Fathers Day Footprint Gift

Fathers Day is this weekend and I have put together another cute idea for my husband. I found the footprint idea on Pinterest a long time ago, but searched out a quote to pair with it to create a whole project.

First, start with the foot prints! I used a 12 x 12 sheet of card stock. You might have to print yours at an angle or use a larger piece if the dad's feet are too much bigger than my husband's! While he's away, grab one of his shoes and cover the bottom in paint. I used washable Crayola kids paint (like I do for everything!) Don't worry - it washes off so easily with water and will be dry before he gets home from work! Make an even print of the shoe... you might have to roll it around a little to get the toe, and press down at the arch to get the middle. I practiced with three different pairs of shoes to make sure I got the "coolest" print. Tennis shoes (aka sneakers) seem to work the best.

After that has dried - which shouldn't be more than 45 minutes, really - grab your largest child and make a footprint right on top of the shoe print. Try to line up the heels to get a good size comparison! Once that one is dry, do another right on top of it. Keep on going until you run out of kids. Be sure to use contrasting (but complimenting) colors so they all show up.

Meanwhile, I found a saying that I really liked and wrote it out on white construction paper. I just used a Sharpy marker and my regular hand writing but feel free to get all high tech and print it out instead. I never found a source for the quote, so it must just be one of those neat things passing along the internet.

I used a glue stick to attach the saying to card stock in coordinating colors, and used a paper cutter to get those straight edges.  Since it was card stock, I used Glue Dots (love them!) to attach the whole quote to my print.

"I don't want my kids to follow in my footsteps...
I want them to take the path next to me and go farther than I ever dreamt possible."

Happy Fathers Day!

Fathers Day Handprint Ducklings

This week has been all about FARMS! As one of our fun projects, I made a cute little duck pond using my kids' hand prints. As always, we used Washable Crayola Kids Paint because it's the best. I found this idea on Pinterest when I was searching for farm craft ideas, but decided to make it for Father's Day when I saw how cute and special it was to have both our kids' hand prints on one project.

Have your child position their hand so their fingers are close together, but their thumb should be sticking straight up to make the hand print.  Once the paint is dry, add a beak, eye, and a wing. Small googly eyes would be cute, too. Finally, add a message at the top for Dad - I used "Daddy's Ducklings!" Reminder - Father's Day is June 15th!! (So you have some time to get your ducks in a row.)

End of the Year Teacher Poems

The end of the school year is upon us!! It is a great idea to give a little gift or card to your child's teacher as a thank you for all the hard work they've put in to your child's education. Teachers probably don't want to be bombarded with silly nic-nacs that take up space in their classroom, though, so here is a simpler idea they might like instead.

Number one: a gift card! Give them the gift of lunch out at a restaurant they like, or maybe a gift card to a store where they can buy classroom supplies.

Number two: stuff they can use in their classroom. My daughter picked out a book of small stickers for her teacher to use next year on the class's reading charts. I've also given her pens to grade with.

Number three: this is most special of all - a handmade card from your child. I had my daughter (6) draw a picture on folded construction paper to make the outside of the card. Then on the inside, I had her write out a poem I put together for her. Since my daughter is finishing kindergarten, she wrote the poem on separate lined paper first. I used a glue stick to attach the finished poem into the inside of her card.

If your child isn't old enough to write their own poem, here are a few poems I wrote myself for you to choose from!

"Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
You're a wonderful teacher,
And I'll miss you!"

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
Thank you Mr(s.) [teacher's name]
For teaching me!"

"The school year is finished,
But this isn't the end.
You're no longer my teacher,
But forever my friend."

Watermelon Bottle Cap Pin

I wanted to make an easy watermelon project with my daughter, Molly (5), to go along with a book she read in kindergarten called The Enormous Watermelon by Brenda Parkes. I came up with a super cute and easy pin made from a recycled bottle cap! Molly had fun making them with just a little help from me when it came to the hot glue gun. Now she has one on her backpack and made one as a gift for her teacher!

Here's what you'll need:

clean bottle cap
paint and brush
hot glue gun
pin backs
Dimensional Magic by Mod Podge
Construction paper, scissors, markers and glue

Start by painting your bottle cap green. We used washable paint by Crayola.

While that is drying, it's time to make the middle. Trace a bottle cap (preferably NOT the one you just painted! haha!) on a piece of red construction paper to get the right size. Have your child carefully cut out the circle. I made sure Molly practiced making little snips; keeping her elbow by her side; and making only one piece of trash like she learned in class. Use a marker to make several black dots on the circle to be the watermelon seeds.

