Crow and Corn Beanbag Toss

Fall is the perfect time to be outside. The weather is cooler but still comfortable, so celebrate by making this whimsical game featuring crow and corn cob beanbags!

Celebrate fall with even more fun crafts, printable activites and greatThanksgiving-themed crafts as well.

What you'll need:

• Large sheet of white poster board
• Large box
• Craft knife
• Paint: yellow, black, brown, red, white, gray
• 2 sheet dark green felt
• ½ sheet yellow felt
• ½ sheet tan felt
• 3 rubber bands
• 3 fold and close sandwich bags
• 1 1/2 cups of dried beans
• Felt glue
• Clear shipping or packaging tape

How to make it:

For the bean bags

1. Cut yellow felt into ½" wide strips, and then cut strips into ½" squares (see image). 
2. Fold both green felt sheets in half width-wise, like a greeting card, and then cut on the crease. Keep three pieces for this project and save the extra piece for a future craft (see image). 
3. Line one short side and one long side of the green felt with felt glue. Fold the sheet over like a greeting card. You should have one open end. Repeat this step for all three green sheets and set them aside to dry (see image).
4. Place ½ cup of beans into each sandwich bag. Shift beans to corner of bag and twist the top closed. Fold the closed end over onto itself and secure with a piece of tape. Repeat for each bag.
5. When green felt bags are dry, gently turn them inside out. Insert a bag of beans inside each bag (see image). 
6. Line each bag with three columns of felt glue and dot on the yellow felt squares. Let dry.
7. Cut the tan felt into thin strips, about ¼" wide, then cut all the strips in half.
8. Cut small slits in the open end of the bag, about ½" down (see image). 
9. Place bags on work surface, "corn kernel" side up, dab some glue inside the bag openings. Glue in the tan strips of felt (corn silk), about 5 or 6 per bag. Trim the tops of the tan strips so that about 2" remain sticking out of the bag top. Let dry.
10. Gather the top of the bag together and secure tightly with a rubber band. Fold the flaps (the slits you cut in the bag tops earlier) down to hide the rubber band.

For the crow box

1. Tape cardboard box closed. An adult should cut a large hole in the center of the box.
2. Place poster board on top of box, covering the hole. Tape the bottom of the poster board to the box to hold it secure.
3. Cut a hole in the poster board using a craft knife, over the top of the hole in the box.
4. Secure the rest of the poster board to the box using shipping tape, fold corners if needed (see image).
5. Using a pencil, draw a beak around the hole in the poster board, then add eyes above the beak and draw the outline of a head. Draw on a simple bow tie.
6. Paint the crow black, eyebrows gray, eyes brown, beak yellow and bow tie red. Use the handle end of a paint brush to add white polka dots to bow tie. Let all paint dry (see image).

Tips:

• Instead of paint, you can create your crow with colored construction paper.
• Old t-shirts and socks can also make great bean bags
• Instead of beans you can use rice.

Paper Plate Sunflower

Make a pretty sunflower to display in your kitchen or in a child’s window. Make several and place them in a coffee can filled with floral foam to make a fun bouquet!

For more great ideas for celebrating autumn, view our full list of Fall Crafts.

What you'll need:

• Mini paper plate
• 1 pkg small brown pom-poms
• Wooden dowel
• 1 sheet green felt
• White craft glue
• Yellow acrylic paint
• Green acrylic pant
• Paintbrush
• Scissors
• 2 green chenille stems
• Hot glue gun
• 3-D lime green paint (optional)
  
  

How to make it:

1. Use scissors to cut one inch slits all the way around the paper plate, going about 1/3 inch in.  Use scissors to round each slit, forming the petals. 
   
2. Line work surface with some newspaper and paint the paper plate yellow. Allow to dry and repeat if needed.
   
3. Paint the dowel with green paint and allow to dry. 
   
4. Draw a large circle in the center of the paper plate with the white craft glue. Fill in the circle so that there is enough glue for the pom-poms to stick to. Start at the center and work your way outward with the pom-poms until the center of the flower is complete. 
   
5. Fold each chenille stem in half, twisting the open ends about two inches in. Form the loop end into the shape of a simple leaf. You should have two leaves with stems.
   
6. Lay chenille leaves side by side on the green felt. The stem of each leaf should hang over the edge of the felt. Fold the felt over the chenille leaf and trim off excess so that just the leaves are covered. Note that the stems and points of leaves are at the fold.
   
7. Hot glue one side of a leaf onto the felt and repeat for the second leaf. Put hot glue on the exposed side of the chenille and run a line of hot glue down the center of the leaf (on the felt). Fold over the felt and glue in place. 
   
8. Trim the felt around the outer edge of the leaves.
   
9. Twist the stem portion of the chenille around the dowel. Repeat on the other side. Tack in place with a dot of hot glue.
   
10. Use a scrap of the leftover felt, about four inches long, to fold over the top of the dowel. Glue it together to hold the dowel to the paper plate. Glue the felt at the top of the dowel to the back of the paper plate flower.

Straw Hat Pins

Moms, Grandmas and all the women in your life will adore these pretty straw hat pins! They’re easy to put together and oh-so-festive!  

