Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is February 2!

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. The story goes that  if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If  it is sunny, the groundhog will see his shadow and retreat back into his burrow for 6 more weeks.

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
So in celebration of Groundhog Day I wanted to share with you this fun idea that Nanny Gael Ann sent me from Gourmetmomonthego

Ground Hog Day Extravaganza


If you look around her blog you will also see a link to some other fun activities for Groundhog Day.
If you decide to do one of the projects we would love to see it!

Stamped Paper Cube: Great idea for Fathers Day from Nanny Gael Ann and her "creative assistant"

What you need:

blank paper cubes (I got mine from Oriental Trading Company)

rubber bands

magic markers

rubber stamps

stamp pad

Use the rubber bands to stabilize the pad.

I also found it helpful to hold the paper tightly for my creative assistant.

Then decorate away with rubber stamps... 

Or magic markers on three sides (the fourth side has the glue on it).

Close ups of some of our favorite sides

Just add a bit of ribbon and a pen and these would make great gifts!

For dads or grads or teachers or as a small thank you gift. 

Pasta Butterfly Garden by Nanny Gael Ann and her Creative Assistant

Today my creative assistant and two little friends are going to show you how to make this lovely spring craft.

Supplies Needed:
Popsicle sticks (7 for each garden)
pipe cleaner (one for each garden)
farfalle pasta (we found regular and mini size at the local grocery store)
flower/bug stickers
magic markers
craft glue or glue dots
white craft paint (if you wish)
hot glue gun (adults use only)
This just happens to be the brand we found, any brand will work.

I premade the "gardens gates" by hot gluing the popsicles sticks together and attaching a pipe cleaner hanger to the back of the top rail. (older charges could help with this part)

If desired, you (or older charges) can paint the garden white. We decided we liked the look of the bare sticks best.

Then using magic markers my helpers colored the dry pasta.

close up examples of some of our butterflies

Next my helpers stuck flower stickers on the garden gates.
(The package I picked up at the craft store had two sizes of craft foam flowers and ladybugs.)
And using glue dots (or craft glue) they attached their colored pasta butterflies.

Here are their gardens ready to hang up and enjoy!

I couldn't help myself and I made one too!

Sock Bunnies

Sock Bunnies

by Nanny Gael Ann and her "Creative Assistant"

The minute I saw this idea in the March issue of Family Fun magazine I knew we would be making some for spring. However, the minute I showed the page to my charge, the plan turned into we just have to make them today! So we improvised a bit on the original directions using items we already had on hand and they came out just as cute.

Things you will need:

A child's sock or two or three. Of couse, in our house the stray socks are not the spring pastel colors you think of for spring bunnies but as you can see even a nice brown sock with cars and trucks worked. The others were hastily purchased at the local discount store for 50 cents a pair.

Dried lentils is what was called for to stuff the bean bag bunnys. We had some lentils but not enough for all three bunnies so we used lentils for one and rice for the other two bodies with some fiber-fill stuffing for the head areas. You can experiment with items you have on hand for stuffing the bunnies. Any type of small beans, popcorn (unpoped) or even sand would work.

A rubber band (one for each bunny) is what the magazine directions called for but not finding a small rubber band in the kitchen drawer we found a short piece of pipecleaner did the trick.

Ribbon (narrow worked better than wide)

scissors

Felt scraps in black, pink and white for the facial features (eyes, nose and bunny teeth). We used felt for some and craft foam for other parts. Having some wiggle eyes the right size on hand made the eyes easy.

White or colored pom-pom or cotton ball

Tacky glue was on the original list of supplies but we did not use it, because waiting for things to dry is not popular around here, instead we used mini glue dots which are so much more child friendly. I think using a hot glue gun would also get the job done nicely (adult only job).

Directions:

1. To make a sock bunny, fill a child's sock with lentils or beans or rice up to just past the heel. Close the sock with a tightly looped rubber band or a small piece of pipecleaner.

2. To create the head and neck, tie a ribbon around the sock just below the heel.

3. Use scissors to cut the sock's cuff into two ears, rounding the edges to give them the right shape.

4. Cut a nose, teeth, and eyes from felt or craft foam. Attach the facial features and a white pom-pom or cotton ball for a tail with tacky glue, hot glue (adult job only) or mini glue dots.

The End

Nanny Gael Ann's Paper Garland for year round decorations.

Here is another fun Valentines Day Project from Nanny Gael Ann and as always her "Creative Assistant".
This is an idea that could be adapted for any time of the year. You could Shamrocks for St. Patricks Day with 3 hearts together and green paper. You could do eggs or flowers for Easter or Spring, leaves for Fall, Snowflakes for winter. If you do use one of our ideas we would love for you to share your pictures with us.
Here is a Smilebox that will show you Nanny Gael Ann's Paper Garland. You may have to scroll down the page a little bit to see the Smilebox.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Decorated Purell Bottles by Nanny Gael Ann and her very creative assistant.

Decorated Purell Bottles by Nanny Gael Ann and her very creative assistant.


These make great gifts for parents, grandparents, teachers, friends & co-workers.

Just start with a bottle of hand sanitizer. I got mine with the handy red tops for less than a dollar each at a local discount store called Christmas Tree Shop. Then remove the labels on the front and back. This is probably the hardest part of this project. I found that the front label peels off nicely but the back ones take some soaking and a little rubbing with some kind of solvent. I like a product called Goo Gone.

