Thursday, September 6, 2012

fridge tree with magnet leaves.

i'm practically giddy thinking about september 22nd. it begins the seasonal wonderfulness that i look forward to every year and i'm so ready for emery to be a part of it!

i absolutely refuse to decorate for fall 1 day before fall actually begins. that being said, i couldn't help but start this project for emery so i could get it ready in time! if you're looking for seasonal fun for your little one, read on!
incase you want to get into my brain, here's how this project evolved. i was looking through my preschool curriculum, writing down anything that would be age appropriate for my 15 month old. when i got to the Fall curriculum, i remembered i had taped a tree to a cookie sheet for the kids and made magnet leaves for them to place on the tree. i immediately wanted to make one for emery and wrote it down on my list.

a few minutes later, i remembered this 
Felt play Christmas tree!!! Love this
that i found on pinterest from solandrachel.com a few months ago and thought was super cute. i loved the idea of making it huge and decided to do it on the fridge. it would save a cookie sheet from being held hostage for a few months, and a bigger tree equals more fun.

being the project-obsessed girl that i am, i immediately got started. {i'm the kind of person that has to start right when i think of it, or it will never get done} 

i taped construction paper to the fridge and then sat on the floor and stared at it in fear for a few minutes. flashbacks of a highschool self portrait came to mind when i tried to draw myself climbing a tree. my eraser was my best friend that semester. 


 after a good 5 minutes, i finally got on pinterest and found this
Pinned Image
thank you, thank you, to whoever made this. my branches don't look as ridiculous now. {i always want to draw trees with the trunk being one massive arrow with awkward branches coming off the side, rather than splitting it halfway up into a few different branches. this gave me a good visual on how to split them.}

i used clear tape and secured each place on the paper where a part of the tree overlapped from one page to the next.

then i got to work, cutting the tree out while it was still on the fridge. i didn't like the idea of wrestling with it and spinning it around as i cut each branch at a different angle. i'm lazy like that.
hmmm. it should be a little taller up top
{i've never seen a flat-top tree in real life}, but overall, i'm satisfied.
i took it off the fridge and tucked it away to keep it safe from curious hands until i could get it laminated. and then i cleaned the gobs of brown paper off the floor so my husband wouldn't know our kitchen had been a disaster.

next, i found clipart for leaves at this link. i printed them off {you should use cardstock. i didnt. it was harder.} and traced them on red, orange, and yellow construction paper. i used markers to highlight them and make them more interesting.

leaf template

{i did 45 leaves.}

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: mardel will let you laminate stuff for 25 cents a foot. true story. i went and got these bad boys and a christmas tree version with ornaments laminated for $2.44. i walked out of the store one happy mamma.

see that fairly innocent bowl of chocolate chips?
i most definitely forgot they were there after emery woke up.
i went to clean the kitchen and came back to this:
good thing you're cute...
 the magnets i had on hand were really thin and i was nervous they weren't going to hold, so i went ahead and broke my "don't decorate early rule" put it all up just to make sure. it was a hit!


we are now sporting a diaper because her
chocolate drenched clothes are soaking
in oxyclean. does chocolate stain?
i dont know, but i keep ruining her clothes
so i wanted to play it safe.

love and leaves,
amber.

9 comments:

  1. I absolutely LOVE this project! I hope I can find time to make this for Brennen. I think he would love it :)

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  2. thanks tracy! he would definitely love it - no weird textures like the balloons or playdough ;-) i heard he wasn't a fan!

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  3. What an adorable idea for the shifting seasons! Love it and so easy...love easy...stopping by from the what about hop...would love if you'd link up on Photo Friday Blog Hop- it's up all weekend.
    Cheers!

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  4. Thanks for visiting me and commenting at OneCreativeMommy.com. I love this idea. You reminded me that I should make a thankful tree again this year. (We do it around Thanksgiving.) I'd love it if you linked up some of your great ideas at One Creative Weekend on my site. The party is open Fridays-Wednesdays every week. Hope to see you there!

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    1. a thankful tree is a great idea - i'll have to remember that when emery is a little older@ thanks for the invite - linking up now!

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  5. That looks like so much fun! I bet the kids have a great time moving the leaves around. What a little sweetheart. Yes, it is so good that they're cute. It's impossible to stay mad at them for long. Whenever I scold my little 2 year old, she says, "I love you , Mommy!" It just melts my heart.

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    1. yeah, i'm pretty sure she had a great time with the leaves AND the chocolate! definitely couldn't be mad!

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  6. I love the tree idea- Always in search of a real looking tree form because mine look well- like they barely survived a level 5 hurricane- however- the link you show I could not find the eample- did that blog actually have an outline that could be copied? For some reason as well, i can not access your photo links of the projects- If you have other resources I would be thrilled- otherwise.. thanks for reading this anyway- I like your blog too.

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