Make a Cardboard Bridge for Trains and Cars

We bought an Ikea train set awhile back and Chuck loves it.  The only problem is that our poor Thomas train is too big and doesn't fit under the train set's tunnel.  So I poked through my trusty cardboard stash and made him a cardboard mountain bridge.  

Cardboard Bridge for Trains and Cars

Aha!  Problem solved.

Now all the trains can fit underneath the mountain while his cars drive over the train track.  Yay! 

Wanna make a bridge too?  Well then keep on reading! 

Make milk jug rings

Lookie lookie!  

Me:  Hey friend!  A couple of nights ago, I made these three rings out of milk jugs.

You:  No way!  Come on, now.  I don't believe you.

Me:  Oh yes.  Believe me, friend.  These crapty cool rings were inspired by La Factoria Plastica's cardboard play rings and Lana Red's shrinky dink rings.

You:  Oh yes.  I remember seeing those on your Pinterest Board.  Well dagum!  How did you make them?

Me:  Keep reading to find out!

6 ways to entertain a toddler at home

Looking for some easy ways to entertain your toddler in the winter?

So... how about that polar votex?  Boy, oh boy, that was some crazy weather.  With the snow, ice, and freezing cold winds, Chuck and I hunkered down at home. 


After a couple of hours of reading the same books over and over again, and playing with the same toys over and over again, and listening to the soundtrack of "Planes" for the trillionth time, I finally cracked.

Redrum, redrum?

Thankfully, we didn't make it to that point.  But, we definitely bounced off the walls a bit.  To maintain some sense of sanity, we had to do something to make the time at home more enjoyable.  So here are a couple of fun activities that kept us sane and smiling...

1.  Yarn family portrait craft

Chuck loves using scissors and the glue sticks, so this activity was a hit.  First he helped me cut tons of short, white yarn strands.  Then, I doodled a bald family on a piece of paper.  Then, he helped me glue hair onto all of their heads.  The result is this cute and funny family portrait. 

Keep reading to see more ways we entertained ourselves at home...

Reveal hidden lampshade silhouettes

Before I start today's post, I just wanted to say thank you for all the kind words, support, and love you sent my way after my last post.  *Gulp*  Sharing my dream was a bit REALLY scary.  I kept waiting for the rotten fruit and pies to be thrown, but nothing came by.  So, thank you.

Ok!  Now onto today's post. We own two lamps that are covered with ho-hum white shades.  I kept wanting to do something to the lamps to give them a bit more pizazz, but couldn't settle on a permanent solution.  Then, I saw this nifty decorating idea at How About Orange, and had to try it out. 

Look!  When the light is off, you just see a white shade.  But when the light turns on, a secret silhouette is revealed! 

 Magic?  Nope.  Keep reading to see how it was done...

Risking Rejection.... while wearing sparkly tights

Eeek!  My legs... for all the world to see....

Today's post is a departure from my normal craft/diy posts.  Now, if you just want to see how I made these sparkly tights, scroll directly to the bottom of the post.  But if you want to read about a neat, new Thursday blogging series and a bunch of courageous gals, read on!

Quick way to jazz up old pens

As a kid I remember loving the way new pens and notebooks looked at the start of the school year.  I also remember that by January, things just didn't look as good anymore.  Today's post shows one quick and easy way to update boring school supplies.

Tada!  Check out these clear pens that I jazzed up with colorful magazine pages.   

Let's Jazz Up Old Pens!

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

 Materials:

• Pens with clear barrels (I used these super cheap pens)
• Magazines
• Scissors

Directions:

1.  Take your pens apart so that the tube of ink is out of the clear plastic barrel.

2.  Cut out a scrap piece of paper that, when curled up, will fill the clear barrel.  Once you know what size paper to use, use this as a template to cut out from colorful magazine pages.


3.  Curl up your colorful paper and slide it into the barrel.  Then, put your pen back together. Now you've got yourself a set of "new" and colorful pens.  (And it didn't cost you one dime! *High five!*)

Happy crafting!

Make Toilet Roll Airplanes (template included)

Make Toilet Paper Roll Airplanes

Initially, I titled this post "Bad Mamas make toilet roll airplanes" because I wanted to admit something to you.

I'm a baaaad mama.

Yup, you read that right.  I'm a bad mama... a really bad mama...  why?  Well, the other day we were playing around with Chuck and we started humming different songs for him to guess.  At first we hummed his favorite song ("Life is a Highway" from the movie Cars) and he guessed it!  Intrigued, we kept humming other songs from Cars 1, Cars 2, and Planes (his faves.)  He couldn't name the songs specifically, but he could identify the movie that each song came from. 

And then I started humming "ABC" to him, thinking that it would be a breeze for him to guess.   I got through the entire song and then my son... my dear, sweet, transportation-loving child, looked up at me and said "Me no know mama."

What?! "Me no know?"  He knows songs from movie soundtracks... but can't recognize ABC?  We sing ABC to him at least twice a day when we brush his teeth.  Oof.  Double oof.

I guess we're not as entertaining as talking vehicles...

So... this reeeeeeaaaaally long intro was just my way of saying that my son loves cars, planes, trucks, trains... erm... basically anything that moves.  So I thought I'd try to foster his love with a toilet paper airplane craft.  These planes were inspired by the characters Dusty Crophopper and Skipper from the movie "Planes."  

