Boppy Slipcover One of my favorite “new mom staples” is a nursing pillow. I remember how big of a difference it made for me (specifically my shoulders and wrists) when I was cluster feeding my first baby, and it continues to be integral to my comfort with my subsequent babies. In fact, we bought the Boppy almost […]
DIY Carseat Canopy What I Used: 1 yard decorative fabric 1 1/4 yard base fabric Velcro OPTIONAL Coordinating ribbon Button maker kit (1) Iron fabrics and pin together, right sides facing. Cut base fabric down to decorative fabric. (2) Using a bowl or other large circle, round edges of pinned fabrics. (3) Sew around with a 1/2″ seam […]
Dyed Rice for Sensory Play, Art, and More Whether you’re looking for a fun playgroup or party activity for a group of youngsters or want to try something like this with your own special tyke, dyed rice is easy to make, fun to play with, and versatile for a number of activities and stages. I’ve used it for sensory bins, I-Spy jars, art […]
Large Cardboard Train Tutorial As silly as it may sound, I LOVE working with cardboard. After moving fairly frequently in early childhood, I have definite fond memories of creating forts and other objects out of our used moving boxes, and I love watching kids’ imaginations run free, both with the space of boxes themselves and also with what they […]
DIY Cardboard Cranky Crane My almost-two-year-old LOVES to stack things and knock them down. While at a recent dinner party, he entertained himself for an impressively long time by collecting play-doh containers and, completely uninterested in the contents, built tower after tower for his own amusement. While planning his Thomas the Train birthday party, I wanted to provide him […]
Train Ticket Invitation When trying to decide how to invite our guests to John Jr.’s second birthday, we loved the ideas of tickets! Using the basic premise from last year when we developed a sports’ ticket invitation, I modified bits and pieces to come up with a train ticket! If you’d like a more basic version to change […]
Princess Party Tshirts When my daughter was helping me plan her third birthday, she was extraordinarily excited about the idea of the whole family (who was able to come) being part of her party. After delving into her brain a bit, I learned that she really wanted all of us to have “special outfits.” While I’m not opposed […]
Tulle Circle Skirt Tutorial When my mom uncovered this beautiful bodice that her mother had made for her as a child (yes, that means that this hand-embroidered bodice is a 1960’s gem), she gave it to me to see if I could make it into something for my then-4 year old daughter. While the velvet bodice was intended for […]
Football Jersey T-shirts, Onesies, and Dresses When we decided to throw a football-themed birthday for my son’s first birthday, I wanted to find a way to bring the whole family together (especially my 3 year old daughter). Since we are fairly big sports enthusiasts, I decided we would get the most use out of football jerseys in our team’s favorite colors. […]
Constellation Craft Whether you’re trying to entertain dozens of toddlers at a celestial-themed birthday party, stimulate a lazy afternoon, or entertain kiddos for a late night like New Year’s Eve, this craft is educational, artistic, and yummy!!! It can also be modified for just about any age and stage. For instance, when catering to a large group, […]
Two Handprint Salt Dough Ornament While there are several different tutorials out there for salt dough ornaments with one handprint, I wanted to make one that recognized both of my kids to give to our neighborhood babysitter. After trying out some different methods, this was my most successful attempt, and it turned out perfectly! Yield: two large circular ornaments What […]
Felt Nativity Advent Calendar When my daughter was 3 and starting to become very aware of the holidays, I wanted to try to keep Christmas as non-commercialized as possible. For us, that means focusing the holiday around the Nativity and the biblical story. I also wanted to find something that she could interact with to engage both her creativity […]
Train Party Favors Whether you use these favors for a train-themed party, to entertain your own train enthusiast, or adapt them to fit your theme, I hope these ideas come in handy for you and your family! Train Whistles I love using birthday parties as an excuse to try my hand at a new crafting method. For my […]
