While He Was Napping

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December 9, 2015 by Krista

15 Craft Stick Ornaments Your Kids Can Make

Our ornament mission continues… however, we’ve hit a little snag. My boys had a rough night yesterday – and by that I mean the whole day was pretty rough – so the ornament craft I was going to show off didn’t get made. So, instead I found 15 awesome craft stick ornaments to make with the kids! These are ornaments that both my boys (ages 6 & 3.5) are capable of making (mostly) on their own. So… are you ready for 15 craft stick ornaments that will rock your Christmas tree?! Let’s do this!

15 CRAFT STICK ORNAMENTS YOUR KIDS WILL LOVE TO MAKE

15 Craft Sticks Ornaments You Can Make With Your Kids

 

Angel Craft Stick Ornament found on Leaf and Letter HandmadeThis cute angel craft stick ornament has me swooning with the sheet music dress she’s all fancied up in. There’s a couple different sizes over on Leaf and Letter Handmade and I love the variety. Angels come in all shapes and sizes too… at least I think so.

Tin Soldier Craft Stick Ornament found on Remodelando La CasaThese Tin Soldier ornaments are giving me ornament envy. They are darling and I just love them. Growing up, my grandma had a movie that my cousins and I loved to watch with a tin soldier as the hero who rescues the beautiful ballerina in distress. I don’t even know what the movie was, but these Tin Soldier ornaments on Remodelando la Casa remind me of that little part of my childhood.

Santa & Friends Craft Stick Ornaments found on Creative Me Inspired YouBecause sometimes even Santa needs his buddies! I love this collection of adorable characters on Creative Me Inspired You. Big J is getting to the point where he actually likes to draw and color and will put in a decent little bit of effort – you should see the Star Wars battle he illustrated at church on Sunday. He’d like this especially. My younger two would like to sword fight with the sticks… ah, boys.

Colorful Trees Craft Stick Ornament found on Trisha Brink DesignDo these trees just make you happy or what?! I love the colors in these cute craft stick ornaments over on Trisha Brink Design. I might even have colored sticks like these in my craft bin I intended to use to teach Little J his colors. Sometimes, craft supply hoarding collecting pays off.

Christmas Tree Craft Stick Ornament found on Gingersnap CraftsMy favorite thing about these adorable trees over on Ginger Snap Crafts? The simplicity. This is the kind of craft that my boys have the skill, patience and attention span to do. I love the school glue option that means they can do it all themselves. And the option I have to use hot glue if the buttons pop off later and need a quick fix.

Star Craft Stick Ornament found on Happy HooligansThis cute star craft stick ornaments is something I want to make myself. Sometimes I just need to let a little glitter flow through my veins in my testosterone-overdosed house. I might even break out the glitter for these cute little stars that are over on Happy Hooligans.

Snowman Craft Stick Ornament found on A Day of WondersThese snowmen! Aren’t they just the cutest craft stick ornaments? I love the single stick construction and the simple, already-have-it materials that make this project on A Day of Wonders just so charming. This would be a great project for my kids, as we could break it up rather easily when their attention spans start to wane. I also love that the project coordinates with a book and these could be bookmarks too.

Santa Hat Craft Stick Ornament found on Buggy and BuddyMy Little J would love these cute craft stick ornament Santa hats that are over on Buggy and Buddy. He is completely fascinated with Santa Claus this year. And not in the he-brings-me-lots-of-presents way either. He just thinks Santa is one cool dude. And seriously, he is. And I love that these are simple and easy.

Stable Craft Stick Ornament found on Adventures of a DIY MomI am LOVING this stable ornament. Such a great project to help my boys focus on what really matters during the Christmas season. And still simple enough for my busy, busy wiggle worms. Over on Adventures of a DIY Mom, there’s also a white version. I can’t decide which I like better. And there’s lots of other great nativity ornaments at the bottom of the post too. Make sure you check those out too!

Snowman Head Craft Stick Ornament found on Cindy DeRosierThis looks like a fabulous project for my Big J! A little more detailed, but still easy and absolutely cute. I also like that this snowman craft stick ornament over on Cindy DeRosier could be done with any size craft stick for a bit of variation. Mini sticks would make a super cute tree ornament and jumbo sticks would be a fun wall hanging.

