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How to make a flip book for your toddler

30 Aug By 16 Comments

This week I was tasked with the challenge to find a creative use for my Fellowes laminator. Pretty much, 900 things ran through my head. From laminating everything in the baby box (cards, bracelets, mementos) to keep them safe over the long years, to  categorizing and laminating all of Charlotte’s drawings from Pre-K on that are sitting in a box gathering dust. Goodness knows they are starting to get some strain.

But with P getting ready to be 1 year old next Thursday, I wanted to make him something that would not only be helpful to his growth and development, but also showcase the love our family has for him.

What you need to create a flip book

  • pictures
  • Fellowes Laminator
  • Lamination sheets for the size photo you are covering
  • printer paper
  • markers/pens
  • ribbon
  • hole punch

Few things to note: When picking out lamination sheets, there are several kinds of ‘mil’. You usually only need 3mil, which is what I used here, for photos. If you are going to protect something larger or more long term, you may need to find stronger sheets to cover your photos. the “mil” is how thick the sheet is. My laminator machine does 3, 4, and 5 mil.

 

Instructions for your DIY Toddler Flip Book!

1) Print your pictures! I ran to the store this morning and printed pictures right on a machine that spits them out immediately. They were 25cent a print and looked pretty nice. It’s hard to remember since we do things so much digitally to get this done, but its smart to print your photos monthly or put them in a photo book. If you ever lose your computer or digital files you will have wished you did this! I have a computer under my desk that was hit by a virus in June and I can only pray that the photos will be recoverable.

2) Decide the type of book you are making. I made two kinds. In one book I wrote a little story and included family photos:

in the other, I created more flash cards with words to read to Phoenyx.

In this instance below, I added a leaf and laminated it. I was able to do this with several outdoor items including flowers, grass, and types of leaves. Because the item is more raised than a flat photo, I ran it through once and then turned it around and ran it through again in the opposite direction. (top to bottom, than bottom to top to seal it)

3) The lamination is easy. Just insert your pictures between the lamination pages.

Then put through the machine.

In seconds, it spits out the other side ready for what ever baby drool your toddler wants to put on it.

4) Use a hole punch to put a hole in the corner of each sheet you created.

4) You can either use a loose ribbon to secure the pages together or purchase a key ring for long term use. I had ribbon available, so I chose that route and double knotted the ribbon.

Book complete!

If you don’t have a lamination machine and need one (there really are a million uses for one…and truth be told, its super fun to laminate), check out this deal:

August 5th – August 25th friends of Mom Central can use exclusive coupon code 87298 to receive $30 off the regular price ($159.99) of a Fellowes Saturn2 95 at Staples.com! (while supplies last; maximum two machines per person (Go here to check out deal!)

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Don’t stop there!

As your child ages, you can add more pictures with advanced words, additional family members, or even create a book that includes pictures that represent every part of the alphabet!

 

The family book reads:

My family book.

This is my sister.

(pictures)

My family loves me!

This is my mom.

(pictures)

This is my dad.

(pictures)

My family loves me!

This is me.

(pictures)

I am amazing! I love my family!

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I hope this simple craft project inspires you to make something fun for your kids!

~trisha

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Fellowes and received a product sample to facilitate my review.

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Fun Springtime Craft for you and your little one!

22 Mar By 14 Comments

As spring is upon us now in almost every state, we naturally start to spend more time outdoors in the evenings and weekends. But for some, like me, standing out in the sun is not exactly something I ache to do.  In fact, I am allergic to the sun! That being said, I still have to find a way to connect with my daughter without being the mom that has to run down the street after a bike.

Lucky for me, Charlotte (as I would imagine most kids) absolutely loves to craft.

Yesterday, while she was off of school for a teacher planning day, we picked up a few items to have a fun Spring time craft that anyone can do and for very little money.

Supplies

We bought at Hobby Lobby. You can print 40% off coupons right on their webpage.

  • Birdhouse ($3.99-$9.99 – ours was $6.99)
  • Paints (.99 a bottle)
  • Paintbrushes (most have these at home, but we needed a new set, so I picked up a pack for $5.99)

You can choose to buy a birdhouse pre-assembled like ours was or you can buy one to assemble around the same price. Because our mission was simply to paint rather than wait for glue to dry, I chose to pick one out that was ready to go. If you have an older kid, you may want to prolong the craft by having them put one together.

