Saturday, July 26, 2014

Make Toilet Roll Glasses!

Toilet roll crafts are some of my favorite ones to make.  (You can check out our extensive toilet roll craft gallery here.)  Right now we're still living out of our suitcases, so good ol' tp rolls are also some of the few craft items that I still have on hand.  Recently I saw Krokotak's toilet roll sunglasses tutorial and I knew that I really wanted to make my own version.  I've had pineapples and rainbows on my mind lately, so naturally they found their way into this adorable craft.

Toilet Roll Glasses


how to make toilet roll glasses



Wednesday, July 23, 2014

3 Easy Bear Hunt Activities (with printables)

I love making beautiful things with kids.  But I'll be honest with ya.  Often times making beautiful things takes time to plan and prep... and I just don't have the energy.  Often times I'll find myself at 11pm at night thinking, "Now shoot.  What craft are we going to do tomorrow?"  That's when I resort to fast and easy no-prep activities for the kiddos.  And that's how these 3 "Going on a Bear Hunt" themed activities came about.  Chuck and I love reading the book, so I came up with 3 really easy crafts to go along with the bear hunt theme.

3 Super Easy Bear Hunt Crafts


3 Crafts and Activities to do with Going on a Bear Hunt

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If you find yourself semi-scrambling for an easy craft idea too, then perhaps this activity is for you!  (And here's an added bonus, if you don't want to do your own drawings, you can always just printout my doodles.  I've included pdfs of those too down below. )

Ready to go on a bear hunt with us?  Ok.  Let's start crafting!


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Make a Folding Popsicle Stick Fan

So our move is currently underway!  Eeek.  The movers just took away our boxes and we're doing some "urban camping" in our apartment (aka sleeping on air mattresses and living without a tv and toys) for the next week. While this is happening, Chuck and I are still trying to find moments to create.  Today I'm going to share with you a super easy tutorial for a folding popsicle stick fan that we recently made.  Yes.  It really folds.  Pretty neat, right?

Make a Folding Popsicle Stick Fan


Make a folding popsicle stick fan!

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The idea came to me after watching a tv show explaining how women make traditional folding fans in Asia. After the episode ended I knew I had to adapt the steps for a kids' craft.  This fan doesn't open as smoothly as its real counterpart.  But it's still a neat kids' craft because it highlights a traditional art form.   Now let's get making!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

DIY Fish or Fruit Perler Bead Stretch Bracelet

Awhile back I had the wonderful opportunity to do a post swap with Allison from Dream a Little Bigger. (She's a serious crafting all-star, so I definitely recommend checking out her blog if you want to get seriously inspired.)   While packing the other day I found my collection of DIY Perler Bead Bracelets  (see the bottom of the post for pictures.)  And then I realized that I never shared my tutorial here.  So tada!  Here's a post from the archives.  Today we're going to make these lovely "fish" and "fruit" perler bead bracelets. 

Make "Fish" and "Fruit" Perler Bead Bracelets


how to make fish and fruit perler bead woven bracelets





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Aren't they both so colorful and summery?  Don't you just want to make one? It feels like summer camp all over again...  Let's get stringing!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game

Our epic move still looms overhead.  The movers are coming next week and then we fly off to California a week after that.  I keep trying to explain what's happening to Chuck, but I'm not sure he gets it yet.  So I came up with this easy craft and activity to help him out.  It's a DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Activity where you move different types of transportation across county using magnets!

DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game



DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game
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Chuck really enjoyed helping me to color in the map and different types of transportation using watercolors.  He also REALLY enjoyed moving everything around using magnets.  It was a bit of trial and error to put this toy together, but at the end we came up with a craft that's easy to make, fun to use, and *hopefully* helpful for Chuck.

Let's get making!


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Shaving Cream and Water Balloon Play

Since becoming involved with the Kid Blogger Network earlier this year, I've been introduced to a ton of wonderful new blogs and this new idea called "an invitation to play."  Basically, you provide the child with several objects and inviting him/her to explore the materials.  I love this idea because there isn't a pressure for kids to perform.  They get the opportunity to be curious, explore, play, and have fun.  So, after seeing this shaving cream activity on the Hands on as we grow blog, Chuck and I tried our own shaving cream play... but with an added twist... water balloons!  

Let's Play with Shaving Cream and Water Balloons!


