Category Archives: Kids

Advent calendar

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Stuff to make by

IMG_2344

Five days of cuteness! Still to come, six more peg elves, two more elf houses, the big guy himself on the 24th, and some other little surprises. I’ve had so much fun making this advent calendar. I haven’t painted anything except walls in a long time, and I was a little out of practice. My skills definitely improved after a few elves–the elf waiting on December 18 is superlatively cute. The little drawstring bags were pretty easy to make and I just stamped the numbers on with a regular ink pad. I still have a few more things to make–Santa’s house!–but I’ve got days and days to finish up.

IMG_2341

Cardboard Boat Race 2013

Posted in Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

Would you build a boat out of cardboard, cover it in copious amounts of duct tape, and set it afloat (with your children inside) in the Hudson River? Apparently, I would. And I did.

Well, to be more accurate, my kids were set afloat in the narrowest part of the Hudson River, which is located in Schyulerville, New York, where they host the annual Hudson Crossing Park Cardboard Boat Race. And it might be a stretch to imply that I built the boat, because I contributed to the effort not at all. My husband, my kids, and Pop did the work, with Gramma making countless runs to the hardware store for duct tape.

2013-08-10 13.10.43

Our boat (modeled after a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda–don’t even ask) was wobbly but it didn’t capsize–at least until its second race. A group of local firemen had the most spectacular collapse of the event. They dive-bombed their own craft mid-river, earning themselves the coveted Titanic Award. Yet no matter how you do in the Cardboard Boat Race, it’s a transient glory. Afterward, the soggy boats wilt into an amorphous sponginess, and most are unceremoniously tossed in a dumpster nearby. Until next year!

Summer Craft Camp, Again!

Posted in Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

A rainy week at the lake with the tremendous trio of Zeke, Lila and Allie (my son & niece & nephew) resulted in a craft bonanza. We made and we made and we made. Some projects created tangible results, while others were just about the process, man.

Tie-dye spirals--in process

Tie-dye spirals–in process

The list of our productivity is long: salt dough beads (a blast, and with many production stages so we could drag it on a bit–but the wet weather made the beads kind of soggy); paper beads (less soggy); marble painting (our paintings faded but rolling marbles through paint puddles was very intriguing); and tie-dye tees (and undies for those who just couldn’t get enough tie-dye!).

Salt dough beads--somewhat soggy!

Salt dough beads–somewhat soggy!

Here are some helpful links if you happen to find yourself in a damp summer cottage with a few stir-crazy kids:

Salt dough recipe from Crafting Connections

We used this recycled paper bead kit from Green Creativity but you can make them with skewers with instructions from Rookie

Marble painting instructions from First Palette

This youtube video from Jacquard Products really helped me perfect the tie-dye spiral

I Scream for Ice Cream

Posted in Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

image

In the summer, we try to balance our actual ice cream eating with some pretend ice cream eating. It keeps us slim (sort of)! My seven-year-old and I made these nifty ice cream cone replicas out of toilet paper rolls and tissue paper. Cut a line up the side of the toilet paper roll and curl into a cone shape–hot glue will hold the shape and make sturdy little cones. Then stuff with tissue. Voila. Here are the kids selling ice cream out the half door in our cottage.

Matchbox camera

Posted in Kids, Paper, Photos, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

image

This matchbox project was inspired by “cameras” my brother and I used to make when we were kids out of band-aid boxes (back when they were tin, which really wasn’t that long ago, was it?). We taped on a lens and a viewfinder and snapped imaginary pictures. To make this wee version, I covered a matchbox with black paper, except the ends, which I covered in light blue washi tape. Then I folded a strip of paper to make a viewfinder, and sliced off a circle of cardboard from a toilet paper roll to create the lens.

image

Inside is the treat: an accordian album of tiny photos. I went old-school for this part—good old cut and paste. I printed the photos on regular printer paper (albeit high quality printer paper) and glued the photos in place.

image