Tag Archives: glue

Dec8

Simple Christmas Card Ideas – Part 2

Posted on December 8, 2014 by thestick81

Christmas craft that doubles up as a math lesson! Hehe.

This activity really doesn’t require much explanation. All you need is some paddle pop sticks, sharp scissors or secateurs, some craft glue and card stock. Work out how tall you want your tree. If you want to make a pattern, decide on that now too. We just went random. Measure out on the sticks 1cm, then 2cm on the next one, 3cm and so on. Cut the sticks where you have marked them. Set them out on the table then add a generous amount of glue to your card, stick them down and you’re done!

We added a little green tree trunk to ours too, but that is optional. You could also add some other little squares of stick as decorations if you wanted.

: What you need.

: Work out the height of your tree for the card.

: Measure out each stick

: Cut the sticks

: Add a generous amount of glue to your card.

: Glue the pieces down.

: Allow to dry.

: Paddle pop Christmas Tree.

Paddle pop Christmas Tree.

Dec7

Simple Christmas Card Ideas, Part 1.

Posted on December 7, 2014 by thestick81

Standard

Here’s a simple card decoration idea that doubles up as a fine motor activity.

For all the card projects this year I am using plain black card stock. They were $2 for a pack of 12 at a $2 shop.

For this project you will need some coloured paper or thin cardboard, craft glue and any decorations you like (we kept it simple with an angel sequin)

Trace out a tree shape on the back of one of the pieces of paper.

Fold the other coloured paper in half to double it over then bring all 3 pieces together and cut along the outline so you end up with 3 identical shapes.

Using a pencil draw some lines across the back of one of the trees. Then tear carefully along the lines as demonstrated by Ms5

Cover the other colour tree completely with glue, then stick down every second piece of torn paper.

Allow to dry and secure to your card stock 🙂

Torn paper christmas tree.

Christmas paper

Trace out tree

hold pages together for cutting

identical trees

draw lines on back of one tree.

tear along lines

ripping paper

glue down.

Torn paper christmas tree.

Mar2

Cardboard Roll Easter Chicks – Kids Easter Craft.

Posted on March 2, 2014 by thestick81

Standard

Cardboard Roll Easter Chicks – Kids Easter Craft.

I’d like to say I came up with this all on my own, but that would be a lie. Ms5 and I made some owls inspired by this post from Kerrys Craft Blog. It was from this concept that I came up with these easter Chicks. I thought the fact you can hold eggs or treats in them was ideal for an easter craft project.

All you need is some coloured paper, cardboard rolls, tape and glue. You can make them just as cute without the feathers, goggly eyes and pipe cleaners, but if you have some of those handy, you could use them like we did too. The main difference between these and the owls is that the top and bottom folds are in opposite directions to each other, so the head comes to a peak in the middle rather than making two ears like the owls have. The rest of the instructions can be found by running your curser over or clicking on the photos below.

This is how you fold the ends in, but first, cover your roll with coloured paper.

If you are adding legs, secure them in before folding the bottom in, with tape or hot glue.

Attach the head feather to the inside of the top of the roll before folding it in.

Ms5 cutting out the paper circles using a 1″ punch.

Starting at the bottom, run some glue or double sided tape along and attach your first row of paper circles.

Work your way up in layers with the paper feathers then attach eyes and a beak. We made this beak from pipe cleaner, but paper looks good too.

Cut down some feathers to make little wings.

Attach the feather wings with hot glue or double sided tape

We also attached a tail to the back.

Cut a small sec on of pipe cleaner then twist it around let to make a foot shape.

Fill with eggs or just use as decorations.

Easter Chicks. Paper craft.

Feb28

Bugs and Bees and Butterflies! So Sweet!

Posted on February 28, 2014 by thestick81

Standard

Bugs and Bees and Butterflies! So Sweet!

Check out these cute bugs the girls at All Tizzied Up put together on the weekend. Made from pipe cleaners, pom poms, wooden pegs, goggly eyes and tulle. So simple and so cute!

They have kindly taken step by step photos so you can be inspired too, to create your own colouring creepy crawlies.

Jan13

Toddler Craft, Bottle Cap Beetles

Posted on January 13, 2014 by thestick81

Standard

Here’s a cute fine motor activity for the little ones using recycled objects from around the home. Made by All Tizzied Up over the school holidays.

