It’s always a treat the day we go to the mailbox and pull out a new issue of Family Fun magazine. We have a little routine, in fact…when I bring it in the house, Little Crafter drops what he was doing and we snuggle up in the comfy brown glider to go through it together. We turn the pages, and he points and says, “I want to make dat.” I dog-ear all the pages he points out, plus the ones that I like, and then we spend the month trying to do all the projects we picked. This past issue had a great idea right on the cover: trees made from sticks, pom poms, and air-dry clay.
We have a weekly play-n-craft date with another artsy mama, Brandee, and her adorable kids, and this was a perfect project for our little group.
On one playdate, we collected the sticks at a woodsy playground. But, due to some pom-pom issues at AC Moore, we had to hold off on the tree-making for a week {we made pumpkin pots instead}.
But the next time we got together, we made our own festive fall topiary trees.
Here’s how you can do it too:
FALL TOPIARY TREES
Materials per tree:
– stick
– 4″ styrofoam ball
– approximately 100 pom poms, your choice of colors
– craft glue or hot glue
– air dry clay or playdoh
STEP 1: Push stick into styrofoam ball. {you can glue it too, to make it secure}
STEP 2: Glue pom-poms all around it, covering the surface completely.
The magazine used green and red to make it look like an apple tree; I really liked the effect of our fall colors.
* Note: the original just had you use a stick with three branches and glue pom poms all around it. I have no idea how they got that to look so round. We decided a styrofoam ball would do the trick much easier!
STEP 3: Use air dry clay or playdoh to form a base.
And there you have it…an easy, festive fall craft that even the littlest hands can make!
Or, should I say the littlest hams?
Boy, I love these kids! Brandee, can I keep yours?
Terry says
Ha ha,…what a bunch of cuties. Nice that everyone got to make these.
[email protected] Heart Crafty Things says
How adorable…The kids and the craft! I think I need to subscribe to that magazine. It looks like so much fun!
Brooke @ Let Kids Create says
I saw these in the magazine, too. I love how you made yours be autumn trees. They turned out so cute and they look so fun to make. I may have to do this also.
Brooke Anna @ Mommy Does... says
Hey there!
I wanted to let you know that I gave your blog a shout out on Mommy Does…!
http://mommydoes.blogspot.com/2011/09/birds-nest-necklace-our-little-family.html
I hope you can check it out!
Summer says
This is super cute!
Kathryn Michelle Jenkins says
those are way cute! and perfect for fall.
new follower!
kathryn
http://www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com
Aimee from Classified: Mom says
Your kids look like they are having so much fun- great photos and awesome craft! Thank you for linking up to The Sunday Showcase!
Rachel says
Adorable. I featured this project at Lines Across My Face in a fall leaf roundup.
Rachel
http://linesacrossmyface.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-heart-leaves.html
Karen @ It's the Suburbs or Bust- Yo! says
Oh my I don’t know what is cutier your pom pom trees or your kids!
Sylvie Créative - Créations Ma Déco Maison says
Wonderful!
Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas says
so cute – I wanted to make these the moment I saw the cover too! They came out so cute and I love the ease of the styrofoam ball substitution.
I shared on my FB & twitter! 🙂
Thanks for linking to the Sunday Showcase! Hope to see you again this week!
Bern
Heather @ Life, Gluten Free says
What a cute idea. I was just sorting through our craft stash yesterday (organizing, getting rid of stuff we don’t need etc) and I found two styrofoam balls. I was going to put them in the thrift store donation bag, but I decided to hang on to them a bit longer. Now I know why! This is perfect. Thanks for the idea!
Courtney ~ French Country Cottage says
How absolutely darling~ thanks for linking them up at Feathered Nest Friday! 🙂
Lori @ La-La's Home Daycare says
This is an adorable craft! I think your version is much better than the apple. It came out great!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Lori
Kristy says
Those are so colorful! And you could make them with gumdrops as well.
dancers4life says
Good point!