Friday, October 31, 2014

DIY Recycled Terrarium

Do you craft with cork?  While I love making cardboard crafts, lately I've been trying to push myself a bit and try out new materials.  Last weekend I picked up these funny shaped cork plugs at our local Art Scrap store because they reminded me of mushrooms.  So I painted them, gave a couple to Chuck to play with, and placed one inside a lovely DIY Terrarium made from recycled materials.  


Make a Terrarium from Recycled Materials!

how to make a terrarium from recycled materials- great kids craft

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I love the idea of creating small, beautiful, magical worlds.  This would certainly be a wonderful fall craft for kids.  Oooh, wouldn't they look lovely as kid-made Thanksgiving centerpieces too?  

Ok!  Let's put on our fairy wings and let's get making!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Ice-Skating Popsicle Stick Dolls

I LOVE popsicle sticks.  Today I'm over at MollyMoo sharing these easy-to-make and adorable ice-skating popsicle stick dolls!

 So be sure to pop on over there and check the tutorial out.  Weeeeeeeee!  (I'm pretending to ice-skate away.)



Let's keep in Contact!

Like this idea?  You can always find other fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!  Or, sign up for the weekly newsletter in the pink bar at the top of the site. 

Keep creating, friends!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Star Finding Game

Recently Chuck started getting the concept of hide-and-seek.  I'm so stoked about that and love playing it with him at the park.  But we've had to cut our park time down with the days getting shorter.  Boo!  To help pass the time at home, we've tried doing activities that embrace the dark.  So far we've made our bike wheels glow in the dark and even given ourselves glowing temporary tattoos.  Here's another way that we've entertained ourselves- we've played some Star Hide-And-Seek.

Star Hide-and-Seek Game

Nighttime Star Finding Game- A fun hide-and-seek game played with stars!
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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

2 DIY Duct Tape Bug Costumes

Looking for some last minute ideas for DIY Halloween Costumes?  I've recently been embracing duct tape as a crafting material.  So I tried using it to make 2 really easy eleventh hour Halloween Costumes for Chuck.

2 Easy Bug Duct Tape Costumes


2 Super Easy Last Minute Bug Halloween Costumes made using Duct Tape!
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Why use duct tape instead of paint?

Before I got on this duct tape streak, I would have probably just painted these costumes.  You can get some really neat and clean designs painted using freezer paper stencils. But, I really like the idea of using duct tape because you don't have to wait for paint to dry, AND, you can use the shirts over again for something else (which is a big plus in my book!)

Ok.  Let's get making!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Button Rings

Do you have some buttons lying around?  Does your child love dressing up and playing pretend?  Then today's super easy kids jewelry craft is right up your alley! We recently visited a really cool store called Art From Scrap and had a blast rummaging through bins of random odds and ends.  A couple of particularly lovely buttons caught my eye, and I knew that I had to take them home to make these cute button rings.   

Easy Button Rings!


easy button ring craft for kids
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This would a super fun craft to make for, or with young children.  Chuck helped me to string on the buttons and cut the pipe cleaners.  At the end his favorite ring was the red one.  Why?  It's the fire fighting one.  Apparently it squirts water at fires.  Who knew?

Ooh.  I just realized something else. This would also be a great craft for kids who love the Fancy Nancy Series too. 

Ok.  Let's get making!


Friday, October 24, 2014

Glow in the Dark Moon Shirt

My son loves pointing out the moon at night.  Today I'm over at DIY Candy sharing how I made him this adorable glow in the dark moon shirt.


DIY Glow in the Dark Moon Shirt

DIY glow in the dark moon shirt



(By the way, did you see the solar eclipse yesterday?  We totally missed it. Ack!)

And if you really like glow in the dark crafts, here are some more from the archives!


Other glow in the dark crafts:

Have a great weekend, friends!

(Remember, you can always find other fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!)

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Halloween Art: No Carve Colorful Pumpkins

Looking for an easy way to colorfully decorate your Halloween pumpkins this year?  Then this no-carve method is right up your alley!  Here's one great way to make some fabulous, colorful Halloween art with the kids!

Halloween Art:  No Carve Colorful Pumpkins!

Halloween Art:  No Carve, Colorful Pumpkins, rocks, and pine cones!
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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Attention Pink Stripey Socks Email Subscribers!!!

Change is a-coming, friends!  In an effort to improve my site, I'm trying something new.  Starting Friday I'm shutting down my previous email feed.  So if you are receiving daily emails from Pink Stripey Socks, that will stop this Friday.  But don't worry!  See the lovely pink bar at the top of the site?  I'm using a new email distribution program.  So just sign up above to keep getting fun kids crafts delivered each week straight to your inbox.

