Mama.Papa.Bubba. -
Menu
Skip to content
  • SHOP
  • preemie
  • baby
  • play
  • craft
  • learn
  • cook
  • DIY
  • kuwait
  • vancouver
  • contact
  • about

Tag Archives: arts and crafts

Sidewalk Chalk Paint on Paper

5 / 31 / 136 / 2 / 13

Sidewalk Chalk Paint on Paper | Mama Papa BubbaOne of our favourite things to do on sunny spring and summer days is to cover our sidewalks in bright colours and patterns using homemade sidewalk chalk paint.  The paint, which dries with a chalk-looking finish, is vibrant, easy to apply, and washes off with a couple of rains.  Perfect, right?  Almost!  The only {petty} problems are that it’s best used during the warmer, drier months of the year, and the beautiful sidewalk art created cannot be saved in Miss G’s scrapbooks (duh!) 

With both of those things in mind, today we did some experimenting with using the paint on paper!  I wasn’t sure how it was going to work, but I’m happy to report that it worked wonderfully!

Sidewalk Chalk Paint  Blender Method | Mama Papa BubbaFirst off, after making many batches of sidewalk chalk paint, here is our easy peasy, minimally-messy method of making it.  The key component?  A blender!  First off, it prevents the inevitable cornstarch poof that comes with whisking it, and secondly, I find that after a good long spin in the blender, the cornstarch doesn’t separate from the water nearly as quickly as when we hand mix it.  

IMG 8474With our paints ready, we headed outside with a stack of black construction paper.  I’m sure other papers would work wonderfully too, but I was kind of going for the old-school blackboard look.  Now…  I’m not going to lie.  When we first started using the paints on the paper, I thought our experiment was going to be a total flop.  So much so, in fact, that we ditched the paper and used our entire batch of paint on our front sidewalk instead.  Going on, the paint looked like slightly muddled water… Not quite the look I was hoping for!

It wasn’t until every last drop of our paint was gone and we were beginning to clean up that we noticed how beautiful the paintings we’d banished over to the side were now that they were dry.

IMG 8469Instead of looking wet and barely there like this…

IMG 8491Once dry, they were bright, chalky, and vibrant like this!  Cool, right?  

IMG 8467With that, it was back into the kitchen to whip up another batch of paint.  Together, we painted many more pieces, this time watching the transformation as they dried.

IMG 8493The other kind of cool thing we learned is that once your piece is dry…

IMG 8480You can use your fingernail or the edge of a popsicle stick to scratch off designs and patterns!  Fun, right?

IMG 8483How did our afternoon of painting end? Hah!  Like this!  Miss G was done, dinnertime was nearing, and we still had some paint leftover, so out it went onto the sidewalk.  Of course, which two year old can resist walking through regular puddles, let alone rainbow-coloured ones?! 

IMG 8486Well, and because feet were okay, hands must be okay too, no?

♥ 

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

4 Comments

Paper Roll Shape Stamps

5 / 28 / 135 / 29 / 13

Paper Roll Shape Stamps | Mama Papa BubbaEvery once and a while, I seem to go through a paper roll collecting stage.  I have no idea why, because I truly never have anything planned for them, but it happens none the less.  When I noticed a little collection of them today during nap time, I decided we’d put them to use this afternoon.

IMG 8316Though we really haven’t done a whole lot of paper tube crafts, I remembered how much Miss G enjoyed the heart stamping activity we did last fall.  Not wanting to do the exact same thing again, I decided to create several different shapes to switch things up a little bit.  To start off, I gently cut the tubes in half.

IMG 8320Next, came shaping them.  The good news is that it wasn’t difficult.  For the triangle,  square, and rectangle, I basically made the required number of corners by folding the tubes, then played with the shapes a little bit until I was happy with them.  You can see exactly how to form the heart shape here, and the circle, well, you just leave it as is {obviously}.

IMG 8324At this point, Gracen was still asleep and I just couldn’t wait test them out.  So I didn’t. ☺

IMG 8328When my little lady woke up, she quickly discovered the stamping station I’d set out for her, and she was thrilled.

IMG 8330She stamped away testing out each shape thoroughly…   

IMG 8338Her personal favourite?  My impromptu bow tie stamp dipped in purple paint (of course).  

Depending on the paper used for this project, your little one(s) could create a new piece of art for the wall, a piece of wrap for a gift, or a greeting card for someone special.

