Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal

One of the best things about this Christmas is that Hubby is off the entire week.  Hooray!  With all of his traveling last month, it's really nice having him around.  I also especially love seeing Chuck and Daddy playing like best buddies. 

This past weekend we finally got a chance to visit the Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal.  Even though it was pretty crowded, the display itself was enchanting.  Everything was meticulously crafted and I kept "oohing" and "ahhing" over all the lovely details.

Here are some photos from our trip into the city:

The miniature taxis were too adorable!  Can you spot the tiny Santa?

As you can see, this little guy really wanted to get inside

I loved seeing the sparkly Christmas light-night sky, King-Kong, and tiny, tiny nuns

Ack!  Look at that adorable mini Christmas tree!

We then got some yummy gluten free pizza at Two Boots Pizza.  I love this little guy's sweet kisses

Since it was such a nice day, we walked back to our bus stop.  On our way across town, Daddy and Chuck posed underneath the Bryant Park Christmas tree

It's a family portrait.  Can you find all of us?

Four Winter Toddler Crafts and Activities

Looking for some easy toddler winter crafts and activities?

I'm officially over winter.  Buh-bye shortened days!  Buh-bye cold weather!  Buy-bye staying inside!  Oh, how I wish it were already spring.  But, until warmer, sunnier days come, Chuck and I are going to persevere and have fun indoors.  Here are four crafts and activities that have kept us busy, happy, and sane for the past couple of weeks. 

1.  Cereal Box Gingerbread Men

I cut out a whole bunch of gingerbread men from my empty cereal box stash.  (Yes, I'm a proud cardboard hoarder!)  Then, I brought them to the library and let the kids decorate them with googly eyes and foam stickers.  The older 2-year olds had fun making funny men and the babies just watched their moms do the craft. 

Chuck's attention span:  He probably spent about 5-10 minutes on this activity before he lost interest.

2.  Hand and Foot Reindeer Wreath

 

I've seen versions of this craft all over the internet... and thought they were so cute and perfect for the holidays.  I traced Chuck's hand once to make a template for the wreath and horns.  I also traced Chuck's foot to make the reindeer's head.  Then, I glued everything together and he helped me add foam shapes and googly eyes.

Here are the different components of the wreath:

Chuck's attention span:  He probably spent about 10 minutes on this activity before he lost interest.

3.  Homemade Play Dough

I followed this craft clay recipe and we had tons of fun rolling, cutting, and shaping our clay.  Unfortunately, our ornaments cracked when they dried.  Boo.  But, we had such fun manipulating the stuff that I kept leftovers in a sealed bag in the fridge.  It didn't dry out and we got to play with it another day. (Right now the "play dough" is still in our fridge... so we'll try it out again this week.)

He used a blunt plastic knife, measuring spoons, measuring cup, and an olive jar (our makeshift rolling pin) to play with the dough. 

Chuck's attention span:  This activity was a hit!  We spent about 30-45 minutes on two separate days playing with our "play dough."

4.  Water Bead Play

Again, I saw a ton of other mommies raving about these beads so I had to give them a try.  I found mine at Michaels in the flower section.  The beads are made of a special polymer that expands in water.  The resulting beads look a bit like boba balls and are slippery and firm.  They also bounce a bit if dropped.

Here's what the water beads initially looked like ...

After a couple of hours, our beads grew and Chuck had a blast scooping them from container to container.

Warning:  Yes, they can be a choking hazard.  I repeatedly told him that the beads weren't food and I made sure to watch him while he played.  Once we were done with the beads, I threw them away in the garbage can.  (You can't pour them down the drain because they can clog your pipes.)

Chuck's attention span:  This activity was a hit!  He spent about an hour just scooping the beads from container to container.


So, for all you mamas out there who are also stuck at home with young ones... stay strong!  We can make it through winter!  Hopefully one of these ideas will help keep you sane this week.

Happy crafting, friends!

Finding beauty in the everyday

Heart shaped candy canes 

(bent using this tutorial)

Our current car collection

Christmas tree toys 

Red and white rice krispy treats

White play dough on our black table

Happy Thursday friends!

