DIY Fairy Houses with 5 Year Olds

We've been so busy with the house renovation that I keep forgetting to post about the diy fairy houses that my daughter (who is five) and her friend (also five) made about a month ago. This project and things like this project have been all over Pinterest for a while now. Basically, you create fairy houses or villages for your backyard using recycled items, juice containers, bark, moss, bottle caps, etc...

My Mom had been gathering the supplies for this for a few weeks before the craft.

First thing that we learned is that we should have pre-cut and cleaned the cartons before having the girls start the craft. I think having to wait for us to cut them used up some of their attention for the craft.

The other things we learned were to have more items that covered a large space, make the houses smaller and have more items that they could peel and stick. Also, make sure that the two year old has something else to do, instead of dumping buttons into the grass. They did have fun creating these fairy houses.

Large T-Shirt into Kids Smock

It's been a long time since I posted any craft projects. My Mother-in-Law was up helping me with the kids and she wanted to share her quick and easy project of how to turn a large t-shirt into a kids smock. This project took no longer than 5 minutes and all you need is a large t-shirt (old or new) and a pair of scissors.

1. Start with a large Mens T-Shirt, old or new.

2. Cut a slit up the sleeve.

3. Try on to make sure the slit is long enough.

4. Tie the two pieces of the sleeve into a knot to shorten.

5. Cut a slit to open the bottom hem.

6. Rip the bottom hem off the shirt.

7. Use the bottom hem as a belt for the smock. 

TaDa! You have a cute and simple kids smock.

Mardi Gras Bead Art for Kids

Before we had kids me and my husband went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. It was really fun, we went to all the parades and grabbed a bunch of beads that they were throwing from the floats, no need to do anything elicit.

Pic of me and my husband Mardi Gras before kids.

We brought the beads home and I have used them for fun projects. I created a couple of wreaths and various other decorative items.

I thought it might be time to bring them out again and create some fun art with my daughter. This craft/art project was more focused on the process, then the outcome. I gave my 3 year old free reign to create anything she wanted on a piece of foam board, beads and glue. Here is what she came up with.

Just in case you don't have Mardi Gras beads on hand you can get them cheap on Amazon.

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10 Indoor Crafts for Kids

It's that time of year again, school is back in session and soon the weather will be getting colder. This means the kids are inside more and you'll need more indoor activities. Here are 10 crafts and games that I have done with my 3 year old over the past year that have yielded many a fun afternoon.

1. Hidden Pictures

2. Fork Painting

3. Supermarket Sweep


4. Kids Weather Tracker


5. Marshmallow Structures


6. Hand Print Turkey Puppet


7. Homemade Jello Playdough


8.Turkey Spoons


9. Leaf Wreaths


10. Turkey Hats


Have Fun!!!

Kid's Craft: Homemade Jello Playdough

I'm not a fan of regular play-dough, it is messy and does not come out of clothes very easily. I like to find ways to make things like play-dough out of items in my kitchen, not only is it easier to clean up but you know exactly what is in it. I have made play-dough before, this is the second recipe that I have tried. 

Pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/85146249175519472/

Original Site: Jello Play-dough Recipe

For this recipe you'll need:

-Cream of Tartar

-White Flour

-Jello Packet

-Warm Water

-Cooking Oil

-Salt

For the recipe click on the link from the original site or the Pin link.

One thing that was great about this recipe was that my daughter was able to participate in making the play-dough, not just playing with the play-dough. She loved mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl and seeing the color start happening. The only thing that she could not help with was cooking it on the stove.

In the past I have made play-dough colored with food dye, with this one the jello colors the play-dough. What this means is that you do not have to worry about the dye getting on your hands, the first few times you use the play-dough. Big Plus!!

Result:

Pinterest Kid Craft: Hand Print Turkey Puppet

Here is another of the fun Thanksgiving crafts that I have been creating with my daughter. These turkey puppets took us about 20 minutes to complete start to finish and didn't cost us anything because we just used items that we had on hand.

Items used:
-Hand
-Crayons
-Card Stock
-Scissors
-Tape
-Straw

Pin: http://www.loveplayandlearn.com/2012/11/thanksgiving-hand-print-turkey-puppet.html

Result:

Pinterest Kid Craft: Turkey Spoons

My daughter and I have having so much fun creating Thanksgiving Day crafts. I found another fun craft that transforms a white plastic spoon into a turkey.

Pin: http://www.rd.com/advice/thanksgiving-craft-for-kids/

All you need for this craft is construction paper, glue, a white spoon and a black sharpie marker.

Result:

Pinterest Kid Craft: Turkey Hats

I am always looking for fun crafts to do with my daughter. This time of the year we try to make our crafts relate to the holidays. When I found this cute Turkey Hat on Pinterest from Parents magazine, I knew my daughter was going to love creating this festive hat.

Pin:

                 

Turkey Hat from Parents Magazine

I happen to have all the items required to create this fun hat, so there was no cost. I'm always looking for crafts that do not require me to spend any money or bring anymore supplies into our already cramped house. All you need is a paper plate, construction paper, crayons or paint, scissors and a glue stick. 

Result:

We had so much fun creating this hat. Probably will be creating these again next year.

Pinterest Kid Craft: Leaf Wreaths

I'm always looking for fun crafts to do with my 2 year old daughter. I came across this cute project to make wreaths out of fallen leaves.

Pin:

                          

This was pinned from Crafts for all Seasons.

This was a relatively cheap craft too. All we needed was paper plates ($2-$4), leaves (free), glue ($2) and scissors.

This was a great project because we got to go outside and get some energy out collecting the leaves, as well as having fun with arts and crafts. My daughter had a great time collecting the leaves and she really loved gluing the leaves onto the paper plates (with some help of course.)

Result: