Easy Paper Plate Mardi Gras Masks & Pancakes!

I don't know about you, but to me it feels like holidays are flying by in a blur! I can not believe that Mardi Gras has come & gone - 

I certainly didn't get to celebrate the way I wanted to with the Lil Divas

but we did get to make these super easy (& cute!) 

Paper Plate Mardi Gras Masks &

Mardi Gras Inspired Pancakes!

Here are the super easy masks we made -

What You Need:

paper plate

green, purple & yellow paints (we used watercolors)

feathers

craft sticks

scissors

glue

(optional) decorations - sequins, glitter glue, etc...

What To Do:

1. Take 1 paper plate & cut it in half, using 1/2 plate for each mask.

2. Fold the 1/2 plate in half again and cut out eye holes.

3. Paint

4. Add feathers as desired.

5. Add any optional decorations (the Lil Divas used glitter glue)

6. Glue craft stick onto one side

7. Enjoy!

Didn't they turn out cute?

The Lil Divas are used to my "festive" pancakes

so eating weird colors and shapes, isn't new to them.

I couldn't resist whipping up a batch of our pancakes

in festive purple, yellow & green Mardi Gras inspired colors!

I used a bit of food coloring &

cooked them on the griddle - 

oh, how I love my griddle pan! It gets used so, so much.

Mardi Gras, just isn't Mardi Gras without music!

Have you seen the Music/Sound Shakers we made last year?

How did you spend Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday?

Did you indulge in any sweets/goodies?

Bern

Kid Craft: Fall Leaf Dream Catchers

I know it's the end of November and many people are looking ahead 

to the holidays & winter but I had to share one final

fall related craft with you because I love how it came out.

Kid Craft: Fall Leaf Dream Catchers

What You Need:

paper plate

leaves

scissors

glue

yarn

hole punch

What To Do:

1. Cut out the inner circle of the plate

2. Punch holes around the outer circle of the plate

3.  Weave yarn through holes - creating a web effect

Be sure to leave ample yarn dangling from ends (see below)

4. Glue leaves onto plate & allow to dry

5. Tie leaves to bottom of string (see below)

Hang near a bed or window and enjoy sweet dreams!

Books:

Bern

Paper Plate Dinosaur Fun

I'm all about easy crafts that do not require too much fuss so I LOVE working with paper plates! The Lil Divas love to paint and it's so fun to create things out of something so ordinary.

Today, I am going to share our Paper Plate Dinosaurs with you.

Paper Plate Dinosaurs

What You Need:

2 paper plates

paint (colors of choosing)

scissors

glue

wiggly eye

 black marker

What We Did:

1. The Lil Divas painted 2 large paper plates and we let them sit until dry. I let them choose their own colors so you see we eneded up with 1 pink dinosaur from the lil princess that LOVES all thing PINK! :)

2. Cut out the inner circle of the plate - careful to leave the outer edge in good condition.



3. Using the outer edge I cut a long neck and tail and using the inner circle I made some legs. This can be traced using a template and cut out by older children who can handle it.

4. Draw a nose & mouth and add wiggly eye.

5. The lil divas wanted to add spots so they each chose a 2nd paitn color and went to work.

 The Lil Divas finished paper plate dinosaurs!



Dinosaur Books We Read:

Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event: Paper Plate Zoo Animals Craft Pack

What is Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event?

Michelle over at Best Toys for Kids is the heart, soul & brains behind this fun event.

She got 13 amazing bloggers together (including ME!) from all over the WORLD

to come up with some fun crafts for kids,

put it all together in a easy DIY kit &

offer a worldwide giveaway to all our readers/followers!

Below you will find our adorable Paper Plate Animal Crafts Giveaway
which includes all the materials you will need to make
your own paper plate lion, zebra & giraffe!! :)

Happy Crafting!

Bern

***************************

Paper Plate Zoo Animals

#1 Paper Plate Lion Craft:


What You Need:
paper plate
brown paint
orange felt
glue
brown pom pom
black foam
wiggly eyes

What To Do:

1. paint paper plate brown

2. allow drying time

(we let them dry overnight)

3. cut around the paper plate to create a mane

4. add orange circle felt for face
( I cut a circle the same size as the inner circle of the plate)

5. cut ears out of paper plate & cover w/orange felt
glue under face and onto plate

6. cut mouth and whiskers out of black foam & add onto face



7. add brown pom pom nose

8. add wiggly eyes & let lion dry!

#2 Paper Plate Giraffe

What You Need:

paper plate

yellow paint

brown felt

craft stick

glue

wiggly eyes

brown marker

What To Do:

1. paint paper plate yellow

2. allow drying time
(we let plate dry overnight)

3. cut small circle of light brown felt for nose

& add nostrils and smile

4. I basically told the girl to make a smiley face

5. Glue nose onto face & using brown paint add spots

6. add small circles to wooden sticks

7. add wiggly eyes

8.  glue ears & antlers onto back of paper plate

9. Allow to dry

#3 Paper Plate Zebra

What You Need:

paper plate

black construction paper

black foam

glue

wiggly eyes

white crayon

What To Do:

1. assemble pieces needed:

cut large black circle for nose/mouth

cut ears out of paper plate & inner ear out of black construction paper

cut 6 large triangle shapes

cut strands of hair out of foam

1. glue inner ears to large ear cut outs and glue onto back of paper plate

2. glue hair onto back of paper plate

(I added some tape as well)

3. using white marker add nostrils & mouth 

to mouth piece and glue onto front of paper plate

4. Add triangles to each side of paper plate

(see picture below)

5. add wiggly eyes and allow all pieces to dry

Once dry you can enjoy your adorable

paper plate animals!

