How to Make Toy Insects from Pompoms

How to Make Toy Insects from Pompoms

Victoria Knight   

There's a simple technique for creating cute toy insects from pompoms. For example, for such a honeybee you will need pompoms, colored paper, and a wooden toothpick or cocktail stick.

Bee

First, cut out three pairs of V-shaped paper legs. That is, every pair of legs is joined together to form a V shape. Similarly, make a pair of cellophane wings. Then thread the legs, wings and pompoms onto the toothpick in the following order:

1. A pompom, so that the tip of the toothpick is left sticking out behind for the sting (remove its sharp tip for safety);
2. A pair of legs and another pompom;
3. Another pair of legs and a pompom;

A pair of legs, the wings and the last pompom for the head.
Apply some glue on the toothpick between the pompoms when assembling the toy. Glue two paper antennas, a mouth and wiggly eyes onto the head. Bzzzzz...

Wiggly eyes can be easily made from an empty blister pack: put a small black paper circle into a blister and seal it with glue and a round piece of paper.

Here are other insects that were made using the same technique: a spider, an ant, and a dragonfly.

Spider

For a spider take two pompoms of two different sizes, push one end of a toothpick into the smaller pompom (put some glue on the toothpick beforehand). Wind four pieces of pipe cleaner around the toothpick for the legs. Then, thread the larger pompom onto the toothpick and remove its protruding end if needed. Finally, attach a pair of eyes and mouth cut out of paper.

Ant

An ant can also be made using a toothpick, four pompoms, paper legs and wiggly eyes. Just cut out three M-shaped pairs of legs and thread them between the pompoms onto the toothpick. Apply some glue onto the toothpick as you go to hold the parts in place. Attach the wiggly eyes, a paper mouth and antennae to create a cute face.

Dragonfly

The dragonfly is a combination of the pompom technique and paper quilling. For this simple project you'll need a toothpick (cocktail stick), pompoms of different sizes, a peace of wire for the legs, wiggly eyes, and red and white quilling strips. Assemble the dragonfly by threading the pompoms and wire legs onto the toothpick. To create a wing, join a red and white quilling strips together, roll them so that the white part goes inside, then shape a quilling "teardrop". Make all four wings using this method and attach them to the body. Glue the eyes, mouth and nose onto the head.

Mike Wazowski

For those who don't know, Mike Wazowski is a character from "Monsters, Inc.". He's not an insect, but a very cute and funny one-eyed monster. In any case, he can be made using pompoms, too. You will need only one pompom, one wiggly eye and some construction paper.

How to Make a Ladybug and Dragonfly Collage using Craft Sticks

How to Make a Ladybug and Dragonfly Collage using Craft Sticks

Victoria Knight   

Very special crafts can be made using wooden craft sticks (a.k.a. popsicle sticks or lolly sticks), like this ladybug and dragonfly collage. Find a simple picture for your design and color the sticks according to it. Then let your kids arrange and glue the colored sticks on a piece of construction paper.

Using other supplies along with craft sticks and combining different techniques can be a good idea.

For example, I used also black round stickers, a pipe cleaner and wiggly eyes for this simple project. Wiggly eyes can be easily made out of discarded tablet blister packs, or just purchased at a crafts store.

Vintage egg styling | Crafts for Kids

Vintage egg styling | Crafts for Kids

Victoria Knight   

morning all from the gorgeous Australian coast...

we're bathing in almost Easter sunshine here...Autumn at it's coastal best...clear, blue & warm...

as it's nearly Easter, i thought to day we could share a some of the *Make-It-Monday* goings on 

in our little beach house...

an Easter-Make-It-Monday that is sweet enough to have in the house over this holiday whether you have bambino's or not...

a bit of egg styling...

this is a little idea we came across via Martha- some times she strikes on a bit of lovely that is right up my doily-loving alley...

lace-printed eggs for Easter...

they are stylish enough for the mama's in the house & bright enough for the kiddos in the house...

thank you Miss.Stewart...

with simple pantry ingredients & a carton of fresh eggs- this was an after HW project in our house...

  
tools of the Egg styling trade here are:

carton of eggs hard boiled
food colouring
white wine vinegar
doilies or old lace off cuts
elastic bands
egg carton to hold the dyed eggs till they dried

