Posts Tagged ‘craft blog’

A few weeks ago we Dyed Pasta to make our own beaded necklaces for Mardi Gras.  Here is a tutuorial on how to dye rice for crafts using the sam method.

What you need:

• White Rice
• Food coloring
• Rubbin Alcohol
• Zip lock bags
• baking sheets

Directions:

Separate the rice into ziplock bags.  How many colors you make will determine how many bags you need.  Place 3 cups of rice into each bag.  Add 1/2 tsp. food coloring and 2 tbsp. rubbing alcohol to the rice.  Seal bags and shake until rice is evenly coated.

Line baking sheets with foil and spread colored rice out onto the sheets.  Air Dry for about 4 hours.

Tip:  the smell of alcohol is very strong and I placed my baking sheets outside.

We are going to use our Dyed rice to make “I Spy” games…I’ll update you when they’re finished

As a fun activity we decided to make some homemade playdough.  Why the homemade kind with a few cookie cutters always holds their attention longer than the storebought sets I will never know, but the P’s loved this “Leprechaun” Playdough that sparkles!

We used this Playdough Recipe found on The Artful Parent.  I must warn, though, that this makes a HUGE batch.  We probably could’ve done with half the amount but most of Preston’s ended up on the floor so I was glad we had the extra

I made the whole batch Yellow and then while kneeding it I added the Green to half of it.  Once it’s kneeded out and cooled off a bit, add in the glitter.  We used silver and gold.  Throw a few cookie cutters, cups, and utensils out to use with it and you have a fun St. Patrick’s Day activity for the kids!

One of our St. Patrick’s Day Traditons is to make a Leprechaun Trap. We started this a few years ago and the kids LOVE it! We’ve never actually caught one, but every year Those Sneaky Leprechauns dance around our kitchen leaving little green footprints behind and a little bit of ‘gold’ for our troubles.

Last year I was a little behind and not my usual prepared self.  I forgot all about the trap until just a few days before. This left little for us to make a trap out of. What we ended up with was just as cute but easy enough for a 2 and 4 year old to make almost all on their own!

What you will need:

• small shoebox
• Green Duct Tape (we found ours at Michaels)
• Rainbow printable
• plain paper
• glue
• scissors
• cotton balls

Instructions:

1. cover the box with the green duct tape.
2. Cut a star shaped slot in the lid of the box
3. color the rainbow printable
4. cut our two cloud shapes from the plain paper
5. glue cotton balls onto the clouds
6. tape finished rainbow to the side of the lid

DONE!  To see our more elaborate Leprechaun trap click HERE.

Tomorrow, March 2nd, is National Read Across America Day.

National Read Across America Day is a nationwide reading celebration that takes place on March 2nd, Dr. Seuss’ Birthday, every year.  Schools and Libraries across the country will be be celebrating the joy of reading with fun games and activities and of course BOOKS!

There is know denying that reading is a gateway to learning.  When a child learns to read it builds their confidence, opens their imagination, and educates them about the world around them.  With a young reader in our house, and one that is right behind her, we are encouraging as much reading as possible.  We keep their books readily accessible in the playroom, take them with us in the car and to appointments for entertainment (thankfully my kids don’t get carsick), and read books to each of them, every night,  as part of their bedtime routine.  With Peyton in school this year (and Reading!) she has been doing lots of activities in her classroom and I am trying to incorporate as much Dr. Seuss fun as possible into our home routine this week.  Because, you know, READING is FUN!

So, how can you join in on the Celebration?

Read Read Read:  Early in the week we visited the local children’s library and checked out several Dr. Seuss books to have on hand and today I found that Target has their hard back, Dr. Seuss books on sale 2 for $10!  We got two more to add to our collection, Green Eggs and Ham (Peyton’s Favorite), and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Community Events:  Check with your local library, schools, book stores, and community centers to see if they have anything planned.  There is also a list of Events posted on Seussville.com.  Most Libraries and Barnes and Noble book stores host weekly story times for the kids, by doing a quick online search I was able to find several options for story time in our area.

Activities:  There are so many fun ideas over on Seussville.com.  Check out their activity section for lots of printable word finds, mazes, and color sheets.  You may want to jazz up your wardrobe and make a paper Cat in the Hat tall hat or cut out Stars to wear on your belly like the sneetches.  Maybe a Daisy headband to wear like Daisy Head Mayzie.

Fun Snacks:  You can’t have a celebration without fun foods!  Try one of these fun Dr Seuss themed treats.

• Cat in the Hat Parfait:  layer fresh sliced strawberries with vanilla yogurt in a glass.
• Cat in the Hat Kabobs:  Alternate Strawberries and Bananas on a skewer.
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish:  Colored Goldfish Crackers~that’s an easy one!
• Green Eggs and Ham:  Add Food coloring to your scrambled eggs, serve with ham, bacon, or sausage.

