A Homemade Christmas Ornament Idea

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't really in the Christmas spirit this year. I have a goal to get back to writing more often, so I am sure I will be sharing more about the reasons behind that, but for now all you need to know is that Christmas was pared down from the past. We didn't do a lot of of crafts. In fact, I think this is the only one that we created, and mostly it was because we were given a plain glass ornament at church and asked to decorate it for the tree there. Sadly, this wouldn't have happened otherwise, and it would have been a shame, because this was fun to make.

The inspiration for this ornament came from the December issue of FamilyFun magazine. I have made a few changes, partially due to what materials we had on hand and partially due to personal preference for what seemed sturdy. (I really couldn't see making this with tacky glue, for example, and then having it come undone. Yes, this would have been more kid-friendly than my adhesive of choice: hot glue, BUT you have to agree that mine is going to hold up, and that was what I was going for.) Anyway, we were all pleased with the results.

{Our Family's Christmas Ornament - 2014}

Materials:

• clear glass ornament
• small pom poms (round beads are what was suggested in FamilyFun)
• toilet paper tube 
• scissors
• tacky glue
• hot glue gun
• card stock (whatever colors you like -- we used blue and silver)
• pipe cleaner (optional, for trim)
• clothespins (optional, but recommended)
• permanent marker (optional, for personalization)

Directions:

1. Remove the top of a clear glass ornament and hold it while the kids add some colorful "gumballs." (Note: Anything that is small enough to fit inside the opening could work. We used pom poms because we didn't have beads on hand. Perhaps real gumballs would fit?)
2. Cut a section of a toilet paper tube to make the base of the gumball machine. Wrap it in colored card stock (Logan picked blue.) and adhere with tacky glue. Add a small rectangle of another color card stock for the gumball machine opening. (We used silver.) Again, apply with glue. Now, here's a handy tip: Secure two clothespins, one on either end of the tube, and leave on until the glue has dried. This helps the curved paper stay put until the glue is set!
3. Find a base for your gumball machine. Ours is a lid (Thankfully, in the color Mia wanted: red.) from a peanut jar. FamilyFun suggested using a large button. (I don't know about you, but I don't have huge buttons laying around my house, however, I do have a good assortment of plastic lids at any given time.)
4. Assemble the gumball machine. I used a hot glue gun (adult use only) instead of the suggested tacky glue. I made a ring around one end of the tube section and then applied it to the bottom of the glass bulb. Then, I made another ring of hot glue around the other end of the tube and pressed the plastic lid onto it, securing the base. For a finishing touch, I used two scrap pieces of red pipe cleaner to cover up the hot glue. (I wish I had thought to do this when it was first hot, but better late than never. The tacky glue would have been less goopy looking and wouldn't have needed the "finishing touch," but I am still asserting here that my way is going to hold up for the long haul. And that is what we want since we're going to be displaying this year after year.
5. For a little extra personal touch, I took a black Sharpie and wrote our family name plus the year on the back. This was an easy (and totally free for us!) craft that we were able to make together.

Valentine's Projects - 2014

I've recently chatted with a couple other people about how I do not make the kids' valentines. (That may actually surprise you since I like to make just about everything else!) For what they are, though, and considering how little time children actually spend appreciating them, this is not worth it to me. (I do understand what a friend said, though, about a child wanting a certain theme or character that wasn't readily available. It was smart of her, in that case, to make them herself!) For my kids, I just run out after Valentine's Day,-- when stuff is on clearance -- and pick up one or two boxes that I know they will like to set aside for the next year.

This year, for example, Mia had a choice of Disney fairies or princesses and she selected the fairies. (I found her a box of princess valentines that came with suckers to use next year. I figure suckers don't really go bad. Any other candy I would worry about, but suckers should be fine.) Logan chose Cars, so he will have either the Toy Story ones or the Hot Wheels that I just picked up the other day. They still get choices, but I don't have to spend 20 minutes in the store while they debate among a million options. So far, it has worked for us. (And for the record, I'm not knocking anybody's choice to make the cutesy homemade kind. I have seen some really awesome ones! It's just not something I care to do as long as my kids are fine with the current system.)

