cupcake liner Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

Paper Plate Crafts – Cupcake Liner Jellyfish

May 17, 2016 By Deirdre

This is the third in a series of paper plate crafts that feature ocean animals. The previous paper plate crafts featured an octopus and a starfish. ( I hope you will take a moment and check them out.)

Jellyfish are JDaniel’s favorite ocean creature. I totally understand why. They have such fluid movement as the glide through the water. This craft tries to capture that movement.

How we put this craft together:

Painting the Plate

We started by painting the back of a paper plate blue. (The cheap paper plates seem to be the easiest to paint. The heavier plates seem to absorb paint.) A standard children’s paintbrush was used to paint the plate. You could use a sponge brush or fork if you like.

Creating the Jellyfish

The bell or top of the jellyfish was made with a small cupcake liner cut in half. The edges of the cupcake liner half were rounded to make give it a better shape. (Your children can leave the edges straight if they like. It is really a style preference.)

Then slits were cut into a tissue paper square and a square cut from a plastic zipper bag. We tried to make sure the squares were about the same size. It really doesn’t matter how many slits you place in each. You can place one on top of the other and cut the slits in both of them at the same time.

Next we taped the plastic bag square to the tissue square on area without slits. They were then taped to the back of each the cupcake liners.

Finally the placement of the jellyfish was decided on the paper plate. It was fun to try arranging them in various ways. When we found an arrangement we liked they were glued to the paper plate.

More Paper Plate Crafts:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear Mask

Paper Plate Greenhouse

Pi Paper Plate Circle Craft

Easy Craft Ideas- How to Make a Paper Turtle

April 28, 2015 By Deirdre

Sometimes easy craft ideas come from a desire to use up the craft supplies you have on hand. We used this same type of chevron cupcake liner to make a “Your My Biggest Fan” Mother’s Day card. These cupcake liners looks like a turtle shell to me so, we used them to create a paper sea turtle. (It is cool to see how many easy craft ideas you can make with what you have available.)

Adding Cupcake Liners to the Plate

There are three different types of paper in the paper turtle. He has a construction paper head and flippers. His body under the cupcake liners in a paper plate. Finally there are the cupcake liners.

We started with a flattened cupcake liner glued to the center of a small paper plate. Once we started placing the other cupcake liners, we realized the center one wasn’t really needed. We could have just used four cupcake liners. We also could have cut cupcake liners and added them around the edge of the liner in the center.

A small bit of the white paper plate is still visible. If you decide to make a paper turtle like our, one of the easy craft ideas I would suggest is adding more liners or arranging your liners to cover all of the plate.

Adding Flippers

Four pieces of paper were layered and then cut out into a flipper shape. We wanted to have all our flippers the same size. The flippers we made a not huge. Some of the seven species of sea turtles have much larger flippers. If your children decide that they really like big flippers, you can tell them their fins are like the flatback turtles.

Adding a Turtle Head

The head on our sea turtle is a little egg shaped with a slight point. After looking a number of turtle pictures, we thought that is what the head should look like. Your children may have a totally different idea of what a turtle head should look like.

The turtle was given wiggly eyes for no other reason than we thought they were fun. You could easily have your children draw the turtle’s eyes or create them with construction paper.

Here are Some Other Easy Craft Ideas for Kids

Potato Print Turtles

Paper Plate Sheep

Paddington Bear Craft

Ocean Animals Paper Plate Craft

Oh! If you are looking for a great book to tie into this craft, may I recommend Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! by April Pulley Sayre.

If you make any of these craft ideas for kids with your children, please leave me a comment below telling me about it or share a picture of it on my Facebook page.

Amazing Out of This World Father’s Day Card

April 22, 2015 By Deirdre

I know that Father’s Day is still a long way away.( We haven’t even had Mother’s Day yet.) Creating the Your My Biggest Fan Mother’s Day card got me thinking about cards we could make with cupcake liners. That lead to thinking about what holiday will come up next after Mother’s Day. Father’s Day came to mind so, we made a Father’s Day Card.

