Related Pages: Healthy Pasta Recipe for Kids, Applesauce Recipes, more Summer Watermelon Recipes

Chips and Watermelon Salsa

Watermelon Salsa Ingredients

This is a mild and sweet salsa with a really fresh taste. I used onion and garlic powder to add flavor that wasn’t too overpowering for the kids. If I were to make it for adults, I would substitute fresh minced onion and garlic instead. If you have really juicy tomatoes, this salsa can get pretty watery because of the watermelon. So you may want to strain it just a bit when it’s completed. Putting watermelon in the recipe is a great ‘selling point’ – my youngest very picky eater was so curious that even she was willing to try it (to my absolute amazement!).

6-7 Medium tomatoes, diced (Preferably fresh from the garden!)

1/2 Banana pepper, finely diced (about 1 tbsp)

1 cup Watermelon, diced (Don’t squish it! Keep it a little chunky.)

1 Lime

1/2 tsp Onion salt

1/4 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Onion powder

1 tbsp Garlic powder

Dash of chili powder

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Red wine vinegar

Chopped parsley or cilantro to taste

Combine tomatoes, banana pepper, and watermelon in a medium mixing bowl. Microwave your lime – whole – for 30 seconds. This releases the juices amazingly well. Squeeze the lime juice into the bowl and try to get as much pulp into the mix as you can. I cut the pulp off with a knife. Add the parsley or cilantro and mix well with a spoon.

Sprinkle the rest of the dry seasoning ingredients and vinegar on top and again mix well. There’s no need to puree or mush the ingredients together – the watery tomatoes and watermelon take care of themselves. Like I said earlier, you may even need to strain it a bit.

While you can serve this immediately, it tastes even better if it can sit overnight in your fridge!

Check out all of our easy and kid-friendly recipes while you are here!

Related Pages: Fall Paper Crafts, Tissue Paper Flower Topiary, Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

Fall Wreath Craft

Fall Wreath Materials List

Black, green, yellow, orange and brown tissue paper

Wide ribbon (I used a green organza I got on Christmas clearance last year)

Floral or beading wire

Glue

8 inch grapevine wreath

Optional: Feather butterfly decoration (I got mine at the dollar store!).

Fall Wreath Craft Materials

How to Make this Fall Wreath Craft

You’re going to start by making 1 tissue paper tiger lily and 3 tissue paper black-eyed susan flowers.

Tissue Paper Tiger Lily Flower

Paper Tiger Lily Flower Parts

For the tiger lily, cut out two five-petal pieces of orange tissue paper, a 1.25 inch piece of brown tissue paper (or a brown paper bag works), a 1 inch piece of black tissue paper, and a 12 inch strip of green tissue paper.

Crumple and then uncrumple (a few times) the two small circles so that they look more natural.

Twist the strip of green tissue paper into a string-like appearance as shown. Break it into two pieces, they don’t need to be exactly the same length, but close.

Curl the petals of the orange flower very lightly as you would curling ribbon with scissors. Do this to both pieces, though only one is shown that way (so you can see the shape).

Now, score each orange petal with a fingernail or bone folder as shown – this gives it a remarkably tricky realistic appearance!

Making Paper Tiger Lily Petals

Layer the pieces as shown below, poking holes with your floral wire. You will need about 8-9 inches per flower.

Assembling the Tissue Paper Tiger Lily

Twist the wire like a twist tie on the back and this one is done!

Tissue Paper Black-Eyed Susan Flowers

Paper Black Eyed Susan Flower Parts

I know there isn’t any green stuff in the middle of a black-eyed susan. I just though it looked more polished this way!

For this tissue paper flower, cut three yellow circles about 2.5 inches in diameter, and tear off a 3 inch or so square of green and black tissue paper. Crumple up the black one tightly and the green one very loosely.

Clip the petals as shown into the three yellow circles (you can do this on all three at once, just make sure to rotate them when you assemble the flower to give it variation).

Layer the three yellow pieces and green piece together and attach them with another 8-9: piece of wire as you did with the tiger lily.

Assembling the Paper Flowers with Thin Wire

Leave off the black crumpled piece of tissue paper because it would be too hard to get the wire through it. Assemble it all, and then glue the black piece into the center instead.

Tissue Paper Black Eyed Susan Flower

Make two more for three total.

Attach the Tissue Paper Flowers

Attaching the Tissue Paper Flowers to the Wreath

Take the wire on the back of the flowers and attach them to the bottom of the grapevine wreath form. This is just like using a twist-tie (which also means you can reuse these parts in something else if you want to!). Put the tiger lily on one side and the three black-eyed susans next to it, tucking the wire ends into the grapevines so that they don’t poke out and hurt someone.

