Paper Plate Toucan Craft

Have you ever felt like you were a circus performer trying to balance a whole bunch of plates at once?  That's how I've been feeling a bit lately.  These past two weeks have been quite crazy for us.  Chuck turned 3!  (Whoa.  Where did the time go?)  Hubby started work!  So we're trying to figure out how to share 1 car.  (Ack!)  Chuck and I are trying really hard to make friends, so we're now regulars at a weekly art class and library story time.  And I've been burning the late night oil completing some much-appreciated free-lance craft opportunities lately.  I love making things, but I just have to get more organized I think.  Oh yeah.  I'm also going to partner with a great company and do a giveaway next week!  *Fingers crossed that all the details work out.*  So definitely tune in for that.

Ok, onto today's craft.  Amidst all this excitement I wanted to share this super easy paper plate Toucan Craft that Chuck and I did at home one afternoon.   I know, I know, there are some awesome Toucan crafts out there (like this adorable one from I Heart Crafty Things.)  But I was just so pleased by this craft because we made the bird out of 1 paper plate.  Yup.  That's it.  So easy and simple, right?

Paper Plate Toucan Craft

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I love easy and fun crafts.  This one was inspired by our repeated reading of this book.   (Actually, if you're going to check that book out, you might as well check out the the whole series.  We love that cat.)


Ok.  Here's how we made our toucan!

Make Prehistoric Rock Art with Kids

Some of my fondest memories of History classes were times when teachers assigned projects instead of tests.  In 5th grade my friends and I did a presentation on the first transcontinental railroad.  I still remember wearing costumes and using tea to age our documents.  In 9th grade we shot a soap opera style video featuring King Henry the Eighth's wives.  It was fun to write and film... and even more hilarious to watch.   (Picture bad high school acting mixed with Monty Python style humor.  Yup.  Good times.)  Honestly, I don't remember much else from History classes (ack, sorry previous teachers!) but these projects shine brightly in my memory. They were fun to make and really made history come alive.  Hopefully today's craft will help do that for your kids too!  If they're interested in prehistoric times or art history, then this Prehistoric Rock Art Craft is for them!

Make Prehistoric Rock Art with Kids

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The techniques used to make this rock art is pretty much the same that I used to make this super cute mini Plaster of Paris Christmas village.  So if you liked doing this craft, check that one out too.

Ok. Now let's make some rock art!

5 Ways to Write Secret Messages

As a kid, I loved the idea of being a detective or a secret spy.  They got to wear cool clothes, go on adventures, and solve mysteries.  A couple of weeks ago I tried playing a detective game with Chuck.  I hid his favorite stuffed pig and then left 5 clues for him to follow.  The clues were all written as secret messages.  We had to do something to the paper to revel the hidden words.

5 Ways to Write Secret Messages

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Chuck was onboard with the game.   We've recently been gobbling up Nate the Great books from the library, so he really enjoyed being a detective and solving the case.

DIY Climbing Cardboard Circus Men Toys

I love making interactive toys for Chuck. There's something immensely gratifying about creating something that's beautiful, functional, and fun.... out of recyclable items!  Recently I made these two cardboard climbing circus men toys for Chuck.  You pull on the strings and the men race to the top.

Cardboard Climbing Circus Strong Men Toys

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Hee hee.  Do you dig their leotards, chest hair, and handlebar mustache?  Yup.  These manly men exude quite a bit of style, don't you think?

Ok.  Let's get making!

Shape Touch and Find Game

Now that Chuck is almost 3 I'm trying to do more educational activities with him.  Besides learning our numbers, we're also working on identifying different shapes.  Here's a fun shape activity that we've recently been doing together.        

Let's learn about shapes!

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Early childhood mathematics education is something I feel quite strongly about.  Before I was a mommy, I was working on my doctorate degree in education. Although I never finished writing my dissertation (for reasons that you can about here),  I did spend  many years observing and studying how preschool children learn mathematics.  I also had the wonderful opportunity to work on a research-based preschool math curriculum called  Big Math For Little Kids.

This Touch and Find Shape game is one of my favorites from that curriculum.  It's a great activity because it helps young children to learn the number of sides and corners in shapes in a really fun and interactive way. 

Let's play the touch and find shape game!

Homemade Finger painted Starry Night

I love Van Gogh's artwork.  The colors, the movement, the textures... wow, wow, wow.  How does someone even do that?  Yowzers.  Gosh, did he make the world so much more beautiful with his art.  *Happy sigh*  Ok, ok... I'm back.  Let's get to today's post!  Chuck and I have explored great artwork in the past by making collages inspired by Matisse and super easy abstract artwork.  So I thought it was high time we tried our hand at making some artwork inspired by Van Gogh.   Except that instead of using real paints... we used some homemade finger paints!  

Collaborative Art Project:  Finger Painted Starry Night!

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For months now I kept seeing Kidzaw Master Art Kits pop up everywhere.  (Have you heard of them?  They're kits that provide kids with all the materials necessary to make artwork inspired the great artists.)  I saw great results with older children and toyed with the idea of buying one to try out.  But Chuck's only 2 and I'll be honest, his affinity for arts and crafts varies daily.  Yurp.  So I came up with this cheaper alternative.  The finger paint is super easy to make and you could adapt the design to recreate any of Van Gogh's artwork.

