DIY Cloud Dough

Finally sharing our Cloud Dough experiment...

...my Little Ms LOVED this...

...but "Ricky" wasn't thrilled with the mess it created:)  

After hosing off the patio he inquired, "What is this stuff?  It's like cement!"

If you're up for some messy play, then this stuff is sure to delight your kiddos 

and it's super cheap, delighting Mamas:)

Simply mix 4 cups of flour with 1/2 cup baby oil & ta da!

FYI: my Little Ms played with this outside on their picnic table; 

for the next batch I'll place this in large tubs, hopefully containing it better:)

Enjoy!

Tiffany

Christmas Candy Lei

With Baby M's arrival quickly approaching, I've been trying to grab as many opportunities to put my feet up as possible, which often includes a little therapeutic pinning:)

One of the many holiday ideas I've recently pinned includes the 'candy lei', an ideal stocking stuffer:)

photo courtesy of pinterest

So I sat down one evening after my little Ms were asleep with some Halloween candy, pipe cleaners and clear cello wrap...

 ...and in no time, I had candy leis!

I simply cut widths of clear cello wrap (approx 5 inches), spaced the candy, rolled the cello wrap and tied off with pipe cleaners- easy!

Be sure to roll down the ends of pipe cleaners so there are no sharp points 

to potentially stick little fingers:)

Cost:

Clear Cello wrap: $1 (Dollar Tree)

Pipe Cleaners: free/stash (can be found at Dollar Tree)

Candy: approx $4

TOTAL: $5

I was able to make 2 double strand leis and 2 single strand leis for $5- these should provide a sweet surprise on Christmas morning, nestled in certain stockings:)

 

Don't limit this fun project to Christmas though- would be great for any special occasion and a great opportunity to get kids involved:)

 

Another successful pin- thanks for stopping by,

Tiffany

DIY Fall Scented Play Dough

Today I thought I'd share another Pinterest experiment: fall scented play dough.

I made green 'apple pie' & red 'cinnamon' play dough...

 

...and then let my little Ms loose...

...with mini muffin tins, wooden rolling pins, cupcake wrappers...

...edible Christmas trees...

...cookie cutters and molds...

 

...to create:) 

The original recipe for the play dough called for tempera paint but I didn't have any on hand so I used food coloring...and rubber gloves:)

Play Dough Recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup salt

2 tbsp cream of tartar

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups just boiled water

*add food coloring or tempera paint for color and spices of choice for scent.

Mix everything together in a bowl and knead for several minutes to incorporate fully- I did this on my glass stove top for easy clean up.

And after much playtime...

...it was time to clean up:/

It was well worth the effort for my little Ms to enjoy molding their play dough confections though:)

Get creative with spices using cloves, pumpkin pie, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice etc...

Thanks for stopping by,

Tiffany

Q-Tip Painting with Homemade Paint

Over the past couple weeks I've been strategizing how to test pins on my Pinterest boards, and then deleting if I didn't feel they were successful- de-cluttering, basically:)

On my 'kids crafts' board I had pinned 'q-tip painting'...

...thus, q-tips in hand, my little Ms sat down on our handy dandy art mat (vinyl tablecloth) and began smearing & experimenting:)

Since I was trying out one pin, I opted to add another: homemade paint. 

The recipe called for equal parts of flour, salt & water plus food coloring...

...I made mine a bit thicker since I was trying to avoid excessive drips and 

 I added red gel food coloring and some ground cinnamon for added sensory delight:)

The kids had a lovely time: Livy painting with her q-tips & trying to not get messy while Jonah opted to paint himself:)

Score: Thumbs Up!

We'll definitely be doing more q-tip painting with homemade paint and working on the actual 'q-tip' technique:)

Thanks for stopping by,

Tiffany

DIY Foamies

While hatching plans for activities to occupy guests at Jonah's upcoming Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party, I realized that I needed some 'foamies'...

...you know, those self adhesive foam shapes that are 'mess free'?!!!

Well, after pricing them & realizing Gramma had all the supplies in the stamping studio, I opted to make some instead:)

Supplies:

Sizzix Big Shot & assorted dies

Fun Foam ($ store)

Self Adhesive Sheets (office supply/craft store)

By simply applying the sticky sheet on the fun foam & running it through the Big Shot, I had instant 'foamies'!

