Emily went through 176 ideas before she settled on a butterfly/flower/pink theme for her party. (We edited that down to a butterfly garden party to limit eye-rolls from less girly friends. Anyway, this turned out to be one of my favorite parties to throw. Here is a run-down on what we did in case you have a little girly-girl that might enjoy something similar.

When the girls (and our one brave boy) arrived, they were bedecked with a set of butterfly wings. (Find them, among other things for a great price at Halo Haven.) Then the girls were asked to help decorate a birthday banner while we waited for the rest of our friends to arrive. Kids get pretty excited about coloring/painting on a big piece of paper. You can buy a strip of it (for around 15 cents/foot) at any craft store.

Then we played a couple of games (the favorite was bug, bug, butterfly, aka duck, duck, goose.) The girls were so excited to paint that we quickly moved to making tissue butterflies (instructions on those to come).

Actually, these were such a hit that we barely had time for cake and ice cream and gifts before it was time to head home. Emily was so happy with everything. Look at her making her darling little wish.

Then we sent the kids home with little bags filled with butterfly goodies and clipped closed with a butterfly hair clip. It doesn’t get much more girly than that. Boys, eat your heart out.

Here is a little cake decorating tutorial for you. I have to warn you though, for all of my good intentions, this was a slightly quick and sloppy undertaking. If you know me, I am often pulling things off “by the seat of my pants.” (Good thing that seat is pretty big.) Hopefully you can get something out of it anyway.

To make the fondant flowers:

This should be done at least the day before. You can purchase ready to roll fondant, or try the marshmallow fondant recipe I use. (Which is found on the very helpful Peggy’s Baking Corner.)

Now use the flowers to put the cake together.

(…in my typical crazy-lady style. Hey, I am just keeping it real. Don’t worry; I will never pretend that I am professional and polished.)

Okay, making an instructional video certainly isn’t rocket science, but I am no rocket scientist either, sooo…

I am excited that I finally have this (sort of) figured out. I would love your feedback on the video (as well as the project!) I’d also love to start posting pictures of your projects too. I am looking for an add-on to do this, but in the meantime email them to me and I’ll do it manually. My goal is a project a week for the summer; should be fun.


Ages: 3 + (Older kids will produce great paintings, younger will love just exploring the paint with their straw.)

Materials:

paper

tempra or acrylic paint

straws (Thin ones will work the best–coffee straws or one from a juice pouch.)

paint well or paper plate

Directions:

1. If you are using tempra, just drip a little puddle on the bottom of the page. If you are using acrylic, you will need to thin it a little. If the bottle is almost empty, it works great to just add a little water and shake it up. You can also squeeze some paint in a baggie and add water, then squish to mix it. (Keep adding until it is about the consistency of milk.) Then cut the tip of the bag off (keep it small!) You can also mix in a small cup or bowl and then spoon onto the paper.

2. Put your straw close to the puddle at the bottom and gently blow, directing it upward to create your tree trunk. The paint will naturally want to branch off. You can follow it and blow the paint in that direction to create a branch.

3. If you run out of paint before you want the branch to end, just add a few drops at the tip and keep blowing.

4. Make leaves with a paintbrush or by dipping your finger tips into the paint and pressing them onto the paper.  Use this technique to make fruit or blossoms as well.

4. Experiment with doing different types of trees or up-close views of the branches. Try some flowers or making a landscape. You can also experiment with abstract designs (and getting the different parts of your hands in the paint–you know, it’s big with the 4 year olds.)

I love these because they have such a pretty, delicate look and it is a super easy project. The great thing is that you can do something like mine in about 30-40 minutes or spend a lot of time and have a frame-able piece of art by filling in the whole picture.

materials:

eggshells from colored eggs*

white school glue

heavy cardstock (Tag or mat board is ideal; a dark color tends to look better.)

toothpicks

pencil

*If you don’t have shells from Easter eggs, make an omelet for breakfast and rinse the shells. You can put them into a few small bowls and just barely cover with water. Add  several drops of food coloring and let it sit for a minute or two. Drain on paper towels and you are good to go.

directions:

1. Sketch a simple design or picture on the board.

2. Using a toothpick, spread glue onto a small section of the picture.

3. Arrange the eggshells to fill in the area. Keep it simple, or use variations in the hue and intensity of the color to create shading. It also looks great to use similar tones in an area. (ie. oranges, and yellows or blues and purples together.)

