Search results matching tags 'christmas' and 'crafts'

Tis the Season to be Crafty

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 16:03:00 GMT

This Christmas season has been very tight for me with money, so I decided to look into some lovely craft ideas on Pinterest that would save me money, but also let me give to all my friends, family, co-workers, and loved ones. I found this one pin, and I fell in love! I also thought of a few ideas (although not original), still classic!

My three ideas I used for Christmas gifts were DIY coasters, black chalkboard wine glasses, and personalized ornaments.
Here are some pictures of the coasters I made...

Here are all the supplies that you need for the coasters:

4 x 4 white tiles (I got mine from Home Depot, and they were less than 50 cents each!)
napkins with your favorite design (or you can print out pictures, but the napkins work best)
mod podge
cork board (I bought a roll that had a sticky side.. if you buy this, you don't need a glue gun)
acrylic sealer
glue gun
sponge brush

STEPS:
1. The first thing I did was cut out the napkin to match with the tiles, and cut out the corkboard to match the tiles as well. Make sure you cut them a little bit smaller than the actual tiles.

2. After, you layer a coat of the modge podge over the ceramic tile(s) and place the napkin/picture directly over the tile. Let dry for 5-10 minutes.

3. Then I proceeded to cover the picture/tile with another layer of modge podge (as shown below) it will show up as a white coating, but then dry perfectly like in the second picture :) The drying time varies on how much modge podge you use, but I believe it took around 30-45 minutes to fully dry.

4. I put the finishing touches by water proofing the coasters with an acrylic seal. I let them sit overnight to FULLY dry, and then they are ready to go! :)

Here is a picture of the black chalkboard paint from Walmart.. It was priced at 4 dollars I believe? Perfect for wood, glass, ceramic, and other material. I used the chalkboard paint on wine glasses, mugs, and wooden signs for Christmas. We are all teachers, and can appreciate a little creativity :)

Here are some of the ornaments that I bought from AC Moore, and personalized with a felt tip marker (or sharpie). I made sure that they were each neat and clean... 2 ornaments were not neat enough for me and I did have to throw 2 away because they weren't neat enough ;) but that's just me!! And they make beautiful, special gifts!

I hope you enjoyed my crafts!! Let me know what you think, and of course, let me know if you have any questions!

Gift swap

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:47:00 GMT

I was so excited to gift swap with my bestest blogging buddy, Sara, aka Miss V, from Miss V's Busy Bees :) Not because we had to or linked up with anyone, but just because she has been an incredible person to blog with and become close with. I reaaally hope she likes her gifts, because she deserves them and all the more.
I am waiting to open her card on Christmas day, but I could not wait to open her presents.. I was too excited!! Her and her boyfriend Cody actually gave Mike and I a present too, which was SO completely thoughtful... here is the ornament that has our names on it XOXO It is so amazing and my favorite ornament on my tree.

She also got me a way too generous gift card to Michaels (which is one of my all time favorite stores - I can buy things for school there and for myself and my house). It's perfect!!! Sara also got me adorable Christmas stickers, 2 snowmen stockings (they are my favorite.. and penguins!), and the cutest reindeer ornament!!

Sara also got me these adorable smelly markers!! I am SO excited to use these because honestly, I live for the scented stamp pads and smelly stickers.. my kids love them too. So perfect and I will be using these so much!! All different scents like cherry, peppermint, strawberry, etc.

Here's my tree with my new, beautiful ornaments up, and with all my love's presents underneath... cannot wait to give them to him!! XOXO And over in the corner in that white bag are my uggs that he bought me this year...eeee I never would have gotten these myself because of the money, but I will wear them forever and ever!!

My coworkers were so generous to me too. Karen had this adorable idea that I saw on pinterest before, where it says "pop, pop, fizz, fizz, you're the best teacher that there is" with a bag of popcorn and a can of soda!

And my lady Heather got one of the most unique and wonderful presents I have ever gotten in my life... it is called a "Diamond Candle" (as seen on tv) and you light a soy candle, and inside the wax is a ring worth anywhere between $10 to $5,000. Most of the rings are worth $10, but what an extremely exciting and beautiful gift!! It is lit as we speak.. if you would like more details on this fabulous gift go to www.diamondcandles.com it talks about the prices, scents, FAQ like ring sizes and quality. Amazing and any one would be lucky to receive one of these as a gift!

My presents for my kids... goodie bags filled with erasers, candy, pencils, bouncy balls, and more, and these shirts with their pictures on them. Vistaprint groupon, oh yeah!