So let's begin!

DIY Cardboard Rocket Launcher Toy

Apparently we've reached the stage where Chuck likes pretending to shoot things... and people.  (Ack.  Is this common?  I'm assuming so... )  So I thought it would be fun to somehow make a toy that would actually shoot things, like a catapult or a slingshot.  We always seem to have cardboard rolls lying around, so I built this cardboard roll rocket launcher toy.  Then, we had a BLAST playing with it!

Get it?  Rocket launcher?  Blast? Like blast off?   Hee hee hee... wah wah wah.

DIY Cardboard Roll Rocket Launcher Toy

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This rocket launcher toy uses rubber bands and cardboard rolls to shoot aluminum foil balls.  It's so powerful that we can actually shoot a ball across our (small) patio... whoa, right?  Since the balls are made from aluminum foil, they don't hurt. So you could create several launchers, shoot each other, and then not worry about anyone getting hurt.  Excellent, right?

Keep on reading to build your own rocket launcher and see other cool DIY toys that you can make and play with your little one.

Make Egg Carton Bugs

I love a good egg carton craft.  We don't eat eggs too often here, so whenever we finish a carton, I'm always super stoked to make something with it.  Today's Egg Carton Insect Craft came about because ants have been on our minds a lot lately.  For some reason there seem to be ants EVERYWHERE in our new home.  Eeek.  Plus, we recently watched "Honey I shrunk the kids" and Chuck loved Anty the giant ant.   So that's why we had to make ourselves some egg carton bugs!

Let's Make Egg Carton Insects!

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DIY Astro Turf Rug

So... what are your thoughts on astro turf?  Hate it?  Love it?  I think it's really fun and provides a super affordable way to cover a lot of space for a small price.  You're probably asking why I have a sudden interest in the green stuff.  Well, after living in apartments for most of my adult life, hubby and I finally have a place that has a .... wait for it.... small outdoor patio.  Woo hoo!  Chuck was so excited to see our tiny "backyard" that he literally ran around the area for about half an hour when we first moved in.  The space is really a blessing and I love that we can just open the door and enjoy some private outdoor space whenever we want to.  And that brings me to today's craft post- our backyard DIY Astro Turf Rug.

DIY Astro Turf Rug

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We don't wear shoes inside the house, so it's a hassle for Chuck to have to put on and take off his shoes every time he wants to quickly pop outside.  So we made this super easy astro turf rug to act as a very large door mat.   We love it so much because it's a cute area where Chuck can play or go barefoot without tracking too much dirt into the house.

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

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

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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!

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

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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!

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

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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

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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!

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!

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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

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Make Bubble Prints! (from 101 Kids Activities)

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About a month ago, I received a free copy of 101 Kids Activities to review.   It was written by the amazing kid blogger duo Rachel and Holly from Kids Activities Blog.  These ladies are like the queens of kid fun and I was super excited to see what they had in store.  101 and activities?  Wowzers.  

After looking through the book, I can definitely say that it is an awesome go-to resource for anyone who wants to battle kid boredom.  (Which seems to be especially prevalent in the summer... right?)  The activities are super fun and use everyday, affordable materials.  Here's an example of one activity that Chuck and I tried out from the book- bubble prints!    

Make Bubble Prints!

Summer Paper Plate Crafts

It just hit me this morning that July 4th is next week.  Next week. Summer is just flying by!  Ahhhh!  So I feel the need to do some summer crafts and that's why I made these super easy paper plate crafts.  I dunno about you, but when I imagine summer, I see outdoor picnics, grill outs, and beach adventures.  These activities usually involve disposable paper plates... which are such a great item to craft with because they're super cheap and super versatile.

Fun Summer Paper Plate Crafts for Kids

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So these are my summer inspired paper plate crafts.  They're super easy to make, colorful, quirky, and just scream SUMMER FUN!

DIY Agate and Mexican Blanket Painted Frames

I love crafting and making things with Chuck.  But sometimes, I also like to sneak away and paint things by myself.  So at night while he sleeps, I pull out random things and paint them.  Today's post is about one of those nights... and one of those secret painting sessions.  You see, I originally purchased 2 frames for Chuck to paint as gifts... (like he painted this frame here).  But then I couldn't resist their siren call and ended up painting them myself.  The designs were inspired by my love for colorful Mexican blankets and this super easy DIY Agate Watercolor Artwork.

 DIY Agate and Mexican Blanket Inspired Painted Frames

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DIY Cardboard Cactus Construction Set

Full crafty admission:  Yesterday I was taking Chuck to the park and saw a lovely clean box in the back of our building.  Not sure how this happened, but suddenly I found myself mumbling, "It's mine, my precious, my own" repeatedly until Chuck reminded me that he wanted to go play.  Then, of course, I snapped out of my gollum state.  But you can bet your sweet Aunt Petunia that when we came back home, I grabbed that box and skedaddled back to our apartment.  Why?  Well, I wanted to make a Cardboard Cactus Construction Set, of course.  Why? (You might ask again.)  Well, because cardboard is cool and cacti are cool... which makes this cardboard construction set cool to the uber cool power.

DIY Cardboard Cactus Construction Set