diy / cardboard house

 baby brother got a new carseat for his growing body.

we couldn't let the box go to waste.

materials:
- big box
- box cutter (for parents)
- paint
- tape
- scissors
- rope or key for door

cut a window, or two, and of course a door. prime coat your box with the first color. cut your roof and tape the sides. i cut one triangle off, and used the scrap to trace for the other 4 sides, so they were even. paint your roof and door, add some details. add a rope to open the door from the inside. add a key hole, so you can make sure to lock up when leaving. you could also add curtains... mine were ripped off by an unknown suspect.

lego batman party

this wild boy had a blast at his "lego batman" party, hmm i wonder who picked the theme..

 HUGE shout out to @amandajanebakes (instagram)

this mama of two boys bakes these amazing treats from her home.

cupcakes, cookies, and a batman lego cake!

diy / nature binoculars

materials:

- toilet paper or paper towel rolls

- hot glue

- paint

- string

- felt

- scissors

 cut the rolls to the size you'd like. cut a little piece for the middle part. paint the rolls. glue rolls together. cut a strip of felt to put around the edge. glue. punch holes in the rolls for the string. 

go on an adventure..if you have lots of extra toilet paper rolls, [here is another project]

 

 

 

naturally, we had to go on an adventure after making these. 

we looked for birds and collected sticks.

diy / adventure book

this book was inspired by the movie [up]

this movie is our summer inspiration. we are going to be unplugged all summer.
explore our city and beyond. this adventure book will be a collection of photos and drawings.
summer 2016! can't wait to see what you have in store.

materials:
- cardboard
- fabric
- felt (for letters)
- hot glue or fabric glue
- tag board, note cards, thick paper

 first i cut the cardboard to be the size i wanted. i used different fabric scraps to make a mountain landscape. felt is the easiest fabric material for letters. sew / glue your fabric cover first. then you can glue the fabric cover to the cardboard. i put tag board on the inside to keep it clean looking. added little folders for our adventure souvenirs.

adventure is out there!

diy / mini wall hanging

 

another rainy day project:

with extra materials, we made this wall hanging for the play room area.

popsicle sticks were left over from the [superhero bunk bed] 

a little bit of paint.

and we have tons of yarn. (glue or hot glue)

picked a length i wanted the strings. each loop has 3 strings folded to make 6.

make a loop around the back and pull the bottom strings through.

 repeat

 once its hanging you can trim the bottom to be even.

diy / superhero bunk bed

because boys like "dolls" too

materials:

- popsicle sticks

- hot glue

- scissors

- fabric & stuffing for blankets and mini pillow

(i used left over fabric from [moon phase mobile])

- cardboard

first you want to make sure your bed is big enough for your hero or figure. i cut a piece of cardboard first, then laid out the popsicle sticks. hot glue works the best because it dries so fast. also using the hot glue, i covered the cardboard in fabric, to create the "mattress" (sorry spiderman, its def not a sleep number) the pillows were sewn and stuffed. for the blankets, i put right sides together, sewed, leaving a hole to right side out, then sewed around the whole blanket again. (similar to how you would sew a bib) -- dont forget the ladder. 

night, night spidey.

diy / rainy day marble shooter

perfect project for a rainy day inside. with materials you already have.

materials:

- glue gun

- scissors

- cardboard

- paper towel rolls / toilet paper rolls

- markers

- marbles

first step is decorating your marble shooter. i started with the "base" where the marbles will be caught at the end (made a little box), and worked my way up. cutting the cardboard rolls in half and gluing them. there is some trial and error but overall it was pretty simple to construct. i can guarantee at least 1 hour of entertainment, or your money back ;) 

 

diy / natural dye easter eggs

 

i tend to avoid projects that become too much of a hassle / mess. making your own egg dye, is way more simple than i imagined. i've seen so many interesting natural ingredients to change the color of white eggs, we had to do some experimenting ourselves. 

if your up for a science experiment, using food you probably already have, keep scrolling... 

 

 

materials:

- 12 white eggs (brown eggs work too, not as strong of a color)

- 6 - 8 cups

- 2 tbsp of natural ingredient

- 1.5 tbsp of vinegar (brightens the color)

- marker for decorating

 natural ingredients (in order of brightest natural dye):

- Turmeric

- Beets

- Blueberries

- Grape Juice

- Cabbage

- Spinach

- Coffee (i think this would make a nice color, but i ended up drinking it instead of dying, oops)

we weren't very patient and soaked them for 10-15 min. the longer you soak the darker the color.

Ok Turmeric and Beets are the JAM. If we left these in over night they would probably be NEON yellow and pink. Not so excited by either the spinach or the cabbage. Cabbage actually dyes blue, but I found that the blueberries did a better job. Grape juice did a great job as well. I like that they all came out pastel colors and sort of matched.

we let them dry. and gave them some ink.

diy / mini canvas projects

 

these little mini canvases are fun for a variety of toddler friendly projects.

mini canvas magnets:

 

materials:

- mini canvas 

- washable paint & brush

- markers

- magnets

- hot glue

these are very simple to make, we did paint first, let it dry and marker drawings on top. hot glue a magnet on the back and they make great 'fridge art.

mini canvas plant art:

 

materials:

- mini canvas 

- washable paint (black) & brush

the idea was to make [Rorschach inkblot] type art, so we used black paint. these look great in our bathroom, and took about 10 min to make. plants enjoy art too.

superhero mini canvas:

 

materials:

- mini canvas (a little bit larger than the two above)

- watercolor paint

- crayons

- modge podge or glue
- print out of your favorite superhero

first color your superhero with crayons, then paint over with watercolors. cut him/her out and glue to the canvas. hang and display. i used thumb tacks to hang these.