- Thomas the Train Goodie Bag
Whether you use these for a party favor or as a special “brown lunch” bag, I hope this project is fun and functional! What I Used: Red and blue “lunch” bags (same size as brown paper bags for lunches) Found mine at Walmart for 3 for $1 James template Thomas template Rubber cement White gift […]
DIY Large Crayon Box & Reusable Coloring Book When planning parties, I love thinking about how to allow our young friends to take the party home, and try to give favors that mesh with the birthday child’s interests. My two year old has a blast coloring, but I hate saving or disposing of all the paper he uses. As a result, I’ve become […]
Painted Pumpkins With small children running around, sometimes it is virtually impossible to accomplish a messy, time-consuming decorative craft like pumpkin cutting (notwithstanding the dangerous tools). Thankfully, when I was growing up, my mom started an awesome tradition of painting pumpkins, and I’m trying my hand at it now too! After years and years of sharing Halloween […]
Thomas the Steam Engine Costume My almost-two year old is VERY interested in trains, so I wanted to see if we could make him a Thomas engine to wear for Halloween (I’ll update this post once I have some action shots from Halloween itself). After searching online, I found this simply amazing tutorial!!! I’ve updated some of the printables and […]
Fall Plate Charger When we found out that our son was due in mid-November, I realized that we would inevitably have family visiting us during the Thanksgiving holidays. For someone who had ALWAYS traveled to family for Thanksgiving, this became a daunting realization. Fortunately, our visiting family offered to cook the meal itself and, while my mom assured […]
ABC Fabric Blocks Tutorial After purchasing foam from a craft store (ridiculously expensive stuff), I saw these blocks at a friend’s house and wanted to try something similar in the colors of our big kids’ room. Using this tutorial, I developed my own tweaks, and here’s how it worked! What I Used: Foam Bread knife Cardboard scrap Fabric scraps […]
Church Quiet Books When board books and the contents of mom’s purse weren’t quite cutting it during Mass to keep our then 18 month old engaged, I decided to create a quiet book to help her (and my husband and I) remain calm during our weekly church services. After using it successfully for 3 years and another child, […]
Personalized Baby Book When I went to look for something quick and easy to compile memories, pictures, and stats for my first child, I became quickly annoyed with how different baby books are and how much I wanted to pick and choose different features. As a result, I went ahead and created my own that I have very […]
Burp Cloth Tutorial Using Cloth Diapers What I Used: Cloth diapers Fabric scrap (each 6″ x 22″) Cardboard box (4.5″ x 20″) (1) Pre-wash and iron fabric and cloth diapers. (2) I used a cardboard template to fold the fabric down to size as follows: (a) fold the sides into the template, and (b) fold the ends halfway down (to the […]
Straw Rockets What I Used: Rocket template (from buggyandbuddy.com) Straws of two different circumferences Safeway had thin ones and Dollar Tree had wider ones, so this was surprisingly both easy and cheap Clear tape Glue dots Clear party bags OPTIONAL: sticker paper and instructions label (1) Print and cut out rocket from template. We used cardstock and […]
Quilted Hanging Bags With having my two oldest moving into the same room, I wanted to come up with a way to allow them to store their “treasures” that would be accessible from their bed and also obvious enough that the other sibling would know that it was special. Fortunately, we had a space between the ends of […]
Rocket Ship Party Favors After seeing this general idea on Pinterest, I was very excited to use them for my daughter’s Astronaut Princess birthday party! I modified the designs I found online a little to make the final product more sturdy and personalized for our little guests. Here’s how: What I Used: Paper cup Cardstock Template Stickers Hot glue […]