 

In our case, we simply painted, but if you want to get really creative, try adding:

  • Stained Glass
  • Mosaic tiles
  • Natural elements like sticks and leaves
  • marbles
  • Stones
  • Foil
  • Wood Etching

You can also get a birdhouse for every person in your family if you like. In Charlotte and I’s case, we chose to share a birdhouse and each work on a side and then rotate it around.

Here is our birdhouse (on our poor Winter ravaged Oleander tree) all ready for some seed and a bird!

~Trisha

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How to Make a Fairy Flower Wand

18 Mar By 18 Comments

The other day I made a sweet little fairy wand, a tulle wand, and showed you how to make a tulle pom pom. I had some left over materials, so I decided to make a flower fairy one.

Again, this type of wand (at least the way I made it) is meant for older kids that don’t have the curiosity to pull things apart. Because I chose to make mine with pins that go through the center of the flowers, please take care not to create something that you know for sure your child will pull apart and become a household hazard. Pins are no fun to step on.

Disclosure over.

How to Make A Fairy Flower Wand

Items needed:

  • box of lace pins
  • Styrofoam ball
  • dowel ribbons for the dowel
  • favorite flowers
  • glue/glue gun

1) Start by just taking the back off of each flower and pushing the pin through the middle and into the styrofoam. It took about 2 bundles of flowers for me to complete the entire ball. I made sure I pushed the flowers together because I liked the look of having all the flower petals mushed up, but you can choose to lay them flat.

Another thought is adding a rhinestone to the center of the flower once its pushed into place. That way the pin top is completely covered and it would add some bling to it.

2) Let your kitten help. Its more fun.

3) I then covered my dowel with my chosen ribbons, in this case it was purple and brown. I originally did it all in brown, removed it, did it in stripes and then thought I would add some leaves to the stem. Ultimately I didnt like the look so I tore it all off.

I think its ok to experiment because you can always start over!

4) Lastly I added a loop on the bottom so it was easy for my daughter to carry around with her.

I hope this inspires you to create some fun and fabulous fairy wands in your own home.

Happy Crafting!

~Trisha

Like this post? Consider tweeting or stumbling in order to help others let loose on their inner crafty mom!

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How to make a {Girly} purse

6 Dec By 14 Comments

A few weeks ago I was signed up for a Christmas stocking exchange with another blogger. Part of the rules (which I made myself and started to regret) was that you needed to be creative in your stocking….you could glue it, iron it, sew it, but you had to incorporate some sort of “making” it. As I looked around, I decided that it would be totally cheesing out of me to just get some letters and iron her name on a premade red stocking.

One thing about me is I cannot sew.

I cannot sew worth crap.

So I had to come up with another way that didn’t require some Grade A Grandma Type Sewing.

However, one thing I am is crafty. Creative. A problem solver. Sorta.

What you are about to see below is what I learned doing the stocking. After I figured a few things out, I went back and used the same technique to create a purse for Charlotte. I am going to share how to make a pretty purse, but also show you the pictures of the original stocking that inspired it.

Both things were made the same way and you can create your own items this way in any shape or size.

You will need:

  • Old shipping box
  • glue gun and glue
  • quilt batting
  • 1/2 yard material
  • 1/8th inch ribbon to sew with
  • large needle
  • straight razor
  • felt for the inside of the purse
  • 1 1/2 inch silk ribbon for the strap

The project cost me about $7 total, because I had batting, felt, glue, and ribbon at home.

Directions To create A Purse

(or Stocking)

1) First you need to decide the size of the purse. I measured and cut out the sides of the purse, both should be the same size (or as close as possible, I’m not an overly perfect cutter) and then used the straight razor to cut them out from the box. Be careful you dont cut up your rug, floor, or leg in this process.

(craft kitty gwennie)

2) After I had my two sides, I glue gunned the cardboard and added (double) batting to both of them so they were nice and fluffy.

3) I then laid out the material and left approx 1/2-1 inch on all sides. I put the batting part straight down (as it was the front of the purse) and glued the material to the back.

4) Cut out felt and lay in a square to “finish” the back, which in this case, is the inside of the purse.

5) I went back and measured and cut a bottom in the same length as the sides (but the width I wanted the purse to be, I just eyeballed it) and the strips that went up the side. I did not add batting, just material and felt. This should leave you with 5 pieces of covered cardboard.

6) Here is where the mock sewing comes in. Because you are sewing card board and using ribbon, your going to want to use a large thick needle. I had one the perfect size in my needle pack. I opted for a 1/8th ribbon stitching on the outside. I first took one main side (with batting) and a smaller side (without batting) and started my ribbon stitching through the material and connected to the other sides material. I followed this all the way down and around and back up to the other side. There were points I had to go through the cardboard and not just the material, but overall it was just connecting material to material.

