Thanksgiving Centerpieces

Posted by: Crafter

How to Make Your Own

What comes to mind when you think thanksgiving centerpieces? Well when I think of them I think of pumpkin, pine cones, wheat, gourds. This is what makes you think of Thanksgiving. Use some of my suggestions of easy-to-follow projects to create Thanksgiving centerpieces that will last throughout the fall, if not longer. For my first Thanksgiving centerpiece you should arrange flowers, pumpkins and gourds. This lovely arrangement is going to bring together the symbols of autumn in an arrangement that will glow like a perfect fall day. You will be able to use this on your Thanksgiving table or any special occasion in the fall season.

You will need:
* 6 – 9 small gourds
* 1 cup cranberries
* shallow glass bowl
* short glass tumbler
* a handful of fall leaves
* 1 small pumpkin with top cut off to fit glass tumbler and insides scooped out
* 1 dozen flowers in complementary fall colors (mums used in this arrangement)

You need to place glass tumbler inside the top of the pumpkin. Then fill the tumbler with water. Then arrange flowers in the glass. Then place the pumpkin in a shallow dish. Place the leaves around the pumpkin in the dish. Then scatter the gourds around the pumpkin on top of the leaves. Finish it by sprinkling the cranberries on top of the gourds.

My last idea for thanksgiving centerpieces is a Fall Basket Centerpiece.

All you need to do is gather your supplies.

Gather your supplies:
* artificial berry garland
* assorted gourds
* an attractive basket
* silk leaves

Then Pile the gourds into the center of the basket. Then you can Scatter some leaves around the gourds. Wrap the garland around the basket.If you enjoyed reading about Thanksgiving Centerpieces Please visit www.holidaytop10list.info for more Thanksgiving ideas to make this Thanksgiving season one that you will not soon forget.

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Mother’s Day Crafts For Toddlers

Posted by: Crafter

Finding an easy mother’s day craft for toddlers is not always that easy. I know that most people consider making bookmarks rather boring but, we must keep in mind that the toddlers probably haven’t made any yet, so for them, making a bookmark for mom is new. This easy bookmark craft is also a fun way to teach the little ones what happens when different colors are mixed.

Remember, this craft for toddlers needs to be done under adult supervision and the little ones will need help with some of the steps.

This is what you will need for this mother’s day craft:

A small piece of white poster paper
A decorative pair of craft scissors (called zigzag scissors by some)
4 Colors of thin watercolors (you can find watercolors powder to make these at any crafts store)
A medicine dropper
Thin ribbon in a color of your choice
A punch to make a hole for the ribbon

Method for this mother’s day craft:

With your decorative scissors cut a piece of your poster paper to the required size for a bookmark. (Bookmarks do not always have to be the well known size, I have a very pretty one that my granddaughter made that is quite big and it is beautiful. A bigger bookmark also gives you more space to work with.)
Now you have to splatter a little bit of clean water on your bookmark. (Not too much because we do not want the bookmark to become too soggy!)
Draw one of the colors, of your paint, up into the medicine dropper and drip the paint on different places on the bookmark.
Wash the medicine dropper and repeat the procedure with the other the other three colors.
You will notice that the colors will flow a little and where they mix the colors will change depending on the colors you used. For the little ones it may be a good idea to use the primary colors.
Keep an eye on the kids so that they do not get over exited and use too much water and paint, as the bookmark will then become very soggy and the end result will not be satisfactory.
Let your bookmark dry completely.
Punch a hole in the bottom of the bookmark and thread the ribbon through the hole.
Make a not in the ribbon to keep it in place.

Kids really love doing crafts that can be used in some way. With this mother’s day craft for toddlers they make a gift for mom that she will be able to use for many, many years to come. I hope you and your toddler will enjoy this easy mother’s day craft for toddlers.

