This peas in a pod ornament is a fun afternoon craft. This project is just right for the younger set and perfect to gift to an Aunt or Uncle. It’s simple and doesn’t take many supplies, plus it is cute enough to hang on the tree. I often see necklaces that feature peas in a pod that use the number of peas for how many children you have. I thought it would be fun to make ornaments like that too. So let’s get started!

Supplies:

• Green Pom Pom Balls
• Milkweed Pod
• Ribbon
• Craft Glue

How To:

1. Glue appropriate number of Pom Pom Balls inside milkweed pod. If you just picked the pods you may need to let them dry out for a day or so.
2. Loop and knot ribbon. Glue knot of ribbon to top of milkweed pod.
3. Wrap in cute packaging and give to your favorite person!

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Happy Holidays to you and your family!

The post Handmade Holiday | Peas in a Pod Ornament appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Handmade Holiday Gift Idea

Do you ever have a craft idea and when it all comes together you are just giddy? Well, this plastic cloche ornament was one of those moments for me. I was searching and searching to find some tiny glass bell jars or cloches to make ornaments. Of course I am a little on the cheap side and didn’t want to pay very much, plus I wanted my kids to be able to use them to make ornaments and not feel like they cost to much to let them glue Legos or pipe cleaners inside. Then I was wandering the aisles of Dollar Tree and duh, it hit me.

I spied some plastic wine glasses with removable bottoms and presto this fantastic ornament idea was born. I am certain I am not the first crafter to have this idea and I am not sure why I never thought of it before. But if you are as excited as I am, then run, don’t walk to Dollar Tree and pick up a 6 pack of these plastic wine glasses and some of the plastic snowflakes I glued to the bottom.

(The Santa ornament above has the removable wine glass base glued onto the bottom of the ornament. Genius! You can use all the pieces! That makes it stand up on it own. Don’t add the ornament hanger and you can just display it on a mantle.)

I do want to warn that E•6000 glue is smelly and you will need to help your child with the gluing part. I let my kids pick out all the pieces and show me how they wanted them assembled, then I glued for them. Only my eight year old was able to do it herself.

Supplies:

• Plastic Wine Glasses (mine are from Dollar Tree in the party supply section)
• Plastic Snowflakes or (use the removable bottom from the wine glasses)
• E•6000 Glue
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Assorted items to put inside (birds, Santa, bottle brush trees)

How To:

1. 

   Using either a plastic snowflake for the ornament base or the removable bottom from the wine glass, glue down the pieces you are using to form a scene inside your ornament.

2. If you are using the base of the glass, you can either put it right side up or upside down. Either way will work.

3. 

   Complete gluing on all items that will sit inside the ornament. Let dry.

4. 

   Place glue around edge of glass and stick down to base of ornament.

5. 

   Add glue to the stem of glass and tie ribbon around glue to create an ornament hanger. Let dry. Then tie ribbon into a loop.

    

6. Glue on additional embellishments to the outside of ornament. I got my rhinestone mesh to create the pretty blue bling around the bottom of my bird ornament from HERE.

The post Handmade Holidays | Plastic Wine Glass Ornament appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Are you in the holiday spirit yet? We had a great time decorating the tree over the weekend. Everyone is old enough now that they can help hang the ornaments. It’s a special and magical year for us and I love that all of my kids are so into the Christmas spirit. This week I helped my 4 year old make his handmade gift. He stamped these spice bags to give as gifts to his brother and sisters. This is really easy to do, but will keep a 4 year old busy for a chunk of time.

My son was so excited to finish stamping the bags and then fill them with CANDY! I bought some Brach’s classic candy mix, somehow it just tastes like Christmas and Grandma’s house!

Supplies:

• Spice Bags
• Stamping Ink Pads
• Stamps
• Candy

How To:

1. Lay bag flat.
2. Choose stamp and ink it up.
3. Stamp onto bag. Continue to add stamps to build a cute scene!
4. Fill with candy or treats.

The post Handmade Holidays | Stamped Spice Bags with Candy appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

It’s the second week of summer camp here at The Craft Nest and this week’s project features a free printable. Our day camp instructor this week is Donna from Swish Printables. Donna is a self-professed party junkie! She loves everything about parties. She loves planning them…going to them… and shopping for them. She loves it all! She’s a stay-at-home mom who tries to balance life with two small kids, a busy husband, and her love of all things printable!

