Can’t-Wait-for-Halloween Week

I have decided to declare a ‘Can’t-Wait-for-Halloween’ week on the make blog. I will be posting one Halloween project per day all week long! (Guess what our favorite holiday is?) Then the following week, which is the week of Halloween, I would like to declare a ‘Really-Can’t-Wait-for-Halloween’ week in which I would like to post the projects you are making at home with your kids. It can be something scientific, something yummy, something crafty, really anything—just make sure it’s spooky or related by season. Just send me a short description/instructions for what you have made along with pics if you have them and I will post. I will of course credit you and link to your own site if you wish.

We-Be-Little Pumpkin Project

Some of our long time makers (and their mom) have been ever so generous to host the October make for us. Check out the details from Charissa below!

Hello friends,

What better way to celebrate the month of October (need I mention Halloween?!?!) with some genuine homemade kid-made table décor? For the make, we will decoupage We-Be-Little pumpkins with tissue paper and glitter.

These colorful little creations will be a major hit with our makers. If you are able to come to the make, you will be helping your child rip tissue paper into small pieces, and glue it to their little pumpkins with a craft sponge. Then we will finish it off with a dash of glitter for a true Halloween look.

I must warn you that your fingers and hands will probably get very sticky from pushing tissue paper onto the pumpkin, so be prepared with an apron or old shirt and baby wipes to stay neat and clean. I hope that you will all come and join us for our make!

LET'S MEET: in the church primary room Friday, October 23rd at 10 am.

RSVP: on or before the night of Wednesday, October 21st. To do this, leave a comment on this post or please send an email to charissaspendlove[at]yahoo[dot]com

FEES-SHMEES: $2 cash per child/per pumpkin.

Sunny Sunflowers

We had a great time at the September Make. Mason’s mom, Lis taught us how to make sunny sunflowers using paper plates, crepe paper and real sunflower seeds. Lis even concocted and engineered a creative way to build a stem out of paper (leave it to a product designer). If you were unable to attend this make would be a great craft to try at home. It’s as easy as ONE…

TWO...

THREE...

September Sunflowers

Our September Make will be hosted by the lovely Lis Wing. Check out the project she has planned for us in the details below.

Hello there makers,

Now that most of the older children are back to school, this month I thought we could usher out summer with this simple yet educational project. The kiddies will be thrilled to create their very own bright sunflower. We will be ripping crate paper for petals and creating a beautiful sunflower center by gluing down shelled sunflower seeds. We will finish it off with a stem (not pictured here). We hope to see you there with your making faces on!

LET'S MEET: in the church primary room Friday, September 25th at 10 am

RSVP: on or before the night of Wednesday, September 23rd. To do this, leave a comment on this post or lis at: liswing[at]gmail[dot]com

FEES-SHMEES: $1 cash per child/per sunflower

Those were some hungry old ladys!

We had a great turn out at the August “old lady” make.

For those who couldn’t make it, this is an easy project to assemble on your own at home. All you need is a brown paper lunch sack with a square cut out from one side, a clear sandwich bag to tape inside the bag where the hole has been created and collage materials to make your old lady come to life. You can email me for step by step instructions if you’d like.

For those of you who are already in possession of a very hungry old lady, try spicing things up a bit (if you haven’t already) by having your child shout out things that they think the old lady should swallow (ie: a car, an elephant, and shopping cart), you could even tear some images out of some old magazines to feed your granny. In fact my friend Becky turned me on to a fantastic cover of the song by Peter Paul and Mary. It’s very cute, funny and somewhat unique to the original lyrics as the kids shout out what they think the woman should eat. It’s on the Peter, Paul and Mommy Too album.

Our bag is getting a little worn from overuse but I am thinking about revamping it a little as Halloween is approaching by turning our little old lady into a little old witch. Besides eating a fly and spider she might be adding newt tails, frog legs and rotten apples to her diet. Maybe she could be an elf for Christmas and eat snowflakes and pine trees?

Also, if you would like something that is a little more durable and long-lasting try laminating your animal images and using a large brown paper bag from the grocery store instead of a little sack lunch.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of images, I think I need to strap the camera to my face so I won’t forget I have it.

There was an old lady...

