Monthly Archives: November 2012

Christmas Card Craft – Pipe Cleaners and Pom Poms

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Before I planned this craft I thought “these cards are going to be so cute”. Let me be modest – I was right! In our last Christmas card post we used corks to stamp our baubles and the kids really enjoyed them. It was the same story this time too.

We used green pipe cleaners, red and yellow card and every coloured pom pom we could find.

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With this craft I found deciding how to stick the pipe cleaners to the card a bit tricky. I would have liked to use my hot glue gun but unfortunately it has seen better days and Santa needs to gift me with a new one.

In the end I didn’t decide and used two different methods, one for each card. Method one was using double sided sticky tape (I used normal and twirled it into shape). Method two was to puncture little holes in the card and loop the ends of the pipe cleaner through.

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I found a baking skewer perfect for the job of puncturing the holes.

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I cut the pipe cleaners to size so they would tier into a tree shape. Here they are ready to go – I placed the ‘stars’ at the top when I was trying to get the tiering right. That sort of helped :)

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Next – invite small girls to craft and watch their faces when they see the POM POMS.

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Once the girls saw the cards laid out with the tray of pom poms they could NOT wait to get started. The colours are just so inviting.

Zoe got started on the card with the pipe cleaners stuck down with sticky tape. She was pretty happy ;)

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We used strong glue and a small paint brush for the pom poms. Watching the girls choose which pom pom would go where was very interesting.

Zoe glued as she went along. She made decisions quickly and was happy with every single one of them.

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Lots of love for this craft.

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Cute! I kept some black pom poms aside and suggested they would be good as the trunk of the tree.

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Ebony’s approach to this craft was completely different. Planning, planning, planning. Extra points for wearing your dressing gown.

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Ebony tried various combinations of pom poms before the paint brush and glue were even glanced at. Once she was satisfied and started gluing, she was just so careful with everything. She said later that she wished we didn’t have to send the cards to other people “why can’t we keep them Mum?”.

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Just in awe of the view.

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Can you imagine receiving these babies in the mail? Two lucky family members will be very soon :) I am thinking bubble wrap as we need to post them.

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Thanks for dropping by and joining us. I will be posting another Christmas card craft very soon – please say hello in the comments and let me know how much you love pom poms.

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DIY Rudolph Christmas Wrapping Paper

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Oh how I love Christmas. Christmas craft can not come early enough for me. So I am delighted to add another Christmas craft post to the blog. We have been busy with Christmas card craft, using cork stamps and pipe cleaners and pom poms (which I am planning to post about very soon!). Sign up to the blog and you won’t miss a thing :)

This time we are making our own Christmas themed wrapping paper – Rudolph takes centre stage in this craft.

We needed these items to get started:-

Other items you will need:

  • cake fork or small fork
  • large piece of plain paper
  • black, red and brown paint
  • small child who loves paint
  • (we used the bottom of a lipstick pen (love secret santas) for the eye stamping)

Once we had all of the above assembled, our small child started having lots of fun stamping:

What is going on with those reindeer antlers? Yup – fork stamping. Sounds illegal but it isn’t. Anybody who loves Christmas can give it a go.

With three different actions required for this craft it gives little ones lots to concentrate on. They also need to think spatially because Rudolph needs adequate space for the antlers. Especially if they want to start with the nose and eyes like Zoe did.

This requirement can also lead to some interesting problem solving. Didn’t leave enough room for big antlers? Not a problem when you’re creating baby reindeer – ta da!

Zoe stamped away happily for quite some time.

Lots of reindeer here with very cute big red noses. Is it Rudolph and his extended family? Zoe said “it is the school where reindeers with noses go”. All eyes to the front!

Zoe also thought this paper says “boy present” more than it says “girl present”. I agreed.

So we wrapped up a Christmas present for our nearly 5-year-old nephew and cousin.

What could be inside?

So that is one present wrapped and ready to go. Thanks for dropping by and catching up on our Christmas preparations.

How are your Christmas preparations going?

DIY Wrapping Paper – Initial Stamping

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Welcome to the fourth DIY wrapping paper craft in our series. I have created this as a series because it is one of my quick go-to crafts. So quick and easy to set up.

So far we have had lots of fun making wrapping paper in the following ways:

This post is about personalising the wrapping paper and using the recipient’s initial as a stamp. In this case, Ebony was making wrapping paper for her friend’s 10th birthday. 10th birthdays are very special aren’t they?

First up I drew the outline of a “K” onto a household sponge and then cut out the shape.

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Ebony helped me lay out the paper and paints and then she was ready to start.

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Ebony was intriguied with the squishy feel of the paint and sponge combination. Even though she knew it would be squishy theoretically, it was not until she was doing it practically that her senses were completely appreciating it. I loved watching her enjoying it so much.

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Ebony was fascinated by the bubbles and holes appearing in the stamp. It was at this stage Ebony decided to add some purple along with the pink.

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Backwards and forwards – it’s all art!

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Trying to fill those gaps and experimenting with purple on pink.

