EARTH DAY Jump-rope Project

Do you have just short of a million of these lovely balled up plastic bags like I do hanging around your house? I may stuff them into a cutesy cloth bag that neatly hangs in my coat closet where they are easily pulled out the bottom one by one but it doesn't make the fact that I have way too many of these laying around!

So when my daughter's school sent home an "optional" earth day project I was more than excited! I ran to Pinterest to find something a little off the beaten path for recycling projects and loved this jump-rope idea! My daughter will jump-rope through the house when she goes to brush her teeth, or goes to the table to eat dinner, or just to try new tricks and combinations. She jump-ropes outside, she jump-ropes at school and I think by now you get why I loved this project for her! The directions where I found it were a little vague so I thought I'd make my own little post with what I found out.

You first being by cutting off the handles. Next you cut down the sides of the bag stopping when you reach the bottom so you can unfold it into a big rectangle. Then just cut strips. Make them a couple inches because we learned if they are too thin they tend to rip apart and tear during the process.

Once you have lots of little strips tie about 6 or 7 of the strips end to end. Repeat this until you have 9 long strips. My daughter is 7, a little short for her age and we did 5 strips and it was a little short. Still useable but short so depending on the age and height of your child add or take away strips. You need the strips to be quite a bit longer than needed because you will braid them together and they will shorten. Remember you can always cut extra off!

Once all the long strips are made gather all the strips even on one end and tape with duct tape to secure. Next tie it or rubber band the end on the top of a chair, similar to how you would safety pin friendship bracelets to make it easier to work with.

Once secured to a chair gather into three groups of three, and braid. This is where I realized that although this project boasted it was for little kids (my daughter is seven and very crafty) the strips were so long that I had to braid it slowly to keep all the strips seperated and from tangling. And be careful not to step on the strips - they will rip easily!

Braid it all the way down as tightly as you can, tucking in as many tied ends as possible. Don't worry, some will escape but you will just cut those escapees off when you are done.

Once you reach the end fold over the plastic a couple inches to make it nice and thick and secure and duck tape ends to resemble handles. Finally snip off those fly-aways and voila! Homemade jump-rope that cost you a couple strips of duck tape!

So good luck, have fun creating and Happy Earth Day! (a couple days late)

Thanksgiving Placemat Craft: Indian Corn

Every year our teachers make place mats for our school wide Thanksgiving Feast! Last year took a lot of work as I had the toddlers make a TON of yellow, red and brown dots to make Indian Corn. I was determined to find an easier place mat for young toddlers this year. I accomplished my task!! Check out what I found:

 

 

This is one of the place mats we made this year. The outside are simple pattern sponge rollers you can find at most teacher or craft stores. I did 2 or 3 each of the different patterns. One was polka dots, one was a plain stripe and so on. Some I did all four sides and some just the outsides. It's up to you!

 

The main part of it is the kids hand print. You can trace their hand and cut it out or you can capture the actual hand print as I did by painting their hands yellow and making a hand print on a plain white piece of paper. Then cut out around their hand print. Next take a hole punch to some dark and light brown paper and glue sporadically onto their cutout hand. I free handed the simple corn stalk out of green paper and the banner out of yellow. I even outlined the yellow banner myself with a sharpie marker. Then I personalized with their name and the year.

 

SO SIMPLE yet so pretty and a great keepsake for years to come! Make sure and laminate or the food will ruin them!

Easy to Make Kid Chore Charts

 

I must first of all give credit where credit is due and also brag on my sister-in-law who is the amazingly talented person behind my babies beautiful and fun chore charts!

She found the instructions for this chore chart off a blog, which no, she couldn't remember or I would have a link for you! However it is pretty basic - just takes some time and your own spin of creativity.

 

It starts with a simple wood board, which I believe you can find at Hobby Lobby. You then pick whatever scrapbook paper you want to be the design of your board. You need 2 12x12 to fit the width. Line the papers up to match exactly at the edges and then cut to fit 2/3 of the top of the board and glue down. Next have a solid colored paper that pairs well with your design paper and do the same to cover the bottom 1/3. Next paint a small piece of trim, any kind, any width you prefer and then using wood glue and clamps, glue the strip down the line of the connecting papers. Once dry, measure equal widths apart for your screw holes to go and at each point screw in a small hook. You may need to drill a smaller hole to start your screw, however the board is not thick so make sure you have control of the drill because you do not want to go all the way through!!

