Halloween is approaching quickly! Do you remember the Five Little Pumpkins Song? Each of my kids has learned it in Preschool. I thought it would be fun to make our own miniature fences for 5 little pumpkins to sit on. Each of us made our fences completely different and we had so much fun. Read on to see how to make your own fence.

Five Little Pumpkins Song:
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
First one said “Oh my, it’s getting late!”
Second one said “There are witches in the air,”
Third one said “but we don’t care!”
Fourth one said “Let’s run and run and run.”
Fifth one said “I’m ready for some fun!”
Ooo ooo went the wind, and out went the lights,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

You can use a lot of different craft supplies to decorate your fence. My kids came up with all sorts of things to make and add to their fences to make it uniquely their own. Have the glue ready, LOL!

Supplies:

• Craft Sticks
• 1″ Orange Pom-Pom Balls
• Green Pipe Cleaners
• Leaf Punch
• Green Paper
• Moss
• Plastic Spiders and/or Ants
• Fake Spider Webs (I couldn’t find ours, but we wanted to stretch some on our fences!)
• Craft Glue
• 2 – Wooden Rectangle Spacer (can be made of balsa wood)
• Wire Cutter

How To: – click on the pics below for a closer view

1. 

   Lay out your craft sticks vertically to create your fence. Use two craft sticks and glue them horizontally to hold the vertical sticks in place. Let dry.

2. Create your second fence side the same way. Make sure you lay the two fences side by side. You need to have the horizontal sticks the same distance from the top and bottom as you did on the first fence. This will be important later when you add the wooden rectangles to the center to make your fence stand up and create a shelf for the pumpkins to sit on.
3. 

   Create your 5 pumpkins by cutting a stem from a green pipe cleaner. Glue stem to top of pom-pom ball. Use leaf shaped punch to punch out leaf from green paper. Glue leaf to pom-pom ball next to stem.

    

4. 

   Finish creating all your fence sides and your pumpkins and set them aside to dry.

    

5. 

   Cut the wood you will use for your spacer to be same length as a craft stick. They can be about 1″ – 1.5″ wide. Glue the a wooden rectangle to the each horizontal craft stick on one fence side. Next glue on the 2nd fence side. Let dry.

6. Now your fence should be complete. Add your own spooky and fun decorations to your fence. Sit your pumpkins on the top shelf of your fence.
7. Sing the Five Little Pumpkins song while you play with your fence.

The post How To | Little Pumpkins Fence appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Looking for a last minute Mother’s Day project? I just made this today and I admit it is for me. Don’t you just want to capture their little (or not so little) hand print size forever? And check out the cute heart in the palm of their hands. I came up with this project based upon the quote, “Mother’s hold their children’s hands for awhile, but their hearts forever.”

So maybe when you look at the first picture you are thinking, whoa someone needs to call TruGreen and get those weeds under control! Or maybe you are thinking your little one would have a hoot trying to pic all those dandelions and bring them to you for Mother’s Day. I personally want to get my kids all dressed nicely and sit them in that field for a picture, I am not sure they will cooperate with my idea though.

Anyway, back to the craft project you clicked over here to see. This project goes really fast once you have all the supplies on hand. If you have more than 4 hand prints to put on the canvas you might want to go up a canvas size or two.

Supplies:

• 8×10 Canvas
• Assorted Acrylic Paints
• Foam Brush
• Paper Plate
• Diaper Wipes
• Hand Cut Heart
• Thickers by American Crafts (that is what I used for the raised lettering)
• Marker
• Double-sided Tape
• Scissors
• Paper

How To:

1. Measure the size of the smallest child’s hand. Cut a heart out of paper so it fits in the palm of their hand.
2. You will use the same paper heart and stick it onto the canvas using double-sided tape before each child makes their hand print and then peel it up when they are finished to reveal a heart-shaped void.
3. To get ready, squirt the paint colors onto a paper plate and have a diaper wipe handy. You will want to quickly wipe the paint off a small child’s hand when they are finished with their hand print.
4. Start with the largest child’s hand first. Stick the paper heart to the canvas where the middle of their palm print will be. Use the foam brush and paint their hand with acrylic paint. Press their hand to the canvas making sure to push down on all their fingers and their thumb for an even print. Pull their hand off and remove the heart.
5. Repeat the above step for each child’s hand print. Make sure you use the largest hand first and the smallest last. Also think about what paint colors will layer well over others.
6. Let dry.
7. Add the quote by laying the stickers out (don’t press them down yet) and lightly penciling in the words. Write very light with the pencil because it does not erase well off of the canvas.
8. When you have it all arranged use a marker to permanently write in the words that aren’t spelled out using stickers. If your stickers aren’t sticking add a little drop of glue to each one.
9. Use a pencil to write in the name and age of each child along the edge of their hand print.
10. Wrap and give to Mom (or yourself)!

The post How To | Mother’s Day Hand Print Craft appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Anyone else have a Space lover in their house? I talked earlier this summer about the great book we found called 13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David Aguilar. My son is still loving this book and it inspired us to create a planet mobile together. I found this great kit at a Michaels store that had all the Styrofoam balls in it and also included the ring for Saturn. I used this kit as a great start for making our mobile.

Supplies:

• Creatology Solar System Kit from Michaels
• Long piece of wire
• Fishing Line
• Acrylic Paints
• Paintbrush
• Paper Plate
• Scissors

How To:

We created our mobile over a series of days. We had to let our planets dry before we could assemble the mobile.

