Easter Bunny Card with Cardboard Tubes

Posted on March 17, 2013 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

We wanted to create some Easter cards for family using only cardboard tubes. Easter eggs seemed like a good idea but instead we wanted a bit more of a challenge…and after a bit of trial and error (on my part) our cute little Easter Bunny was born!

The credit for turning the two bottom circle prints into cute little rabbit paws goes to Ebony.

I used only a small thumb length tube of acrylic paint for the stamping – with this type of craft a little bit of paint goes a long way.

Both of the girls enjoyed decorating the Easter Bunny and adding an Easter greeting. Ebony liked the “Hoppy Easter” pun, Zoe thought we should be using the traditional “Happy Easter”. Each to their own. For me not to use “Hoppy Easter” would be a waste of perfectly formed pun. But that’s just me

I’ll admit we have used a large amount of black pen. I think we may colour in some of the drawn Easter eggs to add a touch of colour to the front of the cards.

Are you getting into some Easter craft at the moment?

The girls have spent a whole weekend enjoying some Easter printables from Activity Village. Lots of easter crafts and printables on their fabulous website. Don’t forget to check out my Easter pinterest board – even more easter fun for kids.

Thanks so much for dropping by! And of course….Hoppy Easter!!

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Wooden Peg People

Posted on March 7, 2013 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

These lovely folk came about one afternoon when the girls were in the mood for a quiet sit down craft. They started off with one each which quickly turned into five as they had more and more ideas.

Painting these lovely things requires the finest and smallest paint brushes, especially for any detailed bits and bobs.

The girls painted clowns, men, mermaids, a chef, a queen, a spy and themselves. Sorry to any peg person I couldn’t recognise or remember. Your value is not diminished if you don’t get a mention, it’s just that the girls aren’t here as I type this.

The girls used small square glasses to rest their pegs on whilst waiting for them to dry. The glasses also made it easier to finish off painting each peg without having to smudge the wet parts of the peg that were already painted.

This activity kept the girls engaged for much longer than I thought it would. They were creating people for themselves to play with so they spent alot of time thinking about who they wanted to play with and what they should look like. Lots of planning!

Now the wooden peg folk live in their rooms “resting” on the side of jars. Zoe brings her people alive once she has gone into her room and the door is closed.

Ebony’s are hidden away somewhere secret. Away from little sister’s hands I should think. Doesn’t paint have such transformative powers?

If we didn’t have wooden pegs my next choice would have been plain popsticks or even toilet roll people. Both materials provide a blank canvas and a width to height ratio that easily transforms into bodies with heads, arms and legs.

A great indoor activity and perfect for a rainy day.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Valentines Egg Carton Craft Series

Posted on February 7, 2013 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

School is back for both my girls so we are doing things a little more slowly around here. Not less craft, just more efficient craft. So to achieve some efficiency I decided that we would use two egg cartons to create 5 different craft activities. There might end up being more, who knows? I can always edit!

To start with and in keeping with the Valentines theme, I invited the girls to paint an egg carton each, anyway they liked – using pink and red paint.

If you have kids who love paint, then just being able to paint is an activity all of its own. Ebony was tired and found the painting relaxing…Zoe had a bit more energy and was thinking purely of decoration.

Paint, paint, paint. It’s a busy job this.

I love the preciseness of Ebony’s paintwork. She wasn’t going to just slap on the paint. Not when she found out the egg cartons were for a blog series

The plan for the series is to use the egg cartons for lots of Valentine’s themed fun. And here they are, all dry and ready for action.

Are you going to join us on this craft series? If so, starting is easy. Paint, egg cartons and those crafty kids you’ve got.

The next post in this series will be posted here tomorrow – so stay tuned!

P.S This might be a handy time to sign up to the blog if you haven’t already. Posts straight into your email in-box so you don’t miss a thing.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Garden Bells

Posted on January 24, 2013 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

We made our own bells! And this post will show you how we made them, just as I promised to do in my previous post about our tin can percussion set. The tin can music machine is outside in our mudpie corner as are two of the garden bells we made.

First up – here is what we used to make them:-

I had seen this post about Making Bells over at Happy Whimsical Hearts and I knew we had to make them too. The idea stayed in the back of my mind until I saw these three mini terracotta pots for 50c each at a local op shop.

We also used:

paint
mod podge (sealant)
tough string
colourful beads

Zoe volunteered to be the bell decorator.

Zoe was enjoying making new colours in the paint tray. Actually she got very excited about a new purple she had ‘invented’.

Once the artwork was completed we had to give the bells a coat of sealant – we use Mod Podge – to protect the paint from the weather. Then once the sealant is dry it was time to add the string and the beads.

The beads are used to keep the string in place by blocking the hole on the inside. Start with this bead and knot first.

I also used them as the noise maker for the bell ringing and as a place to hold on to when ringing the bell. Lots of knots required The large yellow, small pink and small orange beads in the middle below are for noise making. The big purple and small pink on the end are for grabbing ono (like an indicative handle).

I asked the girls where they would like the bells to be. They decided they wanted two at the mudpie corner – one for ringing on entry and one for ringing on exiting the mudpie corner. The other one was up to me!

Zoe was so excited when I told her that the bells were ready for ringing

We’ve got bells!

The bell you ring on the way out of the mudpie corner.

