DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy

Lately Chuck and I have been infatuated with things that fly. That's why we made our cardboard space shuttle a couple of days ago.  So today I took things one step further to create a handmade toy that actually did fly.  Modeled  after a plastic toy that hubby brought back from one of his trips, here's our version of a DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy.

DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy

It's pretty neat that the toy actually does fly.  You simply spin it between both hands and the copter flies out and floats to the ground.  Keep reading to see how we made it (and a video of it flying!)

DIY Melted Crayon Artwork

Have you ever seen those cool examples of melted crayon artwork?  You know, the ones where people glue crayons to canvases and then melt them with hair dryers?  Well, I thought they were really neat, but wondered if there was another way to do it.  After some experimenting, I found out that you can directly melt crayons with a hair dryer as you draw on canvas. Pretty neat, right? The melted crayon just glides over the canvas, giving your artwork a different look and feel.  Now instead of making drippy crayon artwork, you can draw any image you like!

I chose to make some spring inspired artwork (because once again, I'm feeling optimistic that warmer weather is coming!)

To see how I made this neat artwork, check out my DIY Melted Crayon Wall Art Tutorial at Handmade Charlotte!  Have a great weekend.

DIY Tin Wall Art

The weather last weekend was glorious and I'm mentally already in Spring mode.  Doesn't matter that today was freezing cold... nope, no siree.  The sun is shining, it's March, so yes, Spring is here (in my mind at least.)  And to celebrate the sunnier, warmer weather, I'm over at Handmade Charlotte today sharing how I made this lovely spring themed DIY Tin Wall Art.

Tin Wall Art sounds pretty fancy-shmancy.  I actually made it using materials that I already had at home!  Adults and kids can easily turn a simple disposable aluminum baking pan into a piece of lovely and personalized artwork.  So grab your Sharpies and baking pan, and head on over to Handmade Charlotte to see how to make yourself some lovely DIY Tin Wall Art!

4 Easy Kids' Crafts

Today Chuck's sick and we're stuck at home.  Boo!  I was going to skip posting today and instead just upload our everyday craft photos onto my Instagram account.  But the photos were so cute... so I gave in and I'm uploading a collage here too, just in case you're looking for some crafty inspiration.

4 Really Easy (Practically no prep) Kids' crafts

Keep reading to see how we made each craft:

Make a square and cube bubble

We are definite bubble lovers over here.  With the colder weather outside, we've just been blowing them at home over a beach towel.  Recently I learned that bubbles didn't have to just be spherical shaped.  They could also look like squares and cubes too. What? No way! 

Yes way!  Behold!  A cubic bubble!

Whoa.  It's bubble play for us older folks! Keep reading to see how we made different shaped bubbles:

Printing with Flowers

Do you have wilting flowers?  Before tossing them away, why not try making some flower prints with them?   Chuck and I dipped flower heads in paint and made some lovely prints.  Then, once the prints dried, I turned them into some personalized, springy stationary.

So don't throw away your Valentine's Day flowers just yet.  Keep them and make some cards! 

Make Rainbows using CDs

Did you know that you can make rainbows using CDs?  Yup!  It's true.  Check out this rainbow that Chuck and I made right in his room.  All we needed was a bright patch of sun, a CD, and a white surface.

Keep reading to see how we made these lovely rainbows!

Cherry Blossom Tissue Paper Flower Craft (Tree printable included!)

I know, it's a little early for cherry blossoms crafts.  But this mama is seriously over winter.  Buh-bye!  With yet another snow storm scheduled to come tomorrow, this tissue paper cherry blossom tree craft is my attempt to kick winter in the face.  Hiyah! 

Ahh, cherry blossoms... so beautiful... so springy...

Like the tree?  You can use it for your kids' crafts too!  I turned my painting into a pdf so you can just download it and print it out....

Make Shaving Cream Clouds and Paint the bathtub walls

With all the crazy weather that's been happening around these parts, I thought Chuck and I could try creating some of our own crazy weather... indoors!  So we made a shaving cream cloud and watched it rain rainbows...

Oooh.  Isn't it pretty?

Keep reading to find out how we made it rain rainbows!

DIY Watermelon Perler Bead Bracelet

That's it.  

Summer is over.

No more vacation, no more white shoes.

Want to keep the good time summer vibes going?  

