Craft for kids, by kids: A craft stick harmonica/kazoo

Last week at Cub Scouts, my eight-year-old son made a kazoo/harmonica from craft sticks as part of the crafts achievement for Wolves. He was so proud of his craft that he wrote up the instructions himself, even thought writing is not always his favorite thing to do these days. I asked him if I could share the craft here, and he was very excited to share!

He took the picture too :)

Supplies:

• Jumbo craft sticks
• paper
• toothpicks
• rubber bands
• markers to decorate

HOW TO MAKE A HARMONICA.

1. get 2 jumbo craft steaks [sticks]

2. get 1 same size pize [piece] of  paper

3. 2 toothpicks with cuters (ask a adult to help)  [cut the toothpicks to the width of the craft sticks]

4.  the adult can cut the toothpicks the size of  the steak [place the toothpicks and the paper between the craft sticks like you're making a sandwich]

5. 2 rubrbans put on the 2 ends [secure the toothpicks/paper in the "sandwich" with rubber bands on the outside directly over the rubber bands]

6. coler [color]

You can hum/blow on the side to make music like a kazoo!

LDS General Conference Toddler Attention Presents

Wasn't General Conference this past weekend awesome?! (Don't know what I'm talking about? see here or here or some awesome quotes from the weekend here) I have to share with you guys something- I have an almost 3 year old and a 6 month old and I listened to every talk. Store this away in the archives for October!

1. I went to the Dollar Store on Saturday morning ( I had been planning to all week but I didn't end up making it until the very last minute) and I bought treats, coloring books, little toys, and other activities listed below. 
2. I wrapped 6 things per session and divided them into bags. I did this so PB wouldn't open all the treats or activities in one session.
3. We set a timer on my husband's iPhone to go off every 20 minutes. This was flexible. We started with a 5 minute timer so she got the concept. 
4. We told her she had to be in the room and behaving to get the treat. She went off and played upstairs in the playroom for a bit. When she got back down we set a shorter timer so she could get another treat. 

It wasn't perfect but basically it took her the 20 minutes to get bored with an activity or eat her treat. If she finished early there were the activities she had already opened to occupy her. We brought in her little picnic table and she sat and did her activities at that table. 

She did awesome. I was worried that she would get upset that we were watching TV and it wasn't her show and Heaven forbid it wasn't "ELSA!" (Please tell me we're not the only ones that have watched it 20 times in the past two weeks). There were moments of mischief and she did take a good nap on Saturday so she had a bit of a break but overall it was a great experience.

Here is the list of what I bought:

• Two coloring books (big flop she didn't want to color at all)
• Velvet coloring sheet (like here but seriously don't buy it there because I got it at the Dollar Store)
•  Magic Paint booklet (like here I got it at Michael's) 
• Furreal Spinner (like here)
• Jewelry Links (like here)
• Candy- Fruity Tootsie Rolls, Airheads, fruity Mike and Ikes, Sugar Babies. I chose these because I could separate each one out into multiple presents
• Snacks (not from the Dollar Store) Goldfish, animals crackers, fruit snacks

Here are a couple pictures we took of the girls.

In the #10 can there are crayons and she's painting with water in the bowl in the Magic Paint book she got

 I also pinned a bunch of other ideas found here on Wayward Girls Crafts' Pinterest page.

Here is a post from last year that we did as well. None of the Pinterest pictures are working but the links work. 

Do you have an idea that works for you?

Dollar Store Craft: custom geometric vases

A few months ago, I found some great glass vases at the Dollar Store. I filled them with free seasonal decor. When we moved, I had to find a new place for my vases, and the best place was in the living room. But I needed five more vases.

Rather than filling them all again, I decided I wanted to paint them to match our new living room decor. I picked up some acrylic paint and masking tape ($2 and $1, respectively) and sat down to make some awesome designs with the tape. 

I turned this into a kids' craft, too, because I laid out the newspaper and let my kids loose with the foam brushes!

