Puzzle Piece Ornament: Kids Catching Snowflakes

I love crafting with puzzle pieces. Thanks to the horrible puzzle company that shall not be named, I have a lifetime supply. I used two to make this pair of ornaments.  

Puzzle Piece Ornaments: Kids Catching Snowflakes

Materials: 

• puzzle pieces (needs to have three or four outies) 
• fine-grit sandpaper 
• paint (skin tone of your choice)
• Sharpies (black and red)
• felt
• glitter pom poms
• metallic cord
• craft glue
• snowflake sequins
• yarn (hair color of your choice)
• Stickles

Steps: 

Prepare the puzzle pieces by gently sanding them to remove the glossy finish. (Skip this step if you are using puzzle pieces made specifically for crafting.) Paint each piece with your desired skin tone. 

When the paint is dry, use a red Sharpie to color in the tongue. 

With a black Sharpie, color the open mouth above the tongue. You can draw the rest of the face now (eyes and nose) or wait until later. Glue a snowflake to the end of the tongue.

Make the hats from felt. I used a contrasting color for the band. Glue the two parts together, then glue them to the puzzle pieces. Add a piece of metallic cord for the ornament hanger.  

Cut lengths of yarn to make the hair. Leave it as is, or untwist it to get wavy hair. Glue it in place. Obviously, you can change the hair color and length, style it differently (ponytails or braids would be cute), or leave it off entirely. 

Decorate with Stickles. I put silver dots on the girl's hat and green dots for her earrings. I left the boy undecorated. Finally, glue the glitter pom pom to the hat. 

Only 46 days until Christmas! 

Paddle Spoon Reindeer Ornament

This is my latest homemade ornament, which I'm calling a Paddle Spoon Reindeer because "paddle spoon" is the search term that finally worked when I tried to figure out what to call the mini wavy craft stick that makes up the reindeer's face. It's hanging right by my Diamond Dotz Joy ornament. Slowly but surely, the homemade ornaments are crowding out the store-bought ones on the tree (as it should be). Affiliate links below.    

Paddle Spoon Reindeer Ornament

Materials:

• paddle spoon (or, as I like to call it, mini wavy craft stick)
• Folk Art brown paint
• craft foam (brown and green)
• microtip scissors
• craft glue
• sparkly red mini pom pom
• googly eyes
• tiny bell
• ribbon

Steps: 

Paint the paddle spoon brown and set it aside. Cut the brown craft foam to make a pair of antlers, then cut the green craft foam to make two teeny holly leaves. Cut a length of ribbon to make the hanger.

Glue the antlers behind the paddle spoon, then glue the eyes, pom pom, holly leaves, and bell in place. When those are dry, glue the ribbon hanger to the back. 

Pipe Cleaner Wreath Ornament

If you're not familiar with Red Ted Art, it's well-worth checking out. While I don't personally know Maggy, I've admired her kid-friendly crafts for years. Today's project is inspired by Maggy's Easy Yarn Wreath Ornament. I was curious to see what would happen if I switched out the yarn for pipe cleaners. I love the result! Affiliate links below.

Pipe Cleaner Wreath Ornament

Materials:

• chipboard
• scissors
• pipe cleaners
• wire snips (oooh, glittery!)
• mini pom poms
• Supertite glue
• monofilament cord

Steps:

Trace a 3" circle with a 2" inner circle on chipboard. Cut out the pieces to make the base of your wreath.

Snip a green pipe cleaner in half and set one piece aside. Fold the other piece in half, and hold it behind the base with the folded end pointing toward the outside of the wreath. Bend the two ends up and over the base, then thread them through the folded end. Pull tight. 

Continue adding pipe cleaner halves until the whole base is covered. 

Give the pipe cleaners a trim so that all the ends are even.

Bend the outer portions of the pipe cleaners to the left to mimic the way a real wreath is assembled. 

Cut a length of monofilament and tie it around the wreath to make a hanger. 

Take a red pipe cleaner (don't snip it in half like the green ones) and twist it to form a bow shape. Glue it to the wreath, covering the monofilament hanger. Add colorful pom poms to the wreath, including a red one in the center of the bow. 

Hang your finished wreath on the tree, use it as a gift topper, or slide it down the neck of a wine (or sparkling cider) bottle for a fabulous hostess gift!

