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The First Signs of Spring

Yesterday, I saw my first sure sign of spring:  Wal-Mart, Target and Walgreens replaced their Valentine’s Day merchandise with all things Easter.

I don’t know about you, but I sure could use a bit of spring-like weather.  Today’s high is 16 degrees.  That’s not the wind chill; that’s the actual air temperature.

And no, I don’t live in Antarctica.

Even if Mother Nature is not cooperating in your neck of the woods, you can spring into the first season of the year by gathering the family for a fun day of spring-themed crafting.  You don’t need a ton of money or a lot of time to make the following simple and affordable seasonal decorations:

Beaded Butterflies

Materials:

  • 20 gage wire
  • Assortment of colorful beads
  • Scissors
  • Pliers

Directions:

  1. Bend the wire into a “V” shape.
  2. String the beads on the wire. You can make a pattern or randomly string the beads for a more whimsical look.
  3. Bend the wire into a heart shape.
  4. Twist the ends together with the pliers.
  5. Cut two equal lengths of wire.  These will be the butterfly’s antennae.
  6. String beads on the antennae.
  7. Attach the antennae onto the beaded butterfly body.
  8. Hang your wire butterflies in front of a window or in other places in your house as pretty decorations.

Coffee Filter Fish

Materials:

  • Paper coffee filters
  • Markers
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Blue construction paper
  • Googly eyes
  • Piece of yarn about eight inches long
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Spray bottle with water
  • Glitter

Directions:

  1. Have your kids decorate the coffee filters with markers.
  2. Spritz the decorated coffee filters with the water bottle to make the colors run.
  3. Let the filters dry for a couple of hours.
  4. Trim the coffee filters to resemble fish. Do not throw away the scraps.
  5. Glue the fish on the construction paper.
  6. Glue an eye on each fish and use the markers to add details to the fins.
  7. Embellish each fish with glitter.
  8. Tie the yarn to the pipe cleaner.
  9. Glue the pipe cleaner near the top of the construction paper to resemble a fishing pole.
  10. Using the colored coffee filter scraps, make a worm as bait for the fish.
  11. Hang your finished masterpiece on the wall and countdown the days until you head out on a real fishing adventure.

 

This entry was posted in Beads and tagged , , by Michele Cheplic. Bookmark the permalink.

About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.