painted pumpkin jars: kids' craft

While browsing a magazine in the doctor's office my sister told me about this kids' craft. She told me she probably saw it in Family Fun & that her kids enjoyed it... so we gave it a go.

One of our annual Halloween traditions is to carve pumpkins at my sister's home, this will tide us over until that night. Collin's pumpkin usually wins for uniqueness: one year he carved H1N1 and has carved other clever, current issues. My pumpkins, for some reason, haven't changed since the 3rd grade and always have one big buck tooth. See below...

Supplies needed for this:

-Painters tape

-Jars

-Paint/Paint brushes

-I lay down wax paper or freezer paper or butcher paper... any kind of paper to limit the mess. That way you won't want to kill me when your kids paint all over your table.

Just make sure they don't paint the inside. You may want to add tape to the opening of the jar to avoid that.

I joined in the fun and added stickers to a couple jars. Then turned them upside down, to make sure no paint got inside, then spray painted them. One white and one black. Lastly, wait for them to dry and remove the stickers.

Tonight I added candles to the inside. I think I dropped about 10 lit matches inside the large jar missing the wick every time. Collin pulled through with his MacGyver skills...

FAVORITE HALLOWEEN SUPPLIES:

InLinkz.com

scrapbooking on vacation

cover paper: Block Party & Elastic Ribbon

My diy: Art Kit ended up being a success for our trip to Lake Powell. Usually in the afternoon around lunch time when the kids had enough sun for a while we came inside onto the houseboat. We sat on the second level with a gorgeous view and spent time with the art kit and journal. I brought a larger fabric bag to hold everything along with my paints, scissors, Elmer's glue, stuff for me to supervise-otherwise known as damage control. ;)

I wouldn't say that I stole the art kit from Avery, like I joked before our trip, but it worked out perfect because I scrapped the Instax pictures while they watercolored, painted shells & drew pictures. It was kinda fun to only use, scissors, Elmer's glue, construction paper & the kit.

cover paper: Block Party, Elastic Ribbon

Everything in this art journal I brought in the art kit. When we got home I added the metal rim tag, a 2" punched sun, sticker letters, ELASTIC ribbon (I'm obsessed), the vellum envie, fabric scrap and some staples. I love the Tim Holtz mini stapler. Mine wasn't working but I McGyver'd it & it works like a charm again. It even staples through acrylic & chipboard. Did I mention I love it?

Inside the envie I added extra Instax photos, a shell Quincey gave me, a painted wood dog from Avery, a tag with journaling and extra chipboard shapes. Plus, I added the feather because the girls were so funny whenever a duck came waddling along. This I added at home as a reminder of those ducks.

Dear Lizzy banner paper// Crate Paper stickers//button flowers

Watercolor circles + crayon outline// deco tape// label stickers// chipboard bird tab// button flowers //mini stapler //Instax photos

Including the pre-strung buttons and button flowers was perfect because you just popped them right on the page. Also Studio Calico rubons, paint, deco tape, mini stapler.

Watercolor + crayon circles, deco tape, label stickers, pre-strung buttons, paper flowers, Instax photo

The girls enjoyed painting shells & I included one in the book here. Along with an Elle's Studio tag.

Precious drawing of Avery & Alfie... and she drew a "toy snowman" too. What I would do to have a peek inside her silly mind? haha

More pages of Avery & Quincey's art. There's journaling behind the flashcards. It's basically a colorful mess but I adore it!

This is so perfect for a vacation... or even if your kids are out of school because it's all in a bag so when they are done for the day just put it all away and it's ready for next time.

Congrats if you made it to the end of this post!

Supplies: Deco tape// label stickers// button flowers //mini stapler // Instax Camera //AC Cardstock

Art Kit: diy

Along with the memory game I posted on Wednesday I put together an art kit for both girls on our trip. The contents:

1 Art Journal: full of construction paper, pages from coloring books, cardstock, flash cards and other fun stuff. I will show more of the inside when we fill the pages.

