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.

Okay, I know I am getting carried away with this Angry Bird stuff. But these are actually from Valentine’s Day. Remember those warm fuzzy friend Valentines my daughter made? Well, my son wanted nothing to do with them and instead came up with these Angry Bird pom-pom ball friends himself. They are quite easy to make and boys get a kick out of tossing them around!

He literally had it all planned out in his head how he was going to use the pipe cleaners to make the beaks, eyebrows and tails. The only problem was he couldn’t actually cut the pipe cleaners without my help. So we worked together to create these pom-pom ball Angry Birds that sit on top of three Cadbury mini-eggs that are nestled instead mini-cupcake liners.

The finished treats were wrapped in a small cello bag and closed with a twist tie and a note was attached. The attached note read, “Love is for the birds.” They were a big hit.

I think these could be great for a birthday treat, Easter treat, spring party treat. It would also be a fun activity for kids to make at a birthday party!

Supplies:

• 1.5″ Pom-pom Balls
• Googly Eyes
• Black Pipe Cleaners
• Yellow Pipe Cleaners
• Craft Glue
• Wire Cutter
• Mini-Cupcake Liners
• Cadbury Mini-eggs
• Cello Bag and Twist Ties
• Cute note to attach

How To:

1. Use a wire cutter and cut the black pipe cleaner into 3/4″ to 1″ long pieces. Bend the cut piece in the center to form a V shape. These will be the eyebrows and can also be used as the tails.
2. Use a wire cutter and cut the yellow pipe cleaner into assorted lengths, these will be the beaks. As my son informed me, some birds, like the green bird have long beaks and some have short beaks. Most beaks can be cut to measure 1″ in length, then fold the cut length of pipe cleaner in half so the end is rounded.
3. Use craft glue to glue on the beaks first, then glue on the eyes and next the eyebrows. Let dry.
4. Next glue on the tails. Let dry.
5. Place 3 candy eggs inside the mini-cupcake liners. Sit the finished birds on top.
6. Wrap each bird in a cello bag and twist tie closed.
7. Add a cute note that can be attached with the twist tie.

The post How To | Angry Bird Craft and Treat appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Wanted to hop on the blog (still in the middle of our big move) and show you what the kids are making for their class Valentines. If you are looking for something your kids can make themselves this is it. My 7 year old did these pretty much on her own.

I did have to type up the text and print it out for her and use a wire-cutter to cut the pipe cleaner into smaller pieces. My daughter loved mixing and matching all the pom-pom ball colors and pipe cleaners to make different color combos and different looking warm fuzzies!

Supplies:

• 1.5″ Pom-pom balls in assorted colors
• Googly eyes
• Pipe cleaners in assorted colors
• Foam hearts (for feet)
• Wire cutters
• Craft glue
• Miniatures candy bars
• Pencil
• Printer and paper
• Ribbon (can be added to make warm fuzzy have a bow in her hair)

How To:

1. Glue the pom-pom ball to the foam heart (feet), let dry.
2. Glue googly eyes to pom-pom ball, let dry.
3. Cut a pipe cleaner into 4 pieces using a wire cutter. Use a pencil to curl each end of the pipe cleaner. Bend curled section in center to form V-shape. Glue antenna to top of pom-pom ball. Let dry.
4. Print text out on paper and trim to desired size and shape. Glue end of note between feet and pom-pom ball.
5. Glue entire warm fuzzy to miniature candy bar.
6. Pass out to friends on Valentine’s Day!

The post How To | Warm Fuzzy Friend Valentine appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.