Tag: has video

Valentine’s Day Bouquet – Craft-a-long with Motley Kids

Posted on by Motley Kids

https://youtu.be/Wv5KQEXjUFg

Valentine’s Day Bouquet

We’re making a Valentine’s Day bouquet! Keep it for yourself or give it to someone who likes flowers! 

We’re going to make several different kinds of flowers and then put them in a craft tube vase. 

 

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Supplies: 

Felt Flowers

  • Felt pieces or fabric scraps
  • Chenille stem
  • Pony Bead
  • Hot glue (craft glue will also work)
  • Scissors

Optional:

  • School or craft glue
  • Glitter
  • Small plate for putting glitter on 

Cupcake Liner Flowers

  • Cupcake liners (small or large is fine)
  • Pony beads
  • Chenille stems
  • Craft glue

Button Flowers

  • Buttons
  • Chenille stems

Optional:

  • small bead
  • fabric or paper for leaf

Vase

  • A craft or toilet paper tube (sturdy is better)
  • Construction Paper
  • Scissors
  • Straight Edge or ruler
  • Something to draw a line with
  • Glue (glue sticks work well)
  • Decorating bling
  • Air-dry clay or Playdough

Steps to Make It

Felt Flowers

  1. Cut a long strip of felt or fabric (about 1½ to 2 inches tall and 8 to 10 inches long)
  2. Decide which edge is the top and cut a wavy pattern into it
  3. Attach a pony bead to your chenille stem by folding the stem in half and twisting
  4. This also makes sure your chenille stem can hold up your rose without drooping!
  5. Glue the felt to the chenille stem with the pony bead about halfway up it
  6. Roll the felt around the stem (try to keep the bottom even). Glue the bottom in spots if you need to.
  7. Glue the bottom HALF of the end of the felt roll down.
  8. Fold the top half of the felt roll over to make your rose
  9. If you want, you can cut a leaf out of the extra felt and glue it to your stem

Optional Bling:

  1. Pour a thin layer of glitter into your plate
  2. Apply a thin layer of craft glue to the top of the rose
  3. Tap the top of the rose in your glitter
  4. Let dry!

Cupcake Liner Flowers

  1. Take about 5-6 cupcake liners and flatten them all out (sort of)
  2. Fold your chenille stem in half and thread a pony bead onto it.
  3. Starting with one liner at a time, GENTLY poke the chenille stem ends through the middle and pull it up to the top under the beads
    DO NOT PULL TOO HARD or it will tear.
  4. Scrunch your liner up vertically so it is all folded in the middle.
  5. Add another liner and scrunch that one up around it
  6. Repeat until you like your rose
  7. Before you pull your last liner all the way up, put a layer of glue all the way around the bottom of the next-to-last liner
  8. Once you’ve scrunched your last liner up make sure to scrunch the bottom up into the glue you placed to hold it all together.
  9. If you want a leaf, fold a liner into quarters to make that and then glue it onto the chenille stem.

Button Flowers

  1. Pick out 3 to 5 buttons of various sizes
  2. Stack them up with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on the top
  3. Fold your chenille stem in half
  4. IF YOU WANT: Thread a small bead onto the chenille stem for the middle of your flower
  5. Starting with the smallest button, thread the two legs of your chenille stem through two holes in the button.
  6. Move from smallest to largest until all your buttons are on the chenille stems
  7. Twist all the way down to secure.
  8. Make a leaf with felt or paper scraps and glue it to your stems

Craft Tube Vase

  1. Use your craft tube to mark a line just the right height across the short side of the construction paper
    1. Mark the height of the craft tube on both ends of the short side
    2. Use your straight edge to connect the marks
  2. Cut off the strip of paper
  3. Glue it around your craft tube (it should wrap more than once)
  4. Roll out the clay to about 1/4″ thick
  5. Press your tube into it to create a weighted bottom
  6. Decorate with your bling!

Want to craft live with us? Catch our next Craft-a-long on Twitch!

