Painted Popcorn Craft

Indiana is the largest popcorn producer in the United States. Several major brands, including Orville Redenbacher's, originated in Indiana. So it's no surprise that Indiana named popcorn as its official state snack. Illinois is also a major popcorn producer that has named popcorn as its official state snack. I love popcorn and thought it would be fun to design a popcorn craft focused on the 4th graders in Indiana and Illinois studying their state symbols rather than the preschoolers who typically make popcorn crafts. Affiliate links below. 

Painted Popcorn Craft

Materials: 

• cardstock (white and red)
• microtip scissors
• 1" circle punch
• acrylic paint (yellow and white)
• 0.4" paint pouncer
• craft glue
• Flair pen (red)
• colored pencil (brown)

Steps: 

Cut a rectangle from white cardstock, approximately 3" x 4". Cut a square that is about 3.5" then cut a wiggly edge on all sides. The easiest way to do this is to keep the scissors still and move the paper back and forth. Punch a white circle. Cut four strips of red cardstock, each about 3/8" thick and longer than 4". 

Protect your work surface, then dip the paint pouncer in yellow paint. Pounce it randomly on the wiggly cardstock. 

Without cleaning the pouncer or letting the paint dry, dip the pouncer in white paint and continue pouncing randomly until the cardstock is covered. Be sure not to cover up all of the yellow. 

While the paint is drying, glue the red stripes to the white rectangle to make the popcorn box. If you were to glue the popcorn to the box right now, it would look like this. 

Center the words POP and CORN on the punched circle using the red Flair pen. Then color around the outside edge of the circle. Glue it to the popcorn box. 

Use a brown colored pencil to lightly outline some of the popcorn kernels, following the lines created by pouncing. Add little brown triangles between some of the pieces to show where there would be shadows between kernels. Add a few small curves here and there to mimic popcorn hulls. Then use the scissors to refine the shape of the popcorn. Follow the colors, thinking about how popcorn would actually sit. When you are happy with it, glue it to the top of the popcorn box. 

I really enjoyed this project. Paint pouncing is FUN! After making it, you'd better believe that I ate some popcorn!

SIX: The Musical

Have you seen SIX: The Musical? It tells the story of Henry VIII's six wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived) with a decidedly modern Girl Power vibe. The music and the costumes are fantastic and it's such a fun show! Missouri Street Theatre did the Teen Edition of SIX in December and it was spectacular. 

SIX: The Musical (affiliate link)

MST had a neat idea for a fundraiser - donate any amount and take a picture with the cast. I wish the teens were in the front and we were in the back so that you could see their incredible costumes, but it's still a really fun picture. The layout came together really quickly. I used the playbill for my title, then added journaling, a strip of glittery washi tape, and the crown to finish it off.

Crayon-Resist Swallowtail Butterfly

I liked the results of my wax-resist Colorado hairstreak butterfly so much that I used the same technique to make a different butterfly. This time, I chose the Eastern tiger swallowtail. It is the state insect of Virginia, the state butterfly of Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and both the state butterfly and mascot of Alabama. Affiliate links below. 

Wax-Resist Swallowtail Butterfly

Materials: 

• watercolor paper
• crayons
• black paint
• microtip scissors
• colored pencil

Steps: 

Because I wanted my Eastern tiger swallowtail to be accurate, I printed out a picture first at the size I wanted my finished project to be. Then I used the window to trace the butterfly onto watercolor paper. 

Next, I used yellow, orange, black, blue, and white crayons to color in the butterfly. Since this is a wax-resist project, press hard and leave a thick layer of wax where you want the paint to resist; color lightly in the areas where you want black to cover most of your crayon marks. 

Create a wash by mixing a few drops of black acrylic paint into some water. Brush the wash over the butterfly. The paint will resist the areas with crayon. When the paint is dry, cut out the butterfly. 

The wash dried a little lighter than I wanted, but it was an easy fix. I used a black colored pencil to darken the areas that needed to pop. Here you can see the difference between the right side that I've colored and the left side that has just the wash. 

Here is is with both sides colored. 

The Eastern tiger swallowtail is such a pretty butterfly! I'm really happy with how my project turned out. 

