Arts and Crafts Projects – Page 4

Black Paper Pastel Hearts for Valentine’s Day

Here’s a simple project that can easily be adapted depending on the amount of time you have (more on that at the end of my post!).

We had such fun making our Valentine’s Day hearts!

First we used colored pencils and a heart-shaped stencil to trace hearts on to black construction paper:

Our daughter then colored each of the hearts with pastels:

We applied a thin coat of Mod Podge to seal the pastels and give a sheen to the paper:

After the paper dried, we cut out the hearts and wrote messages in metallic gel pens on the opposite sides:

Here’s a tip if you don’t want do deal with the extra step of Mod Podging your project:
Use colored pencils, crayons, or gel markers instead of pastels to color your hearts! Since they don’t rub off, you don’t need to seal them.

A quick and easy alternative with the same colorful, fun results.

DIY Photo Decoupage Platter

The round-up of decorations from this year’s birthday extravaganza continues. To see all the birthday party posts, please click here.

Growing up, the Spritzer family had a special glass platter (with etched hearts!) that came out for birthday celebrations. My daughter and I thought it would be fun to recreate this tradition, while adding a Creative Salad twist to make it our own.

First we cut out some of our favorite family photos that we had printed on plain white paper:

We played with the layout of the photos until our daughter found an arrangement she fancied:

We adhered the photos with Mod Podge on to the underside of a circular, glass Pyrex platter that we found at our local thrift store:

Then we glued small pieces of brightly colored tissue paper on top of the photo layer:

As we placed the pieces of tissue paper, we brushed glue on top to smooth and adhere the paper:

We added glitter glue before adding another layer of colored tissue paper:

Then we sealed the paper side of the platter with several more coats of Mod Podge, being careful not to get any glue on the front side of the platter. Here’s how our birthday platter turned out:

Festive, personalized, and very fun!

A special birthday treat.

DIY Ribbon Chandelier

The round-up of decorations from this year’s birthday extravaganza continues. To see all the birthday party posts, please click here.

We had such fun making the party decorations for this year’s birthday extravaganza!

These simple, festive chandeliers were easy to make, fashioned out of ribbon remnants and embroidery hoops from our local craft supplies resale shop.

We cut lengths of ribbon, then taped them to the inside of the outer embroidery hoop in such a way that the tape is all but invisible once you put the hoop back together.

At this point we decided the double ribbon was over the top, so we chopped off half of each ribbon (just below the place where we taped the ribbon to the inner embroidery hoop):

David hung the ribbon chandeliers for us above our coffee table (that we moved into the middle of the living room for the party).

I love how a simple project can transform the room and set a festive tone. The pink ribbons are out; we’re ready to party!

Well, almost! In the photo, above, from Sunday morning, someone had yet to don her fabulous fancy party outfit:

That’s better. We had such fun!

Pinned: Valentine’s Day Crafts

In our house we don’t typically celebrate Valentine’s Day, although you could say we celebrate it every day: we’re all about hugs, kisses, love and friendship. But just because we don’t typically do anything special on February 14th, doesn’t mean we’re not into Valentine’s crafts!

I recently spotted these sweet heart themed crafts on Pinterest and am eager to try them with our daughter! Which one do you like best?

Featured above:
1. Colorful Puddle-Painted Hearts (original pin) from Makes and Takes
2. Watercolor hearts (original pin) from Joe & Cheryl
3. Simple Valentine’s Day Art for Toddlers using cookie cutters and paint (original pin) from school time : book time
4. Valentine Handprint Cards (original pin) from Rosy ~ Posy
5. Valentine’s Day Photo Sign Card (original pin) from Martha Stewart Holidays

Don’t forget about our easy and fun Melted Crayon Hearts Tutorial:

and last year’s Picture Frame Decoupage Project:

We’re all about spreading the love!

View these and many more fun Valentine’s activities, gifts and recipes on my Valentine’s Holiday Fun Pinterest board.

(images obtained via Pinterest)

Melted Crayon Hearts Tutorial

This may look like a Valentine’s Day project–and, yes, it certainly could be!–but in our house these adorable crayon hearts are for a certain little girl’s birthday party at the end of the month!

These melted crayon hearts are super simple to make and a great reuse project for any old, broken crayons you have lying around.

First gather your crayons and peel the paper off each of them, a favorite kid activity in our house:

Using your hands, break each crayon into several small pieces so that they will fit inside your mold. We used silicone molds that are meant for candy-making and are available in a wide variety of shapes including dinosaurs, shoes and purses, or the hearts shown above. Amazon or your local baking supply store has you covered.

Unfortunately, the downside to using these cute molds for this project is that once you’ve melted crayons in them you can no longer bake with them. Sigh.

Place the molds in a preheated 250 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until the crayons have completely melted: