DIY Backpack Tags

One of the reasons mom loves back-to-school time is the planning, organization, and pulling together of school supplies. The brightly colored folders, the unopened pack of lined paper, and the smell of a brand-new backpack. And every year she grimaces as she writes our names on the packs with permanent marker, ruining their newness before they ever see the classroom (we know, she's got issues). But this year she decided to make name tags for our packs and have us help using The Land of Nod's Jewlery Beads + String Set. Win! Head over to Honest to Nod to see what we put together!

And thanks to The Land of Nod for gifting us the supplies to keep our stuff looking spiffy!

Disclosure: The Land of Nod provided us with the Jewelry Beads + String Set in exchange for this post. No other compensation was provided and all opinions herein are our own.

Artworks: DIY Mini Piñatas!

Yesterday, we crafted one of our most favorite summer bucket list items yet: mini piñatas. Mom loved them because they used up some of the party supplies taking over our house. We loved them because we got to eat gummy bunnies, which mom pretty much considers candy and dispenses sparingly. Win-win.

We basically followed One Charming Party's tutorial, subbing some of the party supplies we already had on hand. The first one took a bit of finagling, but once you get the hang of it, they come right together. They'd be so, so cute for a birthday party or in red, white + blue at a July 4th BBQ as a "firecracker" piñata. Happy Summer Bucket listing, everyone!

To make our mini piñatas, pull together :
- paper party cups (we used polka dot because that's what we had -- white or another solid colors would give you a more professional look, if you're going for that);
- fringed streamers (we had some pre-fringed leftover garland from another party, so we used that. if we were doing it from scratch, mom would likely cut the streamer in half lengthwise first. it's easier to layer shorter fringed pieces);
- cardstock, cut into 2" circles and hole-punched twice (see photos below);
- string or twine;
- glue;
- a hammer and small nail;
- 5" square or circle of tissue paper; and
- treats! 

1. Having a parent help you, make two small holes in the bottom of the cup with your hammer and nail. Loop a small strand of string through the two holes, tying the ends together inside the bottom of the cup. 

2. Fill cup with treats. Take a 2 foot-long piece of string and loop it through the 2" cardstock circle, and tie string flush against it. Place cardstock on top of your treats, with string ends tailing out the top. 

3. Make small hole in middle of 5" square/circle of tissue paper. Run the ends of cardstock-tied string through it and out the top of the cup. Place a small amount of glue around outside top of cup, fold tissue paper over the sides, gluing down as you go. Let dry for a few minutes.

4. Glue fringe on in layers, starting from the tissue paper covered end of the cup. The more you overlap the fringe, the more coverage you'll get. We could only be patient enough for 3-4 layers. What can we say? We wanted the gummies! 

5. When it's party time, tie piñatas up or have a friend hold one. Gently pull on bottom string and ENJOY!!!

{you can re-use the pinatas by adding more treats, replacing cardstock circle, and taping up the bottom tissue paper a bit}

Artworks: DIY Chalkboard Tag Notebooks

A few weeks ago, we had our very first kiddo book club with a group of friends. Our core group included kids ranging from rising pre-K to rising-1st graders, but a few younger siblings were included, too. To help keep everyone focused (or occupied) during our discussion, we made these super cute chalkboard tag notebooks.

Here's the deal -- you'll need:

- hardcover cardboard notebook (we bought some cute bold graphic patterned ones from Target -- they were under $2 each);
- chalkboard paint (a little can like this will do);
- painter's tape; and
- a foam craft brush

If you want a super clean tag and/or are trying to cover up something on the front of the notebook (we were doing both), have a parent help you outline your painting area with the painter's tape. If you want to do it free form, you likely don't need any help.

Paint thin coats (we did 5 coats) of the chalkboard paint with your craft brush -- allowing each coat to dry sufficiently in between.

Once dry, carefully peel off tape, prime it a bit by rubbing with chalk, and write your name!

Artworks: Valentine Crayons

We've seen this little project floating around on Pinterest for years and years, but we've never thought much of it. But faced with another day home from school for "weather," mom was on the lookout for an easy holiday craft. And she remembered how much we underestimated the other Pinterest crayon favorite, melted crayon rocks, so we gave it a go. We all LOVED it. Mom liked that it made us all sit around and chat for over an hour and, well, it kept our little fingers busy for over an hour. And we thought it was super fun to unwrap the crayons, which we always want to do when just using them regularly. Plus, you know how we feel about celebrating holidays. And they really turned out very cool abstract patterns. We'll probably put them in a little bag with a tag to use as valentines, but haven't gotten that far yet.

