Flower Art

The little princesses will love this! It’s also quite educational, they learn about the different parts of a flower. My little girl is always asking me to find arts and craft projects for her, and she's quite the budding artist. We've recently planted a beautiful flower garden out back and this craft turned out to be the perfect way to be both a craft and learning experience for her. This is definitely a great activity for kids of all ages, my son even helped to make his own version of a dinosaur using various leaves! Oh the creative minds and imaginations of these kiddos! 

Give it a try using the video below and tell me what you think!

Paper Mobile

Another fun weekend project the kids would love! My little ones were at home over a holiday weekend, with no school! So, as all mom's know that familiar phrase when they're at home for extended periods, "Moooom, I'm boooreddd", I knew I had to bust out the crafting supplies. This turned out to be super cute, check out the directions below and let me know how your kids enjoyed it!

Watch your child's artwork twist and twirl at even the slightest gusts when you hang paper clip art characters on this cute mobile.

Make It: 
Select royalty-free clip art to use for your mobile (we chose nature-theme images).
You'll need two versions: the standard icon and the icon flipped to be the mirror image (most image-processing software will allow you to do this; if you can't, simply doodle on one side of the art before hanging it).

Print the standard images.

Turn the paper over in your printer and print the mirror image on the back.

Have your child color both sides with markers or crayons.

Cut out the images when he's done, punching a hole in the top of each.

Cover two dowels with patterned paper and tie them together with ribbon to form an X shape.

Attach string to the images and hang them from the ends of the dowels.

Add string at the top to hang the mobile.

DIY Fidget Spinners

Tried this, the kids love it and Mom and Dad are definitely addicted!

I'm sure if you're the parent of any kid under the age of ten, they've come home asking for a 'fidget spinner' of their own.  I had no idea what that was at first, but after a little researching I quickly realized their popularity. My son first asked me if we'd get him one, so we thought, why not see if this could be a DIY project for dad to work on with him? Maybe it might prove to be more fun making it than just picking one up at the store. This is the latest 'craze' amongst kiddos, and this DIY worked so well for us, I just had to share!

Build your own using this simple video we found on YouTube!

Egg-Streme Bugs

Old egg cartoons, don’t dump them! I have found a few handy crafts that we can do over the weekend to keep those little ones occupied. I’ll be uploading them week by week.

Kids will love these critters, including cute caterpillars and lovely ladybugs.

What You'll Need: 1 egg carton; tempera paint (red, green, black); paintbrushes; glue; googly eyes; pipe cleaners (black and brown); white tissue paper; craft needle or push pin; scissors; markers; hot-glue gun, tissue paper (optional)

Make It: Bugs can be made from one egg cup or from several cups cut in a row. Cut off the top of the carton, leaving just the bottom. Separate individual egg cups or cut two or three egg cups in a row. Paint the outside of the cups with solid colors. Paint a few individual egg cups red to create single lady bugs, paint two cups black to create beetles, or paint three cups green to make a caterpillar. Once the paint has dried, use markers to add details (such as dots and lines).

Then glue two googly eyes to the front of an egg cup of each color for the head, and cut different lengths of pipe cleaners to use for legs or antennae. Use a craft needle or a pushpin to punch holes in the cups where you want to insert the pipe cleaners. Thread the pipe cleaners and secure the ends by bending or twisting them inside the cup. You can also cut wings out of tissue paper and hot-glue them to the finished bugs.

Tube Town

A long weekend project for the little ones to enjoy and keep out of trouble!

Tube Town

• Transform cardboard tubes into cute cottages in just a few simple steps.
• Paint the tube and let it dry.
• Make two angled cuts into one end of the tube to form a point. Fold a 3- by 3 1/2-inch piece of scrapbook paper in half, then set it on the pointed end as a roof. Use tacky glue to secure it.
• Make two cuts to create a rectangular door, as shown. Glue on a bead for a doorknob.
• Draw windows onto colored paper, cut them out, and attach them to the cottage using a glue stick.
• For a chimney, fold a strip of paper into a four-sided, open-ended box, and glue it to the roof.