Day 132: Train Track Balls

Yup, you read that right.  Train Track Balls.  I am not expecting it to make any sense to anyone, because it doesn't make sense to me, but I feel like this was a HUGE breakthrough for us today.  For at least three days now, Iris has been asking to make Train Track Balls for craft and every day, Mike and I say "what the heck is that?" well, today, Iris asked again.  So I asked her "What do you need to make train track balls?" and she took me to the craft room, and this is how the conversation went:
Iris- Well, a small white circle ball that is in the drawer
Me- You mean a Styrofoam ball?
Iris- Yes, and beads
Me- Square or circle?
Iris- Square.  And we need glue

So, I gathered the supplies and she took me straight to the table and told me that we had to cover the ball in glue and put beads on it.  Well, as you may or may not know, Elmer's glue and styrofoam do not agree very well.  So, we tried that for awhile and the beads would NOT stick.  I ended up giving up for about five minutes, then I decided that I would wrap the ball in paper, glue the paper to the ball and let Iris glue the beads to the paper.  Well, that worked!

Iris took a lot of pride in this one, she used a small paintbrush to paint thin lines of glue on the paper wrapped styrofoam ball, and pressed each bead into the glue so that it stuck well.  This is what we ended up with when it was time for dinner.  I really think that she would have sat there and covered the entire ball with beads if i gave her the time.

But in short, this is a Train Track Ball, created, and executed all by my 4 year old daughter.

Day 129: Downward Facing Dog...

Mike took on craft today.  Iris wanted to make a dog, and he came up with these styrofoam dogs with pipe cleaner legs.  The girls really seemed to enjoy it, from what I could hear while I was making dinner.

They decided to use knitting needle to make pilot holes in the styrofoam to make jamming the pipe cleaner legs/tails in much easier... on a side note, that vase of knitting needles that I inherited have come in handy for craft more so than knitting, but hey, they are getting used at least :)

To finish them up, they put cotton ball heads on them.  I like the little ears that mike managed to mold out of the cotton balls.

So, the craft:  Iris made the dog that is standing straight.  Mike's dog has a curly tail.  And Penny made the dog that has taken yoga :-p

Day 20- Countdown to Birthday!

I saw the idea for today's craft MONTHS ago on Pinterest, and was saving it for a birthday week.  Well, Iris' birthday is the first birthday of the year, so we got to try it with her today.  These could be the EASIEST birthday cupcakes ever!  Someone with NO cooking skills at all could make these in no time at all.

Here is my supply list for today:

2 1/2 inch styrofoam balls

cupcake wrappers

hot glue

glitter glue (more on that later)

pom poms

So, first thing first: glue a styrofoam ball into the cupcake wrapper.  Iris chose fancy swirly ones @ Jo-Ann's today for $2.99.  And I still have 30 left over for REAL cupcakes!

Next, I mixed glitter glue using some basic Elmer's Glue and glitter.  I think ours was too thick, it was a little hard to paint on with paint brushes, but it worked.  I looked up a "recipe" for glitter glue tonight and it says to use Modge-Podge.  Maybe that would be a little easier, thinner, with Modge-Podge.  But, our way worked, it dried well, and you can see the glittery colors on the styrofoam, so i'll call that a success.

Then, we painted the "frosting" on the "cupcakes".  Once that part was done, we topped them with "cherries."  

 My goal is to attach a string/fishing line to them and hanging them from the holiday tree in the girls' room.  I can't figure out the best way to make them into ornaments, so I am still debating on that, but It was fun.  Mike even got to craft with us today and everyone really got to be creative and have fun with the cupcakes!