See our streaming schedule here!

some crafted flowers

 

 

DIY Dragon Puppets for Lunar New Year – Craft-a-long

Posted on by Motley Kids

https://youtu.be/nWCm__DEPZk

DIY Dragon Puppets

Come craft a dragon puppet to celebrate the Lunar New Year! This year it’s on Friday the 12th of February, so we’re celebrating a little bit in advance…

There are many different ways to celebrate the Lunar New Year — this is just one!

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Supplies: 

  • Craft tubes or toilet paper tubes (about 5 per dragon)
  • Several sheets of brightly colored construction paper in 2 or more colors
  • Ruler or straight edge
  • Pencil or something to mark on your construction paper with
  • Pompoms in several sizes (you may want matched pairs)
  • Scissors
  • Craft or tacky glue or glue guns
  • Felt or colored cellophane (or colored construction paper, whatever works)
  • A hole punch (or some other tool for making holes in cardboard)
  • Yarn or string
  • Two (or more) craft sticks
  • Dragon Decorating Bling!

Steps to Make It

Dragon Head:

  1. Lay your craft tube on the short side of your construction paper
  2. Mark the top of the tube on both sides
  3. Use a ruler to draw a straight line and cut your paper off. 
  4. Glue (or tape) your paper around your craft paper tube
  5. Fold a second piece of construction paper (we used a contrasting color) in fourths
  6. Draw your fierce dragon mane on your construction paper and cut it out. Make sure that you have a tab to attach it to the dragon! You should have four mane pieces
  7. Glue your pieces onto the sides of the dragon’s head. Stagger them a little bit to give some depth
  8. Cut some fringe and glue it to the back of your dragon’s head to make it Super Fierce!
  9. Decorate your dragon’s face with scales or patterns (we’ll add the eyes and nose next)
  10. Use hot glue or tacky glue to glue two medium pompoms to the top of your dragon’s head, just in front of the fringe
  11. Glue some googly eyes on the front of the pompoms
  12. Glue two more pompoms to the front of your dragon’s nose.  These are its nostrils!
  13. Cut some flames out of your felt/cellophane/construction paper and glue them into the mouth of your dragon!
  14. Use your hole punch to make 2 holes in your dragon’s head, straight across from each other.

Dragon Body:

  1. Cut 3-4 craft tubes in half to make short tubes.
  2. Wrap your half tubes with construction paper just like the head!
  3. Punch 2 holes in each end across from each other (they should line up front to back)
  4. Use yarn or string to tie the tubes together through the holes (keep the loops loose)
  5. Decorate your dragon!
  6. When you’re done, turn your dragon upside-down
  7. Have a Responsible Adult help you make a slit in the bottom of the head (near the neck) and in one of the last two tubes
  8. Insert a craft stick into each slit and glue it in place
  9. Use the sticks to make your dragon puppet move! 

Want to craft live with us? Catch our next Craft-a-long on Twitch!

See our streaming schedule here!

 

 

Chocolate Covered Pretzels – Motley Kids Cooking

Posted on by Motley Kids

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

The Motley Kids needed a snack today, so we made some chocolate covered pretzels! You can join us if you like! 

 

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Tools: 

  • A heat source (burner or stove)
  • Small plates for your sprinkles and decorating things
  • Spatula or spoon for stirring
  • Wax paper
  • Something for your pretzels to cool on (like a cookie sheet)
  • A double boiler
  • Don’t have a double boiler? You will need instead:
      • A small saucepan
    • A heat-safe bowl that will sit on top of your saucepan without falling in 

Ingredients: 

  • A bag of mini pretzels or pretzel sticks (you can sure make your own, but we didn’t)
  • Chocolate for dipping (chocolate/white chocolate chips, crumbled chocolate candy, etc.)
    You can use candy melts and this will make things less delicate.
  • Sprinkles, decorating sugar, etc for your pretzels 

