Fall Crafts with the kiddos...part 3

To continue our fun fall decorating for our Apple Party, we're onto Part 3 of the apple crafts I made with the boys (well, mostly with Ethan...Andrew usually just plays :-)). (Part 1 and Part 2 can be found there and there ;-))

These last two apple projects were simple, and turned out so cute!

I love how the cereal box apples (originally found here) turned out!! And the balloon apple tree was just a last minute idea to fill up some wall space above our tv that looked lonely...

Ethan did help me color the cereal box apples, but I did the wrapping and stems/leaves myself (sharp scissors and such)...

Cereal Box Apples:
Supples:
empty cereal boxes (or other cardboard boxes - the smaller one we did was a cake mix box!)
construction paper (I used yellow for ours, but green, red or even plain brown or white (to then be colored) would be fine!)
tape
markers, crayons, colored pencils, or paint (for making your apples your own!)
scissors
popsicle sticks
green pipe cleaners

Instructions:
1. Cover your boxes with the construction paper - wrap carefully like you would a present. Tape down the edges well (mine needed a little packing tape reinforcement - they were trying to pop open!)
2. Color (paint, etc.) your apples the way you want them - Ethan wanted to make his with letters and such, I wanted mine a little more uniform ;-)
3. Poke a hole in the top of the boxes (about the size of one side of the scissors). Form the pipe cleaner into two loops (leaves) and insert the pipe cleaner and popsicle stick into the hole in the box together. (I didn't need to secure them with anything else, the small hole with the tension of the popsicle stick and the pipe cleaner was enough to keep them stable.)

These are a totally different shape than a normal apple, which makes them cute!

The tree doesn't really need much instruction - cut out tree shapes, pin to wall, add some balloons. Simple, right? But it turned out cute too!

Bonus! I nearly forgot about this cute little craft, which was totally a mommy-only one (it was hard for me to get it right, I can't imagine trying to wrangle a couple of kids doing it too!).

These are so cute and woodsy! Another Pinterest idea originally found here, I thought this would be a neat way to dress up some old candles (found at a thrift store for about $1 for 3 candles! haha!!).

Super simple in concept, but took a little finagling to get the cinnamon to stay put while I tied the ribbon.

Cinnamon Candles:
Supplies:
basic candles (unscented)
cinnamon sticks (I ended up finding mine at Costco after a fruitless search at grocery and craft stores...)
ribbon
tape

Instructions:
1. Place the cinnamon sticks around the candle (For the taller candle here, I cut the sticks in half, for the smaller one, I cut them into thirds - use scissors, they worked much better than a knife!) - use tape to keep them in place if needed (I couldn't figure out a way to keep them up without the tape, so I taped around the bottom, then removed it when the ribbon was tied.)
2. Tie the ribbon tightly around the middle of the candle/cinnamon sticks. Make a bow, or a simple knot (like mine).
3. Remove the tape (if you used it), and fill in any gaps with more cinnamon sticks. (My bow didn't seem to be tight enough, so I added a few more cinnamon sticks to complete the candles.)
4. Light and enjoy! The smell of the cinnamon should start to come out when the wax has melted down far enough to warm the sticks themselves. Mine in the picture here were still far to tall to be smelling good - but the cinnamon sticks alone smell amazing, so I can't wait to light them again!