♥ 

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.  

36 Comments

Footprint Butterfly Flower Pot

5 / 20 / 134 / 20 / 15

Footprint Butterfly Flower Pot | Mama.Papa.Bubba. Blog

A few weeks ago, Gracen’s {great} aunt sent me this photo of a footprint butterfly flower pot and asked if Miss G could make her one.  After some serious detective work, I believe that the photo was originally shared on Carol’s Classic Gifts and Decor’s Facebook page, but I could be wrong (please correct me if I am!) Though there were no instructions attached, the project looked pretty straight forward, we went for it.

IMG 9987{this post includes affiliate links}

Here’s what we used…  A clay pot large enough to fit Grae’s growing feet on the side, some acrylic paint, a few old foam paintbrushes, a black Sharpie (though black paint and a fine brush or a paint pen would be great also), and lastly, a matte spray-on clear coat.

IMG 9989

Because of the potentially {very} messy nature of this project, we opted to do it outside with the garden hose and a pile of old rags nearby (and I’m thankful we did…things got MESSY despite my precautionary steps).  To get started, I applied a thick layer of paint to Grae’s foot.  In our case, we used purple and green (Auntie Judy’s favourite colours) with a little bit of white in the middle, but you could obviously use any colours you like.  One thing I would say is that if you want the colours to mix together where they meet, you should probably help them along with your paintbrush while on the foot.  I expected the mixing to sort of naturally happen when Grae’s foot was pressed down on the pot, but it didn’t (not a lot, at least).

IMG 9994

We carefully pressed one foot onto the pot, washed it off, then painted the other foot and pressed it on so that the two straight edges were in the middle (with a small space between them) and the two arched edges were pointing outwards.

IMG 9998

After giving the footprints a few minutes to dry, I used the Sharpie to draw a very simple butterfly body and antennae in the centre.

IMG 0011

Then we flipped the pot over and wrote a little message so that Auntie Judy will remember who made the pot and when it was created years down the road.

IMG 9999

As a final step, I gave the butterfly part of the pot a light spray of matte sealant, just to make it a little more durable.  Ten minutes later it was dry and we had an adorable personalized gift that was both easy and inexpensive to make.

Footprint Butterfly Flower Pot | Mama Papa Bubba

If you love making personalized gifts, be sure to check out our ‘I love you’ pillowcase, our hand-shaped ring dish, our clay handprint keepsakes, and our paper strip handprint keepsake.

♥

Are you following us on Facebook and Instagram?

We’d love to have you!

 

18 Comments

I Love Grandma Because… {A Mother’s Day Gift}

5 / 11 / 135 / 12 / 13

I Love You Because Flower | Mama Papa BubbaWhile we should have probably had these done last weekend and in the mail days ago, Miss G and I just put together these little gifts for the grandmas today. (Sorry Grandmas!  Here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming very soon.)

‘I love you because…’ flowers are an old favourite of mine.  I think I done a version of this project every year that I’ve taught and I absolutely adore hearing about why my munchkins love their moms (or fathers/caretakers/aunts/grandmas/etc.) – the answers are often heartwarming and hilarious all at once.  

IMG 9692To get started, Gracen and I filed through my scrapbook paper stash and selected some paper colours for both of her grandmas.  We talked about the parts of a flower, and as she described them, I cut them out.  6 petals, a ‘middle’, a stem, 2 leaves, and a background later, Miss G was ready to start assembling her first flower.

IMG 9696When I asked her if she knew what to do, she said she didn’t, but she got started independently anyways.  She wanted to start with the yellow circle, and the only thing I helped her with was positioning it in a spot that would allow for enough room for both the petals and the stem.

IMG 9698She squeezed a dollop of glue on the back of each petal, then carefully tucked them underneath the centre piece, making sure that none overlapped too much.

IMG 9703When she was done with the petals, she glued on the stem and leaves.

IMG 9706Here’s her finished flower.  Adorable, right?!

IMG 9711Once the flower had had a moment to dry, we sat down together and used the hand over hand technique to print ‘I love Grandma Sue because…’ in the middle of the flower.  Then we talked about the reasons why she loved her Grandmas and added one idea to each petal.  She was happy to help me print the first couple, but asked me to write down the ideas on my own after that, which I was totally fine with.  This project is all about the ideas!  I wrote down her phrases just as she’d said them, even when she told me that she loved Grandma Sue because of her nice feet and belly – hah! ☺

I think the grandmas are going to love these, and it will definitely be interesting to see how her reasons change over the years.  Now to get them in the mail, ASAP.

