This Year's Nativity Projects

Well I'm neck deep in preparations for Christmas Craft Day but I had to show you the photos of this year's Nativity Projects.

Here are Grade 2's Silhouettes.

You can find full directions from my post HERE.

Stunning work Grade 2!!

And here is the Nativity plates that Kindergarten did this year.  I changed the color concept a bit using a blue wash, yellow metallic for the star, and sparkle varnish on the Nativity scene.

The full directions for this project are in my post located here.  Too late for this year but this would be a great project to plan ahead for next year!

 Awesome work Kinders!

The Snowman Portraits that Grade 2 are finishing are fabulous but for privacy reasons I can't show you them (all those last names!) but anyone walking down the hall gets stopped in their tracks by them.


Hopefully I'll have time after the big day Friday to post some last minute crafts from Christmas Craft Day....
hope everyone is holding up under the holiday rush!
Take care.

How To Make an Alphabet Block Elf Christmas Ornament

Here is an oldie but a goodie....another craft for Christmas Craft Day, an alphabet block elf.

These can hang on your tree or sit on your mantle...you can make several and have them spell out a word like JOY, NOEL, MERRY.

Easy to make so follow along.....


MATERIALS REQUIRED:


- alphabet blocks, I get mine from the dollar store for $2.00 for 15 blocks
- red, green, blue, white, and yellow felt
- tacky glue
- 1 inch Styrofoam balls or wood beads
- small googly eyes
- small pompoms
- little bells (optional)
- acrylic paint in flesh and pink
- glue gun (optional)
- templates if needed

For Christmas Craft day we are using Styrofoam balls (more economical for 150 kids). 

Due to this we have to paint our head with flesh color paint in any tone that fits for you.

If you are using wood beads you can skip this step.

Using the end of a pencil dab on some rosy cheeks with pink acrylic paint.

Using tacky glue add some googly eyes and a pompom nose.

Using a red sharpie give your elf a smile!

Now we need to cut out some bits and bobs from our felt.  We are starting with the hat as it takes the longest to dry.

The easiest way to cut a hat is on the fold.  You can find a template here.

Add some tacky glue down one side.

Fold over and use some clothespins to hold together while glue is setting up.

Next I took a small cup and traced out a circle on white felt.  Cut out.  (you can use my template here).

Next we have to cut out the arms.  You need a strip that is approximately 4.5 inches or 11 cm long.

Round the edges a bit.

Now we have to cut out the legs which are about 3 inches or 8 cm long.

I cut out a shape like this. (see template if needed)

Then I cut out a narrow triangle out of the center.

Round your corners at the bottom.

Now we will put our elf together.

Put some glue on the top of your legs and place your block on top.  Make sure you have the side you want facing forward.

Put some glue on the top of the block and lay your arms on top, try to center it the best you can.

Put some more glue on top of the arms and stick on your white circle.

Now we will put on the hat.  Put some glue inside the felt hat.

Place hat on top of head and then add a pompom to the tip.  Initially I was going to tacky glue the head to the block but this didn't work so good so.......

So now I will have a few Mom volunteers manning the glue guns to stick on the heads.  We will also add these little bells I found at the dollar store to the feet with the glue gun as well.

When finished you can add a string for hanging if needed.

That's it...so easy and so cute.  I know you are just dying to make one or 3 or 6.


See you next time.

Snowy Owl Ornaments

This little Snowy Owl is one of the crafts for Christmas Craft Day 2010 which is taking place on Friday Dec 17th.


I couldn't resist making an Owl themed ornament so here is the How To:




MATERIALS REQUIRED:
- white felt
- yogurt container for tracing
- tacky glue
- old book pages
- gold colored felt
- tan colored felt
- large googly eyes
- gold and silver sequins and gems
- feathers
- gold thread for hanging

Using the yogurt container or some other round object trace out a circle on your white felt and cut out.

Find some old book pages.  I usually pick up some old books for crafting at garage sales or the library discard sale.

I especially like old kid's books like this Bobbsey Twins.

You need to cut a small triangle for the Owl's forehead and flower pot shape for the belly.  For Christmas Craft Day I will have templates.

Glue your flower pot shape onto the white felt slightly down from the middle.

Put some glue on the felt on either side of the shape.

Fold the felt over and hold for a few seconds while the glue sets up.  You can use some clothespins to help you out.

Put a dab of glue at the top of your flower pot shape and fold the felt down.  You want to keep the ends open.

Place a little bit of glue into the open corner and add a feather.

Repeat on other side.

Glue the little triangle onto the forehead.

Cut 2 circles from the tan felt that are larger than your googly eyes.

Glue into place on the owl.

Cut a little beak triangle from the gold felt and glue into place.

Add some bling!

Using a needle thread some gold thread thru the top of your Owl and make a loop for hanging.

If you want you can gently fold it in a bit to add a little shape so it isn't so flat.

That's it!

Why not make a pair of Snowy Owls for your Christmas tree.

I'll see you soon with more Christmas Crafts for Craft Day we just got a bit sidetracked this week by the stomach flu(the kids).

Nativity Banner

This is a project I did 2 years ago with Kindergarten.  We needed a quick project for the front display case and we had tons of felt and burlap.



It was amazing to see them all finished with each child adding their own interpretation to the Nativity.  Some had the Mary and Joseph outside with the sheep inside, one had the sheep on the roof....


Now this can easily be adapted for older kids just don't give them the templates....see what they can create on their own.

I had thought I had posted this project but I guess not so here is the How To:

You need the following:

- burlap
- a natural bamboo plant stake from the Garden store
- tacky glue
- felt in white, black, yellow, orange, green, dark blue, light blue, pink or a flesh tone, and brown
- glitter glue in gold and/or silver
- Pattern Template
- scissors

Cut your burlap in a rectangle 12x19 inches or 30x50 cms.

Fray your edges a little bit and fold over the top edge by 2 inches or 5 cms and either sew a pocket for your stick or glue one.

If you are not a sewer you can easily hot glue a whole classroom set.

I really love these natural bamboo stakes. A package of 24 is only $2.00, cut to fit with your pruning nippers. A branch from the garden would also be fine.

Download pattern and cut out the pieces.

Felt can be a bit tricky for Kinders to cut. Their scissors are usually not sharp enough (dulled from all that paper cutting) so I keep a set of classroom scissors for fabric cutting only....but this is also a lot of pieces so I enlisted the help of the Mom volunteers.

I sent the felt home with a couple of patterns and the #  I needed in a ziploc bag, I wrote down the due date as well.

We did the gluing as a class.  Put some wax paper down first as the glue can seep thru the burlap.

We did it step by step and I handed out the felt pieces as we went.

First up the manger, I asked them to place it down into position first so we can check where it is and then we start gluing.

Nothing worse then a manger roof too far down on the banner!

Add the star and then the cradle as well as the yellow halo for the Baby Jesus.

Add the body and then the head for Baby Jesus.

Add the bodies and heads of Mary and Joseph.

Add Mary's scarf and Joseph's hair/beard.

and then add the sheep.

Finally you can add some extra stars in the sky with the silver and gold glitter glue.  I always tell the kids "less is more" as they love their glitter!

As you can see my sidekick Tika is in on the action again and she ended up with some glitter on her feet.  You could add further embellishment if you wanted (eyes, etc.) but I kinda like them on the simple side.

Let dry and hang up with a piece of yarn tied onto the ends of your bamboo stake.


That's it.