This week I am hosting the summer day camp project here on The Craft Nest! When summer time hits our neck of the woods it often means parade time. No parade is complete (at least not where we live) without candy to catch. Usually we grab a plastic grocery bag and head out, but this summer my kids and I crafted candy catchers to take along to the parade sidelines. One of the best features is that we used containers out of the recycle bin!

A special thanks to American Crafts for sending me these beautiful patriotic supplies to use for our project!

Supplies:

• Empty Plastic Container (we used vinegar jugs)
• Patriotic Paper Supplies by American Crafts
• Zazz Glitter Glue by American Crafts
• Glitter Tape by American Crafts
• This to That tape by American Crafts or Double-sided Tape or Craft Glue
• Thickers (letter stickers) by American Crafts
• Scissors or Paper Cutter

How To:

1. Find an empty container. Wash and dry the container. Cut an opening in the side of the container.
2. Use a scissors or paper trimmer and cut your paper to size and adhere it to the container using This to That tape by American Crafts.
3. Add other embellishments and stickers to your candy catcher.
4. Use glitter glue to add more sparkle to your container. Let dry.

The post Summer Day Camp | Patriotic Candy Catcher appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and I am sure you are searching for a perfect handmade gift for mom. Am I right? What about a small gift for Grandma? These tiny little windowsill planters made using recycled lids or a domed vending machine container are just the perfect project for Mother’s Day. You may already have the plants you need in your yard.

I recently attended SNAP! (a blogging conference) and my roommate Cynthia taught a class on making a DIY terrarium necklace with succulent plants. She has an amazing tutorial you can find here, you will want to look at her tutorial before making this little windowsill planter. Her class and knowledge inspired me to make these windowsill planters to give as gifts for Mother’s Day.

Supplies:

• Floral Adhesive (I bought it from my local flower shop)
• Assorted Succulents (You may have enough in your own yard or visit Lowe’s)
• Dried Moss (Michaels)
• Toothpick or Bamboo Skewer
• Paper Plate
• Assorted Sizes Lids from Recycling Bin (Baby food lids are the perfect size)
• Scissors

How To:

1. Gather succulents you want to use. I purchased mine from Lowe’s. You may already have some in your yard, succulents like Hen and Chicks work perfectly for this project.

2. Using a scissors, clip off a small piece from each of the succulents you want to use.

3. Squirt a small spot of floral adhesive onto a paper plate.

4. Use a toothpick or bamboo skewer to pick up some adhesive and spread it around the inside of your lid. Floral adhesive does not harm the plant tissue.

5. Adhere moss to the adhesive. The moss will provide a place for your succulents to grow new roots.

6. Use your toothpick to pick up adhesive and dab the adhesive on the ends of the succulent cuttings. Glue the succulents into the moss. Above I layered two different size lids to make a unique mini-planter.

7. Be sure to read Cynthia’s maintenance tips for caring for your succulents in her post here. The basics are that you will need to mist your plants with water about once a week and be careful not to over water.

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Look at this beautiful Candy Shop! My good friend Rebecca Bischoff (check out her website) was nice enough to create this Free Printable for me to post on my website. This sweet little candy shop prints out all on one page and you can color it and cut it out to create the Candy Shop you see above.

 How To | Cut and Color 3D Candy Shop

Supplies:

• Paper and Printer
• Crayons or Markers
• Pom-pom Balls
• Small Bottle Brush Tree
• Small Bottle Brush Wreath
• Tiny Candy Canes
• Assorted Embellishments
• Glue
• Paint Brush
• Scissors
• White Glitter
• Gold Glitter
• Cardboard
• Cut and Color 3D Candy Shop

How To:

1. Print out the Cut and Color 3D Candy Shop and color it in.
2. Cut out the candy shop and assemble it using glue or tape.
3. Cut out a large circle from cardboard (make sure it is larger than the house) to form the ground/base. I used a scalloped edge scissors around the edge of my circle.
4. Adhere the assembled candy shop to the cardboard circle near the back.
5. Use a paint brush to paint glue onto the top of the cardboard circle and around the bottom of the house. Sprinkle glitter on top of the glue and shake off extra glitter into the trash can. We also added touches of white glitter to the roof and then gold glitter onto the word Candy.
6. Add extra embellishments, like pom-pom balls and bottle brush trees to your Candy Shop and to the ground in front of the Candy Shop.
7. Add an electric tea light inside and watch it glow at night!

Thank you Rebecca for creating this fun candy shop for us to craft!

Free Download

Click Here – Cut and Color 3D Candy Shop

The post Advent Activity | Cut and Color Candy Shop appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Ohh, Christmas is so close! Are you looking for an easy gift for the kids to make Grandma? These paper maché bulbs covered in tissue paper squares and a handmade drawing would work!

