This blog is about art with an archangel as well as art for an archangel, my son Gabriel. Most, if not all of the arts & crafts I will blog about are in essence for my son. Crafting & art at an early age not only stimulates creativity but also teaches a child how to use many of his fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are movements that use the small muscles of the fingers, toes, wrists, lips, & tongue. These are extremely important in his development.
I love to peruse the craft store & see what's new or really, what newly hits my eye for inspiration. Thing is, unless it is a craft kit for one project, most things come in multiples. I only have one Gabriel so often I think of many different ways to utilize something. Large foam items often come in packages (see foam hands) so if I get them, they need to be special. I spotted these awesome Foam Crab shapes & felt summer approaching immediately; had to buy them. Here's one project we made- a family set of crab magnets.
Recently a friend of ours gave Gabriel some very much
appreciated hand-me-down clothes along with a stack of magazines… Ranger Rick,
Highlights & Nick Jr. from when her son was younger. Gabriel took to each
magazine like each was a new book. And I was surprised to see him focus on the
Dora the Explorer items most of all in the Nick Jr. Magazines. Why? Well, we
limit his TV time to mostly Sesame Street & Jack’s Big Music Show.
Television is sensory-overload for our tot. So I am not sure if Dora’s cute face
beckoned Gabriel from the pages or what, but I allowed him to watch the show.
And lo & behold, in his little rambling voice… he “answered” her questions.
Whoa. This was a huge step for us… Needless to say, I have become a Dora fan. Saying all that, you’ll know why I chose this “A-Dora-Ble” craft
to highlight her. I was Pin-spired by The Creative Salad’s bottle-cap magnet
post (are YOU on Pinterest? No? You should be especially if you
are reading a craft blog!) And I had already been collecting bottle caps… so this came
about…
& Good 'ol bottle caps. Mine are a collection from our office, where in our lobby, Think Coffee sells Boylan soda:
Small stickers... Ours, starring that famous bilingual gal of the small screen. Place one sticker inside the cap. Then, "paint" over the sticker using homemade
glue/sealer/finish (see below, also known as "modge podge")
Did you know that homemade "modge podge" is a 50% school, white glue to 50% water ratio? I did... 2 "drops" of water + 2 "drops" of white glue=
Allow to dry well...
Almost done!!! Uh oh... Watch out for Swiper!
Time for GLITTER FUN! Yes, I said glitter & fun in the same sentence. Yes, I am a mom... ha ha... Want to lessen the mess? Use glitter glue pens like these:
Dab the glitter glue on top of the sealed stickers & around the fluted edge of the cap...Allow to dry, AND...
Now you have a new, fun, one-of-a-kind set of magnets... Oh, again, watch out, ¡cuidado! ~ Swiper!
So please show those teachers in your life, past &
present, how much they have affected you! I want Gabriel to always be thankful
for the good in his life & I try to instill this gratification by example.
I always thank people who mean a lot to me, as should he… And I am very thankful
for the teacher in his life now…
So
over the weekend we crafted this Popsicle Stick Flower Box for Mrs. V. We sure
hope she loves it as much as I love the way Gabriel giggles at the feel of the
tackiness of the school glue on his fingers!
Popsicle Stick Flower Box
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Popsicle Sticks, buttons, craft “grass” or Easter basket
grass, a small box or plastic planter & letters. Many times I repurpose anything I can find for
these projects.
For each flower, you will need 4 popsicle sticks. We used
pre-colored sticks but of course, you can also use wood-hewn ones.
Step~X~Step
Take the first 2 sticks & make an
“X” . Where the 2
sticks meet in the middle of the “X”, dollop a spot of school glue, then
affix
the 2 sticks.
On the middle of the “X”, dollop
another spot of school
glue, then affix the 3rd stick.
Allow the “Flower” part of the craft to
dry…
When thoroughly dried & adhered…
dollop a spot of school
glue to the middle of the back of the flower then affix the “stem”
popsicle
stick (we used a green one here). Allow to dry.
When
affixed/dried, place a dollop of school glue in the middle of the FRONT
of the
flower, then affix a craft button… Decorate with glitter glue!
For the box part,we re-purposed this cool piece of
cardboard (it inspired me to begin with because it looked like a flower box!)
from the packaging of our Ipad:
For the “grass” we used this scrunchy craft tissue but you can also used scraps of shredded
paper painted green or Easter grass.
Then we (school)glued the stems of our flowers CAREFULLY to one side
of the box.And allowed it to dry. Then glued it AGAIN.
Finally, we added a personal touch using adhesive felt letters.
You heard about the Super Moon, right? We heard about it. According to NASAthe perigee full moon on May 5, 2012 will be as much as 14% bigger & 30% brighter than other full moons of 2012. But, alas, although we kept Gabriel up to see it, the fog was too thick in NJ.
I had planned on this paper plate moon craft & went ahead with it:
It really does not need any explanation or directions. We had silver dessert plates left over from Gabriel's 3rd Birthday Blast Off! although, you could use a white paper plate & color it silver with crayon or markers....
And then all you will need is school glue, one googly eye & we used glitter glue... (But you could use school glue + glitter.)
These are the best crafts! Gabriel loves putting on the googly eye!!! And he loves the sensory of touching the tackiness of the glue! For the glue stick "writing", I assist him hand over hand.
& we get this beautiful, finished product to hang... along with a little science lesson on the moon. Out of this world fun!
