Thankful Turkey Activity Boxes

Thanksgiving can be a long day for kids. It’s always exciting and overwhelming at the same time, especially since all the adults are busy prepping for dinner. With this in mind, I always find a way to keep the kids entertained – something that requires a little bit of focus but is still fun.

Thanksgiving is a time in our family when we take a moment to really think about what we’re thankful for. We take the opportunity to write these things down and keep them as memories for the rest of the year. Even the grown ups get involved!

I came up with these paper-craft turkey boxes with my kids. We actually did similar boxes last year, so this year we reopened them to remind ourselves of what we wrote last year! All the kids cut and make their own turkey with colored construction paper. It’s so simple! Then of course we write down all the things we’re thankful for onto slips of paper, and put them into the box. Happy Thanksgiving!

What You Need

• Colored construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Craft matchboxes
• Compass
• White-out
• Black pencil
• White pencil

How-To

1. Draw a circle onto colored construction paper and cut it out.
2. For the turkey’s neck, pick a contrasting color and cut a long rectangle with rounded corners. For the nose, cut a small triangle out of construction paper and glue it onto the neck. Then glue the neck and nose onto the circle.
3. Draw the turkey’s eye with whiteout. To make the turkey’s accessories, cut a crown and bow out of paper and then glue them onto your turkey.
4. To make the tail feathers, cut long strips of construction paper with triangles on the ends. Glue each of the feathers onto the back of the turkey.
5. Finally glue the turkey on top of a craft matchbox.

6. And the final step: cut paper slips and write down what you’re thankful for. Put these papers into your box.

Happy crafting!

DIY Wood Block Turkeys

Fall is one of my favorite seasons, but boy does it fly by. After Halloween it’s my daughter’s birthday and then Thanksgiving – it’s non-stop! But it’s a good busy, so I can’t complain. As you might know, I am French so Thanksgiving wasn’t a part of my family’s tradition. But since moving to America seventeen years ago, I’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving. I really enjoy taking the time to be thankful, and I make sure to encourage my kids to be thankful too.

This past weekend, we spent time preparing for Thanksgiving and now the house now is ready! I came up with these colorful turkeys – aren’t they fun? You can use them to decorate all over the house, set them up as a centerpiece, or use them as place cards – just write your guests’ names on them. Or if you need an activity to keep the kids busy, have them make these turkeys! Let’s get crafting!

What You Need

• Wooden cubes (or small boxes)
• Black paint
• Paintbrush
• Construction paper
• Craft feathers
• Scissors
• Tape
• Glue
• Pencil
• White out

How-To

1. Paint the cubes black and let dry.
2. In the mean time, cut triangles out of yellow construction paper and raindrops out of red paper. Set aside.
3. When the cubes are dry, glue down the red raindrop shape and then glue the triangle beak on top to make the turkey faces.
4. Use white out to make the eyes and draw the pupils with pencil.
5. Pick out some colored feathers and glue them onto the back of your cube. Let dry.

Voila! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Forest Puppets Dreamer Pad

Dream on, dreamers! We can’t stop talking about our new line of kids’ craft kits and supplies available at Michaels nationwide – Handmade Charlotte Kids! Today we’re sharing a closer look at the Forest Puppets Dreamer Pad, one of the three dreamer pads in the line – see the other two here and here! Create your own puppet play using all the playful characters included in the activity book.

This dreamer pad even includes activity sheets and SO many beautiful stickers for hours of creative fun. Stage a puppet show featuring lumberjacks, Mr. Fox, a unicorn, and all your wildlife friends – we have a feeling your audience will be begging for an encore. ;) Keep reading for a closer look at everything included in the kit!

Contents

• 50 brads
• 12 straws
• 10 page activity pad
• 1 sheet of glue dots
• 1 storage envelope

How-To

Step 1
Pop the shapes out of the activity book along the perforated lines.

Step 2
Use the brads to attach the limbs onto the bodies of the characters through the pre-punched holes.

Step 3
Apply a glue dot onto the back of the paper puppet and attach a straw. Voila! Continue popping out the paper props and backgrounds and perform a play for your friends!