Let's play with shaving cream and water balloons:  Make cupcakes, ice cream, and facial hair

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If your kid likes messy play, baked goods, and facial hair, then this is the activity for you!  Let's get playing!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

DIY Felt Shape Activity

Are you looking for a fun, open-ended, creative activity to do with the kids?  Then this DIY Felt Shape Activity is right up your alley!  It's easy to make and provides kids with countless opportunities to be creative, use their imaginations, visualize things spatially, and practice using their mathematical language!    

DIY Felt Shape Activity

DIY Felt Shape Activity:  Use different shapes to create scenes!


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Thursday, July 10, 2014

4 Easy Bell Crafts for Kids

Right now we're in the middle of packing.  Not going to lie, our apartment is looking like it's inhabited by crazy people.  So my posts for the next month will probably be fewer and the crafts will be much simpler.  This brings me to today's topic:  crafting with bells.   I love the sound of jingle bells.  They remind me of Christmas, the cold, and reindeer.  I know it's July and Christmas is miles away... but you can craft with jingle bells all year round?  Right? Right! Here's how we've crafted with jingle bells:

4 Super Easy Bell Crafts for Kids

4 easy bell crafts for kids

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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

How to Marble with Nail Polish

Now that our moving date looms just overhead, we're trying our best to hang out with relatives and friends before we leave.  Last week we had an epic craft/play date with cousins.  It was a TON of fun! Chuck loved playing cars with his older cousin and I had a blast crafting with my niece.  She recently received a bunch of nail polishes for her birthday, so I thought it would be an excellent time to try marbling paper with nail polish!

How to Marble With Nail Polish


how to marble with nail polish

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Um.  Yeah.  Aren't the results AMAZING?  And they're made just using nail polish and water! We had fun choosing colors, swirling them around, and creating these lovely, colorful works of gorgeous art.  Wanna see how we made them?  Keep on reading!


Monday, July 7, 2014

ezine: Impact with Simplicity and Savings


how to live simple lives that impact others


Last summer, Amy and Lisa came up with the dream to create a series of ezines called Impact.  These free ezines would share easy ways to positively impact other people's lives.  Their first issue, Impact with Crafts showcased some great crafts that could be used to encourage others.  This current issue, Impact with Simplicity and Savings focuses on practical ways that we can live simply and save, so that we have more to give others.  

I'm so thankful to have contributed to this current issue.  As I grow older, I tend to gravitate towards owning fewer things, and living a simpler, but still meaningful life.  I definitely don't have all the kinks worked out (eh hem... avert your eyes from my cardboard stash for example...), but I am encouraged that by the ideas from other like-minded gals who are trying to do the same.  Check out this new issue here!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

hello, Wonderful: Maker Mom Interview

hello, Wonderful Maker Mom Interview



Quick question:

If you were stuck on a desert island with the kids, what crafting materials would you absolutely need to have?

Go on, I'll wait.  *Twiddles thumbs.*

Why do I ask?  Well, a couple of weeks ago I had the privilege to be interviewed by Agnes from the lovely website hello, Wonderful.  (It's a great place to find all sorts of lovely kid activities and inspiration.) One of my interview questions was the one above.  Curious about my answer?  Head on over and read my responses here.

And of course, I wish all my American readers a Happy Fourth of July!  Hopefully your fireworks won't be rained out (boo!) and you'll have a great time hanging out with family and/or friends.  I'm actually going to be travelling this weekend to Baltimore to visit some East Coast friends before we make our epic move across country in a couple of weeks.

See you on Monday!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

2 DIY Cardboard Fourth of July Hats!

Fourth of July is in a couple of days.  Now if you're like me, you probably just realized that fact just this week.  (Oh wait... am I the only one is in a perpetual time warp and constantly forgets what day it is?)  This year we plan on seeing fireworks with Chuck and I thought it would be fun to whip up some cute Fourth of July Cardboard Hats for us to wear.  Can you believe that these 2 hats were made from cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, and corrugated cardboard?

2 Easy DIY Fourth of July Hats!

Make 2 cardboard Fourth of July Hats with the kids!

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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Cardboard and Pom Pom Soccer Game

Are you watching the World Cup?  Hubby's been keeping track of the games, but Chuck and I haven't been paying too much attention to the scores.  However, because it's soccer season, I still felt inspired to make something soccer-related.  So that's why I crafted this mini cardboard and pom pom soccer game for us to play.

Cardboard and Pom Pom Soccer Game

make a cardboard and pom pom soccer game
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