Arts & Crafts: Easter themed activities 'no filter'

What's an Easter Hunt without a handmade, unique basket?! And this is exactly what I decided to make for little L whilst she was making her own Eater basket decorations. 

This was a 'no filter' arts and crafts activity by this I mean that the creation was 100% made my my child, this is something you won't see in pretty and 'posed' Pinterest images!

To make our Easter weekend more creative Duck Tape sent us a variety of  colourful tape to use. 

I came up with an idea of making an Easter Hunt basket for which I have used:

- Duck Tape

- disposable mushroom plastic tray (empty) for the base

- empty milk carton for the handle

All I had to do was:

to cut a strip from the carton box which would be enough width and length for the basket, apply Duck Tape all around the plastic tray and the handle, apply some washi tape instead of a glue for the handle and done!

Whilst I did that, I have printed some bunny and egg templates for L to cut and to use for her own activity. L was supplied with scissors which she used under my supervision, she had some strips of washi tape of different colours.  

All she needed to do is to cut bunny and egg shapes carefully and to apply funky washi tape to make unique decorations, which was very easy and fun to do!

Disclaimer: We were provided with the product mentioned above for the purpose of this activities. All thoughts and ideas are my own.

Arts & Crafts: Halloween themed creations with Duck Tape

I  am a big fan of celebrations be it birthday party or something bigger like Halloween. I don't take the day itself seriously, as a religious person I shouldn't be celebrating it at all, but as a big kid at heart I don't see anything wrong with dressing up, having a spooky disco or making few decorations. 

For this year's Halloween celebrations we were sent some colourful Duck Tape to help us create ultimate Halloween party decoration. 

" Repair, craft, label and decorate with Duck Tape® Brand Duct Tape. Choose from traditional silver to wide range of colors, prints, strengths and technologies like sheets, mini-rolls, max strength and even glow-in-the-dark. Whether your next project is a simple kids craft or emergency home repair, there’s a Duck Tape® product for you".

So, to create bat decorations as seen here and a pumpkin decoration I have used: Jet wide duck tape (£4) and Glow Pumpkin Tape (£7.99).

Both Duck tapes are self- adhesive and mess -free and were super easy to use.

To create a bat: I have found bat pattern online and printed it afterwards; cut the pattern and used it as a stencil for a cardboard sheet; once the stencil was transferred into the cardboard I cut it and applied Jet Duck Tape layers one by one cutting the excess. With the leftover Duck Tape I was able to create a little curling string.

It may seem like I have created all of these without L's help, but she actually did take part in the process. L was cutting pieces of paper to support me and share responsibilities as well as tried to apply Jet Duck Tape and get to know how sticky it is!

To create glow-in-the-dark pumpkin I have followed similar routine as with the bat decoration. It was really quick and easy to apply, even felt quicker than with Jet Duck Tape. 

Both of the decorations then were applied to the wall and L was absolutely mesmerised to the glowing pumpkin! 

Disclaimer: We were sent some Duck Tape materials to create Halloween decorations. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Arts & Crafts: Halloween addition

Oh I'm so excited to show you our super easy Halloween themed crafts activity we did the other day- toilet roll's tube monsters! 

You would need:
-cardboard tubes left from toilet rolls
- acrylic on any other type of paints available
- small sheet of plain white paper
- glue stick
- scissors
-black marker or a pen

I have seen this ideas online (as always) but painted on cans, as I don't have a paint that will withstand the metal/aluminium plus I didn't want L to hurt herself on open tops so opted for a simpler option.

I have painted 3 tubes with finger paint and 1 tube with acrylic black paint, which dried relatively quick. Drew facial features and cut them out for Frankenstein, Pumpkin, Ghost and left Black tube aka cat to be finished with L.
Once L was ready to have some fun, I have asked her to apply glue on little cut outs, then I have applied little facial features on our monster and that was it!

                                     

With the cat thought it was a little bit more complicated. We have tried crayons, pencils, fingers paints and lastly acrylic paints to draw eyes, nose and whiskers. L was too excited about drawing whiskers so I had to save the day and fix our little kitty. 

I am very happy with the result, especially Frankenstein. Which one is your favourite?

