Fall Treat Tree

Mommy Craft

This edible fall idea has been around for a while, and like the finger print tree, it has many versions, so get creative..and messy.

Now if you asked me which one I chose, I would say my own super duper HARD way!

I am not an engineer, but I couldn't figure out how peanut butter was going to hold these pretzel sticks upright, so I got the bright idea to use a marshmallow cut in half for a base.

It kind of worked...

For this snack craft you will need:

• Pretzel rods
• Graham cracker squares
  
• Regular shaped pretzels
• M&M's in fall colors, or sprinkles
• Peanut Butter
• Marshmallows (optional)

The idea is to put the pretzel rod and stick it to the graham cracker base, Then you break the pretzels regular shaped snacks to look like branches and stick your candy leaves to them, also with peanut butter.

I only had miniature pretzel rods and regular shapes, so I took 3 rods and stuck them in half of a marshmallow that was stuck to the graham cracker. I used the other half of my marshmallow to put a the other end of the pretzel rods. I broke the regular shaped pretzels and made branches and stuck them in to the top marshmallow as well. I cut my M&M's in half (to cut down on the weight and because it looked more leaf like) and then put peanut butter on those and stuck them in the branches.

All of this took time and patience, and my saving grace was the freezer. It helped freeze it all together.

Just before snack time I pulled them out and covered the bottom marshmallow with more peanut butter and shook on some crushed pretzels and M&M's to look like fallen leaves.

I wouldn't call it a piece of art--but it was kind of cute, and Gracie thought it was yummy. (Nope, Thomas wouldn't touch his).

Hand & Fingerprint Tree

Toddler, Pre-K, K, 6 & Up

There are many variations on this craft, so use your imagination and have fun with your kids. In years past I have made a mommy tree and a Gracie tree on very large newsprint. And, until this year I didn't even think to use my child's hand and arm for the trunk and the branches. You could do one tree, or a whole forest--but when you and your little one make the leaves, don't forget a few that have fallen to the ground.

For this craft you will need:

• Brown paint
• Red, Orange, Yellow (or your leaf color choices) paint
• 1 cute hand (and possibly arm)
• 1-5 adorable finger tips

If you want to save your child's hand print along with the finger print leaves, cover their hands in brown paint. You could paint a bit of their arms with brown as I did, but my toddler didn't get the idea and it smeared. He was used to hand prints, but not the arm. It is just as cute to then paint your own stem.

Clean off the brown from your child's hand. There really is no reason to make them wait until it is dry. They are already having fun in the paint and odds are you aren't going to want to pull this all out again. So, start painting their fingers.

With my young one I tried to just paint his pointer finger. I got better results with one finger. When the process got tedious and he got bored, I painted each finger a different color and kind of "stamped" his fingertips--but you can probably see how those smeared. Pre-K and Kindergarteners should be able to not only make their fingerprints clear, but will also be able to change from color to color.

Experiment with the colors and don't forget to put some at the bottom of the tree. I have my kids do one color at a time because they will eventually get yellow in the orange ad red, etc--but I didn't have this luxuary with Thomas, and I kind of like the blended colors! They are a lot more realistic.

Have fun!!

Next Week...

Join is for LEAF fun!

Mommy Crafts A....

Game For Thomas

So this game took me longer than the few minutes it took to assemble Gracie's game, but mostly because my sewing machines are still dead.

When I saw this craft idea I just HAD to make one!! And even hand sewing this adorable color matching game didn't take too long, and if you have a machine that is up and working, it wouldn't take you more than a few hours.

Thomas has already been enjoying his game. He doesn't know his colors yet, but it seems to be "sticking" now that we are playing. He of course just enjoys mommy's squeals when he (randomly) gets one right!

Mommy Crafts A....

Game for Gracie

I found this amazing idea at my new favorite blog "Dollar Store Crafts." I made this whole game (which she loves!) for $2! You can see the original idea here, but it is pretty simple.