What story will you tell with these colorful wildlife puppets? Share your photos with us using #HCKidsClub!

Live from Mt. Pom-Pom

Meet the Artist

Japanese artist Misaki Kazwai works with just about every medium possible – paintings, sculptures, wall murals, furniture, toys, books, even writing her own music. Born to an architect father and a mother who liked to sew and make puppets, her psychedelic craft-art is clearly the perfect combination of their influences. We’re hooked!

“The Doggy Dog” (2011, Malmo Konsthall)

“Big Bubble” exhibition (2011, Malmo Konsthall)

“Wet Shiny Surprise” exhibition (2011, LOYAL Gallery)

Children’s furniture, “Love from Mt. Pom Pom” exhibition (2012, CMA NYC)

Be sure to check out Misaki Kawai’s super fun online shop!

DIY Emoji Bubble Necklaces

Do you have a favorite emoji? There are sooo many to choose from, it’s nearly impossible! One of the craft kits available in our new Handmade Charlotte Kids line is this Emoji Me Bubble Necklace – you can turn your favorite emoji into a fun necklace! Each kit includes nine bubble beads, emoji stickers, pom poms, and matching accessories – enough to make three awesome necklaces.

And a secret bonus – you can include a secret note or wish inside your bubble bead! There are some great emoji-themed options in the kit, or make your own custom note to add in too. We love how fun it is to create your own custom accessories – wouldn’t it be cool to throw an emoji-themed necklace craft slumber party? Keep reading for even more photos of these playful necklaces. Everything you need is included in the kit available online and in Michaels stores online. :)

Contents

• 9 bubble beads
• Ribbon
• Stickers
• 12 beads
• Sequins
• 6 buttons
• 6 felt shapes
• 42 pompoms
• Satin cord
• 3 safety clasps
• 9 jump rings
• Paper notes
• Sticky seals
• Instructions

How-To

Step 1
Fill the yellow bubble beads with yellow pompoms. You can even include a secret note inside!

Step 2
Add an emoji face onto the front of the bubble bead using the stickers included in your kit.

Step 3
For the clear bubble beads, fill with the pink and purple pompoms, beads, sequins, felt shapes, and buttons. You can mix and match or sort by color – have fun with it!

Step 4
Close all the bubble beads and use the round sticky seals to keep the bubbles closed.

Step 5
Put a jump ring onto each bubble bead and then thread onto the satin cord. Tie a knot around each jump ring to keep the bead in place.

Step 6
Thread the safety clasp onto each end of the satin cord and tie a knot on each end as shown.

Step 7
Tie the pink ribbon into a bow around the cord and voila: you’ve got a colorful new necklace!

Pick up your own Emoji Me Bubble Necklace right here!! Happy crafting! :)

No-Sew Felt Pumpkin Table Runner

Invite your kids to help with some Thanksgiving decorating this year by making this easy no-sew table runner. It really is as simple as cutting out some felt pieces and gluing them in a row.

Younger children may need a little extra help, but older kids can do this all on their own. And they’ll be so proud when you use this runner on the kids’ table (or even on your coffee table) come Thanksgiving.

Want to ensure that this looks a little less like a “kid craft” and a little more like something you want to display in your home? One of the easiest ways is to choose colors of felt that YOU like. A runner made of pastel pumpkins or all white “ghost” pumpkins might be more your style than bright orange.

And of course, the size is easy to adjust by using as many or as few pumpkins as you want. Make it just the right size for your home!

What You Need

• Pumpkin Table Runner template (download here)
• Wool blend felt (in several pumpkin colors + tan)
• Pins
• Scissors
• Fabric glue

How-To

Step 1
Print the pumpkin templates on regular printer paper and cut them out. Pin the pieces to the felt and cut around them.

Cut several pumpkin shapes from each color of felt and cut out a tan stem for each pumpkin.

Step 2
Glue the stems to the top of the pumpkins with a bit of fabric glue.

Step 3
Arrange the pumpkins in a row so they overlap. Play around with the layout a bit until it looks like you want it to.

