The Weather has been Beautiful

And we are finally enjoying spring in Minnesota!

 

 

 This is Mr. Mallard (Drake if you are on a first name basis).  He and the Missus nest in or near our yard every year.  We haven’t seen her yet, so she must already be nesting.  Last year this couple left an egg in M’s sandbox! :) 

 

And M has been hard at work trying to master jump-roping. :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful spring!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Craft Time – Egg Carton Flower Garden

Say it fast – it sort of rhymes. :)

We still have this little art project, from almost a year ago, in our breezeway (the play dough is hard, but still holds!):It is one of my favorite things.  M noticed it a few days ago and wanted to make another one.

However, our lovely weather turned cold and rainy for about a week, and so we decided to put a twist on the activity and make our own flower garden.

Supplies:Old play dough (especially some that has been mixed together to form that lovely gray-brown), an egg carton, 12 craft sticks, 12 coffee filters, dot markers, a stapler, and… green paper, scissors, and pipecleaners all came in handy too.

Make large balls with the play dough and push them into the egg carton wells: 
Use your green dot marker (or whatever you wish) to paint some flower stems (craft sticks): 
At this point, M asked about leaves, so I got out the green paper and cut some leaves while he finished up the stems: 
Use the dot markers to decorate all 12 of your coffee filters: 
Staple the leaves to the stems: 
Assemble the flowers:We were going to staple the coffee filters to the stems, but they just flopped over, so we tried wrapping them on with pipecleaners, which worked much better.  Fold the coffee filter in quarters, then twist the bottom point a bit, and attach that part to the top of the stem.

Stick the stems in the play dough-filled egg carton, and fluff out all your coffee filters: 

Aren’t they sweet, all lined up in a row?

These were just what we needed on a gray and gloomy morning!

An egg carton, cut into smaller sections (say a square of 4 sections), would make a super-cute May basket to give away, wouldn’t it?  I wish we’d thought of this sooner, but it is still May!

I’m linking this up to Kids Get Crafty!

and

Have a beautiful day! :)