Crafty Kiddos - Fall Fun

This fall we have been busy, busy, busy. So busy, in fact, that I haven't had the time or energy to post much. Since I had a couple of reviews I wanted to get up, I thought I'd also take a minute to update you on some of the fun crafts the girls and I have been doing this fall.

Here are our adorable Fabric Pumpkins!   Made with toilet paper, half a toilet paper tube, fabric, yarn, ribbon, a stick, foam stars, and a leaf, they were fun to make and easy too.  In fact, we made these with Peanut's entire class at school.   The end result was so cute that I didn't want to take it down when it came time to put up our Christmas decorations.  You can make them in any size or color, and they are easy to modify and make your own by adding little "accessories".



Glass Pumpkin Candle Holders.  How cute is this glowing family of pumpkins?!  With any glass container, acrylic paint and a candle you can make these adorable decorations.  I think I had as much fun as the kiddos with this project!  We originally put tape on the jars for the faces, so that those parts wouldn't get painted.  While they looked great not glowing, we found that when illuminated, you couldn't see the features.  By adding black paint to the face, we created pumpkins that looked gorgeous in the light of day or dark of night!  :o)

Check out the ghost in the middle of our pumpkin family.  Made with cheesecloth, starch, and little black foam stickers, these happy little ghosts found homes all over the house.  We even sprayed these ghosts with glow in the dark paint so that they could be seen at night.  These were a little more frustrating to make than expected because the starch didn't dry as hard as I'd hoped.  I think perhaps we made a few too tall and my starch solution wasn't as stiff as I would have hoped.   I think that next year, with a little tweaking, they'll turn out even better!

Nothing says "Welcome" like the hand prints of my two favorite turkeys!  Using a carpet sample from the local carpet retailer, acrylic paint, sponge letters and the girls' hands, we made this adorable mat.  Actually, we made four of them.  Three were given away as gifts.  The girls did a great job sponging the letters onto the mats (though I did the letters on the one pictured here) and loved when I painted their hands so they could press them down to make the turkeys.  We also got some puffy paint so they could draw the legs, beaks, eyes, and the red thing that hangs from the neck area (I don't know why I can never remember what that is called).

Did you do any new or fun crafts this fall?  Are you getting ready to try some winter crafts with your kids?  Do you have an old standby that you know always turns out great?  I'd love to hear about them!  I'm always looking for new activities to try with my girls.  

Disclaimer:  I cannot take creative credit for any of the crafts pictured above.  All craft ideas came from magazines, previous school projects, and items I've seen online and/or in person.  Most have been modified to fit supplies I have on hand or ideas I have in my head.  I wish I could give credit to the original people that created these ideas, but since I don't know who they are, I cannot. If you know the originator of one of these crafts, please let me know and I will happily give credit.