Crazy pinecone creatures
It’s technically still summer here in Amsterdam but in reality it’s been autumn at its worst these last few weeks. Crazy! The one advantage of autumn (the only one, really) is that there are loads of cool things falling from the trees, like for instance pine cones, which are fun to gather on a forest walk. And from which one can create very cool creatures like these pink hedgehogs. In the past we’ve made acorn men and chestnut chaps too. Fun!
xxx Esther
Craft garden
Do you remember those cool rock animals Courtney made with her boys a while ago? I’ve been meaning to make them with my daughter ever since, and we’ve been building up quite a collection of stones. Yesterday we finally decorated them, and it was easy and such fun! My creative daughter insisted on adding a gold-fish, and when we were done with the animals she thought it was a good idea to make them a little garden to roam around in. With a fish pond, obviously, and some waterlilies, for the frog. And flowers, for the bee. It turned out nicely, and my daughter has been playing with it for hours and hours. Not bad for some pebbles and an old pizza box!
xxx Esther
DIY Stick Horses
Before the birth of Ava I had already concluded that my soon to be 5-year-old daughter should have a proper birthday party — no excuses. For months and months she’d been talking about a ‘pony’ birthday (probably secretly hoping we would get her a real horse), which is not an easy theme for a party, especially if you don’t want to end up with loads of plastic trash!! So, 9 days after giving birth, my husband (still on paternity leave — this is Europe!) and my mother-in-law and I spent a whole evening making 7 stick horses for my daughter’s party. I got some rough instructions from This Vintage Chica, went to the market to get broomsticks, stuffing, and decoration, and to HEMA for some groovy socks, biggest size. We worked hard and stayed up late, but the result was a HUGE success! Part of the party was about personalising the horses with letters and glitters, and part was a horse racetrack, and of course all the girls got to take their own stick horse home. The kids absolutely loved their horses and are still playing with them today.
If you feel like making your own stick horse — it’s pretty easy, you don’t need a sewing machine at all. An (old) broomstick and an (old) sock will do. Here’s the how-to:
Giant Bubbles
I just read this post about how to make girant bubbles on Bambino Goodies and I am hooked. Imagine making huge bubbles out of hula hoops and bent, metal coat hangers? I seriously cannot imagine anything more fun. I personally recommend adding in a couple spoonfuls of sugar. Who knows why… but it makes the bubbles even stronger. I am now off to my local pharmacy to pick up a bottle of glycerine and some non-eco washing up liquid to produce the perfect bubble!
- Emilie
Artistic Collaboration
The other day my daughter went for a sleep-over at her best friend’s house. She’s not even 5 yet, but she takes the whole thing rather seriously. She packed her own little suitcase, her doll, and a separate suitcase for the doll. (I got her these suitcases at Elias&Grace last time I was in London, and they’re great for this purpose.)
Before she left, we made her this little horse to put in her suitcase and to play with in case she started missing her mama (which didn’t happen of course — her mama should have kept the horse herself).
I thought the artistic collaboration was rather successful — my daughter designed the horse, and I quickly copied it in cloth, using my sewing machine. (If you don’t have a sewing machine you could do a similar thing by hand-stitching.) I think it would be a cute idea to make some pillows using the same method. I’ll keep you posted!
xxx Esther
A crayon make-over
Not too long ago I wrote about the shoe boxes of broken and discarded crayons that take up residence in my home. I thought they just might sit there forever but thanks to a recent project from my favorite playdate crew, Kulinary Kids, I was reminded of a great way to recycle all of those rejected nubs. This project is SO so easy to do and great fun for your kids. All you really need is a mini-muffin tin (or other shaped tin pan). Here’s how to do it…
Step 1: Peel paper labels off crayons, break up crayons into small pieces and distribute into muffin tin (filling cup to the top). Then place in 275°F oven.
Step 2: Melt — for around 15 minutes
Step 3: Let muffin tin cool for about 25 minutes. Then place tin in your refrigerator or freezer for about 5-10 minutes. If you place in the refrigerator/freezer before cooled — the muffins may crack from the extreme temp.
(Photo and instructions from Instructables.)
