Snake Bubbles...

Bubble snakes. Not a craft... but a really good activity? Yea. We'll go with that!!!

Summer Beach Towel Roll

My husband has some slightly crazy luck. He recently managed to trade an old dune buggy he had that he hadn't touched since he got it for... A BOAT. It needed some work and still needs a bit, but we are extremely close to having it water-worthy! So I've been thinking about needing a way to carry around sunscreen. See, we have our adult sunscreen and bug spray and my Neutrogena face sunblock and baby sunblock. It can be a little difficult to remember it all when we're spending a day outside. So, I wanted a way to store it all and just grab it and go... I thought a Beach Towel Roll would be perfect, so I started Googling. I couldn't find anything! So I had to wing it.

1. Fold your beach towel in half, because really it's way longer than you'll need. Sew around all four edges.

Rocket Pack

So. I saw this a few weeks ago and was going to make it, but then I waited on bottles.. yay recycling. Then my son had surgery on his arm, to get a pin put in, after he broke it at the start of summer. It's just been hectic. But alas, here we are... one little rocket pack, sans child to play with it yet...(Those pictures will be later)

Painter's Tape Paintings

This week, I wanted to do a craft with both of my "littles," though my son isn't so little anymore. He's out of school for the summer now, so it's nice to always have a little something to do. We decided to try out Painter's Tape art. I created Lil Miss' design.

"I'm Bored" a chart for summer!!!

I keep seeing charts, lists, and calenders of activities for summer. I decided to make my own quick version for the boys. We tried to put things on the chart that we should be able to finish in the next few months.

The hardest part was filling in all the squares. Our grid is 2"x2" squares making it a total of 126 ideas. I used various lists on Pinterest for inspiration, adjusting ones I needed to and adding our own ideas as well. The idea is to color all the squares in by the time school starts.

(Oh and if you're wondering where the herb garden post is? They MAY of died on me when they got waterlogged... I couldn't nurse them back to health... maybe I'll get to try again next year... so far I'm 3/0 in years I've planted and how many gardens made it past spring)

PJ Pants Upcycled Into a Bib

This is probably one of the simplest projects I have ever done! You just used your favorite style of bib and an old pair of pj pants (or a shirt) to create a bib for your baby.

 

Butter Making!!!

My youngest was studying pioneer days this week. Today they were taking a trip to Sauder Village. Earlier this week, he had a project-list of things to do and chose to make butter. Much easier than I expected to be honest!!

All you need... (not shown is ice)

Glitter Gender Reveal Eggs

In my search for how to tell my ten year old son the gender of our new baby later this month, I found blown-out glitter-filled eggs! I think this is just an adorable idea, so I set out to make some. They're not how I'll be telling him, but I think I might use the photos to announce on the internet.

Flubber....

Well. I was going to post on Friday, but all day yesterday I kept thinking it was Thursday. Then I decided I'd just do this craft with the kids today. Only to find my borax missing. I was hoping I'd find it admist my Saturday cleaning, but alas. BUT! Never fear! I actually made this awhile ago pre-blog and am just going to use those pictures... minus all the steps.... sorry, but it's an entry? Yes. We'll go with that.

  

Fireworks in a jar...

So today we have a quick little blurb for you. Blurbs are nice... perfect for an end of the day craft!!!

The Most Vibrantly Dyed Eggs!

It's Angela again this week, as Tash forgot alllll about posting. ;) I just so happens that I had a bit of fun today that deserves posting. I've had little luck getting gorgeous colors out of egg dyeing kits or the kool-aid method. So when I found this nifty little chart on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. I love that it tells you how much water/vinegar and exactly how many drops of what color to use.

Chalk Ice!

If your kids love sidewalk chalk, then this is something awesome, easy, and cheap to surprise them with! They're good, cold, fun on a hot summer day. Simply mix half cornstarch and half water, add food coloring, and pour into ice cube trays or molds to freeze. Once frozen, these can be used like sidewalk chalk, just cold! Little ones have fun banging them on the sidewalk and watching the streams they make as they melt. I've seen this on Pinterest several times, but I'm not sure of the original source, so much thanks to whoever came up with this idea!

-Ang

Fairy Gardens...

Hey.
Yea yea yea, I missed last week. I'll be lucky if this post makes it before midnight at the rate of my days.
I'm not *done* with the blog. I just have been really busy. And I missed the first friday ever. And Angela hasn't let me live it down... at all. She poked and prodded and teased herself giddy when she got back from her vacation. So, onwards.

My mother made a fairy garden a few weeks ago... cute eh??

Here Comes Penny Cottontail!

