Tag Archives: holidays

Feb3

Kids Valentine Craft, Love Heart Entrance – Bubble Painting.

Posted on February 3, 2014 by thestick81

We have done a bubble painting project before for Easter, it is so easy and the results are always cool, so we have tried it again this time just using pink. We also used some pink paper as well as the white, where as last time we just used white paper.

Valentine Door Hanging,

Again I cheated and printed out some heart shapes, rather than drawing them all just so all the sizes were consistent. You could obviously trace around a cookie cutter too, but hey, did I mention I am lazy? I didn’t really measure out the ingredients for the bubble paint, it really was a squeeze of dishwashing liquid, splash of food colouring and a splash of tap water. Then let the kids blow bubbles in the mixture until the bubbles come up over the top of the bowl. Get them to quickly place the paper gently over the bubbles and the patterns will transfer to the paper. Instead of cutting each shape out first this time, we did the painting then cut them out after they were dry. Then it was just a case of attaching them to some gift ribbon with tape. I stuck them to the wall with blue tac.

Ms5 and Mr9 blowing bubbles in the solution

Bubble patterns, left to dry.

Cut out and attach to some string with tape.

Bubble painting

Valentine Craft

Hearts on a string.

If you wanted to make these hang in a door way, it would be a good idea to paint both sides of the paper, so they can spin and still look pretty on both sides.

Jan13

Tin Can Garden Men! School Holiday Project

Posted on January 13, 2014 by thestick81

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Tin Can Garden Men! School Holiday Project

I must say I am quite jealous of all the projects the girls at All Tizzie Up are doing this holidays. I have been so swamped with work and other obligations I just haven’t had the time or energy to get any of the things I wanted to done. But that will change! In the meantime, I am very happy they are helping keep my blog active! Here is some cute little tin can men they made using recycled cans, wire, paint, beads and some bells.

Watch the slide show or click on the images for step by step instructions to make your own recycled can garden critters.

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Dec18

3 Easy Mini Christmas Tree Decorations

Posted on December 18, 2013 by thestick81

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My crafty mum friend at All Tizzied Up has been very busy putting together some Christmas Craft projects with the family. Thought we’d share for inspiration.

They created 3 different trees from styrofoam cone shapes using buttons, ribbon, felt, and every crafters favourite tool – a hot glue gun!

The felt tree was created by layering leaf shape felt pieces working from the bottom up, then decorating with plastic jewels.

This one is simply a case of measuring out same lengths or ribbon, fixing with hot glue, then twisting, gluing again. Glue 2 of these together to create a flower type shape and attach to the cone. Again, finishing with some jewels to look like ornaments.

The button one is covered in aluminium foil, before attaching buttons all over with hot glue.

So if you are wondering what to do this weekend before Christmas, maybe get out the craft supplies and get crafty with the kids. Would make a great addition and talking point for your Christmas table on Wednesday!

Dec5

Paper Plate Angel Garland – Christmas Craft

Posted on December 5, 2013 by thestick81

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Paper Plate Angel Garland – Christmas Craft

These are very easy to make and can be as fancy or as simple as you like.

I usually avoid glitter when doing craft. Sure it’s pretty, but after we use it, that stuff turns up all over the place for the next month. ‘The herpies of the craft world’ a friend of mine called it, I think she was right. But today I caved, because an angel needs her sparkle! Honestly, there was no template, just trial and error until I got the shape I was after. You can see the steps in the photos below. Double sided plates for the body would have made pretty dresses, but I couldn’t find any of those, so we stuck with white. Of course you could get the kids to colour them or even use a different colour glitter on the body too. But I was all glittered out after the wings alone!

Cut your plate something like this, that’s right, no pattern, trial and error was all I went by

Secure with tape or staples.

Apply a generous amount of hot glue to the bauble

Place on top of the body. Tie a ribbon around the neck once glue has dried to cover any mess.

Run some glue (we just used a glue stick) along the edges and sprinkle with glitter

Once the wings are dry, attach to the body.

Hang from a string

Christmas Angels

Paper plate craft.

Nov28

Easy DIY Christmas Table Centrepiece

Posted on November 28, 2013 by thestick81

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These were so quick and easy to make and I could not be happier with the results.

I picked up this wool a while back with nothing particular in mind, I just loved the colours. The styrofoam tree shapes are available just about anywhere at this time of year. These came from a $2 shop. However, there’s no reason you couldn’t just make a cone shape from cardboard and achieve similar results.

I tied a tight knot in one end to stop fraying, then pushed through the wool and down into the middle of the cone. Then gently began wrapping the knit around the top of the cone, before fastening again a few rows down so that it doesn’t spin off. Continue down the full length of the cone until you reach the bottom. Cut with enough room left over to tie another knot, then secure with a 3rd pin. Done!

