If you’ve followed the blog at all you’ll know that i absoloutely love making keepsakes. They’re a beautiful way of looking back at previous stages of life and they really show how much our children have grown and developed over the years. We’ve made a couple of these cute little hand print bowls for my son to give to some special people for valentines day (including myself!). I think they’re absoloutely gorgeous. These bowls will definitely require a grown ups help as you’ll need to use a knife, but they really are quite simple and so much fun for kids to paint!
You will need
Air drying clay (alternatively you could use salt dough and bake them) Red and white paint Knife Paintbrush Q-Tip
Take two equal sized lumps of clay and roll them into two equal balls, Roll them out into flat disks. Next you will need to cut out your two hand prints. The easiest way we have found to do this is to draw around my sons hands on a piece of paper, cut out the hand prints and use them as a stencil to cut around with a butter knife.
Now mould your hand prints into a bowl by overlapping them at the palms and then pulling the fingers round to overlap. You can use a bit of water to act like glue if your clay isn’t securing together easily. Bend the outer edge of your bowl upwards. You may need to rest it upgainst something to keep the edges turned up whilst drying. put your bowl aside and leave it to dry for 1-2 days until solid.
Once dry, coat your entire bowl in red paint.
Now all thats left to do is add the final decorations to your bowl. We dipped a q-tip into white paint to make the spots and heart. Leave to dry and you’re finished! Such a gorgeous keepsake to display and treasure or gift to a loved one!
Today we’ve been making yet more valentines crafts! This time however, we’ve used a resource that i haven’t used on this blog yet; chalk. chalk is a really fun and flexible medium and my son loves to use it both out on the pavement and for inside crafts too. It’s just such an interesting texture and style for kids. What’s great for us grownups too is how cheap chalk is, you can pick up a pack of chalk for under £1 at most supermarkets. Which makes this craft fun, easy and affordable – perfect for preschools and groups!
You will need
Coloured chalk Card paper Scissors Tape or blue tack Marker
Take your scrap piece of paper and cut it down to the same size as the front of your card (this is so that you can be sure your stencil is the right size). Fold it half and then using the fold as the centre; draw half a heart shape and cut it out to give you an equal sided heart stencil.
Place your stencil over the front of your card and secure it down with tape or blu tack. Make sure that its tightly secure so that it doesn’t move about when little one is colouring in!
Take your chalks and colour in your heart using stripes of different coloured chalks. Blow off any excess chalk and then slowly peel the stencil away. You may need to tap your card on the table to remove any remaining excess.
Finish off your chalk heart valentines card by adding your special message to the front and filling out the inside to gift to your loved one!
A Sweet and simple craft; these Love bug Valentines crowns are a perfect craft for young children to make this season of love! You could even set out a bowl of hearts, stickers and other decorations so that children can each make their own fun and unique designs. It’s a great way to keep their creative brains busy, at least for a few minutes!
You will need
Red card Black paper Pipe cleaners Tape Scissors
Take your piece of paper and place it in the landscape position. Fold the top corners to the bottom ones to split it perfectly in half. Then, cut along the fold line to give yourself two long equal strips.
Secure your two equal strips end to end as shown above and decorate with some black paper hearts or your chosen decorations. Secure the two loose ends of your headband together to create your crown shape.
To make the antennae, twirl two pipe cleaners around your finger or a pencil to create two spring shapes. Glue a heart to one end of your spring and then glue the other end down inside your crown at the top.
Add any last minute decorations and your valentines love bug crown is finished!
Today has been yet another day of valentines day crafts. We’ve still got so many left to share that im hoping ill get chance to post them all before valentines! We started off today with these paper heart mice and how cute did they turn out? These make a great alternative to traditional valentines as there is space to write your own special message on the back of them!
You will need
Coloured Paper Googly eyes Pom Pom Yarn Glue Scissors
First you will need to make the body of your mouse. To do this cut out a circle from your coloured paper. We find the easiest way to get a perfect circle is to draw round a mug or some tape. Once you have your circle, cut one straight line in to the centre of it as shown above.
Now bring one side over the top of the other to create a round pyramid shape and secure it with tape or glue
Next, cut out a heart for your mouse’s face. Stick it onto the cone by gluing over your join line up to the point as you can see above. You may need to pull the edges of your heart forwards a bit to position the face better.
Cut and stick two small hearts for the ears and give your little mouse two googly eyes
Measure and cut a few equal lengths of yarn. Glue them at the bottom point of your heart to create whiskers and then glue a pom pom on top for the nose.
To finish off your mouse you need to make a cute curly tail! Cut a thin strip of paper. Take one end and roll it up to the other to create a spiral, loosen ot slightly then glue the outer end to the back of your mouse.
Your mouse is finished! How adorable does he look?