Steps to Make It

  1. Prepare your sprinkles and decorations by putting a thin layer on your small plates
  2. Prepare your cooling area and set the wax paper on the cookie sheet
  3. Set aside 1/3 of your chocolate for later
  4. Fill the saucepan or bottom of your double boiler with about 1 inch of water
  5. Set it on the burner and heat over medium heat until it’s boiling
  6. Once it’s boiling, turn the heat down to low
  7. Put your larger chocolate batch into the bowl or top pan of the double boiler and place it on top of the bottom pan (THIS IS HOT).
    – The water should not touch the bottom of the top pan.
  8. Stir your chocolate in the top pan until it’s completely melted
    – Do not let water into the chocolate or it will seize up (clump)!
  9. Remove the top pan from the double boiler (THIS IS HOT).
  10. Add the remaining chocolate to your melted chocolate and stir until it is all melted.
  11. Dip the pretzels in the melted chocolate. You can reheat on the double boiler if needed.
  12. Roll or tap into your sprinkles
  13. Set on the wax paper to cool!

Enjoy! 

Want to craft live with us? Catch our next Craft-a-long on Twitch!

See our streaming schedule here!

 

 

Flower Fairies – Craft-a-long

Posted on by Motley Kids
a flower fairy craft

Flower Fairies

We made some flower fairy friends! We also made a flower fairy rock band…

 

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Supplies: 

  • Silk/fake flowers or garland (we are going to take them apart)
    (Motley Kids will often raid the home decor section at Goodwill for garland and flowers, or this is where you can send your old holiday garland when it’s worn out)
  • Glue Gun or Craft (tacky) glue
  • Scissors 
  • Large round beads (we usually do about a 1″ bead) or air-dry clay/Model Magic type compound
  • Chenille Stems/Pipe cleaners
    • One full length
    • One cut in half
  • Yarn or string
  • Smaller beads (pony beads work well)
  • Sharpie or other permanent markers (fine point)
  • Cellophane for wings (wax paper also works well)
  • Fairy decorating supplies
    • Buttons
    • Acorn caps
    • Fabric
    • Ribbon
    • Sequins etc

For Extra Fun (at the end of the video): 

  • A large disposable plastic cup
  • Construction paper 

Steps to Make It

  1. Disassemble your silk flowers — gently pull the flowers off the stems or cut the stems to free the petals and set the stems aside.
    We’re just going to use the flower petals (and leaves). 
  2. Take a chenille stem and fold it in half. This will be your fairy’s body
  3. Wind about 10-15 loops of yarn around your fingers
    1. the more fingers you use the longer your fairy’s hair will be
    2. the more loops you make the thicker your fairy’s hair will be
  4. Hook the chenille stem through the loops so they are hanging off the bend in the middle
  5. Thread your large bead onto your folded chenille stem (both ends) and push it up as far as it will go — it should pinch your fairy’s hair and hold it in place
  6. Your fairy’s hair is still a big loop.  Cut the loop to free the ends up.
  7. Wrap your half chenille stem around the folded one just below the large bead.  These are your fairy’s arms
    1. Fold the hands in so you don’t have sharp ends
    2. You can use little beads or air-dry modeling clay if you need bulkier hands
  8. Thread a couple of pony beads onto the folded chenille stem to make your fairy’s body
  9. Thread the chenille stem through the holes in your flower petals so that the petals point down. 
    Try layering several different petals or leaves!
  10. Thread one more pony bead onto the chenille stem to secure your skirts
  11. Separate the two legs of the chenille stem and fold some feet
  12. Put an awesome face on your fairy with your Sharpies
  13. Decorate your fairy!
    1. You can make wings with cellophane or parchment paper
    2. Fairies love sparkles and bling
    3. Use a button or acorn cap to make a hat!  

Want to craft live with us? Catch our next Craft-a-long on Twitch!