**************************

The Giveaway: (Open WORLDWIDE)

You will receive all the pieces needed to make each of the above 3 paper plate animals

(each animal is in a separate bag) & I will provide the instructions listed here.

Plus, you will receive a small washable paint set and two painting sponges.

All pieces have been cut & are ready to be painted, glued & assembled!



How to Enter:
Leave me a comment telling me which is your favorite zoo animal(s)!
(My fave zoo animals are the polar bear & giraffe)

Extra Entries:

Please leave a seperate comment for each entry &

please include your e-mail so I can contact you if you win! 

*If you are already a follower leave a comment that counts as an entry*

1. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Publicly via Google Friend Connect  (+2) leave 2 comments 
2. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas on Twitter  (+2) leave 2 comments
3. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas on Facebook (+2) leave 2 comment
4. Subscribe to Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas emails  (+2) leave 2 comments
5. Subscribe to Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Newsletter  (+2) leave 2 comment
6. Make a comment on any non-giveaway post on Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Blog and leave a link.  You can do this for up to 5 posts but please note that comment must be dated after the start date of this post - not valid on previous comments. (+2) leave 2 comments
7. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link - can be done once a day
   
   Tweet: #Win a paper plate zoo animals craft pack w/@Momto2PoshDivas ends 8/13 http://goo.gl/fb/jud7n #craftykitsforkidsgiveaway #giveaway #crafts

Giveaway Rules: 
Open WORLDWIDE
Giveaway ends 8/13/2011 at 11:59 (PDT)
Winner will be chosen via random.org. 
& contacted via email if an email is given .
Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Please note any entries that can not be verified will be disqualified.


After entering our giveaway - 
be sure to visit the other amazing bloggers/giveaways listed below
& check out our other fabulous giveaways! :)

B is for Bear: Panda Bear, Panda Bear

The Lil Divas are learning all about Bears this week. It's one of my favorite themes because it includes some of my favorite animals - Polar Bears, Panda Bears, Brown Bears and of course a bear theme would not be complete without including Teddy Bears!

We began with Panda Bears and have been reading some wonderful books that were also full of wonderful information on these adorable bears.

Here are some of the books we have read:

Tracks of a Panda by Nick Dowson

A Panda's World by Caroline Arnold

Panda Kindergarten by Joanne Ryder

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin Jr

Paper Plate Panda Craft:

What You Need:

2 paper plates - we used 9in. plates but you can also use 6 in.

Black construction paper

Colored Consturction paper - choice

Wiggly eyes

Glue

Black marker

Scissors

What To Do: (I did not take many pictures during the craft)

1. Using the black construction paper cut out 2 oval shapes for the surrounding eyes, 2 ears, 2 arms and 2 leg paws. Using the colored constuction paper cut out a bow shape (if desired) - this can be used on the head to make it a girl or as a bow tie to make the panda a boy. This piece can be left out if desired. My Lil Divas wanted girl panda's so this was what we came up with.

2. Cut some of the edge off of 1 of the paper plates to make it just a little smaller - this will be the head and the remaining paper plate will be the body.

3. To make the panda's face - glue the ears, nose and black outline of the eyes. Add the wiggly eyes on top of the black eye shapes. Use your black marker to make a mouth.

4. Glue the arms & feet paws to the larger plate

5. Attach head to body and add bow (if desired) to head or body

6. Let dry

Here are our finished girl pandas!

Writing:

Tracing & Writing "Panda Bear"

I used a Panda Bear Tracer Page from http://www.twistynoodle.com/. I love that you can customize their sheets!

Letter B Practice:

Do-a-Dot Letter Bb from http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/



Letter B Foam Puzzle

I used a template from abcteach.com (available by subscription only) to cut out foam shapes for a B Puzzle. The Littlest Diva really enjoyed working on this and did it over & over again. I plan to make this for each letter for her. She enjoyes puzzles.

Snack: Panda Egg

This snack is made using a hardboiled egg! It consists on 1 had boiled egg, 1 dark grape (cut in half & attached with half of a toothpick - use caution when eating) for the ears and for the face I used black sparkle gel (like icing). It was an easy & cute snack to celebrate the panda bear!

Movie:

We also watched The Amazing Panda Adventure - a great family film about the perils of the endangered pandas in China.

We had fun learning about the panda bear - be sure to come back & see what fun we cook up next!

Don't forget to check out our Polar Bear and  Brown Bear activities!

Bern

**I have linked this to Read, Explore, Learn , Tot Tuesdays and Show & Tell  **