Holiday Crafts – Family Friendly Frugality

Marshmallow Madness: Snowmen S’mores & Marshmallow Snowmen Candy Sticks (A How-To)

This is a repost of a very popular 2014 craft! Let me know if you make it!

Yesterday was a big BIG day for my kids! They each had a fun school Christmas Party.

That tray above had big plans. That was the before, and here are the afters:

Snowman Marshmallow S’mores

You might remember that for Halloween, I made these adorable Ghost Peep S’mores as gifts for the kid’s classmates.

So when I was searching for a great classmate gift for Christmas, and I stumbled upon my friend Stacie’s adorable Snowman Marshmallow S’mores on her blog The Amazing Mess (fabulous blog, you should check it out!), I knew I had to make them!

I’m totally going to be known as the Crazy S’more Lady at the school! 😉 (Now to brainstorm an Easter S’more gift!)

Head on over to the Amazing Mess to get this super simple gift idea.

Marshmallow Snowmen Candy Sticks

Next, I needed a centerpiece for Lizzie’s classroom. I was in charge of decorations, and since I was sick with Strep Throat all last week, I was coming down to the wire! I saw these adorable Sugar Crystal Covered Snowmen and I knew I had to make them!

They were super simple to make:

Ingredients:

Light Karo Syrup
Clean small paintbrush
Large Marshmallows
Candy Sticks (I got the long ones)
White Sparkling Sugar
Rolos
Mini Oreo Cookies
Fudge Frosting
Mini Chocolate Chips
Orange confetti sprinkles

Directions:

“Paint” the sides of each marshmallow with karo syrup and roll it around in the sparkling sugar to coat.
Push 3 marshmalllows onto each Candy Stick
Make a face using the mini chocolate chips (I just pushed in with the pointy side) and the orange confetti sprinkle (I had to put a bit of Karo Syrup on my sprinkle to make it stick)
Take your oreos apart.
Eat the side with the frosting 😉
On the other side, use the fudge frosting to stick the rolo to the top and to attach the hat to the top marshmallow

After this point, I found a basket and stuck a small styrofoam block in it (just one that came in with a package). Next I stuck my candy stick Snowmen into the styrofoam and filled the bottom with mini marshmallows. I tied some ripped fabric for a pretty effect.

They were a real hit with the kids and they were pretty simple to execute!

Both of these projects were done in about an hour and a half at a frantic pace, but the results were well worth it!

What Christmas crafts have you done this year?

Snowmen From A Hand Print Keepsake Christmas Ornament (Easy & Frugal!)

If you enjoy this craft, be sure to Pin it!

Pin It

Looking for a cute memorable Christmas Ornament craft to do with your kids or students?

Check out this Snowmen From A Hand Print Keepsake Christmas Ornament that my daughter came home from school with today!

It’s an ordinary ball ornament, but if you look closely, you can tell it’s ACTUALLY her handprint!

It looks like they dipped her hand in some white pant and had her place her hand as if she was holding the ornament. Then (after the paint dried) with either markers or colored sharpies they created snowmen out of her fingers and thumbs! On the opposite side is her name and the year.

Then they tied a little ribbon to the top.

SO cute! Definitely a keepsake that will be on our tree for a long time to come!

Enjoy!

Thanks to Ms Saskia & Ms Karen for this AWESOME crafty Christmas idea!

Tot Tuesday: Countdown to Halloween Friendly Witch Activity!

Tot Tuesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a special kids activity, frugal recipe for kids, kids tutorial, etc.

My kids are READY for Halloween. My son can barely contain his excitement and every day he rushes in to ask, “Is it Halloween today!?”.

Seeing as he started this bit midway through September, I knew we had a long 30+ days before I could finally say, “Yes, Halloween is TODAY!“.

Last year, we had an advent calendar for the children that really helped our children build up anticipation for Christmas, so I figured why not do the same for Halloween?

I was browing on Pinterest one day and found this adorable Halloween Countdown Calendar and just had to make it!

(are you on Pinterest? If you are, definitely make sure you are following me, and if I see you follow me, I’ll follow back!)

It’s super simple, this is all you need:

Black and green construction paper for the hat and face(I just cut two triangles. In hindsight, my hat triangle should have been wider then my face triangle); also I made a pointy witch nose from the green paper.
Purple and yellow construction paper (for the hair, just cut long thin strips)
Glue
Googly Eyes
tape
black marker

Make enough hair “ringlets” as there are days left until Halloween and begin the countdown! Each night, allow your kids to cut (or tear) off one lock of hair!

My kids LOVE our witch and we have our displayed on our refrigerator right next to our magnetic Jack O Lantern!

Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this activity? I’d love if you Pinned it!Pin It

Thanks Baby Center for the fun idea!

Tot Tuesday: Magnetic Jack O Lantern For Your Fridge (Only 4 Supplies Needed!)

Tot Tuesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a special kids activity, frugal recipe for kids, kids tutorial, etc.

My son is 4. This year, he seems to be Halloween obsessed already. We recently went to a Halloween store that popped up randomly in a strip mall near us (does that only happen in Texas? Random Halloween shops taking up abandoned buildings for 2 months every year?), and it was so exciting to see him push a bit past his fears and loudly assure us (as well as himself) that it was all just pretend and oh so silly!

Still, he’s 4. A lot of Halloween decorations are a bit too spooky for him. I also have a 2 year old girl, who is mega tough, but not a fan of ghosts and ghouls (unless they have fabulous shoes of course).

