Category: Arts & Crafts

Archive for the ‘Arts & Crafts’ Category

Crafty Holiday | Soda Cap Centerpieces

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Soda Caps are terrific sculptural objects whose dish-shape resembles a cute little pie pan. It happens to be my humble opinion that for this very reason, crafters everywhere love bottle caps. I mean, who doesn’t love something that makes you think of pie?

This week we experimented with a few different ideas for making holiday arrangements and one of the ideas I had was to make wire and soda cap “flowers”. My hope was to add an unexpected twist to a casual table arrangement and set the perfect tone for any hip, holiday party!

And the best part? You don’t have to find another task to occupy the kids because they can help! (more…)

Posted in Arts & Crafts, Kids DIY | 2 Comments »

Homemade Gift | Spy Book

Thursday, November 29th, 2012

Every year, I try to make a gift for the kids. It’s not because I’m some sort of over-achiever. Well, okay, it’s probably a little of that. Mainly though, it’s that growing up, I thought it was lame that Santa bought his gifts from the store. What happened to the elves and the workshop?! That’s how it worked in the clay-animated tv specials.

So really, this is more about me and my arrested development, than the kids. Obviously.

Last year, I made the kids hollow books. They’re very inexpensive and easy to make. Want to know how? Click here for the tutorial.

Are you a handmade gift giver, store bought, or combination? I definitely fall into the combination category. I’m not about to whip up a bunch of legos, regardless of what the clay-animation tv specials say.

Posted in Arts & Crafts | 5 Comments »

Crafty Kids | Push Pin String Art

Tuesday, November 27th, 2012

This post is brought to you in part by Kollabora. Kollabora is an online source of craft materials, community and inspiration. “We are what we make.”

You got crafty kids? Here’s a project for just for them. It’s easy, can be done in a group or individually and once finished, can be displayed in their rooms. Nice, right?

What this craft works on beyond just being cute:
fine motor skills
planning
problem solving
I’m sure there’s more, but let’s get to it already… (more…)

Posted in Arts & Crafts, Kids DIY | 5 Comments »

Play + Learn | Shadow Puppets

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s that time of year when the days are short and the nights are long. And I’m feeling it right now. See, we made this rule that the kids couldn’t have screen time during the school week. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And truthfully until the time change, it was pretty easy. The kids would come home, do homework and then they’d go out to play with their friends until suppertime. Oh, those were the days, sigh.

Now, it’s starting to get dark by the time the kids are finished their homework. And we all start getting restless by 4:45. Restless at 4:45 makes for a long night. A. very. long. night.

To help pass the time, and also encourage the kids’ story telling skills, the other night we made a shadow box and puppets. They’re super simple to make. Here’s how… (more…)

Posted in Arts & Crafts, Kids DIY, Play + Learn | No Comments »

Awesome DIY Alert: Pillow Play

Monday, November 12th, 2012

Holy cow! This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen. Caroline Urdaneta of Salsa Pie has come up with an ingenious craft—a sleep over pillow kids can play with.

So fun, yes?! Wouldn’t this make an awesome gift? I could see it being a super cool addition to a room makeover too.

[click here for the full post]

Posted in Arts & Crafts | No Comments »

Kollabora: Make Something (Together)

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

Have you heard of Kollabora? It’s a new community for makers. Kollabora brings together DIY inspiration, learning, sharing, and get this, supplies too—supplies I can’t always find in my local big box craft store. Plus, they have things organized by project. So I can hop on, find a cool idea, purchase the materials and get making.

Kollabora was kind enough to send me a geo bangle kit. I thought they were the perfect activity for a little mother-daughter bonding time. Ellie and I agree, they were.

Posted in Arts & Crafts, Kids DIY | 8 Comments »

EEK! Springy Spider Toy

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

It’s the season of creepy crawlies. In the spirit of such a terrifying season, I came up with a terrifying project for you. It’s based on an old toy we saw while antiquing last month. By the way, the antique mall where I saw it was pretty terrifying itself. It toootally creeped me out. But I’ll save that story for another day. (more…)

Posted in Arts & Crafts, Games & Creative Play, Halloween, Kids DIY | 3 Comments »

Halloween Straw Toppers

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

If your kids are anything like mine, they probably go bananas over straws. In fact, straws have such magical powers over my crew that even a boring glass of milk is suddenly transformed into something radical when I plop a straw inside! Can anything top that? Well, actually there is something that can top that and it happens to be called a Topper.

Straw toppers are showing up everywhere these days from magazines to Pinterest. This simple little detail can make any milkshake more festive in seconds. Today I’d like to show you how you can make your own Halloween straw toppers using colored paper and a paper hole puncher. It’s a craft so easy that even your kids can make it. In fact, in my tutorial I’ll show you how I made the toppers then how my daughter made them too. It’s awesome when everyone can get involved!

To get in a spooky mood for Halloween, we made little witch straw toppers. Children enjoy making faces so I didn’t just want to make a hat. Just as a tip, anytime you can include making a face into a craft, it’s always a winner with children.