The tile piece I picked up at Home Depot for $.94 and the river rocks came from the Dollar Store. I had paint markers on hand and I used a straight edge to make the grid and to paint the x's and o's on the rocks.

This was a HUGE hit, and would make a fun rainy day activity, or even a gift!

Wise Old Owl Nursery Rhyme

On the back of my owl puppet I put the famous nursery rhyme--that is quite frankly; good advice for kids and adults alike!



If you want to print out and color a version of this rhyme, click here.

Wise Old Owl Puppet

(Make for--Toddler), Pre-K, K

I can't believe I didn't have any brown paper bags! But, I had white ones and brown crayons, so I improvised.

I got this puppet craft from one of my favorite kid craft sites: DLTK Kids.

You can find the pattern for each of the owl's parts on this page. But, I just free handed them, they are pretty basic.

For this craft you will need:

• Brown paper bag (lunch size)
• Brown, white, yellow, orange & black construction paper
• Glue Stick

Simply add the features with your glue stick and let it dry for a few minutes. My toddler has loved watching me make the bird talk, and then he wanted a turn.

Now, you may wonder why mine doesn't look like DLTK's version. Well, I thought it looked silly just colored brown, so I cut out small "feathers" from my left over scrap paper and gave him a more 3-D look.

Paper Plate Owl

Toddler, Pre-K, K

This was fun and simple, and it doesn't take much time (once your paint dries), so if your child has a small attention span like mine--this is a great one!

For this craft you will need:

• Two paper plates
• Brown paint (washable is best)
• Orange, yellow, and white construction paper (scrap pieces is fine)
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Glue Stick

Paint your two paper plates brown all over, and let them dry (takes a few hours).

Now, cut one of your plates in half. Cut around the other paper plate and cut ear shapes at the top sides (just slightly rounded triangles).

Cut round circles from your yellow paper. Cut slightly smaller circles with your white paper, and even smaller circles with your black paper. I free handed all of these things, but the blog where I got the idea has patterns for you to use if you want.

Now glue the white on to the yellow, the black in the middle of the white, and then the whole eye to the whole paper plate. Add a triangle nose just under the eyes.

Your two paper plate halves are the wings. "Curvy" side up, cut side goes down. I stapled mine to keep the wings more secure and to speed up the process.

I also added a hole at the top and put some ribbon through it to hang and enjoy our creation.

Mommy Crafts A....

Owl hat (beanie), matching scarf & stuffie!

I found this cute idea that another mom created out of an old sweater. I didn't have an old sweater, but just HAD to made this craft (even with both sewing machines busted!). I got a brown knit shirt from the thrift store ($1.50) and had a great time hand sewing these treats for my toddler.

The original crafter only made a scarf and hat, but I hated to waste the rest of the shirt, so I found an owl pattern on line and made him a matching stuffie!

Here's the owl pattern I used for the stuffie:

Count Your Blessings

Mommy Craft

I am going to take a break from the owl theme and share with you a great idea I found online.

Make a blessings countdown to Thanksgiving!!

What a great way to countdown to the holiday and remember what it is all about at the same time.

The original crafter had her children read the card each night at the dinner table (which I love!), but I am having my children help fill up the cards.

When making the poster I realized that there were 25 days in November until Thanksgiving, and there are 26 letters in the alphabet. So, I am tweaking the idea and making a letter a day. Gracie is having fun coming up with things she is thankful for that start with that letter.

Since we started a few days late we had to catch up--but not by much and I still very much wanted to do this craft idea.

For this craft you will need:
(well, you should do it your way, but I will tell you how I made mine)

• 13 regular sized envelopes
• Scrapbook paper
• Glue stick
• Index cards (25)
• Sharpie or pen
• Large poster or foam board
  

I sealed all 13 envelopes and then covered them with scrapbook paper. I didn't have any of these on hand like the original crafter, but it wasn't that much to pick up 5 different sheets at Ben Franklin. Plus, I was able to color coordinate them :)

I cut the envelopes in half and lined them up on my poster board in nice rows and glued in place.

