A few more Easter ideas for you! If you like these printables please go to the Angel Street Kids Facebook Page and click “LIKE.” I will keep you posted on new stuff!
I created these little Easter designs to use as Cupcake toppers and/or table confetti.
These little baskets are easy-shmeasy to make, then just fill them with your favorite Easter candy! Perfect as a table setting decoration, party favor, or gift! Enjoy! ;)
I just finished creating these new Free Easter printables! Click the images to view and print the full-size PDF! If you like these printables, please go to the Angel Street Kids Facebook page and click “LIKE” to become a fan. I post through that page and would love to hear from you there! I’ll keep you updated on new free printables, sales on Angel Street Products, and lots more stuff!
Tomorrow is April 1st…April Fool’s Day! My daughter has been whispering her little tricky plans to me the last few days–you know, like putting a rubber band around the sink hose nozzle so Dad will get sprayed when he turns the tap on, and putting a plastic creature in ice for his drink. All so silly and fun!
I found some more fun ideas. Check out these fun ideas from Family Fun! Just click on the images to see how to make it!
Meat loaf cupcakes! These cute little cupcakes are really meatloaf with colored mashed potatoes on top.
Tell your kids someone just invented the presliced banana! Learn how to slice a banana without peeling it and wow your family! (I’m definitely trying this one!)
Fish Stick, a kid’s favorite! But these will surprise them! These fish sticks and veggies are really cornflake covered wafers, pea-shaped airhead candy and strawberry jam! I just can’t decide if I should make this one or…
Sweet Cashew Chicken–but it’s really dried pineapple, apples, and fruit rollups! Haha. So clever! I love all these ideas…now which one to do?
See more ideas on www.familyfun.com!
Make a perfect pinwheel! No tracing or guessing! This activity is fun and also a great way to teach about pattern-making and shapes.
Just print out these patterns I made below on some colorful paper. You can use any kind of paper you want– copy paper, scrapbook paper, or cardstock. If you plan to paint patterns on the paper, it’s best to use cardstock.
These fun shapes will be cute centers for your pinwheels.
Decorate the printouts any way you like. My kids and I chose to paint them, so we used cardstock. You’ll need your printouts, some thumbtacks, craft paint (or crayons or stickers or whatever you want to use to decorate it) and some small-ish dowels. The dowels I used are 3/16″ in diameter and came in a pack of 16 for about a dollar. The thumbtacks were $.88 for a pack of 70. Good deal!
It’s fun to find objects around the house to use as a stencil to decorate your paper. Here I used the end of a marker for the circles, and the dots were created using the end of a pencil eraser. Create a pattern and when it’s dry, turn it over and create a contrasting pattern.
Again, this is a fun way to teach kids about patterns and shapes. You could come up with countless patterns to create and ways to put these together.
When your decorated printouts are finished, just follow the directions on the printout to create the pinwheel. Tape down the corners as you go, it will make it easier. When you are ready to stick the thumbtack in, I found it’s better to cut a hole about the size of a pencil eraser in the pinwheel and the center shape. If the hole is bigger, the pinwheel spins a little better. Also, don’t stick the thumbtack in too far, it needs to have a bit of space for it to spin. I found it best to push the thumbtack through, then turn the pinwheel upside down. Place the dowel on top and use a small hammer to push it into the wood just right.
Another Method for Those Who Are Thumbtack Phobic:
If you’re going to create these with very young children and don’t like the idea of pins, here’s another idea to make it safer for your kids. You’ll need the same supplies as above, but you’ll also need some bendy straws.
A bendy straw fits perfectly over the 3/16″ dowels. Slide it over the dowel and tape around the bottom so it stays in place.
On this one I fluffed the flower shape a little by cutting between each petal and folding the petals up.
Cut the holes in the pinwheel and center shapes, then slide them over the bendy part of the straw.
Cut slits in the end of the straw to make 4 strips.
You can put a button on top and pull the straw strips through to keep everything together. Now it looks like a daffodil.
Last, just put some tape around the straw in the back to hold things in place back there.
Have fun with your pinwheels!
Okay, have you got your leprechaun footprints and pot of gold ready? If not, print them out in my St. Patrick’s Day printables link. Also, I just found some way cute ideas I wanted to share. These are some really fun ideas to make the day fun for your kids–great for after school snacks or dinner’s dessert.
How cute is this! I love these ideas!
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St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Waffles by:
http://ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com/rainbow-waffles/2011/03/12/
Love the whip cream clouds!
Ice Cream Leprechauns by:
http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/03/ice-cream-leprechauns.html
Gold Nugget Cake by:
http://www.sugarderby.com/blog/2011/3/5/i-wanna-know-where-tha-gold-at.html
I think I’m a little crazed over St. Patrick’s day this year. It’s just that last year I realized the night before that none of my kids had anything green to wear for school the next day. I sent Mr. Everything to Walmart at midnight to find something green for them to wear. (Of course I would never go to Walmart at midnight!)
He’s a good sport.
Well, this year I’m planning ahead. We’ve got the green shirts…and now I’m accessorizing. Yep…shamrock hair clips!
(Front View)
I’m definitely not a bow making expert, but I’ve been dabbling the last few days.
(Side View)
A friend gave me some good pointers and shared some awesome bow-making blogs with me:
http://thedomesticdiva.wordpress.com/2007/11/26/embellishing-is-sew-creative/
http://fabricbowsandmore.blogspot.com/
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I completely used scraps of fabric and supplies I already had. (Love it when I can find a purpose for scraps!)
