Painted Christmas Ornament

Each year I have Liv create a Christmas ornament to give to her Grandparents. Last year I found some wooden ornaments at Hobby Lobby for her to paint. I applied a basecoat to each ornament and let her do the rest. I must say it did not turn out to bad for only being 1 1/2!

I will post this years ornament once it is complete. December is a very busy month both at home and in the office so hopefully it is not the last minute like usual!

2011 Christmas Card

I always have so much fun when it comes to putting together our Christmas card. This year was especially challenging since I now have two little ones to photograph. May I present (pun intended) our Christmas Blessings:

Since Bennett is not yet sitting up this idea worked out great. He is actually sitting in his Bumbo inside the box. The hubby sat nearby and I took a zillion photographs until I finally captured at least one of them both looking at me. Now I can't wait for next years card!

2009 Christmas Card

This is another Christmas card idea I got from an online message board. This is great for those with little kiddos. Liv had just learned to sit up at this point and we had a Christmas outfit given to us at my baby shower. The card reads:

May the lights of the season bring joy to your home!

I had a lot of fun doing these photos. It was hard weeding out just a few for the card. Again the card template came from Shutterfly.

2010 Christmas Card

Christmas is coming and so my thoughts to turn our annual Christmas card. I thought I would pass on the ideas given to me in years prior. I had a lot of fun staging this photo and Alivia was more than happy to eat the cookies! If you can not read the greeting on the card it says:

Dear Santa,

About the cookies

 I can explain....

Love, Alivia

The template came from Shutterfly. We had so many compliments on this card! This years card is not nearly as exciting but I will post it when it is complete. 

Jack-o-Lantern

This craft turned out super cute and was loads of fun. Thank you Disney Family Fun magazine once again! This was in the October issue. Here is how you can make your very own!

SUPPLIES

1. Plastic Jar (we used an empty peanut butter jar)

2. Painters Tape

3. Orange paint and paintbrush (we used one of those black sponge brushes which gave the jar a nice effect)

4. Battery operated tealight

DIRECTIONS

1. Using painters tape cut out the face of the pumpkin and place on jar.

2. Have your little one paint the entire jar. Sorry no picture of this since I was holding the jar while Liv painted.

3. Once dry place a battery operated tealight inside and enjoy!

Liv fell asleep with the lantern on her dresser this evening. She was so excited!

Window Clings

Okay I know this is not rocket science but this is a cure for boredom! I used to think window clings were somewhat tacky until I realized that Liv loved them so much! Over the summer she found some from last fall and decorated and redecorated my office window many times. So I was really excited to see some out for Halloween during my trip to the grocery store. Silly me forgot to hide them so you can guess what Liv wanted to do as soon as she got home from Grandmas. So if you haven't tried these already I definitely say you should start!

Friendly Ghosts

It is that time of the year again and I am so excited. I love the holidays (and I consider Halloween a major holiday). I have all sorts of holiday crafts planned for Liv and I can't wait to get to them. Unfortunatly the start of October also means the end of my maternity leave. I have really enjoyed the past three months but I am looking forward to establishing our permanent routine. I may not be able to post as often as I have been but I promise I will still update this blog at least once a week so be sure to keep checking back! Now onto our craft.....

SUPPLIES

Cotton Balls

Black Construction Paper
White Crayon
Paste

Directions

1. Using the white crayon draw a ghost onto the black construction paper (doesn't need to be fancy).

2. In a small snack cup mix your paste using about 3 tablespoons of flour and enough water until it becomes the consistency of glue.

3. Have your toddler dip cotton balls into the paste and start filling in the ghost you drew on the construction paper.

4. Add googly eyes!

Liv liked making this so much that we now have two ghosts in our house and I am almost out of cotton balls. Happy October!!

PIZZA!!!

If your little one is anything like mine they are always wanting to help in the kitchen. Once I get home from work it seems like I am rushing to get dinner ready while Liv is at my feet asking to help. Most nights I turn on the TV as a distraction and feel terrible about it. I always have ingredients for homemade pizza on hand just in case and it is so cute how excited Liv is when everyone is eating the pizza that she made for dinner.

