Kids Crafts: Turtle Paper Plate Craft Project Idea

Turtle Paper Plate Craft by Rachel Paxton

Children love turtles. This turtle paper plate craft is a fun, easy preschool craft project. To make this craft, you will need:

Two paper plates
Brown construction paper
Green craft paint
Google eyes
Scissors
Glue
Dried beans (optional)
Felt tip pen

Your child will need two paper plates to make one turtle. Have your child use the green paint to paint the bottom side of both paper plates. Allow to dry.

Next cut out the arms, legs, etc. Using the scissors and brown construction paper, cut out four small rectangles for legs, a small triangle for the tail, and a circle for the head. You can outline them first with a pen if you wish, but it isn't necessary. I just cut mine out freehand.

Glue the edges of the arms, legs, tail, and head to the top edge of one of the paper plates.

If you wish you can put some dried beans onto the plate so that when you glue the plates together the turtle will rattle when your child shakes it. This step is optional.

Next glue the second plate to the first plate. The tops of the plates should be glued together so that the painted sides are facing out. The arms, legs, tail, and head should be sticking out between the two plates.

Help your child glue the google eyes on to the head. Let your child use the felt tip pen to draw on a nose and mouth and to decorate the "shell" of the turtle, if they wish.

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and
more, visit http://www.christian-parent.com/

Scrapbooking: Easy Cape May Zoo Scrapbook Layout #1

Two weeks ago my hubby and I went on vacation down to the Jersey Shore and we visit the Cape May County Zoo. While spending an afternoon at the zoo, I was able to get a lot of nice pictures of various animals who live there. When I scrapbook zoo pictures I like to work in warm neutral tones so that is the color palate I decided to work with today. Over the next few days, I will be sharing more zoo scrapbooking layouts with you.

I did the above layout in the 12x12 format and I used 2 sheets of paper for my background. The bottom sheet (background paper) is done in a neutral brown color with a wood grain pattern. I thought it reminded me of the wooden cages and bridges that we walked on at the zoo. I then took a mottled animal print paper and cut off 1/3 of it so that only 2/3 of it remained. I glued this piece down onto my wood grain paper leaving about 4" at the top exposed and about 1" at the bottom exposed. I had some pretty varigated printed fiber that measures 1/2" wide that I lined the edges with using a glue pen. That fiber looks like a muted animal print.

For my title I used a Tag-A-Long (tm) sticker tag that says ZOO on it and used the same fiber that I trimmed the papper with to make a bow for the tag. I had a sticker of a Zebra that I cut off the head of and I stuck it on the left side of the tag to make it look like the Zebra was peeking out from behind the tag. I had 2 photos for this layout and cropped them down into square shapes (one photo of zebra and one photo of camels) and mounted them onto black cardstock. I then trimmed the cardstock so that only 3/8" of the cardstock is framing each photo. I used glue dots to apply them onto my layout.

To finish up the layout, I used a round Tag-A-Long (tm) sticker with various animal footprints on it at the bottom and tied some fiber through the top. I then had 3 other stickers that I used on the layout (top right) and they say: "Don't Feed The Animals", "Wild Animals" and "Safari" since we were in the safari section of the Zoo. I did my journaling on a matching page to this one on a journaling block. It is almost identical to this page but with a different title and 2 different photos. This page took me around 35-40 minutes to make.

Overall, I am really pleased at how this layout turned out. I love working in netural and earthy tones and this layout certainly reflects that. You can find more layouts I did featuring photos I took at the Cape May County, New Jersey Zoo by visiting the scrapbooking section here on my blog.

Scrapbooking - Vintage Heritage Photos Scrapbooking Layout Idea

A few weeks ago I was going through a box in my one closet and found a pile of vintage photographs that I knew I just had to scrapbook. These 2 photos shown in this layout are from 1989 of my great aunt and great uncle. (my uncle is now deceased). My great aunt and uncle were celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary and we held a family party for them to celebrate the accomplishment.

I scrapbooked the photos in the 12x12 page layout. My background is a solid piece of light blue scrapbooking pager. I then took another piece of 12x12 scrapbooking paper and cropped 2 1/2" off the top and 2 1/2" off one side to make it square shaped. This sheet of paper has printed words on it like heritage, memories, family, etc and it is a very light print, you can't see the wording too well in the photograph above. I mounted that to my light blue paper. I then used my liquid glue pen and glued blue rick rack ribbon around all 4 edges of that paper to add interest to the page. At the very bottom of the page I used 3 word stickers, one says Heritage, one says Family and the final one says Memories. I slightly cropped my 2 photos and rounded their corners and then mounted them to the page using glue dots.

I used two 3-D embellishments from Out Spoken (tm) to accent the page. One of the embellishments says SUCCESS STORY and has rhinestones on it (top right) and one says PROUD FAMILY (bottom left). I used 2 clear back sticker words right above and right below the bottom embellishment that says Inseparable and By Your Side.