Get more fun and easy mother’s day crafts at Magriet’s site Fun Kids Crafts at http://www.kidscrafts.topknacks.com/documents/mothersdaykidscrafts.html & if you are looking for fun and easy Bible crafts you can visit http://www.squidoo.com/biblecraftsforkids

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Decorating the Perfect Easter Egg

Posted by: Crafter

The perfectly decorated Easter egg begins with the egg. Two of the most popular ways to decorate eggs begins with either a boiled egg or a blown (or hollowed egg).

Boiled Eggs
To avoid rubbery eggs do not cook eggs in boiling water. Instead, boil the water and remove the pan from the stove. Submerge the eggs in the hot, boiled water for 15-17 minutes.

Blown or Hollowed Easter Eggs
To hollow out an egg simply wash and dry your eggs. Then taking a thin needle, carefully poke a hole in each end of your egg. Cover the holes and shake the egg. Place your egg over a bowl or other container and gently blow into one of the holes in your egg. The egg white and yolk should make its way out of the other hole. Once the insides have been blown out wash and dry your egg again. Some eggs are easier to hollow than others. It will take patience and although more fragile, a hollowed out egg can be decorated and kept for many years to come depending upon how it is stored.

Decorating Ideas

Decorating your egg can be as simple or elaborate as you would like it to be. You can make beautifully designed Easter eggs with items you probably currently have in your home. Some of these ideas work egg-ceptionally well on the hollowed eggs.

• Ribbons – take leftover ribbons and glue them to your egg in the desired colors and patterns (blown eggs)
• Glitter – spread your egg with a thin layer of glue and then roll the egg around in glitter (superfine glitter will give your egg a sugared look) (blown eggs)
• Lace – using the same principle as the ribbons decorate your egg (blown eggs)
• Sponge Paint – dig out your sponges and craft paint to create an original design
• Stickers – let the kids decorate using their favorite stickers
• Crayons – with a parent’s help color on a warm egg
• Mosaic – be creative and glue pieces of tissue paper, small pasta pieces or shells to your egg.

These recipes will come in handy if you have decided to stick with the tried and true dyed Easter egg

Simple Egg Dye
Combine 1/2 cup boiling water, 1 tsp. vinegar and the food color together adding drops of food coloring to achieve desired colors. Dip hard cooked eggs in dye for about 5 minutes or until desired color.

Natural Egg Dye
Dye your eggs in boiling water, with vinegar and the item used to create the desired color, boiling both eggs and dye items together. Don’t forget to compost your dye items when you are finished dyeing your eggs.

Color ideas:

Lavender
Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice
Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice

Violet Blue
Violet Blossoms
Small Quantity of Red Onions Skins

Blue
Canned Blueberries
Red Cabbage Leaves

Purple
Grape Juice

Green
Spinach Leaves
Liquid Chlorophyll

Greenish Yellow
Yellow Delicious Apple Peels

Yellow
Orange or Lemon Peels
Carrot Tops
Celery Seed
Ground Cumin
Ground Turmeric
Saffron

Brown
Strong Coffee
Instant Coffee
Black Walnut Shells

Orange
Yellow Onion Skins

Pink
Beets
Cranberries or Juice
Raspberries
Red Grape Juice
Juice from Pickled Beets

Red
Lots of Red Onions Skins

Hard boiled, hollowed out, color dyed or fancier designs, anything goes when decorating your eggs for this Easter season. The only rule is to have fun.

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The Ultimate Easter Craft Kit

Posted by: Crafter

In many households, crafts are part of holiday celebrations. They are a great way to teach children about the holiday and keep them occupied as well. Putting together an Easter themed craft kit will keep you prepared for those moments where something is needed to keep small hands busy.

Here are some items your craft kit should include:

Crayons or Markers
Easter stickers
Glue sticks
Cardstock and construction paper
Regular white paper
Craft scissors
Easter stencils
Easter stamps and ink
Foam shapes, small pompoms, googly eyes, etc.
Ribbon or yarn scraps

The craft kit is generally fairly easy to put together and can be done very affordably using times from your local dollar store and discount outlets. It helps to have a good idea of the age group that will be using the kit. Younger children will prefer crayons and stickers while older children may prefer glitter glue, markers and fancy edge scissors. Older children will be able to come up with dozens of craft ideas from this selection of craft times, but here are a few ideas to get you started.

