T-shirt Scarf

I went to a craft night, the other night, at my sisters house.  We made scarfs out of t-shirts.  I saw one on Pinterest that I really liked.  Oddly enough I even had a t-shirt that was almost the same color.

(I wish I could get a better picture.  If I do I'll repost it)

It was so simple, I cut my shirt in 1" strips, tied 1 end together, braided, and then attached the two ends together and took a little strip cut from my t-shirt to cover the combined ends.

Not much of a scarf for warmth, but very stylish. I was so excited to wear it!

Caterpillar

I was watching my neice and nephew one day, and while the little kids were sleeping I wanted to do a craft with the older two.   We made caterpillars out of pom poms and a popsicle stick.
Supplies needed:

I did one with the kids to help show them how to do it.  They each were given a popsicle stick and a plate with glue on it.  They dabbed the pom poms into the glue and placed on the popsicle stick.  When they had the body all finished, I helped glue the googily eyes on.  Then I cut the pipe cleaner in 1/4's and we wrapped it behind the head to make the antenna. 

These were a lot of fun. They made 2 each.  Next time I think we would need to use more glue, they didn't quite stand up to the playing of 3 year olds.

I have seen cute blogs that have made the Hungry Caterpillar and that would be fun to do.  All you'd have to do is added the food! Who doesn't love the Hungry Caterpillar? :)

Hair bow

So I've decided that I'm no longer going to buy hair bows for Kinsley.  After looking at them, it's too easy to make my own.  One version that I have made is:

I had some little silver prong clips at home and bought a bunch of ribbon in the dollar section at Target.  I used hot glue to wrap the ribbon on the clip.  Then I just played around with making different bows until I made one that I liked and that was symmetric, and glued the center down.  I took a small piece of the same main ribbon and turned it inside out and covered the middle.

Jelly fish

Wow we do have a lot of rainy day crafts.  We made a jelly fish out of styrofoam bowls, ribbon, and marker.

Supplies needed:

2- styrofoam bowls

markers/ paint

ribbon- cut in a different lengths

string

paper clip

elmers glue

First decorate the out side of 1 of the bowls.  Then you want to take ribbon and glue them on the inside of that same bowl.  We glued closer to the bottom.  Then take the remaining ribbons (use different sizes) and glue them together.  Set those aside to dry.  

Then take your 2nd bowl and put glue all around the outside of it.  You then take the 1st bowl and set it on top. (Be careful not to get your ribbons in the glue)  

You then poke 2 holes in the top of both bowls (that's where you pull your string through) then take the paper clip and run the string in it and clip the cluster of ribbons in it.

This would be really cute to make a few and be able to make an aquarium.  I hope we get around to that. :)

Popsicle Airplane

Another one of mine and Parker rainy day projects was an airplane made from popsicle sticks.

I saw this craft on pinterest, but had to alter it slightly.  One way of doing it, was to paint the popsicle sticks.  Waiting for the paint to dry was going to take too long for our attention span.  So we colored them with markers instead.

Supplies needed:
1- clothes pin
3- popsicle sticks
markers
hot glue

You take your clothes pin and color that first.  After you color your 3 big sticks you then take one of them and cut it in half.  Then I took the hot glue gun and glued the 2 big ones to the front of the clothes pin and then glued the 2 little sticks to the back.
Another fun and easy craft!

Felt Flower

My sister and I have started to make headbands and hair clips.  One that I have made was the flower made from felt.  I saw it on Martha Stewart, and I embellished it with sequence in the middle.  I then attached a hair clip to the back.  It's one of my favorite flowers and takes about 10 mins to make.

I really like the color combo of charcoal gray and lime green.  I'm thinking about making more and doing a trio on a headband.

Cotton Ball Sheep

It was a rainy afternoon, so Parker and I made cotton ball sheep.  I couldn't get my printer to work so I had to hand draw the sheep for him.  I then put glue, on a plastic plate, for him to dip the cotton balls into glue and put on the body of the sheep

He loved it.  Great activity and not very messy!