Fall Flower Wreaths Closeup

Add the Hanging Ribbon

Since my organza ribbon was too sheer to see with one layer, I double wrapped it around the top of the wreath. This was about a 7 or 8 foot length of ribbon.

Fall Wreath Bow Step 1

I then cut another 2.5 foot or so piece of ribbon and tied it in a bow around the top, gathering the ends of the longer piece.

Fall Wreath Bow Step 2

I had a little orange feather butterfly hanging around that seemed like the perfect addition to the top of the bow, so I just hot glued it in place. Plus it works well to cover up any bow-tying imperfections!

Fall Wreath Bow with Feather Butterfly Decoration

All done! Just go hang it somewhere where you can enjoy it!

More Fall Kids Crafts

Indian Corn Craft

Cute Yarn Apples

Splatter Paint Fall Tree

Fall Corn Color by Number

I’ve tried to find Cricut craft projects that don’t require a big investment in more cartridges, though some do, of course. Several of them offer free template downloads or instructions on how to create the projects on your own. Also, some of these patterns are just as easily made on other paper cutting craft tools, such as the Gypsy and Cuttlebug.

Related Pages: Printable Box Templates, Printable Vintage Postcards, Printable Dragon Paper Craft

Cricut Paper Crafts

Cricut Paper Purse	Cricut Robot Papercraft	Pretty Cricut Cupcake Wrappers	Cricut Paper Flowers Craft

Halloween Cricut Crafts

Cricut Halloween Decorations	Cricut Paper Pumpkins	Decorated Halloween Candles	Halloween Door Hangers

Thanksgiving Cricut Crafts

Cricut Thanksgiving Turkey Craft	Cricut Thanksgiving Pie Favor Boxes	Cricut Thanksgiving Place Cards	Thanksgiving Paper Banners

Christmas Cricut Crafts

Paper Cutting Christmas Ornaments	Cricut Glitter Snowflakes	Christmas Mouse Candy Cane Holders	Cricut Paper Christmas Scene

Valentines Day Cricut Crafts

Cricut Valentine Treat Bag Toppers	Cricut Strawberry Valentine Treats	Cricut Valentine Cards	Cricut Valentines Day Banner

Easter Cricut Crafts

Cricut Spring Flower Easter Treats	Cricut Easter Bunny Basket	Cricut Easter Egg Holder	Cricut Easter Place Cards

Check out more paper cutting crafts while you are here, too!

Related Pages: Bulletin Board Decorations, Peanut Butter & Jelly Recipes, Teacher Newsletter Templates

Over the weekend I was brainstorming some back to school craft ideas as a way to try to make a dent in this budget. This pencil case tutorial came together way easier than I thought it would – and all of my kids loved the results. The best part is that it technically cost me $0 dollars, because everything I needed to make it I already had around the house.

Pencil Case Tutorial

Easy Pencil Case Materials List

NOTE: You can easily change dimensions of this pencil holder and make it smaller or larger as you choose.

1 sheet 12″ x 12″  (preferably double-sided) scrapbook paper

Clear contact paper (the re-positionable kind rocks, but isn’t necessary)

3 hole punch

2 sets of Velcro dots

HELPFUL, but not required, is a grid cutting mat, though most contact paper also has a grid on the back you could use.

BTW, if you have contact paper with a pretty pattern, you can just make this pencil pouch with regular (non-corrugated) cardboard or card stock.

Pencil Case Tutorial Step by Step

Step 1

Cut up 4 pieces from your scrapbook paper. I made this pencil pouch 11 inches wide to fit neatly into a 3 ring binder.

Pencil Cases for School - Step 1

In order, they are (1) at 1″ x 11″, (1) at 3″ x 11″, and (2) at 4″ x 11″

Step 2

Lay down your paper onto a piece of 13″ x 15″ contact paper as shown. This is easiest done on a grid so that you can measure and line things up perfectly.

Pencil Cases for School - Step 2

Leave a 1.125″ gap between the 3 hole punch flap and the back of your pouch, as this will be covering the other side of the 3 hole punch flap. If you think it’s tight, err on the side of being too large of a gap rather than too small. You can always cut off the excess contact paper, but you really need the front and back of the pouch to line up nicely.

Step 3

Carefully fold the pouch in half so that the front and back of the pouch are right on top of each other.

Pencil Cases for School - Step 3

Make sure that your front flap has enough room to fold over the top of the pouch when it’s all assembled. Only press the contact paper in place over the three hole punch flap, because you are going to cover the inside of the pouch with contact paper, too.