Easter Bookmarks – Cut cardstock into 6×2” strips and use a hole punch to put a hole at the top of each bookmark. Your child can decorate their bookmarks using items from the kit and a ribbon or yarn scrap can be added through the hole at the top to finish it off. Help your child pick an appropriate verse to include on their bookmark in keeping with the Easter theme. These bookmarks can be for their own use, or given as gifts to friends or grandparents.

Easter Cards – Cards are another simple craft idea that can also be used to create gifts for grandparents or other family members. Younger children may need help cutting and folding the cardstock which can then be decorated using the items in the kit. For an extra touch, try other shapes: egg shaped cards, cross shaped cards, etc.

If your child is going to be giving their cards to friends and family, envelopes offer additional craft options. You may want to provide basic envelopes for younger children to decorate, or print out templates for older children to make their own envelopes. You can find envelope templates from many online scrapbook and craft sites.

Easter Journals – An Easter journal is really a craft within a craft. Children will enjoy creating their journals, and can later use them for entertainment as well. To start off, create a cover using folded cardstock and inside pages using regular white paper. Help your child staples the pages together. Your child can then decorate the cover of their journal using the items in the kit.

These journals can be used as coloring pages to keep your child busy during family gatherings or on long drives between gatherings. They can also serve as a place for your child to write about their Easter celebrations, making a great keepsake to look back at in years to come. Older teens may want to use their journals as a special place to journal during their devotional time over the Easter holiday.

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How to Make a Creative Paper Plate Sculpture

Posted by: Crafter

Looking for a great craft to get those creative juices flowing? How about something to keep the kids occupied on a rainy Saturday? There are many great crafts that children of all ages can do and enjoy.

This sculpture requires no major skills to create but some supervision is recommended for little hands. The aluminum foil can cut tiny (and not so tiny) fingers and no one wants a huge mess with glue. Otherwise this is a project that is suitable for a wide range of interests and ages.

Some items may require a hot glue gun in order to properly adhere. Small children should always be supervised when using a hot glue gun though it is possible to limit the project supplies to those that can be used with regular glue alone to reduce risks.

Supplies:

* Paper plates (stiff or Styrofoam plates work best for this particular project)
* Glue
* Popsicle sticks
* Odds and ends (the goal here is to find small things that have shape to provide a 3 dimensional quality to the project: Styrofoam half balls, small sections of wire screen, and coins are excellent choices)
* Aluminum foil
* Pencil
* Grease pencil
* Hole punch
* Yarn

Instructions:

1) Turn paper plate so that the top of the plate is facing the table. The bottom of the paper place will be the surface you are working on.

2) Place various odds and ends items on the back of the plate to create a template or pattern to represent the finished product. The beauty of this project is that it is three-dimensional. Be creative and build things up for varying heights and textures.

3) Use the pencil to trace the outline of items and identify where various items in the sculpture should be glued. (Hint: if items are stacked mark pieces according to location on the plate and position in the stack-grease pencils may be used to write on metal pieces).

4) Use glue to attach items to the paper plate and to other craft items if needed. For many items regular glue will suffice. As the project is heightened, hot glue may be required. Some height is recommended; but avoid building the sculpture too tall as the entire project will ultimately be covered with foil.

5) Allow the glue to dry completely.

6) Cover the paper plate and sculpture with foil. Take extra care to really dig in and show off the nooks and crannies on the surface of the foil. It’s these subtle differences beneath the foil that really make this a neat project.

7) Use the hole punch to punch a hole in the top of the sculpture. String yarn through the hole and tie a knot.

Hang the sculpture where it can be appreciated by all. Enjoy!