{Martha actually suggested a piece of wedding gown if, you know,...it hadn't quite worked out as
 you expected!}  

 ok...this is the simplest, most satisfying of little projects!

wrap the hard boiled eggs in small doilies or scraps of lace {or your wedding dress!}...& secure at back of the egg with an elastic band...

it is essential that this is done as snuggly as possible- the tighter the lace, the clearer the pattern on the
finished egg... 

dunk the eggs in a ceramic bowl consisting of the food colouring, a good dash of white wine vinegar & water to cover the egg...

we left ours for a good 15 minutes to play with the dog...turn on the bath...unpack the school bags blah blah blah....

& we returned- we simply snipped off the elastic bands...gently unwrapped the eggs...


& just sat back looking at these...



gorgeous doily printed Easter eggs...


i'm not sure who was more delighted Miss.Audrey at 6...or me!

a little bit of country inspiration by the coast...

what d'ya think?

beats store bought run of the mill decorations for us...

Get ya Easter Craft On - Day 1

Get ya Easter Craft On - Day 1

Victoria Knight   

OK...Easter Crafting... If you were around here at Christmas, you'll know that I love me a good month of crafting before a holiday!

Easter, being late this year...gives us all plenty of time to share ideas and a little *Cool Craft* together.

I'm blessed with two of my kids having birthdays around Easter- my eldest was born on Easter Monday and we remind her each year that she's *even better than eggs* !

So...I get to share *Cool Crafts* for Easter and birthday's!

Yep...happy days here!

Righto...

*Cool Craft For Easter- Day 1*

These little gift jars are *da bomb* for all ages!

They are simple, inexpensive and soooo flipping cute!

They take no more than an hour or two to sort, glue and spray paint...and then you get to fill them- the really fun part...and just stand and look and love them!

I've seen them on a few pinterest boards- and decided to give it a go with my girls at home- we winged it, and they were super easy on the wallet and the skill level...but were soo divine when we finished!

Bits & Bobs- what you need:

-clean, dry jars- {we used Mason jars, but up-cycling from your fridge/ pantry is an awesome idea!}

-a packet of plastic animals {we bought both woodland animals and african animals...both The Lion King and Frankie Magazine are in high rotation here!}

-a hot glue gun

-Rust-oleum Ultra Cover Paint & Primer {I tried to use the no-name spray paint brands here and they just didn't cover like they needed to...but you may have more luck!}

The Fun Bit- what to do:

1. Remove all the lids and put your clean, dry jars to one side. On each lid sit an animal ready to be glued.

2. Glue the feet of each animal in the centre of each lid, and allow to dry for a half hour if you can- I'm pretty sure you can give it ten minutes if you're on a roll and cannot wait to spray!

3. In an open space, with lots of fresh air, {we do ours on our covered balcony- outdoors but not weather dependent} lay out a plastic drop cloth/ craft cloth, and lay out the lids in small groups if you are painting them in a few colours {we do this to avoid spray spots of colour on them all}.

4. Spray the entire jar lid and animal in your chosen colour- you may need to come back when they are a little dryer and spray the underneath of the animals if you missed any spots {our monkey had a brown butt for a while, whilst the rest of him was pristine white!}

5. Leave to dry overnight - the smell of the Rust-oleum also needs to subside before you fill your jars with goodies- especially edible Easter goodies!

6. Fill jars and tag with a little message...we made brown tags and used washi tape in Easter colours, {I'll be blogging Easter tags another day}, as these will be the take-home party jars/ sweet bags for Audrey's Easter birthday party in a few weeks.

7. Stand and stare for as long as it takes- as these are crazy super cute!!

 

I'd love you to join me here in the weeks leading up to Easter!

There will be plenty of pretty cool Easter crafts 

&

a heap of fab birthday ideas as well...

If home-schooling was like this all the time,

I'd be soooo onto it!

Pinch & a punch for the First of the Month!

A Rain Drop Cushion | Craft for Kids

A Rain Drop Cushion | Craft for Kids

Victoria Knight   

With the school hols coming up in a week in my neck of the woods, and with many of my friends up in the Northern Hemisphere on Summer hols- I thought it perfect timing to share a quick lovely kids craft or two.

