A Felt Jack O'Lantern Game

I LOVE to make felt scenes and games! This felt jack o'lantern game was inspired by the felt scarecrow game at Let's Explore. You spin the spinner to decorate your pumpkin. There are all kinds of fun and crazy combinations...bunny ears, witches hat, blue hair, green tongue, bear ears, etc. O was THRILLED when she saw the set. We haven't played the game yet, but O has had a great time deorating the "mama and daddy" pumpkins. I guess I need to make 2 small pumpkins, so she can have "O and Ema" pumpkins, too :)

A Halloween Spin on Painting with Marbles

O and I put a Halloween spin on marble painting this afternoon :) I poured a blob of white paint on a sheet of black construction paper that was placed on a cookie sheet. We dropped the marble onto the paint, and O shook the pan to make a painting. It is supposed to look like a spiderweb. Now we need to make a spider to go with the web :)

Halloween Silly Putty

O and I made orange silly putty in honor of Halloween! O LOVES silly putty, so she was thrilled with this activity. We made silly putty last month, too. This might be a monthly activity!

I left this putty out for a couple of days, and it doesn't seem as sticky as our last batch.

I'm so excited about Halloween this year, and we're looking forward to doing a specialy Halloween or Fall activity every other day or so :)

Easy Yarn Apples

O and I made yarn apples on Monday. It was fun, quick, and easy! The idea came from here, and the directions are here.

Here are our finished apples!

We are planning to use this same method to make pumpkins next week!

Fall Nature Collage

O and her grandaddy had a great time taking a nature walk to gather items for making this beautiful nature collage! To make the collage, O and I taped a piece of contact paper (sticky side out) to our glass door. Then she and her grandaddy arranged the items on the paper. They had to use extra tape for some of the heavier pieces.

Homemade Window Paint

O and I recently made window paint, and she has had a great time with it! To make the window paint, I put baby wash into 3 containers (ketchup containers from WM). We then put a couple of tablespoons of powdered tempera paint in each container and shook. Easy enough!

The paint was somewhat translucent, but O didn't mind at all! She had a fantastic time. After she was finished, I just sprayed the window and O with the water hose, and we were good to go :)

I think this will make a fun handmade gift! (I wish I'd bought more of these baskets!) We're also planning to try the paint in the bathtub. I'll let you know how it goes :)

Lion Puppet Craft Kit

E is starting to have a few more breaks between nursing, so O and I have had a chance to do a few activities together. On Wednesday we made a lion puppet using a Martha Stewart craft kit. O was SUPER excited about making this puppet :) This was a quick, fun, and easy craft.

ROAR!!!

Handprint & Footprint Artwork

O and I painted canvases to make art using her and Ema's handprints and footprints. 1st we painted the canvases.

O pressed her hands onto her canvas to make handprints. Then we pressed Ema's feet onto her canvas to make footprints. I thought that Ema would be a little upset about this especially since we were interrupting her nap, but she didn't seem to mind at all :) Maybe she's already getting used to having painted feet!



Here are our finished canvases. Ema's footprints and handprints are very hard to see, so we may make another one using a darker background color. I'm sure we can find a grandparent to give this canvas a good home :)

Zoo Pals Masks

O and I had fun making animal masks using zoo pals paper plates this week! I never buy paper plates, but I couldn't resist buying these plates to make masks after seeing this activity on this blog a few months ago. I used scissors to make eye holes in the masks, and O glued a jumbo craft stick on the back of each mask. She enjoyed using her glue stick, but I also added a little school glue to make it a little sturdier.

Visual Stimulation/Texture Wall

The idea for this visual stimulation/texture wall for Little Kicker's room has been bouncing around in my head for a while, and I'm glad to finally have it finished and on the wall.
To make the wall, I put fabrics of various prints and textures in embroidery hoops. We covered a stretched canvas with a white sheet and stapled it to the back of the canvas. We attached the embroidery hoops with embroidery thread. I wanted the hoops to be easily removable so that I can take the hoops down for Little Kicker to see and feel. I also plan to change the fabric fairly often.

An Easy Handmade Bubble Blower

O and I recently made a bubble blower out of straws and tape. We gathered a bunch of straws together and wrapped a piece of masking tape around them to hold them together. That's it! We dipped it in the bubble solution, blew, and made hundreds of tiny bubbles :) We've had LOTs of fun with this bubble blower! The idea for this activity came from Family Fun magazine.

O's Dance Bag

When we signed O up for tap/ballet classes last week her teacher told us she would need a dance bag. My first inclination was to make a drawstring bookbag with an embroidered ballerina or fairy on it. Then I remembered that I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant and feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and a little irritable. I decided to take the easy way out and applique DANCE onto a canvas bag from Hobby Lobby. This bag was quick and easy to make, and O was thrilled.

O now thinks that all bags should have words on them...she took her bag with a stethoscope and "shotmaker" (syringe) with us to my midwife appointment yesterday (for her baby dolls), and she said it should say "nurse" on it :)

See more on my applique obsession here, here, here, here, and here.

Seashell Sailboats

O and I recently had fun making seashell sailboats to float in the lake. She put a ball of playdough in each shell (we used our homemade chocolate playdough) while I cut the sails out of craft foam. I stuck a toothpick through each sail, and she stuck the toothpick in the playdough. We also made a few boats using bottle tops. Most of the boats did not float...we used too much playdough :) Also, it would have worked better with clay. The playdough dried out and fell out of the shells. The idea for this activity came from Family Fun magazine. The boats we made last summer out of sponges and straws worked MUCH better :)

Martha Stewart Kids' Craft Kits On Sale

I just wanted to let you know that Martha Stewart Kids' Craft Kits are on sale at Walmart. These kits were anywhere from 50 to 75% off. I'm looking forward to making birthday cards with O for upcoming birthdays, making the frames with O for the baby's room, and saving the puppet kit for a quick and easy craft for us to do together after the baby is born.

Handmade Thank You Cards

Last year we used O's gigantic chalkboard to make thank you notes, and this year we decided to make postcards. I cut pieces of cardstock in half and cut the corners with my corner rounder for a more finished look. I wrote the thank you messages on the cards and drew the address lines.


While I was at work, my mom read the thank you notes to O. O thought about the recipient, decided which color they would like best, and painted a picture on the front of the postcard. She was very thoughtful when painting her pictures, and I'm so proud of her.



Now I just have to gather addresses and send them out!