Star Wars Craft Stick Ornament found on Vicky BaroneMy boys would go CRAZY for these Star Wars craft stick ornaments over on Vicky Barone! Absolutely cRaZy! And it would go perfectly on our Star Wars Tree. I have already added these to our “to-make list” and can’t wait to do it with my boys. We might have to come up some of the other characters too. The new movie comes out in nine days and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate.

Reindeer Photo Craft Stick Ornament found on renajjonesPhoto frames and cute reindeer?! I love these craft stick ornaments! There’s some other cute reindeer ornaments over on Rena Jones too, but these reindeer frames are my favorites. Big J could do this, but it might be a bit above Little J’s abilities. It would be a great mom-son activity to do together. We’d just have to do them one at a time.

Sled Craft Stick Ornament found on While He Was NappingI have loved this sled ornament ever since it went live two years ago. While I wasn’t the mastermind behind this adorable little project, I’m so happy that it went up on my site and that Rebekah (who blogs over at Somewhere in the Middle) let While He Was Napping be it’s home. I made these last year with the 8-11 year old girls at church and then we tied them to plates of cookies and delivered them to some of the older people at church. The sleds were a total hit.

Reindeer Craft Stick Ornament found on Crafts by CourtneyI am logging this Reindeer ornament over on Crafts by Courtney away for that entire week of Winter Break before Christmas gets here. It’s going to be one of my slow down activities to help me remind myself that Christmas isn’t about perfection, it’s about memories. And making craft stick ornaments with mom is a much better memory than playing on the tablets or watching movies all day… regardless of my kids’ opinion on that matter.

Snowflake Craft Stick Ornaments on Unsophisticated CookThese snowflakes aren’t exactly traditional ornament-size, but they are definitely impressive. And you could make some that are a little more traditional in sizing (like the little ones in this photo over on Unsophisticook) that you could hang on your tree. I love the more intricate designs of these snowflakes and Big J would enjoy creating these snowflakes with his hands. I think Little J would handle constructing the small snowflakes too.

So there you have it. Fifteen craft stick ornaments you can make with your little ones this Christmas season. Simple, fairly quick and oh so cute. Which craft stick ornaments are you going to try out?

December 7, 2015 by Krista

Glass Ball Rudolph Ornament

My boys and I are on an ornament mission this year. We are in the process of setting up our Christmas tree… for various reasons it’s taken us almost a week to get it all set up… But we are closing in on the home stretch. The worst part is over and tonight we get to decorate! I have a box of ornaments that I collected growing up and Mr Napping has his special ornaments as well. My boys don’t have much of their own yet. So, we’re changing that! We started with a fun Rudolph ornament. It’s super easy, even Little J (almost 4) was able to do most of it on his own and it only took about 10 minutes.

GLASS BALL RUDOLPH ORNAMENT

Rudolph Ornament DIY Christmas Ornament

Rudolph Ornament Materials:

– Glass Ball. I realize that’s a little misleading because I actually used these fun square Glass Ornaments (affilate link) and I love how they turned out! A regular round glass ornament would work just as well though. The larger your ornament the larger googly eyes and pom pom ball you’re probably going to want, so consider size when you’re looking at the glass ornaments.
– Brown acrylic paint
– Hot glue gun and glue sticks
– Brown pipe cleaner
– Googly eyes
– Red small pom pom ball
– Paper cup

Rudolph Ornament Directions:

– Carefully take the top off the ornament and set it aside where it won’t get smashed.
– Squeeze some brown paint into the ornament. How much paint you’ll need will partially depend on the size of your ornament. You want enough to cover the entire inside of the ornament with paint. We used about a tablespoon to a tablespoon and a half.
– Roll the paint around inside the ornament until it completely covers the interior of the ornament. Be careful and don’t let it roll out the hole when you do the top. You can put your finger over the hole or just be super careful.
– Use the hot glue gun to glue the googly eyes in the middle of the ornament,

Rudolph Ornament glue on googly eyes
– Glue the pom pom nose at the bottom.

Rudolph Ornament glue on red nose
– Twist the pipe cleaner around the top of the ornament up by the hole. Glue it in place.
– Place the ornament over the paper cup and use the pipe cleaner to hang it upside down inside the cup so the extra paint can drain out of the ornament. Let it sit 24-48 hours or until the paint is totally dry inside the ornament.