 

The last part is to go to your local hardware store and pick up 8 paint chips (those little cards that show you the color of the paint) again in a coordinating shade and when you get home find the cutest pictures on the Internet you can find and type the chore name above the picture, print out and glue onto your paint chips. Punch a hole in the top of the paint chip and hang on the small hooks. Oh and if you are so talented like my sister-in-law you can free hand the child's name (or buy scrapbook letters if it would avoid a panic attack at this point) and you can even add some stickers for embellishment (the 3-D raised ones look best I think - you know the ones with the foam sticker back).

 

I went a step further and attached pretty matching ribbon to the back to hang them up with! (Sorry that part isn't pictured here) 

 

You start the day with the chores showing and as they complete each chore the child flips it over to reveal their theme scrapbook paper (which I realized I forgot to mention that step...glue the same decorative scrapbook paper that is on the top of your board onto the back of the paint chips.) Okay NOW flip them over! Isn't that pretty?! The 2nd picture shows a completed chore chart and the 1st and last photos are how they look at the beginning of a new day.

 

You may even include weekend chores or every other day chores because the beauty is whatever chips are turned over your child knows they must do that day! They are fabulous and my kids think it's fun to turn their cards over, it gives them that sense of accomplishment.

Mother's Day kid's craft

 If you are looking for a quick and cute Mother's Day Gift here is a simple and cheap craft your child can do (with a little help from you depending on age)! Simply make a hand print on a terracotta pot using acrylic craft paint. Brighter colors tend to look better, or at least not a color in the same family as the red/brown because I tried a pretty cherry red (pictured below) and I didn't like it as well as the bright yellow you see above. But it's up to you of course.

Next take a Terracotta paint pen (sold at craft stores such as Michael's) or a paint brush and more acrylic paint and write the child's name on the rim of your pot.

I decorated the rest with dot decorations using the terracotta paint pens and they turned out so cute, simple and something any mommy would love. Then plant a flower! We chose Marigold's because there was this adorable Mother's Day poem that went with them and sadly I can't find it anywhere so it's not in this post :( However if I find it later I'll come back and add it in.

Hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Chocolate Pudding Art

For the beginning of October I'm having my students create a huge "Chocolate Pudding Pumpkin Patch" in our classroom! But I had never done the first and most important part of this art before, the chocolate pudding part! So I did mini versions at home with my own kids to have them test it out! They were all for it of course!

So first off you simply make chocolate pudding. My recipe called for 3 cups of milk but I'm not about to waste that much milk on something I'm not eating so I made it with 2 cups of water and 1 cup of milk so it would at least keep it's creamy texture. Once it's made you simply slop a little on some paper (I recommend card stock so your paper won't rip to pieces with the moisture). Then swirl around! I had a basting brush that has individual plastic strands that we used and it created beautiful swishes and swirls! However for my toddlers I had little plastic cars that are easy to clean that they drove through the pudding! And of course you always had a couple of them that were far more interested in painting with their hands so they could then lick the remains off! This is the beauty of this art project - it's safe if your baby attempts to eat the paint!

Here was my daughter's painting. The first one, pictures above, was my son's.

And this was mine! Took about 5 seconds to make. Now if they're older and you are trying to make a more "accurate" pumpkin patch have them make straight lines of rows like a real field would be.


Next, since again this was a smaller version I found some print-outs online of scarecrows and pumpkins. My children picked which scarecrow they wanted and then they colored away! I also had them cut all of them out and glue them on their chocolate pudding (once it was dry). And their chocolate pudding pumpkin patch was complete:

My daughter's.

My son's.

My son wanted his taken in the window too :)

Now at my school each day was a different art project to add to our creation. First we did chocolate pudding art on a big sheet of bulletin board paper. The next day we sponge painted pumpkins. I used big star burst sponge brushes but any kind of sponge or other paint option will do!

Next came our scarecrows. I found a cute scarecrow and had each child water paint them. I was going to try to have them "water paint" with ice cubes but couldn't get the ice cubes made on time this year. Maybe next year.