Some tips on getting this right:

• Use (at least) two coats of paint, and allow the paint to dry fully between coats.
• Apply the second coat carefully and quickly, and lay it on thick. Try not to paint an area more than once. If you don't, the paint will ripple and pull off!
• You can use the acrylic enamel made for glass--it'll be dishwasher safe and it might work better, but I don't know how well it works with masking tape.
• Be careful when pulling off the tape! The acrylic doesn't want to adhere, especially at the point of diamonds or triangles. If I did it over again, I wouldn't do those shapes. A razor blade can be helpful in holding down the paint while you pull off the tape. (Or you can do what I did and use your fingernails. Wayward!).

I still have three plain vases. What should I do? I was going to leave them blank, but my husband thinks they look . . . well, blank. My two ideas would be to borrow a page from Jaime's book and do a glitter vase, or to fill them with something cool. Glass beads? Autumn leaves? Colored water? (Ha--asking for trouble with four kids 8 & under!)

What do you think??

Kids' Towel Coverup: the Wayward Way!

As part of my Summer Sewing Spree two years ago, I made . . .

Wayward Kids' Towel Coverups!

I found this adorable terry towel coverup for kids, and I fully intended to sew something equally cute for my daughters. But a major time crunch hit and I ended up having to go the super-fast route. So here's the quick and dirty wayward way to make a cute, fast towel coverup for a child, boy or girl.

Step 1: Measure! 
You'll need two (or three) measurements. The first is width around the chest (girls) or waist (boys). You'll want to add at least four inches for overlap. If you want to use elastic in the back (I recommend this for boys, but it doesn't seem to affect my girls'), you'll want to add more width to account for the gathering. Decide how long you want the elastic to be, then add that to the width. Remember this one, too! (Also keep in mind that the elastic will need to fall between the shoulder straps for girls.)

The second measurement is length--for girls, that's from underarm to however long you want the cover up to be (mid-thigh or knee length works well); for boys, that's from waist to the bottom of his swim trunks. (Which is often not his knees. Don't make the same mistake as me!)

Step 2: Materials!
You'll need:

• A towel at least as big as the rectangle formed from your measurements.
• A piece of cute fabric 4" wider and 2-4" longer than your measurements.
• Sewable Velcro (or snaps)
• Elastic (may be optional for girls' coverups; at least 3/8" wide)
• Thread
• Pins
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Iron
• Sewing machine

Step 3: Cut the towel!
Use your measurements to trim down a towel. Towels can be hard to cut, so I would use scissors or a rotary cutter to get through the hem, then rip the towel.

Many towels have decorative weaving near the ends. I cut out the towel between these lines, and save the weaving to form the straps. I also kept the top hem intact.

Step 4: Cut the fabric!
Add 4" to your width and 4" to the length of your rectangle (I added 2" to my length and used the selvage to form the long top edge on some of the pieces), then cut out a piece of fabric that size.

Step 5: Sew them together!
Center the towel on the fabric, wrong sides together (ff your towel has a wrong side). (If you're using the selvage on top, make sure the top edges of the fabrics align.) Fold over the edge of the fabric to meet the edge of the towel, and press. Then fold that folded edge of the fabric again, overlapping the edge of the towel:

Sew along the folded edge where it overlaps the towel (indicated by a dashed line above)--but do not sew the top edge of the fabric to the towel! (You can, however, sew the hem of just the fabric along the top if you're not using the selvage.)

Step 6: Place the elastic! (May be optional for girls; didn't really make a difference for mine)
Remember the elastic measurement we used in step 1? We need it again. Cut that length of elastic. If you want the finished product to have 4" elasticized, we need to work with 8" of fabric. Find the center of the towel & fabric, and measure out 4" (or whatever your chosen # is) on either side. Mark both of these points.

Pin either end of the elastic between the towel and the fabric at the points you've marked. Sew in the elastic (more details here).

Last year's coverup almost fits this year...

