Dollar Crafts: Sun Catchers

We have had  A LOT of sun lately.  In fact, we could use a little less sun and more rain.  But if you can't beat 'em....make sun catchers!  I found these little cuties in the Dollar bins at Michaels.  They say that they are for ages 8+, but my 4 and 2 year old had a lot of fun making them.  Sidney (my 2 year old) needed some help, but she really enjoyed playing with the plastic beads.

Sidney had just woken up from her nap and insisted on crafting in her monkey jams, bedhead and all!

Here is Sidney's work in progress.  The instructions say to "finish applying the plastic pieces using tweezers".  Sidney used her own technique!

Ava was very focused, as she usually is during art projects.  When she finished her butterfly, she helped Sidney with her flower too.

Ava suggested that we share the plastic pieces so that the sun catchers were more colorful, which was a good idea.

Despite my dirty windows, I think the sun catchers look great!


A few things to note for next time...
1.  Use more plastic pieces.  The instructions warn that they will shrink down in the heating process and they certainly do.  I had to add some extra pieces and leave the sun catchers in the oven for longer to fill in the gaps.  I didn't hurt anything, just took longer than expected in the oven.
2.  I have been warning the girls that if they drop the sun catchers, they could break.  They have done a great job not dropping their sun catchers, while I, on the other hand, have dropped them several times.  And they didn't break!  So I guess they're more durable than I expected, but I'd still be careful.