Jack 'o Lantern Treat Cups

 

My classroom staff members are rock stars! Period! We work in a stressful environment on a regular basis, where flexibility, patience, and strong communication skills are an absolute must at all times. Not only do these guys exemplify all of these qualities, but they do so with a positive attitude and a great sense of humor! The absolute least I can do for them is treat them to some holiday-inspired, crafty treats! I purchased clear, plastic tumblers and transformed them into jack o' lanterns to help bring out their inner children! I mean, who doesn't still love a treat bag (or, in this case, treat cup) filled with chocolate at any age? Here's how you can make them yourselves:

Materials:

-clear, plastic tumbler

-candy in orange wrappers (I chose Reese's cups and Kit Kats)

-black cardstock

-green cardstock

-green, curling ribbon

-double-sided tape

 

Directions:

1. Fill tumblers with candy, leaving room in the middle for the straw to fit when closed.

2. Place lid and straw onto the cup

3. Cut a circle out of the green cardstock and cut two slits (making a plus sign) into the center of

    the circle to slide over the straw. You can add a message onto the cardstock, if you wish, or leave

    it blank.

4. Cut 4, 24" pieces of curling ribbon and tie around the base of the straw.

5. Use scissors to curl each tail of ribbon

6. Cut out various jack o' lantern face shapes out of black cardstock and adhere to cup using double-

    sided tape

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Jewelry

October is filled with so many exciting things...leaves changing colors, Halloween, candy, parties, pumpkin-flavored everything, the list goes on and on. In fact, October becomes so chaotic at times that we have to remind ourselves that it is also breast cancer awareness month. Unfortunately, my aunt Debbie needed no reminders that October brings added awareness to the evil that is breast cancer, as she received her diagnosis of an agressive form of Stage 1 breast cancer early on in the month. If I know my sweet aunt, I have no doubt she will fight this battle with determination, class, and quiet strength, just like she handles every obstacle that has ever come her way.

My school recently held a Spaghetti dinner, in which each classroom was asked to donate a raffle basket. For my classroom, our basket theme was a no-brainer. In our "Be Aware" basket, we included a pink journal, shoelaces, scarf, t-shirts, cup, keychain, and tote bag, along with the bracelet and earrings set and necklace shown in the pictures. This one's for you, Deb! We love you and have absolute faith that you will fight and win this battle.

For more information on breast cancer, please visit THIS SITE!

Infant Owl Costume

 

As cute as Halloween costumes for babies are, I have a hard time being willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money on them, when they only fit for 1-2 wears and runs the risk of being spit, peed, and pooped upon at any given time. I love owls (much like everyone else) and wanted to turn my little munchkin into one for Halloween last year, but wanted to keep my budget to a minimum. Using a white hat, onesie, tights, felt, my handy dandy glue gun, and a small, fleece blanket purchased at my local dollar store, I was able to do exactly that (in fact, since I had the tights, hat, shoes and some of the felt on hand, the whole sha-bang cost me about $5!)

Here's how...

 

 

Materials:

 

-white, long-sleeved onesie

-white baby tights

-white baby hat

-RIT dye in brown

-felt sheets (2 of each of the following colors-orange, bright blue, bright green, bright pink, orange, brown)

-small, fleece blanket

-glue gun and glue sticks

 

Instructions:

 

1. Dye hat, onesie and tights according to RIT package directions (be SURE to follow the directions to a tee, or I assure you it will not dye evenly!). Wash and dry according to package directions.

 

2. Cut out leaf shapes in all colors of felt (enough to cover the front of the onesie)

 

 

3. Beginning with the bottom of the onesie (near the fasteners), alternate leaf shapes (aka-"feathers," according to color, creating three across (refer to picture above as a reference).

 

4. Hot glue the tops of the feathers to the bottom of the onesie

 

5. Glue a row of four feathers above the original row, overlapping them slightly. Continue to glue rows of feathers on top of each other, adding feathers across as needed, until reaching the neckline of the onesie.

 

6. Cut the fleece blanket in half diagonally (making 2 triangles) and glue the long side of the triangle across the arms of the onesie

 

7. Cut out six circles-2 pink (large), 2 green (medium) and 2 brown (small with triangle cut out for the pupil) for the eyes and glue to the hat

 

8. Using leftover pieces of the blanket, make two bows and adhere to the hat.

 

9. Cut a triangular piece of orange felt and glue to the hat for the owl's beak

 

 



Inexpensive Party Props-Cutouts of favorite characters for a photobooth!

How many of you have gone to huge events and posed for pictures in cheesy, cutout characters with holes in the head for your face? What is it about those ridiculous things that make them utterly irresistible to dweebs like me? When my daughter turned one and we hosted a panda-themed party for a gajillion of our closest family and friends, I was determined to have panda cutouts for people to pose with, but pickins were slim and those that I could find online were more than I was willing to pay. What's a craft nerd to do??? Make my own, of course! Using white, foam core board I purchased for $1 per piece and acrylic paint, I used a pencil to outline my panda shapes, painted them and used an Exacto knife to cut out a circle for a head to fit into. I also added a few embellishments to distinguish boy and girl pandas and Voila!!!

After attending the birthday party, my friend, Melissa (modeling the girl panda cutout in the above pic), asked me if I would make cutouts for her children's book-themed baby shower (pics to come soon, as it was absolutely amazeballs!). Yikes! Its one thing to make something for your own party, but the pressure of doing it for someone else??? Oy! Nonetheless, I agreed and chose four children's book characters I knew Melissa liked and that I knew I could potentially draw...Curious George, Winnie the Pooh, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Corduroy. I think they turned out really well. Whattaya think???

Gourd Monsters

Fall is by far my favorite season, so (as you may have noticed) I go a little nutty with my classroom crafts at that time! One of my classroom aides brought in a bunch of gourds she had picked from her garden, in the hopes that the students could do something with them. Enter GOURD MONSTERS! Using a variety of art materials, we let the students take the lead in designing their monsters. They started by painting them using whatever colors their little hearts desired and, before the paint dried, added googly eyes and pompoms. After the paint had dried and all other items had adhered, we allowed some of the students to stick pipe cleaners into the gourds and bend and curl them for added pizazz!!! Tah-Dah...a quick and easy fall craft that the kiddos will LOVE!