4. If desired, embellish with glitter, paint or even sequins, buttons, ribbons and such… whatever works with the design.

Megan’s house with fluffy clouds and trees.

Emily wanted to add paint. (Actually, we spent about 20 min. on the mosaics, then the girls moved on to all paint.) This is her “tower, with Jasmine and rain clouds/drops in the sky and mud on the ground…” with the original flower in the center. That girl comes up with quite the story for each picture. She cracks me up!  As you can tell, the patience that mosaics tend to take really show in the outcome. The girls (3 and 5) thought this was fun. An older artist will actually make something that looks cool. (This isn’t the first time I have wished I had a 10 year old around! )

Our neighborhood has an annual gold hunt for the kids. It is easy to put together, very low cost, and can even be done in the park if you’re so inclined. Let me assure you that it is a huge kid pleaser for a wide variety of ages. So call up some friends and get your green on! Here’s what to do:

materials:

several rocks, at least 3 per hunter (more is certainly good)

gold spray paint

invitations (or phone calls)

bags to place candy in (party favor bags)

*optional prize for the winner of the hunt

*1 bag of candy from each child

directions:

1. Invite friends. Our hunters were asked to be between the ages of 3 and 11 and to bring a bag of candy per child to share.

2. Spray paint rocks in a variety of sizes to create the “gold.”

3. Hide rocks around your yard. Our hosts last year put the little kids in the front yard (8 and under); while the older kids searched the back yard.

4. Have the hunt: This takes about 20 minutes start to finish. (Excluding the playtime while parents chatted.)

5. Collect the candy as kids arrive and then divide it into bags while they are occupied with the hunt for the children to take home. If you have older hunters, you may want to distribute based on the number of rocks collected.

5. After it seems all of the gold has been found, ask the children to count their rocks; then bring them to a “collector” to trade for candy. You may want to add a good story about restoring it to a leprechaun to add drama. : D

6. If desired, award a prize to the person who collects the most “gold.”

The families in our neighborhood take turns hosting each year, but this could certainly be a family activity too. The rocks are saved for use the next year. Have fun and happy hunting!

I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve tried for play dough; but I think I’ve finally settled on a favorite. This one is quick and cheap, with common pantry ingredients. It also has a fantastic texture–just like “Playdoh”.

materials

• 3 1/2-4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon cream of tarter (found with the spices on the baking isle)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons oil
• 2 cups of water
• food coloring (optional)
• cherry, strawberry, vanilla, or lemon extract (optional)

directions

1. Heat water to boiling in a medium saucepan. If you want one color of dough, add the food coloring now. This makes it very easy to color. If you want multiple colors, you can work the food coloring into the finished dough.

2. Measure a generous 3 1/2 cups flour into a medium-large mixing bowl (one that holds at least 8 cups.) Reserve extra to add if the dough is too sticky. Mix in the salt and cream of tartar. I have to admit that I love the way this feels, so I always use my hands. Salt and flour just have an interesting texture together. Is that weird?

3. Once the water is boiling, whisk in the oil. Remove from heat and add extract. I like this because it makes the playdough-and your hands-smell good. It can smell too good and be tempting for your child to eat, but this dough is fully edible–just not tasty. I prefer lemon because it smells clean. My girls haven’t ever been interested in eating it, but leave it out if you are concerned at all.

4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the water mixture in. Stir with a spoon until flour is incorporated, then turn it onto the counter or a cutting board and knead until smooth.

5. Now play!

So, I noticed that I haven’t posted a project since-well-Easter. Hmmm, what can I throw out there that would be helpful during these long hot summer afternoons. (Since swimming isn’t an art project.) These little dolls are a project from my book that are great for filling an afternoon with industrious fun. It kept my little “test group” busy for almost 4 hours.

Materials:

Popsicle sticks

Yarn (for hair and clothes)

Beads (for eyes)

Small pompoms

Small flowers

(Basically anything in your art box you want to throw out there.)

Scissors

Glue (We used Aleene’s, but Elmer’s would work, it’s just very slow drying. Hot glue is the best option, it just presents other safety issues.)