So I started by ironing heat n’ bond to various pieces of green fabrics.
Then I traced the shamrock shapes on to the heat n’ bond paper. I used the smallest shamrock shape pattern from my St. Patrick’s Day printables collection here: http://angelstreetmom.com/?p=4791
Tracing the shapes on the bonded paper is way easier than tracing straight on to the fabric. The heat n’ bond makes it so the fabric doesn’t fray, and also makes it a little stiffer. For this bow, I used 6 shamrock shapes.
I dabbed green glitter glue around the edges of all my shamrock pieces.
Then I took 4 of the shapes and folded them in half like this…
…and then in half again like this.
I glued each of the folded pieces onto an unfolded “base” shamrock with hot glue. I glued the piece so it lines up with the bottom piece, because I wanted it to stay looking like a shamrock in the end. (If you vary the pieces, it looks more flowery, which can be fun too.)
After the 4 folded shamrocks were glued down, I glued another unfolded shamrock to the top. The folded pieces make it poof out a little. And to make it poof out a little more, I glued pieces of tulle (tutu fabric) into the folds.
Then to finish it, I just glued a little pile of green sequins in the center.
For the back, I cut a circle out of the heat n’ bond treated fabric and cut slits in it like this, then glued it to the back. The idea was to be able to slip a clip or a headband through it and make it more versatile. The fabric was too thin though so I ended up just gluing the clip on. My friend uses a thicker stabilizing material called peltex. Her bow backs work MUCH better for clips and headbands. So I will be using peltex with future bows.
And there you have it!
Below is another variation of the bow using the shamrock shapes. However, on this one I staggered the shapes, which gives it a more flowery look. I also added transparent fabric in the folds and in the center.
St. Patrick’s Day is coming!
March 17th is just around the corner and it’s time to get green!
Check out these Lucky Wristbands! Just click below to open and print your own!
Here’s some more fun activities for St. Patrick’s Day! Great for classrooms, parties, homeschool, and just for fun!
Slip these into your kids’ lunchbox on Valentine’s Day to put a smile on their faces, or set them by their plates at dinner for a little Valentine fun! Also great for the classroom or a Valentine party!
These reading encouragement activities are great to use at school or at home to make reading extra fun for your kiddos!
Paper people are back! Just color and cut out the kids, then do the same with each costume. Have fun dressing the kids in cultural folk costumes from around the world!
This is an 8 week reading tracking chart! Great for the upcoming summer reading programs!
…and a little book report form.
And of course, your kids will need some book marks for all that reading! ;)
Be sure to check out your local library to learn more about our amazing world!
I had actually never seen this show before this week. It’s described as a preschool show, but it has subtle and clever humor that has had my whole family laughing out loud for the past 3 days! Thank you WGBH for sending this to us!
WGBH is launching a brand new season of PEEP and the Big Wide World with 25 episodes never before seen on public television! Lucky me, I got to review this adorable, hilarious, clever and creative show. Oh, and amidst all the giggles and snickers induced by the comical characters, this show teaches preschool science and math concepts. But if your kids aren’t the science/math type–don’t stress. They’ll love this, beg you to watch it, cry if they miss it….and they won’t even realize they’re learning math and science.
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The second I saw these cute characters, I had dreams about an orange, an eggplant and an apple. So of course we had to make some veggie/fruit art. This is a really fun kids craft to do for any imaginative mind. Just get some construction paper, google eyes, pipe cleaners, and fondue skewers and let your creativity go bananas…or carrots…or eggplants…or….well, you get the idea.
For Quack’s hat I used one large marshmallow (cut in half), and one mini marshmallow, then stuck a toothpick through the center to keep it in place.
The legs are fondue skewers, painted black. Quack’s feet are made out of construction paper, and the others have black pipe cleaner pieces for feet.
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(Drawings by my profile artists, Anne and Mary)
Quack (the duck), Peep (a newly hatched chick), and Chirp (the little red robin) are the endearing trio in this cute show. The first episode of the new season is great. It reminded me of college.
Yes, college.
One year at college I lived in an apartment with two other roommates named Sarah. So the three Sarah’s went by “Sarah 1,” “Sarah 2,” and “Sarah 3.” I was the youngest, so I was “Sarah 3.” Not cool. I guess it’s better than “Squeenk” or “Clerp” though.
In the season’s first episode, poor Quack finds his pond has been taken over by a sassy newcomer who is also named Quack. In the conflict between Quack versus Quack, the two try to prove the pond is theirs. One claims the other is not a duck, but is really a “Squeenk,” and renames him “Clerp.” Quack tries to prove he’s a duck by pointing out that he can swim. (But so do fish!) He says he has feathers. (But so do Peep and Chirp!)
Quack finally enlists the help of his beaver friends to build a new pond that is enticing enough to make the new Quack want to live there so he can have his home back. During the whole Quack conflict, kids learn about similarities and differences, identifiable characteristics, and the ideal habitat for a happy duck.
But enough of my chitter chatter, here’s a word from Angel Street Kids themselves!
The new season Peep and the Big Wide World begins January 3, 2011. Be sure to check your local listings and enjoy this big wide world with PEEP!
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Just comment to this post and tell me what your family likes to do in the winter. You will automatically be entered to win Peep Figures it Out. This DVD includes 6 previous episodes in both English and Spanish. Post a comment by 6:00pm Wednesday January 5th (Mountain Standard Time).
Winner will be chosen at random and announced Thursday, January 6th.
