photo credit: Simply LA

It seems we never have enough hours in a day. And then trying to get the whole family together is next to impossible. And when we do all get together it is normally in front of the TV. And that gives us little opportunity to bond and enjoy each other. But if you can sit down and get creative with each other that makes your quality time priceless.

You may think that crafting as a family not an option, specially if there are many years between your children. But there are some projects that you can do with family members can all enjoy. I have included just a few ideas of crafts the whole family can enjoy together.

~ Fabric painting and tie-dying ~ You can make custom tshirts that the whole family can wear with pride. Tie-dying is easy enough for your younger kids, but the teenagers will also enjoy creating them just as much. Fabric paint is another option when it comes to decorating clothing or fabric. The paint comes in super easy to use bottles that makes it very easy for the young and the old to use.

~ Making Beading Jewelry ~ You can string some beads together and make anything from necklaces, to anklets. Although this project may not be the best for young children because of the risk of them sticking the beads in their mouth and swallowing the beads. You may find that you can also pick up plastic needles that make it much safer for those little hands and larger beads make things much easier. Your older children will probley prefer to use the smaller beads to create something much more stylish.

~ Creating A Family Scrapbook ~ This is a great project for the whole family to participate in. The smaller children can help pick out the pictures while the other kids can help with writing the information next to the photo and attaching the photos and embellishments to the page or paper.

~ Clay Crafting ~ You can create so many things out of clay. You can create beads, figurines and many other objects. Clay is great for about anything including holiday decorations, gifts and decorative containers.

This simple crafts are a great way to get the whole family involved in making something great and having fun making memories. These projects are good for all ages.

photo credit: dAvE Mont.

What mother has not found their fair share of broken crayons all over the house? And where do you normally throw those broken crayons?  In the trash can right?  So this year we decided to collect all the broken crayons we found and create a couple really cool gifts for my daughter to give away as Christmas gifts.

Pleas make sure that you are careful when you start doing this. They melted wax becomes very hot.

We use a warm iron to create sun catchers

My kids just love the beautiful colors that are thrown across the room through sun catchers.  But instead of buying a sun catcher have some fun and make one with your child.

Give your child a pencil sharpener and let them make crayon shavings.

Fold a large sheet of wax paper and sprinkle crayon shavings on half of it.  With a warm iron, run the iron over the wax paper quickly.

Allow the wax paper to cool and then cut it into various shapes.

Make butterflies or flowers with holes in them where you can tape the melted crayon wax sun catcher on the back so the light and colors shine through.

Simple as pie and so much fun.  I will post another crayon waxing craft in a couple days so keep checking back.

photo credit: Attempts at Photography

Remember when traveling you were able to find snow globes at every gas station you stopped at?  People use to collect them as the went from state to state and hold on to them as memories.  It not only helped you remember your visit but it also help you think of winter even in the hotter months.

Of course the snow globes you pick up today don’t look anything like the ones we used to find when we were little.  Now they are fancy and do all links of neat things.

But this year you will be able to help your children make snow globes and maybe even start a Christmas tradition.

Here’s what you need to make one:

* Small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid (baby food jars are great for this).
* Distilled water or water that has been boiled and allowed to cool.
* Glycerin (You should be able to find it in most drug stores or in crafts departments).
* White or silver glitter.  Don’t choose glitter that is too fine – it’ll be too small to fall like snow.
* Small waterproof ornament or toy.
* Clear silicone sealant.  Adults should be the only ones to handle the sealant.
* Small plastic lid such as a film canister lid to elevate the ornament inside the jar.  Florist’s clay would also work.
* Decorative ribbon or fabric to cover the lid.

And here’s how to make your own snow globe:

Wash and dry the baby food jar and lid to be sure they’re completely clean.  Be sure the inside of the lid is clean as well.

Build up some clay or attach the film canister lid inside the lid of the jar.  Attach the ornament, toy, or other miniature to that, building up the base so you can easily see the figurine.  To make sure the toy is at the right height, put the lid on the empty jar and check it out.  Keep adding more clay until you’re happy with how it looks.

Add cold water to the jar, leaving at least ½ inch at the top.  Sprinkle glitter into the jar, approximately ½ teaspoon for the medium to large baby food jars.  Add ½ teaspoon of glycerin so the glitter will float rather than fall.

Line the inside of the lid with silicone sealant and then screw the lid down as hard as you can.  This should make the seal waterproof.  Run a bead of silicone around the outer edge of the lid and let dry overnight, lid side up.

You can make a wooden base for the globe if you like.  If not, decorate the lid with the fabric or ribbon of your choice by hot gluing it to the lid.  Let your globe dry entirely.  Then shake it up and let the snow fall.

Since your children have helped to make them, baby food jar snow globe gifts are great to give to friends and family.  They may not be perfect like those you can buy, but they will be loved for the time and energy you and your child took to make them.

photo credit: David Boyle in DC

Your centerpiece is the main decoration on your Thanksgiving table. Make it special with these ideas. Of course these decorations will also look stunning if you set them on a counter or the mantle over the fire place.