Then just to make it look nicer I matted the kids pumpkins with some green paper. And then stick them all on your dry chocolate pudding!

For one and two year old kids - this was a BLAST! And they love it hanging in our room because they can point at them all day and you can go over and reiterate the names of each thing and the colors. As for my own kids smaller versions I'm probably hanging them on their bulletin boards or perhaps sending them to the grandparents as a "Happy Fall" picture!

Either way or on either scale it's SO fun and your kids freak out a little when you hand them chocolate pudding to PAINT with!

A craft for the season - WHOO WHOO!

In case you couldn't tell by my lack of posts I'm working full-time now as a Day School Teacher of 1-2 year-olds. Yes insanity at it's best!! However I've had so much fun finding cute crafts for these little ones to do and the best part is that almost all of them can be altered to fit older kids too. Such as this owl craft.

For my little students I cut out the parts and they just glued them on. However for older kids, such as my own kiddos, I had them cut out their own pieces.

Here's what you'll need:
- Brown Paper Bag
- Brown Construction Paper
- White Construction Paper
- Orange Construction Paper
- Black Sharpie Marker (or regular black marker if older kids are doing it themselves)
- Scrap paper or old magazine
- Brown String
- Tacky Glue (or regular Elmer's but tacky seems to hold better)

And here's what to do:
1. Cut out a brown triangle that fits from one corner of the bottom of the bag to the other corner and the point goes down to the crease in the bag. (bag is still flat at this point, don't open yet). Glue on as the beak.
2. Cut out two white circles and glue on each side of beak.
3. With marker make a circle in the middle of the eye and then lines coming out from circle to edge of white circle.
4. Also with marker make V's all over bottom 2/3 of bag to make the owl's feathers.
5. Cut out two orange feet and glue on facing up the bag. once dry fold the bottom part down so they stick out like feet. You'll glue them on about 2/3 a way down the bag.
6. Wait for all glue to dry.
7. Open bag and using scrap paper or pages of old magazine have kids crumple up paper into balls and stuff bag a little more than 2/3 full.
8. Once nice and stuffed, gather the bottom of the bag and tie tightly with string. Bend up and towards the back to make a little owl tail.
(sometimes you have to work the bottom of the bag a bit to get it somewhat flat and the feet right once stuffed.) Oh and the one on the right was a trial owl - we learned that using yellow makes it look "duck-like" so I recommend the brown and orange :)

And voila! WHOO -WHOO -WHHHOOOOO!

A seasonal craft for you and your little one to enjoy!

Cute laterns for any occasion!

About a month ago I found this cute craft idea in a magazine. It was for the 4th of July and had the cutest star patterns on them but since I found it AFTER the 4th of July...I let my kids just have at them!

Start by filling two aluminum cans almost full of water and put them in the freezer (remember to remove any paper before doing this).

Next pick any pattern you like, or in my case just freehand it, since this was a quick project to keep the kids busy for a bit anyways! Take a nail and a hammer and nail holes to make your pattern in the can. The ice keeps the can from denting or folding under the pressure.

I highly recommend holding this freezing cold can between your bare feet. It felt fabulous! (Just in case you didn't pick up on the sarcasm in that...note now that I was being saracastic and please do not follow my example)

Once you are done nailing your pattern leave out in the hot sun until all the ice melts. You may need to hammer the bottom back in if it popped out due to the freezing.

Once all the ice is gone dry it very well! On the outside! Do NOT stick your hand in the can - the nail holes are extremely sharp! My husband found this out the hard way when I was busy and asked him to please dry the cans.

Next get out some paint and have at it! Again if you want a 4th of July do red, white or blue with star patterns or fireworks perhaps. For fall time or Halloween do a pumpkin shape with orange and black paint...you get the idea.

But remember this was a project for me to keep the kids busy and entertained so they just went at it with all kinds of colors!

Obviously this was my boy's.

And this was my girl's. Isn't it funny how they naturally pick those types of colors??

Then when the paint is dry, place them on an outdoor table or by a fun family game inviting guests to play by a soft warm glow!