After deciding on the holiday we would make the card for, it was time to think about what theme the card should have. My son and I husband both space so, I decided on “You are Out of This World” as the card’s theme.

The first thought was a flying saucer with a little green creature in it. Since my family isn’t made up of little green men, I decided that wouldn’t work. You may be thinking that is a great idea. Making a flying saucer with a cupcake liner would be super fun. If that was your thought, I think you should totally go with it. It would be fun.

We ended up making a rocket ship with a cupcake liner for our card. It was a little challenging to figure out just how to fold the cupcake liner for us. We ended up making one that folds together the way a paper airplane is made.

Supplies for the Father’s Day Card

Blue plain or patterned cupcake liner
Red, Orange, or yellow plain or patterned cupcake liner
White piece of paper
Glue
Scissors
Out of This World Father’s Day Card

Steps for Crafting the Father’s Day Card

Fold the cupcake liner in half with the decorated side faced out.
Open the cupcake liner up and flatten it out with the decorated side faced down.
Fold in the two outsides into an airplane fold. That means they fold in to form a triangle. Then fold it again the same way. The top of the rocket is now finished.
Pull the rounded edges of the cupcake liner back over the fold to form the rocket boosters.
Cut a flame out of a cupcake liner that is red, orange, or yellow.
Cut a small circle out of white paper.
Assemble the rocket on the Father’s Day Card printable I have made for you by gluing the white circle on the rocket and the flame beneath the rocket.

It would be fun to come up with a space related note of picture to put inside this card. Maybe your children could draw something they like to do with their dad. They could share a special memory or a list of reasons their father is really out of this world.

Here are some other wonderful activities and crafts that this Father’s Day Card would be wonderful to go along with:

D.A.D. Dessert: Dutch Apple Dessert

Walking in My Father’s Shoes Craft

Cereal Tie for Breakfast

If you make this Father’s Day card, please leave me a comment below telling me about how your crafting session went or share a picture of it on my Facebook page.

Mother’s Day Cards- My Biggest Fan

April 17, 2015 By Deirdre

Earlier this week I shared a Mothers Day card idea that children in the primary grades or preschool could make for their moms for Mothers Day and today I have a card for older children to make. This card requires that children have mastered cutting and precise gluing. While some younger children could do both of those things, there may be some that would be frustrated while this “Biggest Fan” card. That is why I have made two Mothers Day cards that you could create.

I went ahead a made you a printable fan card you can print out to save you some time. You may decide you want to have your children write out the card’s cover message in their own writing. They could also compose the text and choose the font of a computer.

Hint:
If you choose to have your children create their own text on card stock or white paper, make sure that there is enough room in the center of the card for the fan. I had to change the margins and text placement several times to get it the place wide enough for the fan.

The link below is an affiliate link.

Once you have text on the card, it is time to create the fan. You can use a decorative cupcake liner or baking Cups like we did or a liner that is a single color. You may want to put out a bunch of them and have your children decide what type of liner that they want to use.

Supplies Needed for Creating This Card

Cupcake liners
File folder
White card stock or paper
Glue stick
Scissors

Steps for Creating the Fan

Fold the cupcake liner in half to create a fold.
Cut the cupcake liner in half by cutting the line you created when you folded it.
Cut in along the creased arc created by the divide between the liner’s base and ruffled sides.
Cut six narrow strips out of a manila file folder. They will be the fan’s ribs or sticks.
Glue the ribs in place on the back of the fan.
Turn the fan over and trim the ribs so that they are all the same length or close to it. We had one rib that was shorter than the others by a little bit.

Once the fan has dried, you can glue it to the front of the card.

Mothers Day Cards Messages

You may decide to have your children write a letter or a short note on the inside of the card sharing why they think their mom is their biggest fan. They could also draw a picture of their mom being their biggest fan or maybe even a cartoon conversation.