Leave them laying flat and start gluing them together where they overlap. Don’t use too much glue or it will squeeze out and get messy!

After the pumpkins have had time to dry, your table runner is ready to set up your Thanksgiving kids’ table!

The simplicity of this runner makes it easy to dress up with a few candles or other basic table decor. It’s also pretty enough to use on a coffee table or other areas that aren’t just designed for kids.

To dress it up a little more, try adding some lines of embroidery stitches to define the ridges of the pumpkin.

To make this project a little easier for young children who are still practicing their scissor skills, have them cut the pumpkins from colored paper instead of felt.

Instead of making a runner, cluster the pumpkins together to make placemats!

And no matter how smooth (or rough) the edges looks or how gluey the seams get, be sure to thank your little crafter for helping with the decorations!

Happy crafting!

DIY Cassette Tape Gift Wrap

Did you make custom mix tapes for friends and family when you were growing up? We sure did! Now that cassette tapes are almost obsolete, we miss that hobby more than ever. We decided that instead of giving actual mix tapes as gifts, we would use them to inspire our gift wrap this holiday season.

At first glance, these cassette-inspired gifts look fairly straight-forward. But if you look along the bottom edge you’ll find a secret message—we used Scotch® Magic™ Tape to write a personalized holiday message for each gift, When you give these gifts to your friends and family, have them give a little tug to the exposed cassette ribbon to reveal the rest of the message. It’s just like magic!

To take care of everyone on your list, we’ve provided a handful of free cassette tape printables in a variety of fun holiday colors. Along with some matching wrapping paper, Scotch® Magic™ Tape, and Scotch® Double Sided Tape, you’ll be on your way to a rockin’ wrapping job!

What You Need

• Cassette Tape Gift Wrap templates (download here)
• Wrapping paper to match your chosen printable(s)
• Scotch® Magic™ Tape
• Scotch® Double Sided Tape
• Cutting mat
• Craft knife
• Pencil
• Black pen/marker
• Fine-tip white paint pen
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Black (or any dark color) tissue paper
• Your gift, in a rectangular box

How-To

Step 1
On a flat work surface, roll out your wrapping paper and place your rectangular gift box on top. The box we used was 8 3/4” by 5 3/4” so we cut a piece of blue wrapping paper to 15” by 20”. We used blue wrapping paper to match the blue cassette tape printable that we had already sized, printed, and cut out to fit our gift box.

Step 2
Place the gift box face down onto the cut wrapping paper so that the long side of the box is about 5” away from the 15” long edge of the wrapping paper. Use a pencil to trace around the box, and then trace the thin front side of the box too, so that it’s now about 4” away from the edge of the wrapping paper. This thin rectangle is where we cut smaller windows to imitate the bottom of a cassette tape.

The size of these windows will vary depending on the size of your gift box, but the general look should be the same: three longer rectangles with two smaller ones in between. Use a pencil and ruler to space them evenly within the rectangle – our larger rectangles were 1 1/2” long by 3/4” wide and the smaller ones were 3/8” long by 1/2” wide (we kept them at least 1/4” from the edges). Once you are happy with the shapes, use a craft knife, ruler, and cutting mat to cut them out.

Step 3
Cut a contrasting piece of wrapping paper (or matching, your preference) the same size as the thin rectangle on the front of the box. Apply Scotch® Double Sided Tape and attach the paper to the front of the box. This way, the plain box won’t be visible through the windows we just cut.

Step 4
Time to make the cassette tape ribbon! Start by laying out a sheet of black (or any dark color) tissue paper. Next, apply a long piece of Scotch® Magic™ Tape along the length, smoothing as you go. Make a few long lines of tape in this way, and then use a ruler and craft knife to cut the strips out. On the taped side of the strip, use a paint pen to write a message. We wrote holiday wishes and Christmas carol lyrics, but get creative! Be sure to let the paint/pen/ink dry thoroughly to avoid smudging.

