Shaving Cream Cross Garland

We shaving cream painted (sounds crazy huh?) a few weeks ago and I am FINALLY getting around to posting about it. It was so much fun and we have done so much with our paintings. It's like the craft that keeps on giving.

I found the idea at Little Wonders Days and knew Sweet P would LOVE this! The kid loves shaving cream and paint so this was the perfect craft for her!

We turned our finished product into a cross garland for our window and sent the extras as Easter ornaments to RoRo, TK, Nana and Gammie. Then, we used the scraps from cutting the paper into crosses to make an egg collage AND we still have some scraps leftover! We loved this project and it'll be so fun to do for other holidays in the future!

Here's a quick overview of how it went:

Spray shaving cream into a baking sheet or other container and mix around until the container is covered.

Drizzle paint over the top of the shaving cream and swirl with a paintbrush, toothpick, straw, etc.

Press your paper onto the shaving cream/paint mixture OR grab handfuls and spread it all over the paper.

Allow to sit for a few minutes (ours sat for several minutes while Sweet P took a quick bath).
Use a squeegee (or towel) to wipe off the shaving cream (the paint will remain!) and set out to dry.

Cut into the shape of your choice or hang to admire!

For the cross garland, I cut each piece of paper into 5 crosses.

I laminated the crosses so we could use the garland next year.

Sweet P lined them all up and helped me punch holes in them.

Punch a hole in each cross, then thread through a piece of yarn or string. Hang and admire!

Cut scraps into small squares or other shapes, cut a large egg shape out of cardstock or construction paper and glue scraps to egg to form a decorative Easter egg!

Whew! What else can we do with our scraps?!

5 Ideas for Plastic Eggs

Our plastic eggs definitely get a workout during the Lenten season! I think we've done something with them almost every day for the past 2 weeks and this week brings Easter egg hunts and the completion of our Resurrection eggs.

Easter egg hunts are always fun, but plastic eggs are so versatile that we try to use them as many ways as we can before they get put back into the seasonal box. We have 3 different sizes of eggs: mini, medium and large, and look for ways we can use each size in our daily activities.

Here are 5 Ideas for Plastic Eggs:

1. Put them in a Sensory Bin, a bin of rice or a big bowl of oats! Plastic eggs are great scoopers and opening and closing them helps fine motor skill development. Filling the eggs with oats and rice and shaking them is another fun sound activity!

2. Use them for sorting and matching activities. For some reason opening and closing plastic eggs never gets old for Sweet P. She loves discovering what is inside of each egg and also likes matching the colors when she puts them back together. Sort the eggs by color, size, or into containers using an ice cream scoop or egg tongs. Put numbered stickers on both sides of the eggs for a fun math and counting activity.

3. Stack them or use them for patterning activities. The round shape of the eggs allows them to fit into each other pretty well. Sweet P discovered stacking while gathering the eggs to put them back into a bag after she finished a tray they were on. She thought it was pretty neat and said, "Look at this, mama!" If you have various colors, you can also create patterns with the bottoms/tops of each egg.

4. Sound eggs: Use your plastic eggs to create sound boxes. Read more about this activity on our Sound Eggs post. These keep Sweet P interested for quite awhile.

5. Put them in the bath! Some of our plastic eggs have holes in the tops so they are fun to fill and pour out again and again! Sweet P loved watching the bubbles come out of the little holes when she held them under water. We also had fun seeing them float and sink when she filled them with water! Then, she built towers by stacking them all along the side of the bathtub.

Stained Glass Cross Craft

Sweet P made this as a gift for Gammie for her birthday. It's right up Gammie's alley and perfect for the Easter season. It was such a simple craft and it looked beautiful in the window! We sent it to Gammie so now we need to make one of our own!

 

The Craft: Stained Glass Cross

What you need:

• Purple (or color of choice) card stock
• Colored tissue paper (we used several colors but one is fine)
• Contact paper
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Yarn

Cut a cross frame out of the card stock. I folded the card stock in half to cut it and it was much easier than trying to make the ends the same size. Cut contact paper twice the size of your cross (you'll need it to cover both sides), then cut the contact paper in half. Affix the cross onto one piece of the contact paper and cut around the edges so that the only sticky part is in the middle of the cross frame. Cut small pieces of tissue paper (child can help with this if scissor-aged), then have your child stick the tissue paper onto the contact paper until covered. Place the other piece of contact paper on top of the finished product and cut around the edge of the cross. Hole punch the top and thread a piece of yarn through the hole. Tie off the yarn and hang in a window. 