Step 7 (girls only): Place the straps!
Either cut 2" strips from the towel remnant, or get the decorative woven strips you saved earlier. If you placed elastic in, pin the straps between the fabric and towel on either side of the elastic. Otherwise, you might want to have your child try on the cover up to determine the best placement and length for the straps.

Measure the strap length twice!

Sew the straps in place between the towel and the fabric. (You can use a reinforced box stitch pattern for this if you'd like.)

Step 8: Velcro/snaps and finish!
If you're very picky, you might want to sew the Velcro or snaps on the front flap to only the towel, so that the sewing lines don't show through. But let's face it, if you were very picky, you wouldn't be doing it the wayward way, would you?


Place the Velcro or snaps on the front flaps. Remember that the inner flap will have the Velcro on the outside (fabric side)! Sew in place. Sew any unfinished edges along the top. And voila!

LDS General Conference Packets (and other ideas)

LDS Church General Conference infographic

Last week for our activity in Achievement Day girls (8-11 year-olds) we made General Conference Packets.There are quite a few options out there after a search I found I liked this one best by Jenny Phillips for the girls.

Before I copied the packets for the girls I added a quick reminder when General Conference would be and where they could watch it, on the front page.

What are you doing this year for you kids?

Here are some other great ideas I found for General Conference on Pinterest. (These include ideas for younger kids as well):

Source: sassysites.blogspot.com viaKylia on Pinterest

Source: brandyscrafts.blogspot.com viaBrandy Nelson on Pinterest

Source: sassysites.blogspot.com viaAnnie on Pinterest

Source: therhouse.com viaNatalie on Pinterest

Source: gratefulfortheride.blogspot.com viaLive Craft Eat on Pinterest

Good clean fun (literally!)

Hey y'all! It has been weeks and weeks since I have blogged. Between the wedding, holidays, and illness, I am barely keeping my head above water. Things are looking up and here I am blogging on Friday.
I decided to do something totally kid (and mom) friendly. Shaped soap. You can look up directions on how to actually make soap, but this is the wayward way to do it quickly and with the children
You need some Ivory soap and some cookie cutters. Optional supplies include glitter, scented wax or essential oil, and wax.

Here's what to do:
Finely chop or grate 1 or 2 bars of Ivory soap. Here it is finely chopped, but it would have melted better grated. The soap is very soft, so your little ones could cut it with butter knives.

Put your soap in a double broiler and let it melt. (I tried some the microwave, too. It was another fun experiment. It bubbles up really big! The kids would love it.) I added a little water. This is when you would add a few drops of oil or scented wax.

Let it melt.  I only waited until it looked like mashed potatoes. It may have melted further. You know us wayward folks!

Next  I patted out the 'dough' into a circle and cut out stars and snowflakes. (Spray the cutters with Pam or oil.) For a few of the shapes, I  pressed the soap into the shapes rather than cutting them out. Carefully press them out of the cutters.

I sprinkled a tiny bit of glitter on them soap. You can dip the glitter side in melted wax if you want to keep it off your hands.

Clean up is easy. Let water take the soap out of the pans you used. Throw the scraps and the kids into the tub and tell them to bubble up!

13 Fun Ways for Kids to Learn and Show Gratitude

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving's already here! November 22nd is the earliest Thanksgiving ever comes and it certainly feels like it!

I'm definitely looking for ways to help my kids to learn and show gratitude this week, and here are 13 fun ideas I found!

1. Topical gratitude challenge

Source: mymommyhoodmusings.blogspot.com via Penelope on Pinterest

You can use these categories to go around the Thanksgiving table, too.

2. Gratitude garland

Source: pikadillycharm.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Great for decorating for Thanksgiving, too!

3. Family gratitude journal

Source: blog.littlepicklepress.com via Holly on Pinterest

Also a fun family activity.

4. Gratitude poster

Source: beckyhiggins.com via Christy on Pinterest

Beautiful, creative and grateful.