That said, we did do a few Valentine's Day related crafts this February. Mia's teacher sent home a note a few days before their class party that said they needed to have a valentine holder of some sort. I was trying to figure out what sort of box to use when I remembered the cute felt envelopes featured in the February issue of FamilyFun magazine. We had everything we needed at home, so this was a good choice. I showed Mia the picture, and she loved it, so it was decided. I downloaded the Special Deliveries Envelope pattern and then traced it onto some pink felt that I had left over from making the poodle skirt. (My only complaint is that they don't tell you how much felt you need, so let me tell you. I measured it to be about 41" by 28.5" so allow a bit extra, just in case my measurements are slightly off.)

{Finished valentine holder is 91/2" x 141/2"}

For embellishment, we added a red felt heart, and Mia selected 2" blue self-adhesive felt letters. (We didn't have a "M" so she decided an upside down "W" would work in its place.) I skipped the step for cutting holes and threading ribbon through to make this a chair back valentine holder since I wasn't sure if they would fit the chairs at school, and this seemed like unnecessary effort. It turned out great, and she was very happy. I was also glad that it could easily fit inside her backpack for the bus ride home, which would not have been the case if we had gone with a box of some sort!

{This is the great heart garland!}

As Valentine's Day approached, Mia felt that we needed some extra decorations and I showed her how I had made some heart-shaped chains inspired by this blogger's photo that I had seen on Pinterest. Her directions are great, and I wish I had actually read them first. One important step that I missed was starting with folded paper to get that nice edge at the bottom of the heart. I just gave Mia some 1" strips of red and pink construction paper and showed her how to invert them before stapling (as opposed to overlapping them for traditional chain links). Then, I suggested that she pinch the bottom segment to form the base of the heart. Mostly, she skipped that so her hearts are rounded and sweet-looking instead of crisp and precise. She was happy with the results, so I couldn't have cared less. Besides, they looked kid-made, and that was the point! Mia quickly used up the red and pink and asked me to make more strips out of purple and blue paper. By the time she was done, we had a garland that draped nearly all the way from one side of the dining room to the other. (Some of the chain links were regular circles interspersed among the hearts.)

{Close-up of Heart Chains}

Today was yet another snow day. (Well, technically, it was an ice day.) Anyway, I had some project ideas in mind and one was stamped hearts from toilet paper tubes, which came from this blogger. (I had wanted to try this before Valentine's Day, but then Mia's school needed lots of TP tubes for science night and I sent in all that I had at the time, around 50!) Mia was not interested, but Logan happily created some stamps with the heart-shaped tubes that I made. We had two tubes to work with since I no longer had a big stash of them: one to dip in pink paint and one to dip in purple paint, both of which I poured onto a Styrofoam tray. These stamps were quick and easy to make using the directions found on the Rust & Sunshine blog. My only suggestion would be that you could also cut the tubes in half to make more if you wanted to do this with more kids but were short on tubes.

{Art in Process...}

{Finished Stamped Art}

{Close-up of Tubes, After Stamping}

Toilet Paper Tube Stamping

Today was snow day #3 and this was the second activity we tried since we were trapped indoors. The first one was science experiment. As another aside, just once I wish we would have a "snow day" during which the kids can actually be allowed to go outside and, you know, play in the snow! These insanely cold no-school days are getting quite old.

Happily, the kids were much more enthusiastic about this stamping project than yesterday's potato prints, which we tried kind of late in the afternoon when they were tired and crabby. I was smart enough to introduce this craft earlier in the day before they had a chance to get cranky. This idea (from Pinterest) is super simple and it's a perfect way to use up some of those toilet paper tubes that you have saved up (if you're anything like me you have a large stash of them -- They are such great craft items and they are completely free!) It reminds me a bit of the toilet paper tube octopuses that we made before, but I really love this one even more than those fellows. Plus, this one can be done with any age group from toddlers and up.