Rudolph Ornament Draining Paint

Rudolph Ornament Drain Paint
– When the paint is dry, put the ornament cap back on the glass ball.
– Make antlers out of the ends of the pipe cleaner. You kinda just have to play with it until you get it like you want it. I made antlers for three of these Rudolph ornaments and I did each set of antlers differently. The easiest way was to pinch the pipe cleaner together where you want to create points on the antlers. Arrange and tweak it to lay how you like it best.
– Attach a hook to your ornament cap and hang. I created hooks out of paper clips because I didn’t know where all our extra hooks were, so that’s an option if you don’t have a bunch of extras laying around. Or ribbon works well too.

Rudolph Ornament Christmas Kid Craft

I loved this Rudolph ornament project because they turned out great and my boys were able to do a lot of it on their own. It was also easy and quick enough to put together that my kids didn’t lose interest half way through and leave me to finish them all on my own. It was a great before-bedtime activity during the dreaded witching hour. And my boys are still pointing out their Rudolph ornaments to anyone who comes to our house and will listen to them brag…

Rudolph Ornament the best part

This was definitely my very most favorite part… They actually liked doing a project with mommy. My boys have never been ones to enjoy any kind of artistic creativity so it was kind of a big deal that they actually made Rudolph ornaments and they liked it!

July 14, 2014 by Krista

Washi Tape Summer Boredom Buster Jars

Well, hello friend! I’m so glad you came to visit today! Looking for a boredom buster activity to help you out with the kids? Thousands of people on Pinterest have loved this Washi Tape Boredom Buster Jar and I know you will too.

Here’s a question for you…Can you feel it? Feel what? The warmer weather, the longer days. The school bell’s last ring of the year.

It won’t be long now before school is out and the kids are home!

Every. Single. Day.

Does that make you a little nervous? Because it makes me nervous.

Day after day after day of refereeing the Brother Bickering Match isn’t my idea of a good time. Back when I didn’t spend my days chasing three little hooligans and trying to keep them entertained all day, I lived for summer. Now, I’m a little apprehensive when summer hits full force.

We live in the desert, which means that it’s too hot to play outside from about 11 am until around 5 pm.  That’s a lot of hours inside. Climbing and bouncing off the walls. Pulling out every toy we own, all at once. Hiding in the closet eating chocolate.

That last one might be me.

I have a hard time coming up with ideas of things for us to do on the spot and my boys get tired of the same thing all the time. So, I put together a list and then made us our very own Boredom Buster Jar. Actually, two jars… they wouldn’t all fit in one! There’s no excuse now. Let the fun begin!

WASHI TAPE BOREDOM BUSTER JARS

 

 

Materials:
– Craft sticks
– Permanent Marker
– Washi Tape in seven designs
– Jars or containers to hold your sticks

Directions:
– Gather ideas of activities your kids would like to do. Include things like projects you can make together, things they can do on their own, activities that will help get the wiggles out, and even places to go. I had a running list on my phone that I kept adding to for about two or three weeks. When I came upon something else I thought my kids would enjoy, I’d add it to the list.

Want a great list in just a few seconds? Check out my list with 168+ activities and ideas of things to put on your craft sticks!

– Write each activity on a craft stick with a permanent marker. Doesn’t need to be fancy, just legible. You could type them up on the computer, print them out and then glue them on the sticks – but that’s too time intensive for me.

 

 

DIVIDING THE ACTIVITIES INTO CATEGORIES

I divided the categories up so that my kids would be able to use the boredom jar on their own.

By putting the activities into categories, I was able to control the kind of activity and still allow my kids to choose what they wanted to do, randomly or by picking sticks until they found something they liked.

I thought about our typical day and the kinds of activities we like to do. Then I considered how involved I am in different parts of my children’s days. I came up with seven categories.

My categories were:

  • Things we can do
  • Things we can make
  • Energy Bug – activities that help focus their bouncing off the walls into something a little less destructive
  • Quiet time activities – things for my preschooler to do on his own while his brothers nap
  • Family activities – things we wanted to do as a family, like outings. This was perfect for weekends!
  • Outside play time – activities to do outside. A lot of these involved water
  • Fun with food – activities to do with food, often ending with snack time

– Tape each stick in a single category with the same color washi tape. You could also paint the ends or use some other method of distinguishing the sticks.  Washi tape was quick, easy, and mess-free. If you have a problem with the tape sticking, a small piece of scotch tape or a swipe with a glue stick should fix the problem.

– Store your sticks in a jar (or jars…) and the next time boredom strikes, prepare to be a superhero!

