P is for Puppet

Wes played with these two little puppets all day. He and John put the monkey puppet together. It was a Martha Stewart puppet kit. The tiger puppet was something he made at nursery school.  He had so much fun with these that I thought I would look for some additional puppet craft ideas.  Look at all I found!

 Web Sites

• LOTS of Puppet Ideas and Printables
• Enchanted Learning - Finger and Paper Bag Puppets
• First School - Paper Bag Puppet Animals
• Artists Helping Children - Puppet Art
• Making Friends - Puppet Making
• Family Fun - Playful Puppets
• Martha Stewart - Sock puppets

Blogs

• Craft Jr. - Giraffe Sock Puppet
• Craft Jr. - Easter Finger Puppets
• Dollar Store Crafts - The Three Little Pigs Finger Puppets
• Oh Amanda - A Puppet-Inspired Birthday Party
• Kid's Crafts Weekly - Puppets
• Pink and Green Mama - Felt Finger Puppets
• Pink and Green Mama - Sponge Bob Square Pants Felt Puppets

How to Make a Puppet from an Old Stuffed Toy

A Holiday-Themed Play Date

This past week my girls invited a couple of friends over for a play date, so we decided that we would plan some fun holiday activities. The first thing the girls did was make Christmas cards. I set out the following supplies for them to use:

• previously used Christmas cards (Each year I save my Christmas cards, so that the kids can use them for crafts. For this particular activity they like to cut out the pictures and glue them on cardstock to make new cards.)
• holiday-shaped foamies
• holiday stickers
• holiday stamps and stamp pads
• ribbon
  
• cardstock
• construction paper
• envelopes (several different sizes)
• pens, markers, and crayons
• scissors and glue

They had so much fun with this that they ended up making a ton of cards. In fact, my girls asked me to keep all of the supplies handy because they wanted to make some more. This would be a great service activity for Girl Scout or Church groups. The cards the children make could be delivered to nursing homes, shelters, or sent to troops abroad.

Next, we baked Reindeer Cookies. I got the idea from National Geographic Little Kids. Here are the original pictures from the magazine:


Cute, huh? They are super easy to make, too. Here are the directions:

1. Roll the cookie dough into egg-shaped balls. Place on baking sheet and flatten.
2. Press two pretzels into the dough as antlers.
3. Bake according to the cookie package directions. Let cool.
4. Cover the top of some cookies with chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella) or peanut butter.
5. Press on two whit baking chips for eyes. In the center of each baking chip, put a dab of peanut butter and place a mini chocolate chip on top.
6. Add a candy nose - red for Rudolph - and enjoy.

The girls (and Wes) had a ton of fun with these and, of course, they enjoyed eating them.


The finished product:

Yum!

Screaming with delight!

Gracen sports a milk mustache!

Lastly, the girls set up a little toy shop and pretended to Christmas shop. They took turns being the shopkeeper and the customers. They used the following props:

• Recycled shopping and gift bags
• toy cash register with play money
• toy phone
• items to "buy" (They used small toys - stuffed animals, small horse figurines, Littlest Pet Shop animals, etc.)
• notepad
• pens

They all liked being the shopkeeper the best because they liked using this fun cash register.


If you think your child would like one of these cash registers, come back for Friday's Gracioius Giveaways because I will be hosting a giveaway(sponsored by CSN Stores) for one.

Itty-Bitty Artists Play Group: Our First Meeting

*If you missed the first Itty-Bitty Artists post, go here.

Wednesday will be the first meeting of our Itty-Bitty Artists play group. I have collected the surveys that I sent out last week and have compiled the info into a little booklet that I will give each family. My idea is that if/when another family hosts the play group, they will have all of the information they need.


As I mentioned, I will be using First Art : Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos as a planning resource. Some of the first activities in the book are fingerpainting, so I thought we would start with these. To begin, we will set out fingerpaint paper and an assortment of colors of fingerpaint and let the children experiment. Then, we will try the following fingerpainting idea, also from Mary Ann Kohl:

• Spread fingerpaint on a cookie sheet.
  
• Fingerpaint in the paint with fingers, hands, and tools. The tools we will use are toothbrushes, plastic combs, and small toy cars. We may add some additional items, depending on what I find around the house.
• Press a paper over the design.
• Lift the paper to see the print that was made.
• Fingerpaint a new design in the paint.
• Make additional prints.

