How to Make Clapper Trapper Toys

Hi friends! How are you doing? I have a small cold, my husband is working from home, and the boys are *thankfully* still happy to be home. If you're like me and looking for easy and affordable ways to encourage creativity and fun, then you're going to love today's post.

We're making cardboard clapper trappers! These nifty homemade toys transform potential energy into kinetic energy and by making loud snapping sounds when released.

How to Make Clapper Trapper Toys

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means I make a tiny bit of grocery money from each purchase made at no cost to you. Thank you for your support! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

How to Make An Adorable Paperback Book Hedgehog

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this is probably the cutest animal book craft you'll see today. If you like hedgehogs and you don't mind tearing apart a book or two... this craft is for you! Read on to see how I made this adorable paperback book hedgehog!

Easy Paperback Book Hedgehog Craft

Chomp! Chomp! Tissue Box Eaters

Looking for a super simple craft to help preschoolers learn their letters or numbers?  This past week I battled a cold... and used (what felt like) hundreds of tissues.  Before I tossed out my empty tissue box, I transformed it into a fun letter eater to help youngest learn his alphabet!

Tissue Box Letter Eaters

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

DIY Homemade Spirograph

Ever play with a spirograph toy?  We LOVE them and the other day I got to wondering.... could we make a DIY version using materials around our home?  Well, the answer is... YES!  Today I'm sharing this artsy- science craft.  It got a big two-thumbs up from my eldest. He really loved trying it out with me.

Let's Make a DIY Homemade Spirograph Toy!

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Cute Toilet Roll Turkeys

Looking for another easy Thanksgiving craft?  Grab your cardboard rolls and make these super simple turkeys using everyday materials:  toilet paper rolls and cereal boxes!  A great kids craft,  crafters of all ages from toddler to adult will certainly enjoy making and decorating these Fall fowl.

How to Make Cardboard Turkeys

(A gobble gobble great craft!)

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Making Oatmeal Container Castles with Kids

Princesses, Princes, Kings, and Queens!  Calling all kids who love castles and fantasy!  Do you have an old oatmeal container lying around?  Well, don't throw it away!  Here's a super easy recycled craft that transforms oatmeal containers into castles!

What should you do with oatmeal containers?  

(Turn them into castles with kids!)

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Easy Stuffed Owl Craft for Kids

I'm not sure why, but when I think of fall crafts for kids, I think of owls.  My littlest guy has just entered that sweet age where he seems to enjoy drawing, cutting, and gluing.  It's fun for me because now we can start our own crafting journey together.  Our first craft of the school year was this adorable stuffed owl.  My little guy really loved making it and proudly proclaimed "I love it.  It is so cute" when he finished.

Let's Make Easy Stuffed Owls with Kids

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

How to Build an Epic Cardboard City With Kids (And our 15+ Favorite Books to Inspire Building)

Looking for an easy and affordable group craft idea?  I recently hosted a cardboard craft event to celebrate the launch of my new cardboard craft book Epic Cardboard Adventures (aff link).  Kids and parents were invited to help me build a cardboard city.  If you're looking for an easy group crafting activity, I really recommend this one.  It's super easy to set up and both adults and kids had a lovely morning of crafty fun!

How to Build an Epic Cardboard City with Kids

 Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

How To Make Bottle Cap Art

We've been collecting bottle caps for what seems like FOREVER. Why?  Well, to make some DIY Bottle Cap Art!  (We love making recycled crafts.)  This summer we finally finished the collection (woot woot!) and we made two pieces of cool bottle cap art (one for my son's room and one for downstairs.)  Here's how we made it!

DIY Bottle Cap Art

 Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Super Easy Recycled, Homemade Sun catchers

If you're looking for a super easy kids craft that you can make from recycled materials... this is it! We've tried making several fun suncatcher crafts with the kids.  But today's suncatcher craft is by far the easiest one ever.  You can literally make dozens in minutes.  Intrigued?  Read on!

How to Make Super Easy, Homemade Recycled Suncatchers

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Play-dough and Cardboard Mazes

Hello friends!  I'm currently on the lookout for easy (and not too messy) ways to keep the kids entertained.  Today I'm sharing a fun preschool STEAM activity that kept both my boys entertained.  We've made outdoor rock mazes, edible candy mazes, and Lego mazes.  Today we're keeping the theme going with these super easy play-dough mazes!

Let's Make Play-Dough Mazes!

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Recycled Tin Garden Marker Craft

Everything is blooming and we're still loving garden crafts!  Today I'm sharing a fun recycled craft that turns disposable baking pans into cute tin garden markers!  This is a great kid-friendly craft project!

How to Make Recycled Tin Garden Markers with Kids

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

My 3 Cardboard Craft Books are finally here!

Ok.  The title says it all. So please buy my 3 awesome cardboard and duct tape craft books.  End of Post.

Just kidding! (Apparently I'm much too wordy for a 1 line post.)

So grab a coffee or tea and let's chat.