Did you download my list of 168+ activity ideas to put on your craft sticks?
GET IT NOW!
I did the hard part for you, the rest is cake. And you’ll be so glad when you need a distraction and you can just grab the boredom jar and quell the storm.
Maybe the jar is too much? Just print the list!

PROMISE, it’ll be a lifesaver.

June 11, 2014 by Krista

Washi Tape USA Flag Craft

I’m super excited to be part of Jen’s {from Girl in the Garage} Red, White and Blue Inspiration Series.  There have been some fun projects so far, which I’ll show off a little more in a minute or two.  You’re gonna want to check them out.  But first… I’m going to share a fun and super easy USA flag craft for your patriotic enjoyment!

This project is incredibly simple and took me about 20 minutes to do.  The supplies are simple and you can easily take this idea and run with it… how cute would these be as smaller, drink coasters?!

WASHI TAPE USA FLAG CRAFT

SUPPLIES NEEDED TO CREATE ONE USA FLAG CRAFT

Affiliate Link Disclaimer

– One 1″x6″ board cut at 7.5″ long.  You can get it at Lowe’s or Home Depot and if you ask nice, they’ll even cut it for you.
– Red Washi Tape – I like to buy washi tape on Etsy (SOLID RED | RED POLKA DOTS | RED CHEVRON | RED STRIPES)
– Blue Washi Tape – The blue star tape I used can be found on ETSY or AMAZON
– Craft Knife (I have THIS ONE in both the knife and swivel knife and really like them)
– Ruler
– Pencil
– Sandpaper (optional, but recommended)
– Polyurethane (optional, but also recommended)

 

DIRECTIONS TO CREATE YOUR USA FLAG CRAFT

MEASURE FIRST!

– If you want to shape your board and clean up any rough edges or imperfections, do so now.  I just took a quick swipe along the edges with sandpaper to get any splintery slivers and take a little of the edge off.
– Lay your board down horizontally.  Measure out 3.75″ from the top, left side of your board.  Mark it with your pencil. This space will be for the blue stars.

– Measure the stripes on your flag.  I did it the super technical way and just used a roll of washi tape to measure the width of each stripe.  Fancy, huh?

APPLY THE RED STRIPES

– Start with whichever tape you want, I did the red.  Following the measurements your marked on your board, lay down strips of tape.  I wrapped the edges of the board as well as the face.
– Skip every other line to create the white stripes in between the red ones.  If you want a truer white than the board you’re using, you could paint the board before you begin.  Because I am using pine, it’s a pretty light color already and I really like the wood grain in it.

NOW FOR THE BLUE

– When you finish with the red, switch to the blue tape and start in the top left corner, carefully laying down strips of that tape.
– Make sure your stars face the way you want them to and remember to stagger each row if you want them offset, like they are on a real flag.

– Use your craft knife to get precise straight(ish) lines where the blue square stops.  I wasn’t too particular, but use your ruler if you want it to be straight and even.

That’s it.  You’re done!

 

 

HELPFUL TIPS AND TRICKS

I did end up going over the board with a layer of polyurethane to help hold the tape in place.  (A glue stick will also help if your tape keeps coming up.)  It actually added an antique look to the flag, which was kind of neat.

I think these USA Flag Crafts would make super cute coasters if you scaled the proportions down a bit.

There are some great options to display your USA flag craft. Sawtooth hangers are inexpensive and easy to install. The real no muss, no fuss solution.

I ended up drilling a couple holes and then looped some picture hanging wire through them and tied some ribbon on it for a little more cutesy finish and hung it on our door.

 

THE BEST PART?

I like that it’s not huge, but the bright colors will still draw the eye.  It’s a nice wreath alternative.  Because, seriously, who has the room to store a wreath for every holiday?  Uh, not me.  A 5×7″ wooden board, I can probably handle though.

 

As I mentioned, there are some other really great projects from some super talented bloggers.  Don’t miss the other great features in this series!  Check them all out!

 

 

*After some looking around… I found the red swirly washi tape HERE and the blue star tape HERE.  These are not affiliate links, just what I found with my own Google searches. Hopefully, they will help you complete your own washi tape USA flag craft.

 

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

 

April 9, 2014 by Krista

Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Art Activity

Here’s a fun activity to do with the kiddos. The Olympics may be over, but they will come around again (isn’t it great?!) and how fun would it be to do your own Olympics as part of this too?! So, here’s Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row with this super fun Letter O is for Olympics art activity. Take it away, Sinea!

