Day 1

So, today began Craft Year.  I put a lot of thought into today's craft because I want to be able to repeat it on December 31st of this year.  This way, I will be able to show the progress the entire family has made over the year.  A problem that I am running into is that it is hard to find a craft easy enough for a two and a three year old to join in on, but one that is also unique and interesting for Mom- aka me.  I found a cool New Year's dragon on Pinterest, my new best friend, and with some help from my wonderful husband, it was fairly easy to do, even with a screaming two year old!

All we did was take 1 cardboard egg carton, some acrylic paint, a few pom-poms, googly eyes, a large jingle bell, and some 1/4" elastic.  I cut apart the egg carton and let the kids paint the cups.  After painting was completely, I poked holes in the egg cups to string them together with the elastic, and attached a jingle bell at the end.

It is sort of hard to see here, but you can see in the red one behind that they are strung together with elastic.  I turned the first one on edge to be the "mouth" of the dragon.  Once I attached the construction paper tongues, pom poms, and eyes, here are the final products.  Note to anyone who may try this at home, the only way I can get pom-poms to stick to anything is by using hot glue or super glue.  I know that the super glue is going to end poorly one day, with me glued to SOMETHING haha.

On a slight side note, I am realizing quickly that Penny, my two year old, is just TOO young for many of our crafts.  She loses interest quickly, and gets VERY mad when I don't let her do things, like pour paint into cups, or use scissors-- does she think I'm insane?!  I hope that it gets better throughout the year.
And finally, this is the "before" picture.  My crafting supplies, laid out on our small dining room table, on January 1st, 2013.  I hope to take an "after" picture at the end of this year.  I am already trying to figure out where I am going to put my soon to be acquired supplies!  I think my 31 rep is going to LOVE me haha.  Peace, Love, and CRAFTS!-- Kara!