Popsicle Stick Christmas Tree

Yesterday was a very busy day full of last minute Christmas preparations. Both kids had to make their ornaments to hand out as gifts. We also had a special dessert to make, presents to wrap, and snow to play in. We ended up skipping Liv's nap which we paid for late in the day. But I still think we had a lot of fun! I wanted to share the ornament Bennett made. I really had no idea what he could make. He is not quite 1 1/2 and only somewhat interested in crafts of this scale. However, he did have fun and I think we have a pretty darn cute ornament to hand out to family over the next two days.

What You Need

Popsicle Sticks
Paint
Paint Brush
Embellishments
Modge Podge (If you want to have the glossy look like ours and protect it for years to come)
String to hang your ornament

What To Do

1. I started by squirting a little paint onto a plate and giving Bennett a couple of sticks and a paintbrush. This later turned into me just blobbing the paint right onto his highchair and letting him go to town on all 7 of the ornaments we needed to make. Funny story Alivia was not happy with the "missed" spots. I think they add character :)

2. Once the main layer has dried you can embelish your tree. I used Bennett's finger to mostly decorate his trees. Then I punched out stars for the top and painted some of the "missed" spots brown to represent the tree truck.

3. Once this had all dried I had hubby drill small holes at the top to loop string through.

4. If you are wanting to add a protective coat over the paint this is when you do it! I used Modge Podge for the very first time and was very impressed with the results. The colors seem more vibrant now and somehow the ornament seems more impressive.

5. Once protective coat has dried thread string through hole and wahlah...new ornament :) Bennett was so proud!

I Love Color Wonder

Little brother has to stay busy while big sis and I do projects. What better way than using Crayola's Color Wonder products. As you can tell he was having a good time coloring his picture. And even better was that there was little cleanup for me afterwards :)

Babies Can Paint Too!

Bennett is 15 months and it is amazing how much he wants to be like big sister. I finally caved and let him in on the fun one night. He LOVED it! I used an old paint set of Liv's and dabbed some water in each color. We have even progressed to him using a little cup of water himself (although more splashing happens than actual painting!)

Fun with Finger Paint

I had seen something similar to this at some point in my web browsing and decided to give it a try. It did not turn out exactly how I wanted but both kids had fun (even if Bennett looks less than enthused). This is a great way to teach kids how different colors blend to make another color. As you can see the painting turned into a big mess at the end once several other colors got involved.

What You Need

Finger Paint
Paper
Plastic Wrap
Painters Tape

What To Do

1. Lay the paper down and squirt on the paint. Lay plastic wrap over top and tape around all edges.

2. Let your little one go to town mashing the paints together.

As you can see Liv could not stand not getting messy so in the end we tore off the plastic and let her have all the fun she wanted!