♥ 

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

3 Comments

Citrus Cup Bird Feeders

4 / 25 / 134 / 28 / 13

Citrus Cup Bird Feeders | Mama Papa BubbaI swear, I’m not a hoarder.  In fact, with something like 49 moves under my belt in my 31 years, it’s quite the opposite.  I’d much rather toss/recycle/give something away than have to lug it to a new location.  Buuuuuuut, the other day after juicing a bunch of citrus fruit, I couldn’t help but think that there might be something we could do will all of the empty rinds (please tell me some of you do this too).  Not knowing what it was at the moment, I tossed them all into a container in the fridge and decided I’d figure it out later.  Sure enough, a couple of days later as I was grabbing something from the fridge, I remembered the very unique bird feeders I’d seen on Happy Hooligans a few months back.  Gracen loves birds and we love to keep our backyard feather friends well fed, so I decided we’d make our own version of the project.

IMG 8651First, we gathered a few things from around the house… The rinds, some baker’s twine (Greenmunch is a great place to buy it, plus everything party, mason jar, and crafting related!), an large embroidery needle, and a pushpin.

IMG 8669After threading our needle and tying a knot at the end, we pushed our embroidery needle through one side of our citrus cup, straight through the other side.  I thought we may need the tack to start our holes, but we totally didn’t (though you might if you had a particularly tough rind).  I did the poking, and Miss G did the pulling through part.

IMG 8670With the twine pulled all the way through, we pulled up the centre to create a long loop for hanging.

IMG 8672Next, we did a quarter turn and fed the needle straight through the rind again, this time perpendicular to the first set of holes.

IMG 8673Then we pulled the second centre string up to meet the first and tied a knot on the outside of the citrus cup in order to secure everything.

IMG 8663While she helped me ‘sew’ the first couple of rinds, Gracen discovered that she could make some pretty interesting creations with the extra citrus cups and pushpins, so that’s what she did.

IMG 8664This little lemon went from having ‘pokey hair’ to being an octopus, to being a porcupine, and many other things along the way.

IMG 8675When our citrus rind cups were complete, we focused on the food portion of the process.  

IMG 8680All we did was take some bird seed (we used a wild bird variety), and mixed in a tablespoon of all-natural peanut butter for every half cup of seed in order to give it some ‘stick’.

IMG 8693Then Grae carefully filled the cups with the sticky seed mixture one scoop at a time.

IMG 8694We used 1 1/2 cups of seed with 3 tablespoons of peanut butter and it filled 2 grapefruit cups and 2 lemon cups until heaping.

IMG 8697With that, it was off to hang the new feeders in the backyard.  

IMG 8707Gracen was very specific and knew she wanted one in our apple-pear tree, one in our fig tree, and one in our plum tree… And the other one got hung in our rose bush.  

Now let’s bring on the hungry birdies!

See our other bird feeders here and here.

♥ 

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

 
2 Comments

Wooden Spoon Puppet People

4 / 8 / 134 / 11 / 13

Wooden Spoon Puppet PeopleLast spring, I bought a multi-pack of wooden spoons in order to make a bird feeder similar to this one.  While we don’t buy bottled water (or any kind of individually bottled beverage for that matter), I thought a plastic bottle of some sort would eventually make its way into our recycling bin… Well, it hasn’t.  Not yet at least.  And while I could go digging through my neighbours’ bins on trash day, I decided we’d switch things up a little and finally put our wooden spoons to good use with this fun little project.

IMG 7737To get us started, I put out some coloured Sharpies, some felt strips, ribbon pieces, pieces of yarn, googly eyes, sequins, buttons, gems, some glitter glue, and some craft glue.

IMG 7741We started off by attaching some googly eyes to the back of our spoons with craft glue, and then I encouraged Gracen to add the other details as she pleased.

Wooden Spoon Puppet PeopleHere’s her first puppet person.

IMG 7747IMG 7753After creating a few girls, it was time to create a boy.  She asked me to cut out some ‘Papa hair’, a moustache, and tie for him, and then put him together, adding buttons down his front because ‘that’s how Papa’s shirts are for work’.

