Block Printing Wall Art

Children's art projects, I am learning, can quickly pile up in stacks leaving you with the great debate; do I keep this or slyly throw it away. 

I'll admit, I am guilty of slyly throwing away some of Grace's art...though, if ever she discovers something in the recycle bin, I throw the blame on Mr. While Wearing Heels.  'I have no idea how that got in there, your dad must have accidentally thrown it away'. 

This block printing project, though, is one that was not destined for the recycle bin, instead, it became prominently featured and framed.

Block printing is so easy.  So, go grab some yarn and a block of wood and your own little artist.  Wrap the yarn around the block and, from the back, tape the yarn into place.

 

Pour some paint, in whatever color you like, onto some scrap paper.  Have your little artist dip the block of wood into the paint.

Then let them get creative and stamp an entire piece of card stock paper in whatever pattern or design that inspires them.

When it's done, I am sure you'd agree, it's worthy of being put on display. 

What do you do with your children's artwork? 

Gone Fishing...

Before you get visions of this girl baiting her hook with worms in hopes of catching a big fish, the kind of fishing I'm doing today, thanks to Minieco, looks more like this...

These cute little fish

are made from plastic dividers from the dollar store. 

A package includes yellow, blue, red and green plastic sheets and allows you to make12 sets of fish.

To make a set of your own, you can find the tutorial and the fish template are over at Mini-Eco.

When you've completed your set, throw them in the bath

for some bath time entertainment.

Or fill up a plastic bucket with some water and listen with delight to the stories your child will tell about the big fish that got away.

  
So, grab your fishing pole and head over to Minieco to learn how to make your own set.

I just want to bang on the drums

I found the cutest DIY bongo/rice shaker/guiro tutorial over at Mini Eco. It's become one of my favorite crafts to do for play dates.

The best part, besides for the hours of fun your little one will have playing with it, you may already have all the supplies on hand.

 

So go check out her tutorial and let your little one bang on the drums all day.

I love hate Slime

I am having a love hate relationship with slime.

My sister gave me an easy recipe for slime. In one container, you combine 4 oz of glue, food coloring, and 1/2 cup of water. In another container, you combine 1 cup of water and a heaping teaspoon of Borax. Then, you combine the two containers into one and mix.

Easy enough, right? So easy a 3 year old can help in the process.

Attempt #1, slime gone wrong. Apparently, you aren't suppose to stir the slime with a fork, you are supposed place the slime that forms, from combining the the two containers, into your hand and knead it together until it begins to solidify and feel dry.  AND there will be an excess of water left in the bowl...I assumed it would all turn to slime...wrong!

Attempt #2, slime gone right. You'd think it would be really gooey but it's not. It's like silly putty but better. This entertained Grace for hours.

Feeling confident since I had a success, I bought a 3rd bottle of glue and whipped up another batch of slime.

Attempt #3, darn it if I know the key to success because it was another failure.

So my love hate relationship with slime continues. I'd love to have a few more colors but I am definitely not going to attempt this on my own again. I find it ironic, I can whip up a PB knock off Easter bunny basket but I can't make 2 batches of slime.

Hand Print Valentine's Day Cards

Combining two of my favorite little one crafts, hand prints and finger painting, you can create both a personalized and memorable Valentine's day card from your little one regardless of age.

First, get an ink hand print of your little one. Just make sure you have the wipes on hand and ready to use!

Now for more mess {again, have the wipes ready}, have your little one finger paint. When their masterpiece has dried, use a heart shaped puncher or cut some hearts out the old fashion way :)

Do you feel the love?

Pick your favorite heart, glue it to the center of your little one's hand print.

Then, write out a heartfelt Valentine's day message.

With your extra finger paint hearts, you can seal your envelopes with a little extra love.

I even have a few in a glass bottle, along with a rolled up love note.

Such a great way to introduce your little one to crafting in such a personal way. These Valentine's are sure to be loved and appreciated by whomever is lucky enough to receive one.

For the love of birds...

Yes, we have begun to think about Valentine's Day around here. If you feel like hearts and love and all other things Valentine's Day related are for the birds, you might be right!

While poking around Land of Nod's blog I came across a tutorial for making bird seed ornaments from Homemade by Cameron. So, with an ample supply of heart shaped cookie cutters, I decided to show our birds a little love.

After adding bird seed to my husband's Home Depot list, I had everything I needed to make my own bird seed ornaments {full tutorial here}...

including a willing helper.

To hang our bird feeder, we filled our cookie cutters halfway up, added a looped ribbon and then with the bird seed mixture covered the ribbon and filled the cookie cutter the rest of the way up.

This recipe yielded 10 bird seed feeders, which happened to be more than the number of heart shaped cookie cutters I had SO we improvised with some non heart shapes.

After the gelatine set, I removed the cookie cutter and added a few hearts to our flower boxes {which I suspect will be more for the love of the squirrels}.

And we hung a few.

Ironically, the same weekend Grace and I made our bird seed ornaments, a good friend of mine and her son also showed the birds some love.

What I love about her bird seed ornaments is the simplicity. She used some stale bread, peanut butter {to act as a binding agent}, bird seed and cookie cutters. Her version is perfect for toddlers that want to do everything themselves.

*In the Made by Cameron's version, there is a step that requires boiling water to dissolve the gelatin in, definitely requiring adult assistance/supervision depending on how old your little helper is.