Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Monday, March 30, 2015

Fun Easter Crafts and Lessons


My girls are very excited for Easter later this week.  To ramp up the fun and bring out the true meaning of Easter, I went online searching for some fun crafts and family home evening lessons we can do together.  Every year I want to put more Christ into Easter and less of the commercial stuff.   Obviously I haven't gotten really good at that yet so it is a work in progress.  I'd discovered that over the years our Easter celebrations had a lot less to do with Christ than the Easter Bunny.  This year I am determined to make it a Christ centered week!

I'd like to give a special thanks to the other bloggers and Pinterest posters for these fun Easter crafts and lessons.  Hopefully you will all find something you love and have a special Easter week, too!


If your kids are used to the Easter Bunny visitng, Your Homebased Mom has a fun idea for sharing scriptures about Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday using plastic Easter eggs in a basket.  Take 12 eggs and number each egg, put a scripture in each egg along with it's corresponding object item.  On Easter Sunday, take turns around the table opening each egg, in order, and reading scriptures about Christ and the atonement and discussing it's object lesson.  

Your Homebased Mom also has a Easter Egg Scripture PDF available online of the scriptures her family uses. 


I love this LDS General Conference activity page for kids!  A Little Tipsy ties in spring and Easter to her General Conference activity page for some extra whimsy.  Add a box of crayons or markers, and your elementary age kids are ready for some "egg"stra fun during General Conference this week.

To print, just click on the image at right for a larger version.  For younger kids who can't read yet, she has a basket and picture eggs they can color on her blog.


I found this Eastern Garden Tomb tutorial on Pinterest from The Frugal Homemaker.  While Frugal Homemaker used moss she found around her property, I've also seen it done using wheat grass grown at home with basic wheat grain. While your are making your Eastern Garden Tomb display, discuss the atonement and sacrifice of Christ.

Wheat kernels are very easy to sprout.  Watch a video on home to sprout them below.


4.  JESUS Easter Egg Table Decoration

Here is a pretty way to add a remembrance of Christ to your table.  Take decorative eggs and add white sticker letters to six eggs spelling "JESUS!".  Purchase a narrow basket and dry faux grass at the dollar store to place the eggs in.  All done!  An easy and fast craft for kids to do.  Thanks to Catholic Icing blog for the idea!


5.  Elegant Easter Egg Decorations

I found this online through Good Housekeeping.  These gorgeous glitter eggs are super easy to make!  All you'll need are hard boiled eggs, dye, glue, a paint brush and glitter.

Boil and dye the eggs the color you desire.  Paint the eggs with the white glue or use a spray glue and roll in glitter.  Lay on wax paper or a tray to try.  All done!

6.  DIY Paint Chip Egg Garland

If you happen to have a lot of paint chips around your house, here is a great way to use them up.  Simply cut the chips in half and cut an egg shape. Punch two holes in the top using an extra small hole punch or needle.  Modern Parents Messy Kids used waxed cotton to thread hers, which helped prevent slipping.  If you don't have waxed cotton then you can use scotch tape on the back of the eggs to hold them in place.  You could also write your favorite Easter scriptures on the eggs as well.


Friday, October 24, 2014

Four Creative Jack-O'-Lantern Ideas for Halloween

Halloween is only a week away and jack-o'-lanterns are filling up the neighborhoods, shortly to be joined by droves of costumed trick-or-treaters.  There are silly pumpkins, scary ones and lots more!  Add some Halloween festivity with these fun and creative ideas for a little mess-free fun and a fun-filled craft with the kids.  Spicing up the holiday decor doesn't have to break the bank and can be lots of fun!



Clementine Jack-O'-Lannterns

Items needed:

black sharpie marker
clementine oranges

These fun jack-o'-lanterns are both super fun to make and taste delicious!  Grab your favorite clementines, a sharpie marker and have fun!  Draw your favorite jack-o'-lantern faces onto the clementines and fill a bowl.  Share with friends at a party or just grab a jack-o'-lantern for an after school snack.

 

Mason Jar Jack-O'-Lantern
 
Items needed:

empty mason jar
black construction paper
orange tissue paper
clear scotch tape
ribbon
battery operated tea light

Empty mason jars house a new visitor at Halloween.   Using the orange tissue paper, line the inside of the empty glass mason jar.  Use scotch tape to hold pieces in place on top edges.  Cut eyes, nose and a mouth of black construction paper.  Take a small piece of scotch tape and toll into a circle, sticky side out.  Tape pieces to front of glass mason jar.  Tie a ribbon around the top.  Turn on battery operated tea light and place inside the jar.  All done a for a mess-free glowing pumpkin jack-o'-lantern!

Milk Jug Jack-O'-Lantern

Items needed:

empty white milk jugs
white Christmas lights
black sharpie permanent marker
extension cord


These jack-o'-lanterns are super easy to make with items you probably already have in your home.  Collect empty milk jugs, white Christmas lights, an extension cord and a sharpie marker.

Wash and rinse jugs well to remove any milk residue.  When dry, take a sharpie permanent marker and draw a jack-o'-lantern face on one side.  To provide the light, make a hole in the back big enough to slip some white Christmas lights inside.  If you want to put the jack-o'-lantern outside, place some rocks in the bottom to hold it in place.  You can connect the lights to create a row of jack-o'-lanterns.  Stretch an extension cord if needed to provide electricity.

Rock Jack-O'-Lantern

Items needed: 

several small smooth rocks
orange craft paint
white craft paint
2 foam paint brushes
newspaper or old papers
paper
scissors

These easy rock-o'-lanterns only need some smooth flat rocks, white craft paint, orange craft paint, foam paint brushes and a piece of paper.  Collect a number of smooth flat rocks to group together.  Paint each rock with orange craft paint and let dry.  Make sure you put newspaper or any old paper underneath to protect surfaces.

Using the scissors, cut a jack-o'-lantern face from paper to use as a stencil while paint dries.  When ready, center the face stencil on the rock and fill in the face with white paint. Let dry and you are all done!