Last June I shared that a publishing company contacted me about writing a series of cardboard craft books. (If you missed that post, or you just want to see a photo of our cardboard-filled garage, click here.)

Well, it's been almost a year since that post and tada.... the books are here!

Don't they look good enough to eat? Num num num num num.

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a teeny tiny bit of money from any purchases made through the Amazon links below.   Thank you for your support! For my full disclosure, click here.

Cardboard Ninja Throwing Stars

Ninja Crafts, I have found, can be quite polarizing.  Some parents think they're super fun and great for birthday parties.  Other parents are uncomfortable with kids using weapons like a sword, ninja stars, and such. 

While I don't condone violence, I do realize that making toys that shoot, launch, or fly (like this pom pom shooter, car launcher, or this 1 sheet paper kite) are always crowd pleasers.   (Plus, they're a great opportunity to slip in some STEAM learning.)   So today I'm sharing this cute Ninja Throwing Star Craft.  It was super easy to make and kept us relatively sane on a stuck-at-home-going-to-pull-my-hair-out-cleaning-the-pulled-out-puzzles-for-the-eight-time rainy day.

How To Make Cardboard Ninja Throwing Stars

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a teeny tiny bit of money from any purchases made through the Amazon links below.   Thank you for your support! For my full disclosure, click here.

Super Cute Hedgehog String Art

Am I late to the hedgehog trend?  Lately I've been looking at a lot of hedgehog crafts.   A couple of years back I made this giant cardboard hedgehog ring toss.  (Didn't see it?  Definitely check it out because it was adorable!)  Today I'm sharing these tinier hedgehog crafts- String Art Hedgehogs!

Teeny Tiny Hedgehog String Art

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Adorable Paper Heart Stuffies (For Valentine's Day!)

Valentine's Day is coming up.... which means that Valentine's Day Crafts are probably on your mind.  If your kiddos love cute things, staples, and crumpling paper (or candy).... then this is the craft for you!  These adorable paper heart stuffies are poofy crafts filled with kawaii goodness. 

We stuffed ours with crumpled paper, but you could definitely fill these up with candy too!  (And if you like my specific design, I include a template below.  Score!)

Uber Cute Paper Heart Stuffies! 

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Charming Cardboard and Felt Bird Ornaments (Template Included)

I am IN LOVE with today's cardboard and felt bird ornaments.  This Christmas craft reminds me of something you would find in Anthropologie.  The birds are super sweet and folksy.  And they're made of recycled cardboard and scraps of yarn and felt.  So they're super easy on the wallet and good for the environment too!  Getting excited? Let's get crafting!

Charming Bird Ornaments

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of money for any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for your support.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Long time, no see!

Hello there blogging friends!

I know, I know, it's been awhile.  I just wanted to apologize for my 2 month long absence from this blog.   I really didn't think anyone would notice... but then I received a super sweet comment from a reader asking about my whereabouts...  and I figured I owed y'all an explanation.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a picture for you:
(This is what my garage wall currently looks like)

Yup.  It's cardboard central over here.

No, we're not building the great wall of cardboard.  And nope, we're not moving.  But yes, this does have to do with my absence.

I haven't been posting regularly because I've been writing a craft book.  *Gasp*  I know.  It's really strange sharing this because I'm not quite done, but I figured it was time.

I've collaborated on several awesome craft and STEAM books over the years.  This past year I  dreamt about authoring my own book.  But I wasn't sure how to go about it.

Two months ago a book publishing company contacted me to write a cardboard and duct tape craft book for them.

What?  Could this be?  I LOVE cardboard and this was such a wonderful surprise.  So I jumped headfirst into the opportunity.

I'm so excited to share the final project with you!  And I think you're going to really love all the neat projects inside.  But, I also gotta be honest and say that writing a book is both exhilarating and exhausting.  There are just two more weeks before the final deadline and with watching the kids, attending end-of-the-year activities, and staying on top of other commitments...  well gosh...I'm just pooped out.

So, dear reader, I'm sorry that I haven't shared any crafts in awhile.   But, I shall return once the last page of the manuscript is done.  Thank you for joining with me and supporting me on this crafty adventure.

I hope you are all doing well and having a great end of the year!

- Leslie

Make a Simple Braille Slate and Stylus (inspired by Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille)

Today's blog post takes a different turn.  Instead of a cute kid craft, we're doing some STEAM crafting and making an old time Braille slate and stylus.

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for the grocery money! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Lego Snow Jars for Kids (and 6 more Lego inspired projects!)

I'm all about cheap and cheerful crafts... and my son is all about Lego.  (I realized we were officially a Lego household when I woke up with a minifigure in my bed the other day.  Oy vey!) Inspired by the adorable miniature holiday displays and snowglobes in the stores, my son and I tried crafting our very own.  But instead of using animals or cute townspeople, we put a Lego twist on these winter snowglobes.  Tada! Here's a SUPER EASY winter snow scene craft.
 

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for the Christmas gift money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.