See our streaming schedule here!

a flower fairy rock band

 

 

DIY UFO’s and Pompom Aliens – Craft-a-long

Posted on by Motley Kids
A UFO and a pompom alien

DIY UFOs & Pompom Aliens

Join the Motley Kids for a journey into space! We’ll make a paper plate UFO and then create pompom aliens to invade with!

 

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Supplies: 

UFOs

  • Two paper plates (any plates will do but sturdy plates are better)
  • One paper bowl (again, sturdy is better)
  • A clear(ish) plastic cup, bowl, soup container, etc for your cockpit (this should be SMALLER than the bottom of the bowl)
  • Craft glue or low-temp hot glue
  • Paint, markers, stickers, and other bling for your UFO
  • Pompoms and sequins for your cockpit

Pompom Aliens

  • Cardboard for making pompom forms
  • Yarn (acrylic fluffs extra well)
  • Something large and round to trace around (about 3 inches across is good)
  • A round bottle cap to trace around
  • Scissors
  • Chenille Stems (pipe cleaners)
  • Googly Eyes and Alien Decorating Bling
  • Glue (glue guns or glue dots work best)
  • Bling

Steps to Make It

UFOs

  1. Glue your two paper plates together around the rims (the eating part is inside)
  2. Glue a paper bowl to the bottom of one paper plate to make your capsule (the eating part is still inside)
  3. Pick out your favorite alien sequins and pompoms
  4. You can glue some googly eyes on the pompoms if you want 
  5. Put them in your cockpit cup or jar
  6. Glue the bowl side of your UFO onto the jar by turning the UFO over  (do not turn the jar over! Your aliens will escape!) 
  7. Turn your UFO right side up
  8. Decorate your UFO!

Pompom Aliens

  1. Set your round thing on your cardboard and trace a circle. You can use different sizes of round things to make different sizes of aliens!
  2. Cut out your circle
  3. Put your bottle cap in the middle of your circle and trace it
  4. Cut a thin space from the outside of your circle to your inside circle
  5. Cut out your inside circle. This is your Alien Hatching Device (also known as a pompom maker)
  6. Wrap yarn around your Alien Hatching Device until it’s completely covered—this may take a few minutes, so be patient. 
    1. To keep your yarn from sliding, hold the end and wrap over it a few times
    2. Leave a space near the gap so your yarn doesn’t fall off
  7. Use scissors to cut along the edge of the Alien Hatching Device until all of your yarn is sticking out of the sides of the middle circle.
    (It should stay in place if you’ve made your alien Super Fluffy)
  8. Use a spare piece of yarn to tie tightly around the middle of your alien
    (this is an important knot so If you are not a Super Good Tie-er ask your Responsible Adult to help)
  9. Pull your alien free of the Hatching Device
  10. Fluff well!
  11. Trim scraggly bits with scissors if needed
  12. Use a chenille stem (or two or three) to make legs, arms, and antennae
    Wrap them around the middle of the pompom
  13. Add googly eyes or bling!
  14. Prepare to Invade!

Want to craft live with us? Catch our next Craft-a-long on Twitch!

See our streaming schedule here!

a paper plate spaceship and pompom alien

DIY Photo Holders – Craft-a-Long

Posted on by Motley Kids
a photo stand with butterfly and flower

DIY Photo Holders

This easy-to-make photo stand came about because the Motley Kids needed somewhere to put some pictures Grandma sent in the mail! 

We did ours with a Garden theme, but you can build yours any way you want…spaceships, rockets, even Birthday Llamas (watch the video)!

 

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Supplies: 

  • Clothespins (we used 3) 
  • Craft sticks (at least one per clothespin) 
  • A clean dry rock from outside (it should fit in your fist)
  • Air-dry or modeling clay
  • Glue guns or double stick foam tape
  • Felt or cloth scraps, chenille stems, paper, stickers, and markers to decorate with 
  • Scissors 
  • Paint or markers for clay decorating

Steps to Make It

  1. Mold your clay around your rock (this makes the picture holder heavy). You want to have extra clay in front and back
  2. Glue or tape a clothespin (clip opens up) to your craft sticks
  3. Decorate as desired
  4. Stick your craft sticks into the clay in the back of the rock
  5. Have your Responsible Adult break a craft stick in half. Decorate the smooth parts (leave the bottom clear)
  6. Stick the half sticks into the clay in the front of the rock
  7. Let dry and then paint your clay or decorate with markers!