Ok.  That's it!  Swing on by later today for another glow in the dark craft!  

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Make your wheels glow in the dark! (And create some lovely modern art too!)

Do you like playing with glow sticks?  I love fall, but gosh, it gets dark outside so quickly!  I hate being cooped up inside.  What's a mom to do at night?  Well, we've tried embracing the dark by making a DIY Glowing Jellyfish Costume and drawing glowing designs on our skin.  Recently we also brought out our glow sticks and wove them into the wheels of Chuck's bike.  (I was inspired by Meri Cherry's awesome glow in the dark Dancing Ballerina Tutus!)

The activity was a hit!

Make Glow in the Dark Wheels!


Make your bike's wheels glow- fun art activity for kids!
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Yup.  This was a super easy activity that didn't cost very much to do and required very little set up  Plus, it got us outside and we made some beautiful glowing art.

Yup, you could say that the activity gets "glowing reviews" from our whole family?  Get it? Hee hee hee.

Ok.  Here's what we did!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Toilet Roll Biplane Airplanes Craft

Although Chuck isn't always so keen to craft with me (sad, I know,) he fortunately loves making cardboard toys with me.  (Yay!)  Currently he loves planes.  But since we've already crafted toilet roll planestoilet roll helicopters, and cardboard roll space shuttles... I was at a loss as to what we could make together next.  One day he suggested that we make a biplane together.  So we went with his suggestion and did this toilet roll biplane craft!

Toilet Roll Biplane Craft

Make Toilet Roll biplanes! Easy and fun kids craft!

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I think he looks a little like Leadbottom from the movie Planes, don't you?

Check out how we made this simple plane from recycled materials below!

Friday, October 17, 2014

Preschool Science: Let's Make Charts!

While I enjoy making things with Chuck, I'm also always looking for easy ways to incorporate mathematics and science into our daily activities too.   I loved math and science as a child, so I'd love it if he appreciated those subjects too.  Since he's only 3, our activities have to very pretty hands-on and relevant to his interests (like our shape dice,  cardboard bridges, and shape touch and find activities.)  We love taking walks outside.  So I incorporated science and math into our walk and created this chart to help us count the number of different things in our neighborhood. 

STEM ACTIVITY:  Make Charts With Preschoolers!

Easy preschool STEM activity- Make charts!


This was a super easy STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity to do with my preschooler.  It required very little prep and we practiced our observation, counting, and data analysis skills in the process!

Here's how we did the activity!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Rabbit Pop-up Puppet

Today I'm living out my secret (or now, not so secret) fantasies to be a magician with this fun pop-up rabbit puppet.  Simply push the stick and a rabbit pops out of a magician's hat!


DIY Pop Up Rabbit Puppet


To see how I made this handmade toy, visit Handmade Charlotte.

Happy Wednesday!

Toilet Roll Pumpkins and Skulls

It's no secret that I LOVE toilet paper roll crafts.  I think I probably have about a dozen toilet roll crafts on the blog.  Yurp.  One of my friends recently commented, "Wow. You go through a lot of toilet paper."  Double yup.  We do.  We do.  (TMI?)  So anyway... eh hem... the toilet roll craft list is about to going to grow again!  Tada!  Here are my Halloween inspired toilet roll crafts!  


Toilet Roll Halloween Crafts

So we have some toilet roll pumpkins.....

Toilet Paper Roll Pumpkins craft for Halloween #creativepreschoolers #Halloween

and ...


Monday, October 13, 2014

Black Cat Duck Tape Containers

Last Friday we hosted a grill out for some of hubby's work colleagues.  To make our place a bit more Halloween-y I turned some old cans into these cute black cat containers using duct tape!

Black Cat Duck Tape Containers

make a black cat container for Halloween using Duck Tape


Aren't they cute?  If you want to decorate containers of your own, head on over to DIY Candy for the full tutorial!


Here are some other fun Halloween Crafts!




Let's Keep in Contact!

Like this idea?  You can always find other fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!


Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, October 10, 2014

How did I make my skin glow?

Looking for an easy way to entertain the kids this weekend?  
How about making their skin glow

make your skin glow under black light with a highlighter
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Yurp.  It's 1:30 AM here and I should be sleeping.   But I'm not.  Why?  Well, I couldn't because all my craft juices were flowing after seeing this tutorial.

Did you know that you can make your skin glow... with only 2 materials?  I had to try it out for myself.  So I took a highlighter and black light and then got working.  And guess what?  It worked!  The highlighter glows under black light!

