Day 16- Mixes Like Oil and Water

Well, after yesterday's flop, I felt some pressure to find a winner.  I found a recipe for an oil and water "lava" bottle.  It was so simple!

Necessary items:
1) soda bottle, cleaned
2) 1/3 bottle full of water
3) baby oil
4) food color
5) sequin


6) glue

The best part of this craft was that the kids did EVERYTHING (save for adding the food coloring).  First, I measured about a 1/3 bottle of water then dumped it into a cup.  I know that seems counter intuitive, but I really wanted to keep the kids involved the whole way.  Then I pulled out the trusty funnel and my box o' misc. craft supplies.  I had each girl dump the water in their soda bottle then I added the few drops of food coloring.  After that, I let them have at the craft supplies.  Sequin, beads, rocks, it was all free game... even buttons and a googly eye lol.  After they were done adding things to the bottles, they poured baby oil to the top of the bottle, then I glued the cap to the top of the bottle.

Simple, CLEAN, and a lot of fun!  The girls really got into it, and I have enjoyed the finished product tonight haha.  I would HIGHLY recommend this project for those of you with little kids.  Besides, we ALL have baby oil sitting around that we don't use.  I finally used the baby oil that we've had sitting in the cabinet since Iris was born lol.

Day 15- disappointed, off base maybe?

So, i see these really cute wreaths around the web and at craft shows that are tied all around with scraps of fabric (http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/2408399).  I thought, "ok, I can modify this so that they aren't so huge, and much more reasonable for Iris and Penny to do."  So, i got out pipe cleaner and their halloween costumes (that they refused to wear) and started cutting scraps of material.  I made little pipe cleaner hoops, and handed them the scraps of fabric and showed them how it worked.  Iris did precisely THREE knots and said "i'm done! I don't want to do anymore." and she stopped.  Penny did more, she needed more help, but she got about 1/3 of the way around before saying "done!" and getting up.
Now, I know that Iris AND Penny are able to tie knots, because they are constantly tying things around themselves, scarves, ribbons, etc. and telling me that they have "bows" on them.  So, I KNOW that that isn't above their skill set.  But lately, I've been hitting duds, and I can't figure out why.  They are so excited to do craft, until I get everything out and start it.  If i just give them scraps of paper, glue sticks, and paint, they would sit there for hours, but how many times can I do that for a year????  Now I am stuck, how do i keep the kids interested in this for the next year?  I still have 350 days to go!
Honestly, I don't think it is even worth my time to post the pictures of today's craft :(  Maybe if i can talk them into finishing them tomorrow I will post pictures.  Or, if tomorrow's craft is better, I will upload pictures of today's.  Wish me luck.

On a positive note, I am happy to say that I officially have a craft ROOM.  I spent a good portion of today putting crafting supplies into the room, and it looks SOOO nice!  Yay for getting the house ready to sell :-p haha

Day 14- Is it cheating?

So, I will admit, I had these foot prints around since fall of last year.  I got creative one day and found out how to make "stepping stones" with flour, water, and salt- http://www.ehow.com/how_8166318_make-handprint-molds.html - I thought "wow, this is such a cute idea.  We'll make the prints today and paint it tomorrow."  Well, tomorrow became the next day, the next week, the next month, and eventually the next year.  It was so easy to think "OMG! 2 and 3 year old with paint- AHHHHHHH"  But, after the last two weeks, what is a little paint on a dining room table???  haha

Well, now that I finally decided to let the kids paint the "stones" I wish I hadn't.  Penny's doesn't even look like a footprint any more, and Iris' is really hard to see, though oddly, in the picture it looks better.  There must have been some little birdy tweeting in my ear not to paint those.  Oh well, there will be more projects.  Maybe sometime this year we'll do a mosaic tile, that would be fun!  (I must be going crazy from all the paint fumes the last three days!)
Speaking of paint fumes, here is a couple of pictures from the room I'be been working on all weekend.  We have put $70 into so far, and that includes the GORGEOUS new floor and paint!  Can't wait until it is completely finished, but it has literally transformed from an UGLY, outdated storage room behind our dining room to a beautiful office space.  I am so glad we took the time to repurpose this room.  It is soon going to become my craft room!  This room was blue (like EVERY other room in our house when we moved in) with horrible 1980s peel and stick tiles on the floor (tan fake brick even!)... Not the best pictures, since it is after 10, but, I am happy with the results (the cabinets are open because the paint is still a little tacky lol)

Day 13- 2-in-1 crafts!

I spent the day painting again.  The back room is ALMOST finished, however, that made crafting a little difficult again.  I decided to make the butterfly clothespins (http://www.jugglingwithkids.com/2012/01/butterfly-snacks.html) that three or four people have sent me now.  Honestly, I figured that what was a little more paint today??? haha.

