Wooden Peg People

Wooden Peg People with Mudpies and Sunshine

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.

Wooden Peg doll painting with Mudpies and Sunshine

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

Painting wooden peg people with Mudpies and Sunshine

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.

Painting Wooden Peg People with Mudpies and Sunshine (2)

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.

Painting Wooden Peg Dolls with mudpies and sunshine

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!

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Valentine Chocolate Box

Valentines Chocolate Surprise with Mudpies and Sunshine with wonderful helper

We have taken a break from games (memory and lucky dip) in our egg carton craft series and got right to the yummy part of Valentine’s Day with a Valentine Chocolate Box. This was all we needed to make our special … Continue reading 

Valentine Egg Carton Lucky Dip Game


Valentine Egg Carton Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Here we are at the third installment of Mudpies and Sunshine’s world famous Valentine’s Egg Carton Craft Series. We painted the egg cartons in the first post; in the second we tested our brain power with the memory game and now we will be playing a game of chance (with many giggles) called the Lucky Dip Game.

Here’s how I set up the game:

  • 12 different stickers x 2 (you could use laminated numbers in hearts, anything flat that can fit into one of the egg cavities)
  • 12 envelopes and note paper to fit inside
  • 12 felt balls (which happen to fit perfectly into the egg carton cavities)


How to Play Valentine's Egg Carton Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Once I was all set up I invited the girls to sit on the rug and get started. There are no rules with how far away from the egg carton you need to be (however you may wish to shake things up a bit and have a throwing line).

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Sit down.

2. Choose a felt ball.

3. Throw the felt ball into any cavity in the egg carton.

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4. Ascertain the sticker colour and style your felt ball landed on.

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5. Find the matching sticker on one of the 12 envelopes.

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6. Open the envelope, read the note and have fun. The notes are self-explanatory.

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The one Zoe is reading says “Ring the Garden Bells“.

Playing the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

I wrote the activities for the envelopes and placed all the stickers on the envelopes and the egg carton in around 15 minutes.  It is a simple game and it is SO FUN. The best part is you can tailor the activities/questions to suit the personality of your children.

The girls loved the game and we have played it multiple times already. When the game gets a bit ‘stale’ I will change the notes inside the envelopes. The beauty is the game can be adapted over and over again.

Now let me share some of the other notes inside the envelopes :

Time for a Tickle 

Time for a Tickle during the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Walk Around the Kitchen With Your Eyes Closed

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Do a Crazy Dance for 60 Seconds

(Zoe added a crazy song as well, 2 for the price of 1)

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Receive a Surprise Sweet Treat (both players benefit..and Mums)

Get a surprise sweet treat during the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

I added a token educational question…

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Do Ten Star Jumps

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Stand on One Leg as Long as You Can

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Give Everyone a Big Hug

Big Hugs with the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

I also had one called “Take Another Turn” which Zoe got and was thrilled with (go figure because, in hindsight, I am of the opinion that one is a bit boring!).

Ebony was lucky to get “Say the Peter Piper Tongue Twister 10 times as fast as You Can” and “Put a Toy Away” (she chose a book to place back on the shelf).

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Does your family love playing games together? If you give this game a go I would love to hear about (or even see it if you are able to send a snapshot!).

For little ones I suggest using one word prompts for early readers or pictures of the activity the child needs to do for the pre-reader or toddler.

We’re not finished with the pink and red egg cartons yet! Oh no no no. There are more crafty ideas to come in this egg carton series and they will be coming to you soon! Just in time for you to play some lovely games and spend some quality time with your little cherubs this Valentine’s Day.

Have (lots of) fun!

Thanks so much for dropping by :)

DIY Picture Frame Art

Super Fun DIY Picture Frame Art with Mudpies and Sunshine

Looking for a twist on the blank paper and pencils combination?

DIY Picture Frame Art with Mudpies and Sunshine

It is hard to see but I have drawn different types of picture frames all the way along this large piece of paper.  The idea is for the girls to choose their picture frames and fill them however they like.