DIY Reindeer Antler Headbands

On Wednesday we're having a small holiday get-together with our toddler library group.  I wanted to put Chuck in a cute holiday outfit, but I didn't get a chance to pick up anything yet.  But not to worry!  I had all the items needed to make these two cute reindeer antlers.  I love how they came out.  They're super festive, Chuck will actually wear them, (yes!) and added bonus- they were both made in one night.... my kind of craft!

DIY Reindeer Antler Headbands

Wanna see how I made them?  (Or, do you wanna see cute photos of Chuck modelling them?)  If so, read on!

Make a felt and cardboard gingerbread house

Today's craft was inspired by gingerbread houses.  It's a little cardboard and felt "gingerbread" house with felt "candy" decorations. Pretty neat, right? All the decorations can be easily placed on and taken of, so you can decorate and re-decorate to your heart's content.

DIY Felt and Cardboard Gingerbread House Toy

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

If you'd like to make your own, keep on reading!

Make your own CB2 inspired Cardboard Penguins

Cardboard penguins?  Who wants to make cardboard penguins?

Me!  I saw these wood penguins from CB2 and thought they looked so cute.  But then I saw the price tag and thought "Ha!  I can crapt them for next to nothing!"  So here they are... my crapted cardboard penguins.

Wanna make your own?  Read on to get the template!

Make Snowflake Window Clings

Tomorrow it's supposed to snow.  Chuck went to bed super excited because I promised him that we'd build a snowman. 

Cross your fingers that our town is dusted in snow, ok?

Although this will be the first real snowfall of the season, our apartment's windows have already been covered with snowflakes for the past couple of weeks.  Every winter I cut out snowflakes from paper, but this year I tried something new and made snowflake window clings out of tulle and fabric paint.  I think they make Chuck's room a bit more festive and fun.

To see how I made them, read on...

Make Homeamde Felt Milk Jug Cap Ornaments

Each year I try to make a couple of handmade ornaments for our tree.  Last year, Chuck and I made these hand and feet salt dough ornaments.  I would have made him a new set this year... but his feet are so big that the ornaments would end up being the size of small plates.

So instead, this year I turned a bunch of milk jug caps (gifted to me by a craft-loving aunt- thanks!) to make these mini felt ornaments.  Each one has a different design and they came out so colorful and cute.... I just want to eat them up.   But don't worry, I won't because they're made of felt...and glue...and plastic...

Can you guess which one is Chuck's favorite?  Keep on reading to find out... 

Homemade gift: DIY Felt Board

Do you remember playing with felt boards as a kid?  (Is that too old school?  Maybe kids nowadays play with fancy touch screens instead ... hrmm....)  Anyway, I remember using a felt board in school and LOVING it.   So I thought I'd try making a homemade felt board for Chuck. After consulting a couple of tutorials online, here's what I came up with:

Let's make a DIY Felt Board

(This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!)

Now, in full disclosure, I wish I could say that Chuck loved it and played hours and hours with it while I took a nap on the couch.  Errrm.....  It didn't quite turn out that way.  He played with the car parts for a bit, but then seemed much more interested in rolling around real cars.

But I won't call this a craft fail just yet.  I'm hoping (cross your fingers!) that he'll grow to love the felt board as much as I did.  But if not, no big deal.  The entire thing only cost about 4 dollars to make because I already had most of the materials lying around the apartment.  Score!

Now if you have a felt-loving child in your life, you can try making your own felt board too!  (I bet it would make a great Christmas gift.)  Here's how I made mine:

Materials to make a DIY Felt Board:

• Large poster frame
• Felt (Background felt large enough to cover frame and Other pieces)
• Scissors (Fabric and normal)
• Paper
• Pen
• Mod Podge
• Sponge Brush

Directions to make a DIY Felt Board:

1.  Clean your work area.  Felt attracts stuff.  (I worked on the floor, so I swept it first.)

2.  Take out the back of your photo frame.  Discard the glass.  Place the back on your piece of felt and trace it.  Cut the rectangle out.

3.  Optional:  If your felt is a bit wrinkly, carefully iron it.  (I turned my iron to a lower setting and placed one of those protective ironing pressing pads over my felt before ironing it so I wouldn't melt or burn the felt.)