Step 5
Once the ink is dry, wrap the cassette tape around the gift. If one strip isn’t long enough, attach two pieces together. Use a tiny piece of Scotch® Magic™ Tape to attach one end of the cassette ribbon onto the box and another tiny piece to attach the other end of the cassette ribbon to the box. It’s okay if they overlap a little (as shown in the image above). Be sure to use as small a piece as you can manage. If you attach it too well, you may have trouble later trying to pull the cassette ribbon out to reveal the message!

Step 6
Place the gift box back, face down, on the wrapping paper where you traced it before. Make sure the text on the ribbon is upside down for now and that the overlapping taped cassette ribbon isn’t on the side with the windows. Wrap your present as you would normally, taking extra care around the windows. Use Scotch® Magic™ Tape to secure the wrapping paper on the bottom of the gift box, and once you’ve folded the ends in, secure those as well.

Step 7
Use Scotch® Double Sided Tape to attach the cassette printable onto the top of the wrapped gift box. Make sure that the bottom of the cassette faces the edge where the windows are. To finish up, write a fun message in the blank space on the cassette tape!

Happy wrapping!

This post is sponsored by Scotch™.

DIY Ice Cream Chandelier

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Even though the weather is getting cooler everyday and peak ice cream season is mostly behind us, we love ice cream so much that we made it into a fun DIY chandelier as part of our new line of Handmade Charlotte Kids craft kits and supplies available exclusively at Michaels! The kit includes everything you need to make your very own ice cream chandelier to party every day! This is great news for all the ice cream lovers out there. :)

Each kit comes with eight skeins of colored yarn so that you can turn the pom poms into your all your favorite ice cream flavors: mint chocolate chip, strawberry swirl, cookies and cream … need we go on? A super fun way to decorate kids’ rooms, we think the ice cream chandelier goes perfectly with disco balls and bright rainbow colors. Keep reading for a closer look at how to craft your own chandelier – everything is included in the kit available online and in Michaels stores nationwide. Let’s get crafting!

Contents

• Foam chandelier
• Pompom maker
• Yarn
• 8 red pom poms
• Paper cones
• Satin cord and hanging hook
• Scissors
• Glue
• Adhesive strips
• Instructions

How-To

Step 1
The first step is to make your eight ice cream pompoms! Wrap yarn around the U-shaped pompom maker, leaving an 8” strip to the side for tying. Once you wrap all the yarn around the pompom maker, tie around the middle and use scissors to cut the yarn loops, forming a pom pom! Repeat with all colors of yarn, and trim to make the pompoms neat and round.

Step 2
Pop the foam chandelier out of the frame, including any negative space pieces, and the eight circles. As the instruction booklet shows, apply adhesive strips to the slots of the chandelier and then slide together, pressing to adhere. Place each circle into the holders as shown.

Step 3
Apply an adhesive strip to an edge on the plain side of each paper ice cream cone. Roll into a cone, and press along the adhesive to secure. Repeat for all the paper cones.

Step 4
Glue each big pompom into a cone, and then glue a mini red cherry pompom on top of each. Let dry, and then place each ice cream cone into a circle holder on the chandelier. Thread the red satin cord through the center loop of the chandelier, and attach the red hook to hang.

Pick up your own Party Everyday Ice Cream Chandelier kit here. Happy crafting!

DIY Tangram Pinata

What’s more exciting than leaving a party with pieces of candy from a piñata?  Taking home an actual piece of the piñata with candy inside!  So cool, right?  So, here’s the deal… basically, you make several mini piñatas, and when you arrange them strategically, you have a cool design to go with your party theme!

I used the same seven pieces to create a swan, a fish, and a horse.  There are so many tangram patterns available that you will surely be able to find a good option for just about any party.  You can make all of your pieces in the same color, or play around with a scheme to match your theme.

Another benefit to making this tabletop piñata:  Nobody goes home with a black eye from a baseball bat.  HUGE plus!