 Check out this watermelon bracelet I made out of Perler beads.

It's my second craft post for Handmade Charlotte.  

Happy belated Labor Day!

 
 

Spiked and Braided T-shirt Bracelet

I can't believe that September is just a week away.  Eeek!  Is it just me, or does every store sign seem to scream "Back to School?"

Growing up, I loved this time of the year for two reasons.  1)  I loved school. (Yeah, nerds!) and  2)  I loved back to school shopping.  New blank notebooks?  Swoon.   New clothes and shoes?  Double swoon. (Was anyone else like this as a kid?)

But, buying a ton of new items gets costly quite quickly. 

Fueled by my thrifty nature, I made these spiked and braided t-shirt bracelets.  They came out pretty cute. I like to imagine some creative, quirky gal wearing them to the first day of school. 

The colors are quite girly, but the spikes show that you've got some spunk!

Materials:

• Multicolored T-shirt
• Fabric scissors
• Spikes with screwbacks
• Pen (Optional)
• Needle and thread
• Tacky Glue

Perler Bead Safety Pin Bracelet

And so the Perler bead craze continues!

(You know how they have "Shark Week" on tv?   Maybe I should have called this "Perler Week..."  Hmm...)

Last night while watching tv, I strung a whole bunch of black and white Perler beads onto some safety pins.  Why?  Well, because I wanted to make this bracelet...

The black and white design makes it quite graphic, the Perler beads make it fun, and the silver safety pin bits make it a bit edgy.  When I wear it, I imagine that I'm a hip preschool teacher going out to a club.  (Wow.  I really need to get out more....)

Contact paper and cellophane stained glass windows

Our weekly baby and toddler music class has now morphed into a music and craft class.  The kids are getting more mobile now, so we figured it was good to give them something to make and do with their hands.  (Otherwise, they go straight to grabbing the lovely books on the shelves or pushing the furniture around.  Cute, but slightly disruptive to the library.)

But what kinds of activities could the kids do?  Well, the activity had to be
- Suitable for children from 1-3
- Easy to prep
- Easy to set up
- Super easy and quick to clean up
- Made from cheap materials
- Fun!!! (Of course.)

Because of my love for stained glass, I wanted to try a simple stained glass activity with the kids.  Instead of using glue (too messy for the younger kids), we used contact paper to attach our colored cellophane.

Materials:

• Two identical rectangles of contact paper (I just bought a small roll from the Dollar store instead of buying the expensive large roll from the department store)
• Masking tape and clear tape
• Frame cut out from a cereal box (Note:  Make the opening of the frame smaller than your contact paper rectangles)
• Different colored pieces of cellophane cut into small rectangles

 
Directions:
1.  Carefully remove the backing from one contact paper rectangle and use masking tape to tape the sheet sticky side up to your table. 

2.  Let your child stick the cellophane rectangles onto the contact paper. (Chuck loved this part.)

3.  Remove a portion of the backing from another sheet of contact paper.  Then, slowly stick the second sheet of contact paper on top of the first (sticky side down), smoothing it, and removing the rest of the backing as you go.  (This was the toughest part. When we got bumps or bubbles, we just lifted up the top sheet of contact paper and tried again.)

 4.  Tape your contact paper rectangle onto your frame.   Decorate the frame however you want.


Results:

Here are some of the mommy and children's actual work (My sample item is in the one on top in the middle.)

Review:
They were fun to make and came out super colorful and cute.

We struggled a bit with the contact paper, but I didn't care because some of the 2 year olds actually sat still for a couple of minutes and stuck the colored cellophane onto the contact paper.  What?  A couple minutes of concentrated effort?  Awesome.  I'll take it!

One very pregnant mommy even said that this was the longest time that her almost-2 year old sat still.   She didn't want to leave because he was behaving so nicely.

Ahh, music to my ears.  Her comment just made my day.

I love seeing moms and children engaged in an activity and enjoying time together.

Happy crafting!

Make Popsicle Bracelets

When I saw Mama Miss's Washi tape Popsicle bracelets, I was completely smitten.  Bracelets... made out of Popsicle sticks?  Super neat-o.  Count me in.

So today I present my version of Popsicle bracelets.  They were really fun to make and brought me back to my summer camp days.