How To | Tissue Paper Ornament

Supplies:

• Tissue Paper Squares
• Paper Maché Bulb
• White Piece of Paper
• Crayons or Markers
• School Glue
• Paint Brush or Sponge
• Wax Paper
• Plastic Container or Lid
• Scissors

How To:

1. Have your child draw a small picture. (I drew a circle with a pen first, then had my kids draw inside of it. Cut out the artwork.)
2. Use a small paint brush or sponge to paint glue in small patches on the paper maché bulb. Add tissue paper over the glue as you go. Be careful not to get too much glue on the bulb or the tissue paper will rip because it is too soggy. Let the glued tissue paper dry.
3. To get your artwork to lay flat on the round bulb, use a scissors to make a few small cuts inward around the edges. Then paint glue on the back of the artwork piece and then add the artwork to the bulb. Smooth artwork down with fingers, some areas of the art will overlap a bit. Paint a thin layer of glue over the artwork to preserve it. Let dry.
4. Wrap and give as a gift to grandma!

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Have you written your letter to Santa yet? Have you been Naughty or Nice? Young kids will love filling out this letter. It has big lines and spaces for early writers. Ours are going in the mail and heading off to the North Pole tomorrow!

The days are going by so quickly. I still have presents to wrap! How about you guys, are you all caught up? I am looking forward to this weekend, I can’t wait to see my kids faces on Christmas morning!

Free Download: Click Here – Letter To Santa

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I must have jinxed myself by posting that we were doing really good at keeping up with our Advent Activities. Now we have fallen a little bit behind, but no pressure right? We were able to make these cute sock snowmen. My daughter said, “I want to use the biggest googly eyes we have so it looks really cute.” She was right the sock snow-woman looks cute with those big eyes.

How To | Sock Snowman

Supplies:

• White Sock from Each Child
• Googly Eyes
• Pom-Pom Balls
• Embroidery Floss
• Assorted Ribbon
• Assorted Fabric Scraps and Felt
• Scissors
• Glue
• Stuffing

How To:

1. Choose your sock and stuff it 3/4 full using Poly-fil Stuffing.
2. Tuck the end of the sock up inside itself. (See pic below.)
3. Use a piece of embroidery floss and tie it tightly around the stuffed sock to form the head and body shape.
4. Glue on eyes, nose and other trims to make it look like a snowman.
5. (To create the pink hat, we used another sock and slid it over the top of the head and tied the end of the sock in a knot.)
6. Let your kids play with their new buddy or put them on display.

Bottom of Sock Snowman

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You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen… but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose… You will want to make your own version of Rudolph using a toilet paper tube and the free download you can find below!

How To | Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer

Supplies:

• Toilet Paper Tube
• Googly Eyes
• Red Pom-Pom Ball
• Dark Brown Construction Paper
• Light Brown Construction Paper
• Pink Construction Paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Black Marker
• Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer Template Download

How To:

1. Download Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer Template. Print it out. (You can choose to color in the shapes on the template or use the shapes to cut out pieces from colored construction paper.) Cut out pieces from construction paper or color all the pieces on the template. Set cut out pieces aside.
2. Trace your child’s hand print onto a piece of paper. Cut it out to use as the antlers.
3. Assembly the ears by gluing the inner ear piece onto the ear. Let dry. Glue assembled ears to toilet paper tube.
4. Next glue on the antlers behind the ears.
5. Glue on googly eyes.
6. Glue pom-pom ball to nose base. Let dry. Glue nose base with pom-pom ball to toilet paper tube.
7. Crease the hooves on the dotted fold-line. Glue hooves to toilet paper tube.
8. Use black marker to add a mouth.

Free Download:

Click Here – Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer Template

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I wanted to show all of you the Snowman Family Frame we made yesterday for our Advent Activity. I love it, it looks so cute on the shelf with all the other Christmas decorations. We have been able to keep on schedule for our Advent Activities this far. How about you guys, are you able to keep on track? Some nights are a bit tricky and we have to do some catch up the next day, but the kids don’t know what day I planned the activity for, so it’s all the same to them!

If you want to create one of these Snowman Family Frames for yourself, or make one to give as a gift, you can find the instructions for it here: ChildMadeTutorials. She does a great job of explaining it and has lots of pictures. Just a hint, I found my frame at Dollar Tree, I can see from the picture she has the same frame. So if you are doing your crafts on the cheap, like I try to do, take a look at Dollar Tree for this frame. It is deep inside, but looks pretty much like a normal frame and is in the same section.

Stay tuned, tomorrow you can see the Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer we are making and it includes a Free Download Template to cut out your own pieces. Also, don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

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