Kids' Candy Crafting Table for Christmas 2013

From creative crafting ideas to candy-colored decor, designer Casey Noble shares fun and festive ways to turn a living room coffee table into a kid-sized holiday hangout.

By Brian : Patrick Flynn

The center of this great room is designated as a holiday gathering spot for kids, complete with snacks and interactive crafting ideas. With kids occupied, parents can enjoy a more formal dining experience in the next room.

Turn a coffee table into a holiday snacking and crafting spot by grouping floor cushions in seasonal hues around the perimeter. Similar to high chairs at standard dining tables, a small stack of fluffy cushions or pillows can help boost toddlers up to the perfect height.

Give kids a designated surface to draw on with a roll of kraft paper spread across the surface of the table. In addition to being able to express themselves creatively, this also gives parents a chance to suggest seating by writing each child's name onto the paper with markers, chalk or crayons.

Similar to vintage milk bottles, Mason jars are a sophisticated alternative to plastic vessels or drinkware. To bring classic farmhouse style to a kids' table, consider using Mason jars for snacks such as crackers or pretzels.

While kids entertain themselves at the holiday soiree, it's important to always consider safety first, especially when it comes to candy. Before laying candy out, be certain to ask parents if their children have any allergies or dietary restrictions, then stick solely with small, soft styles rather than hard candy, which could pose a choking hazard.

One of the keys to making candy and snacks interactive as crafting supplies is to choose ring-shaped options with holes directly in the center. This will allow kids the option to use their food to make crafts by sliding twine, ribbon or string directly through the center to create garland, bracelets or necklaces.

Kids can also put the holiday table to use as a place to create handmade gifts for friends and family. To turn colorful candy into necklaces or bracelets, supply kids with string, twine and ribbon in assorted styles. Encourage them to get creative with color and shape, and then bestow their creations to friends or family.

Candy garland is a more practical alternative to candy necklaces or bracelets. The key to creating these effectively is ensuring kids use safety scissors to cut strands no less than 48 inches in length. Once placed around the tree, these strands can create a cohesive, seamless look without the hassle of having to start directly at the bottom, then winding up and around the tree with one extra-long single strand.

Help tiny guests gather their culinary crafts with unique party bags. Find letters and fonts online, and then print them directly onto paper bags by running them through a basic color printer. Prior to the end of the party, keep the bags displayed nearby as tree decor, encouraging kids to take them down and fill them up before they leave.

Pink Saturday 3/3/2012 and Getting Back to Crafting

Welcome to Beverly's Pink Saturday, my favorite linky party. Go to her blog and visit with all the participants.

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Today is a very windy, cold day with snow forecast but it doesn't look like snow clouds up there to me. Love Bunny went to a model train meeting/show and I'm home alone. I finally am getting my craft room set back up. Here's what it looked like a year ago. I won't even show you what it looks like at the moment, but it's coming along today. I plan on going in there and working while hubs is gone. I want to get some crafting done because I miss it and have a few giveaways planned in the near future. You really don't want to miss my giveaways. Really!!!

This is what the craft room has looked like for about 9 months now. Actually, worse than this. I'd just started to clean it up a bit and thought I'd better run get a camera to shoot what it looked like before I get around to making it liveable/workable again.

Actually, this is where I am at the moment—my office. That's my chair and the wall to my back as I type. It's a comfortable room for me because it's on the front and I can look out and see if anyone is coming up the walk and look at the neighbors walking. I love this room actually. But it's time to redo it a bit. I'll work on that next week perhaps. Hubs' office is next door down the hallway and then the guest bathroom and then further down the craft room is at the back of the house.

Isn't this sofa adorable. I should love having one just like it.

Of course having these little darling chairs wouldn't upset me either!

Another charming sofa I like.

Don't you just love these broad pink stripes? They remind me of a circus but yet these are elegant.

Take a breather and walk through this allèe. (And this reminds me of something to tell you all. It's always good form when posting a word of another language—and we're talking mostly Spanish and French here, the most common languages we use after English when writing blogs—to put the accents where they should be. On a Mac it's very easy but it can be done on a Windows machine. Just look it up on Google and they'll help you. I think putting in foreign accents on words would be a good place to start. And it proves how much more clever you are. Smile!)

Don't throw away your old rake, re-purpose it! Cute idea, huh?

Oh, be still my beating heart!!!

Another darling idea...

Followed by another creative idea.

You are the queen or king of your own home, as I am the queen of this house.

Now let's look at some more cakes. Remember: $17 to $200 a slice for these cakes! But aren't they just beautiful? And supposedly, everything on the cake is edible. Incredible.










What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens.
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I'm Back with Some More Thoughts

I've been taking some time off to prioritize some things in my life, but I'm sure you've heard this before from other bloggers. Well, it is absolutely true. I've had other things pressing on my mind for a while and decided to just stay off blogging for several days to get things set straight in my mind. I suspect we all do it once in a while. All bloggers I mean. ;-)

I've been doing a lot of reading as that is probably my first passion. Then a friend of mine has been gently pressuring me to do more genealogy than I have done. I've also learned how to bake a loaf of edible bread; however, it's crumbly. Though not very pretty, it is still delicious. So I know now that I can bake it if necessary.

I've also decided to do an exercise routine and walk several times a week to get out of the house. I'm now understanding why older people want to stay in most of the time. I'm getting the same way. And that's mostly due to the fact that I rarely shop anymore except for food. I just don't need anything for this house and wish some of you lived close so I could give you things: pretty crafts I've made, ottomans, tables, desks, etc. I'm having separation issues and would love to know they were going to a loving house instead of Goodwill or Deseret Industries. ;-)

Also there was a break-in in our neighborhood. A young mother had returned from taking her child to school and walked in on a man in her home. That scared me so we immediately called an alarm company and had a burglar alarm installed within 2 days. We had one when we lived in California because we were robbed twice, but the 2nd time we walked in on the 2 men and they attacked us. I don't take chances anymore. Crime is coming even to smaller towns. I prefer a neighborhood because I can scream or phone and get help quicker than living out on acreage. If I'm in the house the system is armed. I'm taking no chances anymore. Plus after living through 2 burglaries I'm as security conscious as anyone can get. Times are changing dramatically and quickly in the world.

This is meant to be a scary post, just an alert to be aware. So now I'll show you some eye candy to make it worth your while visiting with me.

While I've posted these old shoes I couldn't throw out before, I thought some of you may have not seen them so here they are again. I redid them with Mod Podge and paper, lace, paper roses, pearls, feathers, birds and buttons. They now adorn my faux fireplace in our family room.

This lovely little pitcher sits on an old drawer I found and shabbied up with decoupage and decals. I love shabby chic romantic.

The garland of dyed coffee filters I have over the archway into our family room. I took them down and put up a bunting I made. Now I'm not sure where I'm going to hang them or whether I should just make some coffee filter roses and give them away. Hmmmmm......

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