Tomato and Strawberry Easter Eggs

Today's Easter eggs based on state symbols are so easy to make that you get two-for-one. First up is a tomato, the state fruit of Arkansas, Ohio, and Tennessee. Second is the strawberry, the state fruit of Delaware, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. Affiliate links below. 

 

Tomato Easter Egg

Materials:

• egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint (red)
• felt (green)
• scissors
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the egg red. While it is drying, cut out a multi-pointed star shape from felt for the tomato's leaves. Cut a thin strip for the stem. When the paint is dry, glue the leaves to the side of the egg and the stem on top of the leaves. 

---------

Strawberry Easter Egg

Materials:

• egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint (red, yellow)
• felt (green)
• scissors
• plastic fork
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the egg red. While the paint is drying, cut out a multi-pointed star shape from felt for the strawberry's leaves. Cut a thin strip for the stem. 

When the red paint is dry, use a plastic fork to apply yellow dots to the egg to mimic the strawberry's seeds. 

When the yellow paint is dry, glue the leaves to the rounded end of the egg. Glue the stem onto the leaves. 

Deer Easter Egg

For my next state symbol Easter egg, I chose a deer. The white-tailed deer is the state animal of Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, the state game animal of Oklahoma, and the wildlife symbol of Wisconsin. Affiliate links below.

  

Deer Easter Egg

Materials:

• egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint (brown)
• brown cardstock
• scissors
• colored pencil (white)
• black paint pen
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the brown. While the paint is drying, cut out a pair of antlers, a pair of ears, and a tail. Make each a little longer than needed; fold back a small tab at the base. (This is where you'll be putting glue.) Use a white colored pencil to color the inside of the deer's ears. Color the edges and the underside of the tail white. 

Use the paint pen to add a nose to the pointed end of the egg. Add eyes and a mouth. Glue the ears,  antlers, and tail in place. 

Ice Cream Cone Easter Egg

Ice cream cones have been around since 1904, when visitors to the St. Louis World's Fair tried a revolutionary new treat. Vendors folded waffles into cones and filled them with ice cream. In 2008, 104 years after the birth of this now-ubiquitous treat, Missouri named the ice cream cone their official state dessert. Honor the ice cream cone by making an Easter egg version. Affiliate links below. 

 

 

Ice Cream Cone Easter Egg

Materials:

• egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint
• cardstock (tan)
• colored pencil (tan)
• scissors
• craft glue
• binder clips
• Sharpie

Steps: 

Start by painting the egg your desired color. While that is drying, work on the cone. Use a ruler and a colored pencil to draw diagonal lines on the cardstock, first in one direction and then the other. There's no need to measure - just get some lines on there to mimic the look of an ice cream cone. 

Roll the cardstock into a cone shape, making sure the lines you drew face out. Measure the cone against the egg and adjust the wide end of the cone accordingly. I ended up cutting down my paper significantly. You may want to make a template with scratch paper first if you don't have another use for the excess cardstock. Glue the cone and add a binder clip to prevent it from unrolling while it dries. 

Use a Sharpie to add flecks of chocolate to your mint chip or chocolate chip ice cream, or skip this step if you chose a different flavor. When the glue on the cone is dry, trim to the top to make it even and nestle the egg inside. 

Another fun Easter egg idea, inspired by a state symbol!

Cat in the Hat Easter Egg

You may be wondering why I made a Cat in the Hat Easter egg when I said that this year's eggs are all inspired by state symbols. While the Cat himself is not a state symbol, Dr. Seuss is the official State Children's Author and Illustrator of Massachusetts. We had a fantastic time at the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts a few years ago. If you've never been, make plans to go! In the meantime, try this easy Easter egg idea. Affiliate links below. 

 

Cat in the Hat Easter Egg

Materials:

• egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• scissors
• cardboard tube
• cardstock (red and white)
• craft glue
• binder clips
• Sharpie

Steps: 

Start by making the hat. Slice a 2.5" ring off a cardboard tube. Cut up the side so that you can adjust the circumference of the tube (you'll need to make it smaller to fit the egg). Cut a piece of red cardstock that is slightly taller than the cardboard tube ring and wide enough to wrap around it. Cut two strips of white cardstock and glue them to the red to make the iconic stripes. Glue the cardstock to the cardboard tube, then adjust the tube to the appropriate circumference to fit your egg (about 1"). Clip the ends in place to allow the glue to dry without having to hold it. 