SUPPLIES

Refridgerated Pizza Dough

Small can of Tomato Sauce

Italian Seasoning

Pepperoni

Black Olives

Mushrooms

Cheese

ETC, ETC

DIRECTIONS

I usually roll the dough out on a pan, smear on some tomato sauce and let Liv do the rest. The Italian Seasoning usually ends up in one big blob and there are plenty of taste tests but it is a quick and easy and a lot of fun for my "Big Girl" to help with.

This is definitely not something I would serve company and it is not as good as delivery but Liv has so much fun when we make pizza that it is well worth it  :)

Apple Stamp Wrapping Paper

In our backyard we have a couple of apple trees. Sadly I still buy apples from the store. Partly because we don't take very good care of our trees and the fruit is not always the greatest. Today I decided we should take advantage of what we have and decided to make some wrapping paper for any upcoming Birthday gift. Easy and fun!

SUPPLIES

Paper Sack

Paint

Apple

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut the seems of your paper sack so that it lays flat and cut your apple in half.

2. Get your paint ready for stamping.

3. Stamp away!!

I will try and post a pic of the wrapped gift. I think we may have to do this again in the future using something else! Any ideas on what we can use?

Fingerprint Tree

I love fall and all of the beautiful colors. After Liv and I's walk today she wanted to paint and if your toddler is like mine they love to use other things beside the paintbrush. So we decided to paint a fall tree and she used fingerprints for the leaves. It turned out quite cute I think!

SUPPLIES
Paper
Watercolors/Brush/Water

DIRECTIONS

1. Draw a tree on a piece of paper (nothing fancy).

2. Help your toddler paint the tree trunk with the brush (or fingerprints) and then start giving your tree leaves!

It turned out pretty cute I think!

Birds In a Nest

I saw this craft on Parents.com and thought it would be easy for Liv to do. It was pretty simple and didn't take much time at all. Here is how you can make your own.

SUPPLIES

Paper Plate
Brown Paint/Paint brush
Popsicle Sticks
Pom-Poms
Googly Eyes
Colored Paper

DIRECTIONS

1. First cut the paper plate in half and staple it together creating your nest.

2. Have your toddler start painting the nest brown.

3. While nest is drying you can create your birds. Glue the pom poms to the end of the popsicle sticks. Create a beak using colored paper and glue on googly eyes.

4. Once everything is dry your little one can have fun playing with the birds and flying them to their nest.

Our nest is currently perched on the fridge. Liv has had a lot of fun playing with her birds and flying them back to the nest!

Target Find

Everytime I am in Target I always try to find crafts in the "One Spot" and then browse the clearance isle by the crafts. I am always amazed with the bargains I find. I picked this Pinwheel Kit up this summer for $2. It was by RoseArt and my only regret is that I didn't buy another kit! It kept Liv busy for over an hour! She colored every foam piece and had even more fun attaching the foam stickers.

The kit made four pinwheels total. One went to my sister for her birthday gift and the remaining three adorn a vase on my kitchen table.

Colorful Macaroni Necklaces

This was a hit at my house and doubled as a birthday present for Liv's Grandma. I found the idea in a recent Disney Family Fun magazine and improvised just a little bit.

SUPPLIES

Vinegar

Food Coloring

Ziplock bag

Dried Macaroni

Paper Towels

Yarn

Twist Tie

DIRECTIONS

1) Mix 2 teaspoons of vinegar with about a dozen drops of food coloring in a ziplock bag. Pour about 1/2 cup of macaroni in each bag. Have your little one squish the bag coating the macaroni. Leave pasta in bag for 5-10 minutes so that the color is absorbed while continuing to squish every now and then.

 

2) Lay macaroni out to dry on paper towels. Flip them over after about 15 minutes to dry both sides completely.

3) Once the pasta is dry tie one piece of pasta to the end of the yarn to act as a stopper. String the remaining pasta onto the yarn. (Helpful Hint: Attach a twist tie to the end of the yarn so that little hands have something to grasp onto making stringing the necklace a little easier).

4) Tie the ends together and taddah! Beautiful jewelry!

Color Splash

This was more of a make and throw away project but Liv had a lot of fun doing it. She had so much fun that we had one of those terrible two moments when I told her we were done and it was time to get ready for bed! When I say this is a make and throw away project it is because the colors turned blah and the salt was crumbling off the pages once the glue had dried. So here is how you can create your own!

