SPRING(ish) THINGS

We have just not been doing much these last few days. The weather has been so unpredictable that I pack sunscreen on the way to the park and end up needing to bundle Eldon up with a winter coat when we get there. I know, this is nothing new. Welcome to "Spring" in Montana which is really just a half winter/half summer instead of a season all it's own. Eldon has been parading around the house in his new rain boots, which is very convenient for when that small burst of sunshine peeks through and we need to run outside and soak it all up before it's gone again and we die from vitamin D deficiency.
We have been killing the time by going craft-crazy and spring cleaning. Eldon is an art fanatic like his Mama. At least once a day he requests his "art stuff" and I am a sucker for holiday crafts. Call it what you want, I am the person everybody loves to hate that fully participates in every "Hallmark Holiday" as well as contributing to the commercialization of the real ones. I have a cookie cutter in every shape known to man and I actually use them. A lot. This last week we have made cookies shaped like eggs, bunnies, dragonflies, butterflies, and flowers in the hopes that Mother Nature might pick up on a not-so-subtle hint for once. (It didn't work, I am pretty sure that more snow is in the forecast for tonight.)

So if anybody is looking for some projects other than coloring eggs this weekend, here are a few that have both suppressed the boredom and served as adorable Spring decor all over our house. The best part? These are all insanely cheap to make.

1. Painted Pots. I grabbed a few of these pots on sale for $1.00 each this winter. I needed a project that would keep Eldon busy while I was busy building in the garage. I just flipped it over on some newspaper, gave him some paints and a brush and let him go to town. I plan on using them for herbs this summer, but for right now we are sporting the ever so classy dollar-store carnations.

2. Handprint Wreath. We have done this for numerous holidays including Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even though I do most of the work, Eldon proudly points any and all visitors in the direction of the finished product so he can show it off.

Here's how we made it...

1. Trace your child's hand onto a piece of card stock to use as a stencil. Cut it out. Stack some construction paper in your desired colors and cut out roughly 20 hands. This works best if you only use all left hand or all right hand.

2. Glue the hands together alternating the colors however you like. It helps to lay them out first.

3. Embellish with whatever you have on hand. We have used buttons, rhinestones, bells, etc. This year we made little eggs by gluing tissue paper pieces to construction paper and then cutting out the egg shape after it dried. Like this:

You will notice that whether you carefully glue every little piece into place (me) or smash fistfulls onto paper (Eldon) it turns out pretty much the same. One reason this is an all age craft.

Last year, I just had Eldon fingerpaint Easter colors all over a piece of paper and I cut out eggs from that. I just happened to have some extra tissue paper this year so we gave this way a try and I like it way better.


3. Frames. We got this kit from the dollar store. It makes three frames. Pretty self explanatory. Eldon glued all of the pieces together while I watched and helped him decide where to put them. And what kid doesn't LOVE glue?

4. Handprints. Easy and as holiday-adaptable as a sugar cookie. I catch Eldon trying to make handprints on his own while he is painting so it is never a struggle to get him to cooperate. If it is a struggle for your kids, do feet instead.

5. Sugar cookies! I didn't take a picture of our finished project but I use this recipe with success.

That's all, I will try to share crafty ideas more often as I learn about them and/or make them up.

Happy Easter Flathead!