DIY Colourful Lanterns
My daughter made one of these glass jar lanterns at school for her Christmas dinner, and I thought they were so cute that I’d have her make a few extra — they’re just lovely on a summery (garden) dinner table! They’re really easy to make (a child can do it), and all you need are some empty glass jars, some coloured art tissue paper, Mod Podge, a brush and zig-zag scissors. Just cut squares of different sizes of the tissue paper and glue them on the glass jar, slightly overlapping. When finished, paint a layer of Mod Podge, let dry, insert candle and presto! Fun to make, and with great results. I’m planning on hanging loads of them in a tree for a summer dinner — I’ll have to put my daughter to work!
xxx Esther
Decorating Easter Eggs
Last week I got inspired by the lovely hand-painted Easter eggs by Laikonik that I saw on the Famile Summerbelle website. I had visions of sitting around the kitchen table with my kids producing one egg gem after another and hanging them all over the flat… But turns out fantasy and reality could not have been any different — our egg painting experience was a complete bust!
Right from the start I came across some barriers: most eggs in France are not white but brown, so it is really hard to paint them and get a nice colour. It is also impossible to find those little tablets you dye eggs with over here! But I was not going to be deterred but such minor details, so I started looking up natural ways of dying eggs. I came across loads of different suggestions, including: onion peel, rose petals and spinach which, according to the internet, all give eggs wonderful, delicate colours. I got very excited and raided my vegetable box. (more…)
Egg Heads
Last Easter we decided to make some Egg Heads with the mustard & cress seeds we got in our lunchbox from Kew Gardens. Now I’m not in any way saying this was an innovative idea — most of you probably grew some of these little men/women yourself as children. But for some reason my childhood missed this particular activity… something I now plan to take up with my Mum and Dad as it is a reaallllllly cool thing to do!
I am not the slightest bit green-fingered and manage to kill all plants/greenery in my care (even cacti have a hard time living in our house and my husband doesn’t understand why I still buy herbs in pots as they always die within days), but mustard and cress are stubborn little plants and grow despite a lack of due care and attention. And they grow very quickly so you see results on a daily basis — appealing to my impatient nature.
So if you never made egg-creatures as a child then I urge you to take this eggcellent (terrible – I know!) holiday as an opportunity to redeem your deprived childhood just as I did. Your kids will love it too! Here’s how to make them: (more…)
Kimmel Toys
Craft, craft, craft… I don’t think there is anything kids like more then a good old craft project. I wish the creative juices would flow into adulthood like they do when you’re a child — kids have such exciting imaginations.
We recently discovered the Kimmel Kids Exchange Collection by LA artist Karen Kimmel, and it is a huge amount of fun. The great thing about this set is that it allows your kid’s imagination to flow without restricting them. The stencils that come in the set are organic shapes, so for one child they can be a flower and for another they can be an insect, and on another day they can imagine the same shape to be a sea shell. We have been using this set a lot, especially on plane trips where quiet, clean crafting is essential.
The Kimmel Kids Exchange Collection is available through the following retailers.
- Emilie
Valentine’s Cards
I sat down to talk to my 3-year-old son about Valentine’s Day this weekend. I’m big on grabbing any opportunity for a celebration, and a day that celebrates love — I’m in! So I explained that Valentine’s Day is the day when you tell the people that you love that they are special to you and one way to do that is to send them a card. We then decided to create a list of people he loved — it was long! So we had a LOT of cards to make. Luckily I had a relatively easy idea up my sleeve that even a 3-year-old boy could get into for long enough to make quite a few.
The idea is to cut out hearts and butterflies from coloured paper (using the old trick of folding the paper in half first to get symmetrical shapes) and let the kids decorate in any which way they choose. (more…)
Rustic fairy wands
These were a last minute improvisation the day before our fairy tea-party. Two days before the party I suddenly realised the Fairy Queen did not have a wand – OH NO! I had a quick look online but no one could guarantee delivery because we’ve had 2cm of snow here in South London (to be fair some places in the UK have had a lot more but still everything grinds to a halt).
So I used the ends of some blossom branches I had bought as decoration (I know, blossom in January???). I folded some coloured corrugated card in half (the corrugated part is important to give some elasticity to stretch round the stem), and then I drew a star on the back. I cut these out together so I had 2 identical stars and then stuck them around the twig using PVA glue — this bit was a bit tricky to get the stars lined up and to apply pressure for a few moments so they stuck in place. I was so pleased with the result that I ended up making a whole bunch so all the fairies could have one! (more…)
The Toadstool Tea
I can’t believe my daughter has just turned one — time has flown. Now I know a one-year-old might not appreciate a proper birthday party, but I can’t resist one. And in the spirit of being ‘girly’ there was nothing for it but a fairy tea-party, to be more specific The Toadstool Tea (for those of you unfamiliar with fairy-lore, The Toadstool Tea is a secret party for all the fairies, elves and imps to celebrate the Fairy Queen’s birthday. It takes place under the thicket deep in the middle of the forest (according to Mo)).
