How to Make Emoji Pumpkins and Clean Up After Kids' Crafts

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Green Works. All opinions are 100% mine.

When my husband decided to travel the Silk Road with his dad for a month, my daughter and I hatched a plan. We would spend our alone time hosting play dates and sleepovers. This meant basically leaving our main tables flooded with crafting supplies and other fun things to do with kids.

Life became a bit messier than usual especially when we decided to make emoji pumpkins with tempura paints and Sharpies. Let’s just say that paint wound up all over my kitchen, on walls, on the floor, and in quite a few unexpected places.

Green Works compostable wipes make cleaning up paint and ink incredibly easy.

Enter Green Works Compostable Cleaning Wipes to save the day (we’ve been using Green Works for some time now). In my opinion, these wipes are more effective and less wasteful than paper towels. They’re easy enough to use that kids can grab a sheet from the middle of the roll (the next sheet pops up automatically) and start cleaning in a matter of seconds. Or, they can take the container with them if the mess requires a bit more… effort.

Kids can use Green Works to clean up their own mess after crafting.

Plus, with craft supplies, it’s often not possible to clean up mess with anything that isn’t disposable because permanent ink and paint can ruin cloth and wreak havoc on your washing machine and whatever else is inside of it. Green Works compostable wipes do not leave a harsh residue either.

These wipes are made with 100% wood fibers which means they’re compostable in municipal composting facilities. All Green Works® products are 95% to 99% naturally derived. That means all the active cleaning ingredients in our products are derived from mother nature, such as filtered water, plant-based cleaning agents, essential oils, corn-based ethanol and wood-based fibers.

This is also important because our dog has allergies. And, of course, dogs track in all sorts of muck from the outside (especially when it’s raining) which warrants a quick clean-up.

The bottom line is that at the end of the day, my husband was none-the-wiser about our fun, messy month at home.

How to Make Emoji Pumpkins

While we’re here, let me quickly tell you we made these oh-so-popular emoji crafts.

If you don’t have a pumpkin handy, any paintable round ball will do (Michael’s has a variety of wood craft balls).

Grab tempera paints (washable is preferred) in yellow, red, blue and white.

Paint the entire pumpkin yellow and let it dry.

Paint or write-on an emoji face.

Outline facial features with a black Sharpie, if desired.

Let dry.

(Keep Green Works Compostable Cleaning Wipes on the table, just in case.)

I Also Love Green Works for Travel

This style of a wipe is ideal for cleaning germs and gunk off of airplane seats which is something I do obsessively right after boarding. Green Works doesn’t yet have travel packs, but in the meantime, it’s easy to seal a few in an airtight bag right before flying to use on board.

Katie Dillon is the managing editor of La Jolla Mom. She helps readers plan San Diego vacations through her hotel expertise (that stems from living in a Four Seasons hotel) and local connections. Readers have access to exclusive discounts on theme park tickets (like Disneyland and San Diego Zoo) and perks at luxury hotels worldwide through her. She also shares insider tips for visiting major cities worldwide like Hong Kong, London, Paris, and Shanghai that her family has either lived in or visits regularly (or both).