Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Homeschool-FREE President's Day Crafts & Activities!


President's Day Finger Puppets

What you'll need:

 
  • Blue and black construction paper
  • Cellophane tape
  • Lincoln-head penny
  • Washington-head quarter
  • Scissors

How to make it:

  1. Cut two three-inch squares, one from each of the construction sheet colors.
  2. Roll each square into a tube that will slip over your finger. Secure the roll with cellophane tape. Note: By using tape instead of glue, the coins won’t be harmed.
  3. To make the Lincoln puppet, tape the penny to the black paper tube at roughly an inch below the top.
  4. Cut a thin rectangle from the black paper for the hat brim. Tape the brim along the top of the head.
  5. To make the Washington puppet, tape the quarter to the top of the blue paper tube.
  6. Cut a one-and-half-inch square from the blue paper for the hat.
  7. Fold the square in half, corner to corner, making a triangle.
  8. Cut a slit out of the center fold of the square to make an opening. Once again fold the square in half, this time folding the opposite corner to corner, making a triangle.
  9. Slip the hat over the top of the tube finger puppet.
  10. Tape both halves of the triangle together.

Tips:

  • Dress them up by adding details to the puppets using collage materials. You might want to add a gold sequin medallion to Washington's hat, for example, and some white doily paper to the chin for a lace collar. For Lincoln, try adding a shirt collar made from white paper, and some buttons.

Pretzel Log Cabin

What you'll need:

  • Small empty milk carton
  • Pretzel sticks
  • Chocolate frosting or peanut butter
  • 1 Rolo or other tubular shaped candy
  • 1 square cracker
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue or tape

How to make it:

  1. Cut the top flap of the milk carton off and tape or hot glue it closed to form the roof.
  2. Spread chocolate frosting or peanut butter on one side of milk carton then cover with pretzels. Repeat this step all over the milk carton until log cabin is complete. You may need to break the tips off of some of the pretzels to make then fit up the sides.
  3. Break a square cracker in half, then break one of the halves in half. Spread some frosting or peanut butter on the back of the first half. “Glue” it to the front of the cabin as the door. Repeat this step with a smaller broken piece for the window.
  4. Spread some frosting or peanut butter to the bottom of Rolo and stick to the roof.

Tips:

  • You can make this a larger project using any box and large pretzel logs. 
  • This is an edible craft project, just be sure you check for allergies, especially if using peanut butter as your glue. 
  • Ask children to save their milk carton from their school lunch and wash them out thoroughly before using.




Download this FREE at the link below:



President's Day Barrister Wig

This is a tutorial on how to make a judge's or barrister's wig. This costs less than $5 and takes about 3 hours to make.

Get a cheap fiber Christmas tree skirt ($2.00 after Christmas sale), like the blanket of snow you might put under your Christmas village. It is the same rolled polyfill batting that is sold in fabric stores. Use a ballcap for the base (after you remove the bill) and mold the batting around it.

Make a seam down the middle for a part. Gather the back together then add a "ponytail" made from two flat pieces hot-glued together. Then tie it with a black grosgrain ribbon.



For the side rolls, take long strips of batting (approx. 5" wide) and roll them up like pastries, sewing them shut with a running stitch. Leave a little flap so you can sew one roll to the next. Remove the wig from the ballcap base and try it on periodically to make sure it fits and looks right.

Then make the "bangs". They are supposed to look like a "crewcut" in the front...not easy to do with fiber batting. Cut 3-4 lengths of batting 2" wide, clip the top side of each row and glue them, one below the other across the forehead area, then "fluff" them out.

 
Take a black sharpie and draw in some "grey" hairs to outline the various parts, especially the bangs and the swirled-up end of the rolls. Without the black outline, the whole thing will look like a bright white towel sitting on a head!

 Found this tutorial HERE

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