Decorate with Fourth of July Pinwheels

 Want to learn how to make these?

Then stop by ModernMami.com where I show you how to make festive pinwheels for some colorful fourth of July decorating.

Hope your having a great summer!  Lot's going on here.  I'll share more with you later.

Enjoy the sun!

Pom Pom Friends (Kids Craft)

(Para español hacer click aqui.)

Oh it's a rainy day.  

The skies are covered in clouds.  The drip drip drip sound everywhere.  Happy trees and happy plants (and happy me...the pollen is being washed away.) But lots of rain also means that little ones are stuck in doors.  

Yes, it is the kind of day where lots of crafting goes on around here.  

The kind of days where the craft closet opens and closes a gazillion times.  The kind of day where the craft room gets messier than the usual.  The kind of day where creativity (sometimes with Mami's help) floats through the air.

So I  thought what better than to share a fun and easy craft to keep your little one's hands busy on such a day.

I remember making these as a child.  Do you?  No?  Well, here you go then.

What you need:

*Pom Pom balls
*Felt 
*Feathers
*googly eyes
*glue
*scissors

How to make:

Begin by cutting small hearts out of the felt.  This will become the base (feet) of the pom pom friends.  Then glue the base on to the bottom of the pompom.  Next, glue the googly eyes and finally add a little touch with a feather on top, or make a cute little hat out of felt.  That's it!  Didn't I tell you it was easy?!

Make one.

Or make a whole lot of friends!

What ever you choose have fun with it.  My little ones after making a lot of them decided to also make them a home out of old shoe boxes, and furniture out of recycled materials. 

It would also be a sweet mother's day gift.  Have them create out of pom poms  each member of the family, place them on top of a stand (or in a jar upside down) and write sweet words to mom.  I'm sure she would love it! 

Happy Crafting!

Chalk Decorated Cascarones (Eggs)

(*Para Español hacer click aqui*)

Every year I will save eggshells for weeks.  Once we collect enough, on the day before Easter, the kids and I (and whom ever else is around) decorate them, fill them with confetti, cover them, and wait anxiously until the next day when we can hide. find. and smash! This is a little tradition I grew up with and have incorporated into our little family's traditions. 

  

This year I decided I wanted to try something a bit different.  Decorate them by myself.   It was wonderful sitting all alone in my art studio figuring out how I was to decorate them.  No kids around, no paints splashing all over the place, no eggs crushing...peace.  I started with washi tape and although I liked the outcome, I wanted something simpler.  

I searched around and found my chalk pens.  Hm?  Why not?

Oh I love them!  The contrast between the natural brown tones of the organic egg shells and the white chalk is just beautiful, soothing even. 

A dozen.  That's what I allowed my self to decorate.  After all, I can't be a meany and break tradition by decorating them all by myself.  No. So two dozen more await for the little ones to decorate on Saturday.  I'm sure they'll be happy about it.  Yes they will.

Happy Easter!

 

DIY: Easter Wreath & Friends

(*Para Español ver abajo*)

 

A little bit of festive decorating was needed around our home.  Like the past few months, my life has been moving a bit slow, including in the making and decorating department.  Which is why I didn't make this wreath until this past weekend, and didn't post about it until, well, today.  But I say it is better late then never!  Right? Ha!  Just agree with me, won't ya?

Thanks.

As I was saying, I needed a bit more festive decorating.  Especially something to hang next to the front door.  

I had bought a bunch of glittered eggs last year on clearance and was holding on to them for the perfect project.  Then a couple of weeks ago while shopping at my currently favorite goodwill shop I found a twig wreath with cheap Halloween decorations on it and bought it for-like-nothing.

When I got home I pulled off those ugly Halloween decorations and had on my hands a nice twig wreath to work on.  A clean slate, a fresh start...but for much much later.  (Moving slow remember?)

Okay okay now, back to the wreath making.  It's pretty simple.

  

What you need:

* Plastic, foam, paper, what-ever-you-like, eggs. 

* Wood springy animal pieces. (I got mine from the dollar section at Target.)

* Small accent fabric flowers.  (You can make them like I usually do, but this time I also picked them up in the dollar section at Target.) 

* Piece of tulle or ribbon.

* Glue gun & glue sticks.

How to make it:

Begin by gluing the eggs randomly onto the wreath.  If you have varying sizes of eggs then I suggest you begin by gluing the larger eggs randomly around the wreath first.  Then the next size. Finally, using the smaller size to cover all the remaining gaps.  

