How to Draw Sugar Skulls Tutorial

Posted on March 14, 2016 by CraftMama

I have been getting requests for a simple tutorial for drawing sugar skulls.

The skull is basically a circle for the head and a box for the jaw which can be sketched in two parts.

Once the jaw is sketched, it can be rounded out a little on the bottom.

Sketch in the cheek bones from the temple area, a simple curved line like a backwards J.

Draw the eyes sockets low on the head leaving room to embellish them near the temple. Notice the sockets aren’t perfect circles.

The nose is like a long up-side-down heart.

Now sketch in the sides of the jaw from the cheek bone. Use a curved line to place the teeth. The teeth are just bumps above and below the curved line.

When you have finished your skull sketch, take a Sharpie or other ink pen and ink the drawing to your liking. Be sure to erase all pencil lines.

Add flowers or curls to the inside of the eye sockets, and flower petals to the outside of the eyes sockets.

Now add flowers to the head, cheeks and jaw. Any flowers will do, these are simple and quick.

Finally, add swirls, curls and additional embellishments.

For more fun crafts, educational ideas, and art tutorials, follow us on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LucidPublishing/

If you don’t want to draw your own, try coloring. These coloring books are available on amazon or in downloadable format on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Christmas Coloring & Paper Craft Projects for Kids

Posted on November 25, 2015 by CraftMama

I decided to post some pictures of what kids are coloring with the new Three-Dimensional Christmas Ornament Coloring Book. This is just the coloring part. After the kids color, they can cut, glue, and assemble them into really unique three-dimensional ornaments. These Ornament Projects can easily be done with construction paper and your own designs as well. I find that adult like to color just as much as the kids. There are two ways to get these fun coloring sheets: Amazon sells the book! Teachers Pay Teachers sells the download.

If you like kids crafts, educational downloads and coloring, follow us on Pinterest!

How to make 3-D Paper Christmas Ornaments

Posted on November 14, 2015 by CraftMama

Have you ever seen those beautiful three-dimensional paper Christmas ornaments? Well, they are really pretty easy to make. All you need is an ornament template, some paper, markers, scissors and glue, and you are on your way to creating some beautiful ornaments.

You will need 3-6 copies of the same ornament. You can create your own designs, use a free template like this one from Teachers Pay Teachers, or order a 3-D ornament Coloring Book.

First, color in several copies of the same ornament. It is best to color each one a little differently; it really adds variety.

Then cut them out and fold each in half with the colored sides together.

Match up the folded halves of the ornament and glue together with a glue stick. Repeat until all but the last two halves have been glued together.

Before you glue the last two sides together, place a looped piece of string in the crease and draw a line of white glue on the top.

Finally glue the last two sides together and hang on the tree from the loop.

You can do this with simple shapes and construction paper too!

Have Fun & Enjoy!

Try this Three-Dimensional Christmas Ornament Coloring Book & Paper Crafts with 24 different designs including some beautiful Christmas Birds! Available on Amazon in late November.

Haunted House Collage Craft for Kids

Posted on October 27, 2014 by CraftMama

With only a few days left before Halloween, this Haunted House Collage is an easy way to make last minute decorations or occupy the kiddos. All you need is paper, glue and scissors, and a craft knife (for adults only).

I just used 9X12 construction paper and had the kids pick out the background color that they liked best. Purple, royal blue, and charcoal gray seem to work best.

Then we need to make the moon. Circles can be difficult to create, but I just use a lid to one of my pots and trace it on a bright yellow piece of paper before cutting it out. The bigger you make it, the better the collage turns out. (see below). Glue the moon onto the background.

Now for the haunted house: Using a white crayon, draw your best haunted house on black paper and cut it out. If the pictured design is too hard for you to copy, use the tips from my previous post on creating a city scape collage. You can simply cut out long black rectangles for the house and triangles for the roof and then overlap them to create the building.

Next, cut out several rectangles for windows and glue into place. For this craft, the adult can use a craft knife to cut out the doors and fold them back, then glue the yellow paper behind. Again, if this is too much work, simply glue the yellow paper on the front to make more windows and doors. Finally you can embellish the moon with bats….and if you want, use a black pen to draw spooky things in the windows like spiderwebs, ghosts, witches and ghouls.

Happy Halloween!

How to Make Tissue Paper Flowers for Dia de los Muertos

Posted on October 3, 2014 by CraftMama

It’s October and craft season has officially begun. I am especially excited about Dia de los Muertos this year because Guillermo Del Toro will bring us a wonderful animated 3D movie called the Book of Life that will introduce this colorful holiday to the world.

One of my favorite things to make for Dia de los Muertos is Tissue Paper Flowers. The kids love to make these. At my parties, I find even the dad’s will get into it.