To make the valentine crayons, you'll need:
- a box of crayons (we used a 64 box and made about 40 mini hearts. you could also save up all those random crayon bits from restaurants, parties, etc.)
- a silicone heart mold (we used an old IKEA ice cube tray, but saw similar ones on Amazon -- like these)
- baking sheet
- an oven

Unwrap the crayons and break them into small pieces. You can use a knife to cut them, but we found it super fun to snap them up into bits with our fingers and mom got to avoid the anxiety of letting us use a knife. When all your crayons are in bits, fill each heart mold up to the top. We just used random colors and they came out great. You can overfill them a bit -- we didn't and ours filled the mold up only about 3/4 full when melted.

Preheat oven to 230 degrees. Place molds on to baking sheet and then into oven. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let them sit for about an hour. Carefully pop out of the molds and marvel at the awesome patterns!

Keep It Local: Portrait Story Days at the National Portrait Gallery and DC Youth Poetry Slam

We have a knack for accidentally discovering the coolest (and often free) events and programs in DC. It happens all the time, which is likely an indicator that the city is just teeming with awesome opportunities for kids, but we like to think we have a particular affinity for finding them just the same. Mom has been waiting to take us to Portrait Story Days at the National Portrait Gallery for a while. We're no strangers to art museums, but she wanted to make sure we were both old enough to really get the program. Turns out it is super laid back and we would have been just fine ages ago, but regardless, it was awesome.

While we waited for the Story Days to begin, we checked out the Gallery's fabulous exhibit "Dancing the Dream," which is filled with multimedia art of all kinds of dance styles. Cam loved the ballet and I loved that I was able to pick out Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" video. The exhibit is at the Gallery until July and we definitely recommend checking it out.

When it was storytime, we listened to a fabulous book about Julia Child and then made self-portraits from fruits and veggies while video of Julia played on the wall. It was such a cool activity! After we finished our mugs, we got to check out discovery kits, too. Each kit comes with a doll of someone whose portrait is in the museum, along with lots of ideas for prompting kids to look and examine the artwork. I was pretty psyched to pull Abe Lincoln (one of my top two favorite presidents, along with GW) and Cam was thrilled to get Jacqueline Kennedy. We went on a search throughout the Gallery for portraits of our peeps and then spent a good amount of time comparing our doll to the portrait. Cam was a little antsy to get to the Kogod Courtyard snack bar, so she and daddy went ahead, but I spent a lot of time discussing Lincoln's portrait with mom, describing it using the great set of notepads in the kits, and drawing my own portrait of him, too (they let us keep the notepads, which are awesome and will be used on lots of future museum trips).

We finally met up with Cam and daddy in the courtyard only to find that the Gallery was setting up for the semi-finals of the DC Youth Poetry Slam team -- the competition was going to determine the team to represent DC nationally and internationally. Mom and I were PSYCHED. Cam was tired. So Cam and daddy headed home and mom and I poked around the Gallery a bit more until the slam started and then we made sure we had front row seats. Mom talked to me a bit about what slam poetry is and told me that even though these were kids, they would likely be talking about sort of adult subjects. I insisted that I wanted to stay, so we did. I thought it was neat that kids got up to perform and that a lot of the poetry sounded like music to me. I even volunteered to be a judge (random audience members just the competition), but mom said I was too young. I kept my own scores anyway. And mom was blown away. Seriously, blown away. She thought the kids were super brave and talented and inspiring. I might have caught her crying a bit. Maybe.

The National Portrait Gallery hosts Portrait Story Days on select Saturdays and Sundays each month. You can check the events calendar right here. We HIGHLY recommend both the storytime and the discovery kits.

If you get a chance and feel that your kids are old enough or are comfortable with your younger ones being exposed to some more mature issues, you should definitely check out DC's youth slam poets at an open mic night, which they hold the 3rd Saturday of each month at Busboys & Poets. Amazing.

Artworks: Collage Monsters

We are in full-on Halloween mode over at our house. Costumes have been tried on numerous times. Spooky stories are in rotation. And I am chomping at the bit to decorate the house for the holiday (I have to wait until after my birthday party to throw the spook around). This past weekend, I asked mom for a scary art project and she suggested that we make use of the giant Vogue magazine Nona gave us at the end of summer, which was full of page after page of fall-makeupped models holding their limbs at odd angles. Perfect for making our own collage "monsters."

Daddy rarely gets to participate in an art project with us, but we recruited him to help us cut out body parts for our collages. Once we had a good pile full of decapitated heads, bodiless arms and legs, and extra mouths and eyes, we set about to glue our monsters together. Mommy and I favored multiple-headed monsters. Cam liked the big hair. And daddy kept gluing odd noses onto faces. Pretty scary (and a good way to also use those unsolicited magazines and catalogues that roll in)!

We got so into it that we drew some ghosts and ghouls up on our chalkboard wall and snuck some of our costume accessories out when mom wasn't looking. What's everyone else have on tap for fall art projects?