Category Archives: Craft

Apr4

Paper Plate Rabbit

Posted on by
Standard

A made a paper plate rabbit today. It has paper ears, a button for a nose, googly eyes, a pipe cleaner mouth and little pom pom teeth.

IMG_8956

Adding a button nose.

Adding a button nose.

I cut out the ears for A, and she glued them together. Once she had glued the ears to the top of the paper plate, they were a bit floppy, so we added a couple of popsticks behind the ears to keep them upright. A glued down the nose, eyes, mouth and teeth, and then left it to dry.

Adding popsticks to keep the ears up.

Adding popsticks to keep the ears up.

We used the hole punch to put a hole in the plate between the ears and added some string so that it could be hung up in her room. This was pretty simple and quick, and A is very happy with her rabbit.

Apr4

Backyard Teepee

Posted on by
Standard

IMG_8907Our simple teepee is just the right size for one child. L has been using it for some quiet time by herself, where she can read and eat a snack in peace.

IMG_8900We used a small plastic hoop (I think it was 50cm in diameter) at the top of the teepee. To this we attached a plastic shower curtain using plastic shower curtain rings. Last time I actually had a shower curtain the rings clipped together once they went through the curtain and around the curtain rod. These curtain rings didn’t clip, and the shower curtain kept popping off them. To solve this we taped the opening of the ring shut. I overlapped the shower curtain, placing the last ring through the first and last holes to  stop it from moving around the hoop so much.

At the base, we used a larger plastic hoop (this one was 75cm in diameter). L helped me to punch holes around the bottom edge of the shower curtain with the hole punch. Then we used the rest of the shower curtain rings to attach the bottom of the curtain to the bigger hoop, and taped up the gaps.

Placing the curtain rings.

Placing the curtain rings.

Punching holes in the shower curtain.

Punching holes in the shower curtain.

I tied the small hoop onto the branch of one of our trees, to hang at about the right height for the big hoop to rest on the ground, but without the curtain billowing out too much. We didn’t have enough rope, so I used some poly string as a temporary tie until I can get some more. We added a soft-fall mat under the teepee so that the kids didn’t have to sit on the ground while they were using the teepee.

The kids are very happy with this little teepee, and they have both been playing in it. A took some toys out and had a little tea party, while L has mostly been using it as a reading spot.

Apr2

Yarn Dolls

Posted on by
Standard

I remembered making yarn dolls when I was a child, and I wanted to try it with the girls.

IMG_8878

Wrapping the yarn around the cardboard.

Wrapping the yarn around the cardboard.

First I cut some sturdy cardboard up into two rectangles to use to wrap the yarn around to make the body of the doll. I started each child off by winding the yarn around a few times, and then they continued to wind it until it was as thick as they wanted it to be. Once that was done, I helped them remove the hank of yarn from the cardboard. From this yarn we would make the head, body and legs of the doll.

 

 

Tying yarn around the body to form the head.

Tying yarn around the body to form the head.

The body with hair, head, body and legs.

The body with hair, head, body and legs.

L cut a few pieces of yarn off the ball to use to tie around the hank of yarn to differentiate the hair from the head, and the head from the body and the body from the legs. L tied her knots, but A had difficulty, and asked me to help her do this part. Once the yarn was tied around the body at the top of the legs, we split the yarn beneath this into two roughly equal parts, forming the legs. A small section at the base was also tied off to form feet.

Arms ready to be added to the body.

Arms ready to be added to the body.

To make the arms, the kids wrapped some more yarn around their cardboard, but this time, around the shorter sides of the rectangle. This hank of yarn was also not as thick as that of the body. Once we had removed this yarn from the cardboard, a small section on each end was tied off to form the hands.

We carefully threaded the arms through the body of the doll, and secured the arms in place using another piece of yarn wrapped around the doll’s chest in a criss-cross under the arms and around the back. We snipped off all the loose threads from our knots, and then the dolls were done. L left her doll just as it was, but A added some tiny googly eyes to her doll, but not other facial features.

IMG_8876

Mar31

Pom Pom Bunnies and Chicks

Posted on by
Standard

 

IMG_8836When we went into Riot Art & Craft last week they had a large display of Easter crafts, including some little craft kits. Each of the kids picked out a pom pom critter kit to make at home. L chose mini chicks and bunnies, and A chose some chicks.

