March is the month where we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day and when we are reminded to check the end of the rainbow for a pot of gold— just in time for taxes. While I’m yet to find a cauldron of gold, I still smile when my own children are filled with wonder if the legend could be true. One of my all time favorite children’s songs is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” —the place where blue birds fly and dreams come true.  I want my children to live life daring to dream, and this craft reminds us to be filled with wonder and to dream– and gets us ready for spring.

Living on the island of Maui, that song is even more special, as Iz will always have the best rendition ever of that song.  And the ability to see breathtakingly beautiful rainbows makes me appreciate them all the more.  I’ve said that I’d happily be a “rainbow chaser,” and I really would be (reality television show perhaps?)   I’ve even been called “rainbow woman” with the kind intention being to get me outside to see a rainbow.  And beyond all of this, is the joy of knowing God has painted His promise in the sky after every storm, and His promises are true and faithful.

At the end of the craft here I’ve also posted two of my favorite rainbows that I’ve seen since living on Maui and appreciating the beauty of Hawaii.  I was so thankful to have my iPhone on hand to take a picture– because these rainbows were the gold.

 

MATERIALS:
9”x11” piece of fabric  (I used white muslin)
Blue watercolor paint
Paintbrush
Buttons in rainbow colors
White embroidery floss
Blue embroidery floss
Fine tip permanent marker
Masking Tape
8×10 Picture Frame with cardboard insert; no glass needed

*if you don’t want to sew the buttons on you can always use a hot glue gun.

STEPS:

Prep your fabric by ironing. Cut fabric so that your piece is 1-inch larger than your frame. (I used an 8×10 frame so my fabric piece was 11”x9”.)

Skies Are Blue
Mix your blue watercolor paint (you can do this on a dessert plate) and use a paintbrush to create the sky on the top third of the fabric. Allow yourself to experiment with brush strokes, and gently pressing the paint into the fabric.
(Clean tip: Have a piece of cardboard underneath the fabric so the paint doesn’t seep onto unwanted surfaces.)

Make Your Rainbow
As the paint dries you are ready to create your rainbow. Use a dessert plate or bowl to create a guide as you lay out the arch of the rainbow. Place your collection of buttons, in rainbow order around the perimeter of the plate. Adjust the curve to your liking. Use a fine tip sharpie to place a dot within the center holes of each button.

Use a thin embroidery floss and embroidery needle to sew your buttons onto the fabric. I did a simple “x” stitch on each button, using the dots as my guide.

Over Your Rainbow
Using your fine tip permanent marker, add the phrase “dreams come true” somewhere over the rainbow.

Add your blue birds. Sew a single loose stitch of floss and then loop another piece of floss under the stitch and double knot. Trim to desire bird length. Repeat according to the number of birds you want.

Lay fabric over cardboard and wrap edges around the cardboard, pulling tout. Secure on the back with masking tape. Place in frame.

Make it your own: You could easily do this craft on a piece of paper as well and use glue to secure the buttons. My children also used their blue painted fabric as the ocean. One used the buttons to create a viking ship (love seeing what they are learning in homeschool inspire them–a bonus and a sigh of relief) and the other designed an under-the-sea scene with the buttons as fish, and fins drawn by permanent marker.

 

Now, skies are blue, bluebirds fly, and may your dreams come true!

Now if you followed me on Instagram you’d see these just after I did. And I often post images of Maui as well as life. I’d love to have you follow me. 🙂  Plus you can see where I ended up putting the craft for the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday decor in my home.  And if you make this ready for spring craft please please tag me @krissymillar so I can see it too!

Ok, so here are my top 2 favorite rainbows I’ve seen.  This one was featured on MauiNow.com.