5. Gratitude tree

Source: bluebirdbaby.typepad.com via Elise on Pinterest

Another fun way to decorate for Thanksgiving and fall.

6. Gratitude cards

Source: mydeliciousambiguity.com via Whitney on Pinterest

Rainbow colored cards that include prompts, ideas and tasks.

7. Gratitude banner

Source: futurecraftcollective.com via aimee on Pinterest

So many ways to use this one! Here, they've got pockets for each family member and other family members can leave notes telling why they're grateful for them.

8. Gratitude rolls

Source: beautyandbedlam.com via Arlene on Pinterest

Fast, easy and fun to share at Thanksgiving dinner!

9. Gratitude at the Thanksgiving table

Source: blog.williams-sonoma.com via Mary on Pinterest

Prompts and papers for Thanksgiving dinner gratitude. Fun alternative to simply making rounds of the table.

10. Gratitude pinboard (literally!)

Source: snapguide.com via Natalie on Pinterest

A real-life pin board to fill with things you're grateful for.

11. Gratitude alphabet

Source: ourbigearth.com via Sarah on Pinterest

What you're thankful for, from A to Z

12. Donate food (or clothes/time/service) to those in need

Source: mammabearsworld.com via Tsue~ on Pinterest

I like to help my children weed out toys they don't play with anymore and donate them at Christmas time, and we'll definitely be donating food this year. (Side note: check with your food bank first. Donating food is a great gesture to involve your children, but sometimes food banks get a better deal than we do, so giving them the same amount of money can go a lot further, and you can find other ways to involve your children.)

13. Collect thank you notes and treats for our troops

Source: orlandomagazine.com via Operation on Pinterest

You can make care packages for anyone who might need a little extra love during this season: elderly neighbors, far-off family members, our troops.

How do you help your kids remember to be grateful?

Bubble Marble Card Stock

This is a fun, easy craft that even the kids will enjoy. Take a small amount of soap (preferably uncolored; scented doesn't matter) and add a small amount of water into a bowl. Size changes the pattern so it's up to you as to how large of a bowl you would like to use. I used a regular sized disposable bowl.
Add a few drops of food coloring and mix the color in.

With a straw, blow bubbles in the soapy mixture to fill the bowl a little over the rim. I stirred the bubbles to make them smaller so the color and pattern would look differently.

Taking card stock, lightly press the paper face down onto the bubbles not getting the paper in the water and lift up. You can repeat this as many times as you want adding different layers of bubbles.

Don't overdo it though, then it'll just look like a mess. Some bubbles may stay on the paper. You can let them pop on their own or blow them off.

Set aside to dry. Dry time is short and varies as to how many times you dipped it in the bubbles.

Toddler Distraction Question- Help Please!

I decided last week I was going to put together a box of things that would highly interest my 15 month old PB. If I am sitting in the room with her she sits and plays if I stand up and walk to a different room she is glued to me whining. Yes, I know this is very typical but I would like her to learn independence as well as strengthen her fine motor and problem-solving skills. I have looked at many Pinterest boards and pins as well as done a Google search for ideas but they all violate the rules that I want for my box-o-distraction:

Please note a few things about this picture: how tired she looks (no nap), the cat is sitting on  folded laundry (no more folding for Mom), PB can reach just about everything. 

1. Mess free. I can deal with picking up pieces but not paint, spaghetti, or shaving cream.
2. Activities on her level. She is not interested in matching or counting yet. 
3. Inexpensive. I'm not spending $5 on an activity when my toddler only has a 30 second attention span on a good day.
4. Safe so she can be unsupervised. The whole reason I want this box is so I can get dressed or make meals without PB being in danger of hurting herself on the hot stove or curling iron because she is glued to my knee cap.

I do have a few ideas that I plan on doing: a wipe container with fabric squares she can pull out, balloons filled with play-doh, and a water bottle with water a beads inside. 

So now I'm asking you faithful readers:

What would you put in an Early Toddler Distraction Box?