Hover over or click on the images below for more details.

Bottle caps of your choice, craft glue, a round piece of card board or plastic, pipe cleaners and goggly eyes

Let the kids glue the caps all over the circle shape

Glueing bottle caps

Glue goggly eye into caps at the top.

attache pipe cleaner or paddle pop legs using PVA or hot glue

Attache ribbon to hang

Nov16

Pine Cone Christmas Tree Decorations

Posted on November 16, 2013 by thestick81

Standard

Yep, it’s that time of year again kids. I can deny it all I like, but that doesn’t help at all. I am disgustingly unprepared this year, but don’t really have the time to care, I am sure I will pull it all together in time. I do however, have time to think about some Christmas projects, YAY! So this very simple Idea should have probably taken a single afternoon, but things have been so hectic around here lately it took several afternoons over a week. It didn’t really turn out as well as I had imagined, but they are still pretty cute, and we have plenty of left over cones to make something else out of when inspiration hits me.

The shaggy wool (I’m sure it has a real name) was $2 a ball. There was wayyyy more than we needed in each colour. I just used cheap spray paint, Mr 8 did the first few coats then I went back and got the bits he missed. I tried sticking on some plastic ‘diamonds’ for extra sparkle, but you can’t really see them. We all had a go at wrapping the wool into the cone, then I gave them a hair cut to tidy them up. Simple as that!

: Mr8 Spray painting the pine cones

: gluing on some bling with hot glue

: Ms4 wrapping around the wool

: Before the hair cut / tidy up

: Finished pine cone trees.

: Christmas Tree Craft

Nov13

Autumn Tree, Family Craft Activity

Posted on November 13, 2013 by thestick81

Standard

This week I am excited to feature a project from a local crafty mumma from All Tizzied Up . She and her gorgeous girls have brought nature and some textiles together to create a colourful fall themed wall hanging.

They have gathered up some bark and leaves and painted the leaves while still fresh using acrylic craft paint. The paint has slowed down the drying out process and kept them supple so they don’t crack through the next few steps. The rest if fairly self explanatory, or run your mouse over each picture for more details.

Some lovely leaves and bark

MissM paints the leaves

Blue leaves

MissM starts gluing on the bark to the trunk

First layer of bark complete

Coat with a thick later of PVA glue

Dust over PVA layer with saw dust or dirt for texture

Start gluing on the leaves

Alternating colours for effect.

The leaves

Coat with another thick layer of PVA as a sealant.

Allow to dry.

Colourful Tree!

Once all the collage was together, mum then filled in the surrounds of the tree with blue paint and there you have it.

Sep22

Halloween Toddler Craft, DIY Treat Boxes

Posted on September 22, 2013 by thestick81

Standard

Halloween Toddler Craft, DIY Treat Boxes

I know many Australians still have not accepted Halloween, ‘it’s a silly American tradition’, even though it is not American, but anyway, they really should, because it is heaps of harmless fun and the kids love it. Our new neighbourhood really gets into it, I think I enjoy it more than Christmas!

But of course, it’s not just about the dressing up and lollies, halloween craft is lots of fun too. Maybe it’s because I am new to it, but it seems so much more fun than Easter and Christmas craft. Today I just did a simple project with the little kids as the older 2 were not home. I had another idea in my head, but have decided to keep that for later in the school holidays. I am hoping to get quite a few Halloween themed projects in over the next 2 weeks while the kids are off.

I cut out some Halloween shapes in the potatoes while Ms4 gathered the paint and plastic plates. The boxes were just from the grocery store, but they are available at many places, $2 shops etc. We had to allow each side to dry before doing the other side, as you need to apply pressure for best results, rather than trying to stamp the assembled boxes. Once both sides were dry we applied another coat of glitter paint, and some embellishments, again, one side at a time. The weather was nice today so the whole project only took a couple of hours even while waiting for things to dry.

Cut in your shape with a sharp knife, around 5mm deep.

then cut in from the sides until you hit the cut out,

Paint, boxes (or what ever you want really) potatoes.

Ms4 stamping away.

Ms4 adds some glitter paint.

Allow first side to dry.

Everything is better with googly eyes!

Add extra detail with a marker if desired.