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A happy little vegemite pleased with the results.

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Ebony asked if she could do another one for a different friend’s 10th birthday. Well of course I said “yes”. Initial “M” here we come!

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And the final product :-

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Ready to go and par-tay!

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Next up we will be doing more Christmas card craft, this time with pipe cleaners and pom poms - stay tuned and thanks for dropping by!

Friday Afternoon Fun – Surprise Movie

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Welcome to another post in the Friday Afternoon Fun series.

This series is all about small ways to enjoy the end of the school week. It also serves to help tired, sometimes grumpy girls get a little bit of their shiny spark back.

It has become a tradition at our house and here are links to some of the fun I have posted about:

This week I opted for a surprise movie. Straight after school with unhealthy snacks and everything!

But first up was a little healthy snack preparation…

Is there any more? I’m not sure this huge amount of popcorn will be enough?

Then it was time to get the movie started.

Recently the girls had chosen a smurfs DVD from the DVD hire store and really enjoyed it (beats me) so when I saw the Smurf’s Christmas video for under $10, I thought “why not?”.

The girls were super surprised and very happy with their movie treat. Doesn’t seem like it here though does it?

Or here.

I’m sure it was those squeaky little voices confusing them. Anyhow, they did have a lovely afternoon watching the movie, eating popcorn and then some chips (crisps) afterwards. They do love a plain potato chip. No photos of those though – they disappeared too quickly. So here is another pic of popcorn instead :)

Zoe wanted to share one of her insights from Friday’s fun times:-

In the next week or so I want to post about Christmas movies the whole family can enjoy.  Given my many foibles, there are great Christmas movies out there we don’t know about so it would wonderful to hear any recommendations for movies from you. If you have a good movie title or two to share – please do in the comments below!

Thanks so much for dropping by!

DIY Wrapping Paper #3 – Lego Fun

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Why buy wrapping paper when the kids can have fun making it? It means so much to the recipient, especially when the wrapping paper has been decorated to their style :)

So far in this series we have been stamping with duplo blocks and string; and creating hearts with toilet paper rolls. It’s been frugal and it’s been fun.

For this wrapping paper we were inspired by a little boys’ love for Lego. Zoe was invited to a classmate’s 7th birthday party. A classmate who loved Lego.

No prizes for guessing how we decided to decorate his wrapping paper. Here is our preparation photo nonetheless:

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I opted for a few different types of Lego to make it a more interesting stamping activity.

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Zoe was happy to get started – she had a ton of ‘impatient birthday waiting’ energy at her disposal.

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Zoe was so delighted that she would be painting with wheels, lego wheels. She HAD to start with them first.

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“Look Mum – look at the wheel prints.”

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Zoe was really fascinated by all the different patterns the lego was creating.

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After the little wheels and lego block stamping, Zoe found true love with the big wheel. A few stamps lying on it’s side then:

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..roll that baby!

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Weeeeeee!

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Still loving that wheel.

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Back to the little wheels:

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Zoe kept this up for ages. Much more fun than going shopping for wrapping paper.

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I think she would have kept going until her arm fell off. Luckily the paint source ran out as the last gaps on the paper were being filled with Zoe’s enthusiastic stamping.

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And the final product. Wrapped around a nice little Lego toy on the inside. Apparently the Lego wrapping was well received. Zoe’s voice was full of pride when she told me how the birthday boy’s Dad had expressed delight in her homemade Lego wrapping paper. Nice one C’s Dad :)

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Next time we talk wrapping paper, we will be posting about wrapping we made for a lovely young lady’s 10th birthday.

Thanks for dropping by!

Christmas Present Idea

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If you are struggling with an idea for a Christmas present for children or you are just curious to know what works for us, you have come to the right post!

For boys and girls we highly recommend wooden blocks.

We have two daughters and our blocks have been well loved for nearly 5 years. Zoe was lucky enough to get a box of 100 wooden blocks for her 2nd birthday. The girls have been building towers, schools, playgrounds, zoos, roads, houses, hospitals and so much more ever since.

Here is Zoe on her 2nd birthday with her hand on the blocks.

 

And here are some of my favourite block photos from the past 5 years…

(extra points for wearing your eye patch and playing with your blocks)

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Block building extravaganza!

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Here is a photo Zoe took of her little dolls in their doll world made from blocks:

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Ebony loves to build complicated towers – sometimes they drive Zoe crazy as she tries to copy them :)

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Wooden blocks, duplo blocks and threading spools all forming walls here:Image

Wooden blocks have given my girls hours and hours of play that is fun and creative. They can sort out the whole world through their blocks or at the very least, create a very cute pet hospital.

Wooden blocks are just wonderful and I think the girls will be having fun playing with them for some years yet.

Do you have a particular toy that your children love and play with over and over again?

I would love to hear about it and thanks for dropping by!

Christmas Tree Card Craft – Cork Stamping

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A perplexing moment for Zoe during this craft:-

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Nothing makes me smile more than a good Christmas craft. Is that totally true? Probably not but I do love Christmas craft, just not more than a good meal where I am not the cook.

