Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Make Party Blowers

When we go out to eat, one of Chuck's favorite things to get is bubble tea. 

It's so cute watching him order.  Too short to reach the counter, Hubby has to lift Chuck up so that he's eye level with the cashier. 

Of course, it's the same lady behind the counter every week.  Even though she already knows what he's going to say, she always asks Chuck what he wants.  And without fail, he gives the same response:  bubble tea with a blue straw.  (Blue is his favorite color.)

The lady then giggles when she hears his little voice.  When she's done, she hands over the drink and a couple extra straws.  (He loves straws.)  Typically, Chuck just blows and chews on the extras... but this time he generously gave them to me so that I could craft with them.  

I saw how much he loved blowing on party blowers at another child's birthday party.  So, of course I had to try making them for him at home.  




 Materials:
  • Magazine paper (Cut into 5x9" rectangles)
  • Bubble tea straws cut in half
  • Scissors
  • Tape


Directions:
1.  Fold your paper in thirds lengthwise.   Tape your paper where the two sides meet. 

2.  Fold over one end of the paper and tape that down too.  (Make sure your tape all the openings closed.  You want your party blower to be air tight.) 

3.  Starting from the sealed end, tightly wrap your magazine paper around a pen.   (Do this a couple of times with the pen and then without the pen to make sure that the curl stays.  I've also seen some other bloggers, like Design Mom, wrap their rolls with rubber bands to help the curl to stay better.)


4.  Now stick your straw in the open end of the paper.  Fold your paper over the straw and tape it down.  (Again, make sure that everything is air tight.) 

And that's it!  Hand your party blowers over to your kid and watch them have fun!


We just used magazine paper, so our blowers only lasted for about a couple of minutes before they stopped recoiling or ripped.  But not to worry!  I washed, dried, and cut up the straws to make some "beads."  Chuck then enjoyed stringing them onto some pipe cleaners. 

Happy crafting!

Monday, August 19, 2013

What's up Chuck?

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday!

This weekend we ventured out to Hoboken to enjoy the lovely, sunny weather.  It felt so nice to get out, stretch our toes, and take in the last couple weeks of summer.  





We're pet-sitting.  Isn't Henry cute?

Sun-worshippers enjoying the day in Hoboken

Heart-attack on a plate....but wow... what a delicious way to go...
Have some bacon, mom!
Bicycle riding with daddy
Even Pink Pig got a chance to enjoy the day.  Can you spot her?

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Make your own Tupperware Spin Art (Method 2)

Today is the last day in our toddler painting series.  Boo hoo.  Sob sob.  There, there, no need to cry.  I'm leaving you with my favorite painting technique of the week.  Now you can make spin art with Tupperware and coins!

Materials:
- Tupperware
- Tempera Paint
- Paper cut to fit inside of plastic container
- Masking Tape
- Clear Tape
- Coins (We used quarters and pennies) 

Directions:
1.   Use clear tape to attach your coins to the bottom of the Tupperware.  (We used quarters first, but then found that we had a nicer result when we added some smaller coins like pennies to the bottom of the pile.)
2.  Tape your paper inside the Tupperware container.
3.  Add drops of paint.
4.  Cover your container and spin it around and around.


That's it! Open up your container and admire your lovely spin art.

(For those of you braver folks with older children, you could also try leaving the lid off.  Then, you could try to drip paint into the container as it spins.  I'm not sure if this would work... but it would be fun to try.  Just make sure to cover your work area to keep everything clean!)




And so ends our Toddler Paint Series.  In case you missed the beginning of the series, you can find other cheap and easy ways to paint with toddlers by clicking the links below:
Have a great weekend!



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Make Spin Art using Tupperware (Method 1)

One of my clearest childhood memories was attending a birthday party and getting to make spin art t-shirts.  I remember carefully dripping beads of paint onto my shirt and then watching my artwork spin around and around.  Once the spinning stopped, voila!  All my beads of paint spread out and made a lovely sun burst design.

It was magical.

For some reason this particular memory popped into my head this past weekend  I felt inspired to try making our own spin art with Chuck too.

But how would we do it?  We didn't have a spin art machine, or a salad spinner, or a lazy susan. 
I was stumped.  Luckily, clever hubby came up with two ideas to make spin art using materials that we already had at home.   

Materials:
- Tempera paint
- Tupperware
- Paper cut to fit the bottom of your Tupperware
- Yarn
- Packing tape
- Masking tape (optional)

Directions:
1.  Cut a piece of yarn.  Tie it together to make a loop.

2.  Use packing tape to attach the loop to your Tupperware.  Congratulations! You now have a human powered spin art machine.
3.  Place drops of paint into your Tupperware.  (Optional:  You could also tape your piece of paper down into the Tupperware first and then place your drops of paint inside.)

4.  Close the lid and spin your Tupperware around and around. 
 5.  Open your Tupperware to reveal your spin art design.  (We placed a piece of paper over the design to capture the paint.  Alternatively, you could have also just put the paper inside first and then add the paint.)

Really, really easy, right?  The only problem was that our design wasn't really sunburst looking. So clever hubby got to thinking and came up with another solution....

which you'll have to read about tomorrow!
(Can you guess what it is?)

Happy toddler crafting!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Toddler painting with toys

Ok, the title of the post pretty much says it all.

1.  Get some toys.
2.  Dip them in paint.
3.  Watch your kid go to town.
4.  Remind your child to not paint the floor... or wall... or you... or...
5.  Pat yourself on the back for entertaining your child. 
6.  Wash toys and child in bathtub.
7.  Watch your kid go to town cleaning the toys.
8.  Pat yourself on the back for keeping the fun going.

What can I say?  Entertained child = happy child = happy mama

Happy toddler crafting!