2 Decorative Tape

3 A stamped fabric bag to hold it all

4 Watercolor

5 Journaling Cards and tags

6 Markers

7 A wood circle I painted with chalkboard paint + chalk

8 Paint Brushes (To paint rocks. the paint is in my stash. :)

9 Instax Camera

10 Gluestick

11 A glassine bag full of chipboard shapes, foam heart and paper flowers.

I was seriously giddy putting this together! I might steal it from Avery on our vacation. :)

Which wouldn't be nice since this will post on her birthday! (love you avery girl! I don't know why I just wrote that since she can't and doesn't read my blog. But maybe someday she will.)

a day late

Happy Easter... a day late!

We dyed eggs not only because the girls are always up for a colorful mess but I was craving deviled eggs. And usually my decisions revolve around whether or not there will be something good to eat. ;P

Recently Avery became very interested and curious about Jesus, after looking through a book of pictures we use to teach our primary class lessons. She was very concerned when she heard that people were mean and sad about his 'owies.' She loves him, our Savior.
This Easter I thought about His sacrifice. How His plan can be simple enough for a little girl to understand yet it is grand enough to save us all.

Happy Monday to you! Did you do anything fun?

fabric dolls

A few weeks ago I ventured out bravely into the cold. It was my first time flying solo with all 3 girls as we headed over to our local Quilting Cottage. I weighed out my options of either staying cozy indoors or pulling my hair at the store but went for it anyway.

Surprisingly, they were so well behaved I would have gotten them a new car or a trip to Disneyland or their own credit card but all they asked for were fabric dolls.

These are Aunt Lindy's Paper Dolls sold as fabric by-the-yard or panel. Then purchase a thick iron-on interfacing (whatever thickness you prefer) and cut them out. I've added velcro to some of them but it's just as fun without.

Avery waited very patiently as I ironed the dollies together. If your kids are older they could do the ironing and even the cutting. But since I still don't trust Avery with a butter knife I did it for her.

She named this one Billy or sometimes he goes by Alfalfa. He comes with a George Washington costume and wig.

There is fabric that includes extra darling clothes. She keeps everything in a little fabric bag and are great for keeping her happy at church.

They all have names and pets... and more clothes than I do.

kids craft idea: Heartstring magic wands

Whenever I am (im)patiently waiting in a doctor's office I flip through a Family Fun magazine because they will often have a fun kid's craft idea. For February they showed how to make yarn hearts. They were cute but I knew I would end up throwing them away as soon as we were done. So I took the idea a step further and made magic wands with the hearts that way they can enjoy the craft when we are finished. Since it is still pretty cold here to play outside we are looking for anything to fill our time during the day.

You need basic supplies you probably have around your house.

To make the hearts: ·yarn ·cookie cutters ·1/4 c. cornstarch or you could use watered down glue ·wax paper

How-to MAKE THE HEARTS: Heat up 1/4 c cornstarch with 1/2 c water over medium heat until it is translucent. Wait until it cools before starting. (I used watered down glue, since that's what I had on hand & it worked great.)

Cut yarn into 12 inch pieces and have the kids dip into glue and then place into cookie cutter heart or any other shape. It takes a while to dry so if you want to speed that up--set them in the oven on parchment paper set to warm for an hour or so.

How-to make the MAGIC WANDS: I used lollipop sticks that I had on hand, tulle, ribbon, jewels, sequins and pearl strings. If your daughter is old enough she could help with this part but I used a hot glue gun and threw it together in a couple minutes.

The girls were so excited to play with their princess wands they hardly even let me snap a photo. The craft kept them busy while we made it and busy playing after=happy momma.

inside the heart jars

Inside the heart jars:

❥ Instax + Love notes

❥ Plastic Hearts

❥ Heart Banner

❥ Candy + Ribbon Flags

❥ Vintage Lace up Valentines

❥ Glitter Hearts

❥ Hearts on a stick

I found these vintage lace up valentines at a local fabric store and I adore them. Avery's going to give some to her cousins & keep a couple in the Valentine decor box. They are darling and spotted them here.

I already shared the love notes jar in my last post. I also added some photos from my beloved Instax Camera of my family when they came over yesterday. The plan is to have this chalk full of sentiments and snapshots by Valentine's Day.

The plastic hearts open and you can fill with candies.

Ribbon Flags topped with Glitter Buttons and a little bling.