What you need

Close up of the pre knitted wool

Pin fastening to the top, and again at the side

Fasten at the bottom

Wool Christmas Trees

Christmas Table Centrepiece.

Nov16

Pine Cone Christmas Tree Decorations

Posted on November 16, 2013 by thestick81

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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

Sep30

School Holiday Fun – Rainbow Spaghetti!

Posted on September 30, 2013 by thestick81

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I actually made this for the little 2, thinking it would keep them entertained for an hour while I got some work done. Turns out the older kids loved it too. Can’t really blame them, it feels cool and looks so pretty! I just used one standard pack of pasta, if you were doing this at a birthday party, you might want to use 2 or 3 for lots of kids. Separate into equal groups of as many colours as you have, then cook each pile at a time, rinsing the saucepan between colours. You don’t need a lot of water, so it heats up quick. The whole process only took about 30 minutes for 5 colours. More details if you run your mouse over the images. Enjoy.

Water, food colouring, pasta.

Add colouring, then pasta, cook as normal or a little less for firmer pasta

You don’t have to add oil, but it makes it extra slimy fun.

Ms4 having a play

Resisting the urge to eat it.

Sensory play,

School holiday entertainment.

Sep29

Halloween Craft For Kids, Finger Print Gift Tags

Posted on September 29, 2013 by thestick81

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Halloween Craft For Kids, Finger Print Gift Tags

I love finger print critters, and had never actually made them with my kids. So this seemed like the perfect opportunity. A bit of parent help is needed for the finishing touches, but there is plenty of steps the little kids can help with along the way. You can click on the pictures for more detailed instructions, but it is all pretty straight forward as you can see.

Cut up some coloured card. We used wiggly scissors.

Ms4 put holes in each piece of card

Getting into it.

Ms4 making some finger prints.

Finger printed cards

Adding the details,

Adding the eyes – because everything is better with googly eyes!

Mr3 adding some eyes #finemotorskills

Ms4 bundling up the lollies ready for string and tag.

Fastened with string and tag added

Halloween treats bags

Ready to give out.

All we used was some card, white paint, googly eyes (and some sequins) silver paint pen, ribbon, clear cellophane, and lollies to fill.

Aug20

Ten Tin Bowling! Recycled Cans – Toddler Activity.

Posted on August 20, 2013 by thestick81

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Ten Tin Bowling! Recycled Cans – Toddler Activity.

The hardest part of this project was collecting the cans! To make stacking easier, make sure all 10 cans are the same height. Obviously you don’t need to cover the cans with paper, but I think it made it a bit more fun. I just cut some scrap booking paper to size, fixed with tape, and they’re done.

Coloured paper cut to size

Secure with tape

Pretty cans.

Ready to bowl

Miss 4 setting up.

Mr2 having a go

Ms4 having a bowl.

Ten Tin Bowling

Recycled can

toddler activity

Gross motor skills

Easy toddler activity.

This activity develops hand eye coordination, cognitive and gross motor skills. Once you’ve had enough, the cans can just go into the recycling! The kids loved the noise they make as they smashed to the ground. Older kids could keep score and make a more competitive game out of it.

Mar10

Decorated Eggs, Easter Egg Dying and Decorating.

Posted on March 10, 2013 by thestick81

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Decorated Eggs, Easter Egg Dying and Decorating.

While we did the Tie Dying, I also started experimenting with a few other methods of colouring eggs using a home made dye using ingredients that almost everyone has already in their kitchen. These were some of the results;

These are obviously pretty straight forward. Dyed in a food colouring/vinegar/warm water mixture. Then a scrap booking embelishment stuck on. Would have preferred embellishments without the clear plastic behind them, but the craft shop didn’t have any like that and you can’t really tell from a distance anyway.

I love how these turned out. Just use leaves from the garden, lay over the eggs then cover with a stocking or pantyhose. I actually used some stocking I had on hand and didn’t even need to ruin them in the process. Dip dye for a few minutes and you’re done.

Crepe paper results

We actually discovered this dying method accidentally. After we had finished the Tie Dying from a previous post, we placed the eggs on this pre shredded crepe paper. Some of the eggs still had a bit of water in them from the boiling process, so when that ran out and wet the paper, the colour transferred onto the eggs! So I took it a step further, wet a hand full and covered them in it. The results are pretty cool I think!

The dying solution we used was 3 parts hot tap water to one part vinegar, with as much food colouring as you wanted, we only used about a teaspoon per large cup.

Some of the other patterns we created can be seen below.

Boiling in water, food colouring and vinegar (later discovered boiling is not actually necessary)

Some foam stickers to create patterns where the dye cant reach.

Trying to keep the eggs afloat to only colour one side – not very successful!

The leaf wrapped around egg within stocking prior to dipping in the dye solution

Leaf patterns

covering in crepe paper.

