This is a big week for us. Our little girl turns five this week. I can hardly believe it. We have been getting things ready for her big Lego themed party, but still managed to paint a little something together in honor of her and her birthday. My daughter was named after my mother. They share the same name with the same lovely meaning, cherry blossom.
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We started out by drawing bare tree trunks onto pieces of watercolor paper with a Sharpie.
The winter is officially here and we enjoyed a couple of snowy days this week to welcome the start of winter. We played outside in the snow all day yesterday and took in all of the beauty of the season. Watching the snowfall and looking at the snow-covered trees was enough to inspire some winter crafting.
We love working with clay and nature items. We have a collection of sticks and stones set aside for occasions just like this.
We recently inherited a large bin filled with potpourri fillers. My daughter & I were so excited at the opportunity to use them in our crafts. We started a few days ago by using them to make salt dough and nature wreaths. We also formed some lovely winter wonderlands. While making our wonderlands and playing around the potpourri, we came up with another idea for the season.
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The potpourri that were used were cinnamon pine cones, cinnamon sticks, star anise, pink roses and some other items that I am not sure of, but I am sure many potpourri fillers or herbs will work nicely.
We just put up our Christmas tree, so forgive me for the Christmas tree kick I find myself on this week. I can’t help myself. Christmas trees are fun to make and you can make them as simple or detailed as you want.
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For our Christmas tree project, we chose a simple triangle shape with a rectangle trunk and circle bulbs. I think the clean lines of the simple shapes worked well and would be perfect for artists of all ages.
Our Christmas tree went up this week. My daughter was excited to decorate for the holidays, but when we finished, she told me that we did not nearly decorate the house enough.
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She went on to tell me that we needed to get her dollhouse ready for Christmas. “My dollhouse needs snow and a Christmas tree.”
Pasta crafts and activities are a favorite of ours. My daughter & I love working with the different types of pasta. All of the assorted shapes and sizes offer so many possibilities.
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One of our favorite crafts was a fall tree craft using pasta shells. This was a huge hit with my daughter. Moving into the holiday season, I thought that we could do another pasta tree craft, this time with a Christmas theme.
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We have a tradition in our family. Every year, since the first year that my husband and I have been together, we put up our tree on the first weekend after Thanksgiving. It is always the same. We throw on the movie Elf, pour ourselves some egg nog and decorate for the holidays. This year, we are in a new home and there has been a little debate as to which window the tree will look best in front of. For me the view from the outside is just as important as the view from within.
Ok! I am slightly obsessed with fall trees, but why wouldn’t I be? They are beautiful and so fun to make.
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As you may know, we love working with yarn and I had an idea for a fall tree craft using yarn. I drew a swirly branched tree onto a piece of construction paper and cut a bunch of small pieces of yarn and coiled them with my fingers to glue around the branches. I thought that this would be a great fine motor activity as well as a pretty craft for my daughter.