IMG 7756Here’s our completed wooden spoon puppet people family…  From left to right, Daddy, Dah-fat, Fadeen, and my personal favourite, Fafee Cacus. (Oh, the names things are given right now…)

Puppet talkLater on, once dry, Gracen disappeared into her room with the puppets and I found her acting out a playground scene and making the mommy and daddy puppets kiss. ☺

IMG 7769

♥ 

If you haven’t already, you can like us on Facebook here and follow us on Instagram here. 

2 Comments

Contact Paper Egg Decorating

3 / 27 / 134 / 2 / 13

Contact Paper Egg DecoratingI set up this little creative table for Miss G this morning and she was so over the top excited about it that she could barely contain herself.

IMG 7144It was very simple to set up, but still took too long for Miss G’s likes.  All I had to do is cut out a few large egg shapes out of construction paper…

IMG 7145Then cut smaller ones inside, leaving an outline a couple of centimetres thick.

IMG 7147Next I stuck the egg outlines onto some clear contact paper, and trimmed off the excess.

IMG 7158I quickly filled up some little containers with our homemade coloured rice, paper confetti, tissue paper circles, and strips of spring-themed ribbon, and set my impatient little lady loose.

IMG 7153She got started immediately, diving into the pastel ribbons first.

IMG 7156And the messy stuff afterwards.  ☺

IMG 7160She immediately completed two of the eggs, and left the third one to a complete a little later.  As of now, Miss G’s eggs remain as they were when she finished decorating them, but we may cover her designs with a second sheet of contact paper in order to make them a little easier to store.

♥ 

If you’re new to Mama.Papa.Bubba., welcome!

Stay on top of the fun by liking us on Facebook here and following us on Instagram here. 

 
Leave a comment

Gracen Tested: Sparked Kids Discovery Kit

3 / 15 / 133 / 21 / 13

IMG 5277Last month, Gracen and I were lucky enough to receive a discovery kit from Sparked Kids Crafts.  If you haven’t heard of them before, Sparked Kids Crafts is a Vancouver Island-based subscription service that delivers educational art activities, science explorations, and imaginative play activities aimed at 3 to 7 year olds right to your doorstep.  Pretty cool, right?

IMG 5280Gracen was thrilled to receive a bright and beautiful package full of fun goodies and I was thrilled with how quickly it arrived and how professional the package looked.

IMG 5283Sparked discovery kits come with everything you need to complete several projects right there inside the box – markers, paper, pencils and instructions included!  Our kit was pirate-themed and came with four easy activities…  A folded paper pirate hat to make, a wooden treasure chest to decorate, a treasure map to create, and a popsicle stick parrot puppet to assemble.

IMG 5291Grae was super excited to get started and chose to make the paper pirate hat first (talk about taking me back to my childhood!)

IMG 5296Though the finished product wouldn’t quite stay on her head, for us, projects like these are all about the process.  We spent time together, we worked as a team, and we had fun together, and that’s what’s important.  If we wanted to, we could attach some sort of elastic easily enough and add the hat to her dress-up station for future imaginative play.

IMG 5299Next up, Gracen chose to decorate her treasure box.  At first she began adding splashes of colour here and there and then she requested that I draw some shapes for her to colour in.  She thought decorating a wooden box was a blast and I loved that Sparked had included high-quality crafting products for us to use.

IMG 5304While we haven’t had a chance to make our treasure map yet, there are already plenty of things I love about Sparked Kids Crafts…

1.  It’s a Canadian-based business (yay for supporting local!)

2.  It’s run by two moms, one a savvy mompreneur and the other a teacher (go moms!).

3.  The kits come with clear, easy-to-follow instructions.

4. The materials included are good quality.

5. The activities included are not at all intimidating, not even for those who claim they’re not crafty (I promise!)

6. A single discovery kit contains several activities, which if spaced out a little can easily keep you and your munchkin(s) creating all month long.

7. Each themed kit comes with it’s own enhancement activities and recommended reading list on the Discover More portion of the Sparked website.

