just enjoying the moment

 I spent the day spearheading the great egg dyeing of 2013. I had thought of oodles of ideas and then found even more on pinterest and arrived at the homestead with a very full bag and a plan to create alien eggs with the nephew a-go-go. Ultimately though, I loosened the reins and let him explore, dip, dye, and have fun. It is, after all, all about the experience not the end product...which, by-the-way came out pretty fantastic if you ask me. 

We began with water, vinegar, and food color. Added some margarine-like spread, then some oil and then some baking soda. There was a moment when we attempted some tie-dyeing but then we went a little dippy. There was dipping of eggs and then the dipping of paper towels, followed by the dipping of lace and then the dipping of hands. Our color cups went from red, purple, pink, green, etc. to all purple all the time. Our hands eventually came clean(ish) but the muffin pan I am sorry to say a little less so.

Sometimes, you just gotta let it go and enjoy the moment.

embroidery hoop eggs part 2

 Pom-pom happy! Use all the colors you have, use different sizes or have your kiddos do some sorting into an egg carton to work on those pre-math and reading skills.

While I found my hoops at the thrift, small oval hoops can be found at your local craft store for under $2. Pom-poms need a lot of help sticking to the burlap. Make sure to use a fabric glue or Tacky glue and leave them alone for a few hours to dry. I wish I had painted the hoop for this one but it still looks pretty happy! Have fun!

make embroidery hoop eggs

 I found a small bag of hoops at my local thrift a while ago and thought I would turn the ovals into eggs. I'm posting the projects up over at scrumdillydilly but two of them are especially kid-friendly and thought I would post the how-tos here. First up...make an embroidered egg using yarn.

embroidery hoop egg: stitched

*small oval embroidery hoop

*small piece of burlap large enough for the hoop

*plastic large-eyed needle or other other 

*yarn (this egg uses three different colors) or embroidery floss

*glue

*scissors

*paint optional

Set up a paint friendly work area and have your kiddo paint up the hoop while you gather other supplies. Make sure to take apart the two pieces. This hoop is painted with a neon red acrylic paint. If you are using acrylic paints and are a bit of a neat-nik, make sure your kiddo is wearing paint-friendly clothing or a smock. We used a sponge brush to paint this hoop. Hoops dry pretty quickly...within half an hour.

Once dry add a drops of glue (white glue will work fine but Tacky glue is better) around the outside of the inside hoop. Place burlap over the gluey hoop and place the utside hoop over the whole mess pulling the burlap taut. If it is proving to be difficult, make sure to loosen the screw on the outside hoop until it almost falls off. Then tighten and tug everything into place. Trim excess burlap with scissors. If you do not have burlap you can try a few layers of cheesecloth. You want something with a large open weave so that it is easy or your kiddo to sew.

Thread the needle with yarn and tie into place if needed, or double up the yarn and tie at the end. Young children don't master the whole not-pulling-the-needle-off-the-yarn-entirely thing just yet. A small knot will hold the yarn to the needle while still being able to poke through the burlap.Before your kiddo uses up every inch of yarn, tie it off so that it doesn't come undone but then again, if you are hanging this on the wall or using as a decoration, the yarn should nestle nicely in the burlap without coming out unless pulled.  Switch out yarn if you wish and continue the process! 

I'll post another egg hoop in a short while. I'm up to my eyebrows in allergies and this wheezing is a party pooper.

fun with peeps

 

 

 

My local library is hosting a peeps diorama contest. All of  the entries are based on books. Can you guess which children's books/stories these come from? Grab yourself a shoebox, some glue, paper, pens, crayons, peeps, and your kiddos and have them construct their own. I would love to see what they come up with!

painting with eggs

 plastic eggs that is...

At first they shook their eggs.

Then they cracked them open.

Some tilted their papers this way and that way while others dove right in.

I liked the painty drippy plastic eggs almost as much as their artwork.

they scrumdilly-did it!

photo by Q. Nardi

Remember this project? Well, the nifty gal behind the nifty blog Q-made gathered up her watercolors and her kiddos to paint up some eggs of their own.

photo by Q. Nardi

photo by Q. Nardi

Aren't they gorgeous? I love how vibrant the colors are and I love how one technique can bring so many results.

photo by Q. Nardi

Many thanks for sharing your project, blog and photos, friend. All pictures courtesy of Q. Nardi. And many thank-yous to Cassi of The Crafty Crow for sharing my egg happy project.

make a wee easter egg pillow

 This small project is for you to make for your kiddo if your kiddo is not stitch-friendly. Wip up a couple of these for your kiddo's basket and they can decorate them themselves with markers. Fill em with rice or beans instead of fiber-fill and they become cool packs for bumps and bruises.

Materials

*empty easter candy boxes

*small fabric scraps

*paper & pencil

*pins

*sewing machine 

*needle and thread

*scissors

*markers or paints for your kiddo

Gather up an assortment of small Easter candy boxes. My boxes came from the dollar store and are a smidge smaller than your traditional candy hearts boxes. Create an egg shaped template that is smaller than your box. Cut out with scissors. To more involve your child, you may cut out a small rectangle that matches the front dimension of your box, hand your kiddo a pencil and have them draw their own egg shape. To turn it into a math exercise, hand your kiddo a ruler and let them measure the box to create their own rectangle.