I had also thought of painting my wreath a pretty yellow or a soft pink, but the rain outside didn't really help, so I opted not to...or you probably wouldn't be reading this post right now had I waited for the rain to pass, and then the unexpected snow to melt.  Yup that's life in VA.  

Once you finish gluing all the eggs you can add the wood animal pieces.  Or you can leave it as is.  I chose to add some springy friends.

Because my wood pieces where originally meant for hanging they had a tiny hole, I covered them up by gluing small fabric flowers.

Finally, add a pretty bow or make one out of tulle.

I'm still not sure I like the tulle bow, I might change it.  What do you think?  Hum.  

That's it!  Nice and simple.

Hang and...

Happy Easter!

*Disculpen amigos que hoy no les escribí el post en español.  Prometo escribir el siguiente en ambos idiomas.  ¡Hasta pronto y Felices Pascuas!

Valentine's Day Kids Craft: Lollipop Heart Cozies

(♥ Para español hacer click aqui ♥) 

Four more days to Valentines.  Yikes!  Do you have cards and goodies ready for your little one's class?  Do you buy them or do you make them?  We like to make ours.  This year for the Christian Formation class I teach on Wednesdays I decided to make these Lollipop Heart Cozies.  Aren't they cute?  I made them by combining ideas from from  here and here and a bit of my own creativeness.  They are so easy to make your little ones can make them too!

They really are simple to make, and you know I love simple projects.

Materials you will need:

To make:

Cut out many hearts using craft paper.  I used scraps.  If you don't have any crafting paper you can also use wrapping paper, a paper bag or even plain white paper and have the kids decorate them.

Glue the edge of the hearts together leaving a little pocket (big enough to fit the lollipop) at the bottom.  Let it dry for a while.  When you feel it is dry enough insert the lollipop and glue the remainder of the heart together (for this part you may need to hold on to the heart and lollipop until the glue sets a bit.)

Finally with a piece of washi tape make the leaves.    Add the name of each of the kids and listo!

Ready to spread the love!

For other Valentines Day craft ideas:
Washi Tape Decorated Valentine Mini Mailboxes
Valentine's Day Lunchbox Surprise
Tender Heart Vintage Book Page Ornament
Security Tinted Envelope Heart Garland
Glass Heart Pendant
Valentines Family Love Tree
And on Pinterest.

Happy love day crafting!

Washi Tape Decorated Valentine Mini Mailboxes ♥ Mini Busones Para el Dia de San Valentin decorados con Cinta Washi

( ♥ Para español ver abajo♥)

Yes.  The washi tape addiction continues...

I was at Target the other day going through the dollar section, when I came across some mini tin mailboxes.  When I saw them my first thought was- I CAN TOTALLY DECORATE THESE WITH WASHI TAPE!  

So I did.

All I used was washi tape, letter stickers, and the tin mailboxes.  Yup super simple, yet super cute.  Just like I like it.  To make the heart for the flags I folded a small piece of washi tape with the sticky part facing out, then I cut half of a heart, opened it and listo- a heart. 

I took some candle holders I had, turned them over and placed each mail box on top (not my idea.  I have seen this floating around Pinterest.)  I, however, did not glue them on to the candle sticks that way the kids can take the mailbox down (without the candles stick) making it easier for them to handle and place little goodie inside (or peek into their own.) 

And look...

As soon as they were up, a little someone placed a love note for her papi.  Sigh.  

Happy Crafting!

♥♥♥

Si.  Mi adicción a la cinta washi continua ...

El otro día mientras andaba viendo la sección del dolar en Target vi unos mini buzones de metal.  Y lo primero que me paso por la mente fue- LOS PUEDO DECORAR CON CINTA WASHI!  

Y precisamente eso hice.

Solamente use cinta washi, calcamonias de letras, y los buzones de metal.  Super sencillo y super curioso. Tal y como me gusta.  Para hacer los corazonsitos en las banderas, necesitas un pedazo de washi, doblarlo por la mitad ( parte pegajosa por fuera) y corta la mitad de un corazón, ábrelo y listo, tienes un corazón.

Tome unos candelabros que tenia y los voltee al revés y les puse el buzón encima (esta no es mi idea, la vi por ahi en Pinterest.)  Pero, yo no los pegue al candelabro para que asi fuese mas facil para los pequeños poder bajar el buzon y meter las notitas de amor que gusten (o ver lo que han recibido.)   

Y miren...

En cuanto los acomode en su lugar, una pequeñita ya había puesto una notita para su papi.  

¡Buen dia!