Cardboard Tube Reindeer Gift Packaging

When you're a craft blogger, literally everything is a potential craft supply. Even the cut-off sleeves from a reindeer costume. In this case, those sleeves became gift wrap that looks like a reindeer and hides fun surprises inside. Affiliate links below.

Cardboard Tube Reindeer Gift Packaging

Materials:

• sleeve from an XL brown t-shirt
• cardboard tube
• scissors
• washi tape, candy, and other small gifts or toys
• brown pipe cleaners
• googly eyes
• red pom pom
• Supertite glue

Steps:

Cut the sleeve into two pieces. Set the piece without the seam aside and cut the seamed piece into half. 

Gather holiday washi tapes, candies, and other small gifts. Test that everything fits into the cardboard tube. 

Wrap the non-seam piece tightly around the cardboard tube. Stuff the excess material into the tube on both ends. This will secure the fabric in place. No glue needed!

Wad the two extra piece of sleeve material into the two ends of the tube. This prevents the items from falling out. Cut roughly 1/3 off each pipe cleaner. Take that cut piece and twist it around the larger piece to form 3-pronged antlers. Slide the antlers into the tube. Still no glue needed. The material will hold it in place. 

Stand the reindeer upright. Use the Supertite to glue googly eyes and a pom pom nose to the reindeer. Now nestle the reindeer among the other gifts under the tree.

Quick and easy, and so super cute!

Two-in-One: Cardboard Tube Bear or Dog

My latest cardboard tube project is a bear:

Or a dog. It's the same tube. I just changed out the ears.

Materials: cardboard tube, paint (dark brown, white), scissors, craft glue, googly eyes, black mini pom pom

Paint the cardboard tube dark brown. Add a drop of white paint to the brush and wipe it on the inside of the tube until no more comes off. This will be the muzzle and tummy. When the paint is dry, cut one of the halves open.

Use that open piece to cut the muzzle and tummy from the light brown interior. Use the dark brown part to make rounded ears for the bear, or pointy ears for the dog. Cut a slit halfway up the center of each ear. Slide the ears of choice onto the edge of the tube.

Glue the muzzle and tummy in place, securing them with a rubber band until the paint is dry. Add the googly eyes and pom pom nose. Done!

Build Your Own Catapult

My next Little Passports writing assignment was about homemade catapults. Right up Trevor's alley!

Materials: 

plastic spoon, tongue depressor, cork, 2 rubber bands and pom poms

Use the rubber bands to connect the spoon to the tongue depressor. Slide the cork under the neck of the spoon. Put a pom pom in the bowl of the spoon and you're ready to go!

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some important safety considerations. Never point a catapult at people or animals. Launch soft items, such as pom poms, cotton balls, or marshmallows. Choose a clear area, such as the backyard, where nothing will be broken or damaged. 

Trevor experimented with several different methods of launching pom poms, starting with the catapult on the ground. 

He discovered he improved his accuracy by holding the catapult upright. 

There are so many ways to use this catapult for family fun! Set up hoops or buckets with points for each pom pom that lands inside. Use the catapult and pom poms in place of bocce balls. Draw chalk targets on the garage door and try to storm the castle. What other games can you dream up?

Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil

Who loves Eric Carle? Everyone, that's who! I love all of his books, but like most people, my favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In fact, that was the theme for Trevor's 1st birthday party! I had so much fun designing and making the cake way back when. This Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil would have been such a fun party favor. Too bad I thought of it nine years too late.

 

The inspiration for this project came from Easy Foam Crafts (affiliate link here and below). The project in the book is the Inch Worm Pencil. I made a few tweaks to the directions to turn it into a Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil.

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Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil

Materials: 

• pencil 
• craft foam (green, yellow, purple)
• red pom pom 
• scissors
• hole punch
• hot glue

Steps: 

Begin by cutting the green foam into a long, narrow strip. Mine is around 9" x 1", but it's certainly not exact. Round off the corners, then use the hole punch (I used my Crop-a-Dile) to punch holes. Once again, it's obvious I didn't measure. Close enough! Cut the green scraps to make a roughly gumdrop-shaped nose and two oval inner eyes. Cut two oval outer eyes from yellow, then two antenna from purple.

Thread the green body piece onto the pencil, leaving the writing end free. 

