DIY Dollhouse:Cardboard

Cardboard is amazing. When you buy a toy, for a child, often it's not the toy that catches the child's attention, but the box. The larger the box the better. Remember when either Land's End or LL Bean capitalized on that idea and the merchandise arrived in white boxes with pictures that kids could color on. I don't know how that helped them, but I do know it they don't ship items in those type of boxes anymore. Perhaps, because the creativity aspect that kids have is lost. Here's an idea that uses boxes and still retains a creative aspect whether for you or your child.

The main item you need for this craft is a cardboard box, instead of sending it out to recycling, turn it into a dollhouse for your girlies.






Cut off the other flaps (leave one long flap for roof) and save it to create a second floor.

Lift up one flap to create a roof.

Tape the long flap on a slant to create a roof. Use the other flaps to create the triangles.

You can use brick-like paper for the outside or you can have your child paint it.

Cut out a rectangle on 3 sides for a door. You can use a bead for the knob.

You can cut out rectangles, squares or an assortment for windows. You can use sheet protectors or acetate for the windows.


Be creative.

For the inside:

You can put one on of the cardboard flaps for a second floor.

You can use scrapbook paper for the walls, many carpet places will give out outdated carpet samples, these usually only work for very small spaces, unless you want to use it as a rug.

Decorate in your own style and I would love to see your creations.

Camera Obscura Madison Square Park and Bird Sculpture

SPRING BREAK NYC

This one is for NYC readers, or those who will be in NYC sometime between now and April 5, This exhibit is open from 10 AM-5 PM and is FREE.
Camera Obscura

The activity included can be done anywhere. I'm not going to include directions in this post, but the activity that would be fun for kids to do, would be to make their own camera obscura or pinhole camera with a shoebox or oatmeal can. There are numerous directions on the internet on how to do it. Just Google it. I want to do this activity, but would love for the kids to be able to actually be able to develop their pictures.

We spent some time in the Flat Iron District today. We went to a museum which I'd rather leave for a separate post. What I'd like to tell you about today is the Camera Obscura in Madison Square Park. I found out about this exhibit in TimeOut NY and while I didn't think we'd be able to see it, it definitely seemed interesting. Turns out the museum was right nearby and if I didn't have a younger sibling peering over my shoulder while I was trying to find something fun and inexpensive for hard to please ages (read 11 and up). I probably would have missed it, as I was overtired and had not realized they were both in the same area.

As we're heading back from the museum to the subway, said sibling pipes up, hey let's walk through the park. We didn't, but then he points out the exhibit, and we're not in any rush to get home, so I ask the others if they would like to check it out. They're okay with it.

We walk to this industrial looking cylindrical sculpture. There's a line. It's not very long. We wait. Around 7 people seem to be going in at a time. Some kids are confused, convinced it's going to be boring. One of the adults point outs that everybody comes out smiling, even the kids. I notice he's right. Sure enough those same kids come out smiling. Finally it's our turn to go in.

Bird Sculpture 
I'm not sure how long this sculpture is up for, but the kids found it interesting, it's a bird made out of both real and fabricated nails with rose hanging from it's beak. I thought it was a nice piece of art. The kids liked it enough to want a picture with. One of them wanted to know if a person would be able to sit inside it (theoretical question as the sculpture is a bird and not a chair.) I said Probably, I think it's strong enough.

Other things to take a look at in this area are: The Flat Iron building of course, there's real gold on top of one of the buildings. One of the kids actually pointed out that it looked there was gold on top of the building and a double decker bus comes along and starts talking about it. That's how I know it real gold. They did mention what KT it was, but I'm scared I may be remembering incorrectly. They also pointed out the Chrysler building for them and be sure to point out the Empire State building in the distance. Thank you double decker bus for coming along just then. They also liked the leopard in the window of the Flat Iron building. It was on the left side of the building, the building's left. Near the downtown subway station. Here's a link if you want to explore more of the neighborhood.
FLAT IRON WALKING TOUR BROCHURE


SPOILER ALERT STOP READING HERE AND COME BACK AFTER YOU VISIT:
SPOILER ALERT OUR EXPERIENCE!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!

We go in with another family. We squish together and the docent asks us what we see. The kids respond that they can see buildings and trees. She asks us about the up on top what do we see, and the kids say cars, people. She points out the Flat Iron building. Everything is upside down. She says if it wasn't so cloudy and overcast outside then we would be able to see colors. It was drizzling a bit while we were waiting. One of the kids is playing around with the hole. You can see she changes the aperture and the picture becomes more in focus when she does this, you see more branches and the image becomes sharper and more defined. She also told us about the artists making it so you have a panoramic view of what's happening in the park. She asks if anyone has any questions. I don't remember all the questions that were asked. I asked if anyone has ever taken photo paper in with them. She said not that she knows of. But someone could probably do it, just make sure you have a friend to cover up the hole because you can't expose the paper too long to light. It's really like a second. Then I see red, a bit of blue, some white and I point it out. I guess the sun came out. The red and white are people walking. When we come out we see a pair wearing red and white and realize it's the same people we saw when we were inside the camera. The kids and adults found it pretty cool. Possibly even cooler than the museum we went to, plus it was FREE unlike the museum!