____________________________

Guest post by Sinea Pies 

Many thanks to Krista for inviting me to guest post on her blog. Whenever I have an opportunity to guest on someone else’s site, I want it to be special. This opportunity came at the perfect time! I’m sharing the most recent craft that I did with my preschool class. I loved it. The children loved it. Their parents loved it and I think you will love it, too.
 Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Collage

My eleven preschoolers are such a sweet group. As you know, no two 4 year olds are alike. Each time we do a new project, I anticipate what I will see. 

  • Aliyah is a perfectionist. She takes her time to get every detail right. Due to her deliberacy, we often have to wait for her to finish up. 
  • Caleb goes for accuracy. He wants his project to look just like mine or like the real thing, such as when we did our lion craft. He didn’t want the mane to be orange and yellow. A lion’s mane is brownish-tan and that is exactly how his looked. (Beautifully done, I might add.) 
  • Evan takes everything on with gusto. He had glue all over the page before he noticed that it should only go on the ringed outline of the “O”. No worries. Glue dries and he had fun. 
It was letter “O” week. Though logic said “Owl” was the way to go, Katie, my assistant, said “No, we HAVE to do the Olympics!” And I am so glad we did.
 
Our craft was something I found pictured on Pinterest. Isn’t Pinterest great? It is like visiting the World Library of Ideas.  We glued Fruit Loops™ onto a page to form a letter “O” as well as completing the Olympic rings. 
 Preschool Letter O is for Olympics template

This is the template I used.

How’d it go? After 14 weeks with my students, I have come to know them pretty well. If I gave them ALL the cereal at once, those rings would never have been made. Katie agreed.  Rings first, big “O” later.

 Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Fruit Loops
So, I came in prepared with snack-size zip bags, one of each color. I called upon my “Teachers Helpers”  to go around and leave one piece with each of their fellow students.  
 Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Glue
Everyone carefully glued them into the Olympic rings. Not all of the rings were the right color but, no biggie, this is preschool! When I heard the familiar “Teacher, I need more Fruit Loops” it was time to give them the rest of their cereal. It worked very, very well. 
 Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Craft
Busy little hands making their “O’s”

 Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Fruit Loop Ring

The finished product!  Pretty, huh?

Supplies for your Letter O Art Project

Fruit Loops™ cereal
“O” template printed on card stock
Elmer’s® glue
little cup for the glue
cotton swabs
 

Directions for your Letter O Art Project

Squirt some glue into a small cup. 
Using a cotton swab, dab the rings of the Olympic symbol with glue and attach a piece of cereal in each.
Now, rub glue onto the big “O” and attach cereal all around. 
Some children will go “multi color” and others may want to separate it into groups of color.
Enjoy!
 

Sinea Pies is the inspiration behind Ducks ‘n a Row. Admittedly not nearly as organized as she’d like to be, Sinea encourages her readers to join her as they head toward the goal of “The Beauty of an Organized Life” together. 

Ducks ‘n a Row also visits the world of cooking/baking, time management, home/office decor, health, fashion, education, faith, Fido (dogs) and, most recently, preschool. Having years of experience as a high school guidance counselor and school administrator, she is now having fun teaching preschool and sharing with her readers! 
Follow Sinea (pronounced SEENA) on social media: Facebook/ Google+ / Pinterest  / Twitter / Sverve and please stop by for Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop on Ducks ‘n a Row, as well.

____________________________
Thanks so much for sharing this great preschool activity, Sinea! I would have a hard time with this project… Fruit Loops are my favorite cereal and I could eat a whole box of them by myself. But for the sake of learning, maybe, just maybe, I might be able to part with a few handfuls while Big J and Little J glue them to their papers… who are we kidding? They’d eat them too. But I can’t blame them… I’d be sittin on the couch shoveling the sugar-frosted cereal into my mouth too. Visit Sinea for more excellent ideas over at Ducks ‘n a Row!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
 

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I'm Krista. Ringleader here on While He Was Napping, wife to my handsome Mr. Right & momma to my THREE energetic boys, Big J (9), Little J (6) & Little N (4). We FINALLY added a beautiful little girl to our family last December.

I’m knee-deep in Tonka trucks & Thomas trains. I survive our crazy days with Vanilla Coke, Sonic slushies, sweet snuggles and little giggles. When I tuck them in tight & kiss them good night, I get a little time to create & just be me.


It all happened
while (s)he was napping
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