12 Days of Christmas~ Day 2 {Felt Mice}

Welcome to Day two of our Christmas Crafts and Party Favors for Kids. Today's project is a great party favor for the kids classroom parties.  Yes, this is another project from Martha Stewart's Craft Dept. Aly saw these as we were flipping through for inspiration and she literally squealed with delight! We HAD to make these for her friends at school. The directions say to enlarge the template 150% but we printed the template without making any changes, to keep them on the smaller side. This way we use less felt and with the money we saved Aly was able to pick out "Fancy" google eyes for her mice. LOL

The directions are rather simple and can also be found on the Craft Blog at MarthaStewart.com

Print & cut out the template, then pin your pattern to the felt and cut out your shapes. 

( I just held the pattern on the felt and cut around it)

 
Tuck your ears through the head slots which run vertically. Glue on your inner ear pieces as well as the eyes if you choose to use googlie ones. 

"Weave" your candy cane through the horizontal cut slits and Voila!

You have yourself a cute little Candy Cane Christmas Mouse.

These of course can be made in any color and I think would be really cute done in black and orange for Halloween. Give them a try, they are pretty simple and obviously from the picture of my daughter a huge hit with 5 year old girls! 

On another note I wanted to share a party that I styled as the New Head Party Planner for  My Grafico. They have recognized the huge market for printables and have started a blog called MG Party Impressions to help inspire those wanting to create their own unique parties . You can see my first blog post and styled party HERE!

Have a wonderful day and I will see you tomorrow for Day 3 in our 12 Days of Christmas series!
Hugs,

Pam

12 Days of Christmas~ Day 1 {Yarn Snowflakes}

Welcome to day one of Party Starters 12 Days of Christmas Crafts and Party Favors For Kids series. Today I wanted to start our series with a cute craft I found over on Martha Stewart's craft blog. I had my 5 year old daughter, Aly help me make these yarn snowflake ornaments. These were a bit frustrating for her, but once we figured out which steps she could do herself and which ones I needed to help her with it became a fun project.

Here is what you need: 

• White School or Craft Glue
• a small bowl to pour some glue into
• white yarn
• scissors
• piece of 8 1/2" x 11" paper
• marker (any dark color)
• wax paper
• chunky glitter (optional)

Step one: 

Draw some snowflakes on your white paper. Aly started out drawing traditional shaped snowflakes, but after trying to lay pieces of yarn in these patterns it soon became messing and really just a nightmare. Obviously, Martha's people thought this through and have you design "loopy" snowflake images. 

Step two:

Pour a few tablespoons of white school glue into a small bowl. Place a piece of wax paper over your snowflake patterns. We taped ours down to the counter so that it wouldn't move on us. Without cutting your yarn, pull out a large piece so that it is easy to work with. Dip a 6 inch section in your glue then lay the glued piece of yarn onto your wax paper following the pattern. Dip more yarn in your glue as you go, then cut your yarn when you have finished your pattern. It was easiest for Aly to dip the yarn in the glue and I traced the pattern.

 Step three:

While your yarn is still wet this is when you will want to add glitter. This was a step that Aly found very enjoyable! She is the glitter master...watch out Purple Pug! Let your snowflakes dry for a few hours or if the glue is thick over night is best. You want these to be really stiff to hold their shape. 

Step four:

Use a pretty ribbon or piece of gold thread to make a hanger for our yarn snowflake ornament. 

Step five:

ENJOY decorating with these fun and unique sparkly snowflakes!

I really do think these look better with glitter on them, but of course that is optional. Aly was so proud hanging these up in our front window for everyone to see. SO cute!! They would make really cute gift packaging decorations too!

Make sure you stop back tomorrow for another fun holiday craft, this one is a sweet party favor!
Hugs,
Pam

Coming Soon!

Get ready for 12 days of crafting and party favor inspiration!

My kids and I will be making all sorts of fun decorations, favors and treats to share with you this holiday season. Some of these crafts can easily be changed up to fit any occasion! The fun begins this Wednesday, December 1st and will run until December 12th. This will give you plenty of time to pick up all of the supplies you will need to make these fun projects before the kids start their winter break and just in time for Christmas! Spread the word and the holiday cheer!!

Best Party Wishes,
Pam

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We can't deny it any longer, the Christmas season is fast approaching! Why not grab one of our advent cakes to help count down the 24 days before Christmas. Put a little treat in each cake slice and starting December 1st open one cake slice each night until Christmas Eve. I used to buy each of my kids one of those cardboard advent calendars at the store...you know the ones that are $10 each and have one tiny peace of chocolate behind the little door. Not anymore, I am making one of these for my family as well, so I can fill it up with some GOOD stuff!!!

Thanks for looking,
Pam