Hi friends,

For the August make I thought we could create a project you could use in your home or under the shade of your favorite tree to give you a break from the summer heat. We will be making “old lady” puppets—but not just any old lady—we will be making old lady who swallowed a fly-old lady-puppets (I don’t know why she swallowed a fly…). I am pretty sure you are all familiar with the song from which this activity has been inspired but if not, or you need a refresher, you can check out a sampling HERE.

If you are able to attend this make, you will help your child assemble a puppet from a pre-cut paper bag, glue, and collage materials like paper, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, yarn, etc. You will also receive two sets of paper animals that the old lady will “swallow”…as the song goes. One set will be a simple line drawing of the animals that your child can color in and the other set will be a pre-colored version of the same animals which you can use instead if your child is not in the coloring mood or for if you’d like to have a back-up set, a set to laminate, whatever. You will also get a copy of the lyrics to the song in case your memory needs a little refreshing...I know mine did.

LET'S MEET: in the church primary room Friday, August 21st at 10 am

RSVP: on or before the night of Wednesday, August 19th. To do this, leave a comment on this post or email me (see sidebar)

FEES-SHMEES: $2 cash per child/per puppet

ALSO: If you recall, one of the phrases from the song says, "perhaps she'll die" and the old lady does indeed die at the end of the story after eating a horse. This is the way I sing it to my kids at home since we make a big deal about how silly, and impossible the story would be in real life. However, if you are uncomfortable with using the original lyrics, for the make, we can replace the old phrase with "perhaps she'll cry" instead. Please let me know your thoughts by email. If I don't hear from anyone regarding this matter then I will stick with the original phrase when the project is presented.

P.S. If you participated in the "beach in a bottle" make last month and would like to have a re-do, bring your old bottle or the materials from your old bottle and I can give you some clean oil, glitter and colored water for a second attempt...perhaps without sand this time! If you no longer have your original bottle I also still have some seashells so you can make a new one from scratch if you want too...keep in mind this offer only stands while supplies last.

Just Beachy

Thank you to those who were able to attend last months “beach in a bottle” activity. It was an eventful one to say the least. If you were not able to attend here is the recipe to make your own personal ocean from a 16 oz clear plastic bottle:

Step 1: Fill bottle with a little less than ¼ cup full of sand *

Step 2: Pick out 8-10 of your favorite mini seashells and add to the sand mixture

Step 3: Fill the bottle half way with pre-tinted water…not to dark as it will prevent you from seeing the shells and not too light because the sand could suck the color right out.

Step 4: (Optional) add a pinch or two of glitter and perhaps some fun fishy confetti

Step 5: Fill the bottle to the top with baby oil and you’re all set. Oh wait! I almost forgot; don’t forget to glue your lid with some high hold glue—we’re not mixing drinks here silly!

* I highly recommend forking out the cash for some high grade sand if you choose this as one of your ingredients for the project. Some of the bottles we created at the make became way too cloudy and mucky by using good old-fashion play sand.

One more thing, if you still have a few plastic bottles lying around the house, here are a few other projects I enjoyed making with my mom as a kid:

QUIET BOTTLE: Throw some light karo syrup in a bottle with a little glitter and sequence to keep the kiddies entertained for hours (or at least 5 minutes) as they watch the sugary syrup drip and droop in slow motion to the other end of the bottle as it’s tipped from side to side.

I SPY BOTTLE: If you have a handful of miniatures lying around, pop them into a bottle with some white rice to create an instant game of “I spy.” We have one we made with colored rice which works fine too. Remember, your miniatures don’t have to be doll house quality, think; penny, paperclip, button, small battery…or anything else you have lying around the house.

TORNADO TUBE: This one is great for kids of all ages. You will need 2 clear plastic bottles (you could go for the 2-liter bottles for this one), water, glitter, sequence, (or something of the sort) and a tornado tube, also called a cyclone tube or vortex tube, which can be found at your nearest teacher supply store or specialty toy store. In Denver try Timbuk Toys. You will fill one of the empty bottles with tinted water and the other ingredients of your choice. You will then connect the two bottle together vertically (openings together) with the tornado tube. Give your connected bottles a little twist and a tornado will form in a matter of seconds, turn it over and start again! You have probobly seen this trick but if not you can check out a video HERE.

Photography by Charissa Spendlove