{Perfect is over-rated with kids craftiness!}

Simple fun projects that you can build on depending on the age of your child.
Basing them on the age of our youngest {she's primary school age} I'm sharing crafts that I do at home with the kids, and crafts that our eldest {year 10 High School} takes to a whole new level.

This *Rain Drop Cushion* takes no time at all- and is SUPER cute!
It can be easily sewn by hand, or on a machine {depending on the age of your kids}.

You can add sleeping eyes...a sweet little yawning mouth- or leave it as is.

The less perfect it is, the more your child has actually worked on this lovely project- us mama's who love a little craftiness ourselves, really truly need to let imperfect be the catch cry on this one!
Believe me,  your babies will love you more for letting them achieve at this...

{Wonky is super cute...in a true kids project}

what you need:

fabric swatches
needle & thread / sewing machine
toy stuffing
scissors
pencil
paper

what ya need to do:

1. Draw a raindrop shape on your paper free hand and cut it out as your pattern.

2. Turn your chosen fabric/fabrics right side together and lay flat. Pin your pattern to this.

3. Cut around your pattern - it doesn't need to be perfect! {My year 10 of course will differ greatly in opinion to this- but she's yet to have children of her own! Bless her!}

4. Hand sew {or machine sew if your child is old enough. My 9 year old likes to do both- but for this project snuggling on the sofa and hand sewing together was pretty lovely!} around 4/5 of the tear drops edges, leaving a gap to *stuff* your sweet shape.

5. Turn your rain drop right sides out and iron flat. Stuff with toy stuffing {alternately we often cut open larger craft cushions to make smaller projects such as this}.

6. Hand sew the opening together and cut off all your threads {9 year olds have random threads I can assure you!}

7. Throw love and amazement on your child for such crafty-cleverness, and cut out as many as their little hands or friends can manage...you will want many - they are so divine!

The first tear drop may be the favourite, but you could sew enough to make the sweetest mobile for your child's room, a wall hanging of rain, or a larger one with a sleepy face for their beds.

It's a simple, achievable project that could be done in a morning...

Please introduce me to a mother who doesn't like that kinda project!

Happy crafting kiddos!

3 Kids Craft Ideas for Independence Day

3 Kids Craft Ideas for Independence Day

Shendy   

This year, celebrate the stars and stripes in style by making festive 4th of July crafts with your little ones. From parade-ready kazoos to flame-free backyard rockets and delicious centerpieces, we’ve got enough ideas to fuel your entire celebration. Keep reading to let affordable, DIY Independence Day fun begin.

Patriotic Visor

This Fourth of July Visor is a great craft for all ages! Let your kids personalize their own hats in red, white and blue. The perfect hat to wear to a 4th of July parade or to watch the fireworks!

What you'll need:

• Foam Visor (available at any craft store - ours was only $1!)
• 3-D paint: red, white, and blue
• Star Shaped Foam Stickers

How to

1. Use the 3-D paint to write USA on the visor.
2. Stick on star stickers.
3. After it dries, wear it!

Hand Print Fireworks Craft

This hand print fireworks craft is a fun paper craft to make with your kids to celebrate the 4th of July! Trace their hand print and cut out lots of copies, then glue them down so they overlap. Add a whole bunch of glitter to the outside edge of the hand prints and you have fabulous "handmade" fireworks. Our daughter loved this craft and we hope your kids do too.

What you'll need:

• Red, white, blue and black construction paper
• Glue
• Glitter
• Scissors
• Pencil

How to

1. Trace your child's hand print. Cut out multiple copies on all of the colors of paper.
2. Glue the hand prints onto the black construction paper. You want to create a circle of hand prints and have them overlap the whole way around (see the picture provided).
3. Once the hand prints are glued down, squirt a line of glue all around the outside edge of the hand prints.
4. Have your child dump glitter on the glue and shake it a bit to coat
5. *Tip: if you have younger children, try putting the piece of paper in the lid to a shirt box or something similar. This helps contain the glitter a bit better than just a piece of newspaper.
6. Dump off the excess glitter.

Patriotic Pinwheels

These cute pinwheels are sure to be a hit at your next Fourth of July gathering! Kids will love using the brightly colored paper and simple craft supplies to create a beautiful patriotic pinwheel with their hands. Once completed, this pinwheel will look great stuck in a potted plant, vase, or simply placed on a child's bookshelf. This fun and festive pinwheel will brighten up any space and will serve as a fun reminder of a happy holiday!

