holiday countdown: make a garland to give or to keep

Earlier today I made myself a happy felty garland and wondered, how could I tweak this so that kidlets can make one? After a quick peek at what craft supplies were out in the open, I came up with this nifty piece of garland goodness that can be made for any holiday throughput the year.

The key to this craft is maintaining some control over the supplies. While I am usually all for an open ended art experience, I think something can be said to give parameters. You can call it a challenge if you like or call it a "Same But Different" project. Set out your supplies and delight in what your kidlet comes up with.

You will need:

*2 small paper lunch sacks
*scissors
*tacky or fabric glue
*scrap lace
*old felted sweater
*length of bias tape
*safety pins

scrumdilly-do it:

Gather your supplies and set them up on a large flat surface. A kitchen table is perfect for this. Depending on the age of your child you may wish to cut your lace pieces and wool scraps for them. Cutting all pieces up in an assortment of sizes and setting them out in a muffin tin may get your child rearing to go.Cut your sacks into three pieces. I chose paper bags as they are a little bit more sturdy than plain white paper plus the color is different and just a tiny bit fancy-like. Since you are cutting each bag into three pieces, this will determine how many bags you need for your garland. You may wish to hack up a dozen or so bags and set them out for your kidlet to work with. Some kids get into the zone and will work until all supplies are depleted. Fold the top part of each piece under a little bit and ask that your kidlets go to town just under the crease. This will leave a clear spice for pinning or sewing your bias tape on.Set out you sack pieces in a grid format and challenge your kidlet to decorate each flag the same but different. They will be using the same supplies but how can they make each flag look like an original piece of art. Give them a happy tube of glue and let them go for it. When using wool or felt, I find that Aileen's Tacky glue works best. General use white glue soaks into th felt and does not stick at all. If you do not have a fabric glue, limit your materials to non-felty pieces. Once your child has finished creating their art, set aside to dry.When your pieces are dry, unfurl your length of bias tape and play with the pieces to get the spacing and order how you want it. Your kidlet will probably enjoy this part as well.Once you both are satisfied with the order, use your safety pins to pin each flag to the bias tape.** Once all pieces are pinned you can hang up your garland and do a happy dance! Check out scrumdillydilly for the grown-up version of this project!

**paper bags work well with a sewing machine if you wish to jazz up your bunting a wee bit more. You can also use brads and a hole punch or fun colorful staples. I just liked the way the safety pins looked. Also, these little flags of fun would look nice framed or stapled onto the cover of a blank notebook. There are all sorts of things you and your kidlets can do with them. Have fun and don't forget to add your pictures to the flickr group!

new kids project over at CRAFT

Turn your foil juice pouches into cozies for your ipods and such...good for holding crayons too! Check it out here.

a no-sew apron for kidlets (and you) to make!

my newest tutorial over at craftzine is just for you and yer kidlets! hop on over and check it out!

Halloween Candy Redux

In case you missed it last year, here is a small list of things you can do with your Halloween cnady...check it out!

Sshh...I cheated

(and changed my previous post titles)

I had planned to do thirteen back to back posts in honor of Halloween but the reality is, real life beckons and my responsibilities right now are mocking me big time. I will do my best to get back on track and finish up projects and take pictures and post...if only I had some children to borrow and put to work...the scrumdilly way. sigh.

halloween fun: alien heads

Make Alien Heads...or monsters, sea serpents, clowns...what have you...

(pics will hopefully happen, please don't run away!

Alien antennae, monster hat, whatever you call it, this project is fun and can be made with items from your house. The only thing you really NEED to have are paper bowls, which can often be found at the dollar store. If your kidlet's noggin is too big for a paper bowl, you can use a plastic colander. All those holes are perfect for housing those creepy bits. This project is also an exercise inn design and concept. I have done many similar projects with kidlets as young as 4, You know your kidlet best so if you think this would frustrate them, just give them the supplies and let them get to crafting, otherwise, I encourage you to try it out from their design to the finished product.