I found this idea in a printable collection of Mary Ann's Favorite Process Art Ideas. You can download the booklet here.

Check back next week for pictures of the finished products, as well as more ideas.

Got to Love Kindergarten Art!

Fancy Nancy and a Friendly Pig

Artwork by "Fancy Nancy", age 6, friend to all pigs everywhere

Gifts for Teachers

I have been trying to think about what to get for my children's teachers this year. Having been a teacher, I know that I do not want to get them another coffee cup or teacher themed collectible. However, not knowing all of them on a personal level makes it difficult to shop and choose something for them. Having three children, who each have at least 1 teacher, makes it expensive, as well. Therefore, this year, I decided that my children and I would make their teacher's presents.

I wanted to make our teachers something unique and special, so I went to Martha Stewart for ideas. Of course, she had tons of cute ideas for homemade holiday gifts. Here are the ones we will be making:

















Velvet Ribbon Belts

Tea Cup Candles




















Bath Salts

So, what are you giving your children's teachers this year? Leave me a comment with your ideas or links.


Read Inch by Inch!

Love This Artist

Rashmi from A Book Blogger's Diary is the winner of this beautiful notebook.
Thank You, Cris!

Mary Goes With Her Stuff is a new Etsy store owned by Cris, a wife and mother who loves to create. Her store currently contains her notebooks, which she sews by hand and covers in beautiful fabric.

Cris is inspired by her beautiful daughter, Mari. In fact, she credits the birth of her daughter with releasing her "inner child". She says she now feels "alive and free" and this is also a great inspiration to her.

In addition to making notebooks and mini-albums, Cris enjoys scrapbooking and has recently taken up sewing. *Check out this adorable skirt (middle of page) she made for Mari. Too cute! I hope to see some of her sewing creations in her store one day.
*Love the playlist on her site, as well!

For this giveaway, Cris is offering one lucky winner this beautiful, hand-crafted notebook. It contains 100 pages, which were sewn in by hand. It has 5 dividers and is perfect for journaling or collecting recipes. I love the Japanese-style fabric!

To enter: Visit Mary Goes with Her Stuff. Then come back and tell us which of her notebooks contains small retro illustrations of women and children. For extra entries: Post a blurb about this contest and link to it, join my group of readers, post my button on your site. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

Take the Pledge

As you may have guessed (from all of my Etsy giveaways), I love handmade items. I love them for many reasons:

• They are usually better quality than mass produced items.
• They are made with love. Crafters love what they do, and it shows!
• They are original.
• When you buy handmade items you are supporting individuals, rather than big chain stores.

So, I have made the pledge to buy handmade gifts this holiday season. Go here to learn more or to join me in support of artists and crafters everywhere!

Paper Towel Tubes, Construction Paper, and a Little Imagination

My oldest daughter, Sam, is completely, 100% obsessed with horses. She likes to ride them, read books about them, draw them, and dream about them. This obsession began when she was 4 years old. We thought that it would fade with time, and she would find something else to "love". However, we were completely wrong. In fact, her love has only grown stronger.

Lately, she has been playing with 2 small stuffed horses. She walks them, feeds them, and grooms them. A couple of days ago, she decided that they needed a stable, food, etc. So, using her imagination, paper towel tubes, construction paper, and glue Sam created them. I have to say, as a mother and teacher, I was quite proud. Her creation was so inventive and all her own. This project has inspired me to start a "Recycle Box" for things that can be used for arts and crafts. I plan to collect things
like:

• toilet paper and paper towel tubes
• scrap paper
• lids from yogurt and butter containers
• cereal boxes
• junk mail and store circulars
• promotional or scratched CDs
• lids to water and soda bottles
• water bottles
• egg cartons

This is just a small sample of ideas. The list is endless! Check out these sites for some good "Trash to Treasure" ideas.

• Martha Stewart for Kids
• Trash to Treasure, Creative Re-use Center
• Artists Helping Children

Just think, not only will you be inviting your children to be creative, you will also be teaching them an important lesson about recycling. So, go get a box and start collecting. Once your children have created something unique send me your photos and I will display them next to "Thunderbolt's Stable". If you have any fun ideas incorporating recyclables leave them for us in the comments section.

Until next time, remember:

Read Inch by Inch!