When the glue is dry, cut a circle of white cardstock for the brim of the hat. Snip the inside of the brim and fold up the flaps of cardstock. This gives you a surface to glue to the inside of the hat. 

Use a Sharpie to draw the cat's eyes, eyebrows, nose, whiskers, and smile. Then add light, whispy marks to the area beyond the face. 

Finally, place the hat on top of the egg. 

I can imagine making a whole collection of Seuss-inspired Easter eggs. There are so many fun characters in his books.

Harbor Seal Easter Egg

I enjoy coming up with creative ways to decorate Easter eggs. This year, I'm challenging myself to decorate my eggs using state symbols. First up, a harbor seal. 

In 2016, the harbor seal was adopted as the official state marine mammal of Rhode Island. Did you know that harbor seals can weigh up to 300 pounds and live up to 30 years? Females give birth to a single baby between March and May. Babies weigh around 20 pounds at birth and can swim and dive within hours of birth. They gain almost a pound a day during the 4-6 weeks their mothers nurse them. Harbor seals eat a variety of seafood; they will swim more than a hundred miles upstream in large rivers in search of migrating fish. Affiliate links below. 

Harbor Seal Easter Egg

Materials:

• egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint (grey)
• white chalk
• paint pen (black) or Sharpie
• fishing line
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the egg grey. When the paint has dried completely, orient the egg with the pointy end facing you. Rub some chalk on your finger (or on a cotton ball) and apply it to where the seal's eyes and cheeks will be. 

Use a black paint pen to draw the seal's eyes, nose, and mouth. Add random spots around the body, then add lots of tiny dots where the whiskers go.  

Cut six (or more) short pieces of fishing line for the seal's whiskers. Add dots of glue and press the whiskers in place. You'll need to hold them for 30 seconds or so while the glue sets up. 

Tissue Paper Crafts for Kids

I am a tissue paper hoarder. Not only do I save the used tissue paper from all the presents our family receives, but if I go to a party and it looks like the recipient is going to throw out their tissue paper, I jump in and save that too. I've been doing this for decades and I manage to stay in equilibrium - I use as much as I bring in. How? Tissue paper crafts! 

There are so many fun things you can make with tissue paper. Over the years, I've shared more than 40 different tissue paper crafts. You can find them all using that link. Below are some of my favorites. 

Tissue Paper Cardinal
     This project is one of my all-time favorite bird crafts. I love cardinals and this one is so cute. 

Paper Taco
    Tissue paper acts as the lettuce in this all-paper version of a taco. 

Decoupage Flower Bouquet
     These colorful flowers are so much fun to make!     

Tissue Paper Stained Glass
     It's amazing how much tissue paper resembles stained glass in this project. 

Paper Plate Salad
     Once again, tissue paper plays the role of lettuce. This time, it's in a salad. 

Tissue Paper Ocean Art
     The secret to this project is bleeding tissue paper. 

Fall Tree with Tissue Paper Leaves
     Celebrate fall with this tree craft, featuring tissue paper leaves in yellows, greens, reds, and oranges. 

Volcano Art
     Tissue paper acts as lava in this unique craft. 

Strawberry Piñata
     Homemade piñatas are so much fun! This strawberry is beginner-friendly. 

My First Potholders

I learned a lot while making my first quilt. One of the most important things I learned is that I really need to improve my sewing skills. Technically, I already knew that. But while making the quilt, it was painfully obvious that I should practice using the sewing machine a bit before jumping in to make my next quilt. 

A few weeks ago, my quilt group taught an easy potholder craft after church. First we shared a video about the mission of Lutheran World Relief, then we helped the attendees sandwich batting between two squares of material and hand-tie them to make potholders. In preparation (and to get in some sewing practice), I made my first-ever potholder. And then I made two more. 