Today Donna is showing you and your kids how to print and assemble an awesome banner for your family to hang in honor of the 4th of July. You can read more about her project and get this free 4th of July Printable by visiting her site at this link: Swish Printables.

Visit us next Tuesday the 2nd of July for another patriotic themed day camp project. And if you missed last weeks project, click here to see what you missed!

The post Summer Day Camp | July 4th Printables 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.

You can recycle old scraps of felted sweaters and fleece to create your own unique felt heart pin for Valentine’s Day. (Do you recognize the Lava Girl hot pink felt on the back?) Over the weekend I started sewing the pin on the left, once my daughter saw what I was making she wanted to make one too. I tried to insist that she had to sew her heart using a different stitch because the blanket stitch would be too hard for her. She begged until I gave in and taught her the stitch, then she stitched her heart on pretty much perfect all by herself. Guess mom isn’t so smart. Tomorrow we will be wearing these all day to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Make one of these for your daughter, teacher or babysitter. They will look lovely on your shirt tomorrow!

How To | Felt Heart Pin

Supplies:

• Felt Scraps
• Fleece Scraps
• Embroidery Thread
• Sewing Needle
• Straight Pin
• Poly-fil or Wool Stuffing
• Bar Pin
• Fabric Scissors
• Stick-on Gems

How To:

1. Cut out a square shape from your felt.  (I have some Fiskars scalloped edge fabric scissors I used to cut the edges of my squares.)
2. Cut out a heart shape from felt or fleece. Pin in place onto the felt square.
3. Using a blanket stitch (click here for a how to) sew almost all the way around the heart. Leave a small opening for stuffing.
4. Stuff the heart with a small amount of stuffing, then continue sewing the heart onto the felt square.
5. Stitch words or a design in the center of your heart or add gemstones.
6. Sew the pin bar to the back of the felt square.

Back side of felt pin.

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

Shhh, I don’t want to give away the surprise, but we made this Valentine gift for my husband. I am pretty sure he will find the perfect spot on his desk at work to display this little piece of artwork. What could be cuter than hearts made from tiny fingerprints? This was such an easy project to make. You should get some supplies and whip one up too!

How To | Fingerprint Heart Canvas

Supplies:

• 3.5″ x 2.5″  Canvas (I found mine at Jo-Ann’s for $1.99)
• Mini Art Easel (Jo-Ann’s)
• Acrylic Paint or Stamp Pad
• Rub-on Letters (Mine are Heidi Swapp from Making Memories and may not be available anymore.)
• Paint Brush
• Krylon Clear Acrylic Coating Spray
• Diaper Wipes
• Wax Paper

How To:

1. Choose the colors of acrylic paint you are going to use and squirt a small amount of each color onto your wax paper. (Or have your stamp pads ready.)
2. Use a paintbrush to paint the tip of your child’s pointer finger. Have them hold their finger straight and lift the canvas to their finger. Press their finger onto the canvas at a slight angle. That is the first half of the heart.
3. Paint the tip of your child’s finger again and repeat the above step but angle their finger the other way to create the second half of the heart. Use a diaper wipe to quickly and easily clean off your child’s finger.
4. Repeat above steps to create multiple fingerprint hearts. Let dry.
5. Use rub-on letters or a marker to write a message under the heart fingerprints.
6. Spray your canvas with an Acrylic Sealer to protect the artwork and the writing.
7. On the back of the canvas write the date and name of each child and the placement of their fingerprint.

The post How To | Valentine Hearts Fingerprint Canvas appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

I drew up these fun cartoon-ish looking faces to use on our Valentine’s cards this year. I have the free download below if you want to use them for your cards too. Super cute, but there is a little assembly required! The recipients are gonna love them though. (Please remember this art is available for personal use only.)

