KIDDING AROUND SERIES - GHOST LEAVES

I have never done a kid craft on my blog.  I'll admit that it's possible some of my projects may have turned out to look like a kid craft, but it was not intentional.  So when the girls at the Inspiration Cafe wanted to do kid-themed crafts.....I totally freaked out.  Totally.  I mean, I've already told you that my 5 year old grandson has the attention span of a gnat, so crafting with him is almost impossible.  But, sometimes things just work out.  Last Sunday, my brother-in-law called and said my awesome nephew, Dain was wanting to come over to see me.  Always exciting! Seriously...this kid will pick up a huge snake.....

He will also make creepy faces in my corn maze for a photo shoot...

You will never be bored around a kid like this!
The wheels started turning in my head.  His attention span is bigger than a gnats...maybe like mosquito-sized.  I decided to ambush him into making a craft with me.
 To get a 9 year old boy to do a craft with you...you had better at least call it something cool...like Ghost Leaves. 
Gather up a few supplies...

You'll need 1 cute kid, some white craft paint, fake leaves,googly-eyes, magnets, a hot glue gun and some glue dots.
You'll want to paint one side those cheesy faux leaves with some white craft paint.

 I love the look on Dain's face when we first start out, but...he quickly warmed up to the whole leaf painting thing.

Paint as many leaves as the mosquito-sized attention span allows.  They dry really fast and are still very flexible. 
Flip them over and put a magnet on the back with a little hot glue.  Hold that magnet down for like 30 seconds and talk about googly-eyes.  Kids love them.  Just knowing they come next makes Dain smile.

Little glue dots are perfect for sticking on googly-eyes.  They're too small for a hot glue gun and you don't want to burn precious fingers that might be needed for picking up a snake.

You can tell that the attention span and picture taking tolerance are running low now, which is a good thing, because this project is over.  We have Ghost Leaves that will stick on your fridge...or your school locker.  Cool....

 .....and fun!
Don't have any googly-eyes??  No problem...a marker works just as well!  How do I know this?  Because after my nephew left I decided to play around and make one myself.  I opted for a Vampire Leaf....

 

Now go play! Please be sure to come back and join us for our Kidding Around link party coming up  Monday, September 16th.

Kidding Around Series~Black-Out Scrape Pages

Hi, everyone!  It's Heather from the Beating Hearth here for my turn on this fun series!  I instinctively decided to do an art project for this series because my kids make a lot of art at our house.  A lot.  In fact, so much so that Daddy quite often has to take their art to...we'll call it "work".

I guess I don't know what these are really called.  So I am calling them black out scrape pages.  You'll see what I mean in a minute.  Trust me, they are a lot of fun...and a good way to keep kids occupied for at least 10 minutes.  Maybe 20 if you're really lucky!

1.  Color all over a piece of card stock with a rainbow of colors using crayons.  It needs to be heavy-duty paper because you are going to scrape away the layers of black crayon with a nail. 

2.  Once you have covered the entire page, cover over your beautiful colors with a heavy coating of black crayon.  Thick.  Try and cover up the previous layer completely and thoroughly.

Start scraping away at the black crayon and exposing the rainbow colors underneath.  When you create, keep in mind it's fun to play with light and dark.    And just start scraping.  Anything goes!  I would recommend scraping over newspaper...the black wax gets everywhere.  The girls had fun and so did Mom!

Don't forget to join us next week for more fun shares for our "Kidding Around" Series.  Also, be sure to join us for our link party that's coming up in a few weeks!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Heather

Kidding Around Series ~ Awesome Ice Cream Toppings from the Pantry

Hi Everyone!  It's Mary from Sweet Little Bluebird!  It's my turn to share for our 'Kidding Around' series.  

With school starting on Monday for my girls and summer quickly coming to an end, I thought I'd share some fun toppings for ice cream to celebrate the last few days of summer.

Next time you go for a bowl of ice cream, check out what cereal you have in your pantry, sprinkle some on top...you and your family may find a few new favorite toppings!

Here are a few of our favorites...

Cereals to try for toppings:  Cocoa Krispies, Rice Krispies Treats Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Reese's Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Apple Jacks, Captain Crunch - Berries & PB, Frosted Flakes, Grape Nuts, Fruit Loops, Trix, Granola...and so many more.

Like maple?  Pour a little maple syrup on top of vanilla ice cream, sprinkle some pecans or macadamia nuts!  Oh...my...word........so good!!! 

Like Fried Ice Cream?   Make some Cheater Fried Ice Cream!  So simple to make!  Head over to Sweet Little Bluebird for the easy recipe. 

If you have some unique fun toppings you and your family like to pour on top of your ice cream, please share! 

Don't forget to join us next week for more fun shares for our 'Kidding Around' series.  Be sure to join us for our Link Party....

Thanks so much for stopping by!
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Cheers!