I was inspired to give this a go by the Artful Parent’s post on DIY framed wallpaper. Over at the Artful Parent the paper was placed onto the wall before the creating began. We don’t have a space like that in our house so instead, as you can see, the paper was placed on our kitchen table.

The girls were invited to use any materials they likes to fill in the picture frames.

Ebony wanted to create some intricate portrait drawings with pencil.

DIY Picture Frame Art with Mudpies and Sunshine (2)

Ebony spent a long time on each picture – planning it out, colouring and creating titles for each picture.

DIY Kids Picture Frame Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine

Zoe went for bright and bold.

DIY Picture Frame Art wit Mudpies and Sunshine

She told a story.

DIY Picture Frame Art with Mudpies and Sunshine (4)

The girls took almost a week to finish all the picture frames!  I wonder how long they would have spent creating on the same size piece of paper if it is was left blank?

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DIY Picture Frame Art with Mudpies and Sunshine

I love the striped green and blue peacock at the top middle part of the paper.

I also love these craft ideas that are so simple to prepare. They demand as much creative power as the kids are willing to give, which my girls find very relaxing and satisfying. Sharing a craft and not really sharing it was also a bonus!

I think smaller versions of this would work for the girls when we are in waiting rooms and taking long trips. Also crazy shaped portrait frames might just encourage some crazy portraits.

Will you experiment with this idea? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks so much for dropping by and having a read :)

Foam Christmas Tree Bath Activity

Christmas Tree Title

This a really cute activity that I have seen in numerous places on pinterest. The colours against the gloss white of a bath make it visually inviting and decorating a christmas tree is always fun. So we just had to do it.

I found a pack of 10 pieces of foam at Kmart so it must be widely available in larger department stores and craft stores. I made sure it included a nice green piece:)

I spent a little time tracing around christmas cookie cutters and cutting the shapes out. Then all was ready for my oldest princess to take a dip in the bath and get decorating.Snowman & Foam Tree Dec 2012 044

Ebony is 9 years old, nearly 10 and she could not wait to get started on this activity. Simple, creative play for big girls after a long day at school can be a panacea. It doesn’t need to be complicated. Easy art and craft can be soothing and calming in the right circumstances. At other times this craft could have been crazy and silly. It all depends.
Foam Tree

Letting kids be the boss of their own craft also works wonders. Choice of position, place etc. You say ‘you choose’ = they hear ‘you have confidence in my choices’. You say ‘you can use a paint brush’ = they hear ‘life couldn’t be more awesome’.
Foam Tree 1

Lots of tweaking…
Foam Tree tweaking

But that’s not all. Ebony saw the left over foam and asked if she could make something. So out of the bath and onto the rug for some traditional Australian snowman craft (I say in jest – if only *sigh about the lack of snow*). Quite ironically Ebony’s top says “Dream”.Snowman Foam Bath Fun

Cute foam snow man is getting a nice green hat :)
Foam Snowman Mudpies and Sunshine

Ebony was so keen to play with the snowman that she was prepared to play with him over the full bath. What balance, what poise! What a crazy 9 year old :) Foam craft

There was NO WAY little sister was missing out on all this creating and oohing and aahing (my spell checker wanted to change that sentence to “oozing and aching” – that’s a bit rough for a craft blog methinks). Zoe got to work too. Meet Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. Extra points for making Rudolph’s nose look like a carrot – two birds with one stone there.Foam Rudolph

And here they are all in a row – Mama Bear’s Tree, Little Bear’s Snowman and Baby Bear’s Rudolph. Lots of happy bath times ahead. Three Foam Christmas Decorations

This foam shape business has to be one of my favourite crafts of the Christmas variety. Mainly due to the novelty of it – it sticks to tiles and loves getting wet! Also the colour and it’s ability to be played with over and over again rate it highly in my book.

What do you think? Do you love a foam craft?

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Wooden Bead Christmas Ornaments

I love these ornaments. The beads are so glossy and shiny – I can’t take my eyes off them.

