Pinecone Trees

My kids love crafts.  Really, I suppose all kids do!  I mean, what’s not to love?  And the messier the better.  Glue?  Glitter?  Clay?  Cutting things into tiny pieces for me to pick up.  Then yes, they’re all in!   We broke out some of our Crayola goodies and got crafty the other day when it was just too cold and gray to go out and play.  I imagine that’s going to happen a lot this winter.   SO COLD!   (Not to mention that it takes 45 minutes just to get them ready to play in the snow!)  (and then the minute we get out there, someone has to come back in and completely disrobe in order to go to the bathroom!!!  BAHH!)

So, we might as well just stay in and get messy!

I love the way these sweet Pinecone Trees turned out.  My real plan was going to have them make Christmas ornaments using Model Magic and Glitter Glue.  But, then I remembered we had collected a bunch of pinecones and acorns, recently.  And the pinecone tree was born, naturally.  I love them!

This is just a classic kid craft.  I put a bunch of materials on the table and let the kids have at it.

They made tiny elves with acorn hats and itty bitty ornaments out of the Model Magic.  They even got crazy and made an elf with a pinecone body.  So cute!  He’s holding the smallest acorn ornaments.

They always love playing with Model Magic because it’s so soft and you can make any color by combining the primary colors.  It sticks to itself so nicely that you can make anything!

We made swirly ornaments and candy canes and peppermints.  It was great.  And the glitter glue REALLY sticks.  We stuck all the ornaments right to the pinecones (before the ornaments were even dry) with the glitter glue.  They even added glitter glue to the soft clay and smooshed it around to make glittery Model Magic.  It’s hard to see in the pictures, but the result is fabulous!  The Crayola Glitter Glue blows all the others out of the water!  There are so many colors, the price is right and it sticks so well!  It’s our first choice every time!

It’s no lie that I love me some Crayola.  Seriously.  I’ve recommended these paints here on the blog many times before.  They are just the best!  (And we have tried A.LOT. of. paints.)  (and a lot of glitter glue!)  They are just better.  I have also recommended these Metallic Crayons that we bought for the bird last year.  She loves them!  We also bought her these Oil Pastels
and they just make every picture better.  So brilliant and sharp and blend-able!   Just awesome!  I really do love Crayola products and buy them almost exclusively.   From sidewalk chalk (don’t even bother with the Dollar Store chalk…and that’s high praise, knowing how much I love the Dollar Store!) to crayons, to window markers….just better.  And I hate wasting my money!  😉

And, by the way, have you tried the Crayola Slick Stix?  These are brand new to us!

We hadn’t tried them until last week …and OH. MY. GOODNESS.  The kids can’t get enough.  They wake up in the morning and the first thing they do is color.  (Of course, it helps that we have these coloring books.  SO big and so white!  Even I want to color them.)  I will warn you that the Slick Stix are so slick that the four year old draws right off of the paper.  Not a problem on the table.  So easy to wipe up.  On the carpet however, that took some elbow grease!  😉  And if his sleeves aren’t rolled up, they get color on them until the picture dries.  But it comes out in the wash.

But the results are fantastic.  So vivid and thick and smooth.  They really can’t stop coloring.  If you have an artist in the family, you need to get a box of some of these delights for them!  Great stocking stuffers for any child!  I filled a box for the bird last Christmas and she is still using them up!

 Disclaimer: The Crayola product, gift card, information, and additional gift pack have been provided by Crayola.  This post contains my honest opinions, we’ve been buying these products for years anyway!