Mom it Forward » Fall Craft

Kids Craft: How to Make a Nature-Inspired Turkey

Lishie — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 00:00:41 +0000

Wow, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And boy does my family have a lot to be thankful about. We live in a town in New Jersey called Bayonne. The Bayonne Bridge connects Bayonne, New Jersey to Staten Island, New York. We weathered Hurricane Sandy; perhaps you have seen pictures of the devastation in Staten Island. Our town was not damaged as bad as other areas, but neighbors close to us lost so much. We were lucky—slight property damage and loss of power and heat for five days. Two days after Sandy, my little family took a walk to try to get some essentials (milk, etc.). It was rough to bear the sights we saw. The neighbors' houses wrecked, the fallen trees, fallen power lines. It was especially hard to see the sadness in my three-and-a-half-year-old's face when he saw the playground was wrecked.

My tot slept through the actual hurricane and took the power outage in stride. This is really no small feat. Gabriel is autistic. He is on the spectrum with PDD-NOS. He looked at the TV and exclaimed, "Broken!" then went ahead and grabbed his ABC puzzle to complete with me. I am so thankful for my boy. He is the light of my life. We finally got to a playground that had suffered minimal destruction this past weekend. And, besides running, sliding, swinging, and meeting up with friends, it was the perfect time to gather leaves to make this nature-inspired turkey Thanksgiving card.

How to Make a Nature-Inspired Turkey Thanksgiving Card

Supplies:

4 sheets of construction paper—brown, orange, red, and any other color of your choice for the card/background
Leaves
Googly eyes
Glue

Directions:

Assemble your pieces:

Brown construction paper—Cut out a large circle for the turkey's *back* body and another piece for the turkey's *front* body shape
Orange construction paper—Cut out a tiny triangle for the beak
Red construction paper—Cut out a tiny "wattle" (what my tot calls the gobbler )

Take the background sheet of construction paper (we used yellow) and fold it in half. Take the leaves and glue them onto the paper, fanned out. Glue the brown circle onto the leaves. Glue the turkey body onto the circle. Create the face by gluing on the eyes, beak, and wattle. Allow to dry. Write "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" across the top.

I hope you all have a wonderful, happy, and healthy Thanksgiving. My family will be counting its blessings. Please write a note below stating one of your blessings!

How do you like to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family and friends?

Hi, I'm Elisha, "Lishie" as my friends call me. I'm a full-time commuting (NJ to NY) working mom of a special needs child Gabriel, 3 and a 1/2, who I adore. I love to read, craft, cook, bake, and spend time with my family. I blog about food on DeLish DeMaria and I blog about crafting with my tot on art for an archangel.

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Kids Fall Craft: Easy Fall Colors Wall Collage

MommaYoung — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:00:54 +0000

The minute the air gets crisp outside is the minute my fall crafting juices start to flow. I really wanted to make a fall wreath, but on my trip to a big crafting store, there wasn't a single orange leaf to be found. So at five minutes to closing, I ran into our local dollar store. While I didn't find the supplies to make my original wreath idea, I did find a small treasure trove of supplies and decorating ideas.

How to Make a Fall Colors Wall Collage

Supplies:

Paper
Package of silk fall leaves
Glue
Ribbon
Scissors

Directions:

It is time to get started. With all things nature inspired, I have been teaching the girls that nature doesn't fall symmetrically, it falls randomly and still looks very pretty. Your first step is to glue the silk leaves onto the paper. I gave my daughter a leaf to glue and stick "anywhere" on the paper, she did this eight more times.

Now it is time to start framing our leaves. Measure, cut, and glue the ribbon around the paper. Remember this is random, so it is okay if the ribbon is on top of leaves. I chose brown ribbon because my Thanksgiving table cloth is a shiny Golden Rod. I wanted to contrast all the yellow with the brown ribbon and red and green leaves.