I will leave you with this.... this picture below and tons more were the many gifts I was able to get my Adopt a Family. Walter and Kathy will have the most beautiful Christmas, thanks to you. I went yesterday with a full car load of food, presents and clothing for my two lovely angels - Kathy, a single mom fighting *** cancer with little to no money, and Walter, a 16 year old boy with autism who wants more than ever to get presents this Christmas. Kathy's face was priceless bringing in the boxes and boxes of wrapped goodies. XOXO I cannot tell you what this means to me, and their family. Thank you SO much for all your help.. no donation is ever too small, and it really made a huge difference. My heart is full from this and it reminds me that kindness to others, and helping out people that need happiness in their lives, is EVERYTHING. It has made my Christmas

I wish you all a happy holiday... I will be blogging again soon before Christmas!!
XOXO

The Gingerbread Man

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:30:00 GMT

The Gingerbread Man is a theme I do for a week. We read different versions and talk about the differences. We also talk about how we, as authors, would change the ending. Check out our fun Friday craft that we did last week! I think they turned out great!

To print off a free copy of the Gingerbread Man tracers, click below!

We only have 2 more days until Christmas break! When do you or did you get out for the Holidays? Have a great break and take some time to relax!

-Shelley

Gingerbread houses & Parent gifts

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 03:06:00 GMT

Hello my fellow teachers XOXO I hope this blog post finds you happy, safe, and healthy. Tis the season, right? My heart will not rest easy for a while with the tragedy of so many innocent children and adults, but I am doing my best to stay in the Christmas spirit for my students, Mike, and my friends and family.. I am so lucky to have them and I would give them the world if I could..

So, my kids and I made Gingerbread houses last week :) They came out cute, but they were not as easy as we all thought they would be! Of course, we knew it would be messy, but our roofs and walls were caving in like crazy ;)

Their final products were so cute!! We made not only gingerbread (well, really graham ***) houses, but also apartments, apartment complexes, garages, and even tents ;)

I also made a gingerbread house at my apartment :) I never have the time (or the patience sometimes) but I always manage to do one... last year Mike and I did a train, it was adorable.

This year, I wanted to do something special for my kids to give to their parents for Christmas. I found canvas's on sale at Michaels, and I thought it would be the most perfect gift - a beautiful painting for their families! They were on sale for an even better price, but the cashier did not catch that and I did pay regular price :( But I think I might have had a coupon that day, so I wasn't too unhappy! Us teachers really have to be careful with our money, our budget is not big!

Here are how some of them came out :) We have a couple redo's (even with a first draft copy on regular paper) but I am glad that my fourth graders were finally like "YES, this is perfect and I am proud of it"

I also wanted to show you the gift I gave one of my parents who works and does a lot for me and the school I work at. She really does, so I wanted to know she was appreciated.. I had a groupon for it, and it's called Corso's Cookies :)

One of the students that I tutor (Kyle) he is in 8th grade now, and he made me the coolest thing in his technology class.... it's a homemade gumball machine! My kiddos went crazy over it when I bought some Christmas gumballs to start it off :) How clever and thoughtful.. esp. because he MADE it!!

I am so full of pictures I guess.. I will leave you with my door crafts that I used during the Christmas season... the ADORABLE penguins can be found HERE from Amy Lemons herself. She has such cute products!!! My kids even named their Penguins (I like "Pablo the Penguin" haha)
Also, the Gingerbread men saying that was on the door was made up by one of my students.

They are so creative!

Homemade Ornaments to Match Our Winter Poetry!

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 02:14:00 GMT

I love doing this activity with my students. The beauty of this lesson is that you can assess students on use of vivid language but on their appropriate levels! So, this fun and festive assignment is great for a variety of ages!

Should you be hunting a writing activity to go along with the Christmas or "Winter" season, this is a great one!!

You'll find guidelines, suggestions, a grading rubric, a pre-writing template, and a rough draft handout to help guide the students through the very important writing process!

Pre-writing Handout!
What I hear, see, etc...

The focus is on writing, obviously, so an ornament is included in activity only to serve as a visual supplement. So, the ornament creations are left entirely up to the students -HOWEVER they choose to make them should be JUST PERFECT.

Grading Rubric &
Rough Draft Handout

Eliminating any limitations leaves the doors wide open for creativity and imagination, encouraging students to utilize available materials they have at home. I discourage store bought items in order to cater to student imagination and it helps with those who are unable to go buy materials to make ornaments. The purpose of the added craft is to create a visual supplement that is totally homemade by gathering items lying around the house...the result being a creation representative of the child's Christmas/Winter term assigned!