Juice Box Rocket Ships For my four-year-old’s “astronaut princess” party, she was very excited about the various crafts and preparations leading up to her party. This year was also one of the first times that she was able to express and execute her opinions on how she envisioned certain aspects of her party. As someone who loves a challenge, […]
Outerspace Backdrop When hosting birthday/themed parties, I enjoy transforming an area of our party space. Usually this centers around the food, and recently, I’ve been having some fun with backdrops. Because we’re still renting and don’t want to spend a ton of money on our current home, the outside of the house, especially under the pergola, is […]
Cardboard Rocket Ships & Outerspace Tunnel When my daughter asked for an “Astronaut Princess” party for her fourth birthday, we were a little stumped. What does an astronaut princess do? What sort of party would she have? When the internet wasn’t helping me come up with a lot of princess-like astronauts (let alone “girly” ones), I went to the mastermind herself. […]
Rocket Packs: A Detailed Tutorial For my daughter’s 4th birthday, she requested an Astronaut Princess Party (why not?!), and we set to work defining what constitutes an “astronaut princess.” One thing Jenna was adamant about was that Astronaut Princesses could fly in/with rockets. When looking for inspiration, we both really loved these two images: Jenna had some special requests (needs […]
Easy and Lasting Play-Doh What I Used: 1 cup flour 1/2 cup salt 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 cup water 1 Tbsp vegetable oil Coloring (8-10 drops of liquid food coloring or gel coloring) Optional: glitter (1) Combine all of the ingredients (except the optional glitter) in a medium saucepan. (2) Stir over medium heat. When the ingredients […]
Stations of the Cross Mat Stations of the Cross can provide powerful imagery throughout the year and especially during Holy Week (the week before Easter). Many churches offer a “walk through the stations” during Lent, but this liturgical occasion may be difficult for younger children to grasp, and many Stations of the Cross may be too graphic or abstract for […]
Stained Glass Windows with Tissue Paper What I Used: 1 page black construction paper White or silver pen or pencil Stick glue Tissue paper scraps (various colors) (1) Cut or rip tissue paper into scraps. (2) Draw design on black construction paper and cut out. (3) Liberally put glue all around black paper design. (4) Glue tissue paper scraps around the […]
Butterfly Metamorphosis Craft Tutorial When looking for a butterfly craft to do with my preschooler and our early elementary friend, I knew that I wanted something that highlighted the metamorphosis and made it more of an activity in fine motor skill as well as creativity. Here’s what I came up with: What I used: Caterpillar Clothespin Black pipe cleaner […]
Roses and Mesh Valentine’s Wreath While I made this wreath for Valentine’s Day, it is easily adaptable to any season or celebration. With wreaths being so expensive, it’s wonderful to know that there are relatively inexpensive options out there to produce your own customizable creation! What I used: Cardboard 8 tubes of Dollar Store mesh (each 6″ x 5 yards) […]
Homemade Box of Chocolates What I used: Dollar store box of chocolates Template Full-page labels OPTIONAL: Acrylic paint, stickers, and preschoolers Chocolates S’mores bites Buckeye Candy Chocolate coated soft caramels (1) Print template and attach to the back of the Dollar Store chocolate box. (2) Decorate top of box. AUTHOR’S NOTE: Since we were intending for kids to decorate […]
DIY Cupcake Stand What I used: Pencil String Cardboard (enough for two of each: 18″, 14″, 10″, 6″ circles) 2 large glass jars with twistable lids (I used sauerkraut jars) 4 sheets of poster board Ribbon Thick cardboard tube (the one used here is from a spool of 6″ organza) Hot glue (1) Tie string to pencil and, […]
Lined Field Tablecloth (Artificial Turf) What I used: Artificial turf (available at Home Depot, Lowes, etc) Vinyl transfer material Silhouette machine Hashes, dashes, and numbers Athletic tape (1) Cut the artificial turf to cover your table plus extra to allow for wrapping the turf under the table. Wrap the additional coverage under your table and secure with tape. NOTE: When […]
