Clay Fun

Polymer clay - something I was very familiar with due to my religious watching of the Carol Duvall show (I still have the VHS tape that was always loaded and ready in case I sensed that a good paper project was coming up :) - but I had never actually used it.

Well, our daughter saw these cute little animals in an issue of her American Girl magazine, and even big brother wanted to make one. They suggested using air dry clay, but I was afraid that they wouldn't hold up too well, so yesterday while running errands we procured a package of assorted color sculpey. And then, of course, the kids wanted to start making their animals before I'd even left the parking lot of the store - I convinced them to wait the ridiculously long time until after lunch...

I must say, they turned out amazingly well. The kids made all the shapes themselves (the bodies have a ball of aluminum foil inside) and I helped with fine tuning, attaching, etc. The pig is our daughter's, our son made the cat, and the dog and panda were made for some friends. They were hanging out with their long-lost Little Pet Shop cousins yesterday afternoon, and happily survived the rigorous hands-on attention. I predict more sculpey fun in our future!

Fun Christmas Cards

I needed a couple simple cards for some neighbors, and I used the fun sketch over at Card Positioning Systems this week as my starting point. For the first one, I made the snowflake from some leftover faux mother-of-pearl paper (that I'd done with a grayish blue ink), and then after I'd cut it out I coated it with my son's favorite Crayola glitter glue. You can never have too much sparkle! I layered it with some paper (impulse buy from the Target dollar spot last week), and tied on a "hope" charm. The finished card is 5 1/2" square.

The second card is smaller - only 4 1/4" - and the colors were chosen by my daughter :) I liberated the hot pink foam circle from her art box, and then embellished it with an edge strip (doodlebug designs), tiny gems, and an actual ornament hanger. This was really fun to do, and I'm thinking that the kids and I will make some more of these for the teachers, friends, etc. I used a Martha Stewart edge punch for the ornament topper (just clipped out a tiny piece) and the turquoise layer. I couldn't make 2 cards in a row without any stamping whatsoever, so I stamped JOY with the Alpha-02 set.

Don't know if I'm going to find any more "creative time" in the weeks ahead - we're hitting the road for Christmas this year, and there's still a lot I need to get done. If I don't make it back to the blog, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday!!

Kid Crafting Fun

Wanted to share some crafty fun for the younger generation! I picked up this paper doll kit a couple weeks ago, and just pulled it out this morning. My daughter (who turned 4 in January) has been having a ball with it, and I foresee many more happy mornings spent creating. The pack comes with a pad of pre-printed dresses (and of course I can't help but think how cute it would be to make a few custom ones with scrapbook papper) and a few embellishments. She was just happy to have a reason to pull out the glitter glue ;) We also picked up this fun butterfly book - she's been painting one every day or so, and we'll be stringing them all together to make a mobile for her room when they're all done. Crayola has definitely come up with some great products recently - might be worth taking a stroll down that aisle at the craft store next time you're out and about, particularly if you have any little girls in your life!

Kids Stamps

I know I've been unusually quiet for these past couple weeks - we're trying to get a number of things taken care of on the home front. But I *DID* want to share my exciting find from Dollar Tree with people who would understand my excitement:

Yes, those are Tinkerbell, Disney Princess, Cars and Mickey stamps that I found in the toy section. My kids have pronounced me "The Best Mommy Ever!" Who knew that title could be procured for a mere four bucks? :) I may have to share a few of their creations later...

Thumbprint Reindeer

I think our kids like to make cards nearly as much as I do - so they were pretty excited on Monday when I told them they were going to help me make cards. I got the idea for these from a card I saw last year; I believe it was in PaperCrafts (and I think it was the entire family's row of thumbprints!) I opted for a more simple approach and we made these for the moppets workers - the wonderful ladies who watch over the kiddos during our MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) meetings. I started with a stack of notecards (Fabriano, of course!) and had the kids add their thumbprint. Then I drew in the details, including some glitter on the nose. (See why I prefer to stamp instead of drawing?!?) The final touch was the greeting (retired SU - Holiday Wishes). A simple thank you from the "little dears" :)

"Boredom Busters" Jar

No stamping on this project, but I think it has a lot of potential and I still wanted to pass it along. I actually received the original "Boredom Busters" jar as a birthday party favor, contained in a decorated formula can. Well, our kids demolished the can after the first day, so I then transferred it to a peanut butter jar and embellished it with a bit of scrapbook paper (Daisy Ds).

Here's the general idea: when the kids say they're bored, have them pull a slip from the jar. Red activities are for inside, and the yellow ones are better suited for the outdoors. The list was originally found on Simple Mom, but you could also make up your own list of activities. Great project to make as a family!