Double The Fun With Festive Tree Bling and Beautiful Butterflies

Last month, I promised I’d be posting a fun festive craft idea in November. I always deliver on my promises mamas, so here are some DIY shiny ornaments looking ever so snazzy hanging in the tree (just fab for decorating around the garden at Christmas time). Having said that, with the weather as glorious as it is right now, it reminds me of days on the farm back at home… I just couldn’t resist including these beautiful (and oh so easy) coffee filter butterflies which we’ve been churning out by the dozen at Toptots this week.

I have recently been blessed enough to have my old childhood friend from our neighboring farm, Jen and her fabulous family move to Dubai. I decided to take advantage of this by having two more willing participants join us in creating our pieces this month, so headed over with art supplies and kids all piled on the bike. While Jen prepared dinner for the minis, the rest of us headed outside and got busy…

We started off by making our butterflies. Now honestly, these are soooo easy and look absolutely lovely all grouped together!

Beautiful Butterflies

What you’ll need:
Coffee filters
Cotton tips
Food colouring diluted in water
Pipe cleaner (Daiso)
Wooden clothes peg (optional)
Sticky back magnet (optional)

Cotton tips are fab for painting with children, especially when you’re controlling the amount of dye or paint. They’re also great for giving those fine motor skills in their little fingers a good work out, preparing them for writing, doing buttons etc.

We decorated the coffee filters with different colours and discovered that the more water we added, the more the colours bled into each other, creating a beautiful water colour effect.

We then gathered up the center of the coffee filter and secured it with a pipe cleaner, leaving the two ends sticking up for feelers. This was quite tricky for the chubby fingers of the little ones, so I did help them a bit, but please give your kids a go before you step in.

Now you can either leave it there or clip a wooden clothes peg over the center as the body of the butterfly. We took it a step further and stuck a small piece of magnet to the back of the clothes peg and voila! We have a pretty little fridge magnet.

Christmas Tree Ornaments
We were done just in time for dinner, but Jen’s daughter Tinks (fabulous name) wanted to carry on with our festive tree decorations. The two of us moved on from butterflies to shiny tree ornaments while the boys and the always hungry Mieke went in to gobble their dinner.

Now I chose to hang mine in the tree outside. As the moon shines down at night, the decorated CDs will catch the light and direct Santa to your open window (no chimneys out here in the sandpit, Santa!) You could also use a bit of glitter and hang these on your Christmas tree inside or give them away – it’s totally up to you!

What you’ll need:
Old CD’s (or a pack of blank discs)
Craft paint mixed with a little craft glue
A paint brush
Glitter, jewels or whatever sparkly bits n bobs that you can find
Ribbon

Start off by painting your CD with your choice of colour.

Then go ahead and stick on your bling. There’s no need to use more glue, since you’ve already mixed this into the paint. I love how Tinks splashed a contrasting colour over this CD.

Lastly, thread your ribbon through the center of the CD and tie a knot. (Great for the littlies’ hand-eye coordination!)

Don’t these look lovely hanging in the tree? Not only do they ‘shine bright like a diamond’ by the light of the moon, but they give your garden sparkling charm during the day when they reflect the sun. For little ones playing outdoors, this adds another dimension to your garden and stimulates their senses.

Have fun with these and remember to stand back and let your kids lead the way when creating their pieces. This gives them a sense of achievement, builds their self esteem and encourages their creativity. We’re merely here to facilitate the process!

Lots of love always…