Oh yeah, I make balloon animals, but..........

I'm not a clown! One of my hobbies is making balloon animals. I mostly just volunteer at school and churchy type events, but every once in a while I get a request for a birthday party, and rake in some extra cash. This is my monkey, always a favorite with the kiddies.

Here is a turtle that has made his way to the top of the bulletin board. His shell is a paper plate sponge painted with yellow and blue paint. We were mixing yellow and blue to make green after my three year old friend learned to mix red and yellow to make orange at school. We also sprinkled on glitter for some extra pizazz. His head, legs, and tail are made from construction paper, and of course the best part is the cool blue google eyes.

Spider Donuts

These cute little spider donuts were made by sticking pretzel sticks in mini donuts for legs, and attaching m&m eyes with frosting. I stole this idea straight from pre-school and recreated it for a party at the elementary school.

Toilet Paper Roll Pumpkin

I think this pumpkin is cute and was really easy to make out of a toilet paper roll and construction paper. First I covered the toilet paper roll in orange paper and cut five paper strips. Then I had my three year old friend help me tape the strips to both ends of the toilet paper roll. We rolled up a piece of brown paper for a stem and finally taped on a leaf.

Boo!

These are some little footprint ghosts that we made a couple weeks ago. Aren't they adorable?

Halloween

I know, I know. It's been a while since I've posted anything. I bit off more than I could chew with Halloween, and I've been bogged down with parties, goody bags, costumes, and cupcakes. We've been crafting all along. I just haven't had time to post anything. Have no fear. I'm back, and I've taken care of all of my Halloween commitments. I promise I'll post more regularly.....until Christmas.

Me want cookie.....num num num num!

A Cookie Monster and a Zoe visor that I made for Halloweeen.

Caterpillars

We made some classic egg carton caterpillars last week. Even though this would have been a better craft for spring or summer, I saw the empty egg carton and couldn't resist. Plus I got some really cool colored google eyes at the dollar store that have been begging to be used! The antennae are pipe cleaners. I think these little guys are really cute.

It's Carving Time!

This past weekend we decorated pumpkins at my mom's house. These are mine. The first one is the classic barfing pumpkin. Poor little guy drank that whole bottle of brandy and is now paying the price.
My second creation is the heart pumpkin. I cut out little hearts from paper and taped them all over the pumpkin, and then I spray painted it. I think it's kind of cool.

Stars and Stripes Lunch

This is a fun lunch to make for a patriotic holiday or if you just feel like showing some American pride. The stars are little grilled cheese sandwiches. I cut the bread with cookie cutters before cooking the sandwiches. I also prefer shredded cheese just because it saves me from having to rip the cheese into neat little pieces to fit in the points of the stars. The stripes are obviously strawberries and bananas. I would have liked to use strawberries and blueberries but somebody has decided he doesn't like blueberries.

Buzzzz

This is a bee hive made by stamping bubble wrap in yellow paint. I already had the wooden bee cut out. This would be cute for Valentines day. You could write "bee mine."

Bird Feeder

We made bird feeders just like Fancy Nancy in Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire! First we cut out pieces of bread with cookie cutters, then we poked holes with straws and inserted the string. Finally we spread peanut butter on both sides and sprinkled on the bird seed. When I say "we" I am referring to myself and my three year old friend. My one and a half year old ate his bird feeder before it ever saw the bird seed.

Handy Candy

Today we made handy candy. The candy corns were on a sheet of scrapbook paper I had. I just cut them out and glued them around the hand prints. I think these are really cute.

cookie cutter painting

Last week, we did some cookie cutter paintings, which is a fun alternative to stamps. Somehow it turned into finger painting. Then it turned into a free for all. Then it turned into bath time.

A grown up craft

This is a little plaque I put together for the family I work for. It was nap time and I was organizing my craft box. I found a wooden plaque from the dollar store that I thought would be the perfect place to stick a cute family picture they had. Since I wasn't at home, my scrapbooking supplies were limited, but I did have a few colors of scrapbook paper and a nice little "family" sticker.
First I traced the plaque on green scrapbook paper. I cut out the paper and glued it on the plaque. Next I cut the picture into a circle and glued that on along with the sticker. Then I got out the hole punch and punched out a bunch circles from gray scrapbook paper. I made borders around the picture, the sticker, and the plaque from the hole punches. Finally, I covered the whole thing in some dollar store wood sealer. I would have preferred mod podge, but I don't buy expensive craft supplies for kids crafts, and because I was at work, all I had were the kid's supplies. It already had the ribbon attached which just needed to be retied into a nice bow. Not bad for a nap time craft.