What You Need

•  Cardboard (I used cereal and Clif bar boxes!)
• Party streamers
• Masking tape
• Double-sided tape
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Fringe scissors (optional)
• Internet attached to printer (not pictured)
• Copy machine for enlarging (not pictured)
• Small favors and candy

How-To

Step 1
You will need to search Google for “tangram patterns”, and print the pattern of your choice.  NOTE: Consider how many guests will attend the party, and how many pieces are in your design.  If necessary, you can always make more than one set.

Step 2
Using a copy machine, enlarge the tangram pattern to a size that will allow for shapes large enough to hold candy and small favors.

Step 3
Cut out each piece of your pattern, and trace each shape TWICE on cardboard.  Next, use your ruler to create a strip of cardboard that is at least ½” wide, and long enough to wrap around your shape.  You may end up having to tape a couple of pieces together.

Step 4
Line your strip of cardboard up with the edge of your shape, and tape the two pieces together.  Once you reach the end of one side, bend the strip to continue taping the second edge.  When you reach the final side of your shape, cut the strip of cardboard down to fit the side.

Before you begin taping the final side, cut off about 2/3 of the cardboard strip (see photo on bottom left, above).  Tape the remaining 1/3 to the side, then in the opposite corner, tape the other strip to the edge where you started (see photo on bottom right, above).  Tape about ½ of the remaining strip to the edge, then bend the remaining little piece out to create a small door for inserting your candy and small favors (see top, middle photo below).  Do not tape the door to the side of the piñata.

Step 5  
Flip the shape to the other side, and lay the identical cardboard shape on top.  Begin by taping it down over one corner, and then continue to tape all the way around the shape, until you reach your little door.  Leaving it open, tape the remaining strip until your tape meets up again.

Your first piece is complete, and you may now repeat each step to make the remaining shapes in your tangram pattern!

Step 6
Cut a fairly long piece of streamer, and then fold the piece in half the long way to make it skinny.  Next, using fringe scissors, cut little slits into the unfolded edge of your streamers without cutting all the way to the folded edge.

Step 7
Starting at the bottom of your shape, place a piece of double-stick tape all the way across, and place your streamer fringe on the tape.  You may cut off any excess fringe, leaving a small amount hanging off the side.  Continue applying tape and fringe all the way across your shape, layering the pieces, and working your way up to the top.  Once the side is completely covered, you may flip the piece over and trim the fringe to make it even with your shape, giving it a nice straight edge.

Step 8
Next, layer fringe on the sides of your shape starting at the bottom and layering to the top.  Be sure to cover the door with fringe, but without taping it down.  Finally, cover the bottom side with fringe, and move on to the next shape.

Step 9
Stuff each piñata piece with the same amount of candy or small favors.  (I like the idea of putting something tiny but extra special in the smallest piece, so the guest who receives it will be rewarded for accepting the small one!)  Using your tangram pattern as a reference, arrange your pieces to make the piñata of your choice!

You could even add a horn for a unicorn party!

Party time! Happy crafting :)

DIY Emoji Pom-Pom by Number

Pom-poms are the best! They’re one of our all-time favorite craft supplies and we always make sure to have some on hand in the studio. We couldn’t possibly deal with a pom-pom shortage! For our new Handmade Charlotte Kids craft line, pom-poms are included in a bunch of the kits, but they really shine in our Pom-pom by Numbers sets! Today we’re showing you a closer look at the emoji set, but we also love our pom-pom animal parade and sunshine friends kits too!

We’re definitely not afraid of creative messes and getting your hands dirty, but we know that sometimes a simple, tidy craft is exactly what you need. Enter these pom-pom by numbers! The foam shapes come with sticky backs that you attach the pom-poms directly onto – no white glue needed! Keep reading to see even more of our favorite emoji friends, now available exclusively at Michael’s stores nationwide.

Contents

• Sticky foam
• Pom-poms
• Stickers
• Instructions

How-To

Step 1
Peel the back off of the yellow sticky foam. Start attaching the yellow pom-poms onto the sticky side – there are about 60 pom-poms for each circle.

Step 2
Once you’ve covered all four sticky foam circles with yellow pom-poms, select your favorite emoji faces from the sticker sheet and attach onto the pom-pom covered circles.

Happy crafting!