valentine diy: sweet puzzle redo

I see these little wooden tanagram-style puzzles all the time in various dollar sections. While I am a sucker for wooden puzzles I am not too fond of the droll colors they exhibit. With a can of white spray paint and a couple of bottles of acrylic you can transform something a little dull to a lot of happy.

These pieces are very porous and soak up a lot of paint, we blasted them first with a can of white spray paint which only dulled the original colors a wee bit. Enough though to make the puzzle a little more intriguing.

Next up, while keeping the puzzle intact, remove your lightest colored pieces first. Give them a coat or two of your lightest paint and allow to dry. Return them to their happy positions.

Continue with your next lightest set and so on.

Once you approach your darker pieces, you may need to give them a white coast before applying color. Some paints cover better than others. Take your time and allow each coat to dry.

Don't forget to work in batches. The first puzzle I painted had fewer pieces and I thought it would be super easy to put them back. I was wrong. Take a picture of the puzzle before working in case you forget how to reassemble it. You may also wish to trace the outline of each shape on the puzzles bottom to help your kiddos (and you) put the pieces back together. Try writing "secret" messages on the puzzle backs for more fun.

Have fun, break out those paints and enjoy your Valentine's Day!

pretty valentine trees

**

This is a fun and messy Valentine project for your kiddos. (I have proof too!) You do not have to do it exactly as I have, if yer kiddo is too young for the straw painting or you do not have liquid water or food color, use crayons or markers for the trunk instead. Enjoy!

You will need:
*paper, card stock or blank cards
*scissors
*pencil/pen
*liquid watercolor or food color
*acrylic, tempera or fingerpaint
*straw
*painters tape
*paint friendly work area

scrumdilly-do it!

Set up your work area. If you do not have a splat mat you can improvise with a long sheet of wax paper and/or a cookie sheet.

Begin with a sheet of paper, any size you wish to use. Fold it in half and tape down inside portion to work surface. I used masking tape which will tear your art a wee bit, painters tape is a much better option though not as pretty.

Drop a few drops of the liquid paint close to the bottom of your paper and in the center. You can also use watered down tempera or acrylic for this. The easiest way to drop your drops is to have your wee one place the straw in the paint while their finger is over the top part of the straw.

With the clean end of the straw, have your kiddo gently blow on the drops to "guide" them to for ma tree shape. This isn't as easy as it may seem so if you and/or your wee one gets discouraged, blow a little then use the paint end of the straw to "paint" the tree trunk. Sometimes serendipity strikes and you get an awesome tree right away, other times, not so much.

If you find there are big puddles of paint, use a paper towel, rag or napkin to gently blot the paint up. Set aside to dry.

If you do not have the paint for the trunk, use a marker or crayon instead.

Take another sheet of paper, the same size or smaller than your first. Fold in half and either draw a half hear shape from the top down or have your kiddo do it. Allow your kiddo to cut it out if she or he is scissors ready.Open up cut folded piece and arrange it atop your trunk picture once that has dried. The heart will be the body of the leaves. Tape into place.

Set out leaf colors and have your kiddo fingerprint leaves within the heart stencil. use the lightest color first. You do not have to use all pink and reds, mix it up, have fun with it. Set aside to dry and begin on your next tree!

You can make these trees as big or little as you like. The bigger the tree, the easier it is to create. However an index card will work as well as any folded sheet of paper. I would suggest you let yer kiddo paint the trunks first and then do the rest. It will allow the wet trunks a little more time to dry. If you have a tot who absolutely refuses to get dirty, use a q-tip or the eraser end of a pencil. If you feel inspired, carve a wee heart shape from a potato and use that. If you want to shy away from paint all together, draw up the trunks and use stickers or rubber stamps for the leaves. This can be as open ended as you want it to be, have fun and please feel free to ask me any questions! I can be found on Facebook and twitter. My gmail is jekinthebox or scrumdillydo and there is a flickr group for you to play along. Fridays we'll be featuring crafts and projects from the group.

**the photo at the top is of a Valentine made by six year old Alaina, daughter to the super talented Tara Anderson of the pink couch who graciously jumped in to make one and took a pretty picture to boot! Thank you Tara!

crowns of gold and pom-poms

This lickety split craft is perfect for a birthday party or classroom event. The supplies can be found at some dollar stores or teacher supply stores. I paid $2 for the poms and the bulletin board edged, the glue I had on hand.