I am pretty happy with the results. Would have liked some different coloured boxes for variety, and was disappointed we are out of black paint for the bats, but over all, not bad for an afternoons work.

Jul27

Upcycled CDs. Sun Catcher.

Posted on July 27, 2013 by thestick81

Standard

We were having a clean out of old computer stuff and were about to throw away a pile of old discs, but I decided those shinny little things must be good for something else? So after a bit of thinking, I came up with yet another sun catcher idea. Anyone would think I like sparkly things? It took me ages to work out what to cover, a sphere didn’t seem practical as the CD pieces are flat obviously, so after some uhmming and arrring, I decided wooden cubes were the best solution. The lovely man at the local hardware was kind enough to give me some 3″ x 3″ off cuts for free. The rest of the instructions are on the pictures. I just used clear drying craft glue to attach the CD chips to the wood and the grout is standard bathroom tile grout mixed according to instructions, available from any hardware (we had some left over from the laundry renovation).

Recycled DVD / CD Sun catcher

Gather your old CDs, DVDs the more different colours the better.

Cut ’em up! Tin snips, side cutters, or seceteurs as I have.

Munched up CDs!

Drill hooks into each corner of the wood, placing a fishing swivel between, so they can spin freely in the wind.

Some white paint to enhance the colour of the glass tiles

Stick on the pieces covering as much area as you can.

Make some grout, following instructions on pack.

Dollop on the grout

Smooth over with a spatula (instructions for tiles suggest a squeegee)

Remove as much excess as you can, then allow to set for an hour or more (weather conditions will vary this time)

Use a dry or every so slightly damp sponge, remove more of the excess once it has set to a powdery consistency.

Let set over night. Then wash off any excess dust.

Finished product.

Sun Catcher. CD / DVD

Recycled DVD / CD Sun catcher

Upcycled CDs.

Sun catcher / Disco Cube!

Hang on display

Sun Catcher. CD / DVD

Mar3

Easter Craft, Cute Little Chicks.

Posted on March 3, 2013 by thestick81

Standard

Another very wet weekend has resulted in craft overload in this house. Today we made some little chickens. We will call them Easter Chicks, but they could really just be birds and would still be just as cute! All we used was some small styrofoam balls, paint, google eyes a pack of feathers and a few different glues and double sided tape. Oh, and some of those pre stuck felt shapes. First we put the balls on a skewer to hold them up to paint. The paint, like everything at the moment, took forever to dry, even under the ceiling fan. Then we added the eyes and beaks. It was a bit of trial and error with the glue, as some glue dissolves the styrofoam. But we got there eventually, with some scrap booking glue.

Glue on eyes.

For the beak, we just cut off petals from a foam flower sticker (which you will see further on). We used several different methods to make the wings. For thicker wings I folded over a feather from the centre, and secured both sides together with some double sided tape. This worked well, but was a lot of fiddling around and you could see the tape through some, which I was not happy with. Others I just cut away one side of the feather, to make it more a wing shape. Then for the crazy birds I just stick the feathers straight in the side, to make them look like they were running. Way cute! Twisted some pipe cleaners to make legs and we were done.

Ms 4 wanted to make a nest for them, so I grabbed some sugar cane mulch and let her build one outside, she then sprinkled a few flowers around which I thought was a great idea, so told her to get more.

The coloured eggs are from another project we did this weekend, I will post more on them tomorrow. They finished it off nicely though I think.

Mr 8 making the stand ready to paint

First step, painting.

All the painted balls

Ms 4 putting glue on for the eyes.

Ms 4 positioning the eyes

Glue on eyes.

Let the eyes dry.

The feather sections as used on each bird, (wing wing tail)

double sided tape method

once folded

tape wing stuck to chick

Make some legs from pipe cleaners.

Bird on a stick

Hey there chubby legs

Mummy Hen

Running Chick!

Easter Chicks

The nest

Pink Chick

Little hatchling

Peek-a-boo

Easter Chickens

Easter Chicken craft

Mr 2 and Ms 4 playing with the chicken family.

Dec14

Easy Toddler Craft, Christmas Reindeer

Posted on December 14, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

How cute are these? Mr 7s year 6 buddy made him one for Christmas. I had to give them a go with the little ones.