What you need:
*paper bowls or a plastic colander
*glue, Tacky Glue would work best
*pipe cleaners, pom-pons, paper, etc.
*paint and or markers
*scissors
*yarn or ribbon
*mess friendly work area

scrumdilly-do it!
Set out your supplies in a mess friendly area and grab a sheet of paper and a marker or pencil. Have your kidlet look at the bowl and/or colander and think about what kind of monster/alien hat they are going to make. They can pop the bowl onto their head and see how it looks to better visualize what they want. Ask them to draw it out onto the sheet of paper. This will be their blueprint for their hat.

To begin the hat making, discuss with your kidlet what they think they should do first. Do they want to change the color of the bowl? Should they paint it? Should they cover it in tinfoil? Paper? Fabric? Remind them to look at their picture as they go along. This is an exercise in planning and execution. Make sure to tell them it doesn't have to be EXACTLY like their picture but that their original drawing is to help them plan it out and visualize what they want to accomplish.

If their drawing includes all sorts of antennae and wobbly bits, brainstorm with them as to how they are going to stick them to their bowl. If they have a paper bowl, you can punch holes all over the edges with a hole punch, knitting needle or other pokey object. It goes without saying that your three or four year probably should not be jabbing their bowl with anything sharp so let them guide you as you add the holes for them.

Continue the dialog and process and check out the awesomeness that they create! Depending on your klidlet, you won;t have to guide them along completely, get up and move about and give them a chance to tackle this on their own, you know, except for the sharp object parts.

halloween fun: monster hands

Monster Hands!

Here is a fun project done in two parts that your kidlets can use to decorate the house. Bring on the lab!

What you need:
*two sheets of paper or a paper lunch sack
*pencil
*glue (not a glue stick)
*scissors
*paper clip or clothespin (optional)
*wax paper
*paints, markers, glitter, etc
*plastic bags like from bread or the grocery

scrumdilly-do it!

Have or help your kidlet trace his or her hand onto a sheet of paper or one side of a paper sack.

If using a sack, cut out the hand shape so that you have two hands. If using paper, use a paper clip or clothespin to anchor two sheets together (one on top of the other) and cut out two hands.

Remove the top hand and place the other on a sheet of wax paper. Draw a line of glue around the edge of the other hand, keeping the wrist area glue-free and place its match on top. You can use clothespins or paperclips to keep the pieces together. Allow to dry on the wax paper. The wax paper won't stick to the gluey mess.
Once dry, gently stuff the hand with a plastic bag or two, fiberfill or cotton balls. Draw a line of glue across the opening and anchor closed using a couple of paper clips or clothespins. If the paper rips, just add glue or tape over the rip.Have your kidlets go to town making their monster hand! They can paint, collage, color or glue it to their heart's content. Make it as funny or scary as you like. Do one side at a time and allow to dry. While you wait for it to dry, begin your next monster hand! Make a pair! Make a trio!You can do this with fabric as well or make big freehand monster hands from large paper grocery sacks. Oooh, make a large freehand monster hand on a pillowcase (inside out). stitch it up, decorate and you have a nifty trick or treat sack!

halloween fun: tissue ghosts

a halloween classic: tissue paper ghosts

i can remember making armies of these ghosts (much to my mother's chagrin). i would often end up using an entire box of tissue and boy, did i get in trouble for that. you can make these with the traditional tissue, paper towels, tissue paper, fabric, cheesecloth or white plastic grocery sacks. whatever you choose, your kidlets will cotton to this like candy corn! this weekend, i whipped one up for the nephew (who is seven) and he made his own not ten minutes later and his had angry eyes!

what you need:
*tissue, tissue paper, fabric, cheesecloth or white grocery sacks
*scrap paper, newspaper, phone book pages, etc.
*string or yarn, twist ties or thin masking tape
*markers, permanent markers if using plastic

scrumdilly-do it!

Gather your supplies and get comfy. You can grab a box of tissue from the dollar store for cheap (i found cheesecloth there as well) but if using new supplies doesn't sit well with ya, see if you have any old white t-shirts or sheets you can cut up. Plastic grocery sacks can be cut up as well.. You will want your pieces to be about the size of a kleenex type tissue.