4.  Place your piece of felt directly over the photo frame back.  Make sure the sides all line up.  To help with the gluing, fold one side of the felt over the other.  Then, use your sponge brush and brush a bit of Mod Podge right next to the fold.   Press the fabric down over the glue.  Then, spread a little more Mod Podge next to your new fold and press the felt down again.  Keep repeating this procedure until one side is fully glued down.  Then, repeat the procedure with the other side.  

5.  Once the Mod Podge dries, put your board back into the frame.  That's it!

Now comes the fun part- making your felt pieces.  Doodle your designs onto paper.  Then, trace them onto felt and cut them out.  I chose to make a set of Christmas tree felt pieces and a set of car part pieces.

Happy crafting!

Make mini Christmas trees from Pipe Cleaners and Cardboard

Yesterday I shared how I made a miniature Christmas village out of plaster of paris.  Today I just wanted wanted to show how I quickly made these uber cute cardboard and pipe cleaner Christmas trees for my village.

(And if you like these trees, check out my tutorial for mini paint chip trees!

Cardboard Christmas Trees

Materials:

• Cardboard
• Cutting Mat
• Pattern (see below)
• Pen/pencil
• Exacto knife
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Print out the template to make one large and one small tree. 
2. Cut out the Christmas tree parts. 
3. Trace them onto cardboard.
4. Cut our your parts with an exacto knife.
5. Slide both pieces together and you've got yourself a mini tree!

Cardboard Christmas Tree Pattern

Pipe Cleaner Christmas Trees

Materials:

• Paper
• Pen
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaners (three per tree)
• Pom Poms
• Tacky glue

Directions:
1.  Doodle out a tree on a piece of paper.
2.  Bend a green pipe cleaner around your doodle.  Wrap both ends together to secure your tree.  Trim excess bits off.  Repeat this for all three tree shapes. 
3. Tie the three trees together by wrapping the tops and bottoms together with pipe cleaner.
4.  Gently separate the branches and glue small pom poms on with tacky glue.

That's it!  Happy crafting!  (Chuck was the artistic director for this photo shoot.  Can you tell?)

DIY Mini Plaster of Paris Christmas Village

I've always loved Christmas.  It's the time of year when twinkly lights decorate the dark nighttime sky.  And, it's the time of year that I'm reminded to hope because of God's great love for us.

Nowadays, Chuck and I love looking at the miniature Christmas village on display at our local craft store.  We always walk around oohing and ahhing over the little houses, ferris wheel, and tiny dog playing in snow.  It's magical.

So that's why I made us our own miniature Christmas village out of materials that we had lying around our apartment.

Let's Make a DIY Mini Christmas Village!

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

(Psst- Click here to see see how I made the pipe cleaner and cardboard trees.)

Geometric Popsicle Stick Christmas Tree Ornament Craft

Christmas tree ornaments?  What? 

Yurp.  I know that we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet.... and this craft is for Christmas... but please bear with me.  I was bored one night and began playing around with leftover mini craft popsicle sticks.  After messing around with them for a bit, I came up with this easy, geometric looking Christmas tree ornament.

It was really easy to make, so if you like the design, the kiddos can certainly help out too. (Ooh.   Did you notice the sequins?  Bling bling!)

Here's what I did:

Materials:

• Mini Popsicle Sticks (I used 22)
• Scrap paper
• Paint Brush
• Paint (Shades of green and brown)
• Hot glue gun
• Parchment paper
• Sequins 
• String or ribbon

 Directions:
1.    Cover your work area.  Paint 18 of your popsicle sticks shades of green.  Paint 4 of your popsicle sticks shades of brown.  (I only painted the front and the sides of the sticks, but you might want to paint the backs too if your ornament is going to twirl around.)

2.  Once your paint dries, begin hot gluing your sticks together.  (I made sure to hot glue on top of parchment paper so my glue won't stick to my work surface.  Cheapie crapter tip:  You can reuse this parchment paper for other project too!)  To ensure that my triangles looked the same, I made one triangle first, then traced the corners onto the parchment paper. I then used those corners as guidelines when hot gluing other triangles.)