Overall, I’d say that’s a lot of pluses for a fairly new small business, wouldn’t you?  In the interest of full honesty, the only thing I’d say is that I did find the activities in this particular kit to be a little… uninspired?  That sounds too harsh.  Perhaps ‘ordinary’ is a better word?  I’m not sure. Now, I’m not saying that the activities were not enjoyable, because they certainly were.  And truth be told, for the most part, kids don’t really care how unique or innovative an activity is, they’re just stoked that someone’s taking the time to sit down and create something with them.  I guess I just felt like the activities were mostly things that I could pull together on my own without too much planning, shopping, or prep work.  But then again, I’m an elementary school teacher, an owner of a handmade goods shop, and in general, someone who enjoys getting creative, so maybe that’s not a fair assessment. 

What I do think is that a Sparked Kids Craft subscription would be an amazing help to parents who are super busy, parents who don’t have the time/energy/inspiration to pull together crafts on their own, and parents who don’t consider themselves creative or crafty.  I also think a subscription would make an awesome gift, because truly, which child doesn’t love receiving mail?!

 

WIN A SPARKED DISCOVERY KIT OF YOUR OWN

Sparked Kids Crafts has generously offered to gift a discovery kit to one lucky Canadian Mama.Papa.Bubba. winner.  The contest is open until Friday, March 29th and there are multiple ways to win (please be sure to leave a separate comment for each).

To enter to win a complimentary Sparked Kids Crafts discovery kit:

–> Visit their website and tell us one thing you like about Sparked Kids Crafts

-> ‘Like’ Sparked Kids Crafts on Facebook and come back here and leave a SEPARATE comment saying you did so (or previously did)

-> Follow Sparked Kids Crafts on Twitter and come back here and leave a SEPARATE comment saying you did so (or previously did)

-> Follow Sparked Kids Crafts on Pinterest and come back here and leave a SEPARATE comment saying you did so (or previously did)

–> ‘Like’ Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Facebook, come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)

 

Obviously the more times you enter, the better your chances of winning. ☺  Don’t forget to leave your email address!  The winner will be announced on March 30th and contacted via email.  Good luck!!

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

53 Comments

Spring Butterflies

3 / 1 / 133 / 4 / 13

Coffee Filter  Clothespin ButterfliesBack when we were living in Kuwait, I remember desperately longing for rain.  The kind that lasts days and days and lends itself to cozy hoodies, movie afternoons, and pots of soup simmering on the stove.  Well, I’m happy to say, I think I’ve officially had my fix.  It’s been raining for several days in a row now, and though lazy afternoons on the couch watching documentaries and romantic comedies don’t exactly fit well with our current life, we’ve enjoyed the rain nonetheless.   

That being said, sometimes enough is enough.  After spending the morning pretending we were in the tropics {while actually at the conservatory}, we decided to spend our afternoon creating spring butterflies.  

IMG 6101The project started off as a creative table…  Some coffee filters, Mr. Sketch scented makers (my absolute favourite as a child), Crayola markers, and a few bingo dabbers.

IMG 6157Grae decorated her coffee filters independently for a while, and then asked me to join her to finish them off.  

IMG 6161Afterwards, Miss G used an easy-to-squeeze spray bottle to soak the filters pretty thoroughly.

IMG 6168While waiting for them to dry, we began to work on our butterfly bodies.  Using Sharpies, we drew little faces on the tops of the bamboo pins.

IMG 6170Here they are when done.

IMG 6170Next, Grae chose some pipe cleaners from our stash, we cut them in half, and bent them into little antennae shapes.

IMG 6171When we got back to our filters, they weren’t quite dry yet, so we took a blowdryer to them.  10 seconds each was all they needed.

IMG 6173To assemble the butterflies, we simply pinched them across the middle (Miss G did this job) and fanned the wings out nicely (my job).

IMG 6175Then Grae carefully selected a clothespin body and a set of sparkly antennae and we clipped everything together.

IMG 6187Here are are the two butterflies Miss G declared her favourites.

IMG 6195At the last  minute, we decided to add magnets to the backs of the clothespins with hot glue (I also popped a little squeeze of glue into the tops of the clothespins too, just to hold everything together more permanently).

IMG 6192And here’s my proud little girl with her finished project.

♥ 

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

 
 
7 Comments

Balloons and Sharpies: A Creative Table

2 / 26 / 132 / 27 / 14
Balloons  Sharpies{this post contains affiliate links}

This morning as Gracen was playing in her room (aka tearing everything off of every shelf and pulling everything out of every drawer) and I was doing a little bit of tidying, I decided to quickly load up her creative table with some new supplies.  We’ve had balloons floating all around the house since her half birthday balloon bath, so I grabbed a couple of soup bowls, placed a couple of balloons inside, and put out a little jar of my {coveted} colourful Sharpies.

