Terra Cotta Gumball "Machine" Project

Today we made some absolutely adorable Gumball "Machines" using terracotta pots and small fish bowls. Right now, they're holding candy, but later, I'm sure they will hold other things for the girls, like marbles or rocks or whatever they are thinking of collecting.

For this project, you'll need terracotta pots, terracotta saucers (we used a size smaller than the pot), small round fish bowls (sometimes these can be found at the dollar store), and knobs (a package of wooden knobs will work).

We painted the pots and saucers and then used stamps to decorate the pots with dots and flowers and ladybugs. Oh my!

Glue the fish bowl to the bottom of the upside down pot. We used E6000 glue. Glue the knob to the bottom of the upside down saucer. The saucer becomes the lid for the Gumball Machine. What do you think? Are they not simply adorable?





“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Funnel Christmas Tree Craft Project

What a fun craft Gran had planned for the girls today. We made Christmas trees from a stack of nesting funnels! These are simply too cute not to share.

For each girl, Gran had a set of cone-shaped funnels
in four different sizes.

We painted each first with a coat of Kilz.

When the Kilz was dry, we painted them green.

We used two different colors of green and alternated the colors
for the tree layers.

Then we glued the pieces together to form a tree.

We added a miniature tree topper star.

For ornaments, we glued on plastic gems.

A super simple and cute Christmas
project for the kids to enjoy.

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Adorable Snowman Craft Projects

Christmas Break is here, and that means Christmas baking and crafting at our house. Today we made snowmen. Not the kind involving snow. After all, it was just 70 degrees today.

No. We made ours with paint.

I found these two ideas on Pinterest, and my girls loved the first one best.

FLOWER POT SNOWMAN

I didn't have all the supplies on hand for these cuties, so when I stopped to pick up some flower pots and heads at Hobby Lobby, I couldn't find the size of terra cotta pots I wanted. But I did find a package of small wooden flower pots that were the perfect size and match for the package of wooden balls. Of course the balls have a flattened bottom making them set easily atop the pot.

We used a stash of baby socks for the hats, ribbon for the scarves, and small buttons, all of which I had already in my craft closet. The girls and I painted the pots and balls white, then painted the eyes, nose and mouths. 

Tip: We used the wrong end of the paint brush to make dots for the eyes and mouth.

We made the hats by cutting the foot from the sock and tying at the top to form into a knit hat. We tied the ribbon around the neck for the scarf and glued on the buttons.

It was an easy and fun project for our rainy Saturday afternoon.


When I was at Hobby Lobby looking for the items for the above project, I also found a package of wooden spools.

How did I not know they sold these things??

I remembered seeing a project using spools for snowmen ornaments and I couldn't resist.

WOODEN SPOOL SNOWMEN

I'm not totally sure why, but I really like the spool projects I see on Pinterest. And this one is super adorable. We painted the spools white and then I distressed mine with sandpaper. The girls didn't want to do that part on theirs. We used ribbon to thread the spools.

Tip: Wider ribbon works best.

Each ribbon is knotted at the bottom of the ribbon and then knotted again just under the bottom spool, knotted between each spool and finally knotted above the top spool. Any extra ribbon can be used to create a loop for hanging on the tree.

Finally we painted our faces and buttons.

If the ribbon is too narrow, the knots may not be big enough to hold the spools in place. For one of our snowmen, I had to add a bit of glue to keep the spools between the knots. This may also be necessary if the spools want to rotate around the ribbon instead of staying lined up with each other.

He's a perfect fit with the other ornaments on our tree.

Merry Christmas, 2013! And may you have a blessed 2014.





For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6