So, one of the traditions of Iceland is The Christmas Cat. He’s nowhere near as friendly as the cat in The Legend of Mistletoe and the Christmas Kittens*, but this was the closest I was going to get. I found a poem about the Christmas Cat, and included it in the printable I made for Iceland.
Mistletoe and the Christmas Kittens craft
Supplies for your suncatcher: coffee filters and food dye
I’m always seeing Valerie over at Frugal Family Fun (now called Inner Child Fun) blog making these cute suncatchers and using coffee filters all the time. I haven’t done much with them because, well….. my kids get a little over enthusiastic and it can be a bit worrying what will happen to their clothes.
But, then I realized that it’s like painting. The more exposure they get to it the less mess they’ll make (looking back as the Mom of 10 year olds, that is very much true).
So, I let them have at it with red and green, because Mistletoe was red and green. And then once they had completely soaked their coffee filter I shooed them off to play outside while their suncatchers dried.
Once it was dry I found a cat outline from Microsoft clip art (actually the same one I used in the Iceland printable), and enlarged it to suitable size. Then I folded the coffee filters and cut out large numbers of them at once. The kids finished it off by drawing the final details. Or in Princess’ case on one of them completely covering the cat in new marker.
And finally come back tomorrow to see the summary of our Christmas in Iceland events. My kids have found Iceland to be quite amusing.
And if you’re looking for more Christmas crafts, check out my Christmas Crafts pinterest board.
Now head on over to A Mommy’s Adventures to see what everyone else did for their projects this week.
There is a lot to learn about Iceland! I plan a unit on Arctic, but Iceland kind of doesn't belong due to its unique client. I am still thinking of how to introduce it.
These are so cute. I look forward to doing so much more with Selena now that I have a printer that does so many things. I didn't realize what I was missing out on until I got my early Christmas.
OK, that Yule Cat poem just creeps me out! HOWEVER, I an interesting extension from the poem would be to collect some type of new clothing items for children in need….
Hmmmmmmm…..
Nice craft! They turned out really nice. Thank you for sharing.
Cute idea to use the coffee filters to make the cats. Your Iceland studies are great!
This is the first I've heard of the Yule Cat. What an unusual motivational piece.
I definitely never heard of the Yule Cat. Wow.
I'm going to have to look up the Yule Cat – that's really different!
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The Yule Cat is new to me too.
I'm with you – the more exposure the less mess. Speaking from experience, it certainly is true. Here's to seeing more coffee filter creations in your household
I meant to mention in my previous comment that I deleted my original comment above because I made a few silly typos.
Now I really want to check out the books and see its pictures.