What you'll need:

• red and blue square origami paper (7"x7")
• ruler
• pencil
• 2 wooden dowels
• Scissors
• Tape
• 2 miniature star-shaped brad
• Toothpick

How to

1. Take one sheet of your origami paper and turn it over so that the white side is facing up. Using the pencil and ruler, draw two straight lines from diagonal to diagonal, forming an "X." (see photo)
2. Draw a dot in the center, where the lines cross. From the center, draw one dot on each side, that is � inch from the center. Connect these dots, forming a circle. (see photo)
3. With adult supervision, use the scissors to cut along the diagonal lines to the � inch dots, making sure not to cut all the way to the center dot! (see photo)
4. Using the ruler and pencil, measure on inch up from each corner and place a dot in the center between the diagonal line and the edge of the paper. (see photo)
5. Ask an adult to poke the toothpick into the central dot and each of the four dots in the corner. (see photo)
6. Take one of the miniature star-shaped brads and push it through the hole of one of the corners of the pinwheel. Continue turning the pinwheel and placing each of the four corner dots on the brad in order. Finally, push the end of the brad through the central dot. Carefully, turn the paper over and secure the brad by pushing the two ends apart and flattening. (see photo)
7. Take the scotch tape and tear off one piece. Place on the pointed end of the dowel and secure to the inside of the pinwheel.
8. Repeat with the other piece of origami paper.
9. Your pinwheel is now ready to grace the table or a flower vase!

Red, White, and Blue Star Wreath

What You Will Need

• Paper Plates.
• Red, Blue Art Paper.
• Red, White, and Blue Ribbons.
• StarCraft Punching Machine.

How to

1. Cut out the centre of the paper plate. You can either use a geometrical compass to draw a circle or just use the embossed circle as a reference.
2. You can draw stars with a pencil and cut them out with scissors.
3. Use the different coloured paper cut-outs alternatively on the rim of the paper plate and glue them.
4. Put the red, white and blue ribbons in a bunch and make bows out of them. Glue one bow on top and bottom of the wreath. Use the ribbons to make a loop to hang the wreath. Among the 4th of July crafts for pre-schoolers, this one is one of the easiest but crafty.

Confetti Rockets

What You Will Need

• Kitchen roll/Toilet paper tubes, depending on the thickness and size of the rocket.
• Red, White, and Blue craft paper.
• Red, White, and Blue decorative paper.
• Stiff paper or visiting cards.
• Marker pens, tissue paper (Red and Blue).
• Ready-made confetti from the store or hand-made at home.
• Twine or strings.
• Red, White, and Blue streamers.
• Glue.
• Beads of all three colours.
• Paper Puncher, Scissors, Stapler, Craft Needle.

How to

1. Cut the red/blue tissue paper into small squares, big enough to cover one side of the cardboard tubes.
2. Either colour the plain side of the visiting cards or get red, white and blue card stock. Cut a circular piece big enough to cover the radius of the tube.
3. Glue the circular card to the centre of the tissue paper of the same colour.
4. Take almost a meter-and-a-half of the colourful strings or twine and thread into the craft needle. Put one coloured bead at the knotted end of the string.
5. Puncture the centre of the card disc which was glued to the tissue earlier.
6. Cover one side of the cardboard tube with this tissue paper with glue in a manner such that the bead is inside the tube and the coloured twine/string hangs outside.
7. Cover the toilet paper tube with a decorative paper of all the three colours. You can either wrap all the three colours around one tube or use one particular colour on one tube. You can either glue it or staple it.
8. Glue the red, white and blue ribbons to the decorative paper first, and then stick it to the tube.
9. Cut a circular disc off the card stock. Snip it from one side right to the centre and then fold it like a cone.
10. Punch two holes on either side of the tube for the string on which the rocket will hang. Cut the twine or string in two equal sizes and knot them through the holes.
11. Fill the tube with as much confetti (bought or home-made) as you want.
12. Seal the top of the tube with the cone. Do not forget to cover the cone with wrapping paper. This Fourth of July craft will need some parental supervision, but it is worth the effort. You can hang these rockets and pull the colourful strings to release the confetti inside.

