Crafts

I really love the idea of crafting beautiful egg carton flowers. I can't think of a more perfect (or fun way) to recycle those cartons you'll collect from the dozens and dozens of eggs you'll be dying this Easter.

Since the rain, rain isn't going away in our near future I've been digging deep for simple projects that will keep my little one (and myself) from going looney. And because the downpours are ridiculously heavy I'm really hunting hard for projects that utilize items I already have on hand...Sorry kid, ain't no way mama is going out in THAT to get THOSE!

Susan of Living with Punks is offering a sew-along project for those wanting to contribute a little something special to the kids in Japan suffering from the March 11th devastating and debilitating earthquake.

According to Susan:

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday and NEA's National Read Across America Day One Pretty thing has put together a roundup of Seuss projects. It's a nice mix of how-to's, printables and recipes. Most ideas are easy and require very basic materials which you probably already have on hand.

Uber-savvy parenting blogs MADE and Made by Rae are running their special series called "Celebrate the Boy" which is chockfull of crafts and goodies from all sorts of crafty crafter guests. Each day proves to be more and more eye-popping.

Ellen of The Long Thread has crafted a clever little tooth pillow guaranteed to provide a secure place to stash those teeny pearly whites waiting to be switched out for payment (an easily found tooth makes a quick job for the tooth fairy).

According to Ellen:

...I have two girls, but we still love monsters. This little monster pillow will gobble up your child’s baby teeth and spit out money — what could be better?

What happens to your Candy Land game when your preschooler learns all her colors? Does it sit on a shelf collecting dust waiting to be pulled out as a last resort on a rainy day? Does it get donated to the local Salvation Army? Does your 11 year old pull out the little gingerbread men making them General Grievous' henchmen set out to fight Jedis in the ultimate Star Wars battle?...No?...Well don't give up on the land quite yet!

This custom wall hook from Bloesem Kids is simply too cute for words (but I'll try). Sassy, artsy, simple and simply smashing these functional pieces of art are sure to be the perfect cutie-pie compliment to your cutie pie's room.

According to Teri of Bloesem Kids:

I'm smitten with easy kids' crafts...Ones that use recycled materials and or common household items, take little prep and are fun, fun, fun.

My extensive explorations around the web have led me to the conclusion that many of the crafts fulfilling these requirements use empty toilet paper rolls. (I sense an OH Guide in the future on the topic).

This handprint Mayflower craft from Almost Unschoolers is a clever Thanksgiving craft for many reasons. First, if your little pilgrims are like my little pilgrims and love Thanksgiving because it means they get to make tons of handprint turkeys here's another fun idea for painting those palms. Next, they get some sweet scissor cutting gluing practice (go fine motor skills)!