Kid's gingerbread house decorating party

Kid friendly gingerbread decorating party using graham crackers

Christmas with kids is always fun. There’s so many traditions you can start with them. Like baking cookies, making Christmas stockings, and decorating gingerbread houses to name a few.

We made graham cracker gingerbread houses last night and it was so much fun! And my stress level was at a ZERO! Yes, a zero. If you are a momma of multiples, especially multiples that are stair steps, you know what I’m talking about. Things like this can stress us out. My secret to a no stress gingerbread making party? Let the kids have fun and don’t worry about any of it being pretty or perfect. That’s it!

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Don’t get me wrong the pictures on Pinterest with the perfectly decorated “kid” made gingerbread houses are absolutely adorable. A picture perfect graham cracker house with a tiny little spill of sprinkles on the table and a dab of out of place frosting is oh so cute…but let’s be honest that’s not likely to happen in most homes with little ones. As a mom of 4 I KNOW this lol! And really, where’s the fun if there’s not a GIANT MESS of sprinkles, crumbs of graham crackers, frosting smeared on their faces and broken candy canes to pick up?

So let’s ditch the vision of perfectly put together Christmas gingerbread houses and embrace that beautiful chaos. Those are the moments you are connecting with kids. Those are the moments your kids are learning. Those are the moments that matter.

GRAHAM CRACKER GINGERBREAD HOUSE YOUR KIDS WILL ENJOY MAKING

Most of the supplies I picked up at my local Dollar Tree. Here’s what we used

• graham crackers

• 2 tubs of cream cheese frosting

• green food coloring

• mini candy canes

• gumdrops

• assorted hard candies

• large spree candies

• twizzlers pull and peel

• red and white round peppermints

• green and white peppermints

• mini & regular sized marshmallows

• jellybeans

• traditional pretzels

• large & mini pretzel sticks

• sprinkles

Other supplies that we used:

• 2 Wilton piping bags

• 2 sandwich bags

• paper plates

• glass condiment bowls

• 4 oz mason jars

• cake stands (these are similar to what I used)

• assorted bowls & dishes

• rubber bands (to tie the frosting bags closed so it doesn’t come out)

To free up space we used cake stands to hold the candies that were in these little glass condiment dishes. I love these little dishes. They are super cheap, only $.25 each! This got them up and off of the table so that the girls would have more space to create.

We used another cake stand to hold the sprinkles and the bags of frosting. The frosting I used, generic cream cheese frosting in a can, wasn’t really the best for this but it works. It doesn’t set up/dry super fast but it works. We also stuck the bags of frosting in the fridge about an hour before we started decorating so that the icing would be more firm to work with.

Each daughter got a paper plate to make their gingerbread house on.

They played around with different designs then started “gluing” their pieces together using the bags of icing.

After their houses set up, the frosting had hardened a bit, they decorated their little hearts out!

I always love seeing their creativity take flight. They kept adding and adding candies thinking of new ways they could use all the different colors and shapes.

My third daughter was the only one to make a snowman out of the marshmallows. He was adorable with his little hard candy hat and twizzler scarf.

I love the doorway my first born daughter made using the marshmallows.

And this super creative door crafted by daughter number 2 made into the shape of a heart using mini peppermint sticks. Adorable!

Last but not least is the masterpiece from daughter number 4. Oh the love that was put into this. It may look like a mess to others but she had THE MOST fun making this. After her original house fell she turned the rubble into a work of gingerbread house art!

Sure our houses weren’t perfect by Pinterest standards but it doesn’t even matter. For a couple of hours our family sat around our kitchen table and had the best time singing random songs, cracking jokes, teasing one another, and making memories. AND there wasn’t an argument one! I know, super rare for a family with 4 kiddos. It was a perfect Christmas themed evening.

Check out more kid friendly crafts below.

Making leaf art with your kids

MAKING LEAF ART WITH YOUR KIDDOS

Whoa what a school year this has turned out to be for all of our kiddos. I know that virtual learning can be a lot of screen time but it also means that we get to have a lot of creative fun time with our kids too.

While we are learning at home I’m trying to plan fun things to do for the older kids and also things that will keep daughter #4 busy too since we are doing pre-k at home instead of the traditional pre-k we’ve always done. Today we made art. And not just any art, we made people and animals with leaves and other nature items.

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CLICK HERE for more KIDS PROJECTS

And it was SO FUN!

We’ve done something similar before, painting with nature click here to see how fun that turned out. But today we didn’t break out any paints. We just used the colors (and the option for markers for faces) that we found in the things that God gave to our backyard.

The older girls actually enjoyed it way more than my pre-k girl did which completely surprised me. I figured they would think it was “baby-ish” but they fully enjoyed this crafty project.