IMG_8818IMG_8819There were some instructions on the back of the pack, but it would have been possible to complete the pom pom critters from the picture alone, given what was in each kit. We had to cut up some of the pipe cleaners to the right length, but otherwise everything was ready to go.

 

Adding the chick's bunny ears headband.

Adding the chick’s bunny ears headband.

L got started on hers straight away, getting the beak and little puffy cheeks onto her chicks. A asked that I help her with the glue, and making the pipe cleaners into the right shapes. Once I’d placed the glue, she put the pieces together carefully.

One of L’s mini bunnies experienced a small accident which left its face elongated, so L started calling it the ele-bunny. I think she just damaged the pom pom, making it a weird shape.

L's mini bunnies and mini chicks.

L’s mini bunnies and mini chicks.

It was a fun way to pass an hour or so, and once the pom pom critters dried, the kids had great fun playing with them. A even took her chicks to bed with her and cuddled them to sleep.

IMG_8850

 

Mar31

Bunny Ears

Posted on by
Standard
A as a cute little bunny.

A as a cute little bunny.

After the bunny cake was all eaten last week, I was left with the felt and foam ears. We decided to put them to good use making some bunny ear headbands for the kids to wear.

White felt ears.

White felt ears.

We had to make another set of ears for the second headband. L glued the pink foam onto the white felt to make the ears, and then we left them to dry.

Bunny ears ready for gluing.

Bunny ears ready for gluing.

I cut some strips of cardboard and stapled them together to the right size for the kids’ heads. Then the kids glued their ears onto the cardboard band. They placed the base of the ears behind the cardboard at the front of the headband so that the pink foam sections were lined up against the cardboard.

Sticking the ears to the headband.

Sticking the ears to the headband.

Once the headbands were completely dry, the kids placed them on their heads and hopped all around the house just like rabbits.

L being a mischievous little bunny.

L being a mischievous little bunny.

Mar30

Bottle Doll

Posted on by
Standard

A is crazy for dolls of all sizes and shapes. She does a lot of pretend play with them, in particular she likes to give them baths…. which are not always so pretend. She carries them around, takes them on outings, and to bed. A asked if we could make some dolls for craft, so we gave it a go. I remembered using a soft drink bottle to make a doll when I was a child, so we started with making a bottle doll.

The doll's head.

The doll’s head.

We had an empty mineral water bottle that we washed out, and removed the label from. I cut out an oval of pink foam for the doll’s face, and A glued it to the top of the bottle. A decorated her doll’s face, giving her googly eyes, and using a marker to make a mouth and a nose.

IMG_8631I twisted two pink pipe cleaners today to make one long one, and I helped A to wrap this around the bottle to make some arms.

Then A got down to the very serious business of dressing her doll. She decided her doll should be wearing a shirt and a skirt. She chose to make the skirt from red tissue paper and blue honeycomb mesh, and the shirt from gold honeycomb mesh and pink crepe paper. I helped her to poke the doll’s arms through the mesh and crepe paper of her shirt. I held the shirt and skirt shut at the back while A taped them together. She is getting much better at removing tape from the dispenser without sticking it to itself now.

Adding hair.

Adding hair.

Once she was dressed, it was time to “make her pretty” according to A. She didn’t like the bald look her doll was sporting, so she added some curly doll’s hair to the top of the bottle and around her face.

Placing her necklace.

Placing her necklace.

A also used some stick-on gems to giver her doll a necklace, some earrings and a little watch.  She found a thin pink ribbon in the craft box and asked me to make her a bow to place in the doll’s hair too.

Adding the final touches.

Adding the final touches.

As a final decoration, A placed a small blue feather as a pendant on the doll’s necklace.

A made a bed for her new bottle doll beside her own bed that evening, so she would be comfy and warm, and ready to play first thing in the morning.

 

IMG_8639

Mar28

Monster Masks

Posted on by
Standard

IMG_8765

Gluing down some tissue paper.

Gluing down some tissue paper.