{Here are our stamps before paint was added...}

Materials:

• empty toilet paper tubes
• scissors
• paper (finger print paper works nicely)
• tempera paint
• paint trays (or bowls or plates)
• black Sharpie marker (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut notches along one end of a toilet paper tube. They can be any size or shape: rectangles, triangles, rounded "petals," or whatever else you can think of. My cuts were all around 3/4" to 1 1/2" long.
2. Protect kids' clothing and work surfaces, if desired. My children each have their own paint shirts, which are just old t-shirts that used to belong to me. I use a clothespin to secure Logan's at the back of his neck. For the table, they each had a vinyl place mat to work on.
3. Pour some paint onto trays. We used six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, with two colors on each Styrofoam tray. Note: In retrospect, I think this would have worked better if there was more room per color, meaning that I should have only used one color per tray.
4. Have kids dip the toilet paper tubes into the paint and then press them onto the paper to make impressions. Note: They can also invent their own techniques for painting. For example, Logan liked to swirl the tubes around on the paper and Mia discovered that she could used the tips of the cut-outs to make smaller designs. Both of them figured out that the paint was occasionally drippy so they used that in their paintings, as well.
   
5. Let paint dry completely before displaying their artwork. Note: I used a black Sharpie to write their names and ages before they were finished. This is mostly so I won't forget who made each one! Note: Kids may also wish to go back after paint has dried and add more details with markers. I know Mia mentioned adding green stems to the "flowers" and some faces to the ones that reminded her of a lion's mane.

Here are 10 more crafts to make with toilet paper tubes:

• Homemade Sidewalk Chalk
• Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Tree
• Holly-Day Wreath
• Indian Corn Craft
• Scarecrow
• Turkey
• Wind Sock
• Bunny
• Chick
• Advent Wreath

And, if you haven't done so already, please check out the Livingston Parent Journal's crowdfunding page! There are just a couple days left to contribute to a very worthy cause.

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Experiment #1

I am getting a bit of spring fever, feeling like winter definitely needs to finish up around these parts. So, when I found a recipe for sidewalk chalk on Pinterest, I decided I needed to try it out. Brett teased me when he saw this on my daily to-do list. "You can't make sidewalk chalk," he insisted. This just convinced me that I could and I would succeed at making some sidewalk chalk for the kids.

I had been saving TP tubes for awhile and I had powdered tempera paint already. I did need to purchase some Plaster of Paris, which I got at Wal-mart for around $4, so that wasn't a huge investment, especially considering I used only 1/4 of the box. We had masking tape at the ready, which just left one thing that stumped me: "greaseproof paper." What, I wondered, is the American equivalent of this? I decided that it would either have to be parchment paper or wax paper, and since parchment is wonderful for baking, and generally speaking, wax paper is something I would use more often for crafts, I went with wax paper. This seemed like the right choice. However, if I did this again, I would try duct tape in place of the masking tape so as to prevent leaks since I learned while doing this to not skimp on the masking tape.

{The Finished Sidewalk Chalk}

Materials:

• toilet paper tubes
• wax paper
• tape (masking or duct)
• 1 cup Plaster of Paris
• 1 cup water
• powdered tempera paint
• funnel (optional, but definitely helpful)
• container for mixing (preferably one you don't care about)
• spoons (for mixing)
• somewhere flat to let your chalk set up (I used a cake pan.)

