Fun With Kenetic Sand

Have you ever checked out Kinetic Sand? I tried it for the first time the other day and it’s great fun! You can buy small containers fairly cheaply and the fun lasts for hours!

The one I picked up had 4 different colors inside. Pretty cool, right?

I taped a piece of parchment paper to our table before I started. I was able to separate the colors for the most part with a little bit of the colors mixing together.

This sand feels pretty cool and “smooshie”. It holds together much better than regular sand and it doesn’t stick to your hands. You can flatten it.

You can use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes.

You can roll it into little balls…

Or roll it into larger balls.

You can make snakes…

I used a toothpick to give the snakes eyes.

You can make flowers.

Or pretend to make peanut butter cookies by rolling little balls…

Using a fork to press a mark into the top…

And then crisscross a mark in the other direction.

If you want to hold the sand in your hand, it will crumble up nicely like regular sand does.

You can pack the kinetic sand into a cookie cutter…

And gently push it out of the cookie cutter and you’ll have a 3-D shape.

I’m guessing there are a lot of other things you can think of to do with kinetic sand so be sure you give it a try! 😃

Fun With Perler Beads!

Have you ever done a project using Perler beads? I have seen them for years but I finally tried a small kit and found out they are actually pretty neat! If you haven’t tried them yet, I’ll give you an overview of how they work. Here is the cute Star Wars kit that I bought and tried:

(Isn’t “Baby Yoda” adorable?!) This is everything that was inside this kit (minus the paper bowl): 225 beads (enough to make 2 “Baby Yoda”), a pegboard, instructions and ironing paper. You will also need an iron. I used the paper bowl to contain the beads and keep them from running away. 😉

Follow the instructions for where to begin placing the colored beads on the pegboard.

Keep putting beads on the peg board by following the pattern in the instructions.

Adding a few more beads…it’s starting to take shape!

And there he is! All the pegs are in the correct order! We’re ready for fusing!

Heat your iron to a medium heat. Place the pegboard on a solid heat-safe surface. I used a wooden cutting board.

Cover the beads with the ironing paper – very important! Your iron should not touch the beads directly. Using a circular motion, iron over the beads and ironing paper for 10-20 seconds. When ironed properly the beads will still have an open center.

Set a heavy book or something similar on your project while the beads cool down to prevent it from warping. Peel the ironing paper back slowly to check that the beads have fused together. If there are still loose beads, iron over them a second time. (This happened to me.)

After the beads are sticking together, carefully remove the design and turn it over. Again, cover it with the ironing paper and iron the second side. Remember to place the heavy object on top again to prevent warping. The pegboard and ironing paper are reusable.

Tah dah! Your project is finished! 🙂

You could slip a thin string or thread through one of the holes if you’d like to hang your project up. Perler beads come in soooo many colors and there are kits of all types available! Be sure to look for a fun Perler beads project the next time you are in your favorite craft store! Have fun! 🙂

Sun Catcher Fun!

Have you ever made a sun catcher? They are fun and simple to make and look so pretty hanging in the sun! I found these supplies for the project at our local Walmart store: you will need sun catcher paint pens, suction cups with a hook and, of course, an unpainted sun catcher.

Open the pack of sun catcher paint pens and select your first color. I began with pink for the kitten’s nose and the inside of her ears. Squeeze a very small amount of pain onto the sun catcher.

Use a toothpick to pop any bubbles you see in the paint and to help spread the paint around.

Keep adding paint in your desired colors to your sun catcher.

I wanted my kitten to have a white face but the sun catcher wasn’t divided into a section there, so I painted in the gray area of the face first and then let the sun catcher dry overnight.

The next morning, I added white paint into the section I left open. And after drying for a few hours, this kitten was ready to be given to our grandson as part of his birthday present. The sun catcher was painted to look like his cat, Chloe. 😊

I also enjoyed painting a turtle sun catcher to give to our son who has a turtle for a pet.

Added green and purple paint…

And several more colors to finish her! I think she turned out pretty cute! Put the hook through the hole in the top of the sun catcher and use the suction cup to attach it to any window. (Or a turtle’s aquarium!) Watch the sun shine through! 😃

There are lots of different sun catcher shapes at Walmart and they are probably also sold at craft stores. Have fun making some sun catchers of your own and catching some sunshine with them! 😃

Kids Summer Crafts on Sale at Joann’s!

If you are looking for some small craft kits for your kids to do this summer, stop in at your nearest Joann craft store! They have some great prices on some fun looking kits!

These are a few items included in the 60% off sale:

#1.) Melty Bead Kits. There were at least 3 designs to choose from. (Yep, they look very similar to the Perler beads.)

#2.) Scratch Art Kits. There are 6 in this package and it includes the utensil used to do the scratching.

#3.) Color-in Puzzle Kit. There are 2 sets in the package plus some markers for coloring.

#4.) Plaster Magnet Kit which includes a brush and paints. There were a few designs to choose from.