Super simple and we had everything lying around the house (I will admit I do buy wooden pegs just for craft, they are not much good for hanging out washing!)

We started off painting them assembled, but that was just silly. Paint all the bits first, THEN assemble once they are dry.

Add some eyes, a red nose and some pipe cleaner antlers.

We even made a baby one with the mini craft pegs and mini paddle pop sticks.

: What you need

: The ‘skeleton’

: painting the reindeer

: painting the reindeer

: adding the eyes

: adding the nose

: The reindeer family

: Reindeer eating some hay

: Playing the the grass

: Reindeer Toddler craft

: Reindeer baby

: Christmas craft

Dec12

Home Made Christmas Cards – Kids Craft

Posted on December 12, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

Unlike most of our projects, where I get inspired by Pinterest or something else, I actually thought this up myself!

Really easy messy fun for all ages. Just take some coloured paper and draw some simple Christmas shapes. If drawing is not your thing, trace around some cookie cutters.

Cover inside the outline with a thick layer of craft glue. Smear around with a paintbrush or a finger tip if you don’t mind getting sticky.

Then sprinkle christmas theme sequins randomly over the glued area. Try to cover the outline as much as possible too.

When you can’t see much of the paper within the shape, give it a light shake. Then drizzle some more glue over the top to hold down any loose ones.

Allow to dry. We left them for 24 hours.

Once dry, Use some large sharp scissors, cut around the shape. If you can’t see the outline on the front, just follow the lines that went through the page as demonstrated above.

Once the shapes are cut out, we added some double sided mounting tape (commonly used for scrap booking) to give them a slightly more 3D effect on the card, but you could just use standard double sided tape or glue.

Position on the cards as you please, and there you have it. Sparkly Christmas cards. Mini ones of these would also make cute Gift Tags. Just line the other side with another piece of paper to write on and use a hole punch to make somewhere to secure with ribbon.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

: Cover with a thick layer of glue

: spread glue around

: Sprinkle heavily with sequins

: Covering with sequins

: Drizzle another thin layer of glue all over

: Allow to dry thoroughly.

: Once dry, cut out the shape

: Cutting out the shape

: The cut out shapes.

: Mounting tape.

: Finished product

: Finished cards,

: Hanging up.

Dec10

Christmas Cards, Kids Craft

Posted on December 10, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

I couldn’t get my hand on any decent glitter paint pens to finish these, so this is just part one of the process.

To make these decorated cards, all you need is a hot glue gun, strips of wrapping paper, card and either some large buttons or as we used, some plastic jewels.

Cut strips of Christmas paper, approximately 3 – 4 cm wide and 30 – 40cm long. Fold back and forth to create a zig zag, approximately 1cm wide. As demonstrated by Mr 7 below.

Once folded the whole way to the end, glue both ends together. You can get the kids to do this with craft glue, but I chose to use the glue gun as it dries so much quicker.

Once the glue has dried, put a circle of hot glue onto the card where you want to place your decoration

Carefully turn the paper in at one side and out on the other, to create a flower type shape. Trying not to let it all go at the same time as you can see on the right above. The first one is the hardest!

Then cover the back of your jewel of button with hot glue and place in the centre. Repeat until you have as many decorations on each card as you like. You can experiment with different thicknesses of paper to create bigger and smaller ones.

Dec3

Quick Kids Craft – Christmas Themed

Posted on December 3, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

Mr 7 actually came up with this by himself. He was not home when we did the leaf pictures, but he used that idea for inspiration.

Some craft glue, a marker, coloured paper, leaves and flowers and a brush.

I drew the basic outline for him, while he and Ms 3 collected some fine leaves and flowers from the garden.

Spread the paint into the area you want to cover.

Then he painted the glue on.

and start sticking

The finished product.

Too easy! Next time we might frame them. Or cut out the shape and put it on some different coloured backing.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

: Some craft glue, a marker, coloured paper, leaves and flowers and a brush.

: Spread the paint into the area you want to cover.

: and start sticking

: Ms 3 and Mr 7 sticking on the flowers and leaves

: The finished product.

Nov30

Christmas Craft – DIY Bauble Tree

Posted on November 30, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

I had been wanting to make one of these for years. And this year, we did! I purchased a large piece of card from the newsagent for $1.50 and cut out a half circle (i just used a piece of string to make a giants protractor). Secured with some tape and we are ready to roll

The little ones had the job of pulling off the strings and clamps, Mr 2 thought that way great fun.