I can't believe it's Easter in less than a month already! It seems like just yesterday a certain someone pitched the idea of sharing a weekly craft blog while I was slaving over three dozen Christmas crafts

Mini-Rain Chain

So rain-chains came up in my most recent spring-craft search.
 I saw this post and realized I had all those things on hand...

So! I really want to get a bit stronger wire I think. And I'd like to make one to hang in moms flower garden, perhaps for mothers day. But for now, I made a tiny one for my shepherds hook outside.


First Supplies. My son wanted the beads so we added beads.

1st Birthday Tutu!

This week, I made this totally adorable diy tutu for a friend's daughter's first birthday! I spent a lot of time overthinking the process and was over-complicating it in my head, so I finally searched out a tututorial. It helped a lot and the results were completely no-sew and absolutely adorable! I've made many tutus in the past, but this is definitely the first one in this particular style. I love it! This is the wonderful tutorial that I used to create it.

 

-ANG

Addicted to Cilantro...

Ok. I'm sick and tired of cold. I don't even care about the snow... it's the cold that I can't stand. Give me snow in 40 degree weather and I can live with it. But for now we wait for this snow to blow over, and I'll just keep telling myself spring is around the corner. Meaning my pots out front will need something in them.

I tried last year to plant an herb garden. By the end of the season, I had dirt, no sprouts. I also used old seeds. So we're going to try to do better this year. I heard about planting in toilet paper rolls so I've been religiously saving them for this project. Here we go.

I figure I need all the help I can get so Miracle Grow: Seed Starting Potting Mix sounded promising. Seeds which I bought at Walmart, a container for them to stand in and of course toilet paper rolls. (As many as you have seeds.)

The Rainbow First Birthday

When I was browsing Pinterest and came across a photo of a rainbow themed birthday party, I instantly knew that THAT was what I had to do for my baby girl's first birthday! You see, she is my husband's rainbow baby - a rainbow baby is a baby that comes after the loss a pregnancy, infant, or child. My husband's only other child, his sweet baby girl, was stillborn in the summer of 2010. When we started seeing one another in late 2011, he told me early on that if we were going to have children, he wanted to do it quickly, because (he thinks) he's getting old. Our relationship has been an absolute whirlwind, and only seven months after we got together and a few months before the wedding we had been planning, we were pregnant. The pregnancy was hard for him, having a 39 week stillborn makes it difficult to believe that everything will be okay until it's staring you in the face. So the idea of a rainbow birthday party to celebrate his rainbow was perfect. And so I set out to make it happen.

Kusudama Ball.

This is called a Kusadama Ball and ended up being a longer... project than I anticipated and that's after making one before. lol We are going to jump right into the tut before Angela is poking me wondering where my post is!!!

  

Ombre Toddler Dress

So, this week I did something super simple, because... Today is my daughter's first birthday! I'm neck deep in preparations for her party on the 16th, so I didn't have much time to spare. 

DIY Dog Toys

My turn? Already? As slow as January has seemed to have gone for my family... it's still strange to think it's my turn to post!

So, big news!!! Last week, we got a puppy. A Miniature Australian Shepherd, who is probably the cutest thing ever! Look at this face! His name is Zuko and I'm in looooooove.

Sensory Bottle Fun!

This week, I made my sweet girl two sensory bottles. They've both been an absolute hit!

An oobleck swamp...

I wasn't going to do another sensory box. But then my friend S came to visit, and I had made some oobleck for her, and her mind was blown. If you've never made oobleck, I suggest doing so... everything about it is amazing! It's liquid, then it's solid, and then it's liquid again. Not to mention it's affordable fun! Each box of cornstarch was 1$, and the insects we picked up at our local Dollar Tree.

I can't tell you how many times we've made oobleck in the past 4 months or so, even the adults love playing with it!

First we started with an insect bug box. My youngest loves bugs! He catches them all summer long and is always reading about them.

You're going to need these things:

Valentine Tutu Outfit

I made my daughter this adorable Valentine's Day outfit over the course of two afternoons! It's easy, but a little time consuming.

 

Want to know how I did it? 

Play-Dough Sensory Box for a Snowday!

Hello! New blogs... and making the first post... scary, no? A little. It's daunting. I'm being told "hardly anyone will read it at first" as if... oh no... what if many people read it later!? Oh well, this is my brilliant idea, joining a blog with a partner in crime whom you'll meet next Friday. Hopefully one of us posting each Friday for the year of 2014... buckle up, this could be a bumpy ride!

We're going to start easy, with a play-dough sensory box. I found this recipe at The Creative Mama. It doesn't get any closer to the store-bought brand than this folks! It keeps super well, and has the same texture as store brand!

Not shown? Food coloring, I opted out of using kool-aid this time... and used baby oil because it smells nice. Potato photos. Yay.