IMG 6083

Without a word of exaggeration, upon coming into the room, Grae’s eyes lit up, she punched both fists into the air, and squealed “Yaaaay! New crafting stuff!”

IMG 6086

She found it pretty hysterical that she was allowed to draw on balloons, and asked several times, “Mama, it’s okay to draw on dese balloons?”

IMG 6088

Once she accepted that it was most certainly okay to draw on the balloons, she dove in.  Her favourite was a ‘game’ she asked me to play with her…  I was to draw dots all over the balloon and she was going to colour over top of each.and.every.one.

IMG 6091

While the thought of balloons popping did cross my mind, day old {and therefore slightly squishy} balloons and well-used Sharpies = success.

So what do you do with balloons that have been drawn on?  Well, all of the things you do with a regular balloon I guess… Play keep it up, have a game of indoor volleyball, try kicking it really hard to see how far you can make it go – the usual.  Unless of course, you’ve drawn a face on it – then you can attach cardboard feet and have a little balloon person hang out around the house.  Like I think the majority of kids’ art should be, this is all about the process. ☺

See some of our other creative table ideas here.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

7 Comments

Contact Paper, Tissue, Sequins, Confetti, & Glitter: A Creative Table

2 / 25 / 133 / 1 / 13

Contact Paper Tissue Sequins Confetti  Glitter Creative TableThis creative table set up had a good long run in our house…  It’s been worked on day in and out for over a week now, and I’m sure Gracen would still be adding to it if there was any sticky space left on the contact paper.  

IMG 5750When it began, it looked like this… A piece of clear contact paper, sticky side up, tacked down to one of our vintage apple crates (it could just as easily be taped down to a table top), and a few little jars of decorating goodies, as Miss G calls them.

IMG 5756Included were sequins, confetti, tissue squares, and a container of glitter.

IMG 5753Although I often set up Gracen’s creative tables while she’s sleeping, this time around she helped me set up, selecting the glitter (of course) and the sequins to be part of it.

IMG 5759When we’d finished gather our materials, she began creating without direction or instruction… Carefully adding each item, one at a time, and pressing them down onto the sticky paper.

IMG 5755The lovely thing about contact paper is that because everything sticks to it, projects (even when they include a full bottle of glitter) never get wildly messy.

IMG 5918Grae revisited it daily, adding a little bit each time, until today when we decided it was time to switch things up a little.

IMG 6005Now we could have easily called it quits at this point, because art like this is definitely about the process and not the finished product, but Grae had announced early on that she would be hanging her finished piece on her bedroom door.  In order to preserve it a little better, we took out our contact paper once again and cut a piece the same size as the original one.

IMG 6007I then peeled the backing off of just the top edge of the new sheet, carefully lined it up with the art piece, and pressed the two sheets, sticky sides together, down.  Afterwards, I pulled the remaining backing off in order to cover the entire piece.

IMG 6009Here’s what it looked like with everything sealed in. We could have left it as is, but Gracen chose to cut it into two hearts rather than keep it as one large rectangle.

IMG 6011Here’s the finished product.  She very proudly hung it on her door turned art gallery, but it would be super pretty hung in front of a window where light could shine through too.

To learn a little bit more about how we do creative tables around here, visit this creative table post and this one too.  Or, pop by Tinkerlab, where Rachelle, the creator of the Creative Table Project explains.

♥ 

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

 
8 Comments

Sparkly Heart-Shaped Wands

1 / 31 / 131 / 25 / 14

Sparkly Heart-Shaped Wands | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

In addition to our annual Valentine’s Day tea, Gracen and I have a couple of other Valentine’s parties and classes to attend this year.  And since we don’t do the whole candy thing just yet, it means getting a little bit more creative with the ‘treats’ she hands out.  When I asked her what she’d like to give her friends, she responded with Valentine’s slime (thanks I’m sure to our Halloween version for her ballet class friends) and heart wands (thanks to a Kiwi Crate package we received from our most recent PBK story time).  And because both take a little bit of prep work, we started early…  More time left over to figure out what we’ll bring for the 30+ kiddos in her Strong Start class, right?

