Almost two years

I just opened my blog and realized that it has been idle for almost two years. Where did those years go and what did I do with them? Well I am back and ready to start entertaining my children again. In addition to listing children's crafts I think I will begin to list mommy tips and ways to stay sane! That is definitely something that I struggle with as a stay-at-home mom of two girls.

Watch for my new postings over the summer.

Super Hero Popsicle Stick Puppets

The creativity of children continues to amaze me.

Yesterday I opened up the craft box and just left there for the girls to have fun with.

My 5 1/2 year old came up with these and made them all herself, I wasn't invovled until I took the pictures.

They used:
Gem stickers (2 for each)
a popsicle stick
a pen to draw the mouth
a piece of foam paper(We had some in our box from a previous craft. They were pre-cut into the shape of feathers. We used them on our pumpkin turkeys last year. That craft is shown on this blog)
a few flower felt stickers

These are so cute and I cannot believe how easy they are to make.

4th of July Flags

This is a fun craft and you can take the opportunity to teach you child about the flag.
We used these items for each flag:
red, blue and white contruction paper
4 pipe cleaners red, white and blue
1 bead
glue stick
a hole punch

Pre-cut the shapes:
1 large white rectangle
1 small blue square
14 red stripes

I let my girls use a small hole puncher to punch out 50 stars. This is a great opportunity to pratice counting and talk about why the flag has 50 stars.
Next they glued on the blue square and the stripes.
Then, we braided three pipe cleaners together. Slide one large bead on to the top of the pipe cleaner. Fold the pipe cleaner back uder the bead to hide the sharp wires and keep the flag from falling off.
Punch two holes in the flag (top and bottom) and slide the flag through them.
Fold the bottom of the pipe cleaner up a bit to hide the sharp ends and wrap the last pipe cleaner around it to make a handle.

Now your kids will have a fun and safe flag to wave at the parade or 4th of July celebration.

Box monsters, mini toy box

Okay, my girls came up with this one on their own. They took these boxes out of the recycling bin. They liked the fact that they opened up and thought it looked like a mouth. They asked for google eyes and decorations. This is what they came up with. For about a week they carried them around the house and would eat up the toys as they went around. Hey, a good clean-up trick. I got tired of looking at them and now they are recycling. Fun and cheap

Polly pocket cardboard dollhouse or toy car garage

Here is another idea for a polly pocket or small dollhouse. My girls have actually been using it as a house for their Cars(Tow Mater and McQueen). We recycled the last dollhouse. I love disposable toys.

This was a very sturdy box that we received. I cut a large hole in the back and top for easy access. A few windows and a couple of doors that can open or close. Then the girls decorated it with markers.

Cardboard Box Castle

We turned a delivery box into a fun afternoon craft. I quickly cut holes for windows, a mail slot and a few peep holes. You'll notice that I spent very little time on the design, but the girls didn't mind at all. I brought out a bag of markers and the let them color to their hearts content. We later added a plastic bag to the door so that the doors would stay closed. We've had this in our backyard for 3 weeks now and both of my girls still play in it.

Toilet paper roll people

Items used:
toilet paper rolls
pipe cleaners
google eyes
feathers
tissue paper
misc craft items

This craft took about a half hour to complete all items used were found in our craft supplies.

These are quick and easy. Poke 4 holes through the toilet paper roll, 2 on each side and slide the pipe cleaners through. Curl up the ends of the pipe cleaners to cover the sharp points. Then let the kids get creative.