Parking Lot Tablecloth When I was looking for a way to display a snackadium at my son’s recent football-themed birthday party, I knew I wanted to do something a little different. Being a hyper-logical person, it didn’t make sense to me to do a grass field for what would look like the environs surrounding the snackadium (is there […]
Sports Ticket Invitation Tutorial Ticket invitations are a great way to get your guests in the mood for a themed party. While this tutorial refers to a sports-themed ticket, it can be modified to suit any party (movie viewing, awards show, tv finale, basically anything in the entertainment industry immediately comes to mind)! If you’d rather fill them in […]
Football Painted Tin Cans What I used: Tin can (empty) Medium paint brush Brown acrylic paint White duct tape (you can also use athletic tape or white electrical tape) (1) After rinsing the inside of the can, pat dry, leaving the label intact (do not peel). (2) Paint can with acrylic paint. Don’t worry if your first coat does […]
Football Party Goodie Bags Whether you send these toys home with kids or use them as an easy way to distract and entertain young guests during a party, these four football party goodie bag components are an easy, inexpensive, and fun way to get little kids involved in any football-themed party! Sticker Project After watching my toddler-preschool aged child […]
How to cut felt Cutting felt by hand can be a tricky and frustrating process. Thankfully, there are many helpful hints out there. After trying my hand at quiet books, felt dioramas, and countless other projects, here is my favorite technique for cutting intricate felt designs! What I used: Felt Template Scissors Clear packing tape (1) Print out your […]
Candy Cane Horse Yield: 2 horses (roughly) What I used: Candy cane Candy Cane Horse Template Red and green felt (9×12 sheets) 7mm google eyes Tinsel “ribbon” Hot glue gun (1) Print template, trace onto felt, and cut out pieces. (2) Place one horse head down and hot glue the mane in place. Trim if desired. (3) Hot […]
Candy Cane Mouse Yield: 8 mice (roughly) What I used: Candy cane Candy Cane Mouse Template Red and Green felt (9×12 sheets) 7 mm pom-pom 7 mm google eyes Hot glue gun Black embroidery thread (1) Trace template body onto green felt, and trace template ears onto red felt. Cut out shapes and cut slits (as on template). […]
Lace Candy Cane What I used: 2 candy canes 1 six-foot roll of lace 1 tsp fabric stiffener 1 tsp water plastic gloves wax paper disposable plate (1) Cut roll of lace into two pieces. (2) Put on gloves, and mix 1 tsp fabric stiffener with 1 tsp water on your disposable plate. Thoroughly coat one lace piece […]
Candy Cane Reindeer What I used: Candy cane Brown pipe cleaner 7 mm pom-pom 7 mm google eyes 7″ of ribbon (I used both 1/8″–red and 1/4″–green) Hot glue gun (1) Twist the pipe cleaner around the curve of the candy cane, starting at the top of the candy cane. (2) Take one long end of the pipe […]
Crochet Candy Cane What I used: Candy cane 12 yds worsted weight yarn Crochet hook, size F Special stitch: “picot” → (ch 3, sl st in top of dc) (Row 1) Ch 37; dc in 4rd ch from hook (counts as 1 dc) and each ch across: 35 dc. (Row 2) Ch 3, turn (counts as 1st dc); dc […]
Candy Cane Crafts Whether you’re looking for a quick gift for kids’ classmates or something “nonbreakable” for the kids to help with trimming the tree, candy cane crafts can be a quick and easy craft for the holidays (and they make for a fun, sweet distraction when you’re trying to put away decorations later)! Here’s a round up […]
- Coming soon in crafts…
Check back soon for tutorials on how to make the most of raw materials! Please subscribe to our newsletter for notifications regarding upcoming posts. Proposed topics: Yarn work, needlepoint, papercraft, sewing, woodworking, felt work, and everything in between (I’ve never tried glass blowing, but never say never)!
[…] Printable Valentines (with Dollar Store “goodies”) […]
[…] Snacks seem to always be a huge hit with small guests! In order to give kids (and their parents) some variety in the snacks, we made three different variants that all resembled “moon rocks” or, at the very least, outerspace snacks. We packaged them in clear party bags with these labels (instructions are the same as the frog valentines here). […]