Directions:

1. Completely cover one end of an empty toilet paper tube with tape, making sure there are no openings. Tip: Masking tape works, but I am thinking duct tape will work even better for this.
2. Line the inside of the tube with wax paper. Tip: I found that the best way to do this was to tear a piece of the wax paper so that it was slightly longer than the height of the tube, fold it into thirds, cut the wax paper into 3 pieces, and then roll one piece into a tube. I also added the leftover bits to the bottoms of the tubes, layering them on top of the tape. I don't think this is ideal, though, since some of the wax paper bits are still imbedded into the ends of the chalk.
3. In a container, mix 1 cup of Plaster of Paris with 1 cup of water. Add the tempera paint and stir. The original directions suggested starting with 1 tablespoon, and adding more as needed. 
4. Stand the tubes straight up, so that the tape side is down. (Tip: I did this in a cake pan, and I wished that I had first lined it with wax paper. Make sure that whatever container you choose will not be needed for several days.) Then, pour the mixture in, and tap to get rid of air bubbles. Tip: A funnel was very helpful for pouring.
5. Now you will need to wait. After the Plaster of Paris mixture sets up a bit (I think this was a day or two), you can tear away the cardboard tube and wax paper to allow it to finish drying and hardening. This whole drying process took about 5 days. (Some notes on color mixing: I made a total of 6 chalks. Some were the size of the entire tube and some were a bit shorter due to leakage issues. The first one was pure red tempera paint, and I had added a total of 3 tablespoons to my Plaster of Paris mixture. Half of that was poured into one TP tube, and in the remaining batch, I added 2 tablespoons of blue powdered tempera paint. I mixed this up to make purple, which I poured into my second tube. Then, I washed out the container and mixed up a new batch of water/Plaster mixture, which I added 3 tablespoons of yellow paint to. Again, I poured half of this into a tube, and then added 2 tablespoons of red paint to the remainder, mixing up orange for my fourth tube. After that, I again washed my bowl, and started a final batch of Plaster mixture, to which I added 3 tablespoons of blue paint. The final chalk tube was made by adding 2 tablespoons of yellow paint to the remainder of the blue batch, so it, of course, made green chalk. In the end, I was happy with the color saturation.)

{This is what it looked like while the chalk was setting up.}

Is it worth it to make your own sidewalk chalk?
Honestly, I just wanted to know whether or not this would work. Considering you can purchase ready made chalk for about 10 cents a piece, and it comes in many, many colors, making it probably is not worth the effort for most people. It definitely was a time investment. We didn't just make the chalk and then play with it an hour later. It took several days to set up. Plus, there is cost associated with buying any materials you do not already have.

For me, this wasn't a big deal since it meant only buying the Plaster of Paris, which I knew would get used for other projects in the future. I got four jars of powdered tempera some months back on clearance at Michaels for 99 cents each. I think that was probably a steal at the time. However, if you don't have powdered tempera paint, it may not be worth it to you to invest in this, unless you know that you will use it for other things. (It's great for just mixing up small amounts when the kids want to paint, and you can get the consistency exactly the way that you want it to be.)

For this experiment, I used $1 worth of Plaster of Paris, and I made 6 chalks, so that works out to about 17 cents per chalk, more than what you would likely spend at the store for ready-made sidewalk chalk. However, it is worth noting, that the TP tube chalk is much larger, so it will last longer than store-bought sidewalk chalk, meaning it's not an equivalent comparison.

There are some definite pros to making this chalk that are worth mentioning. This chalk comes out rather large, so in addition to lasting a long time, it is also nice for little hands. There is also the possibility of making shaped chalks in molds, and I am planning to try this with our Jell-o egg molds at some point. The chalk is dry to the touch and quite dust-free, which means it isn't very messy. This is a huge bonus in an art supply. Also, the most important thing to mention, is that it does in fact work as a sidewalk chalk.

Generally speaking, I think homemade art supplies are worth the time and materials to make them. They are usually cheaper and work just as well or better than the store-bought variety. However, I don't think homemade sidewalk necessarily chalk fits into this belief for me. It was a good experiment, and I am glad I tried it so now I know. Other than wanting to possibly try again in some different molds, I don't believe I will be making too much more sidewalk chalk. The bottom line for me is that it is a time-consuming process and it requires space for drying that I don't really have in excess.

Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Tree

Mia made a similar project at church using rolled pieces of green paper, but it didn't hold up very well. This seems to be a sturdier alternative. If you don't have pom poms, try sequins, glitter glue, or beads for the ornaments.

{By Logan, Age 2}

{By Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• 3 toilet paper tubes
• glue
• scissors
• stapler (optional)
• green paint
• tray to hold paint
• paintbrush (optional)
• newspaper
• pom poms

Directions:

1. Cut 3 toilet paper tubes in half so that you have 6 tubes. (If you prefer, you can start with 6 whole tubes, but we found this harder to work with.)
2. Protect your work surface with newspaper. Pour green paint onto a Styrofoam tray (or bowl or plate), and coat the tubes with paint. We used 3 different shades of green. Paintbrushes are optional; Mia figured out that you can just roll the tubes on the tray and that is faster than using a paintbrush. If you wish, you can paint the insides of the tubes, but my kids chose not to. Leave tubes on newspaper to dry completely.
3. Glue or staple your painted tubes to form a pyramid shape: 3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, 1 on top. (If you are using whole tubes, staples are highly recommended. Otherwise, glue works fine.) Allow glue to dry before decorating your tree.
4. Trim your TP tube Christmas tree by gluing on pom poms for ornaments. Allow glue to dry completely before moving your project.

TP Tube Indian Corn Craft

Once again, we have a supply of toilet paper tubes and I thought that they could be made into an Indian corn craft. I was thinking that these would look nice as either napkin holders or as place cards for a fall table setting. This craft is quick, easy, and only requires a few materials. You could substitute paint for the Bingo markers and paper bag for the raffia if you don't have those items on hand.

{By Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• toilet paper tube
• Bingo markers
• raffia
• glue

Directions:

1. Use Bingo markers to dot color onto an empty toilet paper tube to look like Indian corn kernels. We used red, orange, and purple Bingo markers from Dollar Tree. Allow ink to dry.
2. Unroll a piece of raffia (ours was the handle from a paper shopping bag) and tear it into strips.
3. Glue the strips of raffia to the inside of the toilet paper tube to make the corn husks.
4. Once glue is dry you can place a napkin inside the tube or take a marker and add a name to the outside to make a place card holder for your fall table.

Toilet Paper Tube Wind Sock

Here's my take on a decorative wind sock craft. Please note that it is not meant to be hung outside.

{Wind Sock by Mia, age 4}

Materials:

• toilet paper tube
• paint
• paintbrush
• scissors
• glue
• hole punch
• tissue paper (or construction paper)
• yarn (or ribbon or string)

Directions:

1. Paint a toilet paper tube and allow paint to dry.
2. Cut tissue paper (or construction paper) into strips about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter (and slightly longer than the tube itself.)
3. Once the paint is dry, glue the tissue paper strips to the bottom of the toilet paper tube.
4. Use a hole punch to make two holes on either side of the tube.
5. Thread some yarn, ribbon, or string through the holes. Tie the ends and your wind sock is ready to be hung up.

Toilet Paper Tube Bunny

Materials:

{A joint effort by Mama and Mia, age 4}

• toilet paper tube
• white paint
• paint brush
• white paper or craft foam
• pink paper or craft foam
• scissors
• glue
• 2 googly eyes
• black marker
• pink marker (optional)
• cotton ball (optional)

Directions:

1. Paint a toilet paper tube white. Allow paint to dry. (I used acrylic paint and a foam paint brush.)
2. Glue on 2 googly eyes.
3. Cut a small triangle from pink paper and glue beneath the eyes. (You could also use craft foam or just draw a nose with a pink marker.)
4. Use a black marker to draw the mouth, whiskers, and if you want, teeth.
5. Cut two ears from white paper and glue to the top of the tube. (You may wish to line the inside with pink paper or craft foam, or color the inside pink before gluing on the ears.)
6. Once all the glue is dry, you can use your bunny as a finger puppet or place it on a table or shelf for decoration.

