Kid's Crafts: April Fool's Day

Do you love to prank your friends and family as much as I do? Try out these fun April Fool's Day crafts with your kids or do them yourself to prank your kids!

Spilled Hot Chocolate

Supplies needed:

• 1 styrofoam or paper cup
• 1 plastic spoon
• 3 small marshmallows
• Tacky Glue
• Brown acrylic paint
• Wax Paper
• An inexpensive paint brush

1. Create a mixture of Tacky Glue and Brown paint to make the glue the color of hot chocolate. Remember it will darken quite a bit as the glue dries.

2.  Using the paintbrush, paint the glue mixture inside the cup to look as if you had poured hot chocolate down the side of the cup.

3. Place the cup sideways on the wax paper. Pour spoonfuls of the glue mixture around the cup to look like spilled hot chocolate.

4. Place 3 marshmallows and a plastic spoon in the flue mixture puddle.

5. Let it dry for 2 days. (If you need it to dry faster, use a blow dryer or sit it on top of a heater vent.)

6. Peel the mixture off and on April 1, set it on a carpeted area to look as if someone had spilled hot chocolate.

Fake Card

For kids, pranking mom or dad can be the most fun part of April Fool's Day.

This craft can be very elaborate or very simple.

Supplies needed:

• Card
• Glue

 1. Using a pre-made card or a card that the kid has made, have the child glue the inside of the card shut. When the give the card to someone, it is fun to see them try to open it!

Online Resources 

Coloring Pages 

Crayola.com: Crayola offers a printout with April Fool's jokes.
Color.com: Printouts of funny pranks.
The Youth Online Club: Printouts for all holidays.

More Pranks

DisneyFamily.com: The five best April Fool's Day crafts for kids.
Disney Family Fun:  Freak out your kids with this easy to make fake parent.
The Magic Banana: Amaze your friends with a pre-cut banana.

Kid's Crafts: General Conference Printables

For those with kids, it is always a struggle to find ways to keep kids entertained during the semi-annual LDS General Conference (coming up this weekend).

In their LDS Week special section, the Daily Herald published ideas to keep kids entertained. Click here to read the story 'Going beyond quiet time."

They listed a few online resources for printable activities and color sheets for kids of all ages. Here are a few of their ideas:

deseretbook.com/store_locator/conference : Check out Deseret Book online for a free printable Conference booklet for Primary-age children. Activities include crafts like apostle finger puppets and games like Bingo.


www.lds.org : Use the search engines on the church Web site for coloring pages and games from past issues of the friend. Staple the printed pages into a convenient booklet for hours of quiet fun.

www.sugardoodle.net : This helpful Web site has downloads for general conference activity booklets geared for both Junior and Senior Primary children. The younger kids will enjoy coloring the suit and tie of the apostle they are seeing on TV, while older children have room for notes and playing word games.

lds.about.com/od/familyhomeeveninggames/a/fheg_bingo.htm : This Web site offers multiple printable Bingo cards -- perfect for families with several children. Pictures include temples, families and other topics usually talked about during general conference.

To read the entire LDS week section, visit heraldextra.com/ldsweek.

The Original Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo

The Original Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo is making its semi-annual trip to Salt Lake City and the date that scrappers have had circled for 6 months is coming quickly.

With nearly 80 vendors and thousands of excited scrappers, the event can be overwhelming for first timers. After years of attending the expo, here's our advice for those of you who have never been.

1. Be an early bird: The biggest tip after having gone to 9 scrapbook USA expos is to splurge and get an early bird pass. The doors open at 10 a.m., but if you want to get in an hour earlier than the general public, you can pay an extra $8 to get in at 9.
However, this requires that you come much earlier than 8:45. The earliest person in line keeps getting there a little earlier each time (last year she arrived at 10 p.m. the day before).
The benefits of being early bird far outweigh the pain of sitting in line for hours. You get to visit vendors before the lines get too long, and often some hot items are sold out before the doors even open to the public. You will also get a bag of free scrapbooking items valued at $10.

