Crafting with the Kids: The Fish Game

The kids and I have been doing little crafts here and there every single day since we made their new craft kits. Most of the things we've done have been decorative in nature, and had something to do with letters (for Elliot's sake). But I've been so excited to do some crafts that would also be good games or toys for them to play with! And today, (after picking up the last necessary supply), we were able to make The Fish Game!!!


This is another great inspiration that I found on Pinterest, but I've tweaked it slightly. I started with a blue plastic tub that I found at the dollar store.


I decided to make the fish out of foam, instead of printed cardstock. And, instead of using paperclips at the mouth, I used circle magnets for eyes.


I decided to make 15 fish. To make the shape of each fish, I folded 1 piece of foam in half, and freehand cut out the bottom half of a fish shape. So that when it was unfolded, it would be symmetrical. Then I just used the first fish as a template for the rest. The kids put the magnet eyes on each fish, and I drew on little smiley faces.

For the fishing rods, I had the kids go outside and find their own stick. I cut them each to roughly the same length, and attached another circle magnet with a bit of string. In order to make sure the string didn't fall off, I used a little bit of glue underneath it. Then, in order to differentiate who's fishing poll was who's, and to give a softer handle, I wrapped a couple pipe cleaners around the bottom (also using a little glue to help them from slipping off).


I was a little worried that the foam fish might be too bulky to be picked up by the fishing poll, but low and behold...


The game works, and the kids LOVE playing it!

Here's a breakdown of the supplies I used:
1 plastic blue tub
1 package of 18 circle magnets with self-adhesive backing
Sheets of foam in various colors (as many as you need depending on how many fish you want to make)
2 sticks/twigs or store-bought dowels
Pipe cleaners (if you want to create a soft, colored handle)
String or Twine
Glue

The magnets were somewhere around $3. The blue bin was $1, and the rest of things that were used, I already had around the house or they already had in their craft kits! So, this was definitely a fun and inexpensive craft!! And the fact that I can store it away easily in the blue tub is just a mom-bonus for me!!!

XOXO,
Marcia

Posted in: home life,kids crafts

Crafting with the Kids: Fish Handprint Art

Another quickie alphabet craft...

F is for Fish, handprint art!

Lucy's Fish:


Elliot's Fish:


It was quite simple. We used some of the paint from the kids' craft kits, and I painted their hands and fingers the colors they wanted for each part of the fish. Then, they did a handprint, and white fingerprints for bubbles. I cut out the F and the seaweed using a pair of squiggle-line-scissors, which we already had. And the kids glued the "F" and each piece of seaweed into place! Simple, cheap, and a whole lot of messy-hand-fun!

XOXO,
Marcia

Posted in: home life,kids crafts

Crafting with the Kids: Letter Animal Puppet

So, here's more on our very first craft project using the kid's new craft kits!

We decided to make a D Dinosaur, since I've been working on letters with Elliot (before he goes off to kindergarten in a few weeks). And while this is a common pattern, I decided to make it more interactive, but turning it into a puppet for the kids using the craft sticks!

I started by cutting out a letter D shape, then I free-hand cut some legs, a tail, head, neck, and triangles for spikes/horn/ears. I let the kids glue them on, and then they wanted to decorate their D-Dinosaurs with glitter glue and pom poms. While they were making them, they were each crafting stories about their dinosaurs. Elliot decided to make his a meat-eating Elliotosaur, while Lucy preferred hers to be a vegetarian Lucyosaurus. And luckily, they made their dinosaurs friends, so that the Elliotosaur wouldn't eat the Lucyosaurus. (Their banter back and forth about their dinosaurs is one reason I decided to turn them into puppets! Because each of them have wonderful story-telling imaginations!)

After they dried, I added the craft sticks, and voila...D for Dinosaur Foam Puppets!

Meet the very scary ELLIOTOSAUR


And the majestic LUCYOSAURUS


And here they showing off their D's!


I've sketched out how to turn other letters into animals, so there may be more letter puppet friends for Elliotosaur and Lucyosaurus in the future!

XOXO,
Marcia

Posted in: home life,kids crafts

Craft Kits

Recently, I've been completely INSPIRED by what I've been seeing on pinterest.com! I've known about the site for a while now, but it wasn't until recently that I realized in order to use it to it's full potential...you need to sign up for your own account! (I had just browsed and thought to myself "wow, what a nifty site!") So, I signed up, and became instantly obsessed!! It has been such an amazing source of ideas, and creative inspiration! I'm quite ashamed to admit that I have not been making the most of this summer vacation when it comes to making memories with the kids. I've spent most of the summer working on the basement renovations, getting the nursery area ready, working on the garden, and just trying to keep up with the housework with my ever expanding belly! So, with a few weeks left, I'm determined to make the most of the remaining time with the kids!!

