Finger Painting!

The Prince and The Princess were a little antsy yesterday so I got out some poster board and finger paints. Squirted the paint all over, stripped the kids down, and let them go crazy.
The Prince (my neat freak) loved smearing the paint around and then writing words in it. The Princess had even more fun painting herself head to toe :) a bath was needed after this one, ha!
This was fun, occupied the littles for a good 30 minutes, was great sensory exploration, and easy clean up! I'll be investing in more poster board- was a great snowy day activity!

Whipped Cream Color Exploration

This was a "wake up!" morning activity. We started the day with a little mess and a little learning. All you need for this is Reddi Wip and food coloring.

I sprayed some Reddi Wip on the table in front of each of my little ones and then added a couple drops of primary colored food coloring and let the kids mix it up. Then we added a second primary color to see what secondary colors they made.

The Prince was not too keen on the idea of making such a mess, however the Princess took care of that for him by making sure to splat it all over! :)

*shaving cream can also be used, however whipped cream makes this a much safer toddler activity since it is edible :)

Marshmallow structures and a living room campout!

So tonight after the princess went to bed the prince and I set up a tent in the living room for a fun little camping "trip". We put down sleeping bags and pillows and were ready for a fun night!

After setting up the tent we made s'mores in the microwave. The prince decided to just eat the chocolate since the s'mores were "too messy!" He thoroughly enjoyed watching the marshmallows grow in the microwave though!

Then we grabbed a board from our train table and used it to start our project. We took marshmallows and tooth picks and started making all sorts of different creations. This project was fun, inexpensive (around $2 I believe), and was a great fine motor tool!

After our creations were made we cleaned up and called it a night, we actually both managed to sleep all night in that small tent. Though I must admit my back was not happy with me in the morning, however my little prince could not have been happier :)

Dr. Seuss Splat mat!! Art and sensory area

I have decided to cut back on toys and focus more on learning activities. So the climber has been moved outside and we had a garage sale to get rid of some toys to create a space for art and sensory!

I emptied one of the toy organizers and it is now full of art supplies that the children can access at all times.

I bought some dr Seuss laminated fabric and laid it out for a splat mat, no sewing required!

Then I added a fun sensory table (from amazon that the children had gotten for Christmas) which right now is filled with neon colored noodles, shovels, and buckets. I stored the other sensory items (cotton balls and beans) in bins underneath the table.

The hanging buckets are from ikea and are filled with markers, pencils, and paint brushes.

Also from ikea is a magnet strip to hang finished projects from. We made caterpillars on leaves the other day which I just taped to the window or the little Princess would be picking off all our puff balls :)

It will be a fun, creative, and messy summer at our house!

The kids wanted to break in their new area and so we decided to have some fun with play doh :)

Sorting, Counting, Color Matching, and More

Here are some fun, easy, and inexpensive learning activities to do with pencil top erasers and pencils.

We used pencil top erasers for counters. You can count the amount of each color or just pick up a handful and count. You can use them for addition and subtraction as well!

The erasers come in multiple colors which is great because not only can they be used for counting but they can be also used for sorting, and making patterns. The Prince and I organized them into color groups and also tried some "finish the sequence" activities. He's not a fan of patterns, but he has at least mastered 2 step patterns.

If you have pencils around it's great fine motor to put the pencil toppers on the pencils. Memaw has several pencils at her house so we were even able to match the pencil toppers to the same color pencil.

Enjoy the activities! Who knew pencil top erasers and pencils could be so fun? :)

Sewing :)

The last several weeks of life in our house has been busy with school, work, the kids activities, and my new found love for sewing! I have decided to make the Princesses entire summer wardrobe. So far I have loved making sun dresses the best. I'm getting braver and better as I go and learning so much! I am lucky to have a great local quilt shop in town with some great classes and amazing customer service. I purchased a new babylock ellure plus sewing and embroidery machine and a babylock eclipse sx serger. It's love!

Here are a few of my favorite projects I've completed or are in progress :)

An amazing dress made from a tutorial from Moda's Bakeshop

A fun ruffle halter top

Easy and comfy rompers

Cute little sun dresses

An in progress apple core quilt

Fun pillow case dress from The Mother Huddle

And oh so many diapers! But this is my favorite!