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

Keep reading to see how we made these planes ( plane template included!)...

Make flowers and leaves from gumdrops

What would you do with a bunch of leftover gumdrops?  Would you eat them or toss them out?

Or, would you try something a bit different?  Would you burn them... or melt them... or nuke 'em?  Eeek. What evil candy torturer would do that?  Oh wait,  I already did all those things in my 6 strange things to do with gummy bears post... muah ha ha.

This time I took a different route and turned my colorful gummy candy into gumdrop flowers.  Why, you ask?  Why not!  After seeing these lovely gumdrop rose petals I pulled out my candy and got a'smooshing and a'cutting.  By the end of the night I had me a lovely bouquet of gumdrop flowers:

Ooooh.  Perrrrrty....

Have I intrigued you?  Keep on reading to see how these lovely flowers were made...

Sweets, Graham cracker Houses, and the Dentist (Eeek!)

So... I've got a confession.

I was looking through some holiday photos and I realized... eek I may have gone a bit  WAY overboard with the sugar.  Yikes.  Apparently I have a tiny HUGE sweet tooth.

On top of the lovely goodies that we ate at parties, hubby and I also devoured sweets at home.  Hrmm... all that sugar.... maybe we're part Elf?  Here's a review of some of our homemade holiday goodies... 

1.  Hubby made us a couple of  homemade cafe mochas.  He mixed 1T cocoa, 1T hot water, and 1 T sugar in a cup.  Then, he added 1 shot of espresso (or double strength coffee) and topped that with with 1/2C of warmed and frothed milk.  Sweet and yurmmy...

Keep on reading to see more sweet goodies...

Wreath Interpretations Exhibit

A couple of days ago, we went into the city to meet up with old friends and see "Wreath Interpretations."  This exhibit showcased Christmas wreaths that were made out of nontraditional materials.  After seeing all the artist's creativity, I definitely left with some ideas for next year's Christmas decorations (note to self- start saving milk caps!)

Now if you're in the city and you've got some time to spare, be sure to check the exhibit out!  It's located on the 3rd floor of the Arsenal Building in Central Park.  It's free (Yes!) and open from 9am-5pm, M-F until January 9th. 

Here are a couple of my favorites from the exhibit:

(Psst- Wanna see what else we did in the city that day?  You can find other photos from our trip on my Instagram.)

Keep reading to see more wreaths!

Review of 2013

Happy 2014! 

Before starting this post, I just wanted to say a big thank you for visiting this blog.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Thank you for joining in our family's daily adventures and thank you for appreciating my crafts.  Honestly, blogging wouldn't be as fun without you.  Your support really means the world to me. 

Ok, ok, enough mushy stuff.  Ahem, now onto today's post.

Since I enjoyed last year's 2012 review post, I put together something similar together for 2013.  Looking back, I'm amazed by how many crafts I made (oy vey- thanks hubby for being so supportive!) and how much Chuck has grown.  My baby is gone.... he's a little boy now.  Sheesh, time just flew by.   

Are you ready to grab hold onto 2014?  Hope your New Year is off to a good start!  

 January


Memorable events: Choosing to try new things and attending a wedding
Favorite kid activity:  Painting with cornstarch paint
Favorite craft:  Dying flowers rainbow colors


February
 
Memorable event: Attending this bridal shower
Favorite kid activity:  Making bubble snakes
Favorite craft:  Whale Tissue Box Holder



March

Memorable event:  Selling goods at the craft fair
Favorite kid activity:  Feeding birds outside
Favorite craft: Sumo Plastic Bottle Bowling Pins


 April

Memorable events:  Attending a Mehndi ceremony and wedding ceremony
Favorite kid activity:  Blowing humongous bubbles with Chuck
Favorite crafts: Tattooing a banana and Painting an umbrella 


May
 
Memorable events:  Attending a lovely wedding and hanging out with Aussie family  (in DC and NYC)
Favorite kid activity:  Attending a niece's birthday party
Favorite crafts:  Good Night, Bonne Nuit Pillow Cases


June

Memorable event:  Visiting Colonial Williamsburg (1 and 2)
Favorite kid activities:  Making cornstarch paint and Grass Egg Heads
Favorite crafts:  Making a Mosaic Styrofoam Picture Frame  and painting a galaxy umbrella


July

Memorable event:  Reflecting on faith and crafting
Favorite kid activity:  Visiting The Children's Museum
Favorite crafts:  Painting a rainbow fan


August
 
Memorable event:  Having a house guest and being part of a craft e-zine
Favorite kid activity:  Painting with toys
Favorite crafts:  Tattooing bananas and Orange peel canola candle

September


Memorable events:  Visiting the zoo and Maker Faire (1 and  2)
Favorite kid activities: Blowing up balloons with baking soda and Cardboard spaceship toy
Favorite craft: Making crystal flowers


October
 
Memorable events:  Visiting Lancaster and Baltimore
Favorite kid activity: Celebrating Halloween!
Favorite craft: Making a tulle mask


November

Memorable event:  Thanksgiving!
Favorite kid activity:  Craft stick dominoes
Favorite craft:  Heart stenciled shoes and Making roses out of autumn leaves


December

 

Memorable event:  Christmas!
Favorite kid activity:  Playing with Chuck in the snow
Favorite crafts: Hiding a jump drive in a rubber toy and Making reindeer antlers