Making leaf art with your kids

STEP 1

Gather pieces of nature. We took a small basket outside and filled it with all kind of things (I purposefully didn’t take a big basket out there because I knew they would fill it FULL lol! The small one was more than enough materials for them to create with)

• colorful leaves

• twigs

• some pine cone looking things

• blades of grass

• berries

• vines

• and whatever else the kiddos want to grab

STEP 2

Bring it inside and set up a place where the kids can get messy. We used our dining room table and since we weren’t painting I didn’t mess with putting a drop cloth down.

I brought out our metal bin of glues, squeeze glue bottles and glue sticks, washable markers for if they wanted to add faces or anything their imaginations could think of, kid friendly scissors, and copy paper.

STEP 3

I helped my preschooler at first, showing her how we could create a Thanksgiving Day turkey out of the leaves and although she thought that was really cool she just wanted to glue whatever, and most importantly wherever to her piece of paper.

We took a round leaf and glued it down first

Then we took longer more oblong looking leaves and glued them behind the round leaf for the Turkey feathers.

My pre-k girl wanted to use a piece of bark for the head so that’s what we used.

For the gobble we glued a small skinny leaf like thing down and pushed it up so it was under the bark head.

For the legs we just added a second stem from another leaf and glue it in place using a glue stick.

The most important step of all though is to just enjoy this crafty art time with your kids. Let them make a mess. Let them create. Let them make mistakes and not feel like they have to be perfect.

Here are a few finished leaf art pictures my girls made. I LOVE them! They were so creative and really took time to enjoy the whole process of this leaf art project. I can’t wait to do the next just for fun creative activity with them.

If you enjoy this craft with your kiddos be sure to check out this post on painting with nature.

Painting with nature, a creative and fun experience to enjoy with your kids

Painting with nature, have you tried this with your kids? If not you are totally missing out on a ton of fun and creativity! I’m a momma to four girls and I LOVE that my almost preschooler loved it just as much as my middle schooler. So this craft is truly one for all ages.

What made this even more fun was that the girls gathered their own materials. They each went hunting in the yard and selected some really cool pieces of nature to paint with. Some of the nature items they found were dandelions, tree leaves, clovers, broken acorn shells, seeds from inside of pods, tree bark, and I know there’s more I’m forgetting. They really enjoyed this part. Watching them pick up the different materials that nature was offering and thinking how that would look on their paint canvas was too cool to see.

If you want to paint with nature but you need a mess free option be sure to check out my post on how we painted with pine cones. I don’t think my girls got a drop of paint on them for that project.

After you read this kid friendly DIY craft be sure to check out my other fun projects that are kid approved. Click here to go to my kids craft projects.

 Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

This is such a great activity to do outside if you can. If you can’t no worries I promise it will be just as fun! We gathered our nature painting pieces from our backyard but if you don’t have a backyard you can take a stroll around the park or even just down the sidewalk. The kids are sure to find some useful nature pieces there, even just a twig and a dandelion are perfect for this craft.

HOW TO PAINT WITH NATURE, AN EASY AND FUN CRAFT FOR KIDS

Here’s what you’ll need

• pieces of nature, let them gather whatever their creative hands can pick up

• canvas, we used 4”x6” canvases we found at the Dollar Tree

• food coloring, we used these gel ones

• acrylic paint

• water

• paint tray

• paint brushes

• aprons

• table covering, I invested in drop cloths for my crafts and LOVE using these!

Let the kids get messy! Getting messy is all part of the creative process. We kept our nature painting outside. I put a drop cloth over our patio table and had my girls wear aprons. The older three daughters wear adult aprons like these that we tie up on the neck and the youngest daughter wears a kids apron. With all the crafting we’ve done over the years these aprons have held up really well.

We used a combination of food coloring and acrylic paint to paint our nature canvases. I thought a watercolor look to these would be really pretty but we didn’t have any watercolors paints to use. Food coloring on the canvases turned out AMAZING! They looked just like watercolors, well they did at first but then the girls kept painting over their masterpieces to get them just right lol! We also used food coloring during our TIE DYE experiment and those turned out way better than I thought they were going to. Read about how to TIE DYE with food coloring here.

Painting with nature process is overall pretty simple, here’s how-

ONE- Gather your pieces of nature, canvas, paint and other materials and prep your work area

TWO- If you’re using food coloring you can mix that in your paint wells on your paint tray. I used a medical syringe, like the kind you get from the pharmacy, to squirt water into the paint well, this way I didn’t overfill them, then added drops of food coloring. I used a paintbrush to mix the water and food coloring together and that worked great.

THREE- Get creative and start painting with nature. I just let my girls paint with whatever and however they wanted. The only rule I had was to not argue lol! Let’s be real here, crafting with multiple kids, especially preteens, isn’t always the most enjoyable when the bickering starts. My girls know that if they start arguing with one another there's a good chance momma will make them pick up and put everything away. It’s a wonderful way to keep the peace.

We found that painting on the leaves worked really great for making prints of them. The key was to not apply too much of the food coloring mixture/paint.

