Autumn Leaves {faux} Stained Glass

Autumn is my favourite season!

My most favourite part of fall is the leaves. The beauty in change, the metaphors found in the trees letting go of what sprung from their branches only seasons ago. Its just all around lovely. 

Throughout the years we have done different "leaf" crafts, but this years is my absolute fave! With many children, its nice to be able to do one big craft together as well, which we did for this one. 

How to make this beautiful Fall Craft:

Materials:

A bunch of different leaves

An Iron

A sheet to Iron on

Waxed paper

Old crayons in a few different colours

Scissors

A Grater

Procedure:

Step One: 

~ On a large work surface ( I used my kitchen Island), lay out the sheet first. I forgot to do this and then had to carefully slide the project on top for ironing afterwards!

~on top of the sheet, lay a piece of wax paper, wax side up!

Step Two:

~Arrange the leaves however you want. Cut any large, thick stems off first. Leave a bit of space in the middle so that you can seal it with the crayon wax later.

Step Three:

~Peel the paper off of the crayons.

~ Grate the crayons into one pile, mixing all the colours. {Adult job}

~Sprinkle these crayon bits all around the edge of the wax paper to create a frame, and also in the spaces between the leaves where you can.

Step Four:

~Lay an equally sized piece of waxed paper, this time wax down! on top. *** It's important that two waxed surfaces are facing each other as they will melt together, sealing the project.

~ Now your going to iron the top at about medium heat, slowly. be careful of the edges as sometimes the crayon bits escape and ironing straight onto them could ruin your iron! The longer you hold the iron over certain areas the more liquid the crayons inside become, and the more thei colours mix- creating black. The point is to melt them just enough so they stick! Slowly but surely! {Adult job} 

Step Five:

~take your scissors and trim the edges straight.

~I used transparent tape to adhere it to my window. Pick a window that get sun exposure!

Picture Tutorial:

 {Materials}

{Arrange leaves}

{Peel Crayons}

{Grate Crayons}

{Sprinkle Crayons}

{Wax paper on top}

{Gently Iron}

{Cut Edges Straight}

{Display!}

 Now I've just got to pray for a little west coast sunshine to beam through that window!

 

Duct Tape Craft

I never knew what those huge bins of beautiful Duct Tape sold at Walmart were for. I have since learned that Duct Tape has become it's own category in the craft world! From flowers to purses, you can make just about anything- one girl even made her prom dress AND her dates suit out of the stuff!

Because we must cover Art in our homeschool curriculum, I am always looking for new mediums to work with and different project ideas that will keep the kids interested. You can only paint and colour so much!

This craft does require Adult Supervision and honestly it's probably not for 10 years and under. My mom ended up doing most of the work for the little ones! However, the kids still learned a few skills to do with measuring and X-Acto knife safety! Thumbs Up!

Duct Tape Pouches

{Click to Watch!}

What you'll need:

Cutting board

Ruler

X-Acto knife

Plastic bag

Duct Tape

Procedure:

1. Using the cutting board, X-Acto Knife and ruler, measure the plastic bag and cut into a rectangular shape. Once you cut it you will end up with two pieces, use one per pouch.

2. Start lining the Duct tape across one side of the plastic bag. You can go horizontal or vertical, depending on the design on the tape. make sure to overlap each strip slightly.

3. Flip the piece over and repeat the Duct Tape strips on the other side.

4. Now you want to measure the ends of each side of the rectangle, use your ruler and knife to give them a cut so that all of the edges are straight.

5. Fold the piece in half lengthwise.

6. To finish the top of the pouch, cut a strip of Duct Tape in half lengthwise and apply on each side of the top of the bag.

7. Similarly, cut a piece of tape lengthwise and use it to stick the two opening sides together.

Clean up any tape that hangs off the edges with the x-acto knife

You will now have a flat pouch

8. Now you need to push each corner of the bag into the center, creating a flat bottom.

9. Cut another piece of Tape lengthwise and adhere it to the insides of the pouch.

10.  Take a rectangular piece of tape and cut it into four equal portions. (cut horizontally and then vertically) Use the pieces to tape the inside corners down to the bottom of the bag.

11. Shape the bag by folding the sides inwards and flattening the bottom. you can add a slit in the middle of the bag and thread some ribbon for a finishing touch. 

These are super cute to use as Make-Up bags

Or you could make one and use it as a gift bag. Two gifts in one!

The ideas are endless, but my favourite part is that they are homemade and useful.

Pillow Craft

It Takes a Village

{Home Economic Days with Nanna}

                             

We do our Home Ec classes every Friday, and they are planned and organized with the help of my mom. I really enjoy that she is an integral part of my children's education. There is a part of me that wants to do everything for my children myself, and when I had my first couple, I did. As I had more children, the extra help was welcomed. It's good for kids to learn different perspectives and who better than their Nanna to embark on art projects, baking, and sewing. My mom is very skilled and brilliant in all of the above, (and more), and I love that my children have created no only keepsakes, but memories with her. We love Fridays, Home Ec day with nanna!

This week was a pillow craft. My moms friend had gifted the girls two plain white pillows, so we bought some Crayola Fabric markers from Walmart and went to town decorating them. There were only two pillows so Sanaa made her own and Sultana helped Sahira design hers. They each picked out a quote and stenciled their designs in pencil first.

"A Good Hockey Player plays where the puck is, A Great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." {Wayne Gretzky}

A Dream is a Wish your Heart makes.... {Walt Disney, Cinderella}

A meaningful quote, a keepsake and a memory made.