With a trip to your favorite craft store or a look in your crafting supply stash round up some fun Valentine's Day stickers and scrapbook paper. Grab a roll of double sticky tape and some ribbon for the top(s) you are ready to get started.

To make each bottle a little different (for three preschool teacher in the same classroom)using regular scrapbook paper I cut out, free- hand, a heart shape for bottle, a rounded corner rectangle to fit the front of the second bottle and a strip of paper about 2 inches wide that fit all the way around the last bottle. I used the word processing program on my computer to print out Valentine messages and a "from ___ " note for the back of each bottle. I chose a fancy font and printed in red and purple to coordinate with the scrapbook paper and attached with double sticky tape. You might have to experiment a little with the font and font size to see what looks best on the size and shape of your bottle. You can skip the scrapbook paper part if you wish, they look just as cute with all stickers.

Now for the super fun part attaching the stickers! Kids of all ages can help with this part.

With a little curly ribbon or a bow tied around the top you have a cute and practical handmade gift to give someone special on Valentine's Day! Personalized hand sanitizer bottles work great for other occasions too. Examples: Snowflake design for our kitchen counter and a smiley face design given as a get well gift.

Since we wanted you all to have the time to make these great projects we are giving two project ideas today and another one next week so that you can make lots of great creative projects for Valentines Day.

Here is your bonus project today!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Snowperson in a Jar by Nanny Gael Ann

I am excited to tell you that Nanny Gael Ann has agreed to share one of her wonderful craft ideas with us on a monthly basis in 2010. Her craft for January is simple and fun and guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face.

Snowperson in a Jar

You will need:
empty clear plastic jar with a lid (we used an old large peanut butter jar)

stuffing (or cotton balls)

4 buttons (2 small (eye size) buttons & 2 slightly larger for body)

small piece of orange craft foam cut into a carrot shape

1 brown pipecleaner cut in half and shaped like arms (real twigs would work too)

bow for hat


Directions:
Loosely fill the jar with stuffing and then slide the buttons, nose and pipecleaners right along the inside of the jar. When arranged to your liking add more stuffing to insure all the pieces stay in place. Finally, screw on the lid and add the bow for a hat. Now you have some winter fun that won't melt away!

Favorite Posts: How to Make a Smilebox

Tis the Season for taking pictures so it's the perfect time to learn how to make a Smilebox.
Our friend Nanny Gael Ann has shared with us just how easy it is to make a Smilebox in one of my favorite Creative Nanny posts from October.

How to Make Smilebox

Perfect Pumpkin Centerpiece

Looking for a wonderful fall project to do with your charge(s)?

Nanny Gael Ann has shared with us this great idea for a beautiful centerpiece that is fun and easy. It will look beautiful with your Thanksgiving decor and your kids can say "I did it myself" (Thanks Gael Ann!) Below are some finished centerpieces.

Just gather a few simple supplies and make this easy fall centerpiece.
What you need:
One pumpkin (ours was about 30 inches in diameter)
Golf tees approx. 20-25 (fall colored ones are nice but natural colored work well too)
Silk flowers and/or fall decoration(s) attached to a stick (We used a purchased scarecrow already on a stick but you could use any festive decoration attached to a thin wooden skewer. This year we are going to use craft foam sheets to make pilgrim and native American figures for a Thanksgiving centerpiece. The flower stems do not need to be very long so I just bought an inexpensive silk bouquet and used wire cutters to cut the individual flowers and leaves off with only 3-4 inch stems.)
Kid size hammer (a toy wooden one worked just as well as the child size metal one in photo)
Directions:
Step 1: Simply get your charge(s) to hammer the golf tees into the pumpkin in a random pattern all around the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the pumpkin. Even a young charge will have no trouble doing this especially if you poke the golf tee in just a bit to help it stand up for the fun hammering part.
Step 2: Now have your charge(s) remove some of the golf tees and insert a flower stem or decoration into each hole. The remainder of the golf tee are left in.
Step 3: Adjust the height of the golf tees, flowers and other decorations for a pleasing effect.
I hope you give this very fun simple project a try! Ours lasted on the kitchen table for 4 weeks.

How to Make a Smilebox!

Smilebox Basic is free and I used it satisfactorily for over a year before my employers upgraded me to the Smilebox Club. It is only $5.99/month or $39.99/year and gives you access to unlimited premium Smilebox designs, lets you choose from additional music selections or download music from your own collection. You can try Smilebox Club free for a 14 day trial and cancel anytime. Smilebox Club members can also send their creations without ads (full screen), print keepsakes and burn DVD's to be played on regular TV. You can also buy the cards individually for about $2.99.
A new feature, just added this month, allows you to view Smileboxes on a digital frame using a memory stick. What a super gift idea for the upcoming holiday season! Handy suggestion: Smilebox has a design called Simply Calendar that would be the perfect format for cute photos taken throughout the year. The other day, after returning from having dinner out, I asked my preschool charge if he liked the new restaurant we had tried. He replied, "Yes, can I see the Smilebox?" Check out http://www.smilebox.com/ and get ready to send some smiles! Here is an example of one of the Smileboxes that Nanny Gael Ann created.

Make a Smilebox invite