Then press the leaves, or other nature items, onto the canvas.

If you want a good print of it press gently, don’t push it around this will cause the paint/food coloring to smear and will not give a good crisp print.

Here’s a leaf print my oldest daughter, who’s in middle school, made. I was actually surprised at how much she enjoyed this nature painting craft. She took her time and carefully picked her nature pieces, colors, and placement of all the things.

Just remember, if their projects turn out to be a crazy dark blog looking painting embrace it! Tell them they did a BEAUTIFUL job and enjoy the time you spend together creating. These are special memories you’ll look back on <3!

Let me know if you have any questions about painting with nature. Happy crafting!

Ultimate Dollar Tree birthday gift idea

The best kid’s birthday gift idea when you’re on a budget

It’s no secret that my girls and I LOVE the dollar tree. Seriously, we were just there today and when we got home my oldest couldn’t believe that we spent and entire HOUR in there and it literally felt like only 20 minutes had past lol! Yep…raising those girls right!

Our sole purpose of the trip was to find a couple gifts for the oldest daughter’s friends for their birthday parties. Raising a family of 6 isn’t a cheap task. So, things like friend’s birthday parties typically have a pretty small budget of $10 per kiddo. At Walmart $10 doesn’t get you much from the toy aisle or any aisle that a kid would be interested in anyway. But, I have to say over the years we have gotten really good at whipping up some amazing birthday gifts on the $10 budget. And I can’t wait to share the latest gift that comes in WAY under budget! Under budget meaning 70% lower than what we typically budget for friend’s birthdays.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

How was I able to create two gifts for kids for under $6?

Well, first the Dollar Tree. It is FULL of really amazing things that on their own may not be all that amazing but when paired with something else, like let’s say a personalized wood letter cut out, can be one of the best gifts ever! And second, I just purchased a scroll saw last weekend with the money that comes in from my handmade business so I used that to create the customized gifts for her friends.

My only regret is not buying a scroll saw sooner. If you’re curious about the one I purchased you can see more about the Ryobi scroll saw here. And if you wanna know about the other tools I have in my shop I’ve written a break down of which tools every crafter needs.

I used my Cricut Explore to cut out the letter E and the dog from cardstock. Then I outlined them with a pencil on a scrap piece of 1x8 that had been sitting on the wood shelf in the garage. Using my new handy scroll saw I cut out the shapes. Gave them a light sanding and they were ready to add to the items we picked up at the dollar tree.

Here’s what we picked up from the dollar tree

• 1 package of purple/pink 6 pk glitter

• 1 package of blue/green 6 pk glitter

• 1 package of purple/pink sequence

• 1 package of small containers

• 2 paint pots

We bought the small containers to fill with white paint and glue {which we have a TON of at home} . Since the paint pots don’t come with white paint and sequence doesn’t stick well to paint we thought those additions to the birthday gifts would be a good idea. I wrote on the outside of the containers which one was glue and which one was paint so there wasn’t any confusion when the birthday girl goes to use her new craft kit.

The glitters and sequence were individually wrapped so we pulled them off of the original packaging {they were just taped to the thin cardboard} and gave each birthday girl 4 glitters and 2 sequence.

To keep the birthday crafts looking somewhat professional I packaged the craft supplies in a clear goody bag {the party favor kind} that we already had left over at home.

I am so excited about this new DIY birthday craft idea! It’s absolutely perfect for the crafty kiddo in your life and it costs just a few dollars to create! I can honestly say that our girls loved this idea so much they each want their own.

———> Want more crafty gift giving ideas? Check out my post on these top selling kid approved DIY CRAFT KITS FOR KIDS

——> Also, you don’t want to miss this a great list of the PRE TEEN CRAFT IDEAS, because they can be so hard to buy for sometime

How to stencil on a canvas bag

Learn how to stencil on a canvas bag

Have you been wanting to learn how to stencil on a canvas tote? It’s actually super easy! Make it an even more fun with a DIY CANVAS TOTE PAINT PARTY. I’ve put together this DIY canvas bag craft kit to make it even easier. There’s no guess work for you. Just choose your stencil and I’ll send you everything you need to make your party a hit!

If you love this tutorial you’ll probably love this other stenciling project I did a tutorial on. I show you how to make a custom name canvas and it is one of my most popular posts on my blog AND one of the most popular craft kits I sell in my Etsy shop.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

What’s included in the DIY canvas tote craft kit?

If you don’t purchase the kit here’s what you’ll need

• canvas tote

• craft paint

• stencil

• xacto knife

• vinyl squeegee

• sponge

A tip before you start… to get the best outcome you will want to use a contrasting paint color so that your colors really pop.

Ok, let’s get started painting on this canvas bag.

1. Flip your stencil over so that the white paper backing is facing up.  Then using your vinyl squeegee {burnishing tool} rub the stencil  backing.