Materials:
- Popsicle sticks
- Craft paint
- Paint brush
- Glasses
- Tupperware
- Water
- Painter's tape
- Drill
- String
- Scissors
- Fine sand paper
- Mod Podge
- Foam Brush

Make a sailboat out of a shampoo bottle

((Thank you to everyone for entering my Kiwi Crate Giveaway.  Before I talk about today's crapt, let me just announce that the winner of the giveaway is Mel!  Congratulations!  Please email me your mailing address so I can send you a Kiwi Crate straight away.))

Hi everyone!  Today I'm going to share how I made this shampoo bottle sailboat after being inspired by this DIY boat kit found here:

Materials:
- empty shampoo bottle <-- crap!
- 2 rubber bands
- wine cork <-- crap!
- drill
- stirrer <-- crap!
- straw <-- crap!
- pair of scissors
- triangle from a potato chip bag <-- crap!
- tape (packing tape is best, but I only had clear plastic tape)

Here are the boat's main components:

Directions:
1.  Cut your cork in half lengthwise.  Then, drill a hole through the middle.  The hole should be big enough to hold your stirrer (aka the mast) up.

2.  Your straw is going to be the horizontal bar holding up your sail (aka, the boom).  Cut your straw to the desired length.  Then, make two triangle cutouts on each side of the straw, so that your stirrer (aka the mast) can slide into the straw.  Both your stirrer and straw will support your plastic bag sail.  

3.  Cut your plastic chip bag into a triangle sail shape.  Tape the plastic bag onto your stirrer and straw to create a sail.



4.  Use two rubber bands to attach your cork to your shampoo bottle.  Then, stick your stirrer into the cork's hole and voila, instant sail boat.

The boat sails nicely in your bathtub, but Chuck and I took it one step further and sailed the high seas (eh hem... a nearby lake.)  We just tied a ribbon to it so that it wouldn't float away.

Hope you and your little one enjoy this crapt!

Painted twig and pipe cleaner wall art

Hi everyone!

Today's craft was inspired by my love for sunny weather, typography, and pipe cleaners.  Lately, Chuck and I have been going to the park a lot.  We live in an urban environment, so he's always tickled pink to see living, green things.  Two weeks ago the dandelions were in their full fluffy white splendor, so he spent the afternoon crying "bubbles, bubbles," as he ripped them out of the ground and blew their seeds everywhere. (Sorry city gardeners.  He knows not what he does.)

Anyway, while he blew his "bubbles," I found myself hoardinig scavenging for sticks.  After seeing Ginette Lapalme's bright and colorful painted sticks, I kept wanting to make my own version.  Here's my super easy, kid-friendly painted stick craft:

Materials:
- Sticks
- Pipe cleaners
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Glue
- Paint
- Paint brushes
- Mod Podge and foam brush (optional)

Directions:
1.  Collect some sticks.

2.  Play around with your sticks and see which ones best make a frame shape.  Then, practice bending your pipe cleaner letters.

Notes:
-  You could always write out the words on paper first and use your handwriting to guide you. I ended up just going for it and practicing with a bunch of pipe cleaners first to see what looked best.

-  Make sure to leave extra pipe cleaner bits in the beginning and end of each word.  You'll use those bits to attach your words to your frame.

I needed more pipe cleaner in the front and back of each word to attach the words to the frame

3.  Paint your sticks.  After painting them, coat them with a layer of Mod Podge to protect your paint job.

4.  Use pipe cleaners to connect all four twigs together in a frame shape.  Then, attach your pipe cleaner letters to the frame.  Tie a bit of yarn to the top of your frame so that it can be hung.  Use glue to secure any knots.

Tada!  Now you have your very own piece of colorful artwork.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this craft.  If you try to make your own painted stick wall art, I'd love to see your handiwork.

Make pipe cleaner bubble wands and big bubbles

Currently Chuck only knows a couple of words.  One of them happens to be "bubbles."  This kid of ours really loves bubbles.  He'll point outside and say "bubbles."  He'll point to round objects and say "bubbles."  He'll point to the bathtub and say "bubbles."  He'll even point to birds and say, "bubbles."

Given his obsession with soapy spheres, I thought it would be fun to make our own bubble wands and bubble solution.  These pipe cleaner and straw wands make larger bubbles than the wands you typically buy in the stores.