7) Complete all sides and bottom this way. It took me about an hour and my fingers hurt by the time I was done, but the affect was cute.

8 ) Once done stitching, your purse should be pretty solid and stand up on its own!

9) Personally I wanted some more frill, so I added a ruffle around and had some extra, so I put the extra on the front and added a ribbon rosette to denote the front of the purse. I then took some 1 1/2 silk ribbon and hot glued it on the inside (side wall) and cut it at an appropriate length for Charlotte and secured int eh same fashion on the opposite side, leaving a shoulder strap.

My purse was slightly higher on the top than the sides I cut but I dont think Charlotte noticed. That’s the great thing about crafting for a 5 year old.

Finished!

This is the same exact technique I used for this stocking. Because of the batting, I did not iron on the letters or it would have defluffed it.I hot glued them on at the end. I also only used a front and a back and sewed the two sides together directly.

I used a flexible cardboard so I could put stuff inside when I was done.

That’s it! I hope this inspires you to create some stockings or some purses and handbags on your own! If you liked this post, please consider “stumbling”, “Digging” or sharing it with others so they can learn too.

Happy Crafting!

Trisha

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Mardi Gras Mask Craft Idea

29 Jul By 5 Comments

Fresh off our stint to Bloggers on Bourbon, I had some crafts available at my house (cause we forgot to do them in the whirlwind of our trip) and last night my family settled down to do a “Make a Mardi Gras Mask” session. This is a cheap and easy craft to make with your kids.

Plus, you wont need scissors, so its perfect for that 4-5 year old range.

We purchased:

  • Mardi Gras masks in white and black. You can get (3) for $1.99 at Hobby Lobby
  • Mixed package of feathers (approx $6)
  • Mixed package of glitter (approx $5)
  • Mixed package of glitter glue (approx $3)
  • Glue Sticks (.99)

Don’t forget that Hobby Lobby generally offers a 40% off coupon via their website for 1 item that is regular price.

When you do crafting, the one rule of thumb I have is you cannot be worried about mess.

Mess happens.

Mess is part of what makes crafting fun for kids!

But a tip is to make sure the lid is on tight when you sprinkle glitter…or this could happen:

Niiiiiiiiiice.

I’m pretty sure Chris was trying not to bust a gut when the entire thing dumped open on my mask.

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Dad doesn’t have to fill silly making a mask.

It can be a manly one.

With feathers.

And glitter.

And he can write “Daddy-O” on it.

Our finished products:

~trisha

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How to Tie Dye a shirt (fun Craft project!)

19 Apr By 28 Comments

This weekend we were looking for a craft project the whole family could get involved in and I had seen these Tie Dye kits at hobby lobby for $20, so we went out to grab one.

(tip: Hobby Lobby does 40% off regularly priced products coupons on their site weekly…print one off first!)

The kit came with 6 colors (although we only used 4 at this time), rubber bands, gloves, and extra dye in it for the future. We bought our shirts separately for $2.50.

Cost was under $20 and in the future will be even lower because we have more dye left in our kit.

This is one project that was ultra messy no matter what, so we decided to do it in the backyard on the grass, which turned out to be a really good idea. While we attempted to use gloves, and you really should, they were getting in the way, so we just worked with dyed hands.

I am sure that’s some sort of bio-hazard.

All you do is add water to the bottles with your dye and shake up. Fold your shirt and tie w/ rubber bands in odd places. You can really get creative here.

If you decide not to rubber band, you can also paint or sponge on the dye making a specific pattern or writing a name.

Once you have added the dye to your shirt, wrap in plastic wrap for 6-8 hours to set, then rinse the shirt out in the sink, wash in hot water (by itself of course) in your washer, and dry.

VOILA!

(its suggested you wash alone for the first couple washes as the dye runs out..you don’t want blue towels)

Warning: this dye gets on EVERYTHING.

It was on our legs, hands, fingernails, you name it. Soap does not get it off. However, if you spray a little Clorox bleach spray on your hands and rub under running water, it comes off in a snap.

No fear, clorox is here!

Have fun…

~Trisha

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Small Talk Six: A DIY Brag

13 Jun By 23 Comments

smalltalksix3001Want to join in?  Go here to learn how and  to view the weekly list Small Talk Six topics for 2009.

