I think that the part of crafting with my daughter (who is 4 1/2) that I struggle with the most is allowing her free reign to create to her standard – not mine. I often find myself trying to ‘help’ or ‘fix’ things for her – which really is just my OCD limiting her creativity (insert finger-wagging).
When my daughter announced that she wanted to make ornaments of our cat and dog to hang on the tree this year, I stifled the urge to Pinterest the heck of this project and headed to my local dollar store. Including paint, the supplies cost me about $5 for everything!
What you need:
- Wooden animal shapes
- Acrylic paint & brushes
- A drill (if you need to drill a hole for the string) and masking tape
- Baker’s twine or ribbon
- Permanent Marker
Really, this couldn’t be easier. My best suggestion is to cut open a garbage bag and TAPE it down to the kitchen table. The tape is the difference between fun hour of crafting and “OMG! DON’T PAINT THE TABLE!”…. trust me.
My Little decided that she liked the swirly, spotty look for her pets and the gold added the ‘fancy’! We divided the task so that she painted the front of the shape and then I painted the back and the edges in a solid colour while she went on with the next one. I tried to encourage her to think about her colour choice before she turned it into a giant glittering brown mess but I resisted the urge to change her course. Once the paint was dry she used a fine permanent marker to add the face and I wrote our pet’s names on their respective ornament.
Our last step was to put a little bit of masking tape on the front (to avoid splitting) and then drill a tiny hole for the baker’s twine. She’s in love – almost as much as she’s in love with the real animals!
Now to get the tree up!
Jennifer (@momvstheboys) says
awww those are really cute, love how curly that cat tail is!
Jennifer (@momvstheboys) recently posted..Get Ed Venture-ous with the Fisher-Price Imaginext Rescue City Center #ImaginextAdventures
Victoria Ess says
These are so cute!
Suzanne Rudge (MapleMouseMama) says
These are so adorable Kerrie, what a great idea! I love to see the kid’s eyes light up when they see paints and if you can then display your work for all to see even better, Great job!
Suz
Kyla@Mommy's Weird says
I’m just not ready for the holidays!
Kyla@Mommy’s Weird recently posted..Momma Needs New Shoes….
Little Miss Kate says
Those are so cute! Pets really are part of the family, what a great way to include them
Little Miss Kate recently posted..Date Night with Chris Hemsworth – Thor: The Dark World
Jenn says
What a great craft and a great way to pass time with your child! My children have really gotten into the crafting spirit lately! That one is a good one!
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Betzy Carmona says
Those are super cute
sharon martin says
They are gorgeous, especially the doggie one as we have two dogs, what a great idea and didn’t she do a wonderful job x
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Theresa--Capri + 3 says
I love the idea of personalized pet ornaments. Those are really cute! Thank you so much for being a special guest host on Artsy Play Wednesday this week. We are excited to have you!
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Stephanie LaPlante says
I used to paint ornaments with my mom as a kid. So much fun.
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