Meet Jasper Jingleberry he’s my classroom Elf on a Shelf and he’s here to present to you some nifty printables from the North Pole! Jasper Jingleberry is back for 2017 sporting some sweet treats for your house elf experience. Have you gotten in too deep with this whole Elf on a Shelf fiasco? I know the kids love it but it sure can be a hassle for some parents and family members to put together a new and unique experience each time your elf performs a mischievous act. Well I’ve created some fun paper crafts to help you out, they are sure to wow your little ones this holiday season!

If you’re liking what Jasper Jingleberry made here then download it in my shop for instant elvish fun!

Materials:

• Elf on a Shelf Printables in the shop
• Printer
• White cardstock
• Scissors or craft knife
• Toilet tube
• Tacky glue
• Felt and other embellishments

Directions:

Step 1. Be sure to cut out all of the shapes with a scissor or craft knife.

Step 2. For the snowball stand. Score on all of the dotted lines, cut on the solid black lines on either side of the auning. Fold the auning up and glue in place. Bend the sides back. Glue on the extra flaps for support. I folded the extra flaps in half and glued them to the bottom of the side flaps.

Step 3. For the car, score on all of the dotted lines, then fold. Apply glue to all of the flaps and glue the flaps to the corresponding side. Glue windshield to the front of the car.

Step 4. For the snowman costume, cut out the gray circle where the face should be. Wrap the body of the snowman around a toilet tube and secure with tacky glue. Bend your elf to fit inside of the toilet tube. Glue on the included stick arms if you’d like.

Step 5. Make a scarf, sunglasses and other props with felt, foam, pom-poms and pipe cleaners!

I hope you have an incredibly magical experience with your little ones while trying out these printables this holiday season! Be sure to share the fun and tell me all about your moments of wonder!

I’m sharing this because I’ve decided to display this castle in my classroom to go right along with my winter wonderland theme. I’ve created some large scale trees dripping with white lights to bring the magic of winter into the room. My students love it and I think it’s so important to take the time and really put some care and thought into the appearance of your classroom. I believe that if students get the impression that you pay attention to detail and put an extra amount of effort into the experience then the kids will do the same when it comes to their own work.

Think about how you’d feel in an academic setting if the room was bare, neglected or even dirty and dingy? I know I wouldn’t produce my best work because I’d be totally uninspired by the atmosphere. Show kids that you care and I’m sure it’ll go a long way!

Check out more of my winter wonderland in the gallery below and be sure to find some inspiration from The Art Dream by looking around on the blog! Take a look at my video of this castle as well, it sure is icy, and pretty!

The foundation of the castle is cardboard. The towers are paper towel tubes wrapped with cardstock paper. The turrets are cones made from cardstock paper as well. I added dripping snow around the bottom of the turrets made with white foam. I of course used iridescent glitter to frost the top surfaces. I spray painted parts of the castle and used stencils to get the snowflake appearance. At the very end I placed iridescent shredded paper in the base followed by white string lights!

Here are the trees standing tall in my art classroom! They are actually very large and are very majestic! I even created some standing woodland creatures to place around the classroom to fit the narrative. For those I used my Cricut machine to cut out the patterns and then I traced them onto the cardboard and cut them out.

Recently I did Halloween watercolor paintings using this technique and I really love it. This is a two part project which is great for the classroom because it will keep the kids busy for a few days. First prepare your glue bottles by pouring in a bit of black craft paint, then give it a good shake to mix it well. You’ll start with a drawing or even a printout, keep it simple though because tracing the drawing with the glue is not precise, you’ll have some bumps and puddling along the way. Trace your outline and then let it dry really well before painting.

I like to use watercolor for this type of project but you can use craft paint as well, keep in mind that when normal paper gets wet it wrinkles a bit. If you want a better quality outcome then you should use watercolor paper. For a kids craft though cardstock paper will do just fine.

This technique can be used anytime of the year for any image, and it’s rustic look pairs greatly with watercolors, remember to be creative and have fun. Add your own details too like glitter, or feathers or foam shapes for dimension!

You’ll need a toilet tube and some other simple arts and crafts materials to put this turkey craft together, plus my free printable download just below! If you like this turkey then check out his cousin here for a more traditional looking version! You should also visit my shop to find some more fun and original paper crafts created by me, The Art Dream!

Materials:

• Printer
• White cardstock
• Scissors or a craft knife
• Stapler, glue or tape (a fun fall washi tape might be cool!)
• And of course toilet tubes

Download the already colored turkey here, if you’d like a black and white color your own version then visit my turkey craft post here.