mail/garbage carrier

all you need:

recommendation for cutting the box - i find it the best to take apart the glued top/bottom and lay the box flat and cut in one line, instead of having to cut all around and ending up a bit off the start point, and then re-glue the  closure again.

when we finished making the mail-carrier and i attached it to Ji's vehicle(JD tractor, that is way to small for him now, but he still loves it!), he announced that he will be a garbage man instead and that he wants to collect garbage....luckily after we made some pretend mail with our stamps i persuaded him back to the mail man gig!!! garbage...maybe next time ;)

fun postage stamps!

fun to play with or use as "additional" postage ;) on your real mail!

all you need is:
- brown paper tape (found at office supply stores)
- stamps and stamp pads
...you can find a great tutorial for making your own stamps here!
- zigzag scissors

paper garland wand

it is REALLY quick and easy to make!!!

takes only 10 minutes and the fun is everlasting!

all you need is:

- plain paper - it "flies" the best!

- scissors

- wand - mine is a wooden craft-stick,

but anything will do - even pencil :)! 

- sewing machine

 - cut paper lengthwise into strips about 4cm wide and have your kids cut them into smaller strips....if they're not all the same width, the better ;)!

- then slowly feed the strips into your sewing machine, leaving gaps between them about 0.5 to 1cm long - Ji and i turned this part into a color game having him find and hand me the color i called out.

- the final length of our garland is 1m, which seems to be the best length - long enough for a nice flying tail but not too long to get tangled!

- tie garland to wand - make a little notch on your wand where you are going to tie your garland on so it doesn't slip.

ice-suncatcher

this is for my sister :)

i was planning on making an ice-suncatcher this winter, but my sister really urged me to do so, since she would have loved to make one, only arizona weather doesn't get quite cold enough to make any sort of outdoor ice project...

all you need is: a plastic container, piece of twine and some leaves/flowers/twigs - Ji and i used some rose hips and dried: lavender, flax bulbs and heart grass. 

- pour water over arrangement and loop of twine and let freeze overnight. and hurry up before winter ends :)!!!

tiny airplane

 last week, i stumbled upon some wooden cutouts, that i bought a couple of years ago (....well, more like 10yrs ago...pfff, i'm getting old!), intended for making trees for my school models....ended up not using them and a year ago was actually thinking of getting rid of them while on a cleaning-the-attic streak, but i'm glad i didn't, cause they sure came in handy to make a tiny airplane :)

tools:

- elliptical cutouts - precut or DIY - wooden or even card stock (i bought the bag of assorted wooden cutouts way back then i think at Michael's)

- xacto knife - for cutting slits, and elliptical shapes if you don't have premade cutouts like i did

- glue

- color (the most important, kid-part) - pencils, paint, markers, etc.  or just colored card stock .....i like the colored pencils on wood the best!
- optional - jump ring, string/thread .....for playing with it! :)

 directions:
i think the photos of the finished plane are pretty self-explanatory of where to cut the slits in the ellipses. after cutting, color them out and then glue together - since it's tiny, try to use the least amount of glue possible, so there aren't gobs of glue all over the airplane. then, it's play-time!...we attached a jump-ring and "flew" it on a thread flight-course taped to our ceiling beams :)

p.s. with a couple more of them, they would also make a great mobile!

mouse house

Ji had been telling me about some imaginary mice that lived under his bed (....yes, they truly were imaginary!), so one night i decided to stitch up some felt ones. it was a fun surprise for him to find them the next day under his bed.....good thing he wasn't disappointed that they weren't real! 

anyways, so they wouldn't get lost all over the place, we made them a little house (Ji applied the glue and did the coloring :):

p.s. your house doesn't have to be for your mice ;), but

 it's much more fun when it's meant for an inhabitant!

                                                           tools:

note - i use the kitchen knife(the dull side)

for making the bending or crease lines

take apart your box, draw the cut and crease lines,

then cut out your house(don't forget the gluing flaps!)

and openings and make bending/crease lines

then glue together and voila!

and have fun coloring, gluing on colored paper, whatever you (...or your mice :) ) like!

baby/dog rocker :)

simple paper wall art

the other day i stumbled upon some really cheap red and yellow wrapping paper and when i got home i found out, that it was double sided - red/orange and yellow/green - great :)!

it really came in handy today, since Ji is sick with the flu and i've been trying to cheer him up with some quick and cheerful projects.

                                        

                                             tools:

                                             - large pieces of paper

                                             - scissors

                                             - masking tape

this took 5 minutes! - just cut paper strips in different widths and folded

down the top corners and then taped it to the wall with masking tape.

 then i cut up rectangles of different sizes and Ji taped them on to his
liking. and we added a silhouette of Mates into one window :).

start/stop car pouch

everyday morning Ji picks 2 cars to take with him to preschool. he usually carries them in his hands (sometimes stuffs them in his pocket), so i made him this little start/stop car pouch to carry them in. (this way  we can also keep better track of the cars he takes home - which are sometimes not his... :)

   

my giraffe eater :)