Joyfully Weary

This past August, the boys and I made fossil medallion necklaces for their treasure hunt birthday party. I've been meaning to share these for awhile but time has way of getting away from me...I also hope to share the birthday party someday - it was a ton of fun! Anyways, I thought these would make great Christmas gift for children's friends or for Aunts and Grandmas. If the ladies in your family aren't too fond of creepy crawlies, you could also use stamps to imprint flowers or names. 

This past Christmas the kids made all their grandparents and aunts/uncles decorated wooden spoons. The were a big hit with all our family members and would also make a great Mother's Day gift or an end of year teacher's gift.  I  found the spoons at HomeGoods for around $4 but a similar set can also be found on Amazon . 

I'm not sure where I first read about/saw coffee filter butterflies but I know that I've done them with every group of children I have worked with since. Because the are simple, but allow for self creativity, they've been a hit with every age range from toddlers to grade schoolers. Truth be told, I enjoy making them myself and I'm thirty. Even though we haven't been crafting much this summer ( my boys prefer sand and mud to crayons and paint) I couldn't let our insect unit go by with out making them. Our Supplies:  2 coffee filters, a clothespin, a pipe cleaner, scissors, glue, &  dot markers * if you don't have dot markers using diluted food coloring (dipping or with droppers) works too

For the grandmas' gifts on mothers day we went the traditional route - a handprint craft.   These were inspired by this "tin ceiling tile craft " I did with my VBS kids last summer.  Our Supplies: cardboard (trimmed to size/shape preference), pencil, tacky glue, heavy duty aluminum foil, shoe polish, tissues, packing tape, scissors, and ribbon.  Step #1: use pencil to trace hand onto cardboard Step #2: cover hand prints with tacky glue. i also had the children add their initials. the boys also added claws - i almost said 'no' but figured their grandmas would get a kick out of it.  Step #3:  once the glue has completely dried, cover cardboard with foil and use eraser end of pencil to press foil around glue lines. Step #4: smear shoe polish on top of foil. use a tissue to remove any excess polish.  i found this shoe polish (in a pack of 3) at dollar tree Step #5: if you wish to hang your tile, cut a pi...