Luminated 3-Dimensional Jack-o-Lantern

A few months ago a stumbled across this great idea via the Artful Parent for making a 3D contact paper stained glass sculpture. I applied that concept to make this little guy for Halloween.

I made a circle with 20 gauge wire in the size I wanted the jack-o-lantern to be. I cut a larger circle of clear contact paper-- large enough to fold the edges of contact paper around the wire and have some room to make it 3-dimensional. Clear packing tape was necessary to reinforce the seams.

I made a face using black yarn, but I think it would have been cuter to let the kids draw a face with a Sharpie (or the yarn--their faces are always better). They stuck bits of tissue paper on the sticky side. Then we stood it up and pushed the contact paper around until it was the shape we wanted and able to stand on its own. We put a little LED tea lite behind him and it glows beautifully.

The LED candles have been a major source of entertainment the last few weeks. The lights are always being turned off so they can set up the candles.

I had to include this photo of our huge sweetheart, JJ. Always involved in, even if oblivious to, the action around him. At one point he had about four candles on him before he looked up.

Easy Kid Made Outdoor Ghost

We made this spooky little cutie last week using a stick, a plastic white table cloth, fiber fill, a pipe cleaner and a sharpie. We wanted to decorate the outside of the house with ghosts, but wanted something that would withstand the elements. This is easy and not messy.

We stuck ours in a flower pot, but they would also be cute in the garden.

First, find a stick. A straight stick is okay, a branchy stick will create the illusion of arms or movement. A branchy stick is more likely to tear the tablecloth so be careful.

Gather your materials. You will need to cut the tablecloth so that it fits the stick you are using. A round piece will make a softer bottom edge. A square will work too, and is easier for a little one to cut.

Secure the bottom of the stick and add some fluff to the top. Plastic grocery bags make great stuffing too.

Center the tablecloth piece over the fluff.

Twist the neck tight with a pipe cleaner.

Draw a face with a sharpie.

Alexander Calder Inspired Bat Mobile

I have long been an admirer of Alexander Calder and his colorful, fun whimsical work. He strikes me as someone who was a quirky and interesting person to know. He is probably most famous for his mobiles and stabiles. In fact, you really cannot teach, learn or even think about kinetic art without discussing Calder. When making mobiles, I try to replicate (in a very stretched sense) the way that Calder would balance each piece when choosing where to add the next. Little ones do not need to merely hang various lengths of string from coat hangers to make a mobile, it is much more interesting to build and balance from the bottom up.

This mobile is holiday themed and a bit on the hokey crafty side, but I think the structure redeems it. I cut out the wings and bodies. Hollin glued them together and added faces, mango trees, night vision and more. Some are flying, others sleeping. Bold colorful shapes can easily take the place of bats--actually anything can work!

We used:

5 paper bats made with black construction paper and decorated with crayons

4 pieces of wire (20 gauge) between 14" and 8" (does not need to be exact)

pipe cleaner for a hook (and extra cut of wire would work too)

hole punch

wire cutters

pliers

I pulled out some other metal bending/ working tools, but really, the pliers and cutters are all you need.

1. Gather materials and make your bats and punch a hole in each bat where you want it to hang from.

2. You will be building the mobile from the bottom up. Use your longest piece of wire and attach a bat to each end. This is the only piece of wire that will have two bats. All the others will only have one. Be careful not to tear through the paper around the hole. The pliers help make a nice loop in the wire. Pinch and close it up tight. You may need to help make sure the bats are attached securely.

3. Using your finger, find the point where the wire balances (does not slide off your finger onto the floor).

4. Make a loop in the wire in that spot.

5. Select another piece of wire. This time, attach one end to the loop you just made.

6. Carefully attach the third bat to the end of the newly attached wire.

7. Now find the balance point by placing your finger under the wire with the bat (number 3) you just attached. Make a loop in that spot. Attach the next piece of wire and then the next bat. You just keep repeating this process until you are finished.

Once you have used up all of you bats and wire, find the balance point on the top wire, add a loop and attach a hook. We hung our mobile on the light over the kitchen table. It is very light and delicate and spins around slowly and gently.

It all sounds a bit complicated but t really is not. The balancing is great fun for the little ones and a great way to throw some science into your day.
Enjoy your weekend. This may be our last snow free weekend for awhile so I think we will be playing in the leaves.

Upcycled Plastic Lid Ghosts

A few months ago we made upcycled plastic lid flowers from the tops of yogurt containers and random lids that had lost their mates. It only seemed right to make something festive for fall using our never ending supply of plastic lids.

First, I cut the edges off the containers to make them easier to work with. Next I cut out ghostly shapes. You could have your child cut the ghost, I just went ahead and cut them for this project.

Hollin used Sharpie Paint Markers to add details. I had imagined boring black eyes and a mouth (you can see the very simple one I made in the first photo). I should have known better. These ghosts have hair, dresses and bows.

Here they are all together on the porch. We used clear packing tape to attach a wooden skewer to the back. Sticking them in the bucket and arranging them was a project in itself. As you can see there is also a lovely three headed pumpkin man in the pot. That was a pre-fab wooden craft decoration painted first with orange acrylic then decorated with the paint markers.