That is what it looks like on the wall. I love how the colors pop. There are so many ways to enhance or modify this craft:

Laminate to use as placemats
Put in a frame-less frame
Change the design to use for Christmas—use blue, red, or green ribbon, add snow flakes or holly

I love that my girls helped me make these and it was super easy without the mess.

How else can you use fall leaves to decorate for the season? How do you get your kids involved in home decor?

Anjanette "Momma" Young and hubby have been married almost 23 years and are raising their six kiddos in the Biggest Little City, Reno, NV. Anjanette blogs at MommaYoungatHome where she shares life's little tips, recipes, cooking, crafts, and much more.

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Kids Craft: How to Make Aluminum Foil Leaves

Jill Greenlaw — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:00:11 +0000

Fall Craft—Autumn is one of my favorite times of year. I love watching the leaves change colors and feel the cooler temperatures. One way my kids celebrate fall is to rake all the fallen leaves in our yard into piles and run and jump in them. They never seem to tire of this simple activity. We also like to go on leaf scavenger hunts. We try to find leaves in a variety of shapes and sizes. It is amazing to me how many different types of leaves we can find.

One way we like to preserve some of our treasures is to make some fun creative art pieces. One of our favorites is creating these fun aluminum foil leaves.

How to make Aluminum Foil Leaves

Materials:

Different sizes of leaves
Aluminum foil
Elmer's glue
Stain or brown shoe polish
Display poster board
Brown paper

Instructions:

Gather leaves in various shapes and sizes. We like the slightly larger leaves at our house.
Cut the poster board into your desired shapes to frame your leaf.
Glue the leaf on the board.
Take aluminum foil and cover the leaf. Wrap the foil around the front and neatly tuck the ends around to the back.
Rub your hand over the leaf until you can see the impressions of the leaf.
Rub the stain or polish over the leaf to make the veins of the leaf come out. You can do this with a paper towel or rag.
Cut a piece of brown paper out the size of your cut poster board. This will be used as backing for your project.
Glue the paper on the back of your piece of poster board to hide all the loose ends of the foil.
Sign you artwork with you name and date.

How do you like to decorate with leaves? How can you involve your kids in your projects?

Jill Greenlaw has a banking background. She gave that up 17 years ago when she got married and started having kids. She loved being a stay-at-home mom while raising her four beautiful children. A few years ago, Jill went back to work in sales. She is now working for the Mom It Forward team as their Community Manager. She loves her job. Her interests include camping, motorcycling, boating, photography, reading, cooking, and traveling. Put her in flip flops anywhere warm and she is happy.

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Fall Decor: “Give Thanks” Wood Craft Project

Jill Greenlaw — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 23:00:19 +0000

This is the time of year when we start seeing ads on TV and in the newspaper featuring all of the new holiday gift items. If your kids are like mine, they have already started thinking about what they want to give and get for Christmas. We haven't even enjoyed Halloween and yet we find our thoughts quickly moving into the direction of gift giving.

Don't get me wrong, I like to shop early for my Christmas gifts too. I love to enjoy having everything purchased and done so I can enjoy my month of December. This year, I want to teach my children the importance of giving thanks during the holidays. When I saw this "Thanks" wood craft project at the Wood Connection, I knew I needed to have it for my shelf. This will be a constant reminder in my home to pause and give thanks for all that we have.

How To Make a "Give Thanks" Wood Project

Supplies:

Paint
Scrapbook paper
Ribbon or other decorative items
Modge Podge
Small paint brush
Scissors

Instructions:

Start your project by painting each letter with craft paint. On one of my letters I used glitter. I painted the letter the color I wanted first and then added the glitter before it dried.

Decide what paper you will use for each letter. Trace the letter onto the paper and cut out the traced letter.
Take the Modge Podge and coat the letter. Next, place the scrapbooking paper on it and smooth out the paper; allow to dry.
Paint a final coat of Modge Podge on each letter to give it a shiny finish.