Cute Easter Ideas: Goodies & a Craft

You know what is alright - a cupcake paper. And a cute one too! If you are looking for a cute Easter treat idea OR a beautiful homemade card you can make for family and friends then look no further!

First select a cute Easter cupcake paper or a bright green color would work good too for this cupcake creation. Here is the ingredients you'll need:

Cake Mix

Eggs

Vegetable Oil

Buttermilk

Robin Eggs Candy

Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla Frosting

Green & Yellow Food coloring

4 Black Jelly Beans (small ones, like Jelly Belly's)

White Circus Peanuts (or just cover the orange ones with white melting chocolate)

24 Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seeds

Oreo Cookies

Small Flower Sprinkles

Mini Marshmallows (4)

Light Corn Syrup

White NonPareils (sprinkles)

Ziploc Bags - a good sturdy kind like freezer bags

Mix up the cake mix using the same amount of vegetable oil, 1 Cup of buttermilk and 4 eggs. Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake for about 25 minutes if using a dark pan like stoneware. If not just follow box directions for cooking. While they are baking spoon 2 TBLS of chocolate frosting into the corner of a Ziploc bag, squeeze out the air and seal and set it aside.

And then if you are like me and can't find white circus peanuts go ahead and cover them with some white chocolate melting wafers!

Next take a handful of Oreo cookies and crush them completely down to crumbs. Call your little boy or girl into the room to pour the bag of crumbs and take the opportunity to use both hands to take a photo! hehe.

When the cupcakes are cooled completely - take four of them and cover with chocolate frosting. Next roll the tops in the crushed cookie crumbs until covered. These are your "holes" for your cute bunnies!

Next split the vanilla frosting in half and color one a dark green color while mixing green and yellow food coloring in the other half to make a brighter green (or cheat and buy the neon pastel food colors like I did).

I have to pause to apologize because at this point I got so into it and was just a truckin' through these that I forgot to keep taking pictures. However I will do you the honors of still walking you through it all! Aren't I nice?

Once you have both colors carefully place one color on one half and the other green on the other side so when you pipe it from the corner of the bag both colors come out at the same time. Once it's ready cut a small tip from the piping corner side of your Ziploc bag and then use a squeeze and pull technique to form grass on the remaining cupcakes. Squeeze and pull technique: simply placing the tip of the bag against the cupcake, giving a slight squeeze and then pulling the bag straight up and away to form a stiff peak with the frosting.

Then add small patches of flower sprinkles and robin's eggs candies around the grass cupcakes.

To make the bunnies feet take your circus peanut and cut them in half lengthwise - you just need the smooth side. For the pads of the feet cut your jelly beans in half also and pipe a small dot of chocolate frosting (from the frosting you earlier set aside) and place one half of your jelly bean on each foot. Then add three more dots at the top end of your feet and place the sunflower seeds with the pointy side pointing inward.

Last step is to roll your 4 mini marshmallows in the light corn syrup and then cover them with the white nonpareils. It worked easily for me to put both into small bowls.

Then you just place your feet together in their pairs on your dirt holes and give them each a fluffy tail! And I know no pictures to go by - but I DID at least take pictures of the finished product so in case you got lost on the last few steps just take a gander at the photos and hopefully you can figure it out!

WARNING: Undertaking this project may result in undesirable kitchen conditions.

HOMEMADE EASTER CARDS

These are super easy and quick! Just start out with some blank cards that you can find at Hobby Lobby. Draw three rounded rectangles on the top half of the paper, off set a bit. Have your kids finger paint dots (using their pointer finger) to fill the rectangles completely, even covering your light pencil lines too!

Next have them paint a straight stem down from each flower using a thin brush. Finally using a thicker brush have them make small leaves at the bottom of the stem by doing a quick short stroke starting at the very bottom and brushing diagonally up in both directions.

And voila! Just like that you have yourself some Texas bluebonnets! My kids are 4 and 5 and they did these ALL by themselves! The above picture is a card we did together (I painted most of this one to show them an example) and I added our initials at the bottom of the one we finger painted. However here is one they did all on their own:

There you go - a fun cupcake creation to do for a class party or perhaps a family Easter Egg Hunt and some pretty Bluebonnet cards to send to family this spring holiday and the day of Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!