Seasonal

Autumn (new)

 

 

 

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 by Kimberly Farmer

Celebration Banner

Do you have a special veteran you are honoring or maybe you want to send memorable mail to someone for a special birthday, anniversary, or other occasion? My grandpa (now age 94) was in WWII, so this year we made a banner to send him. We made it with copied photos, messages, artwork, and scrapbook paper all cut to 1/4 sheet size and threaded together using a hole punch and ribbon. It folded easily and neatly for mailing. It’s a fun and thoughtful way to say, “We remember. We are thankful. We love you.”

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 by Kimberly Farmer

Autumn Salt Dough Ornament Decoration

Here is a fun craft for autumn or really any time of year! We first made these when my daughter was three years old, but we pulled this idea out again recently, and made some autumn decorations. I enjoy making them, too! We need to make some for Christmas gifts! These make a great craft for the whole family and they are also a thoughtful gift idea if you want to add them to your guest’s place settings on Thanksgiving!

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 by Kimberly Farmer

Place Cards & Favors for the Thanksgiving Table

This year, we will be making a new contribution to the Thanksgiving table – specially decorated and thoughtful place cards and favors.
Place Cards
We made each place card out of heavy paper, and Ava helped by coloring the front of each one and placing autumn stickers on them. Then, on the inside, we also added a little phrase telling each person why she was thankful for them!
Favors
We wrapped a couple of cookies and some gummy bears in plastic wrap and tied it off with some brown ribbon. Ta-da. Simple and cute.
 by Kimberly Farmer

Autumn Leaves Painting and Painting Tips

Here is a pretty leaf painting which is lovely for autumn when painted in reds and oranges and great for spring when painted in shades of green. And it doesn’t use real leaves – it uses contact paper cut into leaf shapes.

 

This is actually an Autumn version of the Negative Space Painting that Ava did for Easter two years ago. This time, we made leaf shapes and used acrylic paint instead of watercolors. Afterward, we cut the paper into rectangles and glued it onto white, heavy paper to make attractive cards.
This painting project is great for kids of any age, because it looks cool when it’s done, and little ones get a great result just by spreading paint around. The more imperfect the painting job, the better the results, in my opinion. Heavy paper, paint, paintbrush, scissors and contact paper are all you need. Check out the steps on our post Negative Space Painting.
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 by Kimberly Farmer

Autumn Inspired Necklace

Ava and I made this pretty going-away-present for her Grandma. Ava picked up the acorn from our backyard and I made it into a bead using a little bit of cord wrapped around the stem and then secured with some krazy glue. We used the same cording and some pretty wooden beads to complete the necklace.

The two ends have a bead tied to them and are secured with more krazy glue. Putting one of the beads on a small loop, makes it possible to close the necklace by simply pushing the other bead through the loop, and allowing gravity to do the rest. Very simple.

Yes, that’s one of our painted autumn paper sacks which we used to present the necklace.
 by Kimberly Farmer

Leaf Rubbing

Our eagerness for fall colors and cooler temperatures is continuing. Ava keeps asking if the leaves are going to change colors today. So, today we changed the colors of the leaves ourselves (at least on paper).

 by Kimberly Farmer

Autumn Paper Sack

Autumn will be here soon (Yay!), and since we were in the mood for cooler weather on this scorching August day, Ava, Tim, and I painted Autumn with homemade stamps in the shapes of leaves. I made the leaf stamps using the tried-and-true method of cutting one out of a sponge, and carving the other out of half a potato. We painted on plain paper sacks (instead of art paper), so we can use them later for lunch sacks, putting an LED light inside for evening decoration, or to hold candy or cookies and give someone special. I must say, Tim rather impressed me… his work is the middle paper sack.
Our Supplies:
Paper bags
Tempera paint
Paper towels (for cleanup and for blotting)
Empty egg cartons (to hold paint)
Sponge & scissors (to make leaf stamp)
Potato & knife (to make leaf stamp)
 by Kimberly Farmer

Autumn Napkin Rings

Ava and I made these autumn napkin rings together this week. Beads and raffia are all we needed. The project was fun, easy, cheap, clean, and turned out really cute. Plus, we will be able to reuse them over the years and talk about how we made them when she was little. Sometimes Ava strung the beads, and sometimes she handed me the colors I asked for as I strung them.

If you are unable to be with family this Thanksgiving, these would be sweet tied together with raffia and a card and mailed to your family to use for Thanksgiving. It will be a reminder at their dinner that you are thinking of them and wish you could be there, too.
Other Ideas:
  • Christmas – Trade the autumn-colored, natural-textured beads for sparkling, Christmas-colored ones and let your child go Christmas crazy.
  • Table Decoration – Instead of forming napkin rings, create one really long strand to wind around the yummy food dishes at your holiday table.
  • Bracelets – Instead of using raffia to string the beads, use stretchy string to make bracelets.
  • Place Cards – The napkin rings can do double-duty as place cards. Write each guest’s name on appropriately colored heavy paper and attach each one to a napkin ring with raffia or ribbon.