Today’s topic is “6 things you’ve made during your lifetime that you were proud of (can be a craft, a dish, . . . anything).” You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

I am not a pro at anything when it comes to crafting, sewing, or cooking.  I am, however, mediocre in all those things.  ;P  (Sorry I didn’t have time to dig through all my CDs for photos of these items.)

Here are my six . . .

1) I made a yellow Lego cake for Jake’s first birthday.  It was pretty easy and it turned out great!  You just bake one rectangular cake and add the bottoms of 6 cupcakes .  Then frost it all over with yellow frosting.

2) In Jake’s first bedroom, my husband and I painted a mural with a big tree on the wall.  Then we hung all different kinds of Beanie Baby birds on the branches.

3) My husband and I made a growth chart that came out really nice.  We used a board, batting, fabric, a metal yard stick, screws, and staple gun.   Then I wrote his name on it with puffy fabric paint and I use a permanent marker to mark off and record his height on it every 6 months.

4) I reupholstered all our dining room chairs after we inherited the set from my parents.  I even added a little extra padding with layers of batting.  I was so pleased that they came out so well.  You really just need some nice upholstery fabric and a staple gun.

5) I made a hairbow holder for my daughter.  I believe I found all the parts at Walmart.  A wooden letter, a prepainted wooden ornament, and coordinating ribbon.  I just had to throw in some paint for the letter and some hot glue and I was done!

6) I made light-blocking curtains for our kitchen window.  I’ve never worked with linings before, but they turned out pretty nice and they keep the hot sun out in the morning during the summertime.

Now go post your own list on your blog (don’t forget to grab a button) and then leave the direct link to your post on Mr. Linky.  Then go check out everyone else’s Small Talk Six lists and leave them a comment so they know you stopped by.  If for some reason Mr. Linky isn’t there, just leave your links within a comment.

~Karen

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Crafts With Andrea: Lets Paint!

24 Jan By 4 Comments

Hi ladies!  I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  This week flew by for us and I was busy as usual.  We rounded off our week with hosting snack day at preschool and having some neighbors over for pizza and play time yesterday evening.  So, I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

First of all, I have to start with my finished sewing project I mentioned last weekend.  I attempted to make a vest for my puppy.  She is a 9 month old doberman.  We live in a cold state and she has zero body fat, so she is constantly shivering.  I drew a “pattern” on newspaper (freehand) and whipped up a lil something I thought might work for her.  It turned out to be a bad idea.  She will not leave it on, but I love this fabric and have leftovers I plan to use elsewhere, so it’s not a total loss I guess.  I tried, that’s all that counts, right?  lol  I am trying to get a pic for you all, it is pretty funny, but she is not cooperating as usual.

Now onto my theme for this week….PAINT.  Kids love to paint.  There’s something about smearing thick lines and swirlies of color on paper that is so much fun.  There are many versions of painting for kids on the market and we have tried most of them.  Here are a few I recommend…

Remember Paint With Water Books?  These are still a ton of fun!  Use a paint brush or Q-Tip dipped in water and the colors appear like magic on the page.  My son can complete a whole book in one sitting if I let him though.
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Crayola Color Wonders also offers a low mess option for children.  They have finger paints, gel paints, a light up version and these basic brushes (our fave). Of course you have to use them on either one of their character themed books or on the special paper sheets in order for the color to show up, but they are pretty neat.
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When it’s time for things to get a little messy and a ton more fun, try these….Washable paint pens are great, we like the Elmer brand (yep, made by the glue people), washable Tempera paints are great (we like the big $0.99 bottles at Michaels), brushes in all sizes including sponge brushes are great, and we also like to experiment with different sponge and foam stamps and stencils.
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Don’t forget that sometimes the most basic toys offer some great fun…my son loves water colors.  Give him some brushes, water and water colors and he is entertained for a good half hour.  Mixing the colors on the paper is a great way to teach them about making colors beyond the primary ones.
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Painting is not just for the kids though.  There are some cool things you can make for your home with $0.99 acrylic paints and unfinished wooden items from the craft store.  This week I headed to Jo-Ann Fabric & Crafts and picked up an unfinished “word” and chalkboard to use in my dining area.  I painted the word “HOME” and the chalkboard in a cream acrylic paint.  I also painted some little wooden knobs I found there and hot glued them onto the HOME as feet.  Take a look…
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Jo-Ann’s sells a bunch of unfinished wood items ranging from letters, words, frames and boxes. Acrylic paints also come in a rainbow of colors, so you could customize the color for your decor.

Happy painting!

Andrea

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