Add ribbons, embellishments, or anything else you want to personalize your project.

You are done. This project is super simple to make and fun for the kids to help. Display your project for everyone to see.

How do you teach your children to be more thankful during the holiday season?

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Fall Craft: How to Make “Harvest” Wood Cutouts

Jill Greenlaw — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 17:00:12 +0000

I love fall. I love watching the leaves change colors. I love layering in all my favorite sweaters. I love decorating my house in fall colors and textures. I also enjoy eating the last fruits and vegtables from our local farmers market. When I think of fall, I think of harvest. To me, harvest describes an abundance of all that is good. Everything we have worked hard to plant or grow, we can now gather and show gratitude for it. I can't think of a better way to celebrate this year's fall season than to make a Crafty Wood Cutouts of the word "Harvest."

How to Make "Harvest" Wood Cutouts

Supplies:

Wood letters from Craty Wood Cutouts
Acrylic craft paint in a variety of colors
Scrapbook paper (several different patterns for variety)
Scissors
Embellishments
Assorted ribbon
Mod Podge
Paint brush

Instructions:

1. Paint each letter a desired color. These can all be the same or they can be different. Let the paint dry.

2. Trace each wood letter onto the piece of craft paper you would like. Make sure you trace the letter backwards so when you glue it on the front, it will have the right side of craft paper showing.

3. Use the Mod Podge to glue the paper to the wood letter. You can take the scissors and trim the paper around the letter if you need to.

4. Use you hand to smooth out the paper on the wood. Work out any air bubbles that have formed. You can also add ripped paper to some of the letters if you want to add a little more texture or color to your letters.

5. When the paper has dried on the letters, put a final coat of Mod Podge on the entire letter. This will help seal the paper to the letter and give each letter a dull shine.

6. Add assorted ribbon and embellishments.

That is it, your project is finished. Display your fun project and be reminded daily of all you have. Enjoy the harvest!

What do you love about Fall? What are some of your favorite Fall items?

I was provided with all the materials to make this project by Crafty Wood Cutouts. I designed the project on my own.

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Showing Gratitude: Gratitude Jar Craft

Jill Greenlaw — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:00:35 +0000

November is a great month to focus on the things we are grateful for. I love teaching my children about gratitude, because it helps them to focus less on themselves and more on others.

Gratitude Jar

A gratitude jar is a perfect way to help us get into the spirit of the season. This craft is really simple to make and would be a fun gift to give to your family and friends.

Materials

You will need a few things for this project:

A medium size mason jar
An assortment of scrapbook paper
15 inches of 1/4 in. ribbon
4x4 piece of fabric or enough to cover your jar lid
Silk leaves
A hot glue gun
Computer to print tags

Step 1. Start by tracing a circle around the jar lid onto the fabric. You want to make sure that you make the circle big enough so that the fabric will hang over the lid about 1 inch when it is cut.

Step 2. Cut around the traced circle and glue the fabric onto the mason lid with your hot glue gun.

Step 3. Glue two leaves to the top of ther lid and finish by tying a piece of your ribbon around the outer edge. (See the picture above to get an idea of how this should look.)

Step 4. Select a random assortment of scrapbook paper to make 2x5-sized tags.

Step 5. Identify 20 sayings to put on the tags—things you are grateful for. For example: "I am thankful for my family." Or, "I am thankful for pies."

Step 6. Under each item, list something you can do to show your gratitude. For example under "I am thankful for my family" tag, you could put "Play a game together, inside or outside!" Also, consider adding a small picture. For example, a picture of your family or an image that depicts game playing.

Step 7. Print your thankful cards on white paper, cut them out, and glue them to your scrapbook paper. When you are finished, put your cards into your jar and put the lid on.

Step 8. Add a tag to the outside of this jar, backing it with paper. Then, punch a hole in it, and use the last of your ribbon to tie it to the outside of the jar. The one I made says, "I am thankful for you and pumpkin pies!"

