Melted Crayon Ornaments...

 B had some friends over this past weekend for her birthday.  At her request, we made a craft.  While perusing the wonderful world of Pinterest trying to find a craft that was age appropriate for 8-9 year old girls (some stuff is for babies you know) I found the idea for melted crayon ornaments.  Everyone has broken, old crayons lying around the house so this is a great way to recycle them!  I went to our local craft store and bought the glass ornaments and in a few minutes, we made these pretty things...

You will need:

crayons

glass ornament

hair dryer

oven mitt or glove

Begin by tearing the paper off the crayons.  I found that if you slit the paper with a knife, it peels off much easier.  Mel has loved peeling paper off crayons since she was two.  She used to request that all her crayons be "naked.";)

 Then break them in to pieces that are about a 1/2 inch long...

 Remove the top of the ornament and place the broken crayons inside.    We used about 4 pieces per ornament.  Place the top back on the ornament...

 And just a pic of Jo because she always has to be in on the action too and wants to have her picture taken whenever she sees the camera!

 Put on the oven mitt or glove because the ornament will get hot!  Trust me!  Turn on the hair dryer and allow the crayons to melt while slowly rotating the ball...

 Once you achieve the desired look, you can carefully remove the top of the ornament and try to gently tap the remaining crayons out, but we tried and were unsuccessful, so they are still in there, but you can't tell!

This one is mine...

 Mel's...

 Mel's on the right and B's on the right...

Easy and inexpensive to make and they look cool too!

DIY Snowglobes...

 When my girls were babies, my grandma gave them each a snowglobe.  I know.  It sounds like an accident waiting to happen when you give a one year old a snow globe, but it is a special little keepsake that they enjoy every year at Christmas.
I saw these cute snow globes on Pinterest last year and decided to make them with the girls this year.  They were pretty simple to make and probably only took about 10 minutes to make from start to finish!

What you will need:

Canning jars and lids

trees , wagons, reindeer , etc. (I found the wagons at a local craft store.  Fairy garden supplies are perfect for this!)

Diamond Dust Glitter

hot glue

Begin by hot gluing the tree to the lid.  If you are adding other items, you may want to place it to the side a bit to allow more space, just make sure it doesn't go past the rubber edge.

Next, add the reindeer.  We hot glued him into the tree, probably about an inch above the lid.  He looks like he is flying right now, but once you add the glitter, it will be fine.  Allow the glue to dry for a bit.

While the glue is drying, add the glitter to the jar.  We place about a 1/4 of a cup in the wide mouth jars and a bit less in the regular mouth jars.  It's kind of trial and error to see what will work.

I also bought somewhite trees ...

brushed them with Elmer's glue and added gold glitter ...

then added a reindeer and some gold glitter to his antlers....

And Voila!...

That might be my favorite one!

Once the glue is dry, you can attach the lid and turn the jar upside down and you have a snow globe!

I am in love with how these turned out!  These would make perfect gifts for family, friends, teachers and caregivers!