Paper Wonderland
The temperatures over here have dropped into the -0°celsius level, which is a rare occurence. When it does happen, the whole of Paris seems to go off to hiberate in their homes. Which is where you’ll find us, snuggled up in our house! Time for some crafting…
We were recently given the Paper Wonderland book and we are officially obsessed. With some scissors and some tape, you get to put together some of the coolest creatures and little projects I have seen. Some are more complicated than others (great when you have kids of different ages) but the end result is super cute and great to play with, so the enjoyment goes beyond just crafting. I highly recommend it!
- Emilie
Stitch ‘n Kids: finger crochet
Do you remember doing finger crochet as a child? I recall a little boy in my class, he must have been around 7 or 8 years old, and he had made a string of finger crochet so long it could wrap around the classroom twice! I recently taught my daughter Sara and some of her girlfriends to finger-crochet, and it has started a real crocheting-mania! The girls love it, and I’ve seen all the mums walk around with finger-crochet bracelets made by their daughters! Cute.
Finger crocheting is really easy, and a six-year-old child should be able to do it. My nearly-five-year-old son Pim was still a bit clumsy and didn’t really have the patience to learn. But he made an effort (and is very proud of his little bracelet)!
xxx Esther
PS Do you remember how to finger crochet? I put a little film on YouTube here!
Big fish eats little fish
This is another art project inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest! I knew the minute I saw it that my kids would love this one. Plus, it’s so easy! All you need are some clothespins, some card stock or thicker paper, some crayons or paint to decorate your fish, and scissors and glue. A fun project for kids of all ages — even our 2-year-old enjoyed making her fish (we drew a fish template and she coloured it in).
Also, if you’re looking for more craft projects, you can take a peek at our Crafts for Kids Pinterest board for ideas!
x Courtney
Buttonbag Craft Kits
Something seems to have happend to Coco since she turned 6. It seems like she woke up one morning and her hand coordination and patience had suddenly increased. I guess she is not a little girl anymore! She cannot wait to use these new found skills and now there is a serious demand for arts and craft sessions in our house. I do try to come up with my own projects, but there are times when a craft kit is a life saver! A great example are the Buttonbag Craft Kits, which are perfectly catered toward eager 6-year-olds. The projects are simple and the results impressive. I particularly like the Winter Birds Kit and the Peg Doll Kits.
- Emilie
Stitch ‘n kids: the knitting fork
After joining a little craft group a few months ago, I’ve been making more time for sewing, knitting and crocheting. My 6-year-old daughter Sara is entranced by the idea — she loves nothing more than sitting next to me when I’m creating and always asks me when she’ll be old enough to join my craft group. She actually already does some easy sewing herself (last year we gave her a sewing machine for Christmas), and I recently taught her how to knit (and I was surprised that she was able to do it)!
I thought it would be fun to share some fun sewing/knitting/crocheting ideas with you that are easy enough for children to enjoy. The first idea is the Lucet. Have you ever heard of it? It a very traditional and really simple wooden utensil that has been used since the Viking times to ‘knit’ cords. The process is easy enough for children about 5 years and older, and Sara loves doing it. She already made a beautiful long cord — and is of course very proud! Now we have to come up with a fun project to use the cord… Any ideas?
xxx Esther
Walnut Mice
I am wholeheartedly addicted to Pinterest! And it turns out… it’s not only a place to find a million cool products you wish you had (damn that Pinterest!) but I’ve also found loads of great craft projects I’m hoping to try with the kids. Like these little walnut mice. How cute! Originally blogged by the lilla a design blog (which has loads of cute craft ideas), I stumbled upon her images on Pinterest and decided to give it a go with my kids. The only trick, we found, was cracking open the walnuts without breaking the shells. But we managed to keep a few shells in tact and made some charming little mice. Find the full tutorial and materials list here.
-Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Pixie Lily — heirloom clothing, for baby• Natural Paint Kit from Shak-Shuka
Making pomanders
As a child, my mum and I made pomanders out of oranges and cloves every year for Christmas. I love that smell, so spicy and Christmassy, so last weekend I put my kids to work. It kept them focussed and busy for quite some time! It’s such an easy and lovely project, great for all ages (even 19-month-old Ava liked to participate — pulling the cloves out of the oranges!). There’s nothing more to it than an orange, cloves and a wooden toothpick to make it easier to get the cloves in. You can make patterns or just let the kids go crazy — it won’t affect the scent of the pomanders! When finished, you can tie a ribbon around them and hang them somewhere decorative. Or, give them away as presents!
xxx Esther
Hands and Feet Reindeer
Earlier this week we sat down after school and made these little reindeer. It’s such a simple, simple project, but the kids really enjoyed it (and I don’t know about you, but any easy activity to pass away the dark afternoons is welcomed in our house!). What I really love is that the little antlers (hands) seem to fit the reindeer heads (feet) perfectly, no matter the sizes. I’m thinking about making some more and using them as table place settings for Christmas dinner.
xx Courtney
Kimmel Kids forest stencils
With all the leaves up for grabs outside (I think each and every tree in Amsterdam is now without leaves), I was thinking about this gorgeous forest set from Kimmel Kids. Made from chipboard and finished in funky colours (neon, orange and copper), these stencils are not only great for the crafting table but also are a wonderful addition to autumn and winter displays!
xxx Esther
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Diesel Straight Leg Jeans from Mini Wardrobe• FlexiBath, the smart solution baby bath!
Do-it-yourself nativity scene
How cool is this DIY cardboard nativity set? What a fun craft project to do with the kids… and a really sweet way to explain the story of Christmas and the nativity. The kit comes with 20 punch-out figures on thick cardboard sheets, plus all the golden haloes, crowns and pre-cut stars. You and your kids can paint and decorate the figures and then assemble them (easily!) to set up the scene. It also includes the nativity story, in case (like me) you need a little help explaining the story. What a great activity in these cosy months leading up to Christmas. The kit is available from Little Scout (along with loads of other great gifts!).
xx Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Flat Out a cozy cuddle!• Paper Snowflakes
• Christmas selection at Smallable
Remarkable – recycled pens and pencils
In our house we go through an extraordinary amount of pens, pencils, crayons and felt tips, as do a lot of you I’m sure. I don’t understand what happens to them! I always feel at bit guilty throwing away broken pens and buying more and more…which is why I was happy to discover Remarkable, a UK-based eco factory who make recycled pens, pencils and stationery. The pencils we got were CD cases or possibly coat hangers in their previous life. How cool is that? They are not that much more expensive than normal pencils and it’s fun to explain to my kids that they are using a recycled coat hanger to draw with!
Check out the Remarkable shop for all sorts of stationery items.
- Emilie
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Favourite Toys : Just what the Doctor Ordered!• Favourite Toys: Paperpod Cardboard Dolls House
• Our Kids’ Favourite Toys
Make your own Doudou
How darling is this little soft toy (or doudou as we call them over here)? I just have decovered the French webshop Sardine which sells little kits to make soft toys, mobiles and garlands. I love the fact that they are so easy to make and that the end product is something you actually want to keep, which is not always the case with my creative experiments!
The kits comes with all the swatches of fabric and the yarn, so all you need is a rainy day and a bit of time…
- Emilie
Kidsonroof cooker
Cardboard toys are such a genius idea! When I was a kid, I coloured all over my wooden toys and got told off…. but had the toys been cardboard, I actually would have been encouraged to continue! I think this little cooker is particularly sweet — it is so well designed and thought out. I love the fact that if it doesn’t get played with for a while it can be folded away. Big bonus for us city types living in small apartments.