Total Cost:

$0- had everything on hand:)

Can't wait for Jonah's little guests to have fun with these:)

Thanks,

Tiffany

Homemade Piggy Crayons

In preparation for Livy's 3rd birthday, which will arrive in just 6 short weeks (aaahhhh!), I made another "to do" list with specifics, outlining exactly what I need to work on...since it was getting a bit fuzzy:)

Task 1: Make Piggy Crayons.

Yes, we're doing a fun farm theme for Peanut's birthday this year & I can't wait!  I recently confided in Sweet Stamper that I could happily plan a farm party every year!  There's so many ideas & fun things to do with decor, activities, games....sigh.  And as much as I want to do almost all of them, I'm having to temper my creativity with practicality- we're in the midst of a move.  Need I say more?  Oh, and my little M's are wild.  That about sums it up!

So, back to the crayons.  I made a decision to forego the typical treasure laden goody bags this year due to cost, time, and lifestyle convictions and opted for something more "old fashioned"- a simple handmade favor, thanking guests for attending.  There's a growing trend towards simplicity in party favors and I was instantly drawn to it, leaving more time for cake decorating, game construction, decor etc...yippee!

I hatched a plan to make piggy crayons (think Pinterest helped inspire this project...), picked up a candy mold from Amazon and some crayons at Hobby Lobby with my 'handy dandy' coupon and set to work finding a good tutorial....that helps when you don't actually know what you're doing:)

I looked at several tutorials and then just decided to jump in as there was a lot of variance in technique.

First, Livy helped me sort the crayons into colors and then I took a knife (exacto works well too) and sliced along the wrapper- this allows the wrappers to come right off, vs digging & scraping for millions of hours:)

 

Next I took a clean sour cream container, placed the crayons (broken into pieces) inside and microwaved until melted.

TIP: I used a 'handy dandy' chop stick to stir the crayons- "green" & free!

My first batch wasn't hot enough which I discovered as I began to pour lumpy wax into my molds- I was petrified that the wax would explode in the microwave and thus erred on the conservative side...

The next batch was heated more thoroughly, allowing a cleaner entry into the molds and a nicer appearance once cool:)

Practice makes perfect and on & on until I had piggies in multiple colors.  I didn't clean out the container after each color as I was fine with some shade contrast & streaks- I've come a long way.

TIP: Due to my little M's getting antsy, I rushed in taking several rounds of crayons from the mold and discovered they lost some of their luster.  The pigs allowed to cool more completely in the mold look a bit nicer but oh well.  They're done!

Livy tried out one of the initial 'duds' and was thrilled!  She did request some chocolate piggies too though...how did she know that was next on my list?!!!

Project Costs:
Candy Mold: $5.99
Crayons: $1.58 ($5.40 for 192- I only used 56 to make 35 pigs)
Total: $7.57

I plan to include 3 pigs in each favor bag & I'm making 10 favors=  $0.14 per favor, minus the cost of the mold.  I'll be using the same pig mold to make the chocolate pigs, maximizing my investment:)

Thanks for stopping by & stay tuned for more party details & homemade projects,
Tiffany

Thanksgiving Fall Wreath

As promised, here is part 2 of my last minute Thanksgiving decor: a fall wreath....waiting to be hung!  Who doesn't love fall leaves & this wreath comes together in less than 30 minutes!

I nabbed some card stock leaves (LOVE the glimmer paper!) from Sweetstamper, assigned to the 'scrap pile' as many of them were missing a tip or two...

...then Livy & I crinkled and sponged them- she loves to "stam" aka "stamp"!

The elements were affixed to a grapevine wreath (Goodwill) with my handy dandy hot glue gun and ta da!

Total cost for this project: $0.99 for the wreath & it was a great activity for Livy & I to share:)

Check out this handmade Thanksgiving card made with the same fall leaves, courtesy of the Autumn Accents Sizzix die & Big Shot:)

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy celebrating this special day!

Felted Fall Garland

 "Ricky" & I are honored to be hosting our family Thanksgiving dinner this year so a little decor is in order...but if you're like me, then you're rushing around trying to decorate for Thanksgiving at the last minute:)

Hence my handy dandy Felted Fall Garland:

This comes together in under 30 mins so you can totally try this too!

First run some felt (I just used craft sheets) through your Big Shot in several colors...

...arrange in desired pattern and then thread!

Hang in desired place & you're done!  No sewing, no adhesive- easy & the kids are thrilled:)

Total cost: less than a dollar for the felt!  Great activity for the kids to help with too:)

Have fun & stay tuned for my handy dandy fall wreath:)
Tiffany