January’s Sandbox Press article features a fun project to help your little one’s stay in touch with their friends in nature on even the coldest days!

When the cold weather hits, it seems like we rarely get outside to enjoy nature. This month’s craft lets your children enjoy the birds that stick around throughout the winter– from the comfort of inside your home! These feeders let your little ones create special treats for their feathered friends and hang them from the empty branches of trees. My son can sit still by the window for a surprisingly long time when there are birds or other wildlife in the yard enjoying his homemade treat.

These hanging bird feeders can be made with any bird food but you can buy varieties that attract the common birds of our Delaware winters. Let your children choose fun shaped cookie cutters for the feeders; this recipe made sixteen bird feeders but will vary depending on the size of your cookie cutters. They can be made in under an hour but take a few hours to dry and harden.

Supplies:

3/4 cup Flour, 1/2 cup Water, 1 Envelope unflavored gelatin, 3 tbsp. Corn syrup, 4 cups Birdseed, Cookie cutters in a variety of shapes, Nonstick spray, Cookie sheet, Waxed paper, Drinking straws, Ribbon or string

Steps:

1. Combine the flour, water, gelatin and corn syrup in a large bowl. Stir to mix well.
2. Add the birdseed and mix until well combined.
3. Spray your cookie cutters with the nonstick spray and place in one layer on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper.
4. Spoon some birdseed mixture into each mold. Pack it down and make the tops smooth with the bottom of a measuring cup.
5. Cut your straws into 1 inch pieces. Press a piece of straw into the top of each mold making sure it goes all of the way through.
6. Leave the birdseed molds to dry for at least 2 hours. Then remove the straws, flip and unmold each feeder. Allow to dry at least 2 more hours or overnight.
7. When completely dry and hardened, string some ribbon through the hole in each feeder. Hang from a tree and wait for the birds to arrive!
   Check out the birds enjoying a snack here!!

September’s Sandbox Press craft article is an homage to Back-to-school arts projects and home cooking!  It’s versatility makes it well used in our house already!

You can make this simple smock with a kitchen towel using basic sewing skills with a sewing machine or by hand. You can also personalize the smock for your child with just a few extra steps.

Not only is this a practical craft, but it’s also inexpensive and has multiple uses! The dishtowel can be one from your kitchen or purchased at a dollar store. The smock is intended to be used for art projects but can easily double as an apron for young cooks helping out in the kitchen.

Supplies:

1. 1 Dishtowel
2. 2 yards of 2” wide thick ribbon, such as grosgrain
3. Sewing machine or needle and thread

For optional personalizing:

1. Foam letters (like ones for playing in the bathtub)
2. Glue gun and glue
3. Spare piece of wood, such as a 2×4, about 8” long
4. Fabric or Acrylic Paint

Steps:

1. Fold the top corners under twice and stitch down along the edge for arm holes, leaving about 6” of fabric across the top.

After stitching both sides, it should look like this:

2. Fold the bottom of the dishtowel about 6” up to shorten the smock. It is best to hold the smock up to your child and decide on the best length for him or her. Stitch it across the top or on each side to make a pocket. Stitch up the pocket 2 or 3 times to create 3 or 4 pockets for supplies!

3. For the neck strap, cut a piece of ribbon about 20” long. Fold each end under twice and stitch to the back of the top of dishtowel.

4. For the ties, cut two pieces of ribbon about 18” long. Fold one end under and stitch closed on each piece . Then stitch the other end to the dishtowel at each side, again folding under to keep it from fraying.

5. Your art smock is finished! Try it on and start painting!

Front:

Back:

Optional personalization steps:

1. Pick out your child’s name from foam letters.

2. With a hot glue gun, attach the letters to your piece of wood, remembering to write the name as a mirror image of what you’ll want it to look like.

3. Dip the board in paint or paint each letter individually.

4. Press the board onto the art smock. If it isn’t clear enough, just use a paintbrush with your paint to make it bolder.

Voila!

Have you tried any of the Sandbox Press Crafty Kids crafts? If so, let me know!

Need a quick way to send some love to your family? You still have time to recruit your child to make Easter extra special!  These Easter cards took less than a day and my 2 1/2 year old was delighted to make a mess with paint!

I used some pre-purchased plain white cards (the same ones I’ve used for St. Patty’s Day cards and sewn Birthday cards – it was a smart purchase!) I had paint in my craft closet and cardstock in my office. We were all set!

For the first step, I had my son paint on the front of each card.

This quickly diminished into finger painting but made it more fun too!

Since his hands were covered, we made him stamp the back of each card as a signature. He landed about a 30% success rate on this part.

Then we let all the cards dry. This was the longest part of the whole process. Some cards were pretty soaked with paint! While they dried, I used a cookie cutter to trace the egg shape onto cardstock (cut to the size of the front of a card) and cut those out.

We wrote Happy Easter on each one and started gluing them to the front of cards. We made ten total and were able to mail them the next morning!

We hope you enjoy great time with family this weekend and try some new fun crafty projects! And Tracy and I wish you all a:

!!!

This is a very easy process, as long as you follow these steps very carefully!

Making a paper snowflake:

1. Choose your favorite boots. Make sure one leg of your pants is tucked into just one boot.

2. Make as big of a mess as possible.

3. Clean up your mess by blowing all scrap pieces of paper around the room. Be careful not to breathe in as you may end up eating all of said scraps.

4. Hang up your project using as large a piece of tape as possible. Remember how much Mommy will love it!

Good job! Time to admire your artwork!