Extra options: Mia wanted to add a cotton ball tail to the back side, which you can't see in the picture. I had also thought of using white craft foam hearts or ovals to make the paws, but her face ended up taking up the entire tube so I decided to skip that part.

Toilet Paper Tube Chick

{A joint effort by Mama and Mia, age 4}

Materials:

• toilet paper tube
• yellow paint
• paint brush
• googly eyes
• orange construction paper
• yellow feathers
• scissors
• glue
• push pin (optional)

Directions:

1. Paint the outside of a toilet paper tube yellow. You can also paint the top part of the inside if you want it to look more finished. Allow paint to dry.
2. Glue on two googly eyes.
3. Cut a beak and glue beneath the eyes.
4. Use a push pin or scissors to make small holes on either side of the tube and one in the back.
5. Insert a yellow feather into each hole to make wings and a tail.
6. Cut two feet (I made ours like three-pointed crowns) from orange construction paper and glue to the bottom of the toilet paper tube.
7. Once all glue is dry you can use your chick as a finger puppet or else display it on a table or shelf.

Toilet Paper Tube Octopus

We are in the midst of preparing for Mia's fourth birthday party "Under the Sea," which means we are making lots of crafty sea creatures. There are several versions of this toilet paper tube octopus posted online. I used this as our starting point. Then I decided to try craft foam suction cups after I saw this and sequins when I found this one. Here is how I made ours.

Materials:

• toilet paper tube
• scissors
• acrylic paint
• foam paintbrush
• newspaper
• wax paper
• markers
• glue
• 2 googly eyes

Optional Materials:

• sequins
• craft foam
• hole punch
• circle stickers
• construction paper

Directions:

1. Using scissors, cut 8 legs in a toilet paper tube. I cut just past the halfway point. It is tricky to get the legs all the same width, but they are approximately 1/2 inch in diameter.
2. Cover work surface with newspaper. Paint the tube inside and out. Allow paint to dry. (I found that wax paper works nicely for a drying surface since the paint doesn't stick to it like it will to newspaper. This is helpful when you are painting both sides of the tube at the same time.)
3. Using a marker (or pencil or your finger), curl up the ends of each of the 8 tentacles.
4. Decorate the octopus as desired. Glue on 2 googly eyes and use a marker to draw a mouth. For the suction cups on the tentacles, you have a few options. We tried foam and sequins, but you could also use stickers or use a hole punch to make circles out of construction paper.

Note: I also tried reversing steps 1 and 2, but I preferred it this way. I thought it was easier to paint inside the tube after cutting rather than before.

Advent Wreath Craft

I haven't come across too many religious Christmas crafts, but I thought an Advent wreath could be easily created using a paper plate and some tubes. This is our first attempt, so it isn't perfect, but it should make a nice centerpiece. Also, I love the symbolism behind the Advent wreath, which I will briefly explain. The wreath itself is a circle, symbolizing that God has no beginning and no end, while the "evergreens" show that God is always with us. Candles symbolize God's light entering the world. Purple represents royalty and it is also shows the darkness of sin. The first purple candle is the "Candle of Hope," the second purple candle is the "Candle of Preparation," the third candle (pink or rose) is the "Candle of Joy" (the pink color stands for joy), and the fourth purple candle is the "Candle of Love." Some Advent wreaths (like ours) include a fifth candle, the white "Christ Candle" to symbolize the reason for the Christmas season, God sending light into the world in the form of His Son. White represents the purity of Jesus, who came to wash away our sins!

