Archive for the ‘Seasonal Activities’ Category

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #14: Scrapbooking

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

scrapbooking

What are some other creative ways to use cookie cutters? How about scrapbooking? When you need a specific shape for your pictures, you can slap down the picture, grab a cookie cutter of the desired shape, and trace around the cookie cutter. Cut out the picture, and stick it to the scrapbooking page with double-sided acid-free tape.

I traced around the cookie cutter with an acid-free marker so that each star was outlined with black before even attaching it to the page.

“But, Susan, I don’t scrapbook, so what’s the use for me to know this?” Well, I’m glad you asked, because there are many variations on this scrapbooking theme. First of all, you could do a photo collage on one piece of scrapbooking paper and frame it as a gift.

Another idea is to make a card. Outline the shape of a cookie cutter on a photo, and glue it to some card stock paper folded in half, and you’ve made yourself a greeting card. Take a look at the simple birthday invitations I made for my daughter’s upcoming “Secret Garden” birthday. All I did was glue some pretty flower paper to the front of the card, and I outlined down the sides with black marker. Super easy and beautiful!

scrapbooking-card

 

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #13: Rice Krispie Treats

Monday, May 6th, 2013

rice-krispie-treats

Why not create wonderful shapes for your Rice Krispie treats by using cookie cutters? Start by getting the following three ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 package (10 oz.) of regular marshmallows
  • 6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Open a bag of marshmallows and dump those in. Stir constantly until the marshmallows are melted. If you want to add a fun color with food coloring, now is the time to stir it in. Remove the pot from the stove, and dump 6 cups of Rice Krispies into the pot. Stir.

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Spread the mixture into a greased 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan. Make sure the pan is greased, or you will sorely regret doing so. Pieces of Rice Krispies will fly through the air in all directions as you chip away at it with a table knife, trying to salvage what you can in desperation. Take my word for it: Grease the dish.

Place the dish in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Take the dish out of the refrigerator and press the cookie cutters into the the Rice Krispie treats. Use a metal spatula to scrape under the treat so that it doesn’t break apart when your children grab it with their bare hands in their eagerness to eat these yummy Rice Krispie treats!

If your kids are not in the kitchen, you might have enough time to dip the treats in almond bark chololate. Just melt some chocolate almond bark in a pot, and dip the top of the Rice Krispie treat into it. Yum!

Stay tuned for more fabulous ways to use cookie cutters…

 

 

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #12: Dolls and Pillows

Friday, May 3rd, 2013

creative-ways-to-use-cookie-cutters-dolls-pillows

We are counting all the creative ways to use cookie cutters, and we are on #12: Dolls and Pillows! Some cookie cutters lend themselves well to make a felt doll. The gingerbread man cookie cutter is fabulous for this toy. Trace around the cookie cutter on two pieces of brown felt. Cut them out. Decorate the gingerbread man by sewing on button eyes, a red smile stitched on with thread, and three buttons down the front.

Get some filler, either a cotton-like substance, or the scraps of felt that were left over from the brown felt. Stitch the entire gingerbread man, except for one arm. Then put the stuffing into the doll and stitch it shut. This pillow took me 30 minutes only because I was trying to find two matching buttons for the eyes.

This is a perfect simple sewing craft for a child to make, since the stitches just go up and down (a straight stitch). You can also make a pillow from any other shape of cookie cutter. A star pillow would be fun for the Fourth of July, and a maple leaf pillow would be good for the autumn. A clover pillow would be perfect for Saint Patrick’s Day. Smaller pillows make great pin cushions, or they can be used as pillows for dolls.

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #11: Garlands

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

garlands-2

Another creative way to use cookie cutters is to make garlands for your loved ones to feel special. These are the items you will need for this 15-minute project:

  • colorful papers
  • needle and thread
  • thick black marker
  • scissors

Use the cookie cutter as a stencil, and draw around it with a pencil. Cut out the shapes. I cut several shapes at a time so that the process goes faster. Or your children could cut them out to practice hand-eye coordination. Grab your thick marker. I used a marker that had an outer diameter of one inch, so it was super thick. Write one letter on each shape. Then string the shapes together with a needle and thread, sewing up and down, one stitch on each shape. Leave a gap between words. Hang it up.

garlands

Ideas for garlands:

  • Happy Birthday!
  • Welcome Home, Daddy
  • Get Well Soon
  • Happy Saint Patrick’s Day
  • Aloha
  • Happy Fourth of July
  • Congratulations on Your Graduation
  • Happy New Year
  • Merry Christmas
  • Happy Valentines Day
  • Happy Easter
  • Happy Mother’s Day
  • Happy Father’s Day
  • You Did It!
  • Baby Shower
  • Happy Anniversary

As you can see, there are many occasions where you might want to make someone feel special. Why not take 15 minutes to make a garland?