Create-Celebrate-Explore

The Blogger Connection: Bad Piggies Photo Props

My kids are still a wee bit obsessed with Angry Birds, so I whipped up some fun Bad Piggies masks for them. Miss M of course told me which ones I needed to make, which is the only reason I even knew there were female piggies.

Pop on over to The Blogger Connection for the full tutorial, and don't forget to link up your own Thrilling Thursday craft projects.

Simple Candy Gift Wrapping Idea

 

 

I didn't have a lot of time this Easter to make fancy gifts for the kids at school (I know, very unlike me), so the little man and I popped down to Target one afternoon and picked out some cute bunny treats together. 

I decided to pretty them up a little instead of handing them out as is, so after digging around in my craft supplies I found some really cute mini paper bags that I had purchased at Michael's recently, they are the Recollections brand and there were 25 in the pack, so the perfect amount. 

I didn't want the treats to slide out of the bag, so I used a single hole punch to punch holes in the top of the bag (either side of the chocolate wrapper) and then threaded some natural hemp twine through the holes and tied it in a bow, securing the chocolate so it wouldn't slip out.

This looks so much prettier than handing out a simple chocolate bunny.

DIY Travel Scrapbook

 

Once upon a time (apparently when I was far more organized), I collected maps, theme park tickets, and other assorted items from vacations and put them into brown paper bags, labeling each so that one day I could put everything I'd saved into scrapbooks.

I've been cleaning out our garage lately, which seems to be a never-ending project, and I still don't see any end in sight. During this cleaning and organizing though I have come across some really fabulous things that I had completely forgotten that I'd stashed away, like the box filled with brown paper bags, where I even found photocopies of photographs of my mum when she was little, I don't even remember having seen these before, and am still wondering how they got into this box.

Around the time I found all of this, I received a box of fun scrapbook supplies from the lovely folks at Staples ... who knew they had scrapbook supplies?  Anywho, I decided it's probably about time I set to work on putting all of those old bits and bobs into albums (and get them out of the garage).

I still haven't finished filling it, but thought I'd share the first album I made.

In the big box of scrapbook supplies Staples sent me, I came across a couple of fun items I could use:

• Clear Scraps Acrylic and Chipboard Album
• American Crafts (Studio Calico) 'Abroad' Collection Pack (scrapbook paper)

What you also need (which I already had, but that are available at Staples too):

• Book Rings
• X-Acto Knife
• Mod Podge

Begin by choosing the scrapbook paper you want to use. 

Lay the acrylic over the top, and very carefully cut around the edge using the X-Acto knife.

With a pencil, mark the center of where each hole is, and using a hole punch, punch the holes to match the acrylic overlay.

Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge over the front of the scrapbook paper and then lay the acrylic over the top. Turn it over and press out any air bubbles, smoothing over the back of the paper with a little pressure to ensure that the paper and acrylic are bonded. Set aside to dry. The Mod Podge will dry clear.

Once all of the acrylic sheets are completely dry, use the book rings to keep the album together.

Now I want to share a few suggestions of things you can put inside your album.

• Index cards are a great way to to jot down notes when you are on vacation. Hole punch them when you get home and place them directly into the album.
• Hole punch tickets or passes (particularly airline, theme park, boat rides etc) and place directly into the album, or alternatively, place them into small bags, or envelopes. You can stick these envelopes or bags onto index cards, or on plain paper and then place them into the album.
• Print photographs when you get home and type, or handwrite labels to go on the back of each outlining a special story behind the photograph, or where it was taken.
• Hole punch postcards of tourist destinations you visited and place directly into the album. 
• Attach several small clear plastic bags, or alternatively sew strips of vinyl onto a piece of card stock to create pockets to store special little treasures such as a shell, sprinkling of sand, special coin, or a pressed leaf that was collected on your trip.
• Have the kids do special rubbings of textured surfaces, such as a brick, tree, or leaf to place into the album. 
• You may even want to hole punch a napkin of a special restaurant you ate at.
• Hole punch maps and place them directly into the album. Mark off the locations that you went on your vacation. Place the map into the front of the album. Add a number sticker to each of the locations that you visited that corresponds with a page in the album where tickets, mementos and photographs can be found.

The great thing about these albums is that you can use alphabet stickers, or stamps to label each chipboard or acrylic sheet to categorize each section of the album. You could do this by date, or by place you went to.

Book rings (also called loose-leaf rings) come in a variety of sizes from about 3/4 to 3 inches, depending on how many items you need to add to your album. You may want to create a separate album for each of the kids to record their special moments and store keepsakes in.

 

Disclosure: I received a box of assorted scrapbook supplies from Staples.

Mira Mesa Living: Spring Craft

My latest craft project is in the March/April issue of Mira Mesa Living magazine. 

I decided a fun flower project to welcome Spring was in order for this issue.

These flower pegs make a great Spring Break craft project for kids.  They also make a fun activity for a garden party, or Easter party with kids.

 

AS SEEN ON:

The Classroom Creative ... BabyCenter UK

The Blogger Connection: Angry Birds Craft and Game

I would say that Angry Birds are almost on an equal par with LEGO these days. Although the twins still love their LEGO playlists, read their LEGO books and play with their LEGO a lot, they also love to play Angry Birds games on their cell phones (which were our old phones).

We haven't bought them any Angry Birds toys, and I don't know that I intend to, so the kids got creative recently and made their own game.  I had no input in this, none of it was my idea, and I wasn't allowed to help. I simply took a few photos when I saw what they were doing. 

So, if you head on over to The Blogger Connection I'm sharing the Angry Bird craft project and game, which involved a lot of paper rolls ... which could also explain why there have been so many blocked up toilets of late.

Multiples and More: Thing 1 and Thing 2 Craft

In the world of multiples when you think of Dr. Seuss, Thing 1 and Thing 2 generally come to mind.  You often see multiples dressed as them for Halloween, and parties centered around them. 

So of course with Dr. Seuss' birthday coming up on March the 2nd, it was only natural that the twins and I made a Thing 1 and Thing 2 craft together.

If you want to know how to make these fun paper roll crafts, head on over to Multiples and More where I have the full tutorial.