Advent Wreath by Mia, Age 3 1/2

Materials:

• scissors
• glue (I like Aleene's Tacky Glue)
• paint brush (foam brushes work well)
• purple paint
• pink paint
• white paint (optional)
• green crayon
• paper plate
• 4 toilet paper tubes
• paper towel tube (optional)
• yellow tissue paper
• newspaper
• clear tape (optional)

Directions:

1. Cover work surface with newspaper. Paint 3 toilet paper tubes purple and paint 1 toilet paper tube pink. We used tempera paint. Stand tubes upright on newspaper to dry. If you want to have a fifth candle, the Christ Candle, make one by cutting a paper towel tube in half. Paint one half white and allow to dry.
2. While tubes are drying, cut away the inside circle of a paper plate. Color the remaining ring green. We used crayon, but colored pencil, marker, or paint would work, too.
3. Once purple and pink tubes are dry, apply a ring of glue to the bottom of each one and place them on top of the green paper plate ring. We ended up having about 1/3 of each tube hanging over the inside edge in order for them to stand fairly upright. (They do lean slightly inward. I also tried gluing these to the underside of the paper plate ring, which causes them to lean outward. If you come up with a way to do this without having the "candles" lean, please let me know.) If using a white Christ Candle, simply stand it up on the inside of the wreath.
4. Crumple some yellow tissue paper and use clear tape to adhere a "flame" to the inside of each "candle." (If desired you could omit the tape, but you will need large enough amounts of tissue paper for it to fill the diameter of the tube. This is probably the way to go if you want your Advent wreath to be functional and "light" each of your "candles" during the appropriate Sundays of Advent. I chose not to do this because I didn't want to have to keep track of the "flames.")
5. Display your Advent wreath on a flat surface such as a table or counter top. 

Holly-Day Wreath

Deck the halls with boughs of holly... Here is a clever way to decorate for Christmas and use up all those toilet paper tubes at the same time. (I'm not the only one who saves them, right?) This project idea comes from Look What You Can Make with Tubes.

Toilet Paper Tube Holly-Day Wreath by Mia, Age 3 1/2

Materials:

• metal hanger
• toilet paper tubes (we used 15)
• scissors
• glue
• pencil
• green paint
• paint brush
• green construction paper
• red tissue/crepe paper
• ribbon

Directions:

1. Bend a metal hanger to form a circle. (I did this part.)
2. Holding each toilet paper tube upright, use scissors to cut a horizontal slit in the middle, going no more than half way through the tube. (I did this part.)
3. Paint each tube green. We used acrylic paint and foam paint brushes. Allow paint to dry.
4. Cut holly leaves from green construction paper. An easy way to do this is to fold your paper into rectangles (say eighths) and then cut out the rectangles. Fold each rectangle in half like a hot dog (the long way), and use a pencil to draw two scallops on one side of the fold. Keeping the paper folded, cut on the line. Unfold the holly leaf. (I did this part.)
5. Tear or cut small pieces of red tissue paper (we used crepe paper) and crumple them up to make holly berries.
6. Assemble your wreath by pushing each toilet paper tube onto the metal hanger. Each one should hold nicely but you could add some glue if the slit is too big. Glue the holly leaves between the tunes. (This makes the wreath fuller and hides some of the metal hanger.) Glue the crumpled paper holly berries to the wreath. Once all the glue is dry, tie a bow to the top of the hanger. Now your wreath is ready to be hung.

Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer

I wish I could say I came up with this idea myself, but it is from another great garage sale find, Look What You Can Make with Tubes. And yes, this craft book was another quarter that was well spent.

Materials:

• toilet paper tube
• twigs/brown pipe cleaner
• scissors
• glue
• tape
• marker(s)
• googly eyes
• pom pom
• ribbon (optional)
• jingle bell (optional)
• construction paper (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut away four sections from a toilet paper tube to make the reindeer legs. I made our legs about half the length of the tube.
2. The book suggests to add black construction paper hooves. I colored mine with a black marker. Mia left her reindeer legs plain.
3. Decorate the reindeer face. We used googly eyes, red pom pom noses, and made mouths using markers. I also added a jingle bell tied around a ribbon (although this was a bit too heavy and made it hard for the reindeer to stand up.) There are lots of different ways you could decorate the face using ribbon, yarn, buttons, beads, construction paper, etc.



