New Year's "Tambourine"/Shaker

Another craft we tried on New Year's Eve was a shaker/tambourine. Big sis made one of these when we visited a botanical garden on vacation, so I decided we'd make our own version! Little Sis got in on the action at first as we experimented with using glitter for this project.

Supplies needed: somewhat sturdy paper plate (no dividers), stickers/markers/crayons/paint/decorating supplies, beans or something else that would make a good shaking sound, streamers or ribbons, stapler

Decorate the back side of a somewhat sturdy paper plate. (We had plain orange plates left over from a Halloween party.) Initially, we tried doing glitter decorations, however I do not recommend this unless you are willing to wait a long time for it to dry! (Also do not recommend it if you have a 1 year old who loves glitter and just wants to keep dumping entire containers of glitter...note to self: no glitter projects while Little Sis is awake for a while!! Needless to say, she was no longer interested in crafting once the glitter was put away!"

After our failed glitter attempt, we simply used markers. In reflecting, I wish I would have used some fun stickers too - would've added a different "medium" plus peeling stickers is still a little tough for Big Sis but I'm guessing good for those fine motor skills!

Cut out as many streamers as you want on your "tambourine". (I think we just chose 3. More would look better. A whole bunch of curled wrapping paper ribbon would be lots of fun too!)

Fold the plate in half, design side facing out. Place beans inside the plate and fold closed, tucking the streamers just inside the edges. Staple all around the outside of the plate. (Be careful to place your staples close enough together so the beans don't fall out.)

Voila! A fun tambourine for New Year's or your family band!

(Again, sorry no step by step pics...was still consoling Little Sis after the glitter issue while trying to craft with Big Sis...sometimes I wish there were two of me!)

New Year's Kazoo

I'm behind on posting (which will likely happen often...so I apologize in advance!), so hoping to post several crafts today. My pictures are horrible...I get so busy either helping or participating that I forget to photograph. Hopefully this will change with time!

On New Year's Eve, Big Sis and I made a couple of noisemakers.

First, we made "kazoos". I was impressed that they actually do sound like kazoos if you use your voice just right! This craft was courtesy of Ramblings of a Crazy Woman, though also found it on Family Fun.

Supplies needed: Empty toilet paper or paper towel holder, wax paper, rubber band, decorating supplies (we used construction paper and markers, but could use foil, torn tissue paper glued to the roll, etc.)

First, I cut out a strip of construction paper that would wrap around an empty toilet paper roll. We each colored our paper. (Big sis chose to trace her hand and color it in.)You can tell when we are concentrating...our tongue sticks out!

Next, we glued the paper to our rolls,

Finally, I cut a piece of wax paper to cover one end of the roll and we secured it with a rubber band. We cut two slits in the wax paper and started tooting away!