Wooden Bead Ornaments

To make these lovely things we used pipe cleaners and big beads. Red and white beads for the candy cane :-Playdoh 008

It was a lovely relaxing craft to do inside on a hot summer’s day. Zoe made one candy cane. Candy cane ornament

Ebony made the other candy cane and two christmas trees. One tree using all these wonderful bright coloured beads.

Colourful bead ornament

The other tree was made with the classic christmas colours of red, green and white. We opted for a simple triangle for the tree. A little bit of imagination will help with the trunk detail.

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The girls enjoyed sitting on the rug, quietly chatting and concentrating on their bead patterns. Bead ornaments mudpiesandsunshinedotcom 1

Little hands will appreciate the fine motor skill practice.
Bead ornaments mudpiesandsunshinedotcom

The girls were delighted with how pretty the ornaments looked on the tree. Candy cane ornament

Christmas tree ornament mudpiesandsunshinedotcom

I have no picture of the colourful tree ornament on the tree because Zoe started wearing it as a bracelet. Of course.

Well the tree is heaving with all the new ornaments – we may have to turn our hands to something else Christmas themed in the next post in order to give the tree a rest.

For a full range of Christmas activities and crafts, I would love to see you over at my pinterest site. I have currently 229 Christmas ideas and over 1000 other crafts and kid related ideas you can browse through. It can get addictive!

If you are here for the first time, keep in touch with my posts by signing up to the blog with e-mail or using the RSS feed button.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

DIY Sparkly Christmas Wrapping Paper

Xmas paper 1

Welcome to another DIY wrapping paper post in our series. This is the 6th one!

For this post, we needed more wrapping paper for our little salt dough ornaments we made recently to give to teachers and family. Preparing for this craft is quick and easy, just how I like it :) We needed a lot of wrapping paper so I had both girls set up at the table. Ebony with red paint and a star cookie cutter and Zoe with green paint and a Christmas tree cutter.

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Christmas paper & playdoh Dec 2012 005

Ebony enjoyed the look of the bright red star against the soft brown paper. Zoe unfortunately discovered her christmas tree cutter was slightly bent and wouldn’t make a good impression when stamped. We swapped it for an angel and then she used the star as well. It’s good to know I am teaching her about adapting to change (and disappointment!).Christmas paper & playdoh Dec 2012 014

We raided our glitter box in order to add some christmas sparkle to the paper. Paste on some glue…
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And shake it, shake it, shake it…
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Zoe used the multi-coloured glitter on quite a few of her shapes. I love how big the glitter pieces are.

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Here is the paper before the excess glitter has been shaken off. Christmas paper & playdoh Dec 2012 059

Christmas paper & playdoh Dec 2012 060

And here they are after:- Christmas paper & playdoh Dec 2012 064

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And here are our salt dough ornaments all wrapped up ready to be gifted with our handmade cork stamped christmas cards and our pom pom cards.

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Are the 25 days in December really enough to get all the crafting done you want to do? Of course not! But we must try :)

If you are interested in more Christmas themed wrapping paper (understandable with only 15 days to go, or so I was told at 6.30am this morning) you might like our DIY reindeer wrapping paper. Zoe had lots of fun stamping the reindeer antlers.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Paint Chip Christmas Card Craft

It doesn’t get easier than paint chip craft. The chips are free and they are always in supply. And they come in beautiful shades of green – perfect for Christmas tree craft.

We were planning to make two cards with the remaining yellow card I had, paint chips and round office stickers. Ebony, who made one of the cards, wanted to use our stick-on gems instead. Really anything goes – whatever is at hand.

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For the first card we cut triangles of varying sizes and glued them down to created a tiered tree.

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With the second card I overlayed two paint chips onto the yellow card.

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I decided to decorate with only the clear stars to achieve a nice clean look. If we didn’t have the gems I would have used our silver star office stickers which are sold in supermarkets. We love those too! Christmas Card & Ornaments Dec 2012 023

Here are the end results. Ebony wants to use her card to give to her teacher :)

Paint Chip Cards

Do you use paint chips for craft purposes? Please let me know in the comments below. I love new ideas to try!

Thanks so much for dropping by!