For each ghost, you will need two squares of tissue, etc. Pick up one piece of tissue and wad it up into a ball. You can have your kidlets race to see who wads theirs first or you can have them make monster-hulk faces as they wad/squeeze.Next, hold the balled up piece of tissue in one hand and plop a nice flat sheet over the ball with the other hand and twist to create a neck.Tie a piece of string or yarn to secure the neck. If you stick with white, it will blend into the ghost, you don't have to just check with your kidlet. Twist-ties would be awesome with this, you could also use cut pipe-cleaners.
Using your markers, add your face. Warn your kidlets that due to the tissue's texture, if the pens are held to the surface for too long they will weep into the paper and make big splotches of color. Some kidlets may begin experimenting with this while others may have a mini freak out. I remember discovering this on my own and being frustrated at first but then figuring out how to make the face quickly and being quite proud of myself!

Ta-da! You're kidlets have made their first ghost. Now it is time for an army of them!

You can hang these up in your doorway or home. I would not recommend hanging them outside unless you used plastic bags. They can be tied to a long sting for a banner or they can be "stitched" together with a needle and thread. Your kidlets can also glue them to a foam wreath or make your own wreath from a spare piece of cardboard. There are all sorts of boo-tee-ful things you can do with these ghosts! Have fun and don't forget to add your pics to the flickr group!

Halloween Hoots & Howls

How about some poetry fun!Halloween Hoots and Howls
Written by Joan Horton
Illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi
Published by Macmillan 2008

From poems that rhyme to poems that don't; to poems that are spooky or just plain silly, Halloween Hoots and Howls can be used as a jumping off point for your kidlets to create their own Halloween fun. My favorite is the inaugural poem titled "I'm Dressing Up for Halloween". You can have your kidlets illustrate their own version of the character's costume and they can then write their very own tribute to theirs!

now you see it now you don't, now you see it again...

Need a quick project to amuse the wee ones? Put together a (tiny) batch of magical disappearing "ink" and let the fun begin.

What you need:
*baking soda
*water
*shallow dish or jar lid
*white paper
*paint brush
*grape juice

scrumdilly-do it!

This recipe is not as full proof as as a good batch of traditional invisible ink but it also doesn't require any flames or heat. It has a bit of wow power and you can whip it up in a moments notice. Just know that some kids won't be dazzled...you know the type, the ones who can perform their own magic tricks and the ones who know exactly why the sky is blue? For those kidlets, let them do their own experimentation. Science is always a cool thing.Gather your supplies and set up as you would for any painting project.

Add a tablespoon or so if baking soda to your lid or dish and cap off with water. A little goes a long way.Have your wee one paint up their paper however they choose. They can practice their letters, draw a picture or decorate their paper with shapes and such. The heavier the paper you use, the more "sticking" power your ink will have. Explain that they are painting with magic ink or invisible paint. Ask them if they can see the paint as they work with it. Engage in the process and follow their cues.Once they are finished, set aide the paper to dry. Set up a kitchen timer and ask them to guess how long it will take for their pictures to "disappear".Once dry, set up a new dish with a small amount of purple grape juice. Talk about their invisible drawings and ask them if they can guess what will happen when you add the grape juice to the mix. Have your kidlet paint over their pictures with the grape juice. The baking soda paint will turn green when it reacts to the grape juice (It's because of the acidity in the two).Make sure your kidlets use their grape juice lightly. The more they paint with the grape juice, the quicker the baking soda will dissolve and the paper will become a green mess. You can help curb any disappointment by telling them the ink will disappear, reappear and disappear all over again.

Check out more recipes here.

monster mush

I was one of those odd kids who ADORED oatmeal. ADORED it. But, then again, it often came in a tan and green pouch chock full of dehydrated apples and brown sugar. Still, Cap n' Crunch had nothin' on me, it was the oatmeal that did me on. Here's a kooky yummy recipe to kick off October. It being the month of tricks and treats, this bowl full of goodness is surprisingly good.**

What you need:
*1 cup rolled oats (not the quick or instant kind)
*1 cup water
*3/4 cup of green juice
*dash o salt
*a gummy worm or 2
*dried fruit & nuts
*milkish drink of choice

scrumdilly-do it:
Pour your liquids into a small saucepan and bring to a low boil. I used the green machine as it was pretty much the only green juice I could find, plus you get all sorts of vitamins in it's tasty!Once your liquids come to a boil, add your oats and a dash o salt, give it a stir and turn down the heat. Allow your oats to simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about ten minutes.

