Zoe’s Pipe Cleaner and Pom Pom Craft

What do you do when no one wants to do the craft things you think they would like to do?

Get the experts in to help.

So of course I turned to Zoe.

And this is the tray of fun she put together:

Zoe's craft fun at Mudpies and Sunshine

Zoe didn’t have a specific idea in mind for her craft. She just knew what materials she felt like creating with. Pipe cleaner fun with Mudpies and SunshineAnd here are the results… Look what I made with Mudpies and SunshineI know the craft object is a little blurry but I included this photo because of the look of pure enjoyment in Zoe’s eyes.

Here are some clearer photos of what Miss Zoe created… Pipe cleaner creations with Mudpies and Sunshine

The shiny green pom pom creature on the left is a fish; the one with the orange pipe cleaner is a letter holder; the large one on the right is a nose phone and the small one Zoe is holding is a baby called “The Tot“.  Yes I know what you’re thinking and you are right. There is no way I could have ever prepared a craft for Zoe that would turn out this varied. Or maybe you weren’t, maybe you were thinking “Thank God she told me what they were ‘cos I never would have worked that out in a million years”.
Pipe cleaner and pom pom creations with Mudpies and SunshineAnyone else a little wistful for their childhood imagination?

Hmm, me too :)

So, what’s up next? Well Mother’s Day is looming here in Australia so I will be featuring some crafts and cards for Mums over the next two weeks. Us Mums love kid-made craft and I am no exception. We also do crafts for the girl’s grandmothers so they will just have to refrain from opening my Mother’s Day posts. I’d hate to spoil the surprise!

Thanks for dropping by!

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Easter Bouquet

Easter Egg Bouquet with Mudpies and SunshineI purchased some foam eggs and knew the girls would appreciate a laid back craft session in the lead up to Easter. This was essentially a free range collage session. The girls chose wool, confetti and fabric scraps as their decorating materials. Craft glue, glue stick glue and glue dots were the necessary tools.

Both girls started wrapping wool around an egg each whilst concentrating very hard. Wool just wants to slip right off the eggs so the wool had to be tied tight. We also used glue dots for the wool attached to the extremities of the egg.

Collage Easter Egg Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine - using wool

Decorating foam eggs with Mudpies and Sunshine

They were very happy, busy with their glue and their materials.

Fabric scraps with Mudpies and SunshineDecorating foam easter eggs with Mudpies and Sunshine

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With the confetti, Zoe just rubbed the glue stick all over the egg and rolled it in the confetti. Such a sticky and satisfying result!

Sticky Glue Fingers with Mudpies and Sunshine

Collage Confetti Easter Egg Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine

The eggs were appropriately placed in egg cups while the glue dried… Collage Eggs drying in egg cups with Mudpies and Sunshine

Then with a satisfying sharp prod with some bamboo skewers and a container or vase, you can instantly create a pretty Easter Bouquet.

Easter Egg Bouquet with Mudpies and Sunshine - the finished prodectHave fun!

Thanks for dropping by :)

Learning How to Knit

I’m a new knitter. I’ve started on and off over the years, each time having to start from scratch again and again. I know ladies who could knit for “Look at These Crafty People YOU Could Never Be Like Magazine” and I know ladies who couldn’t care less if they never “cast on” in their lives.  Me – well I am learning to keep my hands busy at night and gain that satisfaction you get when you have made something yourself. I have discovered that if my hands are busy at night with knitting, then they aren’t able to open the fridge or the pantry and place calories in the mouth. And I could do with a new scarf.

I am also learning so I can teach my lovely little girls how to knit as well.

Big news…this morning I taught Ebony how to cast on.  I was so elated that I was passing on a skill which has such a long and important history. Ebony was elated as well. I have a feeling though that she is expecting to get from casting on to a beautiful long scarf in a matter of minutes…well the reality will be another of one of those essential learning opportunities that we should be letting our kids experience on a regular basis.

So why knitting and why now?

Well Ebony received a lovely little knitting kit for her birthday so that helped with her motivation to start learning. I have been doing some embroidery and mentioned that I wanted to get back into knitting so it seemed to spring from there.

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I spent some time looking on YouTube at casting on stitches until I finally found a video with an easy method to learn and copy. The video is presented by a young British woman and is a lovely quirky short video. I highly recommend it!

I hope to repost about Ebony’s knitting some time in the future and show a lovely young lady modelling a fine warm scarf.

I’d love to hear from you dear reader about your knitting experiences. To knit or not to knit? How do you answer that probing question?

Thanks so much for dropping by!

 

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!

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 :)

Valentine’s Egg Carton Memory Game


Valentine Egg Carton Memory Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Following on from yesterday’s post about our new Valentine’s Day Egg Carton craft series, we have our second activity ready to share. The first activity was painting two egg cartons in Valentines theme colours.

Today’s post is all about a game to play in your egg cartons. Believe me it is fun to play and easy to set up.

How to Play:

1. Gather together little objects that are small enough to fit into the egg cavities inside the egg carton. We used red and pink fabric hearts, buttons and pom poms.