This is my first potholder. I cut two 11" squares of the same Christmas fabric and two 9" squares of heat-resistant batting (affiliate links here and below), layered them together, and then hand-tied them with red embroidery floss in the center and near each corner. Then I folded up each edge, clipped them in place (so much better than pins!), and sewed. 

For a first attempt, it's not bad. It doesn't look square, but it actually is close. My stitching wasn't quite straight, but that wasn't the problem. The issue is that I cut my fabric squares without paying attention to the checked pattern in the background. I should have made sure those were straight before cutting. Lesson learned. 

This is my second potholder. I cut the fabric correctly, so this time the crookedness isn't an optical illusion. It is definitely not square. As you can see, I machine-quilted this one rather than hand-tying it. I went to great effort to make sure my lines of stitching were as straight as possible and things were looking pretty good until I did the binding. I thought I could just fold up the edges, clip, and sew and it would be fine. Nope!

For my third potholder, I clipped the edges then machine-quilted the layers together. My lines were straight and everything looked great. I did the binding on two of the sides and it still looked good. Then I tried repeatedly to get the other two sides straight. As you can see, I did not accomplish that goal. 

 

Now I know that I should have basted the layers together with pins to prevent them from shifting, which happens during machine quilting. Just clipping the edges in a few places was not adequate. After quilting, I should have squared up the block before attempting to bind it. I'll try those next time. I've also learned about the importance of a walking foot. I assume I wasn't using that, based on the problems I had binding my quilt and the fact that now my potholders look like the problem she outlined in the video. 

Overall, I'm satisfied with my first attempts at potholders. They're recognizable as potholders - a low bar, sure, but that's where beginners start! I'm more than willing to accept imperfection, especially for something utilitarian like a potholder. But I hope that my next attempts show at least a little bit of progress. 

Tennis Racket Craft

If you've never been, I highly recommend a visit to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Tennis fans will love it, obviously, but even if you know nothing about tennis I guarantee that you will love it too. I learned so much about the sport. Tennis wasn't represented amongst the many Sports Crafts for Kids I've made over the years, so it was time to change that. 

I first played tennis in high school PE. Or maybe middle school PE. Either way, I enjoyed it, relatively speaking. In college, one of my roommates was on the tennis team. After I bought a racket, a third roommate and I would play against her, 2 against 1, and she would beat us every time. Easily. A few years later, I took tennis lessons through the city for a few months. It was fun, but I didn't end up playing again for about 15 years when 8-year old Trevor was interested in learning. He and I played a couple dozen times until he was about 10 and I haven't played since. I still have my racket though; it has the same colors as today’s craft. Affiliate links below. 

Tennis Racket Craft

Materials: 

• chipboard
• microtip scissors
• Folk Art paint
• colored masking tape
• retractable craft pick
• embroidery floss
• craft glue

Steps: 

Sketch a tennis racket onto a piece of chipboard. As you can see, I drew loose ovals until I found a shape I liked, then added the handle at the bottom. If you prefer, make a pattern on a piece of scratch paper or print out a picture and use that as a pattern. 

Cut out the tennis racket. To make mine symmetrical, I cut one side, then used that scrap to cut the other side. That allowed me to fix any imperfections. 

Trace the head of the tennis racket onto a piece of scratch paper, then paint the racket with your preferred color. While you are waiting for the paint to dry, plan out where you want the strings to go. I started with a line in the center, then approximately every 1/2" outward from there, giving me a total of 7 vertical strings. 

When the paint is dry, wrap pieces of colored (or plain) masking tape along the handle to make the grip. 

I had planned to poke holes in the chipboard and sew fishing line through them to make the strings. This failed. I had to use a needle with a fairly large eye in order to fit the fishing line, which threatened to tear the chipboard. I tried a couple of other ideas but eventually abandoned the ideas of holes altogether and switched to embroidery floss and glue. Do yourself a favor and go directly to the floss/glue. 

After a bunch of experimentation, I decided this is the easiest method: Use the craft pick to poke holes into your scratch paper pattern. Clip the pattern to the racket and color in each hole to mark where the strings will go. Remove the scratch paper and put a dollop of glue in that spot. Add a piece of embroidery floss, slightly longer than needed. Let the glue dry completely. 