Thankfully I remember a lot of the details about the party and did my journaling on the back of the page because I wanted the layout to be all about them. The page took me about 40 minutes to make.

Scrapbooking ~ "Silly Girl" Scrapbooking Layout in Blues and Greens

I made this layout a few weeks ago for my daughter's scrapbook and it features photo's of my little grand daughter when we took her out to lunch at Chili's. She had a grand old time being silly so I just had to capture those "silly times" for our scrapbooks. I did this layout in the 12x12 format and in medium green, olive green and blue color scheme. I normally do not combine those colors together but my daughter specifically picked out those papers.

The base is a solid light blue piece of scrapbook paper. I then cut the striped paper in 1/2 and ran that across the bottom of the blue paper. I cropped all 4 photos down to the same size. From medium green textured paper I cut a strip that measures 5" wide by 12" long and ran that down the left edge of the layout to serve as the 'frame' for 3 of the photos. I then mounted the 3 photos onto the strip using glue dots. I had olive green ribbon that has white stitching running down the center and cut 2 pieces from ribbon that each measure 12" long. I ran one across the edge of the striped paper and one along the edge of the medium green paper as shown in the photo to add dimension and interest to the layout. Underneath the bottom photo on the green strip is a word sticker that says "good times". I mounted the 4th photo onto medium green paper and left a 1/4" border and mounted that onto the page (in the striped section). Underneath that is my small journaling tag where I wrote about Gia being silly while out to lunch and placed the tag under the photo using 2 tiny blue brads.

I used my Cricut to make my page title and I used the 1 1/2 size setting to cut out the letters SILLY GIRL from medium green paper and then used the shadow effect and cut the letters out again from dark olive green paper. Using my glue pen I glued the letters together and then mounted them on my page. Using my Cricut I cut out a flower from medium green paper and then did the shadow effect from dark olive green paper and used a blue brad to attach that to my layout. Over all, I think it came out pretty good for the colors my daughter chose.

Art Goes Digital

Art goes digital

Thanks for the article from Jermaine Haynes

I’m an art dealer, and it’s become increasingly hard to survive locally just by going from gallery to gallery to see what they have in stock. Last year I took the huge business step of creating a website for myself, thrusting me into the national industry of art dealers. I was no longer small potatoes! First I took it upon myself to find domain options at DomainNames.com and then I had someone at the art school create a site for me. I’m really happy with how it looks and pointing people to my site is certainly easier than explaining what I do over and over again! It’s a great place for me to list what I’m looking for and also put up photos of the pieces I’ve rec! ently acquired. I feel like there’s now no limits to where my business can go and I’m really glad I went the extra mile. Even my gallery owners tell me their impressed and have asked me to recommend them to someone who can make their sites look like mine!

Kids Crafts ~ How To Make A Windsock With Preschoolers

Preschool Windsock Activity by Rachel Paxton

Children love windsocks. They are fun to make and fun to hang and look at. This preschool activity is very easy and is suited to any season or holiday. To make a windsock you will need:

Construction paper
Crayons or markers
Small pictures
Yarn
Glue
Stapler
Scissors
Streamers

For the top of the windsock you will need one 8 1/2 x 11 piece of construction paper. Cut the piece of paper in half lengthwise.

Next have your child color the small pictures to place on the windsock. Coloring and activity books are great for finding pictures. You can use a copier to reduce or enlarge the pictures to fit on the windsock. We cut out four pictures for each of our windsocks.

After coloring the pictures, cut them out and glue them to the two pieces of construction paper. Next lay the pieces of paper end to end and staple them together. Bring the two open ends of the paper together to form a circle and staple the two ends together. This is the top of the windsock.

Next have your child cut the streamers. These streamers are the same kind of streamers you would hang up for a birthday party. Cut approximately six pieces of streamer to be 18 inches each. Have your child glue the ends of the streamers inside the bottom of the windsock so that they are hanging out of the bottom of the windsock.

Have your child cut a piece of yarn approximately 18 inches long. Staple the ends of the yarn on each side of the top of the windsock. Your windsock is ready to hang!

These windsocks are very easy to make and look really cute hanging out on your patio. You can also hang them in your house. They are great seasonal and holiday projects. You can change the pictures and colors of the windsocks with the seasons, such as for Easter, Christmas, or Halloween. You could have flowers for spring, bumblebees for summer, or leaves for fall. The possibilities are limitless. My boys are currently interested in insects, so they colored some bugs for their windsocks.

This activity is a great opportunity for your preschooler to practice coloring, cutting, and gluing. If your preschooler doesn't yet have a long attention span, you might want to pre-cut some of the pieces ahead of time, like the top of the windsock and the streamers. My busy boys barely made it past the coloring part, but loved seeing their windsocks blowing in the breeze!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit http://www.christian-parent.com/

Paper Crafts: How To Make Your Own Handcrafted Bookmarks!