 Pin template to two small fabric scraps making sure at least one of your scraps is blank, right sides facin in.*

 

Stitch around template leaving a small open space for turning out and stuffing. Remove pins and template and cut out. *If you or your child is hand-stitching the egg, cut out the shape first then use a whip stitch in a contrasting thread to anchor pieces together. Don't forget to leave a small opening for stuffing.

 

Turn right side out and stuff. Use dried beans or rice to create cold packs or add a little lavender for some added sweetness. Hand stitch the opening closed and tuck into candy box.

 

 

When your kiddo opens the box, they can decorate their Easter eggs with markers and or paints. Happy Easter!

Painting Eggs, Three Ways!

* Jeweled Egg

*Cracked Egg

*Stained Glass Egg

Happy Egg Day! 

Egg Art: Part Three

Earlier this week when we had all the watercolor supplies out, we decided to take advantage of the free time and paint supplies to make egg art three ways. Each of these three ways utilizes sturdy watercolor paper, watercolor paint, painters tape and crayons. Here is project numero dos. You can see the first project here and the second project here.

You Will Need:

*watercolor paper

*paintbrushes

*clean water

*white crayon

*ruler

*painter's tape

*cereal, cracker or cookie box

*scisssors

*watercolors

 

scrumdilly-do it! 

 Tape a sheet of sturdy watercolor to your work surface using painter's tape. This will both anchor your paper in place while you work and create a pretty matte effect once the tape is removed. Gather your cardboard egg shaped that you cut from project number two. If you did not do project number two, cut out an egg shape less than half the size of your paper from a thin cardboard container such as a cereal or cracker box.  Cut another, smaller circular shape within your egg shape. Position egg shape onto your watercolor paper and tape into place by tearing strips of painter's tape into thinner strips and then arranging atop your paper in a criss-cross pattern. With a paintbrush, begin coloring in the white space all over your paper beginning with your lightest colors and ending with your darkest colors. Do not forget to rinse your brush as you go.

 Continue painting in your white space. Use a paper towel, napkin or piece of old cloth to blot up the extra wet paint splotches.

 When paint is dry, carefully remove tape. This may take a while as your pieces will be criss-crossed all over the place. Look for the top piece of tape and move from there. If you like, Use a pen or pencil to outline the colors of your center circle.

Looks a bit like a hardboiled egg sliced open, no? It also looks a little like a pretty stained glass picture. Find a happy place for it, stand back and admire! 

Egg Art: Part Two

Earlier this week when we had all the watercolor supplies out, we decided to take advantage of the free time and paint supplies to make egg art three ways. Each of these three ways utilizes sturdy watercolor paper, watercolor paint, painters tape and crayons. Here is project numero dos. You can see the first project here. 

You Will Need:

*watercolor paper

*paintbrushes

*clean water

*white crayon

*ruler

*painter's tape

*cereal, cracker or cookie box

*scisssors

*watercolors

scrumdilly-do it!

 Tape a sheet of sturdy watercolor paper onto your work surface. this will both anchor your paper into place and act as a pretty matte once the tape is removed. Use a white crayon and ruler to create straight, criss-crossing lines all over your paper. Just go for it!

 The lines will be difficult to see but if you move your eye level down so that is skims the top of the paper you will see the lines. Point this out to your kiddo and let them talk about it for a few minutes. The nephew a-go-go really like this part. Next, take a piece of cardboard (we like reusing our cereal boxes and such for this) and cut out an egg shaped stencil. Save the egg shape part for project number three. Tape down the remaining part of your stencil over your paper with painter's tape. Your kiddo can place the stencil wherever she or he wishes. Just make sure it doesn't scoot off of the paper.

 Dip your paintbrush into some clean(ish) water and have your kiddo paint over the area inside the stencil. We're getting the paper ready to receive and carry the watercolor.

 It's paint time! Dip your damp brush into preferred color of watercolor and gently touch it to the damp paper and watched it skate around. Begin with your lightest color first while ending with your darkest color last. Lookie how nifty the white crayon lines show through the paint. Ask your kiddos if they know why that happens . You can also take a little bit of time to explain that the wax is resisting the paint and that we call this a resist painting.

 Continue adding color and more water until you are happy with the results. If you allow the paint to sit and dry a little bit before adding more of the same color or other similar color you will have a nice layered effect. Remove your painter's tape once the picture is completely dry.

 Hang in a happy place, step back and admire!

Egg Art: Part One

Earlier this week when we had all the watercolor supplies out, we decided to take advantage of the free time and paint supplies to make egg art three ways. Each of these three ways utilizes sturdy watercolor paper, watercolor paint, painters tape and crayons. Check out the pics...

Tape a sheet of sturdy watercolor paper down onto your mess friendly work surface. (we like to use painters tape) Make sure to tape all around each side of your paper. This will hold the paper in place and create a pretty matte effect once it is removed.  Draw an egg shape onto your paper using a white crayon or oil pastel. Color it in with the white crayon or pastel.  Pick a colored crayon and add a few shapes surrounding your egg shape.

 Continue adding shapes with other colored crayons or pastels. If using pastels, use your fingertip to smudge the color into the shapes. Good quality crayons will smudge as well, though not as much.

 Select a vibrant watercolor color and paint on top of your picture in a large band. Rinse brush and select another color to continue across your page. This picture used two colors.

 Continue filling your white space with watercolor. Once dry, carefully remove the blue painters tape.

 Hang in a happy place and admire!