Fall Vegetables

Begin with a pumpkin and gourds. Loosely arrange them on the table or mantle.  Set a natural-color candle on each side of your display. Finish your free form art center piece by sprinkling colorful fall leaves all over and around your center pieces. Make sure they are not too close to the candles, of course.

Fall Leaves

Simply find a large glass bowl and fill it with beautiful fall leaves. Set a candle on each side of the bowl to showcase the leaves. Then, cut leaf shapes out of construction paper and use them as place cards. Of course you could also press small leaves, and glue them to a plain white place card.

Floral Display of Abundance

Make a dried floral arrangement from fall flowers. Gather some of the plastic sticks that the florists use to hold notecards. Stick them into the floral display, but put photos of the things you are thankful for in them, instead. Or, if you don’t have photos, just write words on notecards and display them in the floral arrangement. Some words you may start with are “family”, “friends”, “food”, “laughter”.

Carve A Pumpkin

Yes, you heard right, carve a pumpkin. Of course you don’t want to go with the traditional jack-o-lantern design here. Instead carve some geometrical designs, or some flowers, leaf-shapes etc. on your hollowed out pumpkin. Add a candle inside the carved pumpkin and light it just before your guests arrive.

Pumpkin Candle Holders

Get some small pumpkins and hollow out enough room on the top of the pumpkin to stick a candle in it. Group of few of these candle holders together for a festive center piece. Finish your candle arrangement with a few pieces of native corn placed around your pumpkin candle holders. Give the arrangement more dimension by using different size pumpkins and candles. Use some scented candles to give your room that Holiday smell.

Are you feeling inspired yet by all these ideas? Dig through your Thanksgiving supplies or take a stroll through your local craft store and you will come up with your own versions of these suggestions, or even a creation all of your own.

photo credit: DeaPeaJay

Spending time creating Thanksgiving crafts with your kids can turn a holiday that isn’t quite as exciting as getting Halloween candy or Christmas gifts into a fun kid’s day!

Turkey Apple

Turkey apples are a fun craft to make with the kids as well as a healthy snack. You will need an apple, 6 toothpicks, 1 large and 5 miniature marshmallows as well as some raisins and one piece of candy corn for each turkey.

Set the apple stem up on a flat surface. Stick a toothpick in the top part of one side of the apple. Add the large marshmallow to the top of the toothpick. Decorate the face of the turkey with two raisins as eyes and stick the candy corn in upside down into the marshmallow to make the beak.

Thread each of the remaining toothpicks with 3 raisins, and then top it off with one of the miniature marshmallows. These will be the tail feathers of your turkey. Stick the 4 toothpicks evenly spaced on the opposite side of the top of the apple.

Corn Collage

Cut a basic corn shape out of yellow construction paper. Tear little pieces of yellow and purple tissue paper and crumble them into little balls. Glue them on the corn shape to represent kernels of corn. Cut leaf shapes out of green construction paper and glue them behind your ear of corn.

Pilgrim Hat

You need a large paper grocery bag and some construction paper in black and yellow for each child. Fold the rim of the bag over to make a brim for the hat. Then cut a large strip of black construction paper and tape or glue it around the hat. Cut a belt buckle shape out of the yellow construction paper and glue it to the belt in the front of the hat.

Turkey Handprint crafts

This craft is a family tradition in many homes. First, outline your child’s foot once on a piece of brown construction paper. Then, outline her hands twice on red or yellow construction paper. Cut a beak out of orange construction paper.

Of course, if you visit craft stores like Michaels or online craft supply stores, like Oriental Trading, you’ll find thousands of craft ideas for your kids. Oriental Trading offers foam leaves, felt Pilgrim hats, quilts in fall colors, foam turkeys, stickers, craft kits and more.

photo credit: Meryl CA

Now these are great to make for an upcoming Halloween party.  And I am sure you will have tons of people asking you for the recipe for next year.

What you need:

3oz lemon gelatin
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup  pineapple juice
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 cup mayonnaise

What to do:

Dissolve lemon gelatin in cup water in a double boiler.

Add in mini marshmallows and stir until they are all melted.

Remove from heat and add pineapple juice and cream cheese.

Beat together until smooth.

Next fold in whipped cream and Mayonnaise.

Allow to cool until firm. Using melon baller scoop up to make round balls.

Decorate them suing food coloring and a clean food paintbrush.

Now you have some gross ewwww eyeballs for your Halloween party.

This report is full of fun Halloween activities, recipes and more.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(click on image or here to download)

photo credit: africankelli

Kids love making crafts, so take the time to look around and find some easy Halloween crafts for kids.  Crafting does not have to be difficult, and you can make easy Halloween crafts for kids with a little imagination, creativity, and some common household items.  There is nothing more fun for kids than to decorate your home with Halloween decorations that they have made themselves.  They will feel pride in what they have created and have fun doing it.  Here are a couple easy Halloween crafts for kids that you may want to try.