To make the straw and string wand:  String together two straws with some yarn.  Slide the knot into one of the straws. If you have problems getting the string through the straws, try sucking it through.  You'll get a mouthful of string, but it works!

We dunked these wands in our homemade bubble solution and had some messy fun. At first it was difficult to make the larger bubbles, but I soon got the hang out of it and created some lovely large spheres.

(Psst- Here's the recipe for the bubble solution that we used.  I combined 5 C warm water, 1/2 C Dawn dish detergent, and 1/4 C glycerin.  I gently mixed the liquids together and made sure not to create suds.   Then, I let the solution sit overnight.   Even though this recipe made fairly large bubbles, I really didn't like the way the Dawn smelled.  Yuck.  Plus, Chuck tried to rub his face with soapy hands, so I worried that the soap stung his eyes.  Next time I'll find a recipe using baby shampoo.  This way the solution won't smell so detergent-y and Chuck's eyes won't sting.  )

Here are some photos from our first big bubble making adventure:

I found that the bubbles didn't pop as quickly if I made them by moving the wand through the air instead of blowing it.

Another bubble created by the wind.   

All in all, not a bad start.  We managed to make large bubbles, but they popped really easily.  Hrmm... Next time we'll try a different solution and we'll make one of those giant bubble blowing wands.  Oooh! I can't wait!

Make Eggshell Mosaic Pots

Can you feel spring in the air?  

In honor of the warmer weather and my love for mosaics, today's post is all about decorating tiny pots with eggshell mosaics.

Mosaic Eggshell Pots

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Make a Mosaic Bean Pendant

Hi everyone!

How was your weekend?   We had a pretty quiet Sunday, but our Saturday was full of fun activity.  I attended a bridal shower while hubby and Toddler Chuck visited family.  (I'll post up photos from the bridal shower later on this week.) I thought I'd start off the week with this crapty (and slightly crappy?) pendant that I made.

I think mosaics are lovely.  There's something quite special (and dare I say, possibly mathematical?) about laying pieces of varying shapes and/or colors together so that they fit a space and create a desired image or pattern.

Wanting to make a wearable mosaic of my own, I used some household materials to create this mosaic bean pendant:


Yeah.  I know what you're thinking.  Girl, that's a lot of look.  And my reply? Girl, I know.  But really, what does one wear with beans anyway?

Erm.... I'm not sure if I like the result, but I did have fun making it.  And who knows?  If you ever find yourself trapped at home with a couple of bored children, then perhaps you could whip these up for fun.

Materials:
- dried beans
- cereal box cardboard <--crap!
- craft paint
- paint brushes
- Tacky glue (I used Aleene's)
- String
- Felt
- Scissors

Make a bubble snake

We don't drink much soda so when hubby finally brought a Pepsi home I snatched up his empty bottle quicker than a hungry child grabbing at freshly baked Christmas cookies.

Why?  Well, I had been dying to make a bubble snake blower. And honestly, could you blame me?  Look at the long foamy chain of bubbles I was able to blow.

Wowzers.  This photo makes my inner child squeal with delight

To blow awesome foamy snake-like bubble chains, I just needed a couple of materials:

Materials:
- empty plastic bottle
- wash cloth
- scissors
- rubber band
- dish detergent
- water
- plastic container

Directions:
1.  Cut off the bottom of the bottle.
2.  Cut a circle out of the wash cloth that's about 1-2 inches larger than the bottom of the bottle.
3.  Use a rubber band to attach your washcloth circle to the bottle.  That's it!
4.  Dip the bottle (wash cloth bottom) into dish detergent that's been mixed with a bit of water.
5.  Blow.  A foamy bubble snake will appear before your eyes.

(Warning:  Do not inhale, only exhale. Otherwise you'll end up drinking dish detergent like I did. Yuck.)

Here are some photos of Baby Chuck and I playing with our bubble snake blower.  (You may be wondering why we're in the bath tub.  Or why my bathtub is so dirty.... Hmm..  Well, we fully intended to blow bubbles outside, but it was just too cold.  The bath tub served as a nice place to try the activity out, since the bubbles created quite a sticky mess on the ground.  As for why my bathtub  is so dirty... I've neglected to clean it.... eek.)

Let me know if you try this out with your kids.  I can't wait till the weather gets warmer.  We'll definitely try blowing more bubble snakes outside.