Mommy FTW

If you read the blog then you know I believe a little glue, tissue paper, and mod podge can make anything beautiful and crafty!  This vase made from an empty pickle jar is a great example of just that.  It’s a super easy craft that my 2 and 4.5 year olds loved working on together.  Here are the simple steps to making your own flower vase.

Cameron was very proud of his gift for his teachers!

Here’s what you’ll need:

an empty glass jar with the label removed (the easiest way to do this is to soak the jar in warm soapy water for an hour or so)

small pieces of tissue paper (I chose colors to mimic the azaleas blooming in my front yard)

glue

paint brushes

mod podge

Here’s what you do:

Have your children paint the jar all over wile glue.  This is easiest when you put the glue in a little bowl first.

Then, have your kids apply the tissue paper.  The more layers they put on, the more opaque the color will be.  We did a thin layer on ours – it looks beautiful when the light shines through.

Paint over the whole thing with mod podge and allow to dry.  The mod podge may make the colors bleed together a little bit – be be aware of this when you pick your colors.

Fill with flowers!  This vase is perfect for Teacher Appreciation Day (we gave ours to Cameron’s teachers,) Mother’s Day, or just to have around the house.

I originally got this idea from Pintrest (which, by the way, if you haven’t checked out yet…. you must!)  At first I was hoping to produce the lovely flower print that I saw pinned – but my kids went a little nuts with the stamping and we ended up with something more abstract – but they had fun, so it didn’t matter.  So no matter your kids’ levels of craftyness and restraint, they should enjoy this simple art project.

This is what we intended to create....

What you’ll need:

A few empty soda bottles

paint on a plate or in a bowl

paper

....and then the creative process happened!

This one is pretty self explanatory – dunk the bottom of the bottle in the paint and stamp away.  You might want to have one bottle for each color so they don’t mix… or maybe you want to mix them?! Whatever floats your boat.

And this is what we ended up with. More abstract that I was planning, but still cool!

Painting with rubber bands is a really fun activity for a cold winter afternoon – but be warned, this activity is messy.  There will be spatter!  But, that’s part of the fun… especially according to my kids.

Violet tests the rubber bands, the paint blobs that were applied to the bands, Cameron snaps away, and loves getting messy while making his art.

What you’ll need:

A sheet pan

A few rubber bands

Paint (preferably one that washes out easily as it WILL get on your kid’s clothing)

Paper

Stretch the rubber bands over the sheet pan.  Putting them at different angles I think made a more interesting piece in the end.  Choose your paint colors and put them on a piece of paper.  I recommend colors that if mixed together, still look nice (I chose blues, red, and purple so that even when they all mixed we just had a nice shade of purple).  Slide this paper under the rubber bands and then press it on their underside (you are applying paint to the bottom of the bands).  Slide a clean sheet of paper under the bands and let your kids start snapping the bands.  Beware of splatter!  Every now and then you can apply more paint to the bands.  There you go – snap painting!

The finished products

For those of you with kids who just can’t get enough Valentine making (like mine) tomorrow, February 13th the Whole Foods Half Pint Kids Club is hosting a FREE event.

Here’s the info:

My children are prolific painters, which is great, but all that paper can get expensive.  Recently as I was cleaning up after a painting session I noticed how pretty the paper towel I used to wipe up looked.  After that, I started giving my kids paper towels to paint on.  The result were beautiful panels that I cut to fit in our sunny playroom window.

Who knew the humble paper towel could look so pretty!

What you need:

Colorations Liquid Watercolor Paint (I mentioned this in my Crayon Resist Valentine post – these paints are very vibrant and easy for little ones to use.)

Paint brushes

Paper towels

It couldn’t be more simple!  Choose a complementary color pallet and let the kids paint the towels.  The color will bleed and absorb all over the towel.  You can add some water as well, but really the more pure and vibrant the color, the better.  Allow the towels to dry flat somewhere.  Then, cut them to fit (if needed) in your window.  I even used the scraps to make additional squares.  These sections turned out to be my son’s favorite.

Our finished window - I left some space at the bottom because Cameron likes to look out and see what's going on at our corner.

I love the idea of my kids making their own valentines for school.  We did this last year and the lessons I learned were 1) make it an easy craft that they can be successful at, and 2) start early because you might only get a few done each day.  My solution for the year – use crayon resist to make easy, colorful cards that even Violet could help with.  If you’re not familiar with  “crayon resist”  – it’s when you draw with a crayon on paper and then paint watercolor over it, the paint will not cover the paper.  If you use a white crayon on white paper, the crayon drawing will “magically” appear as the paint is applied.

So sweet, and so easy for the kids to make!

What you need:

Blank watercolor paper cards (I ordered mine from Amazon, but I am guessing you could find these at a craft store)

A white crayon

Watercolor paint (I am a big fan of Colorations Liquid Watercolor which was recomended to me by Cameron’s Preschool teachers.  The colors are very vibrant and they are easy for the kids to use.)