2. Slowly peel the paper backing away from the stencil and transfer  tape {the blue & clear pieces}. GO SLOW and work from one corner  across to the corner diagonal from it. Another tip is to peel it away  at a very sharp angle, it helps to glide it across itself.

3. Flip you stencil over so that the sticky side is facing down. Now  place it on your bag. Use your vinyl squeegee to help press it to the  bag.

4. Slowly peel off the clear transfer tape. Use the same technique that  you did when taking off the paper backing. GO SLOW and peel  from corner to corner at a very sharp angle

5. Run your finger along all the exposed areas of your stencil. This will  help control the paint bleed and keep it minimal. If there are any air  pockets just press them out with our finger or squeegee.

6. Before you start painting you need a barrier between the two layers  of your bag so you don’t have paint bleeding onto the other side.  You can do this by placing a plastic bag inside your canvas bag,  making sure it is in the same place as the stenciled area.

7. Put a small amount of your paint colors on your paper plate. Using  a stenciling sponge LIGHTLY dip the bottom of the sponge into  your paint. Dab it off. You want VERY LITTLE paint on your sponge.  Too much paint will cause paint bleed.

8. Using an up and down pouncing motion apply the paint with the  stenciling sponge onto the exposed areas of the stencil. You do not  want to rub or make a back and forth motion. This will force the  paint up and under your stencil. Repeat this step until you have  painted all the exposed areas inside your stencil.

9. After you have your entire stencil painted it’s time to peel it up. You  do not need to wait for your paint to dry for this step. Just like you  peeled the paper backing and transfer tape, start in one corner and  peel to the opposite corner. Be sure not to drop your stencil  material on your bag as you peel. Use your xacto knife to take up all  the middles out of your design. THIS STEP MUST BE DONE BY AN  ADULT.

10. After your design dries REMOVE the plastic bag. It is best to seal  your design with heat prior to washing it. You can do this by simply  ironing it, do not iron directly on the painted area always use a  pillow case or tea towel between the iron and your design.

How to TIE DYE using food coloring

Teach your kids the techniques of tie dying using food coloring

For a long while now my girls have been wanting to try their hand at tie dying so we thought why not make tie dye red, white, and blue shirts for the 4th of July that was coming up. But there was one slight problem, we were pressed for time and I had NEVER tried to tie dye before…ever. So we did some searching on Pinterest and found a TON of tutorials. We came across ones that used food coloring and I thought that would be a perfect starting point for us since we’d never tried this whole thing before.

It was a pretty great experience too! I’m so glad we tried this method first. I need to add that the food coloring does NOT stay in the fabric after being washed. There are steps that we could have taken to make it stay but I wanted their shirts to rinse clean so they could try other folding techniques and not have a million tie dye shirts in their closet.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

Click here for more kid friendly craft tutorials. If you enjoyed this TIE DYE craft watch the video below on how to stencil on a canvas bag. This is a HUGE hit for a birthday party craft.

Here’s what you’ll need

I picked everything up from my local Walmart & Dollar Tree, but I’ve included links if you prefer to order these items on Amazon and have them delivered right to your door.

• food coloring

• condiment squeeze bottles

• white t-shirt

• rubber bands

• measuring cup

• clothes pin

• gloves

• water

EASILY TIE DYE WITH FOOD COLORING

1. TWIST YOUR SHIRT

First you want to unfold your t-shirt so it is laying flat in front of you. Then pinch the middle and twist the shirt so it coils into itself. This was a little difficult for my girls to do so I did this step for them. But with a little practice I think they will master it in no time.

2. WRAP WITH RUBBER BANDS

Next, wrap a rubber band around the circumference of the coiled shirt. Then add several rubber bands going the other direction around the shirt so it doesn’t come undone. The method gives the shirt a traditional spiral look but if you want to learn other techniques I recommend reading Stephanie Lynn’s blog post about other tie dye folding techniques.

3. TIE DYE FOOD COLORING MIXTURE

Now you’re ready to start mixing the food color mixture.

I read another tutorial they recommended 8 drops of food coloring to 1/2 C of water. We mixed that at first but it didn’t seem like the colors were very bright. So we doubled the food coloring drops.

You’ll need to mix 16 drops of food coloring:1/2 C water we just poured it all into our squeeze bottles and gave them a good shake. I wasn’t sure how much solution we would use since we had 3 shirts to do and we ended up having to refill one red bottle and one blue bottle.

Their little setup was so cute I had to snap lots of pics!

4. APPLY THE FOOD COLOR MIXTURE

Then start squirting on the food coloring solution. If you don’t prewash your shirt you might have a hard time getting your shirt to absorb the liquid. This was us lol! So we gave our shirts a quick misting with a spray bottle with water in it and after that it soaked the food color water up just fine.

Keep squirting on the solution until your shirt looks like the one below. Again, we are first timers here but this worked for us so this is what we are recommending ;)!