I cut index cards down to just slightly stick out of the top of the mini envelope holders.

I added a title, and some added shapes to a few of the pockets for flair.

Now you just have to add your blessings one by one to the "calendar." You could add them day by day, or do as the original crafty mom did and write them and have the children read them at dinner time.

Have fun counting your blessings, I am sure you have many!

Owl S'Mores

Mommy Craft

I made these last week for Gracie's fall snack (not-a-party) at school, but decided to wait and post them with the owl theme. I found the adorable idea online (hers are way prettier than mine), and just had to try them out.

Now, I usually put my mommy tips at the bottom of posts, but let me warn you: *these are not as easy as they look to make.*

Now, maybe I went in to it too cocky, or maybe I just stressed since I had to make them for her class, but looks are deceiving! Now, don't get me wrong you CAN do this--just give yourself time, and some extra materials to work with, you are going to have to do a little trial and error. Read below the post for more tips from a mommy who has made these.

To make this snack idea you will need:

• Graham crackers
• Chocolate Chips
• Yellow Candy melts (look in cake decorating isle)
• Candy Corn
• Marshmallows
  

Cut your marshmallow in half. Put the halves on the cracker side by side and squish them together slightly.

Place a yellow candy melt on top of each marshmallow half.

Microwave for 5-7 seconds *watching it the whole time!* You want the marshmallows to puff up a bit. Turn the microwave off (or open door) when you see the marshmallow puff. When they go down IMMEDIATELY put your chocolate chips in the center of the yellow candy melt, and squeeze a candy corn piece between the eyes.

Sounds easy, right? ;) Seriously, you can do it and they are a huge hit...here are some more tips.

Mommy Tips:

1. Have your chocolate chips and candy corn right beside your microwave, you need to be able to get to them quickly.
2. Learn my lesson the easy way--you are going to have to do microwave them one or two at a time. I started with 6, then 3, and ended up doing 1 at a time after wasting lots of ingredients and time.
3. I found more luck (and less marshmallow explosion by a) cutting my marshmallow in thirds, discarding the middle and using the two outside pieces for my eyes. b)pushing the marshmallow pieces together as much as I could without losing shape and c) putting the marshmallow "eyes" on the cracker about an inch down from the top, keeping it as far from edges as possible while still maintaining the "owl look."
4. Your chocolate chips are probably not going to stick. At least not right away. It will take time for the heat to rise to the chips, so move them carefully to your flat space for them to cool. You may have to go back and use a hot knife (like I did) and gently melt the bottom of the chocolate chips and carefully place them back on the eyes.
   
5. Make sure you use wax paper on your microwaveable dish, or you will be doing tons of dishes, and to use it on a flat surface to store the cookies until you are ready.
   

Owl Hand And Footprint

Toddler, Pre-K, K

I found this idea on DLTK's website, but it called for paper, and I am a big fan of doing hand and feet print in paint...so I adapted it.

I didn't find anyone else who used the footprint for the body--but I think it looks darling! The toes look like tail feathers, don't you think?

For this craft you will need:

• Brown paint (washable is best)
• Paper
• Markers (thin if possible) in black and orange
• An adorable foot, and two cute hands

Have your child paint and press their foot down first. I used the toes to make tail feathers, so be sure to turn your paper if necessary before you do the hands.

Have the child do both hands so you have more realistic looking feathers. Put the palm of your child's hand as close, and even overlapping some, to the heel of the footprint as possible.

Wait for the pain to dry and add your beak, eyes & claws with your markers.

Mommy Tip: as I always say add your child's name and the date! Plus, when you paint the hands and feet you will have enough for a another "pressing," so have another sheet of paper ready and make two. One to keep, and one to give away.