 

I also made the Prince a cute flannel blanket with satin binding. He has it with him though, so no pictures yet :) I am making one for the Princess tonight, they look so professional and come together so quickly! My next project is t-shirts for the Prince, hopefully with some cute applique type designs on them. Or I might get creative with fabric paint :) So many fun options. If anyone has some fun tutorials, please share!

Scrappy Tutu

Another amazing idea found on Pinterest! I did mine much simpler than what I found there though.
These are made the same way you would make a tutu with tulle fabric. A bunch of "knots."
I took all my scraps and cut them into strips as long as possible about 1-2 inches wide.
Take a piece of elastic and sew it to fit around whoever you are making it for (or you can use elastic headbands). The elastic will stretch as you are tying the knots onto it so measure your model and then subtract 2-3 inches before sewing the elastic together.
Take the strips of fabric, fold in half and "knot" them around the elastic band. (if you do not know how to do tutu knots look up a video on YouTube, it is much easier to follow a video demo then a written or pictured one). Continue to knot your fabric strips around the entire elastic band.
That's all their is to it! Cute, unique, and fun for the little princess in your life :)

Epsom Salt Candle Vase

This is the end of our crafty night. The Prince was insisted on using the epsom salt now instead of later. So we did a project that is all over pinterest right now.
You'll need
*Glass vase for candle
*Epsom salt
*Mod podge
*Sponge brush

Cover the outside of the candle vase in mod podge. The Prince loved this part. He wanted me to hold it so he didn't get his hands messy though. :)

Then roll the vase in the Epsom salt. We used white to make it look "frosty" for winter. Let it dry completely.

Be sure the candle vase is completely empty of epsom salt on the inside and then put the candle in, light it, and enjoy!

Tile Coasters

Homemade coasters are super cute and easy to make. These tutorials are all over the internet, but I thought I would share what worked for me.

What you'll need...
*4.25x4.25 tiles-these are 16 cents at Home Depot
*White paint
*Paint brush or sponge paint brush
*Mod podge
*Krylon matte finish
*Cork
*Tacky glue
*Scrapbook paper
*Scissors

First Paint the edges of the tiles you are using white to match the top.
Next take the scrapbook paper and cut or punch out 4x4 squares. I used my cricut, but these would be easy enough to cut with scissors.
Then apply a thin and even layer of mod podge on the top of the tile and adhere the scrapbook paper square to the tile. Press the scrapbook paper down and be sure to smooth it out so that the paper does not bubble or crease. This should dry within a couple of minutes.
Once the paper is dried onto the tile, apply an even layer of mod podge over the top of the scrapbook paper on the tile, be sure to cover the entire tile evenly. Let the mod podge dry and then apply a second even layer. I let the tiles dry for a few hours to be sure they are completely dry before continuing.
Next take the tiles outside and spray on the Krylon matte finish. Let it dry for 15 minutes and spray on a second layer. Then let them dry overnight. (If the tiles do not have enough time to dry when things are placed on them they will leave marks in the finish.)
Cut out 4x4 squares from the cork, check to see the fit on the bottom of the tile to get it even. Use the tacky glue to adhere the cork to the tile and let it dry. I placed the tiles with freshly glued on cork underneath something flat and heavy (school book) so that the cork would dry as close as possible to the tile. I also let these dry overnight just to ensure the quality.

Your tiles are finished! These make great affordable presents and are cute to have around the house. We have popcorn ones and wine glasss ones for our house, coffee bean ones for Memaw's house, and strawberry ones for Great Grandma and Grandpa's.

Coloring Espom Salt

Epsom salt can be used for sensory purposes, crafts, a substitute for glitter (so much easier to clean up!) and decorations. The Prince and I colored Epsom salt today so we can use it for future projects. It is very easy to do and the colors look great! I was browsing the internet and found some cute project ideas on ehow.com that used colored epsom salt and thought I would share.

You'll need....
Epsom salt (6lb bag for 4.97 at Walmart)
Food color
Container with lid (1 for each color)

The prince put in 2 cups of epsom salt into a container.

Next I let him squirt in around 6 drops of food coloring. On ehow.com it said to use one drop to color one cup, but I found that we needed more to get the color we wanted.

Then I made sure the lid was on tight and he shook it all up until all the salt was colored evenly.

We did colors red, blue, green, purple, pink, yellow, orange (mixed yellow and red), and left some plain. I'll be posting projects using epsom salt as I create them or come across something I just have to try :)