5. LET IT SET

Other tutorials we read said to soak the shirt in salt water after you’re done squirting on the food color mixture. Then remove it after so many hours and let it sit for at least 12 hours…but we didn’t do that lol! We were pressed for time and this was a just for fun tie dye experiment to get our feet wet with the whole tie dying experience. But we did let our shirts set for 24 hours, mainly because we had a million other things to do {momma of 4 life}.

Keeping your shirt coiled up with the rubber bands still on it, place it inside a plastic bag and wrap the bag tight squeezing out all the air. Let sit for at least 12 hours.

6. READY TO WEAR

After it has sat, take it out and hang it inside to dry, away from sunlight. Once dry you can wear your freshly food colored tie dyed shirt right away.

My girls did some fancy cutting and tying on their shirts. The middle two even used some of their discarded pieces to make fun headbands to match their shirts!

Like I said above, this method is not permanent. It WILL wash out. But it was so fun for the girls to test the waters of tie dyeing. Look how adorable they are!! BTW the youngest of the four daughters didn’t want any part of the whole thing….life with a toddler lol!

In my opinion this is THE perfect way for kids to experiment with tie dying. They can do so many wrapping and folding techniques and if they don’t like it it will wash right out. And if they find a technique they love they can try their hand at the permanent stuff.

I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial. My girls had so much fun with this!

Let me know if you have any questions below.

5 awesome craft kits your kids will love

Craft kits kids will love

Kids love to create. They have creativity coming out their ears it seems like. Back when we had our brick and mortar craft studio we would sell these kits like crazy! And now we have them online so kids all across the world can enjoy them.

Don’t want to buy the kits but want to know how to make the craft? I’ve got ya covered! After the end of the descriptions I’ve included the link to the tutorial here on my blog.

Here are our top 5 craft kits that have been kid tested and APPROVED!

1. DIY glittery unicorn mason jar

This unicorn mason jar craft kit is one of our top selling craft kits we ship. Each kit comes with a pre-painted mason jar so you don’t even have to worry about that step {painting mason jars can be a challenge due to curing times in between coats}. Upgrade to a unicorn mason jar craft party size

Check out the DIY glittery unicorn jar tutorial

2. CUSTOM name canvas art

What kid doesn’t want their name on a beautiful canvas that they paint? This custom name art canvas craft kit comes with everything your kiddo needs to have a personalized canvas art. Your name of choice comes already attached to the canvas so it’s ready to go right out of the box. Once your kiddo paints their canvas you simply peel up the stencil to reveal the white lettering underneath. This custom name art craft is also available in party sized, actually this a great option for family get togethers to give the little ones something fun to do.

Check out the DIY custom canvas art tutorial

3. LOVE canvas art craft kit

Much like the craft kit above this canvas art come with the stencil already applied and ready to create right out of the box. This Valentine’s Day canvas art craft kit is always a big winner with moms and kids!

Check out the DIY canvas art tutorial

4. Mixed media canvas art craft kit

I can’t tell you enough how much kids LOVE this custom initial craft kit. The get to choose their own colors, buttons, rhinestones, and glitter and totally make it their own. This kit is so much fun and more!

Check out the DIY custom mixed media name canvas art tutorial

5. DIY light up fairy jar

Calling all whimsical fairy believers! This light up fairy jar craft kit will make a perfect gift for the fairy lover in your life. This kit includes a smooth mason jar, embellishments, cardstock fairy, glitter, twine, tissue paper, and a battery operated light. Full picture instructions are included.

Check out the DIY glittered light up fairy jar tutorial

There you have it our top 5 craft kits approved by kids! Each and every one of these kits was a top seller in our brick and mortar craft studio and they each continue to be top sellers in our online shop.

If you have any questions on the craft kits please feel free to reach out to me. Each one come will full picture instructions and materials to complete each craft. Please note tools such as a glue gun are not included inside our DIY kits.

10 fun crafts for preteens...from a preteen

FUN CRAFTS YOUR PRETEEN & TEENS WILL LOVE

I don’t know about you but our three older girls love Pinterest. They always ask to pin on there and honestly I don’t mind because it gives me a little insight into what they are into. What sparks their interest. And I love to see the varied levels of interest from each daughter. Some days they are all about pinning slime recipes and others they are decorating their dream house lol! But I especially love it because it helps me to see what craft projects they might be into so I can buy supplies when I see it go on sale.

So I thought I’d share on here 10 crafty projects that PRETEENS are into, from a preteen’s point of view. These are all projects they have either done and LOVED or projects they’ve seen on Pinterest that they have pinned…more than once {this happens a lot with these three}.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I think it’s important that I also share I have not collaborated in any way with the other crafty sites I’m sharing. These are all pins our preteens found on Pinterest and I want to give credit where credit is due. So please check them out. Just click on either the highlighted link or the pictures themselves and it will link back to their websites.