Directions:

1. Cut about half way up the center of a popsicle stick. (This is a little tricky; it was fine for my 7 year old nieces, but younger kids would need help.) Gently pull the two halves apart a little.

2. Cut an 8 inch piece of skin colored yarn for the head. Glue one end of the yarn to the stick and wrap it several times around the stick so that it makes a head shape. Tuck the end in or glue.

3. Glue on beads for eyes (you could also cut little bits of yarn and glue them on.)

4. To make the hair, wrap yarn several times around your hand (or something else that is about 2xs as long as you want the hair to be.)

5. Slip off and loosely tie a piece of yarn around the middle of the coiled yarn (hair) and glue to the head. (You may need to hold it down for a bit while it dries.) Cut through the loops at the bottom and trim up as desired.

6. Wrap the body in the color you want for the shirt. (Do this the same as the head, only wrap around once or twice.) When you get to the legs, go completely down one, tie off or glue then start at the top of the other. (You will want to secure the beginning with a bead of glue like you did for the head.)

7. Now embellish: I cut the edge of a sequin to make the mouth, you could also use yarn. We used pompoms for feet and for the body of one dress (the rest of which is a pink feather) and the small flowers were also very popular.

You can make them life-like or, like Weston, you can get a little crazy with it! The kids liked this so much that they quickly progressed to making beds for the dolls, then cell phones, the a couple of just funny designs. They loved this and it can easily fill up an afternoon or more.

We all know that the fun of dying in eggs is often over too quickly (unless you boil more eggs than a small army can eat.)  If you add painting to the tradition, the fun can last longer and you get a variety of artistic results.

materials:

hard boiled eggs

egg dye (whatever method you traditionally use)

watercolor or acrylic paints

small paintbrushes

directions:

1.  Dye eggs as you normally would and set out to dry. I like the look of mixing colors, dipping ends in to create stripes.

2. Paint designs onto the eggs. The girls loved using some glittery acrylic to absolutely coat  their eggs. If you have older artists, they can do something a little more representative.

3. Have fun, in art there are no rules!

Yesterday, our wonderful neighbors had a gold hunt in their yard. It is a neighborhood tradition and the girls had a ball! It was so well set up that I couldn’t help but think it would be fun to share in case you would like to do it in your own neighborhood on Tuesday.

getting ready for the hunt

materials:

several rocks, around 3 per hunter (more is certainly good)

gold spray paint

invitations (or phone calls)

bags to place candy in (party favor bags)

*optional prize for the winner of the hunt

*1 bag of candy from each child

directions:

1. Invite friends. Our hunters were asked to be between the ages of 3 and 11 and to bring a bag of candy per child to share.

2. Spray paint rocks to create the “gold”

3. Hide rocks around your yard. Our hosts had the little kids in the front yard (8 and under); while the older kids searched the back yard.

4. Have the hunt: This takes about 20 minutes start to finish. (Well, excluding the playing while parents chatted.) Collect the candy as kids arrive and then divide it into bags for the children to take home.

5. After it seems all of the gold has been found, ask the children to count their rocks; then bring them to a “collector” to trade for candy.

6. If desired, award a prize to the person who collects the most “gold”. Save the rocks to pass to next year’s host.

Pretty simple, but a ton of fun! I thought this was such a great way to celebrate a holiday that usually doesn’t mean too much to little ones. Either way, have a Happy St. Patress Day (Which is what Megan calls it. =D)

Boy have I been procrastinating with what to do for Megan’s preschool Valentines. Luckily, I finally found some inspiration. If you are a procrastinator too, feel free to use these. They were super easy to put together and reasonably priced. Plus, Megan is stoked about them. We have played a few good games already.

materials:

fun foam or cardstock hearts (I found a pack of 30 ready to go, yay!)

tube of puffy paint

2 colors, polymer clay (such as fimo)

cookie cutter (optional)

directions:

1. Use the puffy paint to put a grid (of 9) on the fun foam heart; set aside to dry.

2. Knead a chunk of the clay to soften. If you are using a cookie cutter (which I recommend for speed’s sake) Lay down a piece of plastic wrap then press clay out onto it. Roll with a rolling pin to even out. You will want to keep it fairly think, at least 1/2″.

3. Bake clay as directed.

4. Wrap it all up and add a cheesy note like, “Valentine, You are a Winner!”

hehehe. Happy Valentine’s Day!