arts and crafts Archives - Monterey Bay Parent

Easy Peasy Valentine’s Day Crafts

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | February 9, 2021

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, we found a handful of really cute, really easy Valentine’s Day crafts. Using items you may already have around the house, you’ll be decorating with love while keeping the kids busy.

For complete instructions, click here.

Cardboard Roll Heart Stamp

There are two steps to this pretty painting. First, have the kids use watercolors to create a pretty, colorful background abstract (keep it relatively light so the hearts will show later). Once dry, use bent toilet paper rolls to stamp hearts.

Cotton Swab Painted Hearts. These cute and easy painted hearts are adorable as valentine’s for friends and family. Or, string a bunch together to create a sweet garland to decorate for the holiday. Gather your supplies: white card stock, whatever craft paint you have available (pan watercolor works great and is washable), and cotton swabs. For younger children cut out the hearts for them from the card stock either using a template available at the link or freehand. Tip: cut out a bunch of them, kids will want to make a bunch!

Once you have your hearts, it’s paint time. Kids can dab their swabs into paint and then tab circles onto the paper.

For complete instructions, click here.

Paper Plate Heart Wreath. Once you’ve cut out a handful of red, pink, and purple hearts, you can use the center part of a paper plate to form your wreath. The kids can randomly glue the hearts to the wreath base. Add a piece of string to hang your wreath and you have the perfect decoration for any door in the house.

Click for complete instructions.

No-Sew Heart Pillow. Disclaimer: you probably don’t have the felt you need for this project. But, it’s so adorable we’re including it anyway. It’s worth a trip to Joanne’s or Michael’s for a few pieces of felt to make one of these pillows. There are just a few steps involved (and lots of knot practice!) to create this really cute pillow. This one is for older children who are able to make a basic knot.

Click for complete instructions.

Valentine’s Day Canvas Art

While this does require slightly more complicated supplies, the end result is so pretty that it’s worth the effort. Making a series of these lovely hearts would be super cute hanging in a child’s room all year long. Using craft items like pompoms, artificial flowers, and sequins, each canvas has a different material glued into a heart shape.

Click for complete instructions.

Pumpkin Crafts and Pumpkin Patches

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | October 12, 2020

Fall is in the air and it’s time for pumpkin crafts and pumpkin patches. Read on for four fun pumpkin-themed crafts plus a list of Monterey and Santa Cruz Pumpkin Patches!

For toddlers: Little ones can explore colors and shapes and use their fine motor skills when you help them create an Easy Yarn Pumpkin Craft. You just need a few readily available items: orange yarn, glue stick, and brown and orange crayons. Draw a pumpkin shape on white paper with the orange crayon and add the brown stem. Help the child color the pumpkin and stem and then scribble glue stick all over the pumpkin. Then your little one can randomly place the yard bits on the pumpkin.

For complete instructions, click here.

For preschoolers: This papercraft pumpkin is great for practicing cutting and gluing skills. You’ll need some fall-colored paper, white paper, child safety scissors, and a few other household craft supplies. From there it’s easy gluing to line up the strips on the back paper and then adding the pumpkin cut out. Finish up with a pretty tulle and twine bow.

For complete instructions, click here.

For grade school-aged children: The Pumpkin Portrait is a great way to introduce older children to chalk pastels. They’ll learn how to blend colors and which color choices create a pleasing blend. It’s a great project for a group of kids of various ages because they will all be able to complete a portrait with different degrees of expertise.

For complete instructions, click here.

For teens and adults: The Book Pumpkin isn’t just adorable, it’s a frugal way to recycle and then decorate your home with items you already have. You’ll need a paperback book and some simple items like orange craft paint. Plus, you’ll need sharp scissors or a craft knife to cut the book.

For complete instructions, click here.

Celebrate Spring With Wildflower Crafts

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | April 16, 2017

The spring wildflower display has been amazing this spring in California. After years of drought, the wet winter means that wildflowers are in abundance all around the state. The gorgeous photos you’re seeing popping up on social media are the inspiration for our wildflower crafts projects. Most of these projects use supplies you already have on hand and these projects can easily be adapted for a Girl Scout troop or preschool class project. Instead of using regular paper for your projects, consider using precut white notecards for the projects that use paint and printing. You can purchase inexpensive note cards complete with envelopes at any office supply store.

So, take a hike this weekend to see the wildflowers, take a few photos for inspiration, and then come home and spend a few hours making a pretty craft to remember your day.

Bottle Print Flowers. All you need for this project is a water bottle that has indentations on the bottom (the blogger used Dasani), acrylic paint, and an optional button for the center. Use your photo inspiration to choose color combinations and stamp away! Add a stem with a green market and you’re done.

Click here for complete instructions.

Fingerprint Poppy Flower Craft. Celebrate California Poppies with this easy craft that only requires fingers and paint. If you have the kids make their flowers on the front of note cards you’ll have a useful and beautiful craft.

Click here for complete instructions.

Paper Flowers. This project is a great way to use up old scrapbooking paper. Strips of cut paper form the petals and you can use paper straws for the stems. Pop a few in a small vase and you have a pretty centerpiece.

Click here for complete instructions.

Watercolor Resist Flowers. This one is a little more time intensive with several steps but the result is well worth it. Also, the resist technique is a fun one to learn and use on other paper and paint projects.

Click here for complete instructions.