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Tag Archives: contact paper

Giant Sticky Collage

5 / 26 / 185 / 28 / 18

Giant Sticky Collage | Mama Papa Bubba

Come August we will have been in our new house for a year, and though we’ve definitely ‘settled in’, our house is still a little stark.  We still have a few key pieces to purchase, but the biggest part of part of it? There’s really nothing on the walls.  I figure it will eventually come together and while I have a few different ideas for this tall bare wall on our landing {instagram wall? low profile book case?}, in the meantime we’ve been using it for all kinds of vertical projects and play.  This giant sticky collage was a total hit with both kids {and that’s no small feat when they’re 5 and a half years apart!} and was added to each day for about a week and a half.

Giant Sticky Collage{this post contains affiliate links}

The best part is that so long as you have these three items – contact paper {CAN}, wide painter’s tape {CAN}, and scissors – you can pretty much make this project happen with random loose items from around the house.  No need to buy anything new!

Now a word on contact paper…  You can find this stuff at office supply shops, but many dollar stores carry it too.  lt’s usually in the kitchen aisle with the other drawer liners and no slip grip rolls.  For this project, we used two full rolls of the clear contact paper that Dollar Tree stocks.

Giant Sticky Collage

Alright, so here’s the trickiest part of this activity…  Getting the contact paper {CAN} up onto the wall.  Not going to lie – it can be a bit frustrating at first.  We’ve been doing contact paper activities since Miss G was wee and I kind of have my method down now, thankfully.

First off – don’t attempt this while you have little ones who desperately want to get to the playing part of the activity around.  Still, even now, I put our contact paper up during nap time or at night when Sam is in bed.  It’s just easier that way.

Second – roll your length of contact paper out on a table and fold back just a couple of inches of the paper backing along the length that you’re going to tape.  This will reveal the sticky side {which of course you’re going to want facing outwards on your wall}.

Third – while still at the table, run a length of painter’s tape along that edge, adhering half of the tape’s width to the contact paper and leaving the other half to adhere to your wall.

Fourth – stick the contact paper up onto the wall, keeping it as straight and flat as possible and then gently peel off the paper backing.

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Now if you’re going to do a GIANT sticky collage wall using two strips of contact paper like we did, prep the second strip of contact paper the same way – the only difference is that the taped edge is going to be the bottom side of the collage wall.  Then, holding the non-taped edge of the contact paper strip {paper backing still on of course}, place it onto the first piece of contact paper so they’re overlapped a couple of inches.  I sort of pat it into place to make sure they’re stuck together well before gently tugging downwards and adhering that bottom strip of tape onto the wall.  The goal is to have it as flat as possible, I never seem to get mine *perfectly* flat and it really doesn’t matter.

Giant Sticky Collage

Last step – add painter’s tape {CAN} along each vertical side to complete your sticky canvas.

Giant Sticky Collage

Now for the fun part… Collecting your loose parts!  Basically anything goes here – no need to buy anything new unless you truly have a house free of any little junky bits / craft supplies.  Most all of our stuff comes from our craft drawers, but also look in your junk drawer.  Things like bits of string, twist ties, bread ties, and scraps of packaging work well!  You can also cut pictures out of your weekly flyers  – they’re basically like stickers when paired with a sticky collage wall and bonus: get the kiddos to cut out their favourites for some added scissor practice!

Here’s what I originally set out with our giant sticky collage:

  • coloured wooden matchsticks {CAN}
  • craft feathers {CAN}
  • flower acrylic gems {CAN}
  • googly eyes {CAN}
  • pompoms (these tend to stick for a short while and then fall off) {CAN}
  • sequins {CAN}

But again, go with whatever you have on hand.

Giant Sticky Collage

Then with the giant sticky collage wall set up and the loose parts collected, I left it for Sam to discover after his nap.  {Of course there’s really no missing something of this size!}

Giant Sticky Collage

He stuck up a couple of little parts {talk about an awesome fine motor skill workout} and was pleased as punch about the whole thing.

Giant Sticky Collage

We had to run off to grab Miss G from school {yup, with Sam in robot jammies}, but as soon as we returned home, it was back to the sticky wall.

Giant Sticky Collage

He was soooo excited to show his big sis!

Giant Sticky Collage

What I love about open-ended invitations like this one is that kids always seem to add their own spin on them given some time and space.  And honestly, most of the time their ideas are better than mine!  After Sam had lost interest and moved onto something else, Miss G asked to bring out our giant ball of multi-coloured yarn and I just think it was such a neat idea.

Giant Sticky Collage

Now here’s my secret to making the interest for invitations to play or create like this one last as long as possible…  Add a few new things each day or two!  So in this case, I’d make sure the landing was tidy (I’ve totally noticed that my kids don’t gravitate to spaces that are scattered and a mess), then I’d add a few new things into the loose parts tray to keep interest high.

Over the course of the week, I added:

  • different types of acrylic gems {CAN}
  • bits of colourful plastic straws
  • foam shapes     {CAN}
  • sushi grass
  • lolly sticks {CAN}
  • and whatever else I found around the house that I thought would be neat

Giant Sticky Collage

This is what our giant sticky collage wall looked like several days in…

Giant Sticky Collage

Sort of chaotically beautiful, isn’t it?

Giant Sticky Collage | Mama Papa Bubba Blog

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Simple Name Resist Art

1 / 23 / 142 / 3 / 14

Simple Name Resist Art | Mama Papa Bubba

We had such a good time making our heart resist art the other day, that we decided to do a similar project for today’s Wednesday play date.  Since I eventually want to create a large canvas that displays a favourite quote using this technique, I decided that we’d try using letters this time around.  And what better way to use letters than to spell the munchkin’s names?!  Name resist art it was.

