This project is brought to us by Amanda Formaro, the lady behind Fun Family Crafts, who shared a super fun (and eco-friendly) craft to do with your kids:

Fall is here and that means Halloween is right around the corner! While monsters go hand in hand with Halloween, these cute little creatures are perfect anytime of year.

They are easy to make, cute to look at and can help teach kids about the importance of recycling. And if you want, you can make these plastic lid monster into magnets, so you can see their funny faces on the front of your refrigerator!

Materials

Plastic lids from milk and juice jugs

Googly eyes

Craft foam or construction paper

Chenille stems (optional)

White craft glue

Black marker

Scissors

If you want to make your monsters into magnets, you will also need:

Hot glue gun or a strong adhesive like Krazy Glue

Magnets

Cardboard or modeling clay

Directions

To begin, you’ll need your plastic lids and some monster face ideas! I drew a few on paper, but if your kids prefer, they can work off the cuff and create as they go. Just set the supplies in front of them and let them create.

Position the eyes first. Once you are happy with their placement, glue them in place.

Next create the mouths. You can cut them from craft foam or construction paper and use a black marker to help with lines and teeth.

Glue the foam features in place. If you like, you can trim chenille stems into small eyebrows and glue them on as well. For younger children simply glue on wiggle eyes and draw the mouths on with a marker and a white paint pen.

When you’re done, you can make your monsters into magnets! Just line the inside of the lid with some white glue, then fill it with modeling clay or cardboard. If you used clay, make sure to attach a thin circle of cardboard or cardstock on top. Then use some instant grab glue or a hot glue gun to attach a magnet.

Viola! Your plastic lid monsters are permanent members of the family!

Amanda Formaro is the crafty, entrepreneurial mother of four children. She loves to bake, cook, make kid’s crafts and create decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years. She is also the editor for the Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip and owner of FunFamilyCrafts.com. You can see her crafty creations on Crafts by Amanda and her delicious recipes on Amanda’s Cookin’