If your preteen / teen is into DIY lotions, bath bombs, lotions, lip balms, basically DIY SPA products for teens —-> click here.

1.Treasure Boxes

First up are these wonderful little treasure chest boxes. We made these for our oldest daughter’s birthday party. She had a scavenger hunt themed party so we thought why not have the treasure be mini treasure boxes! The kids loved them, even the boys which totally surprised me. We don’t have boys so it’s always super difficult for me to plan things that are gender neutral like that.

2. Fairy Houses

I don’t care how old you are fairies are fun! And these recycled fairy houses are sooooo adorable! Be sure to stop by Crafts By Amanda

3. Painted Feathers

These are gorgeous! Preteens could do so much with these painted feathers and they would be so easy to make. Check out BLD 25 and the rest of their DIY projects.

4. Sharpie Tie Dye

This looks like so much fun! Traditional tye dye can be messy but Natural Beach Living makes this craft look easy peasy!

5. Light Up Fairy Jar

I have watched LOTS of preteens make this craft and they love it so much! Fairies are so fun no matter your age! Our girls have made several of these over the years and each time they get more and more creative with it.

6. DIY Bath Bombs

So this has been on our older girl’s list of things to do for awhile and I’ll be honest I have no idea why we haven’t tried these yet. Chelsey from Buggy & Buddy has a great tutorial the girls and I will have to make over this summer!

7. Cracked Glass Jewelry

OMG this looks like a lot of fun! This project from Color Made Happy will require adult supervision but what a fun thing to make. I can’t wait to do this one with our girls.

8. DIY Constellation Jar : Glowing Science Fun

These look like a TON of fun! Your preteen could even upcycle an old sauce or pickle jar for this craft. Stephanie from Mom Dot did a great job with this creative project.

9. Polymer Clay Owl Necklace

Our girls got a ton of clay for Christmas last year so they are pinning like crazy all the different things they can make out of it. Probably one of the best gifts we’ve ever given them lol! They stay busy for hours with this stuff! Check out Angela from Projects With Kids and her polymer clay necklace tutorial

10. Wall Mobile

This is a must do craft for your tween. Especially if they are wanting to learn how to sew. I’ve taught all my older girls how to sew, the youngest will learn as soon as she’s ready, and they LOVE to explore what they can make with their learned skills. Sew Yeah has lots of great projects to check out including this heart wall mobile.

Be sure to check out all the amazing craft tutorials that our sweet girls found on Pinterest. I’d love to hear from you. What crafts does your preteen like?

Here are more kid themed crafts your kiddos may enjoy

DIY Glittered Unicorn Jar

DIY UNICORN MASON JAR

Looking for a fun UNICORN themed craft to do with your unicorn obsessed little one {or by yourself ;)}? These jars are such perfect little project! You can use them as a money bank, colored pencil holder, stick a battery operated candle inside to make a fun and unique night light or be like our girls and keep little trinkets you find inside your jar. Whatever you use it for it will be oh so cute!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Here’s what you’ll need

• CRICUT cutting machine

• Pre painted mason jar, any size

• White & Pink acrylic paint

• White & pink cardstock

• Round sponge brush

• Black vinyl for eyes

• Glitter

• Rhinestones

• Mod podge

• Either tacky glue or low temp glue gun

• Sponge brush

Need a no stress craft kit for this project? You can purchase a UNICORN JAR CRAFT KIT in my shop. Everything you need to complete this project at home. It’s always an option to send this packaged as a gift. If you’re planning a birthday party here is my no stress UNICORN CRAFT PARTY IN A BOX.

You want to start with a PRE PAINTED mason jar. I always use chalk paint to paint my jars. It goes on nice and even and has great coverage. You can use regular acrylic paint but you will not get the same coverage as the jar above. Your jar will need to cure for at least 24 hours prior. If it does not get proper curing time the paint can peel from the glass jar. I used both pint and quart sized mason jars for this project and they both turned out super cute! This is also a great way to use up an empty sauce or salsa jar from the kitchen.

I used my CRICUT CUTTING MACHINE to cut out all the facial features. I used cardstock for the ears and horn and black vinyl for the eyes. If you don’t have a cutting machine you can cut these by hand and draw/paint on the eyes.

Paint a thick layer of mod podge on the bottom of your jar. A wide 3” sponge brush works great for this. You can use the width as a guide for how high up to go on the jar.

Place a piece of paper under your jar and sprinkle it with glitter. The paper will catch a good amount of the glitter that doesn’t make it on the jar so you can reuse it. You’ll want to work quickly so your mod podge doesn’t dry before you get done glittering.

Once that is dry you will paint on the cheeks. Dip half of your round sponge brush into the pink paint and the other half into the white paint. When you apply the paint you will make a slight twist motion to get the swirly effect.