My biggest plan, however, won't be able to materialize until the weekend AFTER they start school...but still. It's a biggie, and the kids and I are REALLY stoked about it!!! (More on that later).

But, first up on the docket was taking a trip to the dollar store for some crafting goodies! Our current inventory is so crazy, unorganized, and very much LACKING!! So, I figured a fresh start was in order. So, with the kids in tow, I filled my shopping cart with:

2 Clear shoe boxes with lids (the ones I chose were decorated with green and pink circles)
2 Packages of foam sheets
2 Packages of pipe cleaners
2 Packages of construction paper
2 Packages of rainbow acrylic paints
1 Package of pom-poms (I divided the package into 2 small ziploc bags for each)
1 Package of 20 markers (I divided the package into 10 markers each)
1 Package of glitter glue (this one came with 2 of each color...perfect for dividing evenly)
1 Package of craft sticks (I divided the package between the two of them)
1 Package of googly eyes (I divided the package into 2 small ziploc bags for each)
1 Package of tape (this one came in a pack of 2, so I divided)
1 Package of glue sticks (this came in a pack of 3, so I divided)
1 Package of white glue (this came in pack of 2, so I divided)

Added up, each craft kit cost roughly $9, definitely a good investment if you ask me.

When we got home we divided everything evenly so that each kit was exactly like the other. And the first thing we did was use one of the foam sheets to create name labels for their container. Nothing too dramatic, just their name written in marker and then attached to the outside of the container.

When the kits were finished, there was some debate over what the first craft project would be. After some suggestions and compromise, we decided on a foam project. (It's still drying, so I'll take photos and talk more about it later.) After the foam project, the kids were eager to do another project. So I figured, since it was just about bedtime, it should be something quick and simple, and not require TOO much of their new craft kit resources. So, I told them each to pick out 2 pipe cleaners and quickly fashioned them into these...






They were in LOVE with these, and wore them for the rest of the night! When Elliot took his off he said "I'm gonna put my contacts in now!" and when Lucy took her's off she closed her eyes and said "OH NO!! I can't see anymore!!!"

Who knew 4 pipe cleaners could be so entertaining? :)

Here's to more crafts and fun times to come!

XOXO,
Marcia

Posted in: home life,kids crafts

Nursery Progress

Ok, so it's technically not a nursery...per se. We're setting up baby Bean's (yep...he's still unnamed at this point) living quarters in the master bedroom. Although, when he gets a little older, and Lucy gets a little older, we'll fix up one of the rooms downstairs, move her there, and Bean can bunk with Elliot. In the meantime, we've got enough space in our bedroom to share.

Actually, when Lucy was born, and we were living in our first (teensy tiny) house, the only place for her crib to go was in our room. And when Elliot was born, we set him up in the same room as Lucy...but he wouldn't sleep a wink in his crib, and ended up sleeping in the bassinet next to me, or on my chest for a good portion of his babyhood. So, I've found it very helpful having my babies within arms reach while they're still young.

So, to make our room ready for a mini-nursery, the first thing I did agonize over which crib to buy. I researched and researched, and narrowed it down to these 3:


My requirements for our crib were just that it be made of solid wood, and that it come with a toddler railing for future conversion. After digging in a little bit, I found out that the middle crib did NOT come with the toddler railing, and if I wanted to purchase it, it would cost me around $80! So, that was the first one to be out of the running. Then I read some reviews for the crib on the right that claimed it didn't fit every size mattress! Finally, I noticed that the one on the left was on some sort of super clearance sale. Normally it was $299, and it was on sale for $175! So, the choice seemed simple...we went with the crib on the left!

Here is it, after I put it together: (taken with my camera phone)


I know baby Bean isn't here yet, so I haven't really had an opportunity to use it, but it is very solid and sturdy, exactly what I was looking for in a crib! The only drawback was the the pocket screws were a bit of a pain to screw in. But other than that, building it was a snap, and I was able to do it alone, while Adam was at work.

After washing the sheets, and putting them on the crib. I focused my attention to Bean's future dresser/changing table. Last year I painted an old hand-me-down dresser of ours white, took off the legs, and we were using it as a TV console in the basement. So, what I decided to do was paint the legs, and then put them back on. Then do a little touch up the paint to the rest of the dresser.






Then I moved the changer/dresser into our room, picked up a cute little lamp, and put all of Bean's clothes in the drawers (by size). I still have to wash all those cloth diapers, but that's a topic for another post.


Here's an angle that includes the crib with bedding. I opted for the toddler bedding for the crib, instead of the crib bedding, because a) it was less expensive, b) i like the pattern so much I want him to have it for a while, and c) toddler bedding is sized the same as crib bedding!


There are still many things to plan/do/buy/etc, but this is where we're at so far! And the more I do, the more excited I get for Bean's arrival!!

XOXO,
Marcia
 

Posted in: furniture,in-progress,nursery