I cannot help but ring a bell every time I go past one. They are adding a little bit of ‘sunshine’ to our garden. We had a visitor who learnt which bell was for what and quickly reminded me as I entered the mudpie corner which bell to ring on my way out. These bells are being taken seriously! Respect for the bells

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Tin Can Percussion Set

Posted on January 23, 2013 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

I have been meaning to make something musical from our recycled tin cans and finally it happened!

We decided on 5 tin cans and Zoe chose the colours.

Zoe was also the master of the paint application. One coat of each was the preferred design.

Then before we knew it, the painting job was done!

We wanted to add this tin can percussion set to our mudpie corner. In the last week we added a sheet of lattice, a grape-vine and mulch. The percussion set will be right next to that.

Once the paint had dried, I applied Mod Podge (sealant) to the cans so the rain won’t wash away all our lovely paint.

The next day, armed with my trusty tools of the trade…

…I set to work. I pulled five wooden stakes out of the garden from plants and shrubs that no longer needed the assistance. So this creation is true recycling

I love how they are all at different heights.

If you’re in the mood for music after baking a few mudpies, then grab a spoon and a mini whisk…

…and have yourself some fun with recycled tin cans!

Zoe discovered that each of the cans sounds different when they’re hit. Making music becomes so much more enjoyable when there are different “notes” to use. Zoe is making up her own song here…

Seeing how much Zoe is enjoying it makes me wish I’d made it sooner.

Coming up next on the blog is the next addition to our mudpie corner. More music making!

Thanks so much for dropping by!

How to Make 3D Sparkly Cardboard Tube Snowflakes

Posted on January 9, 2013 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

Winter is here! Well, not quite here. In fact, large parts of Australia are suffering through record-breaking hot weather. Yesterday at Oodnadatta in South Australia the temperature rose above 47 degrees (116 F). It was also the 10th consecutive day over 40 degrees (104F) in the town with more of the same forecast for the next seven days! There has never been a better reason to do snowflake craft!

What you need to make cardboard tube snowflakes:

cardboard tubes/toilet rolls
marker
scissors
white paint
silver glitter

How to make the snowflakes: And, voila!

Once the cutting was completed, Ebony was ready to make the snowflakes sparkle! The methods we used were to cover the snowflake in white paint and then roll it in glitter OR once wet with paint, shake glitter all over the snowflake (and the tray, the tablecloth and the universe as we know it!). Lots of shaking, not so much rolling

Ebony loved making the snowflakes sparkle. White snowflakes are good too if you don’t feel like experiencing a glitter bomb going off in your house:) Indeed – make them any colour you wish.

I love the glitter sparkling in the window.

You may choose to make only one snowflake or a whole crowd of them. The options for using the snowflakes are endless. We used ours to make a garland and next christmas we will make some more into ornaments.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

Not much snow outside that window is there? But we’re fine with our indoor style snowflakes – making us feel a bit cooler in our winter wonderland.

Is it snowing where you are? If it is I would LOVE to hear from you and find out where you are. I promise I will show the girls where you and the snow are on our globe. You can contribute to their education! What better reason do you need to leave a quick comment?

Thanks so much for dropping by!

How snowflakes are formed, and why they are sometimes identical (geek.com)

DIY Star Wars Wrapping Paper

Posted on December 28, 2012 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

All the boys we know from 4 to 44 seem to love Star Wars so we thought it would be handy to create some of own Star Wars wrapping paper.

Firstly I found a darth vader mask courtesy of Katydidcreativity, cut out the outline of the mask and taped up the edge.

I cut out around the mask, left a small border and voila – a darth vader mask stencil. Because the mask stencils will be black I chose our stock of brown paper instead of a lighter colour.

Next – the fun and easy bit, paint, paint, paint.

After we’d finished the stencilling I searched the google universe and found this super star wars font. It is free to download from here. Once I found it, I just had to use it:)

Zoe told me that she thought the wrapping paper looked “a little bit spooky”. Success!

I think a green yoda stencil is definitely on the cards for next time. Those big ears and round head are really too cute.

If you think you might use this idea for the star wars fans in your life I would love to hear about it!

Thanks so much for dropping by!

DIY Wrapping Paper – Initial Stamping

Posted on November 27, 2012 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

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.

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

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.

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.

Backwards and forwards – it’s all art!

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

A happy little vegemite pleased with the results.

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!

And the final product :-

Ready to go and par-tay!

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!

DIY Wrapping Paper #3 – Lego Fun

Posted on November 22, 2012 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

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:

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

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

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

“Look Mum – look at the wheel prints.”

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

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:

..roll that baby!

Weeeeeee!

Still loving that wheel.

Back to the little wheels:

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

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.

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

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 Tree Card Craft – Cork Stamping

Posted on November 19, 2012 by MudpiesandSunshine.com

A perplexing moment for Zoe during this craft:-

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

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’.

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.

Zoe was only too happy to begin the stamping.

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.

She did get very busy.

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.

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:)

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

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

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.

Mudpies & Sunshine

Category Archives: Paint

Easter Bunny Card with Cardboard Tubes

Wooden Peg People

Valentines Egg Carton Craft Series

Garden Bells

Tin Can Percussion Set

How to Make 3D Sparkly Cardboard Tube Snowflakes

DIY Star Wars Wrapping Paper

DIY Wrapping Paper – Initial Stamping

DIY Wrapping Paper #3 – Lego Fun

Christmas Tree Card Craft – Cork Stamping

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