Thanksgiving/Fall Perler Fuse Bead Magnets

     Last week's craft centered around what is most important to me about Thanksgiving: family.  This week's craft focuses largely on the second most important thing: pie.  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate pudding pie topped with whipped cream . . . so many delicious choices.

Basically I am Pusheen.  I also like seeing the leaves change color this season, so I made a fall leaf magnet for good measure.

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler beads kit)
*Iron
*Magnetic backing
*Glue (if your magnetic backing is not self-adhesive)
*Scissors

Directions:
*Design your fuse bead creations by arranging beads in the desired pattern on a large square peg board.
*Cover your beaded project with a sheet of waxed paper and iron the first side, then remove from the peg board, flip over, put waxed paper on top and iron the second side.  You can find more detailed directions here.
*Cut off a small section of magnetic backing about 1" in length and about 1/4" to 1/2" inches in width
*Adhere magnetic strip to the fuse bead craft.  If using glue, let dry before placing on the refrigerator.

Family is Love Fall Leaves Journal

     To me, Thanksgiving is all about family.  When I was brainstorming ideas for Thanksgiving crafts, I wanted to find some way to incorporate this notion.  I had seen someone make glitter edged book print leaves and had some issues of the Bangor Daily News kicking around.  I had helped my sister and the student group she's a member of, Maine Business School Corps, put on a march against domestic violence and I had needed a couple copies of the paper to scrapbook the story they did on the event.  The red edged leaf actually has text from the story, which I thought would go along well with the family theme.  Anyway, this is what I came up with.

Materials:
*Glitter in 3 different fall colors
*Spiral bound notebook
*Glue
*Newspaper
*Small black and white family photos
*Silver gel pen
*3 different leaf templates
*Pencil or ballpoint pen
*Scissors

Directions:
*Cover your workstation in newspaper.
*Trace the leaf templates onto the newspaper and cut out.
*Add glue around the edge of one of the newspaper leaves and then cover it with glitter.  Set aside to dry.
*Repeat with the other two leaves.  Once the leaves are dry, shake off excess glitter and pour it back into the container.
*Print out small, completely desaturated photos of your family, however you choose to define family.
*Arrange the photos and the leaves on the notebook cover and glue down.
*Brainstorm a list of what family means to you.  Using the silver gel pen, write out that list, starting with "Family is . . ." followed by the various items.  Mine says, "Family is . . . hugs . . . hope . . . togetherness . . . memories . . . past . . . future . . . joy . . . sharing . . . acceptance . . . transcendence . . . respect . . . chaos . . . friendship . . . trust . . . compassion . . . guidance . . . silliness . . . support . . . messy . .  . wisdom . . . strength . . . a helping hand . . . good times . . . hardships . . . remembrance . . . a choice . . . celebration . . . holidays . . . traditions . . . always changing . . . home . . . stories."
*Toward the center of the journal, write "Family is love."

Fall Leaves Bookmarks

Materials:
*Leaves
*Heavy book
*Scrap paper
*Scissors
*Self-adhesive laminating sheets

Directions:
*Collect various fall leaves.  Place the leaves between a couple of sheets of scrap paper and place a heavy book on top of the paper.  Let sit undisturbed for several days.
*Once you have finished pressing the leaves, laminate the leaves following the instructions on your laminating sheets box.  Leave ample space between the leaves, particularly around the stems as the laminate does not seal as well around the thicker parts of the leaf.
*Cut apart the leaves and trim off excess laminate.

Duct Tape Leaf Garland

Materials:
*Duct tape in colors of your choice
*Leaf templates or leaves and paper
*2-3 cereal boxes
*Pen
*Scissors
*Light brown colored pencil
*Ribbon
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Print out leaf templates in a variety of shapes.  Alternately, you can make your own templates by tracing around leaves you have collected, as I did.
*Select a leaf template.  Place about 3 strips of duct tape slightly wider than the template on the inside of one of the cereal boxes in the top left corner, with only a slight overlap between the strips.
*Trace the leaf shape onto the duct tape.  Draw a stem coming out of the bottom of the leaf on the cardboard.  Color the stem in with a light brown colored pencil.
*Repeat the process with other leaf templates.  You should end up with something like this:

*Cut out your leaves.  Arrange them in a pattern that you find pleasing, then glue the stems of the leaves to the ribbon.