It’s 4:25 in the afternoon. And my kids are in the bathtub. Why? Because Asa had a little accident during his nap. Which has not happened in months. Of course, I had just put his newly laundered comforter on his bed the day before. So, we’re off to wash every piece of bedding again. *sigh*

We were supposed to write our sponsored kids today and we have barely been home! Lydia is doing “Sewing School” with my mom every Friday morning. Today, after I picked her up we went to Whole Foods and spent an hour and too much money on some food. Then naps, the accident and now the bath. *double sigh*

Anywhoo. As soon as the kids are out of the bath, we finish school, clean the kitchen and make dinner (*whew*), we are going to make apple prints for our sponsored kids! I want to do a craft each month that is kind of thematic of the month. So, I thought apples would be perfect for September!

I really wanted to make and send them this adorable bag I found on Pinterest. (Isn’t that cute?) Then I remembered this apple print banner we made a few years ago.

So, I thought we’d combine the two ideas and make an apple print lunch bag. Do you think it is a weird gift to send a brown paper bag to our sponsored kids? I know my kids love little bags and to have a spot to keep all their little belongings. Well, that’s what we’re going to do anyway!

I’ll update tonight (or first thing tomorrow) on Facebook to show you how it turned out! Update: We did it! Click to see the pictures!

Your crafty mission is to make an apple print or two (maybe a small banner? a bag? or just a piece of construction paper with as many apple prints as your kiddos can cram on there!)! Make sure to include a little note to your sponsored kids about the Autumn weather or traditions and include Psalm 17:8 or Proverbs 7:2!

If you’re not feeling crafty this month, keep your eye open for something fun in your mailbox you could “re-gift” to them—we always get those thin little magnets with pretty pictures on them, mini calendars and even sheets of stickers!

ps–the above picture is about 2 hours after I started this post. The kids are in their jammies and dinner is on the table…but we’re getting closer! At least the apples are out!

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This month is Blog Month with Compassion International. They’ve set a goal to sponsor 3100 kids via blogs in September. That number almost puts tears in my eyes! 3000+ kids set free from poverty, cared for, loved on and shown Jesus’ love! Only $38 a month (less than 10 bucks a week!) can change the life of a child, a family and even a community!

If you’ve been following our Sponsored Kids crafts for awhile and you’ve said, “One day, we’ll do that.” or “I need to sit down and sponsor a kid.” Will you do it now? Stop and look at the faces of real children that need you. Real kids that need Jesus. Your life will never be the same!

Check out our Flat Crafts for Sponsored Kids Pinterest Board for more fabulous ideas!

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***

Last week Lydia had an Easter party at school. I of course, volunteered to help at it. I volunteer for every party. So, the kids are always exited to see me coming (at least I think they are!)

We did a color-coded egg hunt. I gave each kid a bag with colors on them. They could only pick up those colored eggs and then mark them off when they found them. It actually worked better than I thought and everyone got the same amount of eggs!

For snacks, one of the moms made a cute ‘He is Risen’ tomb cake. How easy is that?!

Then I read the The Parable of the Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs. It’s one of my favorite Easter books because it’s so perfectly about Jesus and the Resurrection–without going to the torture and cross OR the other way with Easter eggs. It’s the story of a little girl who receives a box of dirt and a flower bulb from her father. She thinks it’s a terrible gift and even throws the bulb outside! On Easter morning she goes outside to see a beautiful lily where her bulb landed.

The best part of the book is the Scriptures on the bottom of each page–which clues us into the real gift given by our Father. The gift that didn’t look very awesome, that we threw away and was buried in the ground for 3 days. And the gift, Jesus, who came back to life on Easter morning!

It’s a fabulous story. And to help us remember it, we made handprint lilies! They are so easy–just trace your hand, cut it out, roll it up and tape.

Then push the ends back to resemble petals of a lily. The final piece is a long green pipe-cleaner and a small 3 inch piece of yellow. Attach the yellow to the top of the green and then slide it into the lily for a stem!

Cute, right? (Sorry I couldn’t get better action shots of the craft for a real tutorial–have you ever tried doing a craft with 17 kindergarteners? They don’t pose for blog photos much! *wink*)

This is is a perfect gift for your unEaster basket and would be even cuter if you coupled it with a real lily! Would you like to win a copy of Liz Curtis Higgs’ Parable of the Lily? Tommy Nelson is giving away a beautiful board book–it’s one of the giant lap editions so it’s perfect for classroom use or for sitting on the couch with your own kiddos! Just leave me a comment about your favorite Spring flower (or book, or snack, or just something Easter-y and Spring-y!). I’ll pick a winner Monday, April 2nd! Contest closed!

Don’t forget to come back on Monday because I’ve got a HUGE unEaster Basket giveaway with some of the most fun Christ-centered, faith-filled gifts. You are going to LOVE it!

Disclosure: I’m a Tommy Mommy.

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***

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At church today, one of the tweens I work with in our Large Group preschool environment was making duct tape flowers. I have a soft spot for duct tape and asked her to teach me how to make one. And she did. And now I’m showing you!

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Isn’t that great? Just think of all the fun patterns, colors and shapes of flowers you could do! And I’m super impressed that even though Lydia did 98% of it herself, it still turned out adorable and does not look like a Kindergartner made it. For school, Lydia was assigned to make a Valentine for her principal–and this is what we’re sending! I think she’s gonna like it!

Have you ever made a duct tape craft?

linked to Made by You Monday,  Making the World Cuter and The Southern Institute

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***