Links and tips are much appreciated!!

Click here to see what I came up with

Kids' Towel Coverup: the Wayward Way!

As part of my Summer Sewing Spree last year, I made sunhats for my daughters, a sunhat for me and . . .

Wayward Kids' Towel Coverups!

I found this adorable terry towel coverup for kids, and I fully intended to sew something equally cute for my daughters. But a major time crunch hit and I ended up having to go the super-fast route. So here's the quick and dirty wayward way to make a cute, fast towel coverup for a child, boy or girl.

Step 1: Measure! 
You'll need two (or three) measurements. The first is width around the chest (girls) or waist (boys). You'll want to add at least four inches for overlap. If you want to use elastic in the back (I recommend this for boys, but it doesn't seem to affect my girls'), you'll want to add more width to account for the gathering. Decide how long you want the elastic to be and double that for the fabric, then add that to the width. Remember this one, too! (Also keep in mind that the elastic will need to fall between the shoulder straps for girls.)

The second measurement is length--for girls, that's from underarm to however long you want the cover up to be (mid-thigh or knee length works well); for boys, that's from waist to the bottom of his swim trunks. (Which is often not his knees. Don't make the same mistake as me!)

Step 2: Materials!
You'll need:

• A towel at least as big as the rectangle formed from your measurements.
• A piece of cute fabric 4" wider and 2-4" longer than your measurements.
• Sewable Velcro (or snaps)
• Elastic (may be optional for girls' coverups; at least 3/8" wide)
• Thread
• Pins
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Iron
• Sewing machine

Step 3: Cut the towel!
Use your measurements to trim down a towel. Towels can be hard to cut, so I would use scissors or a rotary cutter to get through the hem, then rip the towel.

Many towels have decorative weaving near the ends. I cut out the towel between these lines, and save the weaving to form the straps. I also kept the top hem intact.

Step 4: Cut the fabric!
Add 4" to your width and 4" to the length of your rectangle (I added 2" to my length and used the selvage to form the long top edge on some of the pieces), then cut out a piece of fabric that size.

Step 5: Sew them together!
Center the towel on the fabric, wrong sides together (ff your towel has a wrong side). (If you're using the selvage on top, make sure the top edges of the fabrics align.) Fold over the edge of the fabric to meet the edge of the towel, and press. Then fold that folded edge of the fabric again, overlapping the edge of the towel:

Sew along the folded edge where it overlaps the towel (indicated by a dashed line above)--but do not sew the top edge of the fabric to the towel! (You can, however, sew the hem of just the fabric along the top if you're not using the selvage.)

Step 6: Place the elastic! (May be optional for girls; didn't really make a difference for mine)
Remember the elastic measurement we used in step 1? We need it again. Cut that length of elastic. If you want the finished product to have 4" elasticized, we need to work with 8" of fabric. Find the center of the towel & fabric, and measure out 4" (or whatever your chosen # is) on either side. Mark both of these points.

Pin either end of the elastic between the towel and the fabric at the points you've marked. Sew in the elastic (more details here).

Last year's coverup almost fits this year...

Step 7 (girls only): Place the straps!
Either cut 2" strips from the towel remnant, or get the decorative woven strips you saved earlier. If you placed elastic in, pin the straps between the fabric and towel on either side of the elastic. Otherwise, you might want to have your child try on the cover up to determine the best placement and length for the straps.

Measure the strap length twice!

Sew the straps in place between the towel and the fabric. (You can use a reinforced box stitch pattern for this if you'd like.)

Step 8: Velcro/snaps and finish!
If you're very picky, you might want to sew the Velcro or snaps on the front flap to only the towel, so that the sewing lines don't show through. But let's face it, if you were very picky, you wouldn't be doing it the wayward way, would you?


Place the Velcro or snaps on the front flaps. Remember that the inner flap will have the Velcro on the outside (fabric side)! Sew in place. Sew any unfinished edges along the top. And voila!