All you need to make these beauties is an array of colored tissue paper, scissors, and a piece of ribbon or floral wire. You can even do it with newspaper.

I layer about four to six sheets of tissue paper, fold in half length-wise. You can cut in half and layer again if you like.

Start a fan fold at one end and just fold back and forth.

Secure the center with a piece of ribbon, a twist tie, a pipe cleaner or floral wire.

Cut the edges so they are rounded.

Open up the fan on each side.

Then pull each layer of tissue paper towards you.

In the video below, she is making pompoms, in which case you will pull tissue in both directions. For flowers, just pull up in one direction.

All Finished. Add them to an alter or give them to your friends. And of course they make great party decorations. You can use the sugar skull designs form the Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Coloring Book for more alter decorations.

Halloween or Dia de los Muertos Sugar Skull Mask Making Craft

Posted on September 4, 2014 by CraftMama

Children love to make these colorful masks and they are so easy. Simply print out (on heavy cardstock) the colorable sugar skulls from the Day of the Dead Coloring Sheets Download available on Teachers Pay Teachers. Then have your children color them in with as much detail as they like. There is also a blank skull template included in the download for children who want to design their own mask. Cut out the masks and attach a heavy popsicles stick to the bottom with glue. Then line up the kids for a Skeleton Parade.

Watercolor Fall Leaves Wreath Tutorial

Posted on September 3, 2013 by CraftMama

As a continuation of the Watercolor Fall Leaves Tutorial from last week, I am adding another craft that you can do with your watercolor leaves. Here I have simply taken a wire coat hanger and stretched it out to form a circle. I have then taken about a 18-20 clothespins and pined the watercolor leaves to the circle. Its that simple! In this photo, I have used the leaves from the watercolor leaves bouquets, so you are seeing the stems attached, but certainly is no need for the stems.

Please note: I wouldn’t recommend hanging this one on the door as watercolors are susceptible to moisture damage, but it sure looks beautiful hanging on the wall in your home to give that feeling of autumn.

How to make Angry Birds Christmas Ornaments

Posted on December 22, 2012 by CraftMama

Your kids will love these ornaments and will want to help you make them. They do take a little time, so expect to be at it for a few days, depending on your climate.

Supplies:

Plastic Christmas balls (I buy mine at garage sales)
Newspaper
Paper Mache paste (flour, water & glue)
Gesso or white paint
Red, tan, and orange paint
Black Sharpie pen
Polyurathane or spray varnish

Instructions:

Set up a work area that can get messy. For example, cover your table with newspaper. Shred some newspaper into 1” strips, just a couple inches long. Make a small batch of paper mache paste (use your favorite recipe) or (mix ¼ cup white flour, ¾ cup water and 2TBS white school glue). Dip the newspaper strips into the paste to saturate, then let the excess moisture drip off. Apply the strips to the Christmas balls until they are completely covered. Let them dry over night. I just hang them from the tree to dry so that they don’t touch anything. You may want to make a batch of these, giving little hands something to do for the first step.

Your Christmas balls should look something like this when they are covered with the paper mache.

When the paper mache is dry, use Gesso or white paint to cover the newsprint. Paint the entire ball except for the cap. Again, let this dry.

Cover the newsprint with Gesso or white paint

Now you can draw your favorite Angry Birds face. Paint the faces in and allow them to dry once again.

Put on the finishing touches, like the eyebrows and eyes on with a Sharpie or permanent black marker. Finally, spray Varathane over the balls for shine and to preserve them (this step is not for children, make sure to follow the instructions and spray in a well ventilated area). Voila, Angry Birds in your tree!

Thanksgiving Craft – Cork Turkey

Posted on November 16, 2012 by CraftMama

Cork Turkey Craft for Thanksgiving

These cork turkeys are easy and fun to make! They also make great little favors or place settings.

Supplies:

2 Corks

2 googly eyes

Construction paper

2 Pushpins

School glue

Tacky glue

Cutting board

Hot glue and a glue gun

Scissors

Knife

Instructions:

Cut out 12-15 feathers approximately 2” long from the construction paper. To make the tail, fan out the feathers and glue to the flat end of one cork. While the glue is drying cut the other cork into thirds. (The easiest way that I have found to cut cork is to steam it until it begins to expand and then you can cut right through it with a kitchen knife on a cutting board). Use hot glue to attach the head to the body at the front end of the full cork (see photo above).

While the glue is drying, cut a triangular beak and wattle out of the construction paper. Glue the beak, waddle and eyes onto your turkey’s face. I recommend tacky glue for the eyes. Finally push two pushpins into the bottom of the cork at a slight angle outward. These should be placed just behind the head so that the turkey will rest on its bottom

Ray Villafane Gives a Pumpkin Carving Lesson

Posted on October 8, 2012 by CraftMama

Best Kid's Crafts and Activities

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