Turtle Favor

My girls attended a birthday party for their friend Kate the Great and got a great favor. A fun turtle to piece together and use as a magnet. I am posting this because it is a simple craft that could easily be replicated with similar supplies. The bag to make the turtle included thin foam paper for the body and scales,colored tongue depressors for the legs,googly eyes and buttons to replicate the shell.

While I am too lazy to post a printable template for you all to use I imagine you could use a small round paper plate for the body instead and large tongue depressors cut in two and dyed with liquid watercolor and random buttons if you don't have the exact ones as were used in this craft.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks are a commodity in our home. We go through them quickly not because they are ripped or broken but simply just either misplaced or in the several books currently being read. Then the other day while in line at Barnes and Noble I was doing it again buying books for M and E and I grabbed for a bookmark because I was sure we'd have to dig one out of nowhere (ok so sometimes I get lazy)and it dawned on me why am I not just having the girls make some, duh! Really sometimes the simplest things are the hardest for me to see.

So this is how the project came about.It was very easy M did it with little help and in minutes.

Supplies used: heavy stock card paper(cut 1.5 x 7"), small hole puncher, paper cutter(scissors will work if you can cut straight lines I can't)cotton yarn (for a tassle).

Crafting in Texas

While in Texas M and E enjoyed making some crafts in between sprinklers and sidewalk chalk.

The night before we left Texas my nieces(10and 11) and nephew(10) decided with M and E to have a spring is here party.

M taught my nieces, nephew and her uncle to make paper lanterns to use for decoration.

My ten year old niece Layla (pronounced Lila)is also a baker and she made this lovely cake that celebrates spring with a sugar rush.

We had a wonderful time in Texas and came back to find sunshine and warmth at home.

Scratch Art

My postings are delayed I know.We have been busily crafting yet time to sit in front of either computer has been minimal.My camera is filled with pictures from weeks of March crafting.Which also reminds me to wish you all a Happy Crafting Month! March is the official National Crafting Month. I find myself and the girls do too overwhelmed with ideas.

So what is Scratch art you may ask? Well it is a form of creating duotone art whereupon the artist works in reverse: filling in the light areas and highlights rather than the shadows and dark areas. It is called scratch art because it is done by utilizing a sharp metal object or a sharpened wooden dowel to scratch the black material from the surface of a scratchboard, revealing the white or color coating underneath.
Scratch boards are typically made by coating a board, usually masonite, with fine white china clay, or an equivalent quality clay. Then the surface is coated with an opaque black ink. Once that is dry, the ink can be scratched away, unveiling, ideally, the brilliant white clay underneath.

Some scratch art paper comes with set forms that your child scratches aways and reveals some is just plain and your child will be able to create in free form. For this project we used paper that has multiple colors in the underlay we have used the black and white paper in the past and I have to say I preferred it but the girls beg to differ as the paper with a color underlay is more eye catching.

Scratch art although fun can be difficult because a child must be careful to not scratch too deep. The more you scratch, the whiter for example the area becomes, but only to a point. Once every bit of ink is removed, the limit of how white or colorful the underlay is has been reached. So I find that it is crucial to explain to your little artist the downfalls of scratch art to avoid frustration. By doing so your child will have a more positive experience with this project.

Below are some links to a couple well priced online suppliers of scratch art paper and one with great scratch art kits. Also I have seen that Crayola has version of scratch art and looks appealing and it comes in a wide variety of styles. I believe they are all under the Color Explosion line and are available at local super stores. If you have tried these and find them fun let us know we would love to hear your take on their use and see some pictures of completed works.

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=17305&keyword=scratch%20art

http://www.budgetartkids.com/scratchart.html

Scrap papers

While I was cleaning out my paper drawer I realized I have a lot of scraps and I keep intending to do something with them but what? Patchwork art! Lately it has been in textiles at work in books and on many crafty blog buttons.
E and I found ourselves thinking what can we do with the patchwork look that would be child like and represent her? She suggested we make owls since they have big eyes like her and she would get to finally use the really LARGE googly eyes. May I say that I have a daughter who loves to use googly eyes of all sizes and colors on all her projects if possible.She also happens to be glue crazy.This project went over really well with her. As many projects do at the end they take on several uses. E decided her owl would put on a puppet show for Lola our lab and myself.

Using punchers of various sizes helped achieve perfect circles.
All pieces cut out and large googly eyes.

Perfect little hand positioning.She is already a perfectionist (poor thing).

Finally a use for leftover letters from an old Scrabble game.

Curtain call!

M and E's books

This week began with a question about writers and illustrators from E as she is learning about them at Preschool.So in the spirit of it we began writing and illustrating our own books.Being that only Maya can spell right now E chose to do her pretend writing she felt it was to frustrating for me to spell out every word for her.Both M and E like the books that have both hand drawn and picture illustrations (such as Lauren Child's books)so this is their versions.

This is E's book. (I wrote her given tittle)

This is M's book (just a couple pages)

M hard at work writing.
The girls had a great time writting their stories and M has read us her book as a bedtime story two times now. E likes her book but is less enamored with it. I would guess because she always has a next project in mind and she is only four.