Lay the pouch flat again with the contact paper on the bottom.

Step 4

Cover the inside of the pouch with another piece of contact paper, with piece sized 11″ by 11″ . It’s OK if the top and bottom edges don’t cover all the way, but the sides do need to be pretty exact.

Pencil Cases for School - Step 4

Step 5

Now you need to clip your corners and fold lines so that you can tape the parts together into a pouch. The first photo shows where the cuts need to be made, but are kind of hard to see in the picture. So I’ve included a second photo with better lighting so that you can see what I mean:

Pencil Cases for School - Step 5a

Clip the corners off completely, but just make slits in the sides:

Pencil Cases for School - Step 5b

Step 6

Starting with the Front Pouch Flap, Fold over the excess contact paper to the inside of the pouch:

Pencil Cases for School - Step 6

Step 7

Next fold in the sides for the Back of Pouch:

Pencil Cases for School - Step 7

Step 8

Lastly, fold the Front of the Pouch over, and fold the contact paper around the entire pouch, sealing those side flaps on the back of the pencil pouch:

Pencil Cases for School - Step 8

Step 9

Almost done! Here is a rear view of the pouch. Simply clip off the excess contact paper on the sides of the 3 ring punch flap:

Pencil Cases for School - Step 9

Step 10

Carefully punch holes in your 1″ flap to be able to carry it in a 3 ring binder. If you want your hole circles more centered than mine are, then pay more attention than I did to how deep your hole punch is set! ‘Doh!

Pencil Cases for School - Step 10

Step 11

Attach your sticky velcro circles on the corners of your flap, and your pencil case is ready to pencil hold!

Pencil Cases for School - Step 11

The beauty of this back to school craft is that you can find any kind of scrapbook paper (or fabric, for that matter!) to suit nearly any personality. I’m making one for my son with Star Wars scrapbook paper, for example. You could also use wrapping paper, but I admit I’m not sure if that would work  as well because the paper is so much thinner (let me know if you try it!).

Finished Pencil Case Tutorial

The finished pencil case is surprisingly sturdy and should hold up for a good amount of time. It’s similar in weight to plastic folders, which are the only kind I buy for my kids, because the paper ones disintegrate in just a few weeks.

Be sure to check out all of our back to school printables on Classroom Jr., too!

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While these are great summer drink recipes for kids, I’m going to be pulling this page out again later for Christmas parties and for New Years Eve drinks for the kids, too!

Related Pages: Easy Summer Kids Recipes, Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes, Summer Birthday Party Games

Check out all of our kid-friendly recipes while you are here!

Printable Merry Christmas Banner

This is my last *sniff* Christmas in July post this year! I won’t miss it too much – I’ve taken a break from Classroom Jr. for the summer. And now that August is right around the corner, I’m going to be crazy busy putting new back to school content up!

Related Pages: Coordinating Christmas Gift Tags, Printable Vintage Christmas Cards, Easy Christmas Finger Puppet Crafts

Printable Christmas Cupcake Decorations		Printable Christmas Cupcake Wrappers
Merry Christmas Paper Banner Page 1	Merry Christmas Paper Banner Page 2	Merry Christmas Paper Banner Page 3
Merry Christmas Paper Banner Page 4		Merry Christmas Paper Banner Page 5

Check out all of our Christmas Kids Activities from the Woo! Jr. Network!

Paper Chain People Craft

While putting together these Christmas paper chains, I decided to create several more paper chain templates of people, animals and fun shapes. My kids love making accordion fold paper chains – I guess sometimes the simplest kids crafts can also be the most satisfying!

Related Pages: Printable Paper Dolls, Printable Pinwheels, Printable Dragon Paper Craft

Paper Chain People

Paper Chain Shapes Template

Paper Chain Animals

Check out all of the printable crafts on Craft Jr.!

Reindeer Paper Chains

I really love printable crafts! I’m a little late on my Christmas in July series, but here’s the next one up – printable Christmas paper chain templates! There’s a snowman, reindeer, angel and Christmas tree, along with easy directions on how to cut and fold the paper to make these paper chains. Tape several of them together to make cute paper garlands and decorate with glitter or paint!

Related Pages: Printable Santa Dolls, Printable Christmas Tags, Printable Christmas Bingo Game

Christmas Paper Chain Template

Be sure to check out all of the Woo! Jr. Network Christmas kids activities!

Related Pages: Recycled Kids Crafts, Flower Crafts, Leaf Crafts, Acorn Crafts

Be sure to check out all of our nature crafts on Craft Jr.!