Fold the end of the body over and glue it to the top of the pencil. (Skip this step if you want the eraser to be accessible. I used a color pencil without an eraser.) Glue the head in place. Add the eyes, nose and antenna.

I'm really happy with how my caterpillar looks. I might need to make some foam foods for him to enjoy....

Spider Napkin Ring and a Fair Wrap-Up

Yesterday I shared the spider-themed tablesetting that Trevor entered at the county fair.  His napkin ring was my favorite part.  I had absolutely nothing to do with making it, other than cutting the cardboard tube, then plugging in the glue gun and monitoring its use.  The design and implementation is 100% Trevor.

Materials: empty cardboard tube, black paint, 2 brown pipe cleaners, black pom pom, brown pom pom, 2 black seed beads, scissors, hot glue gun, and craft glue.

Begin by cutting about 2 inches off of a cardboard tube.  Paint it black and let it dry. Meanwhile, bend one pipe cleaner into something that looks approximately like this:

Bend the other one in mirror image.  Heat up the glue gun.  Line up the two pom poms and two pipe cleaners like in the photo and glue them together, then glue the whole thing to the napkin ring.  Use craft glue to attach the seed beads.  Done!

We did a lot more than just Trevor's tablesetting contest while we were at the fair.  Top priority though was seeing how his other entries did.  Here's his entry in the poster contest.  First place!

The Pinewood Derby cars aren't judged in the 5-8 year old category.  They just receive a participation ribbon.... unless they are selected as Judge's Favorite!

You can see a much better photo of Trevor's "Toothless" car here.

Trevor was thrilled with his Judge's Favorite, first, and third places.  A very fine showing, indeed!  He's entered the bulk of his art and craft projects in our local county fair, which isn't until August.  So expect another fair wrap-up in about 7 weeks!

Puzzle Piece Reindeer

Last Christmas, I bought Trevor a "Can You See What I See?" puzzle. He loves Walter Wick's books (affiliate link here and below) and he loves puzzles, so he was really excited when he unwrapped it. When he dumped out the pieces, we were both shocked by what we saw. Dozens of bent pieces. Many pieces with the picture de-laminated from the back. Pieces that looked like they'd been stepped on.

This was not a cheap dollar store puzzle. It was not a thrift store find. This was a brand-new, perfectly packaged $10.99 puzzle. This was a puzzle that should have lasted for decades. Instead, it was utter garbage.

I immediately contacted the manufacturer, an American company who I won't name (though I will say it begins with a C, so that no one mistakenly thinks I'm referring to any of the many awesome puzzle manufacturers). They offered to replace the puzzle. And then I didn't hear anything for over a month. I contacted them again. After 8 more weeks, the new package arrived. We opened it... um, wow. Instead of a 300 piece "Can You See What I See?" puzzle, Trevor received a 150 piece puzzle with pastel cats on it.  

Now, I'm sure there are school-age boys who like pastel cats, but Trevor isn't one of them. I called the company again and demanded a refund. They ignored me. I called, emailed, and mailed a copy of my email to their office. At that point, they told me that they only do wholesale, so they can't issue refunds. The store where I bought it wouldn't do a refund either. Eventually (when they realized I wasn't giving up), the company offered a replacement puzzle. Again. In May, 5 months after Trevor had opened his Christmas gift, he was finally able to do the puzzle I'd bought him.

So what's my point? Well, when I finally received a satisfactory replacement puzzle, the company told me to keep the damaged puzzle. I weeded out the 80+ pieces that were completely mauled and put the remaining ones into a Christmas tub so that we could use them for crafting. Today I'm sharing our first puzzle piece craft. 

Puzzle Piece Reindeer

Materials 

• three puzzle pieces (one border with three outies, two centers with four outies each) 
• fine-grit sandpaper 
• brown paint
• craft glue
• googly eyes
• red pom pom
• red cord

Steps: 

Sand the front of each piece to remove the shiny gloss. The piece on the left has not been sanded; the one on the right is perfect.

 

Paint the pieces brown and let them dry. It will probably take two coats. Glue the border piece on top of the two inner pieces.  

 

Add googly eyes and a pom pom nose. Glue the cord in the back between the two antler pieces.

 

Here it is, hanging on the tree.

 

I love our finished reindeer. At least some good came from one of the worst customer service experiences of my life!