This summer my goal was to try to keep up with the posting of this lovely space of mine and the move at the same time. As you can see, ahem, it hasn't been possible. We're moving you ask? Well, yes. As of August we will no longer be Virginians, but instead Texans. Exiting and sad all at the same time yes. We'll be closer to my family which is why we decided to go for this move in the first place, but sad (so very sad) to leave such wonderful friends, and part of hubby's family, behind. Truth be told we love it here, I love it here! But nothing beats being closer to family, don't you agree? Anyway, I will try to stop by here every so often to keep you updated or if you want a more sudden gratification (*wink*) you can follow me on Instagram (@lisarenata).
Now for that kids craft.
I'm over at Modern Mami sharing a super duper easy (not exaggerating really) recipe to make sidewalk chalk paint. Oh, I can't believe we hadn't done this before. The kids love it and the best part it's all non toxic.
So what are you waiting for? Go on over and make your own. The kids will LOVE ya for it.
The skies are covered in clouds. The drip drip drip sound everywhere. Happy trees and happy plants (and happy me...the pollen is being washed away.) But lots of rain also means that little ones are stuck in doors.
Yes, it is the kind of day where lots of crafting goes on around here.
The kind of days where the craft closet opens and closes a gazillion times. The kind of day where the craft room gets messier than the usual. The kind of day where creativity (sometimes with Mami's help) floats through the air.
So I thought what better than to share a fun and easy craft to keep your little one's hands busy on such a day.
I remember making these as a child. Do you? No? Well, here you go then.
Begin by cutting small hearts out of the felt. This will become the base (feet) of the pom pom friends. Then glue the base on to the bottom of the pompom. Next, glue the googly eyes and finally add a little touch with a feather on top, or make a cute little hat out of felt. That's it! Didn't I tell you it was easy?!
Make one.
Or make a whole lot of friends!
What ever you choose have fun with it. My little ones after making a lot of them decided to also make them a home out of old shoe boxes, and furniture out of recycled materials.
It would also be a sweet mother's day gift. Have them create out of pom poms each member of the family, place them on top of a stand (or in a jar upside down) and write sweet words to mom. I'm sure she would love it!
Every year I will save eggshells for weeks. Once we collect enough, on
the day before Easter, the kids and I (and whom ever else is around)
decorate them, fill them with confetti, cover them, and wait anxiously
until the next day when we can hide. find. and smash! This is a little
tradition I grew up with and have incorporated into our little family's traditions.
This year I decided I wanted to try something a bit different. Decorate
them by myself. It was wonderful sitting all alone in my art studio
figuring out how I was to decorate them. No kids around, no paints
splashing all over the place, no eggs crushing...peace. I started with
washi tape and although I liked the outcome, I wanted something
simpler.
I searched around and found my chalk pens. Hm? Why not?
Oh I love them! The contrast between the natural brown tones of the organic egg shells and the white chalk is just beautiful, soothing even.
A dozen. That's what I allowed my self to decorate. After all, I can't be a meany and break tradition by decorating them all by myself. No. So two dozen more await for the little ones to decorate on Saturday. I'm sure they'll be happy about it. Yes they will.
Four more days to Valentines. Yikes! Do you have cards and goodies ready for your little one's class? Do you buy them or do you make them? We like to make ours. This year for the Christian Formation class I teach on Wednesdays I decided to make these Lollipop Heart Cozies. Aren't they cute? I made them by combining ideas from from here and here and a bit of my own creativeness. They are so easy to make your little ones can make them too!
They really are simple to make, and you know I love simple projects.
Materials you will need:
To make:
Cut out many hearts using craft paper. I used scraps. If you don't have any crafting paper you can also use wrapping paper, a paper bag or even plain white paper and have the kids decorate them.
Glue the edge of the hearts together leaving a little pocket (big enough to fit the lollipop) at the bottom. Let it dry for a while. When you feel it is dry enough insert the lollipop and glue the remainder of the heart together (for this part you may need to hold on to the heart and lollipop until the glue sets a bit.)
Finally with a piece of washi tape make the leaves. Add the name of each of the kids and listo!
Just a quick little stop to let you know I'm down at Modern Mami (click here or photo) sharing an easy fun way to make a winter journal for the kids using toilet paper rolls as stamps and a bit more sophisticated one for you.
So stop on by and have fun creating!
♥♥♥
HOLA!
