Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Natural Star Craft

I must admit, this star craft starts out with a really wholesome, natural feel... and then kids spray adhesive on and dump glitter onto their product. So while it isn't perhaps the most salubrious of endeavors, it's still a simple, fun craft for kids to keep them thinking about the star which is leading the magi to Jesus.

You will need:

Sticks (we collected ours from the backyard, but craft sticks would also work)
Glue or spray adhesive
Twine or yarn to tie the sticks together
Glitter (lots, and lots of it!)
Raffia to display your finished product
Some newspaper or scrap paper to protect your craft surface


Assemble your supplies and break your sticks to desired length.

Assemble a simple star shape with the sticks and wrap the twine around and between sticks until the desired design is reasonably secure.

Put these in a safe place to dry. If you use spray adhesive they dry relatively quickly, but conventional glue takes much longer.

Of course it was too dark to take photos of our finished products by the time we finished, but we strung  a bit of raffia around the stars and hung them in our living room windows above our nativity to remind us of where the magi are headed!

Friday, December 30, 2011

A Star to Behold

Yesterday we decided to make some stars of our own to decorate our home, and to help the Magi find their way to Jesus.

 This technique is called corn syrup painting- it produces a standard picture, but the paint looks glossy when dry.

You will need: 
Paper
Black crayon
Corn syrup
Food coloring
Paint brushes

 The recipe is simple: add a little corn syrup to several drops of food coloring to a small dish. More food coloring makes a darker color, less makes lighter. You can do a lot of neat things by swirling colors together as well since they talk a while to combine completely. Regular paint brushes work well for this project, but you may need to soak them in some water before they come completely clean again.
 Take a black crayon and draw your picture on paper. Glossy paper looks extra neat, but regular paper works well too. Remember to make your drawings "coloring book style," because you'll be painting inside the lines.

Then, use the corn syrup paint to color your drawing in! Use a lot of paint for the best effect.

In honor of Epiphany, we drew a bright star in the night sky, with wise men at the bottom. Be creative- yours may be different.
 Some of us didn't get the memo about Christmas being over :), so a few Christmas trees were done as well. I included this picture so that you can see the gloss of the paint. So fun!
This is my two-year old's finished product. Use your imagination here, folks: yellow is the star, dark blue is the night sky, and red in the corner are the Magi.

Leave them to dry for a long, long, time. Where we used the most paint it took a solid 24 hours, so put your masterpieces somewhere they won't be bothered for a day or so.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

"Truth in the Tinsel" product review

For those of us who struggle to bring home the message to our children that Christmas is, in fact, about more than just getting presents, here is a great e-book called Truth in the Tinsel! It's very inexpensive ($4.99 if you don't get the $2.99 special), and it provides a connection to the Christian concept of Christmas on each day of advent. These are simple, family-friendly suggestions which can be done in a few minutes after school/work or during the day, and are great tools to get kids thinking about the true meaning of Christmas!

Also, if you "like" them on Facebook you can get a free page of the e-book and one advent activity with the connecting scripture. I did this before I purchased the e-book and really liked the simple idea of creating a star ornament to connect to Matthew 2:1-12.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Ark of the Covenant Craft

Since some of our Sunday School classes talked about the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle today, I came home to search for a fun craft activity to do during the week to extend the learning. Here's the link to what I found: a shoebox Ark to be made by little hands!

This link also details how to make your own 10 Commandments (which we refer to as the 10 Best Ways to Live since we use the Godly Play curriculum at church)!

Need a refresher on the Bible story yourself? Check out this great sermon I found from Rev. Stephen Edmund at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in McLean, VA.

Photo Credit