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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Valentine's Day Craft

I know this make come as a huge shock, but I'm not that into crafts. You might find this hard to believe, but I don't think anyone has described me as being "into crafts". Easily frustrated at moms group board meetings, yes, but Carrie Craft, no. To be honest, my favorite crafts are the ones that are done at my older son's OS) preschool. To clarify, they're my favorite because I'm not involved with the setup, cleanup or the possible temper tantrum when OS decides he's finished with the craft and doesn't want anything to do with it ever again. As such, I'm very particular about what crafts we do. Crayons, markers, and waterpaints are all okay on a daily basis. Anything more is for a special occassion or because I have a wave a mom guilt because I'm not doing enough crafts with my kids. This guilt is usually caused by other moms talking about crafts that they have been doing with their kids. The following is a craft that I really enjoyed doing with OS when he was about 18 months. Warning: there is a bit of preparation.

You need to cut a "vase" out of construction paper. (For the craft challenged you can just cut out a rectangle.) You will also need 6 green pipe cleaners, an ink pad (make sure it's washable) and scotch tape. Finally, you will also need to cut, let me give you a minute to sit down and take a deep breath while keeping in mind that this craft is worth it, large flower heads out of construction paper. You can make them plain circles or you can cut out circles with funky wavy scissors.

Take your child's hand and press it on the ink pad. Then press his hand on one of the "flower heads". Repeat until all 6 flower heads have a handprint on them (I did 3 with one hand and 3 with the other, but symmetry is not actually required). Next make sure you quickly wipe off the child's hands before he wipes them on the dog or a very angry cat. Wiping hands on a sibling may also be a possibility. Babywipes work well.

After the flower heads have dried, attach a pipe cleaner to the back of each with a piece of tape. Attach the other end of the pipe cleaner to the vase. Repeat until you have a vase of flowers. I also glued on a ribbon tied in a bow around the neck of the vase along with a heart doily (don't ask why I have that). I wrote "Happy Valentine's Day" and the year along with OS's name.

Although this project was a bit of a pain (OS was okay with his hands being stamped but some of the other kids who were over our house and did this as part of a, gasp, craft day I hosted didn't like it)and OS had stained hands for a couple of days, it is a really cute idea and I love looking at his little hand prints. A lot of kids gave them to their other parent or grandparent. I selfishly kept it for myself. Actually, what shouldn't I have a cute momento of my son's babyhood?

A. Elliot's Ratings:
Ease of setup/cleanup (1-10 with 1 being most difficult): 7
Attention Getting (1-10 with 1 generating least interest; this excludes dogs): 3
Liklihood that child will wipe hands on family pet: 6
Ability to became a great keepsake: 10

Valentine's Day Craft

This was in response to the CHBM topic: Nifty Valentine's ideas to make with your kids.

Labels: Crafts, Crazy Hip Blog Mama Questions

posted by Alex Elliot @ 12:14 AM 3 comments

3 Comments:

At 2/13/2007 9:38 AM, Devra said…

Now that my kids are older, it is far more challenging for me to be "crafty" with them given my own inability to do crafts. I am just not that artistic and following instructions doesn't make it easier because I am left handed and most stuff is written from the perspective of a right handed person. I end up getting all tangled up. Same reason I don't do aerobics! My kids like the crafts even if they are hideously ugly because we put the music on and have fun creating together. So that makes it a win/win. I really admire those crafty moms who can make em with beauty and style, but it doesn't get me down that I can't. I realize my own limitations! LOL
At 2/13/2007 10:20 AM, Nancy said…

I, too, am an "un-crafty" mom. The worst part about it is that I have one friend who is GREAT about doing crafts with her kids. Their playroom looks like a preschool with all of the artwork hanging up.

So thank you for this idea. I think I'll try it tomorrow for what will probably be our first snow day around these parts ;)
At 2/15/2007 7:41 AM, amaras_mom said…

Not crafty? That's way more creative than I think I can get! The vase is a gorgeous project!

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Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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