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!

Artworks: Abstract Thanksgiving Decor

I'm not sure if it's because of the number of birthdays we've been celebrating, the frequency of holidays this time of year, or because mom's been busy working on decor projects for A Feteful Life, but we've been ALL OVER mom to let us make holiday decorations. We are almost worse than the commercial stores -- we can hardly wait until one birthday/holiday is over until we move on to the next.

It had been a while since we used our BioColors, so mom thought we could make some holiday stenciled banner pieces with them. It didn't work out so well. So we threw the formal ideas out the window and decided to make some abstract art by printmaking on the table (i.e., we paint the table, make a design, then press a piece of paper to it to pick up the print). We love the tree right outside our front window, which is bursting in fall foliage and so we decided to use similar colors (red, orange and gold, mostly) and made print after print onto thin rice paper. Mom then cut the rice paper into small strips and sewed them on a long strand of metallic Baker's Twine (from the Target $1 bin!) by hand. They look awesome! Mom it planning to make some more and hang a whole slew of them up for Thanksgiving. Sometimes it's the unplanned and random projects that work out the best!  

p.s. after letting her new DSLR sit in her closet since the beginning of June because she couldn't find enough time to teach herself how to use it before actually needing to use it, mom decided to just go with the flow and start. so forgive the quality of the pics around these parts as she learns on the job.

Artworks: Dia de los Muertos Monoprints

Mom is obsessed with Dia de los Muertos, which falls on November 1st and 2nd, and we were quite happy to jump on board this year given the stronghold we have on Halloween decorations and our interest in all things involving skulls. There are tons of really cool Dia de los Muertos crafts out there, but mom had been wanting to try making monoprints for a while and was trying to think of a way to do both things. Then she remembered No Monsters in My Bed's q-tip printing post from a while back and figured we'd give that a go by making sugar skull prints. We all LOVED it. Mom printed out these coloring sheets for us to reference and sat down with us and made some herself as well. We tried colored paint on white paper and mom also tried black paint on colored paper. Both came out awesome. I'm guessing these will be made into a flag garland soon .... There also may be gems involved.

Here's the DIAlio. You'll need:
- paint
- an old pan or baking sheet
- q-tips
- paper (we used both heavy watercolor and lighter weight paper and each turned out well. the light weight paper will probably look cool strung up into a paper garland because it will move with the air better)
- a brayer or sponge paint brush

Once you've got your supplies:
1. Spread a thin layer of paint onto the back of a pan or baking sheet using the brayer or sponge paint brush. Try to spread the paint until it's translucent -- a thicker paint layer does not print as well.

2. Use the q-tip to draw a sugar skull (or have a parent draw the outline and the kiddos add detail).

3. Press a piece of paper carefully on the design and smooth with your hand.

4. Lift to see your print!

We varied our prints by changing up the type and color of paper and mixing in glitter paint to some of them. Fabulous.

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?