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Simple Heart Resist Art

1 / 21 / 142 / 3 / 14

Simple Heart Resist Art | Mama Papa Bubba

Gracen and I had so much fun with today’s art project that we actually ended up doing it twice!  It’s the simplest technique, but the results are absolutely stunning and in this case, perfect for Valentine’s Day too! {Though my original thought was to use the pieces as art in Miss G’s bedroom…}

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{Life Size} Sticky Christmas Tree

12 / 2 / 1312 / 3 / 13

Sticky Christmas Tree | Mama Papa Bubba

One of the things i love doing each year is setting up a tree {of some sort} that is just for G.  A tree that she can call her own and not have to worry about being careful with.  For her first Christmas as a toddler, I made her a giant felt tree that hung on the wall.  She loved it {and then mice ate it up while it was being stored in our garage – gross!}  The following year, I created a smaller felt board Christmas tree for her, and she still plays with it today.  But for this holiday season, I wanted to try something new… A sticky tree!  Our fall sticky apple tree was a big hit, as have our other sticky wall activities been, so I assumed this would be too.  I was right.  ☺

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Sticky Wall Apple Tree

9 / 24 / 139 / 30 / 13

Sticky Wall Apple Tree | Mama Papa Bubba

Contact paper is one of those art supplies that we always keep on hand.  It’s awesome for using with glitter and is a ton of fun stuck up on a wall, plus if you pick it up on the roll at the dollar store like we do, it’s really inexpensive too.  Knowing that it can be found here in Kuwait (my team of first grade teachers used it all the time during our first stint here), I didn’t pack any with us from Canada.  So imagine my dismay when I found myself amidst a giant back to school / office supply display the other night with not a single roll of clear contact paper in sight {the horror!}  The lovely lady working in the section did turn me onto something else, however, and in fact, I think it’s even better than the rolls we usually get.  When she first handed me the package, I was skeptical.  Clear book covers?  For real?  But then I realized a few things…  1) They are essentially just pre-cut sheets of contact paper.  2)  They are inexpensive and sold in packs of 10, which covers a lot of future projects.  3)  They come flat so I’d have to wrestle with tightly rolled contact paper no longer – score {ecause we all know how annoying that is}!

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Sticky Wall Rainbow

3 / 12 / 1312 / 2 / 13

Sticky Wall Rainbow

Gracen just recently started talking about rainbows a lot, which couldn’t have come at a better time with St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner.  Since her Valentine’s colouring matching sticky wall activity was such a hit, I decided we’d do a variation of it for the week leading up to St. Patrick’s Day.

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This time, using the same method as I did last time, I drew a quick rainbow with clouds on the contact paper.

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And instead of construction paper cut-outs, this time I included tissue paper pieces (in coordinating rainbow colours) and cotton balls for the clouds.

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I thought Gracen might ask what the cotton balls were for, given that the rainbow drawing really didn’t include any white, but not the case.  She immediately dove into the bowl and started filling up the clouds.

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Clearly, the cotton balls were the favourite of this activity.  If I would have known, I would have attempted to dye cotton balls in all of the rainbow colours and skipped the tissue paper all together, but maybe we can try that another time.

Once all of the cotton balls had been used in one way or another, she began sticking the red tissue paper pieces on, lining them up just so.  After a few, she looked at them sideways, then looked at me and  exclaimed, “A row, Mum!  Just like a real rainbow.”  For the next week or so, I can almost guarantee that Miss G will be working on her rainbow rows.

♥

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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. 

 
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Sticky Wall Colour Matching Game

2 / 15 / 139 / 22 / 13

Sticky Wall Colour Matching Game

One of the little activities I set up for Miss and her friends to enjoy at our Valentine’s tea was this sticky wall colour matching game.  The idea came from No Time for Flashcards (an amazing activity resource for kids of all ages) and although I followed Allison‘s instructions pretty closely, I made a couple of little changes along the way.

IMG 5537

Needed for the project was construction paper in rainbow colours, a heart-shaped paper punch, permanent markers in coordinating rainbow colours, and clear contact paper {which can be purchased at dollar stores and home hardware stores}.

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First off, I punched out tons of hearts and mixed them up really well in order to make the activity more challenging.

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Next, I rolled the contact paper out on the floor (paper backing side down) and drew rainbow-coloured hearts inside one another on the non-sticky side of the contact paper (using permanent markers for this part is key).

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The following morning I peeled the paper off of the corners, and taped the sheet up to the wall before peeling the entire backing off.  As you can see, I attempted to make it look cute by taping it to the wall with my black and white polka dotted washi tape, but it simply didn’t cut it.  The ugly masking tape had to be brought out, but it worked perfectly.

When Miss G’s little friends came over, they began popping up the hearts all over the place {somewhat to Grae’s dismay}.  And though most of them didn’t get put in the ‘correct’ places, they had a lot of fun with it.  In fact, at one point I think we had 3 toddlers pressing their faces onto the sticky wall and slowly pulling them away before sticking them back on again. ☺

IMG 5576

Of course, once everyone had gone, she got straight to fixing things.  The beauty about contact paper is that the paper hearts can easily be removed and reattached if need be.

IMG 5575

Grae worked hard on her project for a good long while and it’ll stay up for the next while for her to revisit when desired, which I know will be often.

♥

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

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