365 Days With Kiddos - #37 - Make "Stained Glass" Hearts Using Crayon Shaving

The first time my daughter used a crayon sharpener she got so into it that we decided to sharpen every crayon we own. This, of course, produced a large pile of crayon shavings. I seemed to remember using these in a craft when I was a child, and after thinking on it a bit, I remembered putting them between pieces of wax paper, ironing, and making "stained glass". This is a great way to recycle and upcycle your crayon shavings.

How to Make a Stained Glass Heart (or any other shape) With Crayon Shavings
By Tiffany Teske
For all ages (children will need adult supervision when using the iron)

You will need:
- crayons that need to be sharpened
- a crayon or pencil sharpener
- wax paper
- a cereal box cardboard for making a template
- an iron
- a dish towel
Optional - a table top or standing ironing board to iron on (we just ironed on the counter on top of the dish towel)
Optional - foil ribbon, glitter, confetti, or anything else you would like to add.

Instructions:

1) Create a template in the shape that you want the wax paper to be. We used a heart we saved from a box of chocolates from several years ago. You can preheat the iron now. We used it on a medium high setting since we ironed through the dish towel.

2) Cut two pieces of wax paper to a size that the template will fit onto.

3) Put the template on top of the wax paper and trace. Repeat on the other sheet.

4) Cut out the shapes along the traced lines.

5) Cut out pieces of ribbon to sandwich into your heart.

6) Place one of the wax paper pieces on top of half of the dish towel. Place ribbon snippets, crayon shavings, and any other optional items on top of the wax paper.

7) Place the other wax paper piece on top of the other. Fold the empty side of the dish towel over on top of the wax paper sandwich.

8) Iron, with the steam setting off, on top of the towel, checking from time to time to see if the crayon shaving are melting in the sandwich.

Iron....

Iron a bit more...

9) When the shaving have melted, remove the dish towel and admire your art work! Tape it to the window using clear tape.

Do you know a variation on this craft? If so, please leave it in the comment below. You could make these smaller, put them on a string, and hand them out as Valentines...

Photography Feature - Hearts

Well, Valentine's Day may be over until next year but I wanted to post some of the heart photographs in my collection. I used to find hearts to be too cute but now I love them. And I look for them around me and then capture them, in an attempt to collect them. Is there a particular thing that you are drawn to photograph? If so, please share it in the comments. Enjoy!

All Photographs by Tiffany Teske

365 Days With Kiddos - #28 - Make Valentine Cards Using My Vintage Valentine Download Freebie

I love Valentine's Day! It has always been my second favourite holiday (my first is Thanksgiving). I didn't grow to embrace the symbol of the heart until a few years ago, but now that I like it, I oooohhh and ahhhh over it and any creative projects that include it. Sometimes I miss the boat on holiday projects because time moves so fast and I don't always plan ahead. I tend to think of a holiday the week it happens. But, not this year! Several weeks ago I got out an album of vintage Valentines that I bought for a steal at an antique shop near my father's cabin this past summer. They are adorable! I will have to upload several of them this week as a Vintage Finds post...

This week I needed to select a valentine for my daughter's upcoming preschool Valentine's Day party. I also needed to prepare for a card making workshop I was teaching at a local senior residence. I decided on the card above for both. Because this is a four fold card all the needs to be done is to print it out on a 8.5x11" sheet of paper and then to fold it. This card is special in that the net that the boy is "catching" the winged heart in is a cut out. The way I scanned the flat card you can see exactly where the net needs to be cut out. Once the holes are cut, a piece of tulle, or origami mesh, or even recycle net fruit bag can be glued in, then the card can be folded to hide everything except for the net in the cut out. My little gift to you is this card at hi resolution, ready to be printed for your own Valentines. Just right click on the image, save it to your computer, then print it out in colour. You can make these your own unique cards by using shaped scissors to cut a decorative edge around the outside of the card. Your kiddos can do this and they can help to glue in the mesh and to fold the cards. If you would like to make envelopes for your cards you can find an amazing array of free templates at Minkwood Designs.