Fun Pizza Bites

Fun Pizza Bite

A little while back, I posted about pizza pockets. Here's a fun take on those. Get out your cookie cutters,  and cut two of the same shape out. Spread one with sauce and then put on toppings. I would roll the dough out thinner next time, I was a bit rushed that day and also would use mozzarella cheese rather than American, hey I was using what was in the house. Top with the second shape using a fork to seal the edges. Bake until  a light golden brown, time will vary depending on your pizza recipe.  Yummy! Great for picky eaters.

Wilton 2304-1050 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set

Simple, triangle turnover-no cookie cutter

Yummy !

Back to School Making Lunch Fun

Good Morning,

Some places have started school already and some schools don't start until after Labor day. I've started my semester and the holidays are coming up, so we might just be getting busier over here. The next few posts will be school related post unless they aren't for some reason that I currently don't know and that I may or may not reveal to my readers.

Today's is about Making Lunch Fun

1. Use cookie cutter's to cut out sandwiches-use the leftovers for bread crumbs or stuffing. You can use cutters specifically made for sandwiches or use cookie cutters that you already own. I like the sandwich ones' because I feel there's less waste of the bread with those or less bread to put to another use. If you'r going to be using your own cookie cutters and saving the bread for another use, I recommend cutting the bread before filling it-no one wants peanut butter and jelly flavored breadcrumbs.



I love these, I think they're so cute and would be great for picky eaters
              my favorite one of them all-    


2. Pack jokes with your kids lunches that's sure to put a smile on their face

Here are some sites to help you out:

The Gunny Sack
Caps Creations
Pinterest-Lunch Box Notes
Spoonful

3. If you use paper bags you can decorate the bags


You can make Hello Kitty lunch bags:

Buy white lunch bags
    


and print out the picture from the link below.


Hello Kitty Picture

You might need to enlarge the picture to fit the width your bag.

You can either use my trace method to trace the picture onto the bag or you can cut out the bow, the eyes and the nose, (whiskers are optional just because you might find it easier to draw your own). Color the bow red-this is something your child can do, unless you'd like it to be a surprise.

Paste on the bow, eyes and nose in appropriate spots. Draw or paste on your whiskers.

To make this a craft that your child can do:
Mom should use the trace method to trace on the picture and cut out the pieces. Have your child color the pieces and match the pieces, to mom's tracing. While this way is a little more effort, your kid can be involved and it's good for their development.

The trace method can be used for any picture and doesn't necessarily have to be a white lunch bag.

While we're not going for party bags over here-it does help to have an idea of what the final product is supposed to look like-so I found this picture, which while not quite the look were going for it is similar and if you want to use her suggestions and dress yours up a bit. Feel free to knock yourself out (that's not supposed to sound rude-but it might come across that way-sorry if it comes across that way to you).

Source: Presently Pink
while I believe these are quite nice,
the whiskers are a little too long for my taste
and for lunch bags we can forgo the glitter and the tissue paper.

So I cropped this picture to give you an idea of what it's supposed to look like
-sorry no little girls over here to make this for and

tada-aren't they cute

You can also use white lunch bags to make snowman, draw or cut out a scarf, draw or cut out a carrot for the nose, you can add real buttons or draw on some, be creative. 

You can also make puppet lunch bags or Funny Face lunch bags

For the puppet lunch bags you need to lift the flap and color it red. Then add your own eyes and ears, you can make it be anything you want, a dog, a cat etc. You can also funny face stickers and make funny faces on the lunch bag.

Here are some sites with great ideas and some are can be quite appropriate for different times of the year.

Family Crafts

DLTK_KIDS-this one's got a ton of ideas

Enchanted Learning

Child Drama

Wow! I think this post should keep some of you super moms out there busy, er enjoying yourself or the time off before school starts with your kiddies or busy while you miss your kiddies who have started school.

Fun with Chalk

This is Monday's Post, I'm posting it early. Here are some of our chalk drawings. I used an image that I found through Google images as a reference and drew it freehand. The bird which is a condor I drew in gray chalk (that color doesn't show up so well, so it's good for drawing outlines.) I then let the little fellow who requested the condor color it in.

I would recommend having a spray bottle filled with water nearby in case of mistakes.

Now onto our fun project.
You will need:

black construction paper
chalk
clean hands

1. Let your kids color all over their hands with chalk, they can do all the fingers and the palm different colors. (Don't forget to take a picture of their colorful hands.)

2. Have them press their hands onto the black construction paper.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with other hand

4. Write child's name and age/date.

no, they're not both the same hand, I drew the heart over the left thumb, because I mistook it for a smudge.
I'm talented like that.

That's it.

You can also just have them do fingerprints and see how the ridges appear or make fingerprint pictures. Have fun.

Linking Up At


http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/
http://itsablogparty.com/
http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/