2. One player places as many items as they wish in the cavities (up to 6 or 12 depending on the size of your egg carton). The other player has to look at and try to remember what the objects are and where they have been placed in the egg carton. (You may decide to have a time limit on how long the second player can look at the egg carton’s contents. We chose not to. We just all decided when we were ready. No one looked for more than a minute if that helps).

3. Once the second player has looked at the egg carton content long enough – the carton is closed and the contents can no longer be seen. The second player then, relying on their memory, places objects into the second carton to replicate what was in the first carton.

4. Once the second player is satisfied with their efforts the first player opens the first carton to reveal the original contents. Both players react accordingly ;)

5. To keep everyone in the family happy, the levels of difficulty should be age appropriate.

We all loved this game! To be honest I was quite nervous when Ebony asked me if she could set up a game for me. It really does test your brain power. The game also requires you to try out different tactics or strategies. How are you going to choose to remember items and their location?

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Ebony was the first one to test her memory. The girl loves a challenge, bless her!

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I was slightly jealous of her nerves of steel ;)

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My tip – start off small so as to encourage further and more difficult play.

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1st game – good result! There is alot of anticipation as you open that original egg carton after you have been wrangling with your memory! Here is Ebony setting up my first memory game…

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I could literally feel my brain’s engine whirring and whining as I asked it to work hard for me :) And *phew*after a few LONG seconds of checking my efforts, Ebony closed the lids and gave me this beaming smile…

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I didn’t embarrass myself and my generation!! Don’t worry I did later on. In fact we all found combinations that were just too tricky or too plentiful. We stuck to 8 eight items as a shot at 12 was a disaster (for me!). Up to 8 items was lots of fun and very doable.

For Zoe I started off small to give her a clear idea of what to do (I placed only two items in the carton for first game). She was happy with that. Then afterwards Zoe asked to increase the numbers until we ended up using 6 or 7 with her as per the photo below.

Zoe playing the Valentine Memory Game at Mudpies and Sunshine blog

To press home how much the girls enjoyed it they kept saying “I can’t wait to play this with Dad”. He was barely in the door a minute before he was sitting at the kitchen table trying to remember where fluffy pom poms and soft hearts were supposed to be placed in an egg carton. And he was silly enough to think he could ‘switch off’ once he left work!

Little tip: ensure there is alot of each item so that there are enough supplies for the second player.

Have fun with the game and don’t forget to come back tomorrow to check out our third egg carton activity.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Paint Chip Christmas Tree Ornament

In the last post we used paint chips to create some lovely Christmas Tree Cards.

In this post the girls used the remaining paint chips, recycled cardboard and some star stickers to make pretty tree ornaments.

Christmas Tree Ornament

I cut out two christmas tree shapes, glued them to the cardboard and then re-cut around the tree shape with engineering-like accuracy.

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With the gluing and cutting finished they were ready for the girls to start decorating. I used a hole punch to create a hole for hanging ribbon before the girls got started.

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Ebony started first and I was delighted with how much she enjoyed this craft. I wondered if, at 9 years old, she might become bored with easy sticker craft. But no, not at all. Christmas decorating combined with star stickers – a winner in this house. Christmas Card & Ornaments Dec 2012 028

And we all loved the result:

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We love simple and (let’s face it) frugal crafting around here. Especially when they are as beautiful as this!

Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about Zoe. She was busy doing a bit of free-range tree ornament craft while Ebony was busy with this craft. Zoe wants her free-range ornament to be a blog post instead of her star tree because she “loves it the best!”. Fair enough :) Keep an eye out for Zoe’s tree ornament post, coming soon!

Happy Christmas countdown and 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!

Holiday Boredom Buster – Googly Eyes

Googly eyes are one of the ultimate craft kit contributors. They perform every single time they are asked to.

The best part about googly eye craft is that it is QUICK and there is NO MESS :) Especially if you have found self-adhesive googly eyes – no need for glue!

So with the holidays approaching all over the globe, it’s time to stock up on your googly eyes (or goggle eyes) and take a minute to discover the endless ways kids can amuse themselves using them.

A classic we are fond of around here, pet rocks:-

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The girls came up with lots of great pretend play ideas with these cute pet rocks.

I have a fun round-up of googly eyed craft on my pinterest site. Here are just a few of them:

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A paint blowing activity with googly eyes being the perfect addition.

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Imagine your child discovering this? They would remember it for a LONG time and it would only take 2 or 3 minutes to create.

I love these bread tag monsters from Inner Child Fun!

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This toast one is so simple and it is so effective. Quick is good right?

And for when you are in a real hurry to get the kids busy and happy – get out the googly eyes and your old magazines and see what magic can happen.

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Kanye doesn’t look like a happy camper today. Like I said – the googly eyes work magic.

Googly eyes and playdoh – a perfect combo!Image

 

And meet this little guy we made last holidays. He has been well loved ever since!

Cute googly eyes monster

I hope you have found some inspiration from this little round up of ideas. Anything to help the holidays along is worth sharing.

For more great craft ideas please visit my pinterest site and have a browse around.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Christmas Card Craft – Pipe Cleaners and Pom Poms

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.