Once  the green paint is dry, you can use a dab of glue to attach your paper circle to the inside of the bottle cap. Then fill the bottle cap up with Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. Be sure to cover all of the paper and don't worry if it's cloudy - it will dry clear. I LOVE Mod Podge products! Lay it flat to dry and when it's ready, use a hot glue gun to attach a pin back to it.

Great Gift for Teams, Teachers, Moms, Brides... Anyone!

I stumbled across a wonderful website that I've already used more than once to create one-of-a-kind gifts! Tagxedo.com can take any group of words and artistically arrange them into different shapes. You choose the words, color scheme, font, font size, layout, and orientation.  Then you choose the overall shape such as a heart, angel, hand print or even an outline of South America! The website suggests many uses for these "word clouds" ranging from brainstorming to love letters and from schoolwork to artwork. I have used them to make gifts for team members and coaches at the end of their season which I'll describe below.

First I started by entering my group of words: I included the team name, our show title and year, and all the members' and instructors' names.  I also included key words from our season and certain elements of our sport. If you want a word to show up larger, just type it in multiple times! Connect two-part words by typing an asterisk (*) that won't show up, such as "Great*Job".

Toggle through all the options to pick your favorites.  This includes the font, color scheme, etc. Once you're happy with the final result, Tagxedo lets you print or save your masterpiece! Since I made nearly 20 for each of my last two projects, I actually had mine printed at a local Fed Ex/Kinkos. Be sure you print it the correct size - for a 3.5 x 5 frame, try printing it at just 1/4 of the page. 

As you may have guessed by that last statement, I framed all mine! I found great frames at the Dollar Tree - I LOVE the Dollar Tree!  Finally, I decorated each frame by hot gluing artificial flowers to the corners.  Our performance this season was titled "Yellow" so I chose yellow flowers, but you can get creative and add foam shapes, ribbons, trinkets, or beads to yours!

Also consider making them for a teacher at the end of the school year with all the student's names in the shape of an apple!  Make one for a bride-to-be at her shower filled with well wishes or wedding-related words in the shape of a heart or umbrella! Make one for an expectant mother with childhood milestones in the shape of a foot print... or make one for your own mother for Mother's Day filled with words of love and gratitude in the shape of a flower. Then in June, don't forget your father at Father's Day in the shape of a fish! There are so many possibilities with Tagxedo and a little bit of creativity!

Dish Towel Angels

I wanted Molly (4) to make a special gift for her preschool teachers, but I also wanted it to be something they could use and not just another nick-nack for their classroom. Together, we made Dish Towel Angels and they turned out so sweet! I hope her teachers liked them! I found this idea while I was going through old magazines and came across a December 2005 issue of Crafts'n'Things Magazine (it's one of my favorites!). Here's what you need:

1 pot holder
1 dish rag (or hand towel)
1 dish towel
Rubber Bands
Pipe Cleaners
Ribbon

We got all our supplies from the Dollar Tree. I knew they would have holiday dish towels and they were a lot less busy than Walmart next door! Molly picked out the designs she wanted for each teacher. We used Christmas ones, but it actually might be cooler to use non-seasonal ones so the person you're giving it to can display it for Christmas, and then undo it and use the towels for regular every-day use!

Start with your pot holder and wrap a rubber band around the middle of it to create the wings. Then, fold your dish towel accordion style, long ways. Fold it in half and wrap a rubber band around the folded edge, about 2-3 inches down to create the head. Finally, roll up your dish rag (or hand towel, like we used) long ways. Wrap rubber bands around each end, about 1 inch in to create hands.

Now you're ready to put your angel together! Use pipe cleaners to attach the arms behind and slightly below the neck, then attach the wings just above the back of the arms. Loop a rubber band around the hands to hold them together. Finally, create a pipe cleaner loop in the back for hanging... or use the loop on your pot holder if it has one!

You can finalize it by tying ribbon around the neck and hands to cover the rubber bands so it looks nicer. You can also attach something to the angel's hands like she's holding it, such as a gift card, recipe card, a cookie cutter, or a package of soup mix. We attached a wooden spoon and a gift tag to ours. Molly was so proud to give her hand-made gift to her teachers the next morning at school. I hope we can enjoy making these for years to come - I think I'll make it a traditional teacher gift with something different attached each time!