Winter Holiday Snowflake – Craft-a-long

Posted on by Motley Kids
craft stick snowflakes

Snowflake Craft!

It’s the winter holidays, and snow is in the air! We aren’t having much luck with the actual thing here at Motley Headquarters, so we decided to make some snowflakes of our own! Craft along with us in this video tutorial or just follow the instructions below!

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Snowflake Supplies

  • Craft sticks (you’ll need three per snowflake)
  • Opaque paint (acrylic or tempera will work) and paintbrush
  • School glue or Mod Podge
  • Glitter or mica powder
  • Small cups (disposable is best) for mixing glitter glue
  • Sequins, pompoms, and other snowflake sparkles
  • String or twine
  • Scissors
  • A paintbrush you don’t mind getting glue on
  • Glue Gun or Tacky Glue

Steps to Make It

  1. Hot glue or tacky glue three craft sticks together in the middle to make your snowflake base
  2. Tie your string with a knot to make a loop
  3. Hot glue or tacky glue the string to the back of one of the top craft sticks to make a hanging loop
  4. Paint your snowflake a nice wintry color like white, blue, purple, or whatever you like
  5. Set aside and let your paint dry a little bit so it’s sticky
  6. Put some glue or Mod Podge into your small cup and add enough glitter (we know these are vague amounts, but glitter is like hot pepper—everyone likes a different amount)
  7. Use your glue brush to brush glitter glue on your snowflake
  8. Add sequins or other bling while the glue is wet
  9. Let dry completely before hanging!

 

 

Sock Dragons – Craft-a-long

Posted on by Motley Kids
a sock dragon

Sock Dragons

We’re making cozy pets to keep us company in the winter! Come join us in this craft-a-long and make a sock dragon of your very own! 

 

…crafting online? Download a PDF of the instructions here…

Supplies: 

  •  Socks (any sock will do, although kids crew socks are about the right size)
  •  A large cup for filling your dragon with
  •  Rice or Beans, about 2-4 cups per dragon
    (unless you are using men’s socks, in which case you may need more)
  •  Tulle for wings
  •  Felt or cloth scraps for flames
  •  Buttons or googly eyes for eyes
  •  Markers to decorate your sock
  •  Sequins, pompoms, and other dragon decorating bling
  •  Scissors
  •  Glue Gun or Tacky Glue
  •  Warm Dragon Variant: Needle and thread

Steps to Make It

  1. Fill a large cup with rice or beans
  2. Stretch the top of the sock over the cup and hold it on while you turn the cup upside-down.
    All the rice should fit in your sock.
  3. Hold your sock open end up and lay it down carefully to keep the rice from falling out!
  4. Use a glue gun to glue your dragon flame onto the inside edge of your sock opening.
  5. Glue the sock opening shut so that the flame is in the middle.
  6. To make wings. take 1-3 strips of tulle about 12-18″ long and tie them together in the middle with a knot to make fluffy wings
  7. Hot glue the wings on the dragon’s back — be careful, tulle lets hot glue through
  8. Glue buttons or googly eyes onto your dragon’s head (or anywhere else)
  9. You can use yarn, tulle, felt, or cloth scraps to make a tail. 
  10. Use sequins, markers, and any other bling you have to decorate your dragon!

Warm Sock Dragon Variant:

  • Use a needle and thread to attach the tongue and close your sock dragon’s mouth (you may want to do two rows of stitching to prevent rice leakage)
  • Make sure your dragon’s décor is microwave-safe (no metallic sequins! Use lace not nylon tulle! Use thread to attach everything!)
  • Make your dragon warm by putting it in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds (depending on microwave power)