I knew that hot glue gun would come in handy one day. This is the day. Mr 7 demonstrates.

Start at the bottom and work your way up. We did red purple alternations with every 5th ball gold. Trying not to put the same texture finish beside each other, but it becomes difficult to avoid

This is the back side where things don’t quite meet up. If I was to make another one, I would be more conscious of the size and make sure it fits the balls around perfectly – however, all is not lost as you can see next.

Once all the balls are stuck down start inserting the tinsel between the cracks. I actually ended up using 10 meters (30ft) of this thin tinsel. I didn’t imagine it would require that much. The tinsel hides any ‘mistakes’ very nicely.

And there you have it. It really needs a bigger star, but over all I am happy with the results.

You can buy similar things pre made at Kmart for $12, but where is the fun in that? All up the project cost around $16.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Nov19

Christmas Kids Craft, Flat Christmas Tree Decoration.

Posted on November 19, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

Christmas Kids Craft, Flat Christmas Tree Decoration.

So our rainy weekend craft continued into Sunday afternoon. We started making Christmas decorations!

Materials; scrap card, and any shiny, sparkly or pretty things you have on hand! We had a pack of Christmas themed sequins from last year that came in handy

We just used a plastic cup to trace around, leaving a small section for the top of the bauble.

We all decorated 2 each. Some of the decorations had sticky stuff on the back, others required glue. The kids made sure they used 500 times more glue than they needed – as you’d expect.

Due to excess glue, we left them over night to dry. Yes, all that white stuff is glue.

Draw half the tree

Using a large piece of card board ($1.50 from a news agent), draw the silhouette of one side the tree, starting at the top of the page to get the most out of your $1.50

Fold over and cut out the tree to create a symmetrical shape.

Fold the card over and cut along the line, so both sides are identical.

Fold in half down the centre of the tree and cut along outline, to create a symmetrical tree. Or, if you’re not OCD about that kind of thing like me, just draw a tree and cut it out!

Loosely position everything to make sure it fits, then start sticking. We used double sided photo mounting tape so we didn’t have to wait even longer for glue to dry. The tinsel is stapled at each edge.

And there you have it!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Nov16

Easy Toddler Craft – Leaf Animals.

Posted on November 16, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

Inspired by ABC Play School. Today we made leaf animal pictures. It was super easy with minimal mess.

Layla cuts some leaves off our pot plant

DD3 cuts some leaves from our garden.

What you need.

What you will need; Some coloured paper, leaves, marker pens, craft glue and scissors (craft eyes optional)

Draw some simple animals to add the leaves too, like this bird.

Draw the outline of some simple shapes on the paper using your makers.

Glue on the best shaped leaf for the job!

Start gluing on the leaves that best suit the picture.

We used the same leaf configuration each time to finish off this bird.

We used the tips of a China doll branch to create this picture.

Adding the finishing touches.

Adding some boggle eyes, because every kids loves those (ok, and maybe I do too)

One of my favourites

The finished products

The finished masterpieces, drying on a flat surface.

All dried and ready for display.

All dry and ready to display.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Oct2

Halloween craft for the kiddies

Posted on October 2, 2012 by thestick81

Standard

Another Pinterest inspired craft activity. Ours may not have turned out as well as theirs, but it was fun no less. Well, if you ignore the tonne of glitter that is brightening up the garden, house and every other surface within a 1 kilometre radius. I recommend you do this one outside!

Styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners, boogly googly eyes, pva or craft glue, black felt or card board, dress making pins to secure the wings.

Coat the balls with a thin even layer of glue using a paintbrush. Sprinkle a generous amount of glitter onto a disposable plate, roll ball until completely covered. Use a little more glue to secure eyes in desired position.

Samples of bats.

: Styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners, boogly googly eyes, pva or craft glue, black felt or card board, dress making pins to secure the wings.

: Every night sky needs a moon. We just made this with some recycled card board, glue and glitter.

: Coat the balls with a thin even layer of glue using a paintbrush. Sprinkle a generous amount of glitter onto a disposable plate, roll ball until completely covered. Use a little more glue to secure eyes in desired position.