I love making handmade bookmarks for my family and friends as I usually make them and then stuff them into a greeting card I made and send them off to them via postal mail. (yes folks, I still LOVE paper cards and postal mail as I am not a big fan of email cards at all).

Making your own bookmarks is a great way to use up a lot of your paper scraps and left-over scrapbooking supplies. I throw all my scraps into a bin and then use those scraps to make them. Here is what you will need if you want to make a few for yourself or for friends.

1 piece of white cardstock measuring 2 1/2" wide by 7 1/4" long
various scraps of solid and printed pieces of scrapbooking paper
fibers and ribbons
stickers and/or cardstock cutouts
paper trimmer and/or scissors
hole puncher
glue dots, glue sticks and self-adhesive foam dots
brads, eyelets, tiny charms and other embellishments
optional: ink pads, daubers, rubber stamps, chalks, colored pencils, etc.

Cut down your white cardstock so that it measures 2 1/2" wide by 7 1/4" long. Use a paper trimmer or scissors and trim down your scrapbooking paper so that it will cover the front and back of your bookmark. Use a glue stick to attach the scrapbooking paper to the cardstock bookmark. Use a hole puncher (I like using an 1/8" diameter punch) to punch a hole at the top of the bookmark so that you can insert fiber or ribbon through it.

Now comes the fun part...you can decorate your bookmarks any way you like. I try to use up scraps left-over from my scrapbooking projects.

For the one I made today...I used purple fibers, purple ribbon, purple ribbon bow, green metal brad, a sticker that says "Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments" that I mounted onto dark purple cardstock and applied it to my bookmark using adhesive foam dots to give it added definition. I also inked the edges of my bookmark with dark purple ink.

As you can see...once you make the cardstock bookmark you can decorate them to your little heart is content using a variety of scraps and left-over supplies that you have laying around your craft room. This is a great project for you to do with older children too!

Happy Crafting!!!

Summertime Craft Projects For Kids ~ Guest Blogger Post

Summertime Crafts for Kids by Rachel Paxton

ROCK PAPERWEIGHTS

Give each child a rock that has been washed with soap and dried. Have the children decorate the rocks with craft paint to create their own unique paperweights.

MASKS

Cut 8 ½ x 11 pieces of paper in half. Give each child a piece of paper and a crayon or marker. Have each child fold their piece of paper in half and cut a hole that their nose will fit through. Have them cut a small hole first, then adjust the hole to fit the size of their nose. Have the children try on their masks and let them try to figure out where the eyes should go. They can then cut out holes for the eyes. Let the children decorate their masks with different facial expressions.

JIGSAW PUZZLES

Give each child a piece of cardboard, a picture from a magazine, some scissors, and some glue. Have the children glue their pictures onto their cardboard. When the glue is dry, have them cut their cardboard into the shape of jigsaw puzzle pieces. When they have finished, have them trade puzzles and have a race to see who finishes first.

GRAPH PAPER DRAWINGS

Give each child a sheet of graph paper and a pen or pencil. Have each child draw a picture on the graph paper using only the lines on the graph paper. Curved lines are not allowed. Let the children color their creations. Have them share their pictures with each other when they are done.

COLLAGES

Give each child newspapers, scissors, glue, and notebook paper. Have each child cut words and sentences from newspaper pages and combine them to create a unique story. Have them arrange their sentences on the notebook paper and glue them in place. A theme for the stories can be decided beforehand. Let the children share their stories with each other.

FLUBBER

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups white school glue
1 1/3 cups warm water
3 teaspoons Borax
Food coloring

Mix 1 1/2 cups warm water, glue, and food coloring together. In a separate bowl, mix 1 1/3 cups warm water and Borax together. Pour the glue mixture into the Borax mixture and take out of bowl to knead until flubber is soft and consistent in form. Store in a zip-lock bag or tightly sealed container. This stuff is really fun! Enjoy!

Originally published at Suite 101. Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For complete resources for the Christian home, visit her web site at http://www.christian-parent.com/.

Silhouette Rhinestone Bundle Giveaway & Discount

I am absolutely addicted to scrapbooking and spend time every week doing it. I find it relaxing and it's a great way to preserve my family's memories for generations to come. With that said...I don't own a Silhouette machine but I want one badly!

The familylicious blog is hosting a giveaway for a Brand New Silhouette Machine that comes with a lot of accessories and you can earn multiple entries into the giveaway. In addition, they have a coupon code that you can use to get a discount off the purchase of one too!

The Giveaway ends on May 8th, 2011 so make sure you get over there and enter the giveaway for your chance to win! I know I have entered!