How To | Silly Face Valentine’s Day Cards

Supplies:

Silly Boy Version -

• Silly Mustache Boy Valentine Art
• Mustache Art
• A2 Size Envelopes (fits 4.25″ x 5.5″ size card)
• Smooch Spritz in Cherry Ice by Hampton Arts
• 20mm (or so) Googly Eyes
• Popsicle Sticks
• Black Paper
• Tape
• Glue Dots
• Glue

Boy Version How To:

1. Print out Silly Mustache Boy Valentine Card art. Trim to size. (I printed the words directly on the back side of the card. I did not make mine a folding card.)
2. Print out Mustache Art. Cut mustaches out of black paper. (I used my Silhouette (in Illustrator) to cut out the mustaches.)
3. Glue googly eyes in the correct spot on the cards.
4. Put a small piece of tape on the boy face under the nose. Then adhere the mustache on top of the tape using a glue dot. This will allow the mustache to be removed later without tearing the card.
5. Insert Boy Valentine’s Card into envelope and add a Popsicle stick inside the envelope too.
6. To create a design on your envelope, cut out a heart shape and lay it on your envelope. Use Smooch Spritz and spray your envelope. Lift off the heart and you have a cool heart void left!
7. Seal and deliver.

Text on the backside of the Boy Valentine reads: “Valentine, Let’s make silly faces together.” Along the bottom in small print it says, “Use crayons or markers to color the picture on the front. Carefully unstick the mustache from the front and attach it to the enclosed popsicle stick. Hold the mustache in front of your face and make your own silly faces.”

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Supplies:

Beautiful Girl Version -

• Beautiful Girl Valentine Art
• A2 Size Envelopes (fits 4.25″ x 5.5″ size card)
• Smooch Spritz in Cherry Ice by Hampton Arts
• 18mm (or so) Googly Eyes
• Paper Punch
• Glue
• Bobby Pins with Pad (mine are from here)
• Cabochon Flowers (mine are Martha Stewart from Jo-Anns)
• E6000 Glue
• Wax Paper

Girl Version How To:

1. Print out Beautiful Girl Valentine Card art. Trim to size. (I printed the words directly on the back side of the card. I did not make mine a folding card.)
2. Glue googly eyes in the correct spot on the cards.
3. Using your Bobby Pins with pad, glue a cabochon flower onto each pin using E6000. Do all your gluing over wax paper or other disposable surface. E6000 has a tendency to run out of the tube quickly. Set aside and let dry.
4. Use a paper puncher to punch a hole in the hair of the girl card. (See pic above for placement.) Insert a bobby pin into the hole.
5. Insert Girl Valentine’s Card into envelope.
6. To create a design on your envelope, cut out a heart shape and lay it on your envelope. Use Smooch Spritz and spray your envelope. Lift off the heart and you have a cool heart void left!
7. Seal and deliver.

Text on the backside of the Girl Valentine reads: “Valentine, Let’s be beautiful together.” Along the bottom in small print it says, “Use crayons or markers to color the picture on the front. Afterward carefully remove the bobby pins from the front and put them in your hair. You look marvelous darling!”

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Free Downloadable Art:

Click Here – Silly Mustache Boy Valentine Card

Click Here – Mustache Art

Click Here – Beautiful Girl Valentine Card

The post Printable | My Silly and Beautiful Valentine Cards appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

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!

The post Advent Activity | Snowman Family Frame appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

My daughter always wants to make presents for everyone come holiday time. She came up with this Felt Heart Ornament project all on her own. I think she did an excellent job. I’m still waiting to receive mine! She gave everyone else their ornament yesterday. She had tucked them in their stockings for St. Nicholas day, so sweet that she is always thinking about others.

Handmade Holidays | How To | Felt Heart Ornament

Supplies:

• Pink Craft Felt
• Embroidery Floss
• Needle
• Scissors
• Poly-fil Stuffing
• Black Stamping Ink (We used Staz-on)
• Letter Stamps
• Assorted Picture Stamps
• Ribbon or Beads

How To:

1. Cut two identical heart shapes from felt.
2. Use your stamps and ink to personalize each side of the heart with an image.
3. Sew your hearts together using a needle and embroidery floss.
4. Add any embellishments such as beads and ribbon as you sew.
5. Before sewing the entire heart closed add some stuffing, then finish sewing the heart closed.
6. Use the embroidery floss to sew a loop at the top of the heart so it can hang.
7. Tuck in a stocking for a Christmas morning surprise!

The post Handmade Holidays | Felt Heart Ornaments appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.