do laundry right away but you do have to get that paint under water because once it’s dried it’s going to claim its territory like a Texan. I’ve ruined many a favorite outfit thinking I’d spot treat it later. There is no later when it comes to paint pigment. It has to come out right away or you might as well just consider your painting wardrobe expanded. Which brings me to my sixth trick!

6. Wear your Paint Clothes. Whether it’s the last outfit you ruined with a red sock in the laundry or one of Dad’s big over-sized t-shirts, have an outfit that is designated for making messes in. I always say I’m going to be super careful but it never works out for me and it doesn’t work for kids either. You’re always careful until you’re not and then it’s bye bye to your favorite outfit.

Let the kids decorate their paint clothes with handprints and finger swipes. Play twister with paint and have the hose handy. Then launder your paint clothes (alone) and save them for the next crafting event. Kids will love that they have a special outfit just for crafting. Aprons are great but paint clothes are better.

7. Don’t sweat the small stuff. My last tip and probably my most helpful tip is to just not worry too much about the mess and just use your common sense. The enjoyment of the process of art (not necessarily the end result) is what is important. Enjoy your time with your child and accept the messes. They’re only this little for so long but your house will need cleaning forever.

So stock up on those cleaning supplies. You’re gonna need them!

I don’t want to end this post without mentioning that The Honest Company was founded by Christopher Gavigan who is a passionate and long-time activist in children’s environmental health, having spent many years in charge of the non-profit Healthy Child, Healthy World, lobbying for a safer and less toxic environment for our kids and teaching parents how easy choices can make our world a safer place for families. Unbeknownst to him, Christopher has been an inspiration to this website for many years, helping inform us and guide how we discuss important topics like raising kids in a safely but with realistic expectations.

Sign up for a Free Trial (with nominal shipping).  Also, get free shipping on your first order only using code FreeShipAlphaMom (expires April 5, 2013). Limit one per customer.

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Thank you to The Honest Company for making this post possible.

You know what I love? A good treasure hunt. I’ve been making treasure hunts since I was old enough to draw clues. And, it’s perfect for make-believe leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day.

Treasure hunts are easy to make and everybody loves them, all ages. All you need are some little pieces of paper (or our handy dandy clue printables — see below), some imagination and of course, a treasure.

Since Saint Patrick’s Day is this weekend, we thought it might be fun to throw the usual leprechaun mischief on it’s ear and search for treasure instead. Who says the Leprechauns get all the gold! Not me! Bake up a batch of golden cookies or maybe you have some real gold coins to hide, that would sure raise the stakes.  (I used chocolate gold coins.  See below.)

Here is what you’ll need:

1. A clue printable!
2. places to hide your clues (think high, think low…inside, outside…)
3. A treasure!

You can get really creative with your clues. Make them rhyme, or not! Make them age appropriate. Try to think of places to hide clues from your hunters’ eye-level. It’s pretty funny to see how little ones will interpret a clue that seems so obvious to you, but is not to them. You could even make your treasure hunters work for their treasure. My Grandma always did. She made us look up verses in the Bible and hard words in the dictionary. If you gotta learn, it’s a fun way to do it!

If you aren’t hiding a big treasure you can use this little printable to make your own little paper pot of gold. I put gold chocolate coins in mine and my little Leprechaun was pleased as punch. Just print it out, cut around the edges and then tape the black tabs together side to side. Fasten the handle over the top and you’ve got a lucky pot of gold!

The Chinese New Year is right around the corner (Sunday, February 10th this year) and since it’s The Year of the Snake we thought we’d make a puppet that moves and wiggles just like a snake!