 

I gave each girl a plate with three colors of paint, a clothespin, and a paint brush and told them "have at it".  They had a blast painting the clothespins- any paint project is a hit with the girls.  Iris was obviously more deliberate with her painting than Penny, but Penny managed to get everything covered, though a bit heavy handed.
While I formed the antennas with their chosen colored pipe cleaners, the girls started playing with the paints on their plates, and it turned into craft 2.0.  By the time I had the antennas glued on, these are what they created.

I asked Mike if I could just keep these as a fall back for a day we may not get to a craft.. but he said no lol.  Wish us luck, almost ready for the realtor to come in and look at our house to let us know what it is worth.  If anyone is looking for a 3 bedroom house in Parma, let me know! haha

Day 12- Warm Weather

I was so excited about today's craft.  I thought it was something that Penny and Iris would be able to do this craft easily, and most importantly for today, it would be QUICK.  My dad was here today to help us finish up some wood working projects before we sell the house, and I was elbow deep painting the back room.  So, today's craft needed to be quick and low mess.   I had everything laid out to start, and our freshly dyed stringing pasta was in a bucket.

My idea of "quick" turned into RECORD speed.  We finished lunch, the girls each got about 8 beads on their necklaces and Mike and my dad headed outside- in 60* weather mind you, in JANUARY!- and that was it.  The girls were instantly done and went running out the door.
Better luck tomorrow I guess!

I just loved this picture, flash went crazy and turned everything neon.

Day 11- Mess Can Sometimes Be Success

So glad I finally broke down and decided to try to painting with toilet paper tubes.  The kids had a blast, and  the proof was on their hands!  Sometimes, the best projects are probably going to be the messiest, which is what I am learning when we dye pasta at night, haha.


I pulled the muffin tin out of the cabinet today, filled all 12 tins with different colors.  The kids sat in their chairs and watched so intently as I squeezed red, yellow, blue, purple, silver, white, brown, etc etc etc into each cup and then proceeded to place a toilet paper tube in each pile of paint.

When I finally said "Have at it" they both looked a little confused, so I took one of the toilet paper tubes and started stamping on a piece of construction paper.  That was all it took, Iris and Penny went to town!  They both tried different dipping and stamping techniques and created very different works of art.
Clean up was a breeze, other than cleaning the rims of each muffin.  Everything else either sat on the table to dry or got dumped in the trash... how much easier could someone ask for???

Tomorrow, Macaroni necklaces.  Another huge shout out to my hubby, Mike, for staying up past our bedtime to dye noodles.  What would I do without him???

Day 10- 355 more to go!

I can't say that I am disappointed at the way the Macaroni Art turned out today, we had fun, it turned out nice.  But I am missing my camera :(  So no pictures of today's projects, yet.
Mike and I stayed up late last night dying pasta.  I looked up a few "recipes" online before I did this.  Most Pinterest suggestions stated "pasta, enough rubbing alcohol to make the noodles wet, and some food coloring"  Well, I am a little more technical than that, I need to have EXACT directions before I try something for the first time.  I finally found a blog that suggested 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and 4-5 drops of food coloring.  We tried red and purple first and blue, and they turned out more like Easter egg pink, a grey color, and tealish green... honestly, good Easter colors haha.  Obviously, we needed more food coloring, the Orange, Yellow, and Green look awesome, I think I put about 10 drops of coloring in each of those bags.
I was hoping to string it as bracelets/necklaces today, but the macaroni noodles were just too small, and WAY too curvy (I guess that is what I get for buying store brand haha).  So, we glued it on paper instead.  Iris was infatuated with my pattern, she kept telling me tonight that she wished I could teach her how to do what I did.  It really isn't all that fancy, but it is flattering, and I guess to an almost 4 year old, very impressive.  Penny had a lot of fun with them, she kept telling me she couldn't eat them... probably better, all that Yellow whatever # would probably give her massive ADHD lol.  Bowties and spirals don't adhere well with glue stick-- you know, since i haven't had a chance to buy more white glue since I used the last of ours on the horrible slime failure.  (Btw, that slime managed to leak out of the bag I had it in and onto the stove... and DRIED, what a mess!  ugh!!!  It has sense been thrown in the trash.)  So, I brought out the glue gun again (which Penny calls Blue instead of Glue and it is very cute, though can be slightly confusing depending on the project), and stealthily glued Penny's noodles onto her page in the same order in which she laid them down.  No freaking out, it was a success in my book!
Because my stringing idea didn't work with the pasta I bought this past week, today, Penny and I went to the grocery store and bought every type of Pasta that we could that had a hole in it.  Ditalini, Rigatoni,  Ziti, and Wagon Wheels.  I plan on doing some more pasta dying in the very near future, hopefully with neon colors, and a LOT more red and blue!  But, for now, on to the next project.  Time to round up all of our toilet paper and paper towel rolls!