Create: Sew a Felt Star Ornament

Boy, it's been a while, hasn't it? I've been here, just busy with life and not taking enough time to document all of it. But! Today I have a simple kids craft to share with you, just in time for Christmas.

For her birthday, Hailey asked for a sewing machine. She is 5 and has never touched a sewing machine, but she has watched me and decided she wanted to try. I was not about to spend money on her own machine without seeing her sew first, to be sure this is something she really is interested in. Instead I made her a small sewing kit with some essentials to get sewing. Life became busy and we never found the chance to take some time to sit down together and work on a project. Finally one afternoon in a search for something Christmas crafty for Hailey and her friend to do for some quiet time I decided it was time to pull out some of those sewing supplies and have that first lesson in sewing.

We made felt star ornaments. I'll show you what we did.

You will need:

• embroidery needles (for the beginning sewer- they are nice and big and easy to hold onto) 
• crochet thread (it is found by the yarn and is thicker than normal thread, which makes it easier for little hands to handle. You could use embroidery floss as well.)
• water soluble/disappearing ink marking pen
• felt
• star pattern (print one here)
• fiberfill (not pictured- whoops!)

I began by marking a small dot every 1/4 inch or so around the star on the front and the back. This was to help guide the girls in their needle placement so they would end up with reasonably even stitches.

We had a quick chat about the seriousness of using a real needle and I pointed out that the tools used in sewing are not toys. And then I armed them with pre-threaded needles and showed them how to move from one stitch to the next.

They loved it. "This is easy peasy banana squeasy!" Oh that made me happy to hear! I was unsure if they would really sit long enough to finish the simple project or if they would lose interest after two stitches.

Sew on they did. I did have to sit right next to them and help them solve their small issues and occasionally gently encourage them to keep going.

Once you get about 3/4 of the way around the star stop and squish in a bit of fiberfil to give it some puffiness. Then continue stitching the star closed.

When they sewed all the way around the star we pushed the needle back through the very first point we made, right through the knot.

Leaving a small loop of thread to hang the ornament by I slipped the needle underneath the last stitch and tight a knot tightly.

Tada! It was finished. The girls were so excited to have sewn an ornament all on their own. Hailey's hangs proudly on our tree. The first thing she did when her dad came home from work that evening was to show off her fine work to him. Fine work indeed!

I'm hoping she's game for another sewing project in the future and we'll keep working on those stitches. In the meantime, I think this little star is adorable. It makes my heart happy to see it hanging on our tree. My little beginning sewer's first project. :)

Kids | Paper Bag Dresses and the Paper Bag Princess

We love the library. Just about every Thursday morning you can find me and my girls enjoying storytime at the library. While there, we check out a new stack of books each week. Hailey can hardly wait the 5 minute drive home before digging into the new books. She usually asks to look at one or two on the way home.

One book we have checked out a few times is The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. The Paper Bag Princess is about a princess whose castle is destroyed by a dragon. The dragon carries away her prince, who she plans to marry. Everything the princess has is burnt by the fire of the dragon, including her clothes. The only thing to survive the dragon was a paper bag. The princess makes herself a dress from the paper bag and sets off to rescue her prince from the dragon. At the end of the book, after outwitting the dragon and rescuing the prince, the prince is no longer interested in the princess, because she is a dirty mess. The princess doesn't care,  and leaves the prince, no longer intent on marrying him.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

What I like most about the story is the idea in the end that the princess knows the prince is wrong. She has a good sense of her own self worth and knows that how she looks is not an important part of who she is.

One afternoon Hailey asked me for an activity to do. We ended up making impromptu paper bag dresses, just like the Paper Bag Princess. You can too!

We started by ripping open the bottom of the bag.

After Hailey tore the bottom open, I used some scissors to cleanly cut away the paper. You should have a tube to look through after the bottom is cut open. (Yes, Keira has marker on her face. That girl loves markes, but she always makes a mess!)

Then we decorated. We used crayons, markers and stickers. I think paints or stamps would be fun too.

Hailey decided to practice writing and traced the letters on the bag.

After we decorated, the dresses were nearly ready to wear. Hailey complained that the top of the bag was digging into her arm pit, so we cut holes in the bag so it would sit more comfortably.

That's it. Easy peasy, but fun. So go grab some large paper bags, art supplies, and a copy of The Paper Bag Princess and craft away! 

10 Arts and Crafts for Kids

Hailey loves to do arts and crafts. I really enjoy doing it with her too. Here are some arts and crafts projects we've done together.

As much as we enjoy making a crafty mess together, I just don't do it often enough. I'm out to change that. Hopefully we can get our hands messy more often and have fun doing it together. I have spent some time scouring Pinterest and the internet for some fun ideas. From that, I have compiled a list of 10 activities to do with toddlers and preschoolers.

from Fun-A-Day

from Life Lesson Plans

from U Create

from Housing a Forest

from Mama.Papa.Bubba.

from Powerful Mothering

from Red Ted Art

from I Heart Crafty Things

from Daisy Cottage Designs

from Meaningful Mama

Don't these crafts look so fun!? I have created a Pinterest board dedicated to crafts for kids where I pinned these crafts and more. If you like these, follow me on Pinterest to see what other fun crafts I discover!

Follow Renae Hill // hillmade's board kids crafts on Pinterest.

Kids | Magic Crayon Resist Art

One of Hailey's favorite activities is to paint with watercolors. I can give her paper, a cup of water, a set of watercolors and she is set for a good half hour of fun. I know half an hour doesn't sound all that long, but if you have kids, you understand that an activity that keeps a small child's attention for that long is golden.

Today we spiced things up a bit. We used a white crayon to draw out a design, and then painted over it with watercolor and watched the design appear. I've seen this done many times elsewhere online, but we've never tried it. Today was the day!

  

I call it magic crayon art, and of course it really isn't magic. I totally wish I could perform actual magic, just like Harry Potter. (Don't we all?) It is a simple illusion, that seems so magical to children. As you paint over the crayon with the watercolor, the crayon resists the watercolor and becomes noticeable as the color fills up the paper around the crayon mark. 

Start with a white crayon and a white piece of paper. Draw your design.

Can you see it in the picture below? I know, it's hard to see white on white. I thought I'd try.

Now wet your brush, grab some color, paint away and watch the design pop out.

Hailey had fun painting. She didn't completely get the idea of painting all over and seeing the white pop out. She was concerned with tracing over what she had drawn with crayon. She enjoyed herself, that's what really matters.

I love using thick paper for painting and watercolor. It holds up so much better. For this project, Hailey used a sketch pad that we pull out occasionally. Usually, when we paint we pull out our big coloring book from Melissa and Doug. The paper is nice and thick and the pictures are big, so even the smallest kids can color in detail. I also like that it has a spot on each page for the child's name to encourage writing.

I love that this art project is so quick and easy to prepare! Spur of the moment, I wanted something fun to do with Hailey. I remembered seeing this idea, so we grabbed our supplies from the closet and just a couple of minutes later off we were creating! No real preparation needed, besides filling up a cup with water for the brush. Clean up is easy too.

Give it a try. I plan on making my own artwork with it too. :)

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