The kids created their own monster masks using paper plates as a base. I cut some eye holes, and then they got started decorating their masks. We started by placing tissue paper over the plate to create the monster’s skin. Once we’d glued the tissue paper down, A chose to leave her tissue paper loose around the edge as a bit of a frill. L chose to push the edges of her tissue paper around to the back of the plate and glue it down.

Gluing the edges down.

Gluing the edges down.

The kids used some crepe paper to add fur, felt and foam for horns, mouth and ears. L added a silver tail to her mask too. And then it was glitter glue and more glitter glue. A used lots of glitter glue to create some pretty sparkly teeth that haven taken a couple of days to dry in our damp weather.

 

Adding a glitter glue nose.

Adding a glitter glue nose.

I added a large pop-stick to the back of the plate to help support the mask, and then another large pop-stick at the bottom of the mask for the kids to hold it.

A adding purple fur.

A adding purple fur.

Glitter glue teeth.

Glitter glue teeth.

When I took photos of the kids using their masks, they growled and roared for me. They also ran out wearing their masks to scare Big L when he got home from work.

L modelling her monster mask.

L modelling her monster mask.

A modelling her monster mask.

A modelling her monster mask.

Mar27

Monster Horns

Posted on by
Standard
My little monster!

My little monster!

Using some green paper and green cardboard we made some monster horns to wear. I cut the green paper into strips, stapling two together and then placing it around the each child’s head to get the right size for the headband.

Monster horns.

Monster horns.

The monster headband.

The monster headband.

 

 

 

 

 

I cut out some horn shapes from the green cardboard, and then we stapled two horns to each headband. Then the kids used glitter confetti glue to decorate their monster horns. They became very sparkly, and A described her horns as monster tiaras (currently she would like to be a princess when she grows up).

A spreading glitter glue.

A spreading glitter glue.

L adding glitter glue carefully.

L adding glitter glue carefully.

My big monster!

My big monster!

Mar16

Foam Monsters

Posted on by
Standard

Foam sheets are easy and fun to make craft with. They are easy to cut to your desired shape, and they glue together well. We used some foam to make monsters. I cut out the base shapes and let the kids decorate them as they pleased.

A's monster and flower.

A’s monster and flower.

Adding rhinestones.

Adding rhinestones.

A used plenty of glitter glue to stick on some legs and arms, and lots of rhinestones. She also gave her monster two large eyes and one tiny eye. After A made her monster, she also asked me to cut out a flower for her to decorate using rhinestones and glitter glue.

L's monsters.

L’s monsters.

L made up a monster similar to A’s, using different coloured foam. She gave her monster a tail and some feet, and glitter glue for eyebrows and mouth. She cut up some scraps of foam into tiny pieces and spread them onto some craft glue to form a spiky looking beard and spiky hair for her monster. L made a second monster of her own design, cutting the orange foam into a ghost-like shape, and adding eyes, rhinestones and glitter glue for its features. I liked these monsters so much that L gave them to me to put up on my bedroom door.

Adding legs to her monster.

Adding legs to her monster.

Decorated flower head.

Decorated flower head.

Mar15

Paper Bag Monster Puppets

Posted on by
Standard

Brown paper lunch bags have many uses, and just one of these is making puppets. The most important thing to do before decorating the bag, is to make sure that the opening of the bag is at the bottom, so one’s hand can be placed inside the bag, and the puppet is up the right way!

A's monster puppet.

A’s monster puppet.

L's monster puppet.

L’s monster puppet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I brought out a range of collage materials for the kids to use in making their puppets, and let them decide what to use and how their puppets would look.

Gluing on eyes and nostrils.

Gluing on eyes and nostrils.

A glued on some muffin cases with blue paper circles in them for eyes, and then she covered most of the bag with feathers. Her’s is a feathery monster, and the little pompoms around the eyes are actually nostrils. Somewhere, buried in the feathers, is a white ribbon mouth too, and some gold ribbon for legs and arms.

Adding feathers.

Adding feathers.

 

 

L also used some muffin cases for eyes, but she used her’s upside down with a pipe cleaner through them, and attached the piper cleaner to the bag using staples. Another piper cleaner was turned into teeth in a paper mouth, and her monster had some feathers for arms.

These monster puppets were fun to create, and now they are fun to play with!

Upside down muffin cases as eyes.

Upside down muffin cases as eyes.