#5.) Wood Coloring Kit. These sets includes 3 markers and a few little gems.

I also saw a couple different types of terrarium grow kits that were 70% off! Normally they would sell for $29.99, but are on sale for $8.99! Wow!

If you like the Makit & Bakit kits, they have some cute ones on clearance for $2.47.

Hop on over to your nearest Joann’s for some great summer bargains that will keep your kids entertained! 🙂

First Day of Summer! Let’s Make Paper Fans to Keep Cool!

Summer has officially arrived today! And it’s come in with very warm temperatures here! One way to cool off might be to have a paper fan handy to wave in front of your face.

No electricity required so it’s good for wherever you might be. You will need a piece of paper, (I used a 12 inch square piece of scrapbook paper) scissors, glue, a piece of thin string or thread and 2 craft sticks or popsicle sticks.

If your paper has writing along the edge, trim that off first.

Fold your paper in half and crease it firmly.

Use your scissors to cut along the crease. Or if you want to, use a ruler and pencil to make a line on the crease on the backside of the paper that makes it easier to see where to cut.

Now you will make several creases in the paper that will help you fold it like an accordion. Using one piece of the cut paper at a time, fold the paper in half by bringing to 2 short ends together.

Fold it in half again in the same direction. It will look like a rectangle now. Crease firmly.

Open the paper back up one fold so you can see the middle fold.

Now fold each side in so the ends meet on the middle fold.

Open the paper all the way open now.

Next, turn the paper over. Beginning at one end, fold the front side of the paper in to meet the first crease. You will be making one fold in between each crease you already made.

Turn the paper right side up and make another fold in the other direction. This is the “accordion” part. Continue folding the paper back and forth until the entire paper has been folded into an accordion.

Repeat the folding steps with the second piece of paper.

We want to make the accordion part longer, so now you’ll need to glue the 2 pieces together.

You will have 1 piece of accordion folded paper.

Pinch it all together to firm up the folds.

Bend your fan in half to get an estimate of where the middle of the fan is.

Open the fan up again and wrap a piece of string or thread several times around the middle.

Tie a good knot and trim off the ends of the string.

Fan out the paper and glue the 2 sides together to form half of the fan.

Glue 1 craft stick to each side of the straight edges of the fan. Leave enough of the stick hanging out past the end of the paper so you have some stick to hold onto as you wave the fan.

And your fan is now ready to be used to keep you cool in the summer heat!

You can make one for yourself or make more for your friends and relatives. I hope you’ll have fun making fans and that you’ll have a wonderful summer! 🙂

Making a Birthday Card With Washi Tape

Today I want to share a super simple way to make a birthday card using Washi tape. In case you’ve never heard of it, washi tape can be bought at craft stores and big box stores. It comes in many colors/patterns and in different widths. Super cool stuff! Isn’t this card cute? 😉

For this project you will need some blank cards and envelopes, a few different colors/patterns of Washi tape, scissors and some markers. You can pick whichever width of Washi tape you like and the number of different colors/patterns that you use, but I used 5 colors/patterns in about 1/4″ wide.

Begin by cutting and placing a piece of Washi tape perpendicular to the bottom front of the card.

Continue cutting and placing strips of Washi tape in a line across the front of the card with each piece right up against the previous piece of tape. I like to vary the heights of the “candles” by using different lengths of tape.

Continue adding pieces of tape until you have the number of candles you want on your card.

Using a black thin marker, draw a short line on the top of each candle for the wick part of the candle.

Next take a yellow marker and draw a tear-shaped flame on the top of each candle wick. Use an orange marker to outline each flame. I drew my flames going in different directions, but you might like to make yours all lean the same way so it looks like someone is blowing on them.

Now all that’s left to do is to add whatever message you’d like to include. For instance, you might write “Wow…that’s a LOT of candles! Happy Birthday!” You can write on the front of the card and/or put a message on the inside of the card. It’s all up to you and what you want to say to the recipient.

Super simple card to make but so cute when you’re done! If you don’t have washi tape, you could cute strips of scrapbook paper or use construction paper of different colors. Your imagination is the only limit! 🙂 Have fun!

Crafting an Easy Octopus

Let’s talk about octopus today and then I’ll show you how to make one with a few craft supplies. I bet you know quite a bit about an octopus already. Like do you know how many “arms” an octopus has? Yes, eight! Wow, do you think it would be cool to have 8 arms?! Is the body of an octopus soft or hard? It’s soft, so soft in fact that they can alter their shape so that they can squeeze through small spaces. How many eyes does an octopus have? It has 2 just like we do and they have excellent eyesight! Octopus are actually quite intelligent too. How do octopus protect themselves from predators? One way is to camouflage themselves into their surroundings so its hard for their enemy to see them. Another way is by expelling “ink” which is a dark colored substance and that gives them some time to swim quickly away. Did you know that when an octopus swims, it’s “arms” extend behind them? So, what do you think? Are octopus pretty cool? I think so too! Now let’s craft an octopus! 🙂

You will need 2 pipe cleaners (or chenille stems), 1 pom-pom, 2 wiggly eyes, a pair of wire cutters or strong scissors and some glue.