1. Lay out all the Styrofoam balls from the kit. You will not need to use the sticks that are included, but save the longest one for poking holes. The side panel of the box tells you which size ball represents what planet. It also tells you what color each planet should be.
2. Use acrylic paints to paint your planets the appropriate colors. To create the swirled paint effect, say for the Sun, I squirted red, orange and yellow acrylic paint all in one spot on a paper plate. My son used the paintbrush to slightly swirl the three colors together and then he started painting the Styrofoam ball for the Sun. The swirl effect of the paint transferred to the brush and created a cool look when painted on the ball. This was actually his idea!
3. Continue to paint all the planets. We poked a toothpick in the bottom of each planet as it was done being painted and poked the other end of the toothpick into the extra Styrofoam flat ring that came in the box.
4. After the planets are completely dry, use one of the long sticks to poke a hole through each planet.
5. Cut a long piece of fishing line for each planet (decide beforehand how far you want your planets to hang). For each planet thread the fishing line through the hole and run the line up the outside of the planet and tie a knot at the top.
6. Bend your wire into a slight spiral shape. Tie the Sun in the center of the spiral and then each planet in its appropriate spot, vary the heights of the planets when you are tying.
7. When all the planets have been tied onto the spiral wire use four more pieces of fishing line to create a way to hang the mobile. Tie the pieces of fishing line to the spiral in evenly space increments so that the mobile will be balanced when hanging. Join all the pieces at the top and tie them off in a knot leaving a small loop for a hook.
8. Hang your mobile in a bedroom and admire your work.

The post How To | Solar System Mobile appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

I made this heart felt necklace for my First Grader, who is having a hard time adjusting to being away from home everyday. I decided to make something special for her that she could wear all day at school. I told her that I blew 1000’s of kisses inside while I was sewing it and so did her Dad, brothers, sisters, Aunt, Grandma and Grandpa. (We were at the cottage with everyone the night I was sewing it.) I told her to hold it close to her heart and kisses will come out when she needs them. She has been wearing it under her shirt all week and she makes sure to put it on first thing in the morning when she is getting dressed. She told me she holds it when she feels sad, and that she has shown it to some of the other kids in her class, but she never shows them the I love u side. If you have a grade-schooler who is feeling kinda weepy all day about being away, this cute necklace might be the way to make her feel a little extra secure.

How To | Heart Felt Necklace

Supplies:

• Red Felt
• Pink Embroidery Floss
• Satin Ribbon
• Needle
• Poly-fil Stuffing
• Scissors
• Fabric Pencil

How To:

1. Cut out two identical hearts from the red felt.
2. Thread the needle with embroidery floss and tie a knot in the end.
3. Use a fabric pencil to lightly draw a heart shape on one of the hearts.
4. Use a satin stitch (how to here) to create the heart on the front piece of the necklace.
5. On the other heart use the fabric pencil to draw the words I love u.
6. Use a back stitch (how to here) to create the words.
7. With the heart felt pieces back-to-back use a blanket stitch (how to here) around the edge. I recommend starting the blanket stitch at the bottom of the heart. When you get to the top insert one end of the ribbon in the top hump of the heart. Do a couple hidden stitches to hold the ribbon to the heart. Continue with the blanket stitch. When you get to the top of the second heart hump insert the other end of the ribbon and stitch that end in with hidden stitches as well.
8. Continue with the blanket stitch. When you get close to the end leave a small opening. Blow tons of kisses inside, ask for help from family and friends.
9. Fill the inside of the heart with Poly-fil Stuffing and continue sewing the heart closed using the blanket stitch.

The post How To | Heart Felt Necklace appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

This week we are gearing up for the start of school next week. We will be meeting L’s teacher tonight for the first time so we made her a handmade gift. This toilet paper tube pencil has a chocolate bar hidden inside. You never know when the teacher might have a bad day and need a bit of chocolate!

How To | Toilet Paper Tube Pencil

Supplies:

• Toilet Paper Tube
• Yellow Paint
• Paper
• Paint Brush
• Clear Tape
• Masking Tape
• Black Book Binding Tape or Electrical Tape
• Pencil
• Scissors
• 4″ Square of Pink Tissue Paper
• Letter Stickers
• Download: Pencil Tip Template

How To:

1. Paint toilet paper tube yellow and let dry. (Pic.1)
2. Download and print Pencil Tip Template. Cut pencil tip from paper (I used recycled newsprint to get the right color). Shade the tip of the pencil tip with a pencil to make it look like a pencil tip.
3. Form a cone shape with the paper pencil tip. Use clear tape to hold it together and secure it to one end of the toilet paper tube.
4. Cut a 6″ piece of masking tape. Cut the long edge of the masking tape into a zig-zag pattern. (Pic. 2)
5. Wrap masking tape around toilet paper tube where pencil tip and the tube meet. (Pic. 3)
6. Use a pencil to draw lines down the side of the toilet paper tube. (Pic. 4)
7. Cut out a 4″ square of pink tissue paper. To form the eraser tip, wrap the tissue paper over the open end of the toilet paper tube. Wrap a piece of masking about 1.5″ from the top. (Pic. 5)
8. Remove tissue paper eraser from end of tube. Trim off the extra tissue paper that is below the masking tape. (Pic. 6)
9. Add candy or chocolate bar to the inside of the pencil tube. (Pic. 7)
10. Slide tissue paper eraser back over the end of the pencil tube. (Pic. 8)
11. Secure eraser to pencil tube using black tape.
12. Add teacher’s name using letter stickers.
13. Add a tag or note that reads, “If you have a stressful day, break this open for a chocolate treat.”

* Click on the thumbnails to see larger images.

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