Toadstools, it turns out, are not only a really great theme for a party but also rather fashionable. In my month or so of preparation I saw them everywhere (I couldn’t resist adding a cute Toadstool money box from Cath Kidston (stores only) and this adorable Shinzi Katoh print to her presents). Toadstools also make for a fun theme because they are easy to draw and craft. Here are some other toadstool ideas… (more…)
Make your own snowman garland!
We got a touch of snow here in Seattle last week, but sadly not enough to make a snowman… So we stayed inside and made paper snowmen instead! This snowman garland is a wintery version of the bunting idea Emilie wrote about last summer — where everyone in the family decorates their own piece.
Each of us decorated at least one snowman and then we strung them all up on a string. My kids LOVED this project (my 4-year-old made 5 snowmen, giving them each a different facial expression)! It’s a fun way to get the whole family involved and it’s funny to see all the different creations.
To make your own snowman garland you can print a few copies of this snowman template (we used a heavier card stock paper) and then cut them out and decorate as you wish. Punch holes in the sides of the snowmen, and string them up! It’s super cute!
-Courtney
Christmas Stars
Thankfully my 6-year-old niece and God-daughter, Helene, is into all things crafty. Therefore she is my outlet for all the exciting ‘make & do’ gifts I find and fall in love with, as my own children are a bit too young for most of them. As she is German (and my Deutsche is not too great) I really enjoy sitting down with her to draw, paint or make something. Last week she showed me how to make these colourful Christmas stars — she had made loads in different sizes and colours and they looked fantastic on the window in their kitchen.
They are really easy to make and actually look really stylish cluttered together on a window. To make them you need two (or more) sheets of coloured transparent paper, cut into the same sized squares. And here’s how to make them… (more…)
Clothespin Reindeer
My kids and I are with my family in Seattle for the holidays and we’re busy preparing everything for Christmas (my boys insisted that my parents wait for them to decorate the Christmas tree)! While going through all the old ornaments, we discovered these darling clothespin reindeer ornaments that my siblings and I made when we were little. I think they’re so cute — both on the tree (you just clip them onto a tree branch), and also as a present-topper to add a little bit of festive cheer to gifts.
We decided to make a new ‘generation’ of clothespin reindeer, and it turned out to be a pretty easy project once we got all the necessary craft pieces. (Can I just say that American craft stores are so impressive. I was like a kid in a candy shop in our local Michaels!)
Here’s what you need to make your own reindeer: (more…)
Eye can art — art project in a box
It’s such a great thing to do art projects with kids. They really enjoy it, and it’s so fantastic to see them explore their creative skills. My 4-year-old is especially fond of craft projects, and she’s getting really good at them too!
Sometimes, though, I admit that my life is a bit too hectic to plan around complex art projects. I always have the best intentions, but I just end up without the right materials, without a great idea, or simply without the time to plan the whole thing. And this is exactly why Eye Can Art is SUCH a great idea!
Every Eye Can Art kit is completely developed by professional art teachers and provides everything you need for a fantastic and original art project (including scissors!). There are currently four art projects in the range, and there’s enough material in every box to repeat the project multiple times. (more…)
Potato-stamped penguins
I have to admit that I have totally swiped this idea from my friend Sally. She gave us our holiday gifts this week with the sweetest penguin card attached (see the photo), and I thought it was such a cute idea — so festive but in a really original, playful way.
My boys and I gave it a go yesterday, and it was a really fun project. And super easy too! (BTW — potato stamping is SO easy. I can’t believe I have never done this before!)
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own penguins:
-2 potatoes
-paint and paintbrush
-paper
-stamps (optional)
And here’s a little how-to: (more…)
Happy Thanksgiving!
A very happy Thanksgiving to all our American readers! We hope you are all enjoying time with your families, a cozy day of cooking in the kitchen, and a yummy feast of a meal.
(To make your own handprint turkeys, just paint your little ones’ hands for the turkey’s body. Use their little fingertips for the feet and wattle. Cute!)
-Courtney
Make your own lovely holiday angels!!
I remember making these angels when I was little; they’re so simple and so lovely. You can use them as table decoration (place settings?), or make a little perforation in the back, pull some thread through the hole and hang them in your tree. You can of course also make loads of them to give as gifts. My little girl loves making them — as long as we use tons of glitter!
Here’s the free download of the pattern. When you’re finished decorating, just cut along all the black lines, and tuck the left side of the arc into the right side.
Have fun!
xxx Esther