Remove from heat, dollop some of the cereal into a bowl and dress with your goodies. You can let the kids do this part or nit, it's up to you. Add nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc. You will not need or want to add any sweetener as the juice will have already flavored the whole shebang. Add you milk or soy if you will, top it off with a gummy worm and dig in!The heat from the cereal will melt the gummy worm in a matter of moments. The residual flavor and ooze from the candy will add an additional bite to the cereal. This is the part that I'm not the biggest fan of as I don't like cherry flavoring but kids? Kids LOVE faux flavors!

So there ya go, a hot bowl of monster mush, Happy October!

**What? Gummy worms in my breakfast cereal? Are you crazy? Here's the deal. If yer tot is an oatmeal lover then omit the worms. If you need to figure out ways to get yer kidlet to try the stuff, add the worm. One worm isn't too far off from those juicy fruity bites that kids often have in their lunches. Get the kind by Black Forest and you've got a smidge (a teeny tiny smidge) of Vitamin C in the bowl. Got a kidlet with an awesome imagination? Skip the candy and add dried cranberries, cherries and raisins and call 'em bugs. This is just a guideline to get you to think outside the box. I am not encouraging you to serve up a bowl of corn syrup for breakfast. But I am encouraging you to try this...it really is yummy, except I'm really not a fan of the worms...they're ooey.

for the l.a. dilly-doers

psst...just thought i would let ya know that i will be teaching a sock monkey class to kidlets 8 and up over at Home Ec. in Silverlake...hurry...space is limited to six kids!

What: Sock Monkey Class
When: Saturday, October 17 9am-noon
Where: Home Ec. 3815 W. Sunset Blvd, L.A. Ca 90029

for the love of chickens: a book want and dancing contest

i don't know about you but i love me a good chicken book. there's just something about the way they're drawn that makes me smile and laugh. of course i immediately get all sorts of "chicken" songs stuck in my head which then makes me want to dance all over the tiny casa. why not put your dancing feet to good use and enter the Chicken Dance dance contest?

Chicken Dance
Written by Dan Santat
Illustrated by Tammi Sauer
Published by Sterling Publishing
Lola & Marge are chickens who dream and their dream is meet up with their idol Elvis Poultry. When a dance contest offers up free tickets to see their idol, the two hens put on their dancing shoes. Can they take first prize and leave those dastardly ducks in the mud?

so, i don't know about you but methinks i need to get my own dancing shoes on...and one of those chicken hats, the one with the big beak?

prize packages are on their way (finally!)

here's a sneak (and of course there are strawberry baskets included):

back-to-school cones (the post we always remember after the fact)

Seriously. We've been MEANING to write up this post for years now. (Hence the Amazing Growing Kidlets in the photos throughout.)

Let's (finally) SCRUMDILLY-DO some SCHULTUTEN!!!

Also called German School Cones or First Day of School Cones, a Schultute is a candy-toy-and-school-supply-filled cone traditionally presented to first graders in Germany.

I can't remember if it was my dear friend Anne, living in Germany, who told me about them, or if I first saw some lovely oooooold photo on flickr. But I'm always looking to adopt old traditions, and I'm all about encouraging Ander and Zaza to be SOSOSOSO EXCITED about the start of school. And then of course there was the excuse to shop for (me) and/or make (jek) cute/teensy/tasty/cool stocking-stuffer-like goodies a whole three months before Christmas!

(Positive reinforcement or mama-style brainwashing? You be the judge.)

Pressed for time a few years' back, I found and purchased our Schultuten on-line. Maybe next year I'll get around to making some... (Nudge me next August, jekky-poo!)

There are gorgeous -- and intricate -- templates all over the web these days, but why not keep it simple, repurpose something from around the house, and perhaps get the kidlets involved in the cone-making (while you handle the cone-stuffing)?