To begin, use the wire cutters to cut the 2 pipe cleaners in half so you have 4 pieces.

Arrange the pipe cleaners into a star pattern like in the picture below.

Wrap 1 of the pipe cleaners once around the group to hold them all together.

Curl each end of the pipe cleaners up a little bit for the octopus’s arms.

Put some glue in the center of the pipe cleaners…

…and place the pom-pom in the center. Push it firmly down into the glue and hold it in place for a few seconds.

Glue the 2 wiggly eyes to the pom-pom and your octopus is complete!

Find a fun place to display your octopus. Hmm, do you suppose an octopus would be good at playing the piano since it has so many arms? Haha! Yes, we are just being silly now but it’s fun to think about an octopus playing a piano! 😉

I hope you had fun learning a few facts about octopus and that you will have fun making your own! 🙂

Making a Super Simple Shamrock and a Four-Leaf Clover

St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow! Do you decorate your house in green four-leaf clovers and shamrocks? Maybe some leprechauns and pots of gold? Here is a super simple way to make some greenery for tomorrow! All you need is a piece of green paper, a green pipe cleaner, scissors, a pencil and some tape. Start by making a square piece from the green paper.

First we will make a four-leaf clover. Fold the green square in half.

Then fold the paper in half the other direction.

Use your pencil to draw a heart shape on this little folded square. Keep the folded side at the bottom.

Use your scissors to cut on the line you just drew.

Open the paper up and you have a four-leaf clover! 🙂

Turn your four-leaf clover over and tape the pipe cleaner to the back side.

Turn the four-leaf clover right side up again and there is your finished project! Great job! You can go on to color or decorate it if you want to.

Now, using the same idea as we did for the four-leaf clover, we can make a shamrock with just a couple of cuts with the scissors. Cut on the fold lines and remove one heart shape.

There is your shamrock! Tape the pipe cleaner to the back to have a stem for your shamrock. If you would like to, you can cut on the folds where the heart shapes meet, but only cut about half way. Then the leaves on your shamrock can separate a little.

I hope you will have lots of fun making four-leaf clovers and shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day! 🙂

2 Cute Craft Kits on Sale at Hobby Lobby

I found these 2 craft kits for kids at a Hobby Lobby store the other day and wanted to share them with you. While I haven’t made these kits yet, they look like a ton of fun for a really great price! These are normally priced at $2.99 (which seemed like a good price already) but were on sale for 40% off which brought their price down to only $1.79 each! 🙂

The first kit I want to share is a sand art kit. This kit comes with 6 pictures and you use sand to color them. You pull off a bit of the paper and it’s sticky underneath. You pour a little sand over the sticky part and then shake off the excess. Then you’ll move on to the next section.

On the back of the package, you can see the 6 cute designs that are included. (I’m ready to start!) 😉

The second kit is for making key chains with beads.

Each keychain kit makes 3 keychains….1 alligator, 1 snake and 1 lizard. This looks like a fun activity to me! 😉

Hobby Lobby has lots of items on sale this week that are great for Spring! Hurry on in and see what goodies you can find! 🙂

Simple Spring Chicks Craft

I don’t know how the weather is where you live, but we just had an ice storm last night into this morning. It’s rather pretty but it makes the sidewalks and roads quite slippery and almost impossible to stand up even on the grass! I’m getting a bit “winter weary” and am dreaming of warmer temperatures.

I decided we needed a craft today that will help us think about Spring coming! Let’s make a Spring Chick or two! 🙂

You’ll need a toilet paper roll, some paint, a paint brush, some craft feathers, glue, wiggly eyes, a small piece of orange paper and a pair of scissors. Oh and some newspaper to protect the table or countertop from the painting process. 😉

The first step is to paint the toilet paper roll in a bright cheery color. It’s up to you if you do 1 or 2 coats of paint.

I decided to paint a second toilet paper roll while I waited on the first one to dry. 😉 (I love this blue color!)

You can also cut out the chick’s beak while you wait for the paint to dry. Take your orange piece of paper…

Make a fold and cut out a triangle shape with the bottom of the triangle being on the fold.

The beak will open up like a real chick’s beak.

When your chick is dry, glue on 2 wiggly eyes.

Next, to glue on the beak, put glue only on one side of the beak.

Then stick the glued side on the chick under the wiggly eyes.

Glue on a few feathers inside the toilet paper roll on the front side.

If you want to, you can add a piece of a feather on each side for the chick’s wings.

And your Spring Chick is done! 🙂 For my blue chick, I added 3 feathers to his head but didn’t use any for wings.

Use your imagination and make your chick special!

I hope making some Spring Chicks will cheer you up and make your house brighter! Stay warm! 🙂