Paint brushes

First, draw heart designs on the blank cards.  I did this myself because my kids can’t really draw hearts yet…. plus, I did this in secret so when they started painting they seemed to appear magically, which added to the excitement.

Next, select an assortment of colors (I chose reds, pinks, purples) to be used on the cards.

Then, let the kids paint the cards to their heart’s content!  You may want to attempt to protect the inside of the blank card from getting paint on it.  I did this, but frankly wasn’t 100% successful so the inside isn’t pristine, but I don’t really care.

Allow the cards to dry – once dry you may want to press them under something heavy to be sure they are nice and flat.  You can also decorate the inside with more painting or drawing.

Crayon resist is super fun in general – not just for valentines – so give it a try with your kids!

It’s been so cold here lately in DC, so I’ve been doing lots of crafts with the kids.  You may have seen my post about a Holiday Craft involving glue and tissue paper – this mobile is a spin off with the same skill set.  It’s so easy that even my under 2 can do it with her big brother.

What you’ll need:

A few empty berry containers (those clear plastic clam shells) – cut up into random pieces

scraps of tissue paper – cut or torn up

glue

a hole puncher

clear fishing line

a branch

Brighten up your child's playspace or room with this fun craft

Set your kids up with the clear plastic pieces, the glue, and an assortment of tissue paper pieces.  You can even let them cut or tear up the paper themselves if this is something they’d enjoy.  Let them glue the pieces any way they like.  There is no right or wrong way.  The more items to hang you can make, the better – it just makes for a more colorful mobile. Allow the pieces to dry over night.

The next day use a hole puncher to create a hole in each plastic piece.  String them up to a branch using clear fishing line.  I got mine at the local hardware store.  I didn’t realize it would have a little curl in it – but this added a nice touch to the finished product.  Then hang the branch in front of the window.  It looks really pretty, and your kids can be proud that they made it!

Yesterday we had some fun inside to avoid the super cold weather.  Who knew some glass jars, water and food coloring would be so much fun!

What you’ll need:

6 glass jars – clean the labels off easily by submerging them in some soapy hot water for 10 minutes before scrubbing them.  And yes, I know that a rainbow actually has 7 colors, but Indigo and Violet are a little too subtle for my food coloring-mixing  abilities!

Something to stir with (we used chopsticks)

Some dish towels you don’t care too much about (to contain the mess a bit)

Medicine droppers (the kind you get with the children’s advil work great)

Food coloring

It's easy to learn how colors are made with this set up!

I set out the jars on the table and asked Cameron what the colors of the rainbow were.  First we did red and yellow, leaving a jar of plain water in the middle.  We thought about orange, and what colors might go together to make it.  It was easy for Cameron and Violet to figure out that it was red + yellow!  Next we did blue, and figured out that yellow + blue was green.  Finally came purple.  The kids loved mixing up the colors.

Creating colors before their eyes is magical!

With our rainbow complete, I gave the kids the medicine droppers and some small cups so they could make their own individual shades.  They also enjoyed “painting” the dish towels with the colored water.  This whole process kept them happily occupied for almost an hour.  I was amazed!

Our rainbow got a permanent home in the window.

When we were done playing I moved the rainbow to the window of the playroom.  In the morning we got a beautiful suprise as the sunlight poured in – we had a rainbow on the wall!  The kids were so excited.

By the way, if you are looking for a book to teach about color, White Rabbit’s Color Book goes perfectly with this little project.

A white bunny learns about mixing colors as he dyes himself. A very sweet book for the preschool set.

The weekend after Thanksgiving there was a Star Wars marathon on TV and my children were exposed to the wonders of Light Sabers, Jedi Nights, and Galaxies far, far away for the first time.  I grew up on Star Wars – so I was pretty happy when they started to get really into it.  I’ve been doing a lot of present wrapping lately, and I thought it would be a fun project to turn the left over wrapping paper tubes into light sabers for the kids.  You only need a few things – and if you made the ornament craft I posted recently, you are pretty set already!

An epic battle ensued in the living room

Here’s what you’ll need:

Wrapping paper tubes

Glue

Paint brush

Blue and Red tissue paper (or whatever colors you want your light sabers to be)

Blue and Red paint

Glitter (optional)

Mod Podge

Electrical tape

Here’s what to do:

Coat the tubes with glue and then apply wrapping paper.  This gives a good color base.  Once they have dried, paint the tubes.  I happen to have “pear paint” (an additive which makes any color pearly) which I also added for a shimmer effect, along with some glitter for sparkle.  After the paint has dried, Mod Podge it!  After that dries, wrap some electrical tape (basically because it’s black so it makes it look more like the movies) around the base.  Now let the kids have at it!

Not feeling that crafty?  Wrapping paper tubes also make great tunnels for matchbox cars and marbles too!

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