We LOVE fun foam that can be purchased at craft stores or department stores.  Buy several sheets in colors of orange, black, green, and white.  Cut out some ovals and circles from various colors.  Look on the Internet for Halloween images that you can print to your personal printer.  Try to find witches, bats, skeletons, and black cats.  You may have to reduce these images to fit onto your base.  If you are especially good at drawing, you can even try to draw your own!  Cut these images out of contrasting fun foam colors and glue onto the shapes you have cut out.  Punch a hole in the top, draw a string through the hole and then hang these fun ornaments anywhere you can think of!

Easy Halloween crafts for kids can even be crafts that are adapted from more difficult crafts.  Want to have scary ghosts hanging from your trees?  Take an ordinary plastic bag you get from the grocery store and cut off the handles.  Place a Styrofoam ball in the top for the head and secure with a rubber band.  Then shred the bottom into strips and poke a hole above the head to insert a string for hanging.  Don’t forget to draw on a scary face!  For extra fun, attach a bell or two to the bottom of the strips so you can hear your ghost “singing” in the wind.

Finally, one of the most easy Halloween crafts for kids might be the most fun.  Buy a few dark colored candles – black preferably – and provide your child with various trinkets like sequins, candy corn, fun foam shapes, or whatever you can think of.  Have them glue these trinkets on the outside of the candle and you have a great Halloween decoration for your home!

Easy Halloween crafts for kids are great ways to get kids interested in crafts and instill a sense of pride as visitors marvel over your great decorations.  They can proudly say, “I made that!”

photo credit: BrandontheMandon

With Halloween right around the corner it is time to start doing some pumpkin carving.  By now there are pumpkins for sale on every corner and pumpkin patches are in full swing.  There will be a thousands of pumpkins carved this year for either your front porch or maybe even a contest.  Below I have included some great ideas to make carving a pumpkin more fun and less messy.

First you need to decide on the size of the pumpkin compaired to the design you want to do on the pumpkin.  Make sure that your pumpkin is big enough for your design, but don’t get a huge pumpkin for a little design.  Complex scenes normally work better on short fat pumpkins while witches on broom sticks need to be on tall thin pumpkins.

You want to draw the design on a piece of tracing paper.  If you use tracing paper it will make it easier for you to see when it is time to tranfer your design onto the pumpkin.  You want to use an x-acto knife or a sharp knife. You want to score the pumpkin through the tracing paper. By scoring the pumpkin you are making carving much easier. And easy is what we are trying for.

Alot of times you want to maybe just pick up a pumpking carving kit.  A pumpkin carving kit makes the job that much easier. Pumpkin carving kits are great for slicing through the soft shell of the pumpkin, but make it very friendly for our hands and fingers.  And remember when using any type of tool aways cut or move away from the body.

There are also electric carving tools made for carving pumpkins. The simpler the process the more fun it is going to be.  But make sure you don’t let the tool get away from you or you will destroy your pumpkin.

Pumpkin carving is something that takes place every fall.  Some towns hold a fall festival and will give prizes for the best carved pumpkin. And just because you are not an artist you could still win a prize for most original or funniest looking.

So this year take the task out of pumpkin carving and have a little fun.  Make it as simple of a job as possible. And have fun.  Create something fun and exicting and just remember to be safe this Halloween.

photo credit: jimjarmo

A lot of people think that you can’t teach your toddler how to craft because they are so young, but there are all sorts of free and easy toddler Halloween crafts that you and your little one can do together.  You will be teaching your child about all sorts of things when you take the time to craft together.  Plus, you are spending time together which is irreplaceable when it comes to your child’s well-being.  We were able to find all kinds of free and easy toddler Halloween crafts.  Here are a couple you may want to try.

You can make a cute bat from your child’s handprint for a fun and cute keepsake.  First, get a paper plate and pour in washable black craft paint.  Put your child’s hand in the paint making sure to fully cover the whole hand.  On a piece of construction paper or another paper plate, press your child’s hand onto one side with fingers splayed.  Turn the paper around, re-coat the child’s hand and press the hand to the paper again with the heels of the hand matching up.  Use white paint to make eyes or buy some googly eyes and glue down.  Punch a hole in the top and put a string through to hang.

Finally, you can make cute Halloween ornaments from fun foam – our favorite craft supply that we feel everyone should have on hand!  Get a few pieces of fun foam in typical Halloween colors – orange, black, white, and green.  Draw circles and ovals onto the fun foam and let your toddler practice his or her cutting skills cutting out the shapes with safety scissors, of course!  While he or she is doing that, you can cut out shapes from the rest of the fun foam.  You can get patterns online for scary cats, witches, ghosts, bats, and much more.  Cut out several different ones and then let your toddler glue the figures onto the shapes.  Punch a hole in the top and put a string through so you can hang your toddler’s Halloween ornaments all over the house!

Free and easy toddler Halloween crafts can be found in many places on the Internet.  There are many web sites dedicated to crafts that are easy for children of all ages, so you will have a lot of different and fun projects to choose from.  Remember when you are looking for free and easy toddler Halloween crafts for you and your child to make that the important thing is spending time with your child – that is what counts in the long run!