We are doing more than one type of Christmas card this year so the girls have more craft opportunities and so that family members reading won’t know which type of card they are getting:)

We started this craft with these bits & pieces:

  • different coloured paints
  • champagne corks
  • green paper
  • brown paper
  • red cardboard (not pictured but not unhappy about it)
  • yellow star post it notes

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First up is cutting the paper into rectangular strips. Mine were about 2.5cm thick. Just remember they need to be wide enough to fit the cork ‘stamp’.

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That’s all you need to do for preparation. Now it’s paint stamping time! We use meatball trays when we do cork stamping. Works a treat.

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Zoe was only too happy to begin the stamping.

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Even with such a simple craft, kids get to be creative. Zoe had fun deciding what colours should be put together and trying out different combinations.

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She did get very busy.

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After the strips were dry I had to cut a few to ensure there would be enough of each size to tier the tree shape correctly. Then later on it was time again for Zoe to get to work – this time with gluing.

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A small piece of brown paper was stuck at the bottom as the base or trunk of the Christmas tree. Then each strip is tiered with a nice little gap towards the top of the tree where we placed the star post it note. We also cut the star smaller as we ran out of space at the top:)Image

Here are a few of the cards before being glued down:

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Simple and fun – Zoe loved doing this craft. If you decide to try it – I hope your kids love it too:)Image

Thanks for dropping by! Go on and sign up to the blog if you would like to receive all my Christmas crafts posts right in your in-box this festive season.

Friday Afternoon Fun – Parachute Cubby

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It has been a really busy week for us so I felt a little behind the eight-ball when Friday quickly presented itself. The weekend was going to be busy too so I really wanted something both engaging and calming to start the weekend off well. Previously I have tried to rid our house of the Friday afternoon grumps by hiding notes, baking in a random fashion and creating funky apple marshmallow smiles.

This Friday afternoon, the weather was kind to us, so I took the fun outside.

Buried at the bottom of our outside play basket is a play parachute – the ones that kindergartens and child care centres use. It hadn’t been liberated from the basket in a long while so I pulled it out and decided the girls could do the rest.

I did herd them towards their slide set and ideas quickly started forming. The purple watering can on the string was Zoe’s slightly under-engineered attempt at a flying fox. Thank goodness it was so close to the ground:)

In the end they spent all afternoon creating different play spaces and hidey holes with each other. In the pic above, they are both snuggled into the red part closest to the ground.

Peek-a-boo you.

Have a wonderful week everybody and thanks for dropping by!

Paper Garland (Part Two)

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Welcome to Part Two!

A quick summary – Ebony is hosting a party soon and wanted to make some decorations. In Part One we used colourful paper circles to create a falling or vertical garland. Cutting out those circles created a lot of left over paper that looked too beautiful to neglect.

Here are the left overs (the circles were used in Part One):

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I took the scissors to the chunky part of the paper until I had three rectangular strips that looked like this:

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Once cut, all the strips were then lovingly placed into old meat trays:

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Next up was inviting someone to come and make the garland. Zoe wanted to help out so she started off first.

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We used sticky tape and string as we did in Part One. Then Zoe got tired of making something that was for Ebony’s party and wandered off to do her own thing :)

Enter stage left – big sister.

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We were both surprised at how quickly it turned from scrap paper into a decoration.

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We wanted it long enough to stretch from one side of Ebony’s room to the other.

It’s this long peoples!

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It looks pretty cool off the ground too:

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Here is where the two garlands meet in true coloured paper harmony:

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But what happened to Zoe while all this loveliness was happening? Where did she go? I’m so glad you asked :)

I found a few paper strips on her desk:

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Then she caught me in her room and after letting me off with a caution, she proceeded with the craft she wanted to do:

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And here is the result – a lovely little colourful robot.

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Paper, scissors, adhesive tool – life is good.

Thanks for dropping by!

Paper Garland (Part One)

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We have a party coming up which Ebony is hosting for her friends. The party hostess wanted to make some decorations for her room where most of the par-tay fun will take place.

I wanted to use what we had at hand, ie.no special trip to the shops.

So here is what we started with:

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We wanted to make a few circular garlands which hung vertically so we needed to cut out the circles (who knew the handles of scissors would match everything in this photo?):

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This is what you have after cutting two circles from each piece of A4 coloured paper (almost an Olympics craft but not quite).

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Next is the easy process of attaching them to the string. We used sticky tape. If you want a perfectly clean look you could use double-sided tape or glue and attach a matching circle to the back.

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Because each circle is so big the whole process only took a few minutes. And then ta da!

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Ebony made three altogether.

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Now we have to wait for the party to hang them up. Waiting for parties causes real physical pain in children – I am sure of it when I see the scrunched up faces that go with the inevitable “it is taking too looooong for the party day to come” cries for help.

I will pop back and post a photo after the party.

The second part of this paper garland post will be coming soon. It will be about what we did with all these leftover pieces of paper :-

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Thanks for dropping by!