You can make your cone from any half-circle of cardstock, posterboard, old poster, or cereal box. Oooh! How cute would it be to use an old Pee Chee folder? If you have ever made those wee, sweet, conical May Day baskets we used to leave on neighbors' doorknobs as kids, then you already know what you're doing -- just make 'em BIGGER. No photo tutorial needed, right? Right. You just need to make a big half circle. Easy-peasy. It doesn't have to involve geometric equations or a compass (unless you want it to), and it doesn't need to be perfect (unless you can't help yourself).

Your half circle of stiff paper can be cut to whatever size you prefer, collaged/painted/stickered or covered with fabric, curled into a cone shape, and sealed up along its seam with hot glue, double-stick tape, craft glue, Velcro, staples, or even hole-punched eyelets and ribbon laces.

If you're worried about goodies spilling out, you can attach fabric or tulle along the top (inside the rim) of your cone, which can then be pulled up over bulky items and tied closed with a ribbon.

Let the wild cone-stuffing start!!!

Crayon-shaped chocolates (Cost Plus World Market, I think?), sugar-free breath mints or gum, personalized pencils, Japanese erasers, pocket dolls, barrettes, funky socks, markers, stickers, a mini stapler, a roll of pennies or quarters, a globe-shaped pencil sharpener, mini Composition notebooks, hi-lighters, mini bottles of hand sanitizer, pins and buttons and patches for decorating backpacks, tape, a fun ruler, comic books, flash cards, sticky notes, trading cards, vials of glitter...

...finger puppets, Silly Putty, Pez, balls of yarn, wind-up robots, Playmobil 'guys,' Legos, pom-pom balls, pipecleaners, rubberband balls, fruit leather, worry dolls, marbles, jacks, a harmonica, a magnifying glass, animal crackers, a 'magic' wash cloth, headbands, temporary tattoos, a toy car, paint brushes (tiki heads optional, see below), gift cards... The possibilities are endless, and can be as minimal or as, um, baroque as you see fit.

When Ander first started preschool, I made the mistake of giving him his cone on the morning of his First Day. Disaster! Chocolatey, whiny, hyper, over-stimulated, rush-rush-rushing disaster!

Since then, Ander -- and now Zaza too -- get their cones the day before their first day of school. I usually include something in their cones that they may want to bring or wear to their first day, and I have found that the 'first day eve' celebration ramps up nicely to the actual first day's excitement. You may prefer presenting the cones on the afternoon of the first day, when everyone is home again, and first day stories have been shared with the family.

***UPDATE***

Linky-do to pictures of 2009's Cone-A-Rama!!!: http://anderandzaza.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-before-first-day-back-to-school.html

odds & ends art in the style of louise nevelson

last summer i took a class on women in art. it was more awesome than awesome and i finished up the whole adventure with a deep yearning for more. one of the projects we did was a sculptural project based on the large scale installations of Louise Nevelson we began with a flat square of cardboard, a bottle of tacky glue and an enormous assortment of small wooden pieces. after we framed and layered and glued ourselves silly, we took our projects outside for a coating or two of black spray paint. it's interesting how everything looks nicer when it is all monochromatic.early this summer we were attempting to begin the big purge in my casa and had two kidlets in tow. we set them up in the garden with all sorts of doodads. plastic bottle caps, popsicle sticks, cereal boxes, wooden discs and anything else that was destined for the recycle bin. after all the glue dried, the kidlets picked out their paint colors and we did our own takes on a Louise Nevelson piece.creating an art project based on an artist's style is not meant to emulate their masterpieces but to tie it all in so that your kidlet can connect the two. they may not remember the artist's biography but chances are, once you have them do their own Nevelsons, Warhols or Picassos they will remember a familiarity with that artist's work and they will remember the joy they felt when making their own creations. children are never to young to receive art and creativity as long as we make it a joyful experience.

other Lousie Nevelson projects:
Art Projects for Kids
Art Lessons for Kids
Modern Art Projects for Kids
Art is Messy

**this is a project to do on a day when the kidlets are bored. it is a "use what you have" kind of project. it may use up your recyclable materials and you may be able to repurpose much for this but in no way am i trying to claim this is an environmentally sound project. using spray paint kinda takes away from that idea. you are free to, and encouraged even, to use other types of paint though those may not cover all your areas as nifty. however, by doing so, you will add another step for your kidlets to complete and a mess happy art experience for them as well. happy arting!