February 9th - Making Valentine's With My Senior Friends

From time to time, mostly around major holidays, I am contracted to teach crafts to local seniors. I really look forward to these visits, and I know they really look forward to seeing me and my kiddos. Today I brought my 8 month old to make Valentines with them. I brought an example card I made and lots of cut out hearts and supplies. I love when I give everyone the same materials how they all make something different. I mean, that is generally what happens but it always amazes me. Sue, the woman who works with them regularly, and whom I work with when I visit, also gave them roses which were donated by the local grocery store. And we made chocolate dipped strawberries, which tasted AMAZING. Strawberry prices have been so high I feel like I have not had them in FOREVER!


Here is my card and the rest are a selection of what these fun women made... I get so inspired by them. I feel it is very valuable to be around our elders and to hear what they have to say. They are so generous with their wisdom and are happy to share. I always leave with memories. Today's include being invited into the apartment of one of the residents, to see her MASSIVE teddy bear collection, and photos of her grand kids. She was packing for a trip to Edmonton to see her gentleman friend for Valentine's Day. So sweet! She gave Emmanuelle a tiny stuffed bear. Also, another resident, Sophia, GAVE me a two vintage cases that are filled with her mother's sewing supplies!! I almost didn't know what to say. She said she could not bear to get rid of them but that knowing I will use them makes her happy! I will do a more indepth post on that soon. I better go, I have some thank you cards I need to write...

Handmade Valentines & Truffles for Kids

My friend, Kristal, from The Rikrak Studios, asked me to contribute some kid crafts and activities to her blog. I love the idea, and asked her if she would consider doing the same for my blog. So, we plan to have a bit of a project tutorial swap on an ongoing basis which we hope you enjoy. Stay tuned!

I teach crafts to kids and seniors in my community, AND I get PAID! I love it! Today, I made valentine cards and truffles with my favorite seniors. I have taught the same projects to kids ages 6 - 12 years old. These are fun and doable projects for all ages if you join in the fun.



Valentine "Puffy Hearts" (as my friend, Sue, calls them)
I LOVE tissue art. It brings me back to childhood. I love the bright colors and texture of the paper. I also find the repetitive

You will need:
- Colorful tissue paper, folded as many times as you can and still cut it into 1" squares (the idea is to make many squares from minimum cuts). You can go as large as 2", but just keep in mind the larger the square, the higher they will be off the paper.
- Hearts cut out of card stock, ours were about 5".
- White glue
- Pencil
- Markers or pen for a greeting

1) It is easiest for kids to write a greeting on the card BEFORE adding the tissue paper.

2) When I do tissue art I put glue in a little bowl and dip, but for kids it seems to be easiest if they make a running bead of white glue around the piece.



3) Put the end of pencil in the middle of a square of tissue paper and wrap the paper around the end of the pencil, then push into the glue on the card, and pull out the pencil. There is no wrong way to do this. The less perfect the better. If a child doesn't have the patience to fill in the whole heart they can still make adorable cards by just putting the paper on the border of the heart.



A variation on this theme is to just put the tissue on the border and then to paste another heart on top so that the tissue paper sticks out the sides.



Truffles



These are not comparable to fine Belgian chocolates, but they satisfy the chocolate cravings of adults and kids alike. They are fast, easy, and yummy! No cooking required, which makes them great for a class (although you need a microwave to melt the butter). I quadruple the recipe.

You will need:
2 1/2 oz graham crackers
4 oz icing sugar
3 Tablespoons cocoa
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon or instant coffee (you can probably tell which is best for kids)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla



1) Put crackers in a clean plastic bag. Use rolling pin to crush them into fine crumbs.

2) Sift flour and cocoa into a bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir in butter, cinnamon OR coffee, and vanilla.

3) Pour the crumbs into the bowl. Mix them in. Then, use your hands to squeeze the mixture into a ball.



4) Break off pieces of the mixture and roll into small balls the size of walnuts. You can roll the balls in more cocoa, icing sugar, or crushed nuts.

5) Put the finished balls onto a large plate and let cool. Then, package them up in fun Valentine bags or boxes. Give to your sweetheart and hope they will share some with you. Enjoy!