Tissue Paper Forsythia Bush

Nothing is making us happier than the fact that spring has officially arrived here in our part of New England. One of my favorite parts of early spring is seeing the bright yellow flowers of the forsythia bushes. I've pointed them out so often as we drive around town now the boys are eager to spot them too.

Unfortunately, we don't have a forsythia bush in our own yard so we decided to create our own tissue paper forsythia bushes.

May Day Tissue Flower Wreath

It's been so amazing to have some green color pop up in our world this week, it truly and finally feels like spring. And while the green has come, we're still awaiting those colorful May flowers. But as we probably have a small wait still (although really, I think it's only small) we put together these May Day Tissue Flower Wreaths.

We enjoyed making paper plate wreaths at St. Patrick's Day, so these were a great spin off for a new season. 

Glowing Earth Lantern

Yesterday was Earth Day, but we've been thinking about Earth Day all week. We created this glowing balloon lantern Monday and have enjoyed it during the rest of the week.

My inspiration came from a project two coworkers did with all of the students in our school. They worked with every student in the school to create a  balloon lantern for an evening whole school parade. You can see some images of our school parade at Amy Donohue Photography's blog post on a Full Moon Lantern Parade. 

As I helped with my students in the art room I knew this was definitely something we would have to try at home at some point. I had envisioned creating a whole set of planets for Big Brother's Outer Space Birthday party, but later realized it would be a great project for Earth Day. 

Arctic Sticky Collage

A few weeks ago we had a lot of fun with our Used Wrapping Paper Sticky Collage which we spontaneously put together. When a family member gave us a box of old National Geographic magazines I thought it would be fun to try a "themed" collage. As several of the magazines had polar animals, it seemed like it would be a good idea to try an arctic theme.

Three Fast and Fun Fourth of July projects

Somehow the Fourth of July kind of snuck up on me this year; it just doesn't feel like we should be that far into summer. I realized on the weekend it truly was this week, brainstormed a few projects I thought we'd all enjoy, and got out our few Fourth of July decorations.

My original hope for this post was to title it "Four Fast and Fun Fourth of July Projects." Only, it didn't work out that way. And although I was tempted to fit in one more project tonight, I didn't attempt it. I promised myself when I started this blog I would keep it real to our family. And the reality is that this week my oldest is having a hard week. He's frustrated with our most recent family change; his last day at daycare was Friday and he transitions to preschool in the fall. Despite the fact he had been part time at his daycare for months, he's missing his friends, teachers, and place. Much of our week is focusing on reaffirming that although these changes are happening, good things will come from them and spending a lot of time trying to partake in other types of favorite activities.

We did manage to fit in a little Fourth of July project time, and a lot of fun talk about the parade. So, a little later than I had planned, here are "Three Fast and Fun Fourth of July Projects."

1) Contact and Tissue Paper Flag Collage
Materials: Clear contact paper, tissue paper, star punch

The Project: I cut two pieces of contact paper into rectangles and the red and white tissue paper into long strips. I also cut a small square of blue. I laid out one rectangle of the contact paper so the sticky side was facing up. Big Brother added the strips and blue paper onto the paper while looking at a small flag as a model. He used the star punch to create some small stars which he placed on top of the blue. When he was done I peeled off the other piece of contact paper and added it on top of the work he's been doing, sticky side down. I trimmed any overhanging tissue paper off.

It looks great hanging in our window!

2) Splat Painted Fireworks

Materials: pantyhose/tights, rice, washable paint, black paper, glitter and glitter glue (optional)

The Project: I saw this idea a while ago over at Toddler Approved and knew it looked like fun. We decided to try it as "fireworks painting." First I cut the legs off an old pair of black tights and filled each leg with about a half cup of rice. I then knotted the top. We now had a bouncy "splat painter." I put paint into small containers, which Big Brother would dip his painter into. He then would "splat," or bounce, the painter onto the paper. We added some glitter glue to a few of the paint colors and then sprinkled some glitter on at the end so it was more sparkly. We did it on both brown paper and black paper. We really liked how it looked on the black paper!

3) Parade Treat Bag

Materials: white paper bag, glitter glue, red & blue markers, foam sparkly stickers

The Project: Every year our family watches a local parade on the front lawn of my husband's aunt and uncle's house. We love seeing familiar faces, old friends, the floats, community vehicles, and the BBQ which follows. We also all love collecting the candy. (My husband and I freely admit to raiding the candy stash Big Brother collects.) Instead of the typical bucket this year, I thought Big Brother would enjoy creating a treat bag. It was definitely a quick,easy project, and one he could do independently while I made dinner. 

The bag shows "a rocket ship on a fire truck." 

I've still got a few fun things planned for the morning, but the rest of my ideas can wait until next year. We'll have plenty of ways to enjoy the day with all our other wonderful traditions. Have a fabulous Fourth of July!!