Wet crepe paper

Crepe paper results

Cant have a craft project without glitter? Yes, actually you can and you should

Egg decorating

Samples of some of the eggs we created

Egg Craft

Eggsperimenting with dying EGGS!

Feb12

Valentine Heart Activities for the Kids, with a side of FAIL!

Posted on February 12, 2013 by thestick81

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Valentine Heart Activities for the Kids, with a side of FAIL!

The concept here is very simple, so the results are totally worth it. Gather up any old crayons, or you could even buy new ones if you like, but with 4 kids in the house, we have plenty of old odd sets. Let the kids remove the paper (strengthening fine motor skills for the win!) and snap or cut into small enough pieces to fit in your desired mould. *make sure your mould is heat proof!

Heat the oven to around 120c, it really doesn’t need to be very hot. Place in the oven on another hard tray (like a pizza tray) because they will be super runny before they set again and you don’t want crayon spilt inside your oven – ask me how I know? If you do happen to spill a few drops, wipe it off with paper towel straight away, much easier to remove it while its still runny.

Once they are all fully melted, remove from the oven to cool. I put them in the fridge after a while, because I am impatient. Then just press them out of the moulds and you’re done.

And now for the fail. Originally I wanted to make crayon rings, for something a bit different on valentines day. So along with my heart tray, I ordered a ring tray. We were all set to go and excitedly looking forward to the results.

But alas, this tray must have been for the freezer only. I was sitting at my desk and thought ‘what is that smell’ walked to the oven to check and holey smokes! I opened the door quickly, at which point the lot burst into flames! So I threw some water on it in my panicked state. The results?

A house full of toxic smoke and a colourful mess to clean up! Oh dear. So please, learn from my mistake, make sure you check the temperature ratings!

Fill the moulds with small pieces of crayon

Mr 8. Cutting the crayons into smaller pieces.

Ready to go in the oven.

Quickly melting,

The melted down smaller than expected, so I topped them up with more.

The kids popped the cooled shapes out of the moulds

The finished products

Ms 4 with some samples

Making shapes

The original project

Ready to go in the oven.

5 minutes later

fail fail FAIL!

Jan25

Christmas Decorations, Easy Toddler Activity

Posted on January 25, 2013 by thestick81

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Christmas Decorations, Easy Toddler Activity

These really are too easy and turned out so well! I will be using this concept for some other projects as soon as more cookie cutters arrive.

We used a tupperware baking sheet under them, but I think any flexible non stick surface would do, (baking paper). Simply fill some metal or oven proof cookie cutters or moulds roughly 2 layers deep, and bake at around 180c. Keep an eye on them until they are all melted. The plastic beads we used did not emit any nasty smell and did not burn, even when I got impatient and turned the over up to 200c, however, make sure the area is well ventilated just to be on the safe side.

Try to pile the beads up in the middle slightly, but only leave them 1 high at the edges, to avoid any bits sticking to the sides higher than other areas (you can see where this happened on the small man) Once cooled, remove the cutter and there you have it. I ran cool water over them to cool them a bit faster and this didn’t damage the shiny finish at all.

The husband drilled some holes in the top for string, and there you have it.

We will make a stack of smaller Christmas coloured ones for the trees next year.

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Place the beads, trying to keep them at only 1 high around the edges

Green and red for the tree

Nice and flat and smooth edges

Once out of the oven,

Drilling the holes for string

Ms 4 showing off her man

You can see some sharp edges on this one where the beads were 2 high.

The finished 3d tree from jelly mould

In the sun

Catching the sun light

Pink baby

Dec12

Home Made Christmas Cards – Kids Craft

Posted on December 12, 2012 by thestick81

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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.

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: 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.

Nov19

Christmas Kids Craft, Flat Christmas Tree Decoration.

Posted on November 19, 2012 by thestick81

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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!

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Nov16

Easy Toddler Craft – Leaf Animals.

Posted on November 16, 2012 by thestick81

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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.

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Oct2

Halloween craft for the kiddies

Posted on October 2, 2012 by thestick81

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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.

: We just found this branch in the park near by. I would have liked to paint it black, but had no black paint on hand.

: Samples of bats.

: Gold bat

: Because 3 year old girls are not interested in making bats apparently.

Oct2

Sun Catchers – School holiday entertainment.

Posted on October 2, 2012 by thestick81

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Sun Catchers – School holiday entertainment.

I have a stupid amount of beads that I have collected over the last 20 years and the kids love playing with them. I picked up these ‘diamonds’ on ebay for just over $4 each including postage.

Sun catcher, miscellaneous beads and crystals, string or fishing line, scissors.

The kids couldn’t help themselves and had to smear their slimey little hands all over them as soon as we opened the mail. They are available in 9 different colours. I ordered these just for me and Layla, but now I have had to order another green and clear one for the boys.