Arts & Crafts: Easter addition

This week L and I have been doing different Easter themed arts and craft, it was a little bit different this time round.

I have been scanning Pinterest and found couple of the Easter ideas I wanted to try but this time I wanted L to do all the work. If you use Pinterest you would know that all the crafty ideas look unique and stunning but I'm not convinced that a baby or young child can create/do most of the things posted without a major help of a parent, so here is a true picture of what a 20 months old can do.

I will be honest she didn't last long, but even these small attempts we had is a good start of getting used to doing things whilst seated at the table.

We have been trying Rose Blossom Handmade foam Easter eggs which I have featured in my Eater gift guide . I explained and showed to L that these are the eggs and she needs to decorate them by attaching these colourful 3D stickers. 

Then we have tried decorating an Easter egg with some bubble wrap print paints. I cut the paper in the shape of an egg, prepared a bubble wrap and applied 3 different colours of finger paint. Once bubble wrap was painted we had few goes on small paper squares so that l understands that she needs to put paper on top of the painted bubble wrap, press firmly and let go.

I think it turned out better than I thought!

Happy Easter!

Arts & Crafts: Valentine's day card made by toddler

Every Valentine's day I would order a personalised handmade card with Magnolia Tilda character but this year I wanted to make something with L.

I picked 2 simple toddler-friendly activities:

For the first activity you would need a cardboard toilet roll tube, sellotape, red paint and A5 paper. Fold toilet roll in a shape of a heart, put sellotape around it to secure the shape.

For the second activity you would need A5 cardboard paper for the card, red paint, raw potato, knife, paper and glue (I used large white label instead of paper).

To create a heart stamp- cut the top of the potato, use a pencil or a knife to draw a heart shape, cut out the sides and smooth the edges with the knife. Dip the stamp into a paint and dab few times on the paper for trial or let your little one do it.

Once the masterpiece is created glue it on a card or in my case we put the label onto the cardboard paper to create an A5 Valentine's day card. I'm sure you can tell which side was created by L :-)

Arts & Crafts: no sew felt Quiet book

Just before Christmas I wanted to create something special for my little girl, something I can make myself and L can play with and learn about the world. 

I decided to stock up on assorted colours felt sheets, hot glue gun, Velcro sticky pads and create a no sew Quiet book.
                               
For those who don't know Quiet book is a trendy, handmade felt book which will keep your little ones busy. They can be made professionally and cost a fortune due to time consuming task or they can be made by a loving parent where you can decide if you are planning to use a glue or a sewing machine as well as make it more suitable for your child's age.

As I don't have much time on my hands I have decided to use no sew method and create few pages with L's favourite animals, coloured stacking rings and coloured shapes.

I was cutting and gluing when L was napping/sleeping roughly for a week which felt like forever! From excited and motivated self I finished the book feeling relived, knowing that I won't be able to repeat it ever again!

I have glued all the small bits so that L won't lose them and the rest left loose for L to attached direct to the felt (felt to felt) or onto Velcro (felt to Velcro). 

To bind the book I have used double sided eyelets, threaded the ribbon through and tied it at the back.

Tip 1: Use a pen to draw a 'sketch' on a felt

Tip 2: If you decide to make your your no sew Quiet book, don't waste your time on printing templates. Find a relevant page you want to copy. I.e. Google 'stacking rings Quiet book', open a picture on your laptop and put a felt sheet over the image and follow the lines with the pen, quick and easy!

Tip 3: Pick simple designs as it is easier to draw by just looking at the image on the screen.

Tip 4: use PVA glue instead of hot glue gun as it can burn your fingers and leave marks on the surface when used for small felt pieces.

Tip 5: Don't over do it with fancy stuff as the smaller the child the greater the chance that they can try to reap it apart.

Tip 6: Have a separate small bag for all the detachable pieces.

Overall time spent on making Quiet book- 1 week
Overall money spent on making Quiet book: £13.86

- 42 coloured felt sheets (30cm x 20cm) £8.16

- glue gun £3.65

- eyelet and pliers £2.05

And here is my creation:                               
All pieces are detachable and either can be attached felt to felt or felt to Velcro strip.