After you paint is COMPLETELY DRY you can add the eye decals. It is important you wait for these to dry as the vinyl will NOT  stick to wet paint. Remove the white paper backing first, the clear transfer tape and the eyes are attached. Then place it on your jar. Give it a good rub with your thumb or a plastic card then slowly remove the clear transfer tape off. This works great if you peel it at a very sharp angle like pictured.

Glue the pink ear piece onto the middle of the white earpiece with your detail brush. Apply glitter to or paint the horn. Then attach the ears, horn and rhinestones above the eyes. You can apply these anywhere you see fit, have fun with it:)! A glue gun works best for this but you can use the tacky glue to attach these pieces to your jar

I hope you love creating this craft as much as my girls and I did! Don’t be afraid to veer off this tutorial and really make it your own.

Check out more craft kid posts below

The hack you didn't know you needed for your crafty kids

It’s not a secret I LOVE creating and letting my girls create. But one thing I don’t particularly love is when the craft supplies go everywhere. I think moms everywhere can agree. Something about knowing that all those rhinestones and beads and giant sequence that are all over the place just occupies your mind instead of focusing on your precious babes making masterpieces.

I need to clarify that I’m not a clean freak, not even in the slightest. After all I’m a mom of 4, three of which are within 4 years of one another…so yeah I’m totally not a clean freak. Now, I also don’t keep a dirty home. We call it lived in {can I get and AMEN?!}.

But going back to that first paragraph it makes for a much more enjoyable crafting experience when I’m not focused on the 8 million beads that just fell off the side of the table because the entire jar spilled. Ok, maybe 8 million is a little exaggeration but it’s pretty close ;).

And you know what, I’m not the only mom who feels this way. I’ve talked to countless moms this last year who all agree, they have a really hard time enjoying art at home with their kids because their brain will focus on the mess instead of their kids. It’s natural. As parents, we have so much on our plates the last thing we want to do is chase rolling tiny itty bitty beads all of the kitchen floor.

So here’s my craft hack that you NEED in your life when you create with your kids at home…are you ready? MUFFIN TINS! Yes, you read it right, muffin tins. I know it sounds so simple and maybe a little crazy that muffin tins can help you enjoy art time with your sweet kiddos but I’m telling you they are just the thing you need!

I was in Dollar Tree {my second favorite store on the planet} one day shopping for supplies for crafting event we were putting on and I was trying to find something that would hold all the little cut outs because I didn’t want to scatter them on the table but I also didn’t want to use bowls because they just take up way too much room. I walked down the kitchen aisle and there they were, almost like a ray from the heavens shined upon them, and it hit! Muffin tins are small enough they don’t take up all the space on the table, big enough to hold lots of supplies, and shallow enough that kids can easily get to the supplies without getting their little hands stuck or having to dump it all out.

I can not tell you the number of parents that commented on how perfect the muffin tins worked.

These little guys are so cheap too! I picked ours up for $1 but I’m sure you can find some at local garage sales and thrift stores for next to nothing.

I’d love to hear your favorite at home crafting tips. Leave them in the comments below.

Christmas wish list, 100 gift ideas to get the CRAFT obsessed kid in your life

What do you give the craft obsessed kid? We have 3 crafty girls {the fourth one isn’t too far behind though} and own a family friendly CRAFT STUDIO so we have a pretty good idea of what kids LOVE to create with. Most kids love cutting, gluing, and adding as much paint to things as they can. They are just figuring out how to use different tools and exploring different colors, textures, and possibilities.

Did you know there are ALL kinds of different everyday items you can use to create with? Take a toothbrush for instance. This is one of those things we have in our studio that makes everyone say “ummmm do you brush your teeth here?” and the answer is always “no, we use it to paint”. A fun technique my grandma taught me when I was very young, to use a toothbrush to add little specs and small splatters of paint. It is the best tool for this so we keep several toothbrushes in shop just for this. I am so proud to pass down that little technique to so many.

Our older girls and I worked on this list just for you! They really enjoyed listing off all of their favorite supplies to create with. We hope you can use this to put together a really awesome CRAFT GIFT for your crafty kiddo! Let them explore. Let them make a mess. Let them be creative.

Super FUN canvas art for kids, easy HOW TO create your own at home

A couple weeks ago we threw a birthday party for our 9 year old. We wanted to do something a little different than what we usually do in the shop for her special celebration. We were looking through pinterest to get some inspiration and came across these gorgeous mixed media canvas art pieces. She instantly loved them and wanted to make her own. The ones we found used fancy jewels…that’s not really our speed but we had rhinestones and buttons and knew the ones they would make would look just as amazing!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Mixed art kids canvas

What you'll need

• 8”x10” canvas

• acrylic paint

• cardstock letter cut out {I cut ours on our cricut but you can free hand this and draw it on the canvas}

• pencil

• paintbrush

• extra fine glitter

• assorted rhinestones

• assorted buttons

• tacky glue

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Start by painting your canvas, I recommend a solid color or super simple design {i.e. polk a dots, paint splatter effect…}this will make your letter pop even more if it has a less distracting background.