Voila! You are ready to either give this away or start pulling out the cards as a family once a day to help you focus on all of your blessings.

What fun traditions do you you and your family have? How can you teach your children to have gratitude?

(Gratitude Jar Craft made by Vanessa Sperry).

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Recycling: Elmer’s Glue Crew Challenge for Schools

Jill Greenlaw — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:00:34 +0000

Recycling—Going Green is a really important topic right now. Each one of us can take steps and make better choices that will help protect our planet. There are many ways to do this. We can recycle common household items such as aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and paper products. We can also educate our schools on the things they can do to help the earth.

When Elmer's asked me to take on the Glue Crew Challenge and talk about recycling glue sticks and bottles with my school, I was excited to do it!

First I went online to the www.elmersgluecrew.com and learned about recycling glue products. Second, I downloaded box templates from their website and put together 4 boxes where the students of our school could collect their used glue sticks and bottles. Then as a class we discussed why it is important to recycle. To finish the discussion we provided a hands-on experience where we created Thanksgiving napkin rings using Elmer's glue and then recycled all of the empty glue bottles into our recycling box.

All bottles that are marked with a #1 or #2 recycling symbol are recyclable, but keep in mind that your Elmer's Glue Sticks will not be marked because their special plastic can only be recycled at designated facilities.

A few of our students put collection boxes in the school's kindergarten classrooms and also in the art room. Once a week, our class will go and collect the used containers from these classes.

When the collection boxes are full, there are two ways to return your empties. You can bring the box to a Walmart® store on or after Earth Day on April 22, 2012, and give it to one of the Walmart People Greeters. Another option is once you've collected at least 250 empties, put them into a reused box (about the size of a copy paper box). Sign into your account at teracycle.net and click on "Get Mailing Labels" on the left side of the Elmer's Glue Crew Brigade page to print a pre-paid shipping label. Place the label on your box and take it to a UPS drop-off location.

Our schools use a lot of glue products. Most of them don't even know they can recycle the used containers. It is important to help educate our schools and students about recycling these products and do our part to take care of the beautiful earth we live on.

What are you doing to recycle in your home? How can we help our schools get involved in recycling?

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Kid-Friendly Craft: Thanksgiving Turkey Place Card Holders

Jill Greenlaw — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:00:45 +0000

Thanksgiving—When I think of Thanksgiving Day, I imagine being with all of my family around the dinner table. My kids love setting the table and making sure that everyone knows exactly where they are going to sit. One way to make it less confusing is to make a place card for every person attending the feast. We made these little turkey holders a few years ago with the kids, and they are one of our favorite things to put on the our Thanksgiving table every year.

Thanksgiving Turkey Place Card Holders

Here is a list of the items needed to make this easy craft:

Supplies:

1 orange pipe cleaner
1 walnut in the shell
1 acorn
2 small googly eyes
1 - 1 1/2 in. wooden heart
small scrap of red and orange felt
several different colors of 4 in. silk leaves
glue gun
small card to put your guest's name on

The first thing you do is cut two small pieces of the orange pipe cleaner for the feet. Curve them on the ends and then glue to the wooden heart. Make sure the heart is upside down as shown above. Then glue the walnut on top of the feet. The walnut should be in the center of the heart. Take one of the leaves you have chosen and glue that to the back of the walnut.

The last step is to make the face for your turkey. Take the acorn and gently remove the little top off of it. I like to glue it back on so that it actually looks like a hat. Then glue your eyes on. To make the gobble and the beak take your scraps of orange and red felt and cut into the shape of a triangle and long rectangle. Glue those in place as well so it looks like the one above. Once your head is complete, you can glue that onto your walnut body.

If you want you can add a personalized name card for each person that is attending your dinner, I found these cards in the dollar bin at JoAnn's Craft Store.

What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions? How can you involve your children in your Thanksgiving meal plans?

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