This left me with a bit of a dilemma. I want to deck the FFF Family halls with awesome Halloween decorations, but I want them to be cute and fun for my kids. Not scary or spooky.

So I Swagbucks searched ( 😉 ) some kid friendly Halloween decor craft ideas and came up with a bunch of goodies! I went armed with a coupon to my nearest crafting store and bought the supplies. Today we did our first craft. Oh boy was it a blast!

My kids love playing on the fridge with magnets. They have an older version of this LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set and they love to put in the letters and listen to the sounds and the alphabet song. Really though, they look that it’s MAGNETIC. What is it with kids and magnets?

Regardless, when I saw this awesome Happy Jack tutorial on Disney Family Fun…I had to try it out!

It’s basically just a magnetic jack o’ lantern that you make from super simple supplies:

Supplies:

How to:

Glue the orange paper to one sheet of magnet. You can make your pumpkin more pumpkin shaped…or you cheat like me and just round the corners. Cut a bit of a triangle out for the stem.

If you are lucky enough to find magnet that is black on the front…you won’t need to cover your magnet with black construction paper. Otherwise, cut out a few different eyes, noses and mouth (and a stem!) and glue them to the magnet. When the glue dries, cut out the pieces.

Make a cute face on it before you call the kids over.

If you have older children, they can probably help with the cutting and drawing of eyes, noses, mouths, etc. Since mine are so young, they mainly watched and enjoyed the finished product! I’m so excited for this craft and can see us making something like this for every holiday!

FYI: This craft uses magnets. Magnets are VERY harmful if swallowed. Use caution if you have little ones in your home.

If you decide to attempt this project, I’d love to hear about it! Either leave me a comment or send me an email with a link to where you blogged about it at heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality.com

DO YOU have a great Halloween craft, tip or tutorial you’d like to share with the Family Friendly Frugality audience? Shoot me an email and if I love it, I’ll share with my readers!

Halloween Activity: Make Your Own Friendly Cone Witch!

She watches over our key and sunglass basket 😉

Okay, I was going to post this craft on Tot Tuesday. The only problem?

My kids couldn’t help with this baby at all. I actually found this craft a bit challenging, and didn’t want to mislead anyone into thinking it was easy peasy and kid friendly. The after results are awesome, and your kids are sure to get a kick out of it, but you might want to do a run-through of this friendly witch on your lonesome before you get the kids involved.

With that said, this witch is SO fun! The kids love her and I do too.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 sheet each black and green construction paper
Tape
White craft glue
Scissors
½ sheet each white and purple construction paper
Red marker, paint pen, colored pencil, or crayon
Glue stick
Gold paint pen
Miniature green pom-pom
2 medium yellow wiggle eyes
Black fine tip marker
This Pattern

You can find the instructions for how to make this craft over here on Caboose, but I do have some tips for you:

:: I recommend using craft glue to glue your cone together. The tape showed too much on my first draft and just didn’t look nice. The glued version looks much better.

:: They suggest this: “If you prefer that the back of the witch be a bit neater, after creating your black cone, create a cone from green paper the same size. Cut the face and belt section from the green cone and slide down onto the black cone just as you did with the hat.” DO THIS. This is a much simpler & neater way to get the look you want.

:: Like I mentioned above, I highly suggest you do a run through of this craft before you decide to let your kids do it. Otherwise you might all end up getting frustrated. Maybe you should even pre-make the cones for them.

This witch is super fun and a great addition to your Halloween Decor!

<A HREF=”http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_cw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fanadveinpare-20%2F8010%2Fd0d7e938-2286-4e86-ad81-e18ba6a14d06&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.com Widgets</A>

Be sure to pin this super fun activity to do later and to show off to your followers on Pinterest!
Pin It

Free eBook: Easter Eggs–Designs, Tips, and Recipes

FREE eBook

Do you dye eggs each Easter? Here’s a great FREE eBook with some neat tips and tricks!

Download “Easter Eggs–Easter Egg Designs, Tips for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, Egg Recipes” today!!

If you’re tired of coloring Easter eggs the same old boring way you have been for years, our Easter Eggs: Easter Egg Designs, Tips for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, Egg Recipes free eBook has tons of unique Easter egg coloring ideas! This eBook is full of fun ideas for Easter.

Have fun!

FREE eBook–How to Make Easter Crafts: 7 Cute Easter Craft Projects

FREE eBook

You still have time to create some great Easter crafts with your children! Download this FREE eBook “How to Make Easter Crafts: 7 Cute Easter Craft Projects” today and get started!

This collection includes Easter basket ideas, Easter egg crafts, Easter wreath tutorials and more adorable easy to make Easter decorations.

I love the “Grass is Greener” wreath featured in the eBook!

Enjoy!

Gobble Gobble: Countdown to Thanksgiving w/ Turkey Feathers!

Want to try this craft out? Be sure to Pin it! Pin It

We sat down this morning to make our Thanksgiving Countdown calendar! Similar to our Witch Hair Countdown to Halloween, the kids will pull off a feather each day until Thanksgiving.

I made this with some scrapbook paper I found for dirt cheap! You could even use actual craft feathers as well or just plain construction paper.

It was super easy to make and I know we’ll enjoy it all month long!

I found (after doing the countdown to Halloween) that countdown calendars like this are a great way to really build up anticipation and also to talk about what the holiday means and why we celebrate it! If you make one, upload it to the Family Friendly Facebook wall so I can see it!