Can you guess what Chuck and I will be doing this weekend?

Hope you have a great weekend!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Glow in the dark Kids Jellyfish Costume

Recently I received several containers of Tulip Glow Paint to try out.  As you know, I LOVE making costumes for Chuck. (Remember the spider costumeLightening McQueen Costume, and Mr. Potato head costume?  Yup.  Good times.)  So I was excited to somehow incorporate the glow in the dark paint into a costume idea.  Chuck really loves sea creatures right now, so I made him this easy, NO SEW jellyfish costume.

Oh yeah.  And it glows!

DIY Kids Jellyfish Costume (that glows!)

make a DIY glow in the dark jellyfish costume! Super easy and unique!


Adorable right? Just wait till you see it glowing.  It really looks like a jellyfish is sitting on top of his head!

Here's how I made it!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Easy Origami Vampire Lips!

The quest for cute Halloween themed origami continues!  First we folded ourselves an origami cat.  Then we folded these three origami jack-o-lantern pumpkins.  Today, I'm continuing the trend and showing you how I folded up these Origami vampire lips!

 Origami Vampire Lips


super easy way to hold origami vampire lips
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Now full disclosure here-  I'm NOT an origami expert. I'm a complete novice.  I first saw a tutorial for cute vampire lips from this fun Halloween origami book.  However, hubby and I tried and tried... but we just couldn't figure out how to fold the darn thing!  So I looked online and saw a bunch of other really hard directions.  

Since I really liked the way the vampire lips looked, I ended up making up my own way of folding them.  So I guess the post should really be titled "Faux-gami."

If you want to try this faux-gami tutorial, check out the directions below!  I promise you, it's super easy and the results are really cute.

Let's get faux-lding!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Halloween Sensory Activity- Let's Dig out Bones!

I'm a crafter by nature.  I like painting, gluing, and drawing.  Messy sensory activities just don't come naturally for me.  But since Halloween celebrates slimy, icky, things.... I figured we should do a sensory activity.   So tada!  Today's blog post is all about this Halloween Bone Dig Sensory Activity!

Halloween Bone Dig Sensory Activity


Fun Halloween Sensory Activity- Dig out "bones!"
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I watch the tv show Bones, so I definitely channeled Dr. Brennon and her squints while setting up the activity.  Usually Chuck doesn't like getting his hands dirty, but for some reason he LOVED digging out the "bones" and squishing the "blood" around.

Ok!  Let's get started!


Friday, October 3, 2014

Halloween Ghost Splat Painting

I'm always looking for new and fun ways to paint with Chuck.  Thus far, we've painted with flowerspainted with carsmade homemade body paintmade tortilla artscrape painted, and even made corn syrup paint.   So I was excited when a kids' art teacher recently introduced us to splat painting!  It was such a fun activity that Chuck and I tried a Halloween version at home.

Halloween Ghost Splat Painting!


Make Halloween Ghost Splat Painting

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This week's Creative Preschool theme is Halloween.  So we splat painted these ghosts!  Keep reading to see how we painted the ghosts AND check out the bottom of the post to see 4 other really fun Halloween activities!


Thursday, October 2, 2014

DIY Hedgehog Ring Toss

Do you love hedgehogs?   I do!  They're such adorable animals.  So I'm super excited that my first contribution for MollyMoo will be this super cute DIY Hedgehog Ring Toss Game!  


DIY Hedgehog Ring Toss Game



It's made from an old moving box and didn't take very long to make at all.  (My kind of craft!)  So if you want to make one, I'm sharing directions over here!

Love forest-themed crafts?

Then you might also like these...



Let's keep in Contact!

Like this idea?  You can always find other fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!


Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Easy DIY Kids Spider Costume

We really love reading and it's always fun to create crafts and activities to go along with our favorite books.  Today I'm joining forces with other kid bloggers to present a Halloween Read and Play Blog hop!    This means that today, over 25 kid bloggers are posting great activities and crafts to go along with Halloween themed books.  (You can see links to all the great ideas at the bottom of the post!)  We made a DIY spider costume for our post.  It was inspired by a beloved book character, Splat the Cat!

Easy DIY Spider Costume

super easy DIY spider costume

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Have you heard of the Splat the Cat Series?  We love these books. For Halloween, we read Scaredy-Cat, Splat!

I don't want to ruin the story for you, so here's just a snippet to explain today's craft.  Splat the Cat's initial costume gets ruined and his mom has to quickly whip up a homemade spider costume from socks and string.

I love the idea of making something from nothing, so we tried our hand at quickly whipping up a spider costume just like Splat the Cat's mom!

Let's get making!