Guidelines/Suggestions

A super festive idea is to string some colored lights across the top of the dry erase board, a tree, or just across your classroom wall, hanging the ornaments on the lights (or hang them on fishing line if you are afraid to hang them from light strands... lol).

Poof! Automatic Christmas/Winter display, student work display, and festive fun all crated by the students...no work on your part!

In addition to the ornaments on display, you can put their poems up too, under the lights/ornaments or on wall around a tree, depending on which way you'd like to display it all!

Oh, just a little tidbit...I use the terms "Christmas" and "Winter" because many students in my classes over the years have been Jewish, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. and I do not at all choose to single anyone out--so if I tend to refer to this activity as our "Winter Season Poetry" assignment sometimes too!

---AFTER ALL, the purpose is to write a poem about an assigned word, stay on topic, and dazzle the reader with vivid language in connections with an assigned term. And, the visual display (craft) is supposed to represent the student's term! So, it hardly has to be dedicated solely to Christmas, which allows us all to take part in the fun writing/craft activity! You can find this item in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or in my Teachers Notebook Shop! (Those links are on the top right of blog--or click images to go straight to the TPT product!)

I ASK YOU...

What do you incorporate as seasonal fun into your lessons?
Please share some ideas below!! Who knows, if enough ideas are out there, we could keep the kids involved in seasonal fun until we are on Winter Break!

Happy Writing,

10 Easy Gifts Kids Can Make For Christmas (or Hanukkah)!

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

The holiday season has arrived. Parents and teachers everywhere are frantically searching the internet (especially Pinterest!) for fun and easy gift ideas that kids can make for little to no money. Today I'm sharing ten easy ideas that kids can make as simple gifts for the adults in their lives.

1. Cheerio Wreath
Simply thread Cheerios or any other "O" shaped cereal onto a glittery pipe cleaner and twist into a wreath shape. Easy for even the youngest tots, and great fine motor practice is the bonus!

2. Gift Box with Poem
Have your child wrap a small gift box and attach the poem below. One year we wrapped the small pieces of foam left underneath the furniture by the carpet cleaners! It really doesn't matter, since the present is intended to stay unopened. Also a great fine motor exercise for little hands!

I took an ordinary box

As empty as can be I filled it with a special gift

And wrapped it carefully

But please don't ever open it

Just leave the ribbon tied

And hold it tightly near your heart

Because my love for you is inside

3. Footprint Christmas Tree
Paint the child's foot green and print on cardstock. After it dries, add sequins or glitter to embellish. Print the child's name and date and laminate to help preserve the memory longer! If you like, you can add a poem on the back.

4. Handprint Snowmen Ornament
Paint the child's hand and place a solid colored glass ornament in their hand , fingers pointing upwards. After the handprint dries, add details to the snowmen and write the child's name and year on the back with a permanent or paint marker.

5. Recycled CD Snowman Ornament
This one is so easy! Have the kids paint an old cd with white paint. Add googly eyes, sequins, pom poms or paint embellishments to make the snowman's face. Glue a hat shape cut from craft foam to the top!

6. Model Magic Magnet or Ornament
I just LOVE Crayola Model Magic! It is so easy for kids to work with and is a great sensory experience for the kids! Younger kids can use cookie cutters to form a shape, older kids may choose to make their own free form shape. Another great feature of the Model Magic is that you can let the piece dry before painting OR you can paint right away! Either way works!!! Just about any paint will work, from craft paint to tempra to watercolors. The watercolors dry and look quite lovely! Let dry overnight. Add a sturdy stick on magnet to the back or poke a hole with the end of a paintbrush to thread a loop of ribbon.

7. Musical Angel Ornament
I worked at a Christian preschool for several years and made quite a variety of angels over the years, but these Musical Angels that our afterschool kids made these this year to hang on our tree in the lobby is definitely one of my favorites! They photocopied sheet music their favorite Christmas Carols onto cardstock and cut out a large circle. they cut away a slice (about 1/4 of the circle) and folded into a cone shape and stapled it together. They added a small jingle bell to one end of a glittery pipe cleaner and threaded the other end up through the top of the cone. They added a wooden bead onto the pipe cleaner, then folded the rest of the pipe cleaner into a small halo. Any extra length was fashioned into an ornament hanger. They drew a few cute, simple facial features onto the bead. The final touch was adding a bit of paper doily to fashion some wings. These are so cute and really easy ---this would make a perfect gift for any music lover!

