We went to a party and there was a pull string pinata. Lu and Em came home and proceeded to take a box out of the recycling bin and start filling it with bead necklaces, squinkies and plastic rings. They came to me and wanted me to tape it closed and put a string on it so they could hang it up.  I had to ask, "What are you guys doing?" "We're making a pinata!" Oh...of course.

Their pinata served its purpose but I decided we needed a snazzier model.

We made an easy mini pull string pinata out of a empty cracker box. We decoupaged the box by gluing tissue paper onto the box. I find it is the fastest way of covering a printed surface. Water down glue and have the kids rip up some tissue paper. Use a foam brush or large craft brush to apply the glue. Make sure you leave the bottom open. When dry enough to handle and still fold flaps, punch holes along the flaps. Thread long strips of ribbon through the holes. Secure one ribbon tightly to the inside of the flap. This is the ribbon that will open the pinata. The others will just slide out when pulled. Once the ribbons are attached, fill with small toys or candy, then fold the flaps to the closed position. Glue two piece of tissue paper to secure flaps (or tape.) Make sure you don't make it too hard to open. Let dry.

Once dry, let the kids decorate the box. Lu cut out the spots and Em made the balloon drawing while we waited for the box to dry.

Have fun crafting with your kids. XO Mama King

Cut the top off of container, aprox. 2 inches.

This is the base of your drum. The second lid will be loose - don't worry - you will glue gun it on.

Trace dowel to indicate opening. Use hole punch to gradually increase the size of hole.

Cover outside of container with felt, fabric, paper or paint. Use exacto knife to make X over punched hole.

Place drum flat on table with hole punch facing you (at 6 o'clock). Holes for string should be at 3 and 9 o'clock. Use exacto to punch 2 openings for string. Make holes just large enough to thread string through.

Measure 2 equal lengths of string. 

Make sure you allow for enough string to tie bead and glue/tape inside container, aprox. 8 inches. 

Tie one bead onto the end of each string. Make sure it is securely tied. 

(This is a potential choking hazard to small children.) 

 Thread string through opening. I hot glued in place, let dry and then taped to ensure it was not going anywhere. Repeat on other side.

Insert dowel. Make sure dowel is touching the top of container. Hot glue the dowel into place at base and top. This makes it stronger.

Hot glue lids onto drum.

To decorate...

Find a container aprox. the same size as in circle of lid.

Use to trace two circles.

Have child decorate. Cut out and glue to drum.

Tie ribbon around dowel.

Glue into place.

We haven't trimmed the dowel yet. The girls seem to like the long stem.

Rub the dowel back and forth to swing the beads.

Beads will create a great drum sound.

Have fun and make a lot of noise!

We really like Melissa & Doug products but don't you find it a bit frustrating that they come packaged in these lovely wooden trays with NO TOPS! It makes the tray completely useless. I end up storing the pieces in old baby wipes containers.

So ever the craft pack rat I hold onto them imagining I will someday decoupage them into pretty picture frames/shadow boxes. Well, that day just isn't going to happen. 

When the girls got their recent M&D Wooden Dress Up Dolls for Christmas from Grammy I grabbed my glue gun and BAM, 5 minutes later I had a display shelf for all of Lu's tiny treasures (fairies, squinkies, shells...) I will hang it low so she can curate her collections as she sees fit.

I simply glue gunned the ribbon to the back and then fearful it wasn't strong enough added extra strong packing taped on top. I then glue gunned a shim (which is a thin piece of wood that is wider on one side then the other) to the bottom. This helped tip the boxes bottom back against the wall so the items would not fall out so easily.

This is called crafting by the seat of your pants. Last week Lu's school had a visit from some live turkeys.  When she got home she wanted to make a turkey. Since we had made several Model Magic turkeys already...I came up with this (slightly wonky looking) turkey idea.

You need, a small section of a paper tube, cardboard circles, feathers, and markers. It was easy for Lu to do fairly independently after I cut out the circles and put slits on the sides of the tube.

This is a popular fall craft that is so simple and fun to do. Your grade school aged (on up) children will have fun making these for your Thanksgiving Day table.

Cardboard tube, leaves, glue or mod podge, glitter, paintbrush for glue, scissors to trim.

Cut tubes into rings. 

Paint glue onto ring.

Apply leaf to tube.