The craft fan on the outside of the card will be standard on everyone’s cards. It is the message they place in each of their Mothers Day cards that will make it truly unique and special.

Other Mothers Day Cards and Gifts You Can Make

Homemade Mothers Day Cards That are Heart Felt

How to Make a Mother’s Day Paper Flower Bouquet

My Fingerprints Poem and Craft

Mother’s Day Breakfast Sundae

You will find more Mother’s Day ideas on my Mother’s Day Pinterest board. I hope you will stop by and check them out.

Valentine Ideas- Flower Craft for Kids

February 10, 2015 By Deirdre

Some Valentine ideas like this flower craft for kids and the “I Love Ewe” sheep craft I shared a few weeks ago come to together as you work on them. They are very organic. Some kids like to create a craft based on one they have seen done before. Others love take the materials that have been set out and craft their very one Valentine ideas.

For this craft the following materials were put out:

Red doilies

Cupcake liners
Various colors of construction paper
Pom-poms
Glue sticks
Scissors

Creating Valentine Ideas and Crafts

I have found discussing the theme of a craft can get a child’s creative juices following. To get kids thinking about Valentine Ideas you might want to ask them what they know about Valentine’s Day.

Here are somethings they may share:

They may say my dad gives my mom flowers on Valentine’s Day.
It is a day about hearts.
People give cards on that day to people that they love.
I get candy hearts or chocolate on Valentine’s Day.
A little baby flies around and shoots people in the heart on Valentine’s Day.
My friends put cards to me in a special box.

All of these are great ideas. Once children have some background information on Valentine’s Day, they can take one of these Valentine ideas and start creating. Some children may decide that they want to do something totally different then anything you discussed. That is fine! It is such fun to see what your children will come up with.

If your children hone in on the ideas of flowers for their Valentine’s Day craft, you may want to have them create a doily flower like the one below. It is super easy to make.

Creating a Valentine’s Day Flower

Heart shaped red doilies were cut in half to create this flower’s petals. Bright green construction paper was cut to create its leaves.

Then a salmon colored cupcake liner was flattened out to create the cup or corona of the flower. Your Valentine’s Day crafter may decide to keep the cupcake liner more upright. I bet that would look great.

Next pink construction paper hearts were cut out to go in the cup. The hearts were created to help convey that this is Valentine’s Day flower.

Finally a black pom-pom was placed in the eye of the flower. Rather than use a red or pink pom-pom black was selected to create a color contrast.

Children may decide to use whatever colors are closest to them your work table or their favorite colors. As I mentioned earlier, they may create their own totally unique Valentine idea that has nothing to do with flowers. What fun it will be to see what your children create with the materials you put out for them.

Here are some other Valentine’s Day craft ideas:

My Heart is Like a Zoo Cards

Activities Using Valentines

If you try these Valentine’s Day crafts, please leave me a comment below telling me about it or share a picture of it on my Facebook page.

Paper Plate Crafts for Kids- Sheep

January 15, 2015 By Deirdre

I love to buy fun cup liners to liven up my son’s lunches. When I decided it would be fun to make a paper plate sheep, I found the perfect leftover liner to use for the sheep’s face. Why did we make sheep? JDaniel asked me just that question on the day we did this craft. We did this sheep craft along with several other sheep-themed activities for Chinese New Year. 2015 is the year of the sheep. At the end of this post, you will find a number of paper plate crafts we have done in the past.

This paper plate sheep craft used only seven crafting elements. They were the following:

The link below is an affiliate link.

Black Polka Dot Cupcake Liners
Cotton balls
Wiggly eyes
Black construction paper
Small paper plate
Glue
Scissors

How did we put this sheep craft together?

We started by covering the surface of the paper plate with glue. (You could use a glue stick for this craft, but the cotton balls didn’t stick as well when we tried using it.) Plus it was such fun squeezing the glue out and swirling it all over.