These little wands are beautiful and easy to make, and although some may think they’re a little ‘girly’, we believe that hearts and magic are for everyone. ☺

Heart Wand Materials

Here are the materials we used for the project…  Wooden dowels, adhesive glitter foam sheets, acrylic paint, a paint brush, and some ribbon.  The best part is that we picked up all of these things at our local dollar store, so not only were they inexpensive, but we only had to make one stop – always nice with a toddler in tow.

IMG 4891

First off, we started the project by painting our wooden dowels.  Miss G does not always enjoy having her hands covered in paint, so we attached clothespins to the ends of the dowels so she could rotate them as she painted without painting her fingers.  When she declared a dowel done, I went over the stick with a couple of quick strokes in order to smooth out the globs.

IMG 4896

Then, because the tips were not painted where the clothespins were, I was able to stick the dowels into chunks of {gingerbread} play dough to dry upright.

IMG 4995

A couple of days later, when our paint was good and dry (it actually only takes about an hour), we came back to our project.  We started by drawing a heart shape onto a piece of cardboard and cutting it out to use as a tracer.

IMG 4996

Next, using our newly-made tracer, we traced hearts onto the backs of our foam sheets.  Gracen was happy to do the first few, and let me do the others when it came to this job.

IMG 5000

With some strategic placement, we were able to fit 4 hearts onto each of our foam sheets, but of course it depends on the size of your tracer and the size of your foam sheets.

IMG 5004

Next, we cut out the hearts.

IMG 5005

Now to actually assemble a wand, you need two foam hearts, a wooden dowel, and a cute little helper.

IMG 5007

This right here was Grae’s favourite part of the whole project… Peeling the backings off of the hearts!

IMG 5009

With one heart shaped peeled, we placed the sticky side up on our work surface and placed the unfinished end of our dowel in the centre of the heart, up maybe an inch or inch and a half from the bottom.

IMG 5012

Then Grae peeled the backing off of another heart, and we carefully placed it on top of the dowel, making sure to line up the hearts as closely as we could.

IMG 5013

With the heart in a good position, Grae pressed everything together firmly.

IMG 5017

Next up – the ribbon!  We chose 3 colours, looped them in half, and cut them slightly shorter than the length of our exposed dowel .

IMG 5018

Then we stacked them up and tied them onto the dowel at the base of the heart, giving them a little tug to coax them into falling downwards nicely.

IMG 5026

Then, with a different, slightly narrower ribbon, we tied a bow right above the previous ribbon knot…

IMG 5024

And finished off all of the ribbon ends with v snips.

IMG_5027

IMG 5445

IMG 5446

IMG 5447
And there you have it.  Sparkly heart-shaped wands for Miss G’s little friends.

♥

Keep up with all the Mama.Papa.Bubba. fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

 

8 Comments

A First Drawing: Ainsley & Baby Otto

1 / 30 / 131 / 31 / 13

IMG 4993This afternoon Miss G made a little congratulations card for her sweet playmate Ainsley, who became a big sister 11 days ago.  She decided she wanted to draw Ainsley and her new brother on the inside of the card, which was a big undertaking seeing as she’s only ever really drawn circles, triangles, squares, and happy faces.  When she asked for help, I walked her through the parts we needed to add to her start of two smiley faces (“Okay, now what does Ainsley have on her head?”, “What about feet? Should we add some?”, etc.) and this is what she created.  

Pretty brilliant for a first real drawing, I’d say.  ☺

♥ 

Keep up with all the Mama.Papa.Bubba. fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

Leave a comment

Valentine’s Creative Table

1 / 24 / 131 / 11 / 14

One of the things I’ve been doing to encourage independent play {and creativity} in recent months is keeping a fun, inviting, and well-stocked ‘creative table’ for Gracen.  All it is is her little table (or sometimes a tray or even the floor) with an assortment of materials available for her free use.  Sometimes it’s paper and glue and embellishments (like in our Christmas tree creative table), sometimes it’s play dough and cookie cutters and decorations, and sometimes it’s a tray of baking soda with droppers and dishes of different coloured vinegars.   Naturally, some creative table set-ups are more open-ended and some lend themselves more to a finished product, but either way, the purpose is for Gracen to explore materials, experiment, and create freely while enjoying the process.

Valentine's Creative Table | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Today, Miss G and I did a little bit of shopping for this year’s Valentine’s Day projects (yes, we’re thinking about it already), and though I intended on holding off on a Valentine’s themed creative table for a while yet, my little lady popped up from her afternoon nap and her first words were, “I want to craft now.  Grae Grae gets her new craft things!”  And that was that.  A Valentine’s creative table it was.

