My daughter and I went up to Timpanogos Lodge for her second field trip yesterday. It was a BEAUTIFUL day up the canyon. It was time to go by the time our group got to the "Pet Rock" making station, so I told her to grab a couple arms and some eyes so we would make one at home. I'm really glad we did because it turned out WAY cuter than the ones that they were doing. We had something special: PAINT and BEADS. Imagine that. haha
Anywho, I'll probably end up running to the Dollar Tree later today to buy a package of eyes and a package of pip cleaners so my youngest can make a Pet Rock, too. This is fun and EASY craft to do with your kids on the weekend or something or with those restless kindergarteners who you can't seem to entertain without the TV until it's time to go pick up your older kids. (Or till it's time to make dinner when Daddy gets home because you have no older kids yet)
All you need for this craft is:
-1 rock, any shape/size
-2 pipe cleaners, any color
-2 eyes, big or small
-Some acrylic craft paint and a sponge or brush to paint with
-Hot glue gun and hot glue
-Hair dryer on low heat and low power
-a toothpick (optional)
-a single bead, any color/shape (optional)
*Dollar Tree and Family Dollar sell packs of multi-size eyes and multi-color pipe cleaners for a buck each! Can't get any better than that!
-First, you paint your rock. Let your kiddos get creative. My daughter's rock is pretty plain, but she insisted on only having purple and no other colors. After they are all painted you can use the blow dryer to speed up the drying process.
-Once you can touch all sides of the rock with dry fingers and get no paint on your fingers, you're ready to move on. So go ahead and use your hot glue gun to glue the eyes on whatever rock face you want.
-Next come the arms. To make the swirls like in the picture you just hold the pip cleaner in between 2 fingers and wrap the remaining part around on of your fingers. Then slowly pull it off and VwaLa! Curly arms. Or you can do straight arms, or zig zags or whatever. Then just straighten part of one end out and glue it towards the back of the bottom. Do the same to the other and glue it towards the front of the bottom. This will help the rock from teetering and being unsteady when still on a hard surface.
-Next, if you wish, take the bead and glue it in between the eyes on the bottom side of the eyes. Then finish it off by using your tooth pick to paint your child's name/initial(s) on the back side of the rock.
Aren't they cute? It's pretty self-explanitory, I probably didn't even need to include instructions, but I needed the typing practice. haha Enjoy :)