8. Cute As A Button Christmas Tree Ornament
One of our toddler classes have been making these this week. They took 3 green craft sticks (plain sticks can be easily colored with markers or paint) and glued together in a triangle shape. The tots glued on a few buttons and added "Cute As A Button" on the bottom with permanent marker. Each child's picture was glued to the back, facing outward through the tree shape. Simply, well, cute as a button!

9. Reindeer Puzzle Piece Ornament
I've seen oodles of ornaments and frames made with puzzle pieces over the years, but this one is just so simple that one of our toddler classes made them and they turned out beautifully! They glued 3 puzzle pieces together--one for the head and two for the antlers. They painted the "wrong" side with brown paint and added googly eyes and red glitter nose for the reindeer face. Add a little ribbon to hang with and this ornament is ready to hang!

10. Santa Suit Votive Candle
I saw this on Pinterest this year and thought we would try this as our parent gift this year. I often teach siblings of kids from previous years, and I like to have the kids make something different than what a sibling made for the parent before. We took some small jelly jars and covered the outside by gluing red tissue paper to it. After that dried, we added a strip of black paper around the middle of the jar for Santa's belt. On the front of the jar, right in the middle of the black band, we added an open square of gold glitter to make the belt buckle. When everything is dry, either coat with another layer of glue, or spray with clear sealant. Add a small tealight candle inside to make this cute little votive a perfect holiday decoration!

(Ooops! Experiencing minor technical difficulties. Check back tomorrow for a picture of the finished votive. )

As I mentioned in a couple of the ideas, don't forget to add the child's name and date to each gift. They will surely be treasured for many years to come! It is almost time for me to take out our family holiday decorations, and I will probably have several little "moments" reliving the joy as I unpack each handmade ornament or decoration my own kids have made over the years. I'm a bit sad that they have now reached the age where they are no longer making their gifts for me. Cherish those sweet moments and the treasures they share, made by their little hands. The time goes quick---trust me, I know first hand how fast they grow up!

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook!

The Nativity and a Christmas Symbol Story

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:27:00 GMT

This time of year, our family focuses on the true meaning of Christmas which is the birth of Jesus Christ. We enjoy reading from the Old Testament in Matthew, Luke and John about His birth. We like to make homemade gifts including Santa's Symbol Story and talk about the meaning of the symbols.

SANTA'S SYMBOL STORY is found in this FREE PRINTABLE.

The meaning of the symbols:

Tree: The stately evergreen with its unchanging color represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus.
Star: The star was Heavenly Father's sign of promise.
Red Ornament: Red is the special color of Christmas because it reminds us of the blood that was shed by our Savior so that we could all gain Eternal Life, which is the greatest gift Heavenly Father can give us.
Bell: Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold.
Candle: The candle was used in old days to light the way so people could see where they were going. Jesus came into our world and taught that He is the Light of the World.
Present: The gifts at Christmas symbolize the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the Wise Men. Christ gave us the greatest gifts of all - the atonement and Eternal Life.
Candy Cane: The shape "J" represents the precious name of Jesus. It represents the crook of the Good Shepherd which He uses to reach down and lift out the fallen lambs who have gone astray.
Wreath: The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understands - a circle without beginning and without end.

We have made gifts of the Santa's Symbol Story by printing it on pretty Christmas paper and putting miniature symbols in a decorated sack. This is usually combined with a loaf of Pumpkin Bread or Little Red Hen Christmas Cookies or maybe some hot cocoa and a relaxing visit with friends. During this time of year we prefer Acts of Random Kindness rather than joining the crazy exhausting shopping sprees.

My daughter likes to make candy cane ornaments using red and white beads on a pipe cleaner. These are pretty tied to a loaf of pumpkin bread.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen my favorite Christmas song: "What Child is This" sung by Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Bling:

I'm excited to be a part of 28 bloggers taking part in the FOCUS ON THE NATIVITY event:

The Imagination Tree Living Montessori Now Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers My Nearest And Dearest Life At The Zoo Creative Connection for Kids This Reading Mama Adventures in Mommydom Train up A Child Rainy Day Mum 3 Dinosaurs Crafty Mom Share The Magic Of Play Sun Hats and Wellieboots The Fairy and The Frog Housing a Forest The Iowa Farmers Wife Preschool Book Club Craft To Art The Golden Gleam Here Come The Girls Mamas Like Me In Lieu Of Preschool Kids Creative Chaos My Small Potatoes Love Play And Learn Kids World Citizen Se7en

Do YOU have a post you have written about any aspect of the Nativity story? It could be an activity, a play, puppet show, storytelling, lesson idea etc. Link it below so we can all find you too!