I don’t collect coins, or stamps, or tiny figurines….I collect wine corks.  I love wine corks, the real ones not the synthetic kind.  I think they look cool and I love how they are small but each one is defferent, decorated with the winery’s name or label.   I have been collecting them for years and one of the great things about them is their uses.  You don’t just have to dump them in a bowl, you can actually make usefull stuff out of them and it looks really pretty!

My first project was a “Cork” board that I made a couple of years ago.  It hangs in my kitchen and yes, I actually use it as a bulletin board.

All you need are:

•  A pretty frame (it needs the glass in it or you could glue an empty frame to some particle board.)  This one was actually a bulletin board that I found at Homegoods.
• Various wine corks
• Hot glue

I made a pattern the corks going two by two horizontally and then vertically.

Once you have your pattern all figured out (fill the entire board before using any glue), start gluing.  Glue corks on, in their pattern, one at a time until board is full.

I’ve saved up more corks and I can’t wait to start some new projects!  On the list:  a trivet and a wreath!

Today we dyed pasta to string on neclaces…we are making Mardi Gras beads!  It is easy to do but you need a full 24 hours for the pasta to be ready for use.

What you need:

•   Pasta
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Food Coloring
• Glass Jars

Directions:

1. Pour pasta into the glass jars leaving enough room for the pasta to move around.
2. Add in food coloring (I let the kids do this part so they added quite a bit)
3. Pour in a tablespoon or two of rubbing alcohol-enough to cover the bottom of the jar
4. cover tightly with lids
5. shake jars until pasta is completely covered
6. Leave the jars closed for several hours (we left ours for about 8 hours) making sure to shake them every so often to keep the pasta evenly coated.
7. Pour the pasta out onto paper towels and let dry over night

I am so excited that we tried this and that it was so easy!  I see endless crafting possibilities in our future

***WORD OF CAUTION:  The smell of the Alcohol when the pasta was spread out onto the towels is VERY strong.  I had all of the kitchen windows open and ended up taking them outside for about an hour and then switch the alcohol soaked paper towels for dry ones when I brought them back in.

My daughter came home with a note a couple weeks ago saying that they were having a Valentine’s Day party in her Kindergarten class and that she needed to bring 31 Valentine’s for her class mates.  My son’s preschool is also having a “friendship” party to celebrate and he needs 20 Valentines.  The catch?  The teachers requested that there be no candy in them.  NO Problem! I’ve got this!

I’ve always preferred making Valentines to buying them and this year we get to be extra creative.  Here are 10 Candy-free adorable Valentines for the kids to give to their friends.  Some we came up with, and others were found on various blogs.

Peyton chose pencils and erasers for her classmates and we made these:

You’re Just “Write” for me!

I printed out the message on cardstock and used a cookie cutter to trace the heart around it.  We cut out the hearts and used a hole-punch to make the holes for the pencils to slide it.  Really easy!

 Preston, the Cars fanatic, will be handing out these to his preschool friends:

You make my Heart race!

For these we used plain white cardstock cut into small squares and I drew the road with markers.  Preston place the heart stickers on them so he could be a part in ‘making’ them.

And I made these little apple packs to send to school with the P’s for their snack:

You are the Apple of my eye!

Here are some other super cute Valentine gifts that I found:

“Doh” you want to be my Valentine?  From The Wilson World

Happy Valentine’s Day Love Bug!  From Dandee Designs

Our class would “knot” be the same without you!  Also from Dandee Designs

You make my heart Glow!  From The Teacher Wife

You make my heart bounce!  From The Crafting Chicks

I’m Wild about you!  From Disney’s Family Fun

Will you O’fish’ally be my Valentine?  From Tammy Mitchell Photography

Remember that cheap and easy DIY Haunted Tree Centerpiece we made for Halloween?  Well, we’ve made one for Valentine’s Day too!

I’ve been wanting to re-use the vases from this centerpiece for a while and after making my Sweetheart Votives I had an idea.  Glass Vases + conversation hearts candy +  silk tulips!  For easter I think I’ll just swap out the conversation hearts for jelly beans.

I made these on a whim after wandering the Dollar Tree looking for some cheap crafting inspiration.  My total cost for supplies ended up being $2.16!  The votive candles came in a two-pack and the conversation hearts candies were 4 box-packs.  All I needed was a hot glue gun and about 10 minutes to finish the project.

This morning when I was getting my daughter ready for school she requested a “Tangled” braid.  We did 3 braids total.  With her hair parted just to the side (her natural part) I braided two small ‘half’ braids.  I then gathered the two small braids in the back together with the rest of her hair and did one long braid down her back.  We decorated with flower clips that are part of my hair accessory line from Too Tutu Cute.