Then we filled the plate up with cotton balls. We found it easiest to start placing the cotton balls in the center of the plate and working our way out. When we needed to, we could nudge the inner cotton balls in a little to create a sheep with compact wool.

Next, we placed a cup liner face down (decorated side down) on the kitchen table. We fold the sides to form a triangle or cone shape. The pointy end of the triangle was folded up to create a flat surface. That end of the cupcake liner would become the area for the sheep’s nose. The liner was then turned over to the decorated side. We folder the pointed corners down in the front to create ears for the sheep.

We then glued wiggly eyes to the front of the cupcake liner. You could create eyes with white and black construction paper if you don’t have wiggly eyes available. With the eyes in place, we glued the sheep’s head onto the center of the cotton ball-covered plate.

All that was left was to cut out legs for the sheep out of construction paper. We ended up just cutting out rectangles. You may decide that you would like feet with hooves. I think they would look great on the sheep.

Here are some other paper plate crafts we have done:

Paddington Bear Paper Plate Craft

Ocean Animals Paper Plate Craft

Paper Plate Crafts- Lion and Lamb

Paper Plate Crafts- Patriotic Windsock

New Year’s Eve Countdown Ball

If you do make a paper plate sheep of your own, please leave me a comment below telling me about it or share a picture of it on my Facebook page.

Chinese New Year Activities and Crafts for Kids

February 8, 2013 By Deirdre

We had the best time reading Long-Long’s New Year and doing Chinese New Year activities! JDaniel really enjoys the book Long-Long’s New Year. It is about a very special little boy that seeks to make his family’s celebration. Despite having a coin that he is yearning to spend on himself while shopping with his grandfather, he waits and gets special things for his family. The illustrations in this book are lovely and so is its message.

Chinese New Year Activities and Crafts

Chop Stick Transfer Buffet

While browsing through Living Montessori Now’s weekly link-up, I noticed a wide variety of posts on transferring objects with chopsticks. Many had some kind of string or yarn.

JDaniel loves to use these chopsticks so, I created a chopstick transfer buffet for him. He was able to move packing peanuts, color straw segments, and yarn to create a delicious bowl full of fun.

Cupcake Liner Fortune Cookies

I found directions on how to make fortune cookies using cupcake liners on several sites online. Each used a wire down the middle to help bend and mold the fortune cookie. We didn’t have any wire at our house so, we used foil cupcake liners instead.

When I tried to take a picture of the steps we took to make the fortune cookies, the glare of the foil was terrible. I quickly grabbed some snowman liners to show you what we did.

We folded the cupcake liner inside out and then placed a staple in the center of the liner about one-half an inch in.

Then we turned the cupcake liner outside in and pushed in the center a little to make an indention. Finally, we staple the outside edges. We left openings at the top of the sides to slip the messages in.

Chinese Snake Shape Craft

JDaniel had the best time creating a snake from a box filled with triangles, parallelograms, and squares I had cut out for him. He started with the tail and worked his way up to the head. I loved watching him create and think through this craft.

Chinese Zodiac Animal Hunt

JDaniel has a wide variety of animals in his room. I printed out a Chinese Zodiac page for Activity Village and had him search his room for as many of them as he could find. He wasn’t able to find a tiger, a goat, or a rat. He really didn’t find a dragon either, but he pointed out that dinosaurs and dragons might be related. We decided the dinosaur could count as a dragon.

It was really fun to see him search through all his things to find the ones he did find. Each time he came across one it was like he was finding a hidden treasure.

Snake Snack

Crescent Roll Snake for Chinese New Year

We tried to follow a pattern for a snake pattern I found online, but it was really hard to cut the crescent rolls into the right shapes. I ended up trimming some of them with a knife after we cooked them to try and get close. Oval is not a tangram shape, but they really made great eyes for the snake.