Once the background color is dry, using your pencil trace your letter on your canvas. If you don’t have a paper letter cutout you can freehand this step, it will make it even more unique!

Now paint your letter, it’s ok if your paint gets outside of your lines, it’s art after all! You’ll want to use a color that is different from your background color. White is a good one and will really make the buttons and rhinestones standout.

Now the REAL FUN begins! After your letter is dry you can start blinging it out with all those fun rhinestones and buttons! Working in small sections at a time start gluing all that bling on! Painting it on the canvas with a paint brush works great for this. Just paint the glue on where you want to glue something down, you’ll want to use a fairly good amount of glue so everything stays in place. We use several different types of glue and Tacky Glue is hands down the best for projects like these!

When your letter is totally covered in buttons and rhinestones you’ll want to sprinkle it with glitter. That will fill in all the little spaces in between perfectly! We used extra fine glitter for this step.

Check out more craft kid posts below

DIY Light Up Fairy Jar

How to make your own light up glittery fairy jar lantern

Making your own light up fairy jar is easier than you think. This has been a favorite craft kit in our Etsy shop and for good reason…it’s absolutely adorable! When we had our brick and mortar craft studio this was always a top choice for the kids to make too. There’s really not anything that can top a glowing fairy lantern that’s covered in glitter!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

If you love this mason jar craft be sure to check out this adorable DIY UNICORN MASON JAR CRAFT TUTORIAL

Check out this similar MINI version of my DIY LIGHT UP FAIRY JAR…in CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT form. See the video below

What you’ll need

• fairy template (get my free template to use with your Cricut)

• CRICUT CUTTING MACHINE

• CRICUT ACCESS {Cricut Design Space}

• smooth mason jar

• 1 piece of tissue paper

• white glitter

• matte finish mod podge

• sponge brush

• black cardstock

• twine

• flower accents

• battery operated tea light

• low temp glue gun

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If you love crafty video tutorials be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel

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Make your DIY LIGHT UP FAIRY JAR even easier and grab a —-> FAIRY JAR CRAFT KIT <——

I recommend using a LOW TEMP glue gun to attach all your floral accents. This will dry much quicker and be more stable than using the mod podge to glue. Pro tip: using a low temp glue gun is always best when the kiddos are involved. The temp is a lot lower than a high temp glue gun and if they come in contact with either the hot glue or the tip of the glue gun then their skin likely won’t blister. I let all three of my older girls use this type of glue gun all by themselves and although they’ve come in contact with either the glue or the gun they’ve never had a serious issue with them.

If you didn’t grab your own DIY FAIRY JAR CRAFT KIT you’ll need to first cut out your fairy. I used my CRICUT EXPLORE & CRICUT ACCESS for this step. Grab my fairy template from my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY

Next apply your mod podge to the INSIDE of one side of your smooth mason jar. This is easier than applying the glue to the cardstock fairy then trying to place it inside of your jar.

Then place your fairy inside, be sure to position it so it's not crooked. Hold the fairy in place with the end of your brush for a few seconds until it’s set.

If you didn’t grab a craft kit, cut your tissue paper down so it is slightly bigger than your jar. You are going to mod podge this to the OUTSIDE of your jar. I find it easier to glue one side at a time.

Apply a good layer of mod podge to one side of your jar, be sure to get good coverage. Place your tissue paper down and slowly pat it down to work out all the bubbles. If it rips, don't worry this won't be super noticeable as you will be covering the jar in glitter. You will do this all around the jar till it is totally wrapped in one layer of tissue paper

After you’ve mod podged down your tissue paper trim away the excess where the lid will be screwed on. This makes it easier to get the lid off an on.

Apply a good layer of mod podge around the entire jar. Be sure it's a good layer so it doesn't dry by the time you get all the way around the jar.

Sprinkle your white glitter all the way around your jar. I typically focus around the corners but there's no wrong way to do this step.

Once your done glittering the outside of your fairy jar turn it upside down on the table and let dry. You will want it completely dry before you start gluing all your accents on.

Accent time! A grown up will want to help with this part if a glue gun is involved. 

I recommend not hot gluing your twine OR your accents to the lid itself. Gluing it to the lid will make it difficult to get the lid on and off AND your accents are likely to fall off easily if glued directly to the lid. Instead, glue your twine just below the bottom lip at the top of your mason jar.

Using your hot glue gun glue one end of your twine down just below that bottom lip of the jar. Wrap the twine around a few times. Then glue the second end in place.

Now, glue your accents right onto the twine. It helps if you trim down the flower bases so that they can sit flat on the twine.

Insert your tea light, turn off the lights and you're done! You've just created the cutest little fairy jar light!

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