2. Shop first, scrap later: One of the most fun elements of the Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo is that you feel like you are scrapbooking in the largest scrapbook store in the country. Some people come just to shop, but it is well worth the hassle to bring your supplies and scrap until the doors close at midnight (or at least until you can't keep your eyes open anymore).

When you first get there though, it's best to sit your supplies down to reserve a table and visit the vendors. There are always amazing deals and new items that go fast, so it's best to see what's out there before they are gone.
3. Take a group: Like most other things, the Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo is more fun with people. Take a group of friends who are as passionate about scrapping as you are. Have fun and dress alike. Some groups have matching shirts, some wear matching pajamas and some even wear tiaras. The Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo gives people of all ages a chance to have fun, and the photos from the event make great scrapbook pages!
  
4. Participate in classes and giveaways: Throughout the day, there are giveaways, prizes and free-make and takes. The expo is always more fun when you participate, plus you can get free stuff!

There are also classes on new and exciting techniques that you can pay to participate in. They are hosted by various vendors and can be very informative especially for a new scrapper. You can register for these classes ahead of time at scrapbookusaexpo.com.

5. Have fun doing what you love: The whole idea of the Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo is to have a scrapbook getaway right in your backyard. Whether you can come for a few hours or you plan to spend the whole two days there, it gives you an opportunity to sit down with your photos and have a good time.

The Original Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo

When: Friday, March 26 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Saturday, March 27 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: The South Towne Expo Center,  9575 S. State St., Sandy
Cost: $12 for regular admission ($2 discount coupons available at Roberts), $20 for early admission, $100 for VIP admission.
Information: www.scrapbookusaexpo.com

Kid's Craft: St. Patrick's Day

Some holidays are easy to find fun crafts for your kids.
St. Patrick's Day is one where it is a little more difficult. There is always the standby Leprechaun catchers that are fun to make and are fun for the morning of the 17th, but those are often difficult for younger kids.
We did a couple of crafts with kids between the ages of 3 and 11 that were fun for every age in between.

Shamrock Frames

This craft is easy and can be done pretty simply (for younger kids) or more elaborately (for the older ones).

• Print off the shamrock template located here (Print Shamrock)

• You put this on any color of paper. We chose white and black. 

• We gave the kids several options of ways to outline their Shamrock including:

• Buttons
• Rocks (usually used for the bottom of fish tanks)
• Pipe Cleaners
• St. Patrick's Day Garland
• Glitter Paint
• Yarn (the fuzzy kind is pretty fun)
• Squares of felt or foam

• Using hot glue or tacky glue, outline the shamrock with the different items and let them decorate the inside any way they want to.
• When they were finished, you can hang them up anywhere you want. We framed ours and put them on our mantle as a great St. Patrick's Day decoration.

Shamrock Magnets

 

These magnets are very simple and would be a great (inexpensive) gift for teachers, friends or grandparents for St. Patty's Day.

• You will need: 
• Green Pom Pons
• Green Pipe Cleaners
• Magnets
• Hot Glue

• Use the hot glue to stick three pom pons together. 
• Glue the pom pons to the magnet.
• Make a stem out of pipe cleaners by folding a piece in half and twisting it.
• Put some hot glue under the pom pons and poke the cut end of the stem into it.
• Let it cool and stick it on your fridge.
• ALTERNATIVES: You can also make these into a pin for your kid to wear on St. Patrick's Day to make sure they have their green on!

 
Prices: Buttons ($1.79 at Wal-Mart),  Rocks ($1.99 at Roberts), Pipe Cleaners ($0.75 at Roberts), Glitter Paint ($2.39 at Roberts), Yarn ($2.15 at Roberts), St. Patrick's Day Garland ($1.89 at Roberts), Pom Pons ($0.39 at Roberts), Magnets (8 for $1.59 at Roberts.)