I have been teaching summer art classes the last four years at my home studio in West Richland. Previously I taught at the Allied Arts Summer program. I feel the arts are very important in a child's intellectual and educational development.

Arts are needed by our young people as a forum for safe expression, communication, exploration and imagination. With the arts students learn skills in problem solving, decision making along with developing cognitive and creative skills and develop their imaginations.

Homemade snow globes are always a fun project whether it is for the holiday season or a rainy day project. Homemade snow globes allow you to create a wintry scene out of your imagination. You can access: www. marthastewart.com/273254/snow-globes or check out other tutorials on Pinterest.com.

Here is a tutorial for making Snow Globes at home.

Materials

Martha Stewart Living, December/January1998/1999

• Straight sided jar (preferably) baby food jars, olive jars, etc.
• Sand paper Glycerin (found drugstore or craft store)
• Distilled water
• Small figurines
• Waterproof glue
• Glitter (optional)

1. Sand the inside of the lid of the jar. Glue your figurine to the jar. I have used E-6000 also Epoxy. Make sure that the glue is dry.

2. Fill the jar with distilled water

3. Add glitter

4. Add 3-4 drops of glycerin.

5. Screw the lid on tight. Optional: Paint the lid before hand with spray paint

6. Check to make sure you have enough water and that everything fits. You can then glue the lid on.

Summer 2013 Classes

This year I will be teaching 3 clay arts class, 2 jewelry classes and 1 Craftapaloosa class.

The clay arts class has been popular with girls as well as boys. We will be working with ceramic clay, making magical creature, small pots, figurines, sculpture, masks and decorating tiles.

In the jewelry class we will be making out own beads. We will incorporate these with glass, wood and metal beads to make pins, necklaces, earrings and bracelets. We will work with Shrinky-dink and make altered domino necklaces.

In Craftapaloosa we work with paper mache, making masks and sculptures, Mardi gras masks, painting tiles and making snow globes.

ENTER TO WIN!

Comment with your favorite spring or summer craft project to be entered to win a one week class for one child from Lisa Day (some restrictions may apply.)  Winner will be announced on April 30!  Good LUCK!

I was on the black hole of time called pinterist and found this amazing recipe for fun holiday pretzel treats. Adorable and delicious - with three simple ingredients. Kisses, round pretzels and m&m's. I'm so excited to try it with the kids.

She calls them pretzel snacks. Her friends call them Reindeer Noses. Check out the step-by-step instructions and photos at the House on the Hilltop blog.

I love learning new ideas and recipes that are not only delicious, but fun to do with the kids. Just when you think you know everything, someone surprises you! Please share some of your favorite treats with us too. Add your items with a link in the comments section below and we'll be sure to share them with our readers.

Get the look of expensive packages wrapped in no time and for little money. Top your gifts with beautiful handmade bows. Bows add polish to packages, wreaths and all kinds of holiday decorating. Just keep some of your favorite satin and wire-rimmed ribbon on-hand and you'll be a package pro in no time.

Pom-Pom Bow
These large and gorgeous bows add polish to packages, wreaths and decorations. Follow these five steps to craft beautiful, full bows.

Tiered Treasure
Use three widths of ribbon to make this tiered bow. Match the colors of your gift wrapping paper to the ribbons for a tailored finish. This easy-to-make bow adds a delicate touch to any gift. In two easy steps, you can make your own tiered bow.

Colorful Addition
A spin on a traditional bow, two colors ofribbon add a creative touch.

Tailored Bow
A modern, chunky spin the classic bow, you can make this tailored bow in two easy steps.

For more amazing wrapping ideas, visit www.bhg.com.

It's a rainy, homemade play doh kind of day.

Homemade Play Doh:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 tsp. cream of tartar

2 tbls. oil

2 cups of water

food coloring of choice

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and mix over medium heat. Stir constantly - it takes a bit - until the dough leaves the side of the pan. Let it cool completely and then knead it out to get rid of the bubbles. Store it in plastic bags. Use cookie cutters and rolling pins and have fun!

One of my favorite holiday traditions is making Candy Trains. The kids love it - how could you not love bowls and bowls full of candy and frosting? You can keep it simple or get creative and make a how candy village. The directions were passed on by a friend, and I'm afraid I don't have any specific info on the origin other than "Home Arts Festival" to give proper credit - so if you know, let me know!

The instructions can be found here, complete with notes on frosting recipe and how to construct different elements: Candy Train Instructions

Let us know if you try this out!

We grabbed a bunch of gords and squashes when we went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. I love using them as fall decorations that can double as a sidedish between Halloween and Thanksgiving. These cute butternut squashes looked like a little family of ghosts, so I gave them fun google eyes with a black sharpie pen.

I've actually become quite attached to the little guys as they look down on us from the fireplace mantle. I just don't know that I'll be able to throw them in the oven.

• 4 Black pipe cleaners for Legs
• Black tape or piece of pipe cleaner
• Large Black Pompom for Body
• Tacky glue
• 2 Wiggly eyes

My kids are a little under the weather today, so we decided to do a low-key project indoors and make bath crayons.

There are tons of tutorials online on how to do this, but I primarily used this one from Helium.

Here are the supplies you need: White ivory soap, cookie cutters, a cheese grater and some food coloring. I received the box of cookie cutters from my good friend Casey as a bridal shower gift - they are awesome. Not only are there endless cookie possibilities, but they are perfect for play doh and, well, bath crayons.

You shred the ivory soap with a cheese grater. We ended up using 3 bars of soap.

Then you take a cup of the soap and mix some warm water (about a 1/4 cup) with it. Stir in food coloring of your choice. You are supposed to stir until it is stiff. I can't say that these every got stiff. I also read you are supposed to stir until the soap dissolves, but my kids were a little too excited to wait that long.

Then press them into cookie cutter molds or ice cube trays. I set these on a piece of wax paper over a cookie sheet. We made about 12 crayons out of 3 bars of soap in 6 different colors.

We put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes, then popped them out of the cookie cutters. You are supposed to let them harden for a day or two before using them in the bath. I'll be interested to see if they really work - I've read that people have had varying degrees of success. Either way, the kids had a blast making them, and it was a very inexpensive project. Let us know if you try it, and if so, how it works!

A while back, I was looking for some things to add to the extra wall space that was created when Alex moved from his crib to his big boy bed. I saw these really cool robot wall clings (I'm kind of obsessed with robots these days), but they were too expensive so I decided to make my own. I found some really cute robot png files I downloaded from Designer Digitals and then printed them off on Post-it picture paper. We had used this paper to make signs to stick on the wall for Mia's birthday party and had some left over. It's awesome because it sticks well, but it's re-positionable and doesn't peel the paint off! Instant, cheap wall decals! We gave these to Alex for Christmas and he LOVES them.

They were such a hit, in fact, that my daughter insisted on having some of her own.