DIY Leis and a Sandpaper Starfish Craft

We're soaking up the last bit of summer here before school starts, so last week some friends came over for a craft play date to make sandpaper starfish and Hawaiian leis.

This was the calm before the storm.

There were only 3 adults to 7 kids (6 of them under the age of 5) with open bottles of glue and tubes of glitter with unsecured caps... So, you do the math!

Or if you prefer a visual approach:

Haha! Absolutely priceless.

When the kiddos decided that they were over arts and crafts, we had a "fight" over a broken pretend piece of corn on the cob, and Kendall threw up not once, but twice; the second of which my friend Beth caught IN HER HANDS - total mommy move right there, we (the grownups) agreed. Once everybody was fed, though, things did simmer down a bit and all in all it was a pretty successful play date as everybody had a really great time.

Craft Play Date II over at Shauna's next week!

Lately, it's become a regular thing for McKenna, Kendall and I to do arts and crafts on Saturday mornings while Daddy is out doing his rounds at the garage sales; he's recently taken up flipping as a hobby, online business and all!

I thoroughly enjoy spending this time with my daughters; sipping coffee, still in our pjs, tummies full from breakfast, and enjoying each other's company with Disney radio on in the background while working away on beautiful little masterpieces that I will cherish forever. A very "happy Saturday" indeed; emphasis on "happy."

While I certainly plan on keeping round one of this little project, we gave it another go over the weekend; there was plenty of starfish and hole-punched Hawaiian flowers leftover from our play date.

Here's what you'll need:

Sandpaper 

Blue construction paper

Blue marker or crayon

Googly eyes

Glitter

Glue

Before you begin, cut starfish shapes out of your sandpaper. I found a pack of 12 sheets at the dollar store. 

Then, using a blue marker or crayon, create waves on your construction paper and glue on the starfish. Add more glue to the top of the starfish and sprinkle on some glitter, or you can leave it plain as the sandpaper gives the starfish a realistic texture. Finally, add googly eyes and a smile.

Now, the leis! These were so much fun to make and turned out really cute.

Here's what you'll need:

Hawaiian flowers

Straws

Yarn

Scissors

Hole punch

Tape

The Hawaiian flowers are actually table scatter that I purchased from the dollar store to make these Flip Flops Fridge Magnets. You can find them in the seasonal section.

Cut the yarn and straws, and hole punch the flowers.

String away!

*TIP: Wrap a small piece of tape around one end of the yarn because it will come apart as you are threading it through the straws and flowers. Also, tape the other end to the table while you are working so your straws and flowers don't fall off in the (very likely) event that your lei gets knocked or pulled off of your working space ;-)