Toilet Tube Reindeer by Mia, Age 3 1/2

4. Add twigs for antlers or use a pipe cleaner. The book suggested punching a hole in either side of the tube to insert the twigs into. I just taped them to the inside of the tube. For Mia's pipe cleaner antlers, I cut a brown pipe cleaner in half, and then cut each half into two sections, one longer than the other. We twisted the shorter pieces around the longer pieces so that each antler has three points. Lastly, we taped the antlers inside the tube.

Toilet Paper Tube Scarecrow

Here is another craft I came up with for the girls to do during their play date yesterday.

Scarecrow by Mia, Age 3 1/2

Materials:

• toilet paper tube
• milk cap and plastic ring
• glue
• scissors
• 2 buttons for eyes (do not have to match)
• marker/s
• yellow construction paper
• another color of construction paper

Optional Materials:

• googly eyes
• yarn 



Toilet Paper Tube Scarecrow by Emily, Age 3 1/2

• pipe cleaners 
• raffia
• straw
• artificial flowers
• fabric scrap

 Directions:

1. Glue two buttons (or googly eyes) onto a toilet paper tube.
2. Cut a small triangle out of construction paper and glue down to make the nose.
3. Using a marker, draw a mouth. I did mine like cross-stitches.
4. Cut fringe onto yellow construction paper and glue down for hair. You could also use yarn, pipe cleaners, raffia, or even real straw.
5. To make the hat, cut a circle from construction paper (you could also use fabric), about 3/4 to 1 inch larger in diameter than the milk cap. Place paper circle over milk cap, and press down making an impression of the cap. Add a small amount of glue to the inside of the plastic ring from a milk jug and place it over the paper on top of the cap. Push down to secure the paper to the cap, being careful not to tear the paper.
6. Add a bit of glue to your hat and place on top of the toilet paper tube.
7. If desired, embellish your hat with paper, silk, or felt flowers, buttons, or whatever you have on hand.
8. Once your scarecrow is completely dry you can display it. You could also use your scarecrow as a finger puppet or a place card holder.

Toilet Paper Tube Turkey

Since Mia's friend, Emily, was coming for a play date, I decided to come up with another turkey project for the girls to do. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Materials Needed:

• toilet paper tube
• 2 googly eyes
• coffee filter
• markers
• spray bottle filled with water
• scissors
• glue
• orange pipe cleaner
• red pipe cleaner
• masking tape

Directions:

Toilet Paper Tube Turkey by Mia, Age 3 1/2

1. Using markers, color a coffee filter. You don't have to color perfectly or cover all of the white space. I used red, orange, and yellow markers to color my coffee filter in "pie piece" sections to look like tail feathers. Mia and Emily used various colors.
2. Spray the colored coffee filter with water so that the marker blends like water colors. Set aside to dry.
3. Using the tip of your scissors, poke a small hole in the toilet paper tube, approximately in the middle.
4. Cut a length of orange pipe cleaner, approximately 2 inches, bend in half and insert the bent end into the hole to make the turkey's beak.
5. Glue two googly eyes above the beak.
6. Cut a length of red pipe cleaner, approximately 2 inches, bend into a kidney bean shape for the wattle. Glue onto the toilet paper tube, or twist it so that it is attached to the orange pipe cleaner beak.
7. Once the coffee filter is dry, use one hand to pinch it together, and use the other hand to tape the gathered section to the back of the toilet paper tube. Allow glue to dry completely. 
8. You can now display your turkey on a table or shelf or use your turkey as a finger puppet. You might also use it as a napkin ring or add a name and use it as a Thanksgiving place card.

   

   Toilet Paper Tube Turkey by Emily, Age 3 1/2