Quiet book can make a great toy if supervised by an adult and can make a great keepsake.

Arts & Crafts: Felt Christmas tree

                                 

I have seen this idea on Facebook and thought that it's a great alternative to a real or artificial Christmas tree. L is an active and adventurous toddler and I can envisage her pulling all the baubles from the Christmas tree and eventually knocking the tree down, to avoid this I have spend few minutes making a felt Christmas tree.

The principal is very simple, it is a space-saver Christmas tree which can be attached to almost any surface be it a wall, door or a window. I liked it as I saw an educational element in creating such tree as your toddler learns what Christmas tree is, why it is there on the wall and learns about colours (if you add different felt baubles). 

Unfortunately we are unwell and I didn't have a chance to cut a star for the top and baubles, but if you have a spare moment and supplies it is achievable in an hour or so.

To create felt Christmas tree I have ordered 1/2 meters of dark green felt from Ebay which costs £1.42 as far as I remember, which is much cheaper comparing to a competitive craft shop. You will also need a dry soap (dry soap is a great alternative to chalk or marker pen), scissors and a ruler. 

I used the floor as my "working table" as it was easier for me to see how straight the line and triangle is. I had to improvise as I didn't have a ruler handy and used a playhouse shatters window to draw the lines with a dry soap.  I started with the line at the bottom, picked a middle point at the top and drew 2 long lines from the bottom line corners to the middle point. 

Once the triangle was done I had to cut it with scissors, I would advise to use sharp scissors otherwise it would be difficult to cut it straight. 

Once the Christmas tree shape was cut I attached few velcro pads to the back side, you can use white tack or sellotape depending on the surface, but be warned your toddler may want to chew on white tack.

I'm glad actually that I didn't do accessories as L keeps pulling the Christmas tree, it spends more time on the floor than on a wall, but I'm still hoping that once L is used to seeing it she will let it go and enjoy it for what it is.

Arts & Crafts: handprint and footprint salt dough Christmas

                             

I wanted to do this for a while now, as I thought it could be a lovely way of explaining to L basics of Christmas and could be a great Christmas present for our close family members. 

I tried to create Santa and Rudolph as seen on Pinterest but I have decided that I should let L decide what will be created on the ornament as family will appreciate it more than my weird artwork. As it is work in progress here are 2 ornaments we (I) made so far.

It is very easy to do if you follow the correct recipe:

- 1/2 cup of salt
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 1/4 cup of water
- mix and knead the dough, add a little bit of flour if sticky
- cut the dough onto small pieces/balls
- use rolling pin or a bottle to create a round shape
- put your little one's hand or foot firmly onto the ornament
- cut the excess 
- put in the oven for 2-3 hours under 100 degrees
- paint once dry

What I have learnt from the process: I need to relax and let L create the ornaments, I need to find better paints (I used acrylics).

Arts & Crafts: salt dough pumpkin ornaments

I was browsing Pinterest for ages in order to find something quick and easy to do with L in time for Halloween.
I found a blog with a recipe for a DIY pumpkin ornaments which we have tried to do over the last 2 days.

L didn't show much interest in creating a pumpkin shape but was very keen on making a foot dough ornament. On day 1 I have made a salt dough ornament and as L's foot is a little bit bigger than pumpkin cookie cutter I just made the shapes and put them in the oven to cook.  

It is very easy to do if you follow the correct recipe, the one I found originally wasn't correct, you will see why later on.
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 1/4 cup of water
- mix and knead the dough, add a little bit of flour if sticky
- create an ornament/shape
- put in the oven for 2-3 hours under 100 degrees. (I left mine for 2 hours under 200 degrees as per blogger's recipe as a result my pumpkin ornaments were burnt).

On day 2 I decided to use the rest of the salt dough and made a hand impression for my mum to take home. Sprayed my burnt pumpkin ornaments with white primer to hide burnt, brown colour and left them to dry. After they were dry I prepared finger and acrylic paints for us to use. L helped me a little bit to spread the paint but soon lost interest and opted to play with a finger paint pot. Once painted I left them to dry until hard. 

Overall, I'm quite happy with pumpkins, can't wait to try more arts crafts with L!