What do you do with your plastic lids and containers? I would love some new ideas.

Thanks.

A Changeable Wreath

Hollin decided that we needed a wreath for our front door. She wanted a Halloween theme. This is one of those somewhat homemade, somewhat pre-fab projects. I am the type who always wants to make the wreath and every accessory, but cannot always pull it off. As much as I wanted to collect the twigs and make the wreath and every accessory, it just made more sense to buy some things at the craft store.

We bought the wreath and the little wooden shapes. I also picked up a set of Sharpie Paint Markers. They were really fun and easy for a five-year-old to use. She had more control with the markers than she would have with a brush and was able to feel really proud of her work.

Instead of making a new wreath for every special holiday or season, I decided to make a changeable one by attaching little wire hooks to the wreath.

I used hot glue to attach little hooks to the back of the wooden shapes (not much planning here, I cut some pipe cleaners up and twisted them into hooks). The "ornaments" can be arranged on the wreath. We can then make turkeys, gingerbread men, hearts, eggs and so on to have a festive wreath all year round.

Best Use for Halloween Candy

There is really only so much candy a 4-year-old can (or should) eat. Why not make some art with all of those pretty little colors and shapes? I rinsed out a little carton of cream and painted it white (actually Hollin painted it). We used acrylic, but tempera would work well too. While the paint dries, open up lots and lots of colorful candy--everything that does not get used gets tossed, so open more than you think you need :)

Then let them glue away with some white glue. You have to do one side at a time to allow the glue to dry. I think this would be fun for older kids to do after reading Hansel and Gretel, or somehow tied in with a game of Candyland. We kept it simple, but you don't have to!

Happy Halloween!

We had so much fun decorating and making costumes for Halloween. I love that Hollin is old enough to really get into it. She was so enthusiastic--essentially going crazy with joy--while we decorated the hotel room, carved pumpkins and planned costumes. Waylon picked up on the excitement too.



Here is Hollin decorating her trick-or-treat bag. She wanted a pink plastic princess pumpkin that we saw at the grocery store...we made our own princess bag instead. I drew a picture of her favorite princess on a piece of fabric and she painted it. Then, I sewed it to a pre-made reusable grocery bag. Sadly, we left it at home for the big night of trick-or-treating, it just never made it into the bag of costumes, mittens and goodies. We ended up borrowing a pumpkin bag from a friend and did not miss our mermaid bag at all (now we have a very cute shopping bag). We did make Ariel leaning on a jack-o-lantern--if you look closely you can see the face. Pop-up cards for the family!

Hollin really wanted me to wear a costume, so I made this funny looking jack-o-lantern from an orange sheet. She painted the face for me. I made it nice and big so that it would fit over my coat. Every year I wish for something festive to wear for Halloween--now I am all set!

We had so much fun decorating our hotel room window. A friend gave Hollin the orange pumpkins, I cut our ghosts and bats and she made faces and stuck them to the window. The entire family got into the monster making. This will hardly put us on the cover of a decorating magazine, but that is not the point!

Hollin wanted to be Dorothy and we thought Waylon would make a cute cowardly lion. I can take no credit for his costume, other than finding it for $5 at a consignment store. I made her little jumper--which she is still wearing today, the day after Halloween.

Last week I realized that there would be no way she would be able to wear her Dorothy costume trick-or-treating in Alaska. She would need boots, snow pants, a jacket and hat--all of which would cover up her cute little outfit. So we thought and thought about what costume she could wear over her snow gear. The ice-cream cone was her idea. It was very warm--good thing because it was about 8 degrees!

I just love the faces she made on the clementine "pumpkins" below!

Time for a piece of candy.

Pumpkin + Markers

Who would have thought something so simple could occupy these two for so long! Markers, wipes and a pumpkin. And we can still paint it later as planned.

Paper Pumpkins

These 3-dimensional paper pumpkins are very cute and very fun to make--especially if you are 4. My daughter has wanted to do little else the last few days. We are growing quite a pumpkin patch. To make a pumpkin you need:

• 4 strips of orange construction paper. You can make your pumpkins any size. We used 12" x 1/2"


• a small square of orange paper for a base (if your pumpkin is wobbly, you can add a piece of cardboard to the bottom).


• a green rectangle (about 3" x4")


• about 2-4 thin strips of green paper for vines and a pencil for wrapping them around to make them curl


• scissors


• white glue

Start by gluing the center of an orange strip to the little orange square (base). Then continue gluing the center of the orange strips making a star shape. While the glue sets for a few minutes, cut small slits along the long side of the green rectangle, then, roll it into a stem so that the slits are on the bottom. Glue the side of the stem together. Hold it tight for a few minutes so that it does not come undone. Sing a song, count to 100, say the alphabet 3 times--then it should be dry enough to stay put. This is also a good time to curl your vines by wrapping the green strips around a pencil.

Starting with the bottom strip, start to glue the ends of the orange strips together making the round shape of the pumpkin. You might need to hold the newly glued pieces and count or sing again. Next, glue the vines on the top of the pumpkin. Fold back the little tabs you cut along the bottom of the stem and add glue to each tab. Carefully glue the stem to your pumpkin.

So cute! We plan to add some faces later. Hope this works for you!