Getting Crafty with punches

I dug out one of my oldy but goody craft ideas after seeing some fun Halloween paper and a pumpkin punch on clearance at Michaels.  I did this same thing last Halloween with a skull punch and I've done it with snowflake punches and butterfly punches as well.  It's really simple but I love the look. It's also a great project to do with the kids because there is no wrong way to do it, though in art there really never is!

1.  Gather some fun papers, scrapbook papers, ephemera, photos, anything you can punch out.  You can stick with a certain color, theme or just completely mix it up. 

  2.  Purchase a fun shaped paper punch....there are countless shapes and cost between $5-$10...I bought mine at Michaels.  I rarely ever buy anything at Michaels without a 40% off coupon--save 'em up and use 'em!

3.  Purchase a frame....I reuse the same shadowbox frame throughout the year and just swap out the art for the season.  Any size frame will work, I prefer shadowbox frames for this project.

4.  Punch out your shapes and glue them down however you like.  For the pumpkin one in the shadowbox, I   also used pop-dots, which are raised pieces of foam sticker that gives a little dimension to the punch outs.  For the skeleton, the kids chose to just glue all the punch outs down randomly and then use one pop-dot for the black glitter skull.  Ella did the pumpkin one on the left and made a pattern, using alternating using pop-dots.  Anything goes here...it all looks fun!

5.  Hang on the wall or give as a gift! 

The Children's Reaction

Not good.  As promised I said I would do a post on how my children are taking this new way of eating healthier.  Eh, not ideal.  At least tonight's meal didn't go over too well.  We made chicken fajitas, cilantro lime rice and black beans, all from the Food Revolution book.  Aaron and I thought it was excellent, a restaurant quality meal.  Kids not so much.  Initially it started good, they each tried everything on their plate, but in the end only ate the tortillas.  The new rule is this:  Eat what's on your plate, figure out a way to make it edible if you don't eat it as served, OR make yourself a PB&J.  That's it.  No cereal, no bagel bites, no ice cream.  That's it. 

They're not going to starve however, I've resurrected a previous idea and they are excited about what they'll find in the muffin tin everyday.   

Past Post: New Approach to After School Snack 

At least there will be smiles, until dinner that is.