Paint some more glue on top of leaf.

Overlap leaves using this method.

Don't worry that leaves are hanging over the edge. 

You can trim them after the glue dries. 

Sprinkle on some glitter (if you like.)

Let dry them dry on some wax paper

Trim leaves.

I took this photo before I had a chance to apply an outer layer of glue for a final seal. You may find letting them dry then going back and gluing down the stubborn edges is more manageable.

Annie is Lu's Lovey. Annie is dressed up, danced with, read stories to and snuggled up to every night. Lu gets teary eyed everytime Annie gets put in the washer.  I say a silent prayer every time I reach in to the dryer to retrieve her, fearful for the day when Annie doesn't make it out in one piece. Annie after all is Lu's first love. A cat this special deserves her own set of Fairy Wings.

Supplies: 18 gauge wire, duct tape, old tights or stockings, elastic, glue, and glitter

Bend wire in half. Create flattened heart shape. Repeat.

Tape wire overlap ends together with heavy duty tape,

Measure length of elastic banding around doll/animal. Cut and knot into loop.

Cut legs of tights. I used infant tights. 

Slide wing into leg of tight.  Pull tight.

Tie tightly together. 

Place elastic loop into center of knot. Tie once more tightly.

Reshape wings.

Decorate with glue and glitter.

Let dry. Tap off excess glitter.

Tadaa!

Hello! We are still here and still crafting.

We made these spiders out of Coolatta lids I saved from this summer's guilty pleasure. 

Glue tissue paper to lid. 

Add google eyes and glitter. 

Let dry.  

Punch holes for legs.

Cut two pipe cleaners in half. 

Thread one pipe cleaner through 2 holes to create 2 legs.

Repeat.

 

Have fun crafting with your kids!

It is MAGIC!

Take an empty Smencil tube. Remove plastic sleeve. Uncap.

Fill it with beads, ribbons, glitter, sequins, feathers, pebbles... Add a small blob of glue and recap.

You may notice, Em added a ton of glue to her tube. If you go this route, remember it may take forever to dry. Hers is sitting uncapped on the counter drying...

Tadaa! Magic!

Finish with stickers on the outside and a ribbon if you like.

Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Day 1

Decorate paper towel tube. We used tissue paper, glue & glitter. Let Dry.

Day 2

Flatten tube. Make slits in tube, alternating sides approximately a half inch apart. Make sure you don't cut all the way across.

Puff up tube again. Slowly fold back rings. They will alternate as you go.

Pretty cool! But don't stop there!

Measure around child's head with garland. Trim and tape into crown. Give to child to decorate. Pom poms, feathers, gems, sequins and lots of glue. Let dry.

Just beautiful!

The girls want to do this again but use the garlands to decorate the doorways for Halloween. So we are saving our paper towel tubes! Enjoy crafting with your kids ;-) Mama King

I'm back! Although summer is still here I have Fall on the brain. Fall is my favorite time of year.

This is an easy craft, especially for all those Pre-K and K classes out there starting off the school year with an A theme. These are so easy to make and would make a great class Apple Tree display.

Supplies: clear glue, paint brush, clear plastic lids, hole punch, white, red or green tissue paper, stem with leaves (or use a brown pipe cleaner and green tissue paper cut into a leaf shape), apple seeds (or brown paper cut into seed shapes)

Day 1

Glue seed to inside of lid. Looks like a petri dish. Have kids arrange seeds using a toothpick.

Let dry overnight.

Adult prep: Determine top of apple and punch hole as far away from outside edge as possible.

Day 2

Rip tissue paper into small pieces.

Glue white tissue paper on inside of lid. Overlap paper for good coverage. 

Easiest method. Squirt glue all over lid. Spread it with a paint brush. Lay pieces of tissue on top. Brush with a bit more glue on top. This way fingers should stay clean.

Rip green or red tissue into thin strips. Add glue around inside edge. Place tissue down and using the paint brush - gently push and coax paper into place. Children will need an adult to demonstrate how to do this. It doesn't need to be perfect. It actually looks better the less precise it is. Let dry.

Adult prep: Glue stems into holes. A glue gun is probably the fastest. Older kids can glue the stem into place when gluing the tissue on by laying pieces of tissue over stem like bandages to secure.

They make great sun catchers too! Tie a thread or ribbon through the hole so kids can hang them from a window.