IMG 4670

IMG 4669

IMG 4672

Together we gathered up all sorts of pink and red craft supplies…  Smelly markers, sparkly foam shapes, bingo dabbers, stamps and a stamp pad, doilies, construction paper hearts, and some glue.

IMG 4683

As she does with most creative projects, Grae dove right in.

IMG 4687

The immediate favourite?  The foam stickers.  She plower through the initial stash and asked for more right away.

IMG 4681

Throughout the afternoon and evening, she came and went as she pleased, adding to her pieces as she wished.

Here are a few of the pieces she declared ‘finished’…

IMG 4688

IMG 4694

IMG 4689

While it won’t be around until the big day (I try to change up our creative table supplies every 4 to 7 days or so), there’s no doubt it will be enjoyed, added to, and revisited for several days to come.

♥

Keep up with all the Mama.Papa.Bubba. fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

4 Comments

Shiny Condensed Milk Paint

1 / 8 / 131 / 14 / 13

Shiny Condensed Milk PaintA couple of days ago as Gracen was emptying and restocking Grandma Charlotte’s pantry shelves just for fun (obviously), she came across a can of condensed milk.  GC had no idea why she had it or what she’d ever do with it, but I had an idea… Shiny homemade paint!

I’ve made this paint tons of times to use at the painting station in my Kindergarten classrooms, and it’s always been a hit.  It’s bright and thick and glossy, and when used on an easel, it doesn’t drip.  The best part is that when it dries, it maintains its sheen.  Plus it’s super simple to make… In fact, Gracen made it mostly on her own – it’s that easy.

IMG 4204Here’s what you need to start with… A can of condensed milk, some food colouring, some small bowls or cups (muffin tins work well too), and some teaspoons.

IMG 4207To get started, we poured a little bit of condensed milk into each cup.

IMG 4206We went with 5 separate cups this time around, but you can choose to do more or less.

IMG 4210Next, Grae squirted in about 5 drops of liquid food colouring (more for an extra vibrant finish and less for a more pastel look).

IMG 4213We stuck to the basics and added purple, but obviously you can create any colours you choose.

IMG 4214Then my little helper gave each a good stir.

IMG 4217Here’s what we ended up with.

IMG 4223With our new paints made, it was time to get creating.

IMG 4224I’d say she was pleased with the results, wouldn’t you?

IMG 4227The other fun part about these paints is that they drizzle really nicely due to their thickness…  And who doesn’t love some messy fun, right?

IMG 4241Here’s the end result.  A beautiful masterpiece created by our beauty. ☺

The parts that were just painted on regularly took a few hours to dry, while the puddles took about a day and a half to lose all of their stickiness, but it does eventually dry and it does stay very shiny.  Because of the milk and sugar content of this paint, I can’t say how long it will last for, but it looks lovely for now. 

♥ 

Keep up with all the Mama.Papa.Bubba. fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

6 Comments

Posts navigation

Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 … 7 8 Next Page

find us here

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email

looking for something?

want our posts to your inbox?

popular posts

  • Homemade Air-Dry Modelling Clay {aka baking soda clay}
    Homemade Air-Dry Modelling Clay {aka baking soda clay}
  • Sand Play Dough With Loose Parts
    Sand Play Dough With Loose Parts
  • Baby Play Dough
    Baby Play Dough
  • Tape Pull Fine Motor Activity
    Tape Pull Fine Motor Activity
  • EASY Portable Activity Kit for Road Trips
    EASY Portable Activity Kit for Road Trips
  • Ridiculously Fun Colourful Bubble Foam
    Ridiculously Fun Colourful Bubble Foam
  • The Best {No Sugar Added} Banana Muffins
    The Best {No Sugar Added} Banana Muffins
  • Portable Activity Kit for Little Travellers
    Portable Activity Kit for Little Travellers
  • Frozen Ocean Animal Rescue {salt, water, & ice play}
    Frozen Ocean Animal Rescue {salt, water, & ice play}
  • Chunky Monkey Frozen Yogurt Bites
    Chunky Monkey Frozen Yogurt Bites

archives

Site made with ♥ by Angie Makes
Angie Makes Feminine WordPress Themes