Solo aqui contandoles que estoy compartiendo en el blog de Modern Mami (has click aquí o en la foto) esta manualidad super facil de hacer para sus pequeños y para ti. Si, has este bonito cuaderno usando rollos de papel del baño como estampas.
Es que ¿que esperas? Pasa por aya y ¡diviértete creando!
Oh yes indeed! The full time crafting craze has begun. Last year my friend Noelle and I decided to give it a try and sell our creations at local craft shows. We liked it, it went well. So this year we signed up for many, many more.
My original plan was to craft through out the year, that way come fall I would have a nice selection of items to sell. A stress free life, no worries about getting everything done weeks before the show. REALITY CHECK! Though I did craft a bit here and there, there is no way near enough merchandise ready for my firs craft show of the year (which just so happens to be in two weeks!) Yes, so here I am crafting away. Cutting, sewing, cutting and sewing some more. Gluing and labeling. All fun, but definitely keeping me busier than busy.
My life.
Always running around,
Always doing.
I wouldn't change it one bit.
That is just who I am.
And I embrace it just the same.
Me.
While keeping myself busy so has my super fairy chiquita. Now that her brother is in back in school you will often find her in the craft room by my side working on her own little projects. I don't guide her, I let her be. She never seizes to amaze me. I love seeing what she'll come up with.
My chiquito too. Look at all those wool felt scraps, I mean, pasta in the making?
I had been searching for some really cool graphic Converse (or similar style) shoes for my son. They have some great ones out there, but most of them are also greatly expensive. I then decided that we needed to make his own totally cool shoes.
We started off by buying some plain gray and white Converse at Target. And went...
This is the easiest and simplest change you can make to any pair of plain shoes.
What you'll need:
* Fluorescent shoelaces
* Dimensional fluorescent fabric paint (I used Tulip brand.)
What you need to do:
Begin by changing the she laces. My son opted for a bright fluorescent green. Just doing this changes the look. In fact, he ended up wearing them this way for a while until I bought the fabric paints we needed to finish up the project.
Now lets use that puffy paint! (I'm so used to calling it that. Do you? Now-a-days it is called dimensional paint, fancy for "puffy." Ha!)
Using blue and glow-in-the-dark white, I began to make lines inside the star, alternating colors. Make sure to be very careful because the paint can pour out a lot. If I made a mistake I used a piece of cloth and a pencil to dab it off. Once done, let the paint dry for at least 24 hours.
That's it!
But you don't need to stop there. Be creative. You can draw pictures, write words, what ever your imagination comes up with. The point is to make those shoes your own (or in this case my son's. He did choose all the colors after all.)
Recently, the husband of my son's kindergarten teacher passed. The class wanted to do something special for her, something to let her know they were all thinking about her. What better way to say it, than with a Super Large Card, signed by every single student in the class!
My little guy and I took the task of making the card and then we took it into his class for every one to sign. The size was perfect to fit all the wonderful large signatures 5 and 6 year old's tend to make.
I used the same simple idea that we used to make the Mother's Day Card for Abuelita (grandmother.) (seen here)
To make you will need a:
☺blank poster board
☺green marker
☺various colors and patterns of craft paper
☺stamping ink
☺butterfly stencil
☺glue
Fold the poster board in half. Then begin by making your super large flowers. You can do this by either drawing them free hand or by using a large canister as a guide: On the reverse side of each flower, I used as a stencil an empty chocolate canister to draw a circle and then I drew the loops (petals) for each flower. To make the center of the flower, I used a smaller canister to trace.
To make the petals simply draw one in a tear drop shape and then use that one to trace the rest. Nice and simple.
When you are done cutting all the flowers, center circles and petals, then glue them onto your poster board. Play around until you find the right spot, before you permanently glue them. (My little guy took quite a while deciding what will go where.) Once glued, glue the center on the flower. Draw your stems using a ruler to guide you. (I did this for him.) Glue the leaves.
To make the butterflies you can either make your own stencil or use a ready made one. Place your stencil where you want the butterfly, tape the sides (or hold firmly) of the stencil. Begin stamping by turning your ink pad over and slowly dabbing it over the butterfly stencil. When done, remove stencil carefully. Draw decorative dots around the edge of the butter fly, also add the antennas.
You are all done! Ready to give to someone SUPER special.
***
On a side note I am super excited that in August 7 they will be releasing the movie DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX. We love anything Dr. Seuss. And since we didn't get to see it in the movie theaters, we can't wait too is it at home, all curled up on our couch, covered with a soft warm blanket and with some yummy popcorn to munch on.