You Will Neeed:
*bulletin board edging
*pom-poms
*glue (tacky glue has the most tack)
*tape and/or stapler

scrumdilly-do it:

Set out supplies in a mess friendly zone and let your kiddos get gluing. Markers will generally not work on foiled edging. When I ran children's event for a bookstore, we used the corrugated rolls of bulletin board edging, we simply cut the lengths we needed and let the kiddos loose. If the pre-cut edges are too short, cut an additional piece fro ma spare and affix with tape or staples. Allow 20-30 minutes for the glue to dry. Have fun!

Never underestimate...

the joyful power of an empty box (or two...or three...)
we stacked, we knocked down, we kicked, we threw, we stacked again, we became robots, we became aliens, we drew on them and then we ran victory laps around and around and around....for two hours!

guest post at Ucreate

I'm off to a slow start for 2011 but you can check out this nifty project I put together for a guest post at Ucreate w/Kids.

cupcake liner snowflakes

This project is for yer kiddos that are a smidge older as attempting to snip, snip, snip away on a smallish cupcake liner can be a wee bit frustrating. Grab some liners and a few pairs of scissors and get to folding!

Fold in half.

Then half again.

Then fold one side in a third of the way.

Next fold the other side in overlapping the first side.

Snip a little here, and a little there, careful not to cut all the way through from one side to the other. Though you can cut the very tip a little and the very top can be cut to shape your snowflake. Have fun! 

pixy stix straws & a holiday potion

there is something quite delightful about paper straws. i have a box of happy red & white straws somewhere in the many, many boxes that contain the everyday contraptions of the a-go-gos...somewhere. so, to get my paper straw fix, pounced on some extra pixy stix that i had floating about. and since i was going to be drinking through such happy straws i needed something perfectly perfect to drink.

a few weeks ago, a couple of friends and i were hanging out in a los angeles coffee shop that offers all sorts of goodness. it was a perfect meeting space as it offered caffeine for us ladies and a play area for the birdie. when birdie got a wee bit tired of the play area, Mama Za procured her a most delightfully wonderful concoction called a princess potion. complete with whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and a pink frosted animal cookie, miss birdie was in princess potion heaven. i'm not sure how they make their potion but here is a scrumdillyumptious take using sweet yummy things from your kitchen. chances are you won't have to hit the grocery for anything.

*1 Tablespoon of jam
*1 cup of milk drink of your choice
*jar with lid
*whipped cream
*rainbow sprinkles
*3 pixy stix sans candy

scrumdilly-do it!

begin by liberating the sugar candy from the inside of the pixy stix. with a pair of scissors, snip off both end and give a little blow through the new straw to remove any sugar residue. set aside

pour your milk drink into the jar and add a dollop of jam. screw lid on tight and give the jar all sorts of shakes. if you use a plastic jar, you can pass this part onto your kidlets to do. the longer you shake, the more foamy your milk. plus, it helps mix in that sweet jam.

one cup of milk shaken up can make three small cups of potion. gather your glasses and fill with ice. pour potion into iced glasses leaving room for a dollop of whipped cream. lookie all that foamy goodness!

add whipped cream and a shake or two of rainbow sprinkles, plop pixy straws into the whole concoction and enjoy! a fruity sweet holiday potion that is sure to delight your kidlets.

make a pixy stix garland

Make a holiday garland much like this one but instead of paper straws, use good old fashioned Pixy Stix (sans the sugary stuff)!

Materials:
*pixy stix
*sturdy thread
*pom-poms
*mini cupcake liners
*scissors
*fat needle optional (a tapestry needle works well)
*froot loops, cheerios, gumdrops and other soft candies also optional

With your scissors, snip off both ends of each Pixy Stix liberating the sugary sweetness inside. You may wish to dump the sugar before your kidlets get a whiff but you can also use it to "flavor" some fizz water or make some pictures using glue...draw with the glue, sprinkle powdery sugar on top and shake off.

With scissors, have your kidlet(s) cut each paper wrapper into two or three pieces and set aside.

Gather up your goodies and begin with a length of sturdy thread that has been doubled and knotted at the end with the needle at the other. A darning needle is fairly blunt and shouldn't poke your kidlet, never ever leave your child unattended when they are wielding a sharp object...I'm just saying.  Proceed to alternate cut straws, candy and/or cupcake liners until you have a garland that makes you want to dance. If you decide to use soft candies, you may wish to have a wee little capfull of oil handy to grease the needle to keep it from getting too sticky.

Make sure to leave your tail ends fairly long so you have some wiggle room for hanging your garland. Have fun!

i scrumdilly did it!

i have all kinds of fun giftos for the kiddos in my scrumdillydilly shop, check it out and stay tuned for some holiday crafting fun!