Large Snow/star Project
Let’s make some snowflakes!
I love snow. I love the way it looks, the way it smells, and especially the way the world sounds when it snows. Everything becomes so peaceful. When I look out my window and see snow falling, I’m filled with joy and peace all wrapped into one.
Each year, I enjoy making snowflakes and “stars” to decorate my home and workplace. I’ll spend an hour or two cutting shapes from white paper or brown-and-white paper bags. It’s fun, relaxing, and a cherished tradition. When my kids were young, we’d cut out snowflakes together and hang them on the windows. Even if we didn’t see a single snowflake outside, we could enjoy our paper snow inside. It was simple, joyful, and brought a bit of magic to our home.
A couple of years ago, I learned how to make three-dimensional snowflakes—sometimes called stars. I still call them snowflakes, even when I make them with brown paper bags. They add a cozy charm to our home and bring me joy whenever I see them hanging up. Even without real snow, I can enjoy the beauty of my handmade creations.
This is a project for all ages. It’s perfect for a cozy evening watching Christmas movies or listening to holiday music. These decorations can stay up long after the holidays—into January, or even February, if you’d like.
And let me say it one more time:
I LOVE SNOW!
Let’s make some snowflakes-
Supplies Needed:
6 to 12 lunch-size or smaller brown paper bags.
8.5x11 white paper
scissors
hot glue and hot glue gun
tape
Directions for paper snowflakes:
fold the white paper into a square. This means taking one corner of the 8.5 paper and folding it to the opposite side. You should have approximately 1.5” of paper on the bottom. Cut that strip off.
Fold the white paper in half two more times. See the photos below to see how the folds look.
Cut into your white paper. You can cut triangles or swishes. You can also use a hole punch to punch holes in the middle. There is no right or wrong way to cut the edges. The most important thing is not to cut all of the folded edges! If you cut all of the folded edges your star will fall apart.
Unfold your paper. you now have a star!
Do you remember that piece of white paper? Now you can do the same steps with the small piece of white paper and make a small star. You can also cut your paper in half and cut out med. stars the same way we cut out the big star.
Pictures of the steps that are for the paper snowflake.
Directions for paper bag snowflakes/stars:
Count out 6 bags. Take one bag and fold it in half. Cut the center of the bag out. Unfold the bag and cut the edge of the bag either in a triangle or circle. Repeat this with all 6 of your bags.
Once all the bags are cut you are going to glue your bags together. Please note: If you are younger have an adult or older teen help you with the hot glue gun. Heat up your hot glue gun. Once it is heated you will glue the six bags together. Set them aside and let the stack of bags cool.
While the bags are cooling take a piece of twine and cut it approximately 6 to 10 inches long. The length of the twine will depend on how low or high you want your snowflake to hang.
When the bags are cooled slowly unfold your stack. You will want the bottom bag to meet the top bag. Add some hot glue to the top of the stack and place one end of the twine on top of the glue. Then press the bottom bag onto the top. See the pictures to see how that works.
Once the last bit of hot glue is cooled you are done and ready to hang your snowflake.
Pictures of the steps you follow to make a three dimensional snowflake.
I hope you can enjoy a cozy evening of making snowflakes. This is a wonderful way of creating memories with your family no matter the age. So pop on a Christmas movie, pop some popcorn, and start making snow!
Family Easter Egg Hunt
It all begins with an idea.
Spring time is a wonderful time to open your home, and hop out into your back yard for some fun family time. And what better way to do this than hunting eggs, specifically Easter eggs, but remember this hunt can be done at any time.
Don’t get me wrong I love a good Easter egg hunt. As a child I loved to hunt for Easter eggs. I still remember visiting my grandparents in the spring. And their small town would host an Easter egg hunt for all ages, even the adults. It was so much fun to run around that field grabbing as many eggs as I could. I still remember that feeling to this day!
The wonderful thing about memories, and spending time together is you can do it when it fits into your schedule or when you discover a new activity. There is nothing that says you can only do egg hunts at Easter time. Although it is much easier and a whole lot more fun when it is nice outside.
When our kids were little they loved hunting for things, whether it was inside or outside. Now mind you, just like in my childhood, egg hunts were also around Easter. And we have done them in so many different places, especially since there have been years that all we got was rain!
Doing egg hunts, or treat hunts is something you can plan at any time with anything. All you need is something to hide, somewhere to hide it, and a plan to make it happen. And that is what I am going to help you with today. Planting the seeds to plan a Easter Egg Hunt.
I have added a Easter Egg Planner for you to download and print for easy reference. You will also find a blank planner in the back to create your own Easter Egg Hunt, or whatever kind of hunt you want to create. Remember this is a starting point, a spring board you might say, to get you started. For now….
Let’s get started planning!
First you want to plan on a block of time, I would say about 2 hours, to put aside for the actual hunt. Make sure you are giving your kids time to hunt down all of the hidden gems, and not feel like they have to rush to find them. Although I can almost guarantee they will probably rush just to make sure they have all of those little gems you have hidden.
Second, decide what you want to hide. With this example I am going to use eggs, specifically Easter eggs. You can use anything that you can image, colored rocks, stuffed animals, or even notes that can lead them to another location.
Third gather and prepare all your supplies. I went and purchased plastic eggs, candy, and other surprised to use with my egg hunt. I also made Easter eggs with real eggs to add a bit of variety to our hunt.
Fourth you will prepare your hidden gems, and finish your other preparations for the big day. I filled my plastic eggs with small candy and pennies. I also made the colorful hardboiled eggs. Then I gathered up the “prizes” that the kids would be able to choose from after the hunt was done. This last bit is an extra. Buying or providing prizes is not something you need to do. Just putting small candy into the plastic eggs would satisfy any participate.
Lastly it is the big day! Gather all your gems, eggs, or whatever you are going to hide. If it is not raining outside, take your hunt outside. Find easy and hard places to place your “gems”. Make sure to keep in mind the age of the participants, your kids. You want to make the hunt a challenge but not such a hard challenge they cannot find the hidden “gems”. If it is raining don’t worry, move your hunt inside. To be honest my kids loved hunting for things in the house as much as hunting outside. And when you think about it there are sometimes more creative ways of hiding those “gems”.
The most important thing I can tell you is to have fun! This activity is a way for you to create a fun, challenging activity for your kids and their friends to do on any given day. It does not have to be perfect. All it has to be is fun.