SUPPLIES

Food Coloring

Salt/Salt Shaker

Paper
Glue
Medicine Dropper (great utensil once you are done with that bottle of infant tylenol)

DIRECTIONS

1) Mix together 1 T of Water and 5 drops of food coloring (we made 4 shades and mixed them in Liv's tiny plastic cups)

2) Place the paper inside a bar pan/cookie sheet. This will contain the mess.

3) Help your little one put glue all over the paper (we made some different designs on a couple of ours).

4) Using the salt shaker have your toddler shake salt onto the paper covering the glue. Once done shake off the excess.

5) Using the medicine dropper squeeze the liquid onto the paper and watch the salt absorb the color and how the colors intermix.

Have fun but remember to throw this one out when your little one is not looking. If I would have done this I would have avoided terrible two moment #2 for this project :)

Puzzle Fun

I love the woodworking isle at a craft store. That is where I pick up a lot of the little gadgets for Liv to paint. I picked this wooden puzzle up from Hobby Lobby for $1. Although it was difficult to take apart and put back together (come on it was only $1!) Liv and I had a lot of fun doing this together. Alivia simply painted the pieces and once the puzzle was dry we took it apart and put it back together over and over again!

I have a stash of wooden items just waiting to be painted. They are inexpensive and fun!

Fun With Shapes And Glue

I finally went through my old scrapbooking stuff and came across a packet of colored paper. This stuff is going to be perfect for future projects and I thought it was perfect for today. Todays craft became a bit of a lesson as well and Liv had fun doing it. I let her pick out the colors and had her tell me the shapes as we built our picture. Can you think of any other pictures you can build by just using shapes? I would love to see them! You can email me at livslullaby@gmail.com. Have fun!

SUPPLIES

Colored Paper
Scissors
Elmer's Glue

DIRECTIONS

1) Cut out the shapes you will need for your picture. For the house we used a square, a triangle roof, heart windows, and a rectangle door. We also added oval bushes in the front yard. For the trees we used rectangles and circles and finally a circle for the sun.

2) Ask your toddler the colors and shapes. Have them glue the backs of the paper and help place the shapes accordingly.

This project was a lot of fun for both of us. E-mail your finished project to livslullaby@gmail.com and I will include them in a future blog entry. Have fun!

Egg Carton Caterpillars

 A friend of mine brought her little girl over one afternoon and as a last minute craft to keep both girls busy I emptied the egg carton in my fridge (breakfast for lunch anyone?) and raided my craft closet. Here is how you can make one of your own:

SUPPLIES

Egg Carton
Paint/Crayons/Markers
Pipe Cleaners
Googly Eyes
Pencil

DIRECTIONS

1) Cut the egg carton into the desired shape of your caterpillar
2) Have your toddler paint/color the egg carton
3) Once dry have an adult poke holes so that the antenna can be inserted (I used a utility knife)
4) Once Antennae has been inserted I wrapped each side around a pencil to make them curly
5) Help your toddler glue on the googly eyes (as you can see Liv got a little more than carried away!)

We have proudly displayed our caterpillar on the top of our fridge.

Coffee Filter Butterflies

Liv loves to paint! So much that a lot of our projects involve paint of some sort :) This project was actually courtesy of my Grandma. I hate coffee but didn't realize the craft potential of a simple coffee filter (more crafts using those to come!). Here is what you need to create these little beauties:

SUPPLIES:

Watercolors/Paintbrush/Water
Coffee Filters
Pipe Cleaners

DIRECTIONS

1) Let your little Picasso have some fun painting the coffee filters using the watercolors (She obviously had some help on one of them).

2) Once the filters are completely dry pinch the middle together and secure it twisting a pipe cleaner around   the center. The excess pipe cleaner becomes the antennas of the butterfly.

I plan to add magnets to the back with a little super glue and hang them on the fridge. I will get around to that eventually :) Have fun!

Hey there!

As a parent of a two year old I can tell you that you are never to young to be bored! I am forever bombarded with requests from my little girl to "do something". With some glue and paint I am usually able to satisfy her for at least a little bit. I have been wanting to start this blog for quite some time in hopes of helping out other parents with busy toddlers. So hopefully this blog can accomplish that! Feel free to comment when you like and send me pictures of any of your finished projects! Thanks for reading :)