A Heartfelt Valentine

Here are some great tips for making your own Valentine.

You Will Need: Scissors • Glue • (3) pieces of paper

Decorating Materials: Crayons, Markers, Glitter, Foil, etc.

To make my example, I used a piece of pink plaid paper, a piece of blue construction paper and a piece of pink plaid paper.

1. Choose the (2) pieces that will make up the heart (blue construction paper and pink plaid). Put the lighter of those on the top (pink plaid). Trim to two-thirds the size of the (3rd) piece of paper.  Fold the (2) pieces in half, the piece you want to be larger (blue construction paper) should be on the outside.

2. Practice drawing the pictured shape.  Once you are ready, draw that shape on the outside of your folded papers.

 

3. Cut BOTH pieces of paper along the edge of the line you drew.

 

4. Separate the (2) pieces, but keep them folded.  Trim JUST the inside piece (pink plaid) to be about the width of your finger smaller than the outside piece.

 

5. While still folded, add glue to the edges of the smaller inside piece (pink plaid) you just trimmed, place over (be sure to center it before the glue dries) the larger outside piece, unfold.  Now the two hearts are glued together.

 

6. Now add glue to the edge of the larger (blue) heart.  Place it on the uncut (purple herringbone) paper.

 

7.  Once the glue dries, address and decorate your homemade Valentine’s Day Card.

 

 

TIPS:
• Use paper from the recycling bin, use cards from last year, or use some free coloring images from ColoringBook.com
• Put glitter in a baggie. It is easier to put clean-up, and you can snip the tip of the baggie to direct the glitter.
• If creating multiple cards, set up an assembly line. Finish step 1 on all cards, then move on to step 2.
• Aluminum foil is a cheap and fun way to add shine.

Retro Crafting Adventure

Has the hum-drum of winter set in at your house?  Now that the holidays are over the rest of the winter can be filled with cabin fever!  To keep from spending too many hours in front of the TV and video games, embark on a crafting adventure. Try some fun "old school" crafting ideas:  make paper snowflakes or indoor icicles.  There are tons of ideas online, but if you are looking for more instruction (and less time searching the internet for instructions) you can always try the retro crafts in Really Big Coloring Books®, Inc.’s Busy Book of Fun.  In addition to fun coloring, puzzles and mazes, there are great cut-out activities like paper dolls (for girls and boys), covered wagon, totem pole and tee pee.  They can play cowboys and Indians or dress-up with toys they have made themselves.  There is even a cut-out Air Force One, and a cut-out pirate mask.  A fun idea to integrate the pirate mask into another activity: wrap-up some candy or small gifts in foil or gold paper and hide them around the house, then draw a treasure map and with the mask you can have a real pirate adventure!  Cold days can fly by with a little imagination and a whole lot of fun.

Great Ways to Keep Kids Busy!

Busy days filled with family and travels are on the horizon as the holidays approach. It can be a stressful time for kids and parents with changes in routine, bedtimes, meals and even location. Coloring is a great stress reliever, even for the littlest holiday reveler. Follow this link to the free coloring pages on ColoringBook.com and stock up. Or check-out some holiday titles or just for fun titles to give kids at the beginning of a car trip. Challenge them to finish the book or a section of pages by the time you arrive at your destination. For older kids, give them page challenges: coloring only with colors that start with a letter in their name, coloring with only three colors, or whatever sounds fun! Make sure you have plenty of crayons, markers and pencils, and if you have to get a last minute gift, you will have plenty of home-made wrapping paper. Happy Holidays!

Come out and see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes here in St. Louis at the Peabody Opera House from November 8th - 17th!

 

*Get The Official Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes 2012 Coloring & Activity Book here at www.ColoringBook.com

 

 

Get your FREE Halloween Coloring Page from your friends at ColoringBook.com


http://www.coloringbook.com/freecoloringpageshalloween.aspx

A Nature Scrapbook

This activity encourages you to look at familiar objects in a new way.

Supplies:  paper or a blank journal, crayons/markers, glue or tape.

It’s officially fall and you may have already spotted some leave beginning to change.  The next time you are outside, look for objects that have fallen from the trees. Leaves of different shapes, sizes and colors, acorns, seeds and small twigs – whatever catches your eye and interest are great for this project.   Attach the items you found on different pages.  As you look at each item, use your imagination and transform the object into a new creation by using your crayons and markers.  An acorn top could become a silly hat for an elf, or wheels for a car:  draw the vehicle.  That cool-looking leaf you found could become the body of a space creature – just draw the rest of it around the leaf. 

When you are finished,save your pages -- they will make great decorations for a Thanksgiving dinner later in the season!

Working with Texture

How can you use different textures in your next picture?  What textures are around you when you step outside?

Materials:  2 sheets of white paper, colored construction paper, scissors, crayons, glue

1.       Let’s get some texture!  Unpeel the paper from three different crayons.  Take them and 2 sheets of white paper outside.  Place your paper on top of different surfaces (bricks, concrete, trees, leaves, or anything else you’d like to try).

2.      Now lay your crayon down on the paper and rub the crayon enough times so that the bumps, lines or designs begin to show through.  Color areas of the paper in different directions and switch crayons to see if you can create various effects.  Repeat and fill up the other paper with different textures and colors. 

3.      With a scissors, cut up the textured rubbings into different shapes.

4.      Take out the construction paper and arrange the shapes on top.  Try arranging the pieces to make a house, an animal, a robot, a skyscraper, a vehicle or an interesting creature.

5.       It’s ok to begin without a plan, just move the pieces around until you see something start to form. Glue the shapes down and enjoy your textured creation.