- Emilie
Teaching basic math skills
I recently sat down with my son’s school teacher and she gave me a very brief suggestion for how to teach basic math skills to a six-year-old. She explained that they’re trying to get kids to think and count not just by ones, but also by fives and tens. She explained that they will take a number (say 38) and ask the kids how many tens go into this number, how many fives, and how many ones. I suppose it’s really division/multiplication without the kids knowing or really grasping that idea yet. The funny thing is, if you talk to kids in a certain causal way, they can actually sometimes do difficult math without knowing it. Even my 4-year-old surprises me with his ability to ‘get’ fractions.
This weekend we cut out a bunch of paper circles in three different sizes, and then labeled the circles with tens, fives and ones. Then we played with the numbers, adding them up and subtracting them to reach certain numbers. It’s such an easy project, and once you’ve made the numbers, you can keep them around for future math lessons. We brought out these numbers several times over the weekend to ‘play maths’, and the kids had no idea how much they were learning.
-Courtney
DIY Pop-up flower garden cards
These pop-up flower garden cards or so super easy to make! You just need some thin cardboard (or thick paper), coloured paper, glue and scissors. The photos above pretty much say it all. One thing to notice — don’t make the flowers too long, or they will stick out of the card once folded! Sara (6) made the coloured flowers, and Pim (4), who’s still quite clumsy at using his scissors, created the abstract tulip garden for his sick grandpa. Cute!
xxx Esther
Ketiketa Stamps
We Continental Europeans don’t have the greeting card culture of the Anglo world. No one really sends birthday cards, we don’t have card shops, and in fact, it is really difficult to find a nice pack of greeting cards. It is 100% due to Courtney’s influence that I have been made aware of this — she is a note and card writing virtuoso! (I remember when I heard that her newborn already had his own headed stationary, I choked on my coffee! But I now realise that this is totally normal in the US).
So I have started to jump on the bandwagon and have started sending cards. I have actually found that I really enjoy it: it is really nice thanking someone with a handwritten note, personally delivered to a post box. Who knew? I have also started making my own, with some stamps I found via Smallable and Annaka Bazaar. I set my girls to work and I think the results are quite cute, no?
Next stop: my own headed letter paper!
Make Do
I was snooping around my little neighbourhood toy shop, La Cachette à Malice, yesterday and fell upon an Australian toy company I had never heard of: Make Do. Have you heard of them? I am obsessed. It is just such a simple idea. Make Do are reusable connectors, with which you can build anything you want out of boxes, paper, egg cartons or anything else you have in your recycle box. You can either get kits with only the connectors in them or kits to help you build a doll house or a car. Seriously, why did no one think of this before?
You can check out the Make Do video here.
-Emilie
Cardboard painting
This cute craft project is super easy and perfect for a weekend morning spent in pyjamas! The only things you need are some coloured paper, little pieces of thin cardboard (just cut an empty food box in pieces — make sure you have one straight edge!) and paint. For the crazy flies we used our fingers for the eyes and a black pen for the legs, but it’s also fun and easy to ‘paint’ cars this way, or robots, or crocodiles… Both my 4-year-old and my 6-year-old enjoyed this project, which is based on an activity I saw in Usborne’s Monster Things to Make and Do (available through Amazon UK
Enjoy your weekend!!
xxx Esther
DIY summer necklaces
Last week on the beach, my kids and I spent quite a while looking for shells (I don’t know who enjoyed it more, the kids or I — it’s just so relaxing!!). And yesterday we made some fun, summery necklaces out of them. Look for the shells with a little hole in them, and use whatever you have around the house (wooden beads look good I find). A double knot after each shell keeps them tightly in place!
xxx Esther
Pillowcase Wings
I just discovered these pillow case wings on Sisters Guild via Bambino Goodies and just had to write a post about them, they are so super cute. I know it is not Halloween nor Carnival, but there is never a bad time to play dress up, is there? Apparently all you need is fabric, fabric glue and then do a bit of stiching. Perfect for using up little bits of stray fabric.
I will try and make some in the next couple of weeks and let you know how it goes!
-Emilie