Craft organizer

So I was constantly putting all of my craft supplies in different areas, keeping them in bags, and never able to find anything.   So I won't say it's 100%, but it's a start.  I have my before and after photo:

I bought a sweater holder in the dollar section at target for $2.50

Fruit Fly Trap

I saw this idea for a fruit fly trap and thought I'd give it a try.
So I took a piece of paper and rolled it up diagonally, put that in a magic bullet cup, and wrapped cling wrap around it.  I taped where the hole around the paper tube and the cling wrap met so they couldn't sneak out that.  I taped the cling wrap around the cup as well.  Put a piece of banana in the bottom and watch it fill up.

It's a lot less messy then some ways.

Sidewalk Paint

This was fun and so easy to make.  It only lasted for about 30 mins before they dumped the cups. :)
I used a muffin pan and put styrofoam cups in it.  Then you mix 1 C of water and 1C of cornstarch, and then put food coloring in the different cups.

Parker and Kinsley loved helping mix them.

Then I bought four brushes at Farm and Fleet for .50 each.  

 They had so much fun, I think we'll do it again tomorrow. :)
It's pretty messy though, so I hope it comes out of the clothes.

Clean microwave!

So great tip I found on pinterest.  To get a clean microwave, put a bowl with water and vinegar in for 5 minutes.  The steam will help loosen set in food.  After you take it out everything wipes off very easy, no scrubbing.

What a difference paint can make

I am so proud at my new front door.  What a change just a coat of paint can do (or 2).  Now I just need to get time to finish the rest of the painting of my house.

Love!

Curtains

I have made most of the curtains in my house.  I thought that would be a nice way to save money, and then I learned it can actually be more expensive to make your own than it is to buy them.  It's a nice way to get just want you want though.  So for Parker's room:

Kinsley's room, I had to be creative with the top, because the length wouldn't be long enough, so I used ribbon:

The ones in my kitchen turned out best.  I used a sturdier fabric:

Next will be ruffle curtains for our bedroom :)

Chore Chart

So I've been thinking about giving Parker a chore chart for a while now.  I know he's 3, but this is just a reminder for him on daily things that he can do.

I thought this would be a good way to help him remember to do these.  Charts work very well with Parker.  We used a sticker chart for potty training, and for nap time and bed time( to make them a little easier).
I put at the bottom the days of the week.  For each day that he does all of his "chores" he get a smiley face.  When he gets 5 smiley faces in a week he will either get a special treat or we will go do something fun.
I put the list inside of a picture from so that way we can write on it with dry erase marker and be able to rub it off as well.  (trying to save paper)
I by all means don't expect perfection, but this is a good way to help remind me to get him doing these things daily.
Something very simple, but can be very rewarding to a 3 year old to make him feel more independent. :)

paper airplanes

So, I have a friend who has a 3 1/2 year old son and is having a hard to thinking of things to craft with him. I know that one of his favorite things are air planes, and I thought of the idea of checking out a book that will tell you different ways to make paper airplanes.  I thought that would be a fun project and he could decorate them and keep them in his room.
If I get around to creating this idea, I will post pictures at a later time.

Ugly Monsters

My son is afraid of just about everything, one being monsters.  So I decided I was going to make him his own monster.  I told him, "Now with having your own monster that means no others can come by you."  I saw some really cute ones and thought to myself, 'Hey i could totally make that'.  Again this is one of those projects that I thought to myself, 'what am i getting myself into.'
I did it in 2 nights.  The first night was the cut out.  I used left over fabric from the Bam Bam Halloween costume I made 2 years ago, and some from baby receiving blankets.  The second night I sewed the monster.  I took me about 1 1/2 hours to sew.  I am by no means a professional sewing.
Here is my finished monster.

As you can see Parker loves his monster.  However he does still come in my room at night.  But it was well worth making it. 

Now I need to make one for Kinsley :)