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
Shop with Me Mama (Kim) says
March 23, 2011 at 10:00 pmshe did a wonderful job! I love doing crafts like this with my kids and they really are so inexpensive! Great indoor activity when it is rainy outside.
Gina says
March 23, 2011 at 5:13 pmVery cute! We’ve done the same thing, the girls love watching the birds…
Jen says
September 8, 2011 at 11:22 amAnother cool idea is to grow a TickleMe Plant. The TickleMe Plant is a tropical pet like plant that instantly closes its leaves and lowers its branches when Tickled!
hhtp://www.ticklemeplant.com See video
Erin says
March 23, 2011 at 10:34 amCute, fun idea! I can totally do that with the boys!
Crystal @ Simply Being Mommy says
March 23, 2011 at 9:59 amHow fun! I need to do something like this with my children.
Barbara Platt says
March 23, 2011 at 12:48 amGreat job. And, I suppose that paint wasn’t too strong for mommy and baby.
[email protected] Spirit Mommy says
March 22, 2011 at 9:46 pmWow, beautiful! She has some serious design skills. 😉
Deborah says
March 22, 2011 at 8:08 pmGreat project for kids! Good job Charlotte and Mom!
Paula @ Frosted Fingers says
March 22, 2011 at 6:33 pmVery cute!! I need to find ours. We bought one probably 2 years ago and never painted it. Gabriel would love it!
Rachel -- Following In My Shoes says
March 22, 2011 at 6:31 pmCUTE! My daughter would love that — we made one two years ago out of an orange juice box. It was cute but definitely didn’t last long.
Wonder if my husband could build one for me . . . he likes to think he knows how to use his power tools.
Little BGCG says
March 22, 2011 at 6:26 pmThis is a great idea! I can’t wait until Mason is old enough to do stuff like this, maybe I can do something with his hand prints!
Henrietta says
March 22, 2011 at 12:08 pmIt looks great! We like to make bird feeders out of milk cartons and various other objects in the summer. Birdwatching is such a fun activity to go along with your crafted house too!
Cat Davis says
March 22, 2011 at 10:37 amThat looks fun! I think my kids would love it if I got one that my son could assemble with his dad and the girls could paint with me. Now we just need some birds.
hairstyles for girls says
March 22, 2011 at 10:06 amHow fun! And wow, what I would do to see green grass like that again. In the winter here, everything turns brown when it’s not covered by snow.