Easter Craft Ideas for Kids and Preschool Children

Easter Craft Ideas for Kids and Preschool Children

Shendy   

Here are a few interesting Easter craft ideas for kids and preschool children. Some Easter craft ideas that involve children are egg glitter, eggshell tulip, crayon resist egg and Easter peeking bunny.

Here’s a list of fun Easter crafts for kids to make at home. We like to do frugal crafts so you can usually find the supplies we use in your house already!

Crayon resist egg

Craft materials for kids and preschool children:

• Egg dye
• Plastic spoons
• Hard boiled eggs
• Crayons

Craft method:

1. Using crayons, draw pictures and designs onto your egg.

2. When you are happy with the designs, lower the egg into the dye.

3. When you remove the egg from the dye you will have a crazy crayon craft.

Egg Glitter

Craft materials for kids and preschool children:

• Hard Boiled eggs
• Paint
• Brushes
• Glue
• Glitter

Craft method:

1. Simply paint hard boiled eggs in paints of kid's choice

2. Allow to dry.

3. Roll egg in craft glue.

4. While glue is still wet, roll egg in glitter.

5. Allow to dry.

6. Your Easter egg glitter is ready.

Easter eggshell tulip

Craft materials for kids and preschool children:

• Eggshells or foam egg carton sections
• Green pipe cleaners
• Tempera paint and markers
• Hot glue or white glue

Craft method:

Clean eggshell halves and dry them gently. Or, for an easier craft with more durable flowers, use foam egg carton sections.

Cut the cartons sections to look like a tulip.Using tempera paint, decorate the eggshells to look like tulips.

Let the paint dry overnight. When the paint is completely dry, add details to the tulips using markers. You can twirl one end of a green pipe cleaner into a spiral shape. Then glue the spiral to the tulip.

Fun Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids and Preschool Children

Fun Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids and Preschool Children

Shendy   

Here are a few interesting and exciting fun Christmas craft ideas for kids and preschool children. Some Christmas craft ideas that involve children are pine cones, sugar cookies, handprint angel, lollipop tree, and creative Christmas cards and of course decorative Christmas Stars.

There are so many decorative and creative fun Christmas craft ideas for kids. Christmas is a time of giving, sharing, enjoyment and especially a time of creating lasting memories. Preschool Children love to help with crafts and even the tiniest of tasks can make them feel important. Christmas star is easy to make, and they look cute hanging on any Christmas tree, either on the real one or on an artificial Christmas tree.

Christmas Craft: Fun sugar cookie ornament

How to make fun Christmas Craft: sugar cookie ornament

Craft materials for kids and preschool children:

• Sugar
• Glitter
• Water
• Cookie cutters
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Glue

Craft method:

1. Mix half cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of glitter.

2. Stir in 1 teaspoon of water until moist.

3. Press mixture into cookie cutters.

4. Gently tap the ornament onto a plate to dry overnight.

5. Cut enough thread to make a loop and glue a hanger onto the back of each ornament.

Fun Christmas Craft: Glittery Christmas pine cones

How to make fun glittery Christmas pine cones:

Craft materials for kids and preschool children:

• Pine cones
• Glue
• Sparkles
• Thread

Craft and Arts Method:

1. Spread glue all over the pine cone. Kids or Preschool children can use a paint brush to get the glue all over the pine cone. They will love to make a mess with their hands and will have a lot of fun doing it.

2. Gently sprinkle sparkles on the pine cone.

3. Make sure there is a piece of paper underneath to catch the extra glitter. So cleaning up would be easy.

4. Attach a loop of thread to hang the finished Christmas pine cone. A simple but interesting Christmas craft idea for kids.

Fun Christmas Card Craft

How to make fun christmas card craft

Craft materilas for kids and preschool children:

• Scissors
• Craft papers
• Crayons or sketch pens
• Craft glue
• Glitters

Crafts and Art method for children:

Cut the craft papers into different shapes like the Christmas tree, Christmas star, angels, Snowman etc. You may also use scraps of wrapping papers to make the figures. Ask your kid to fold the cut-pieces in the form of a Christmas card and color them. Finally, glue some glitters to the card. There you go...your decorative materials are ready!