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Would you like a glimpse into Kindergarten or ways to save your sanity with preschoolers? The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn. Both have been number 1 bestsellers on Amazon and make helpful gifts for parents and teachers.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Almost Thanksgiving!

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 23:27:00 GMT

So excited for our mini break of Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday :) I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with my family.. I love going over to my parents and eating their amazing cooking (my favorite is the stuffing.. it's out of this world, and I wish I was the only one who felt this way so I could have seconds and thirds :P) Mike and I will also be venturing to his mom's house as well.. it should be a great day!

How will you be spending your Thanksgiving? I hope everyone spends their day with a nice meal, and even if you don't have family around, just spending it with people you care about - that's the most important! I will also be loving the fact that me and my BFF will be going Black Friday shopping aaaand my parents got me tickets to see Wicked! Yay, bonus!! :) I have been wanting to this for a very long time! Anyone went to see it? Loved it? Liked it? Didn't care for it? What about Black Friday deals?! Anything good??

Here are some read alouds and a couple chapter books that my kids read by themselves and to the younger students of the school.. My great friend Tara taught me the trick to request all the books I need online at the library, and go to pick them up! It's that simple, and spreads the literacy in my classroom. Thank you again, Mrs. Leander :)

We had Literacy Day at our school today, and we wore the shirts that we made (the iron-on sand paper shirts!) See the post here for the cute designs the kids came up with!) Below is the design I came up with. It was inspired by the 3am Teacher but she does waay better art than me ;)

Speaking of OWLS, check out my cute new lunch box from Thirty-one!! Love it!! I had a great time hosting my Thirty-one party, and received some free gifts for myself and for my family for Christmas, so it was very worth it.... hmm.. I think I want to host another one maybe after the holidays or towards Spring time with all my friend K-2 is Splendid and Love for Early Learners! What do you gals think? :)

Ok, back to Literacy Day!
We made Stone Soup with Heather's class.. what a lovely idea from her! The kids loved it and were really engaged with the story and making the actual soup. We had some local celebrities come to read stories to the children as well which they loved. It really was a good day, but I am EXHAUSTED. We also had milk and cookies... yum and yes, I ate them too. Of course!

Christmas is quickly approaching and okay yes, I am one of "those people" that just put their tree up before Thanksgiving!! I couldn't help it.. I actually had time this weekend, and I decided I might as well get started because with lesson planning and getting things ready, I never have time for any of that fun stuff.

Christmas comes and goes so quickly as it is, and I wanted to make sure I could really enjoy it this year. Still extremely tight on money, but I don't mind working extra hard to make a little more so I can give great presents for the holidays. My parents are so wonderful and caring and don't want me to spend a lot of money on them, so I have also been crafting :) and coming up with amazing ideas!! I sooooo wish I could show you now, but I will have to wait until AFTER the holidays so I do not spoil any of the surprises. But I will be most definitely putting up my craft finds on here and Pinterest as SOON as Christmas is over!

We have a beautiful new Christmas tree this year, thanks to Jocelyn and Skyler! :)

And I will leave you on the note that I won the Teacher Rock Contest.. I made an apple and a sandwich :) A few people were making fun of my rocks (that my principal named "Lunch") but I worked *** them! ;) Here's a picture of them.. aren't they cute? I raffled them off to my kids after the contest. One of my students won the most patriotic rock. A cute idea for paper weights.

I love you all! Take care :) So happy I have been on this journey will my blog and my bloggy friends.. you really are amazing to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And I haven't even been blogging a year! I can't imagine if I actually had time to sit down and come up with great ideas and really connect with you all, but thank you for being patient with me and for ALL YOU DO!

Covered in Glitter - Tuesday Art Feature

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:21:00 GMT

We've been hard at work creating our Christmas crafts / parent gifts the past few days in my classroom. We're making Subway Art Christmas Coasters (with a little glitter added to the mod podge), and they are looking FANTASTIC! Come on over to my blog to see what we're up to, and how to make them.

Happy Tuesday!

Jen

Classroom Crafts!

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Woohoo! We're out for Winter Break! But before we left, we put together a few crafts! Check them out below!

The reindeer bags were to hold their goodies from our party.

These snowflakes were the gifts for the parents!

We glued pics of the kids in the center and decorated them with Sharpies. :)

Hope everyone has a wondeful weekend! I'm off to the mountains for a ski trip with the hubby and some friends!