3.  Hot glue your "trunk" sticks on.

4.  Hot glue your sequins onto the green triangles' corners.

Smaller versions would like nice as ornaments or strung together as a garland.  Right now my bigger tree is just hanging outside of our door, waiting for December.

Happy Wednesday!

Sparkly Ombre Popsicle Stick Star Garland (using Mod Podge)

Note:  This is a post sponsored by Plaid, but the opinions are 100% mine.

Halloween is finally out of my mind and I'm now looking forward to the next set of holidays.  Even though I don't really like winter (boo, shortened daylight hours), I do appreciate that we're entering a special season filled with cozy sweaters, yummy food, family get-togethers, yummy food, twinkly lights, yummy food and of course... holiday crafting (and yummy food)! Right now I've got an itch to add more glitter and sparkle to my life.  Luckily for me, Plaid sent me a couple of holiday-themed crafting items, including Mod Podge Sparkle, which will help me to do just that.

Psst-  If you're new to Mod Podge, here's a bit of an introduction to their line of awesome products

• Mod Podge is an excellent all-in-one glue, sealer, and finish.  It's available in a ton of different formulas, making it a perfect to use for your holiday (or everyday) gift giving projects.
• You can buy Mod Podge at tons of retailers nationwide or directly from Plaid's website as well
• Not sure how to start using the product?  No worries.  Plaid's website has a ton of great tips and tricks for using all their products:   http://www.plaidonline.com/decoupage/dept/basics.htm

So, inspired by the upcoming holiday season and my love of the nighttime sky, I made this sparkly, ombre, popsicle stick star garland. 



Wanna make this simple and sparkly garland?  Well, put on your favorite holiday song and let's get started!

 Materials:

• Mini Craft Sticks
• FolkArt Multi-Surface paint 
• Plastic Artist's Palette
• Paint Brush
• Scrap paper 
• Mod Podge Sparkle
• Mod Podge Spouncer (an easy to use sponge brush)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Parchment Paper
• String
• Scissors

Directions:

1.  Decide how many stars you want to make.  Then, take that number and multiply it by 5 to figure out how many craft sticks to paint.  (Each star will be made out of five craft sticks.)  Now it's time to paint.  To create an ombre effect, first paint five stars your darkest color.  (Be sure to paint the sides of your sticks too!)  Then, add a bit of white paint to your original color to lighten it just a bit.  Paint five more sticks with this lighter color.  Keep repeating this procedure and mixing in white paint as you paint each new set of five sticks.  Your original color will become lighter and lighter, creating an ombre effect. 

2.  Once your paint dries, use the spouncer to apply Mod Podge Sparkle to your sticks.  This will protect your paint job and add just a bit of lovely sparkle.  Lay your sticks on parchment paper to dry.  (The parchment paper prevents the sticks from sticking to your work surface.)  Try to make sure that your sticks don't touch one another as they dry

3.  Once your sticks are dry, it's time to make your stars!  (If you have a bit of excess Mod Podge around the edges, use your scissors to trim it off.)  To make sure that your stars look similar, first make a practice star and then use a pencil to trace your star's five points.  Use these pencil marks as guidelines when you hot glue your stars together.

 4.  Arrange your stars in order.

 5.  Cut out your desired length of string.  Then, tie your stars on one by one to the string, starting from your darkest color and ending with your lightest color.  To make sure that the stars don't slide off, tie your string through the center of each star and not through one of the arms.   

And voila!  A lovely star garland, just perfect for the holiday season (or really... everyday!)

(To see how I painted the star painting, click here.)

If you'd like to learn more about Plaid Products, you can always connect with them on Facebook, check out their Paint Me Plaid Blog, or sign up for their Newsletter.

And.... Happy crafting!

How to make heart (and other) shaped bokeh Christmas lights

Ever wanted to make different shaped bokeh Christmas lights?  Inspired by our Christmas snowmen-light sunglasses, I thought I'd try my hand at making our Christmas lights look heart shaped.  And then, once I figured out how to do that, I had to make some other shapes as well...

How to Make Different Shaped Bokeh Photos

Heart, star, cat, and arrow shaped Christmas lights

Keep reading to see how I made different shaped bokeh!