Here is what you will need:

• 12 (or more) small plastic or paper cups

• yarn needle

• 1 yard (or more) thin ribbon or yarn that will fit through a yarn needle in red or gold

• red tissue paper

• white glue

• chopsticks

• scissors

• wide paint brush

• googly eyes

• gold glitter

• hot glue gun (optional**)

First, you’ll want to organize your cups. Wait. Stacking them is not part of this craft!! But it’s fun so go ahead and have at a stack or two. When you are done stacking them and knocking them down you’ll just want to make sure you have enough cups to create a nice long body. We chose twelve because that’s how much patience we had but you are welcome to create a hundred-cup-log snake if you like. That would be impressive!

Next you’ll need to prepare your tissue paper. Cut several strips 1-2 inches wide depending on the size of your cups. We covered our cups with two layers of tissue paper. One underneath just covering up the white of the cup and one on top, fringed to look more festive. Really, you can cover the cups any way you like. You could even paint them or use those party cups that are already red (shortcut!!). Just make sure your snake is red because red is symbolic of the Chinese New Year.

According to legend, a child wearing red scared away a mythical beast called Nian or “Year” in Chinese. Nian came every new year to devour the crops, livestock and even children. Naturally, when the Chinese learned that Nian was afraid of the color red they decorated everything with that color and still do to this day.

So let’s decorate our snake in red! First you’ll need to paint on a swipe of white glue along the narrow end of the cup, all the way around.

Then gently wrap a piece of un-fringed tissue around the cup by sticking the edge in the glue. You’ll want to make sure that the edge of the tissue touches or hangs over the rim and no white is left showing. Because the cup is narrow at the bottom and wider at the top you’ll have to make up for that difference by gently scrunching or overlapping the tissue around the narrower end. Don’t worry too much about getting it perfect because the fringed layer will cover that and you can always trim excess off with your scissors.

Now paint another swipe of glue on top of that layer of tissue and apply your fringed layer like so:

Repeat until all the cups are covered and you have twelve little skirted cups all standing in a row. Aren’t they cute? They look like they’re ready to dance.

Now for the fun part: GLITTER! Gold glitter is so swanky. I’ve found that the best way to apply glitter to the bottom of the cups is to paint a bit of glue around the tissue-covered rim of the cup and then dip it in a bowl of glitter like you’re adding salt to the rim of a margarita glass.

Make sure the glitter gets all around the edges and then let them sit so the glue can dry. You can press onwards if you like but you’ll be entering sticky-glue-glitter-tissue territory and that can get messy (believe me, I’ve been there). It’s better just to take a break and come back.

When your glitter/glue combo are dry, thread your yarn needle with your ribbon or yarn. You don’t need to tie a knot yet.

Poke your needle through the bottom of your first cup from the inside of the cup. Pull it through until you have about an inch and a half hanging from the bottom of the cup. Tie a knot at the base of the cup. This hanging out piece will be your snakes tongue. You can even cut a fork in if you like.

The next cup is going to be the other side of your snakes head so you want to thread it in such a way that your two cups touch rim to rim.

After you’ve threaded your snake’s head (you can even glue the rims together for extra stability if you like) you’ll thread the rest of the cups so that they stack inside each other like scales on a snake’s body. Don’t pull your ribbon tight though. You want at least an inch of each cup to show. You can adjust the cups as you go but make sure you do so while holding the knotted tongue so that you don’t end up squishing the cups together. Just keep going until you get to the tail!

Tie a knot at the tail’s end, pulling it tight so that it touches the last cup. You can even add a decorative tail here if you like with some gold foil or fancy ribbon if you have it. And don’t forget to glue on your googly eyes!

Now it’s time to add your chopsticks for puppet mobility! We used a hot glue gun to affix the chop stick to the head and then to the fourth scale from the end of the tail but if you don’t feel comfortable with hot glue you can glue it with regular white glue or even use wire. You just want to make sure your chopsticks hold well because this snake is going to wiggle and you don’t want him to fall apart!

Now put on some music and dance with your snake!

Happy New Year!

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Difficulty Level: Moderately difficult. Glitter, glue and tissue can be messy.
Appropriate Age levels: 6 and up
**Never let a child use a hot glue gun. Hot glue can burn!