What you'll need:

• Small straw hat (about 3 or 4 inches wide)
• Small silk flowers and berries
• Raffia
• Hot glue gun
• Pin back
  

How to make it:

1. Tie a piece of raffia around the rim of the hat. You may find it easier to tack the back in place with a dab of hot glue so that it doesn’t slide off while you are tying a knot or bow. Tie into a knot and trim the ends or make a pretty bow.

2. Decorate the rim of the hat with small silk flowers and/or berries. Use fall colors to highlight the season.

3. Hot glue a pin back to the back of the hat.

Fall Photo Placemat

This fun keepsake pulls double duty as a useful placemat for meals and a great way to display your favorite family photos. These make great gifts for Grandma and other relatives as well. 

What you'll need:

• 1 sheet white craft foam
• Clear contact paper
• Silk or real leaves
• 5” x 7” photograph
• A few tiny silk flowers
• Hot glue gun
• White craft glue
• Paper cutter or scissors
  

How to make it:

1. Glue photo to the center of the white foam. Use a sponge applicator or your finger to spread the glue evenly on the back of the photo so that there are no bumps or lumps.
2. Use a hot glue gun to decorate the “frame” around the photo with leaves. If you’re using real leaves, make sure they are bug free and not too dried out or they may crumble.
3. Add a few tiny silk flowers around the frame. You can also use some whimsical fall stickers if you like.
4. Cover both sides of the foam placemat with contact paper. Make sure you follow manufacturer’s instructions.
5. Trim the edges, leaving about ¼” of the contact paper over the edges of the foam.

Salt Dough Leaf Magnets

Now that the kids are back in school, the need for hanging things on the fridge has returned. Why not make your own magnets such as these salt dough leaf refrigerator magnets and hang precious artwork and those A+ papers with? A fun project for any age!

What you'll need:

• Leaf shaped cookie cutters
• Acrylic paint in red, yellow, green, orange and brown
• Paint brush
• Toothpick
• Acrylic spray sealer, matte
• ½” round magnets
• Hot glue gun

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until a dough is formed.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.
4. Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.
5. Use different sized cookie cutters to create as many shapes and sizes of leaves that you want.
6. For smaller children, use a single shape to make it easier at painting time. For older children, you can double up and even triple some of the leaves for a 3D affect as we did (see photo).
7. If desired, use the toothpick to draw lines in the leaves.
8. Place all leaves onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.
9. Bake for two hours.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
11. Paint with acrylic paints and spray finished leaves with acrylic sealer.
12. Hot glue a round magnet to the back of each leaf and hang on the fridge!

Tips:

• Parents should not allow small children to handle a glue gun as burns can occur. Older children should be closely supervised if allowed to handle themselves.
• Instead of a toothpick you can use the sharp edge and point of a small kitchen paring knife, but again, only parents should handle these types of utensils.
• Salt dough will not keep for a later project, it will get hard and crack. Depending on how many ornaments you plan to make, you can either halve the recipe or double it.

Muffin Tin Crayons

Do you have what seems like hundreds of broken crayons laying around? Before you toss them in the garbage, enjoy a fun project with your kids! We’ve chosen fall colors—to help us color our fall coloring pages.--but you can choose any combination that you like.

What you'll need:

• Cupcake/muffin tin
• Non-toxic broken crayons
• Vegetable oil
• toothpick

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Remove all the paper labels from crayon pieces. (Please check to make sure they are non-toxic crayons.)
3. Put ¼ teaspoon of vegetable oil into each muffin pan cup, no cup liners needed.
4. You will use the equivalent of 4 new crayons for each cup. Place broken crayons (no longer than an inch each) into the muffin pan. This will fill the cup about 1/3 full.
5. Place into the preheated oven and watch carefully, they melt quickly!
6. Bake crayons for 8 minutes or so.
7. When the crayons begin to melt, remove them from the oven and stir gently with a toothpick.
8. Crayon will look “ugly” and the colors may appear blended too much. Don’t worry! They look much better on the other side.
9. Let the crayons cool completely.
10. Once cooled, pop the crayons out of the muffin pan by tapping on the backside of the pan. Crayons should fall right out.

 

Tips:

• If you have any new crayons available, use one as a measuring stick. Lay broken crayon pieces along side of the new crayon to measure out 4 full sized crayons. This is how many you will need for each completed chunky crayon.
• Be sure to use extreme caution around kitchen utensils and the oven. Always use oven mitts and do not stick you fingers into the melted crayons.
• If you don’t have any broken crayon pieces, you can buy a large box of cheap crayons at the Dollar Store.

Acorn Wreath

This acorn wreath is a wonderful fall craft project that makes a great gift or decoration for your home.

What you'll need:

• Acorns
• Wicker wreath
• Hot glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Newspaper
• Flowers or other decoration

How to make it:

1. First, spread the newspaper on a flat surface.
2. Lay your wreath down flat.
3. Heat your glue gun.
4. Next, starting in the middle of the wreath, begin gluing the bottom of the acorn. Place the glued part of the acorn in the middle of the wreath and stand the acorn straight up.
5. Make one row in a straight line going all the way around the wreath.
6. Repeat the process from top to bottom with the wreath still laying flat.
7. Then decorate with flowers, bows, or even holiday ornaments. Be sure not to leave any open spaces except in the back. The back of the wreath shouldn't have any acorns on it so when you lay it down it is flat.

Tips:

• A wreath hanger is recommended because it is very heavy.