Tape the racket to the table. Add dollops of glue along the bottom marks and stretch the floss into position. Tape the excess to the table to keep it stretched while the glue dries. Then snip off the extras. 

Repeat the same process with the horizontal strings. I thought about weaving them, but decided I didn't want to test the strength of the glue. It probably would have held. But it looks fine with the strings not woven. If you prefer accuracy, go for it! 

The finished racket!

Speaking of "racket"... as I was writing this post, I spelled it "racquet" about half the time. The more I thought about it, the less confident I was about which was correct. I looked it up. Based on what I learned, I changed my racquets to rackets. For purposes of SEO, I should probably write "tennis racquet craft" at least once in this post. There. Whether you're looking for a racket craft or a racquet craft, I hope my project inspired you to give it a try!

Decoupage Backgrounds for Cards

Recently, I've shared how to make flowers, a dolphin, and a cross using decoupage. You can use the same techniques to make backgrounds for cards. Affiliate links below. 

Decoupage Backgrounds for Cards

Materials:

• Neenah Bristol vellum
• paper trimmer
• tissue paper
• Mod Podge*
• decoupage brush
• craft glue
• stickers *

Steps: 

For each card, cut a piece of Bristol vellum in half to make two pieces that are 8.5" x 5.5".  Fold one of the halves in half in order to make a 4.25" x 5.5" card base. You'll use the other piece for the decoupage. 

You can decoupage with sheets, strips, or torn pieces tissue paper. You can mix colors or use just one color. If you are going to use strips or pieces, tear those before moving on to the next step. 

Pour some Mod Podge into a cup and dilute it with a little bit of water (about 3 parts Mod Podge to 1 part water). If you're using an intact piece of tissue paper, paint a coat of the watered-down Mod Podge onto a half-sheet of paper. Carefully lay the tissue paper onto the moist paper. Load the brush with more Mod Podge and paint a coat over the top of the tissue paper. Use the brush to smooth any wrinkles as best you can. Don't worry about any overhanging tissue paper. If you are using strips or torn pieces, work on one area at a time. Paint a coat of Mod Podge onto the bottom inch of the paper, lay down a strip or piece of tissue paper, then paint over that to seal it. Add Mod Podge to the next section of the paper, then add the tissue paper, slightly overlapping the previous piece. Seal it. Repeat until you've covered the entire half-sheet. 

When the decoupage is completely dry, trim the decoupaged sheet to make a 4" x 5.25" piece. Adhere it to the card base. Decorate with stickers. 

* For the Happy x 3 card, I used Gloss Mod Podge and stickers from Happy Planner - Celebrate. 

* For the unicorn card, I used Matte Mod Podge and stickers from Echo Park's Birthday Girl. 

* For the make a wish card, I used Sparkle Mod Podge and stickers from Echo Park's Happy Birthday Boy. 

Wax-Resist Butterfly

It's been a really long time since I used black paint on a wax-resist project. I decided to utilize the technique to make a realistic butterfly craft. Mine is inspired by Colorado's state insect, the Colorado hairstreak butterfly. Affiliate links below. 

Wax-Resist Butterfly Craft

Materials: 

• watercolor paper
• crayons
• black paint
• microtip scissors
• colored pencil

Steps: 

Because I was making my project based on a real butterfly and I wanted it to be as accurate as possible, I started by printing out a picture of the Colorado hairstreak. I used the window to trace the butterfly onto watercolor paper. 

The next step is using a variety of crayons to color in the butterfly. Layer the colors to get just what you want. Press hard and leave a thick layer of wax where you want the paint to resist; color lightly in the areas where you want black to cover most of the crayon marks. 

Create a wash by mixing a few drops of black paint into some water. Brush the wash over the butterfly. 

When the paint is dry, cut out the butterfly. Then, use a colored pencil to draw the veins on the butterfly's wings. Press hard - this will carve out some of the wax from the thick areas, providing a nice contrast. 

I'm really happy with how my Colorado hairstreak turned out. I may end up doing something similar with other butterfly species.