Shark Binoculars

We are in LOVE with shark crafts over here.   Love, love, love them.

So when I was sent a bunch of free craft materials from Horizon Group awhile back, I knew what we had to use them to make.... Shark toilet roll binoculars!

Toilet Roll Shark Binoculars 

Aren't they adorable?  They are my favorite shark-themed craft so far!

Make Sand Dough Sculptures and Ornaments

Whenever we go to the beach and build with sand, I always feel slightly sad knowing that our creations will eventually wash away.  Do you ever feel that way too?  I recently found this great book at the library Kids' Crazy Concoctions (affiliate link) that shared a recipe for making homemade gluten free sand dough!  Yup.  You just need 3 ingredients to whip up a batch of this stuff.  Then, once you're done making your creations, wait over night and they'll dry nice and hard.  Isn't it cool? You can make your very own long-lasting sand dough sculptures and ornaments!

Make Sand Dough Sculptures and Ornaments!

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Super Easy Cardboard Biplanes

The plane obsession continues over here!  Just when you think we're done with transportation crafts... oh no... we've got another one up our sleeve.

Awhile back Chuck and I made this toilet roll biplane.  But sadly, that plane broke.  Chuck still loves biplanes, so I came up with this super easy practically unbreakable cardboard biplane craft for him to make and then fly.

Super Easy Cardboard Biplane Craft

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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 planes, toilet 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

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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!

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 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

Let's Build Boats! (Engineering with Kids)

Lately we've been reading books on pirates around here.  Arrrrgh maties!  So I thought it would be fun if we tried our hands at building some boats from everyday materials.  (I saw a similar idea from i2camp's Instagram feed and really wanted to try it out.)  This was a fun engineering activity that required very little prep and just used random items from our crafting and recycling bins.

Kids' Engineering:  Let's Build Boats!

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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!

Homemade Body Paint Recipe (2 ingredients Needed!)

Last week I shared a simple 3-ingredient homemade body paint recipe. While we had fun trying it out, I kept wondering if there was another way to make homemade body paint.  Turns out there is!  I peeked around the internet and found this neat series of body paint recipes.  The author shares a couple recipes that involved using washable white paint (which I kind of felt weird using on my skin...)  and one that involved using two ingredients that I already had on hand.  

2 Ingredient Homemade Body Paint Recipe

Corn Husk Paint Brushes

Last week my sister brought over a bunch of corn.  I roasted them in the oven with their husks on and they were yummy.   But as I cleaned up, I kept wondering if there was anything I could do with the discarded husks.  Last summer I used my husks to make a corn husk doll.  This time I tried my hand at making some corn husk paint brushes, since Chuck has been so keen on painting lately.

Corn Husk Paint Brushes

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Last time he really enjoyed making abstract art with cardboard.  This time he found it funny to paint with brushes make from food.  Now if you're eating a lot of corn too, your kids might like trying out this activity too! 

Make Homemade Body Paint

A couple of days ago my sister came over to visit.  Chuck and I were super excited for her to come.  She also enjoys making things so I wanted to try Paging Fun Mom's homemade body paint with her.  I ended up not following their recipe and just winging it.  It still came out and we had lots of fun painting homemade body paint on ourselves.

Make Homemade Body Paint

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You just need three ingredients to make this creamy (and very moisturizing) body paint.  Just FYI- it has a completely different consistency then real body paint and it's not meant to stay on.  But that was ok with us.  We ended up painting our pictures, wiping off our artwork, and then painting something else.  Interested?  Let's get making!

Corn Syrup Paint

Are you looking for a paint that's super pigmented and remains glossy looking when it's dry?  Well then this corn syrup paint is for you.  Chuck and I whipped up a batch of this glossy paint the other day in our kitchen.  Then we had loads of fun trying it out.  The paint is edible (although you probably don't want to eat it), has a consistency  thicker than regular paint, and looks like shiny enamel when it dries.  Intrigued?  Check out the results!

Make Glossy Corn Syrup Paint

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Oooooh.  Pretty.  So far we've made homemade sidewalk paint, homemade watercolor paints, and cornstarch toddler paint ... but none of those stand up to the gorgeous results of this homemade corn syrup paint.  The bright colors and gloss are fabulous.   (Yes.  I used the f-word.)  And ready for the best thing?  You could probably whip up a batch of this stuff tonight with ingredients and materials already found at home.  Let's get painting!

Build a toy car that moves

I love painting things with Chuck, but sometimes I yearn to make things that actually move or do things.  So when a mommy friend suggested that we build cardboard toy cars that actually move, wowzers, I had to say yes.  She found the directions in an old kids' science book (that I don't remember the name of... sorry).  And that's how we spent an awesome play date with five kids- eating pizza and then building and racing some cardboard racing cars. 

Kid Science: Let's Build a Car that Moves!

Today's craft is awesome for 2 reasons:

1.  The cars really move.  Really.  You just twist the tin can and then let go.  Bam.  The rubber bands store the potential energy and then once released, they turn the can... and your car moves by itself!

2.  You don't need any expensive materials.  In fact, you probably have most of the items already at home.  

Have I whet your appetite enough?  Ok.  Let's build! Vroooom!

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!)

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:

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!

Cardboard Spaceship Climbing Toy

Currently Chuck and I have been reading books about the moon and space travel.  He loves the Berenstein Bears "On the Moon" book and Eric Carle's "Papa, please get the moon for me." 

So with that in mind, I made him a little cardboard spaceship climbing toy.  I found some lovely examples online and one of the mommies in our toddler group made a very simple version out of paper.  So, I based my design off of these.        

To operate the toy, you simply attach the moon to the wall or a doorknob.  Then, you pull the two brown tabs apart and your spaceship shoots straight to the moon.

Materials:

• Cardboard box
• Scissors
• String
• Paint and paint brushes
• Mod Podge and brush (to protect your paint job)
• Packing tape
• Straw 

Directions:
This was a really quick and simple toy to make.
1.  Cut out your spaceship, moon, and two small rectangular stopper pieces out of cardboard.
2.  Paint your spaceship and moon.
3.  Once the paint dries, protect your paint job with Mod Podge.
4.  Cut your straw in half.  Tape it to the back of your spaceship.
5.  Fold your long piece of string in half.  Tape the middle of the string to the back of your moon.  Then, string your two strands through the two straws.  Tape the ends of  string to your cardboard rectangles so that the spaceship doesn't fall off.

Here's a shot of the mechanics: 

And that's it.  Simple to make, and simple to use.  You don't even have to make a spaceship and a rocket.  What about an alien spaceship and earth?  Or a basketball player and a basket?  The possibilities are endless.

We went this route, and Chuck got a kick out of sending his cardboard rocket to the moon.


Cardboard Rocket Ship sent to the moon from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.


And then, since I was working with cardboard already.... I figured I'd make Chuck some cardboard food as well.  All that flying sure gives an astronaut a hearty appetite. 

Have a wonderful weekend!  See you back on Monday.


Psst-  If you've got a ton of cardboard lying around... check out these fun kids' crafts that use cardboard:

• Cardboard and Styrofoam Picture Frame
• Cardboard Camera
• Cardboard taxi bank
• Cardboard rattle-drum 
• Cardboard guitar 
• Cereal Box elephant
• Cereal Box giraffe

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