A great sensory project both when creating and admiring!

Handprint Easter Lily

The same woman who told my MOPS group about her responsibility chart and dusting mitts, also told us about Handprint Easter Lilies. She quickly explained the concept and then moved on to other ideas, but that one stuck with me and I love how they turned out!

 

I created an Easter Lily centerpiece for our kitchen and it has 3 lilies for Sweet P and 3 lilies for Baby Blue. I love the idea of doing this every year and eventually having a bouquet of handprint Easter lilies to cherish!

The idea is simple and a fun mom/child activity.

Here's what you need for the Handprint Easter Lily and centerpiece:

• sheet of white foam
• sheet of pink or red foam 
• green pipe cleaner 
• glue
• scissors
• pencil

Centerpiece:

• solid base (I used a mushroom container, but a floral styrofoam block would work)
• green construction paper
• green pipe cleaners cut into small pieces

Easter Lily instructions:

Trace your child's hand on the white foam piece (I just press with a mechanical pencil and it makes enough of an indention to use as a cutline). Cut out handprint. Repeat if you want more lilies. Cut a small piece of pink foam and cut into three pieces to form the stamens. I used a glue gun, but other glue would work. Hot glue the stamen to the top of a green pipe cleaner, then glue the pipe cleaner to the bottom middle of the handprint. Glue one side of the handprint to the pipe cleaner/stamen, repeat with the other side so that the hand wraps together to form the lily. Fold down the fingers to form a flower. 

Centerpiece instructions:

Cut a large piece of construction paper in half laterally. Using a hot glue gun (or other glue) secure the green construction paper to your base. It should stand up around the edges and not fit perfectly. Allow to dry, then cut the tops of the paper about every inch or so to form grass (see picture). Have your child poke the small pieces of pipe cleaner into the base to add more grass. Arrange lilies and poke into grass.

Wa-la! Easter centerpiece! Sweet P loves asking which ones are hers and which ones are Baby Blue's hands. 

My Lenten Resolution

I chose a tough one this year, but one that I know will challenge me. I'm looking forward to the challenge and really excited to see how my faith grows through this Lenten season while giving up the internet. Yep. I'm giving up the internet. Because I can't quite go without checking my email for 6 weeks, I'll pop in on Sundays to check emails, update the blog, check meetup (that's how we schedule our playdates!) and print out any recipes I need for the week.

When I first mentioned that I was thinking of giving up the internet for Lent, the Farmer said, "I don't think you can do it." Right after that he said, "No, I think you can do it, but it's going to be a really big challenge." It's definitely going to be a challenge, but isn't the point of a Lenten resolution to abstain from something we indulge in? When I think about the suffering Jesus endured, giving up the internet seems petty. My hope, however, is that this 6 weeks of abstaining from the internet will strengthen my relationship with God. Giving up internet time will also increase the amount of time the Farmer and I spend together while the kids are asleep.

Giving up the internet will also encourage me to plan and organize our weeks a bit better. I've already started menu planning (something I haven't been good about) so that I can shop for the items I'll need for new recipes we'll be trying. I've also started making a list of things from Pinterest I want to make, try or do with Sweet P. At first, I was really anxious about giving up the internet, but the more I thought and prayed about it, the more I realized that it was definitely the thing I needed to give up. It's something I rely on, turn to and obsess about from time to time. I stay up too late and get mad at myself in the morning.

Because to be honest, I spend too much time on the internet. I'm hoping that by giving up the internet 6 days a week, I'll be less reliant on it. I do have a few concerns, especially if it involves a recipe or directions, but I've also reminded myself that mothers have lived for thousands of years without the internet! If I need directions I can pick up the phone and I can always choose another recipe.

I don't have a smart phone so that's a plus. I do, however, have Facebook on my phone and the ability to check my email so I will be disabling the internet on my phone for the next 6 weeks. This is HUGE! I check my email constantly from my phone so that'll be difficult!

I'm doing my best to schedule posts so that the blog continues while I'm away and I have a few awesome guest posters lined up as well. I can't wait to share them with you!

Have a great Ash Wednesday! This post was scheduled on Sunday so my internet break has already begun!