Category: For Mom

Jam Jar Fairy House / Jam Jar Gnome Home

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The other night I had a hard time falling asleep because I couldn’t stop brainstorming about how to turn a jar into a fairy house. (Only me…I know.) I knew I wanted to make it so at night the windows and door would light up; the house needed to be sturdy enough to stand up to the elements outdoors; and I wanted to use craft materials we already had around the house. Finally I had a eureka moment…why not use my beloved hot glue gun!?! So many people think hot glue guns are just for gluing things together, but they can add texture and dimension to your work as well. I’m super excited to share with you this simple tutorial for making JAM JAR FAIRY HOUSES & GNOME HOMES! They really are adorable!

 

Materials needed:

  • jars
  • hot glue gun and glue
  • acrylic paints
  • preserved moss, tree bark, or dried leaves
  • dried flowers
  • a bead or button
  • tea lights (battery operated)

 

First, decide which direction you’d like your jar to stand. For instance, my smallest JAM JAR FAIRY HOUSE stands on its lid, but the larger one (made from an apple sauce jar) stands upright. Using your hot glue gun, “draw” a door and windows on your house. Then, fill in the walls of the house with vertical lines of your hot glue. Try to draw them on in long, fluid strokes, but the house by no means needs to be perfect. Each lil blip or quirk, will give your fairy house more character!

 

Next, paint the inside of the jar where your windows and door are located. Keep in mind that you’ll want some light to shine through at night, so don’t pick colors too dark or layer the paint too thick.

 

After you’ve painted the inside, paint the outside of the jar brown. Carefully go around each window and the doorway.

 

After the paint dries, the final step is gluing on dried moss and some tiny dried flowers. For our little jam jar fairy house, I glued moss on the top of the house (bottom of the jar) and along the edges of the lid. You can find preserved moss at your local craft store or, if you like, just use natural materials found in your own backyard…twigs, tree bark, fallen leaves, helicopter seeds, acorns.

 

 

 

You can display your fairy houses inside or outside. To light them up at night, just place a little, battery operated, tea light inside. Enjoy!

 

 

If you’re giving a JAM JAR FAIRY HOUSE away as a gift, don’t forget to include some fairies and some fairy furniture tucked away inside the jar!

DIY Fairy Folk

DIY Flower Fairies

Fairy Furniture

DIY Fairy Wands

 

DIY Flower Fairies

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I first made FLOWER FAIRIES with my youngest sister when we were kids. They are just so sweet, I couldn’t wait to make them again with my girls! L and I made these fairies this past week and we plan on making more tomorrow…I’m thinking garlands, magnets, and of course, just flower fairy dolls for playing pretend!

 

 

Materials needed:

  • florist wire
  • fabric flowers
  • wooden beads
  • other beads (wooden, plastic; colorful, plain)
  • acrylic paint
  • embroidery thread
  • scissors
  • hot glue gun and glue

First, paint simple, little faces on your wooden beads.

While your beads dry, take the artificial flowers apart. All you’ll need is the fabric petals. If you have any tiny flowers, set them aside to use for head decorations.

Cut a 14-inch piece of wire, and an 8-inch piece of wire. Fold the 14-inch piece in half.

With the smaller piece, bring both ends towards the center and twist the wire, leaving a little loop on each side for the fairy’s “hands.” Set aside.

 

 

Select the colors of embroidery thread you’d like to use for the fairy’s hair. Wrap the thread around all four of your fingers.

Place your looped, embroidery thread into the fold of the 14-inch piece of wire. Twist the wire, once to secure it in place.

Next, thread a “head” onto the wires (the large wire folded in half), followed by a couple small or medium-sized flowers.

 

Take the small wire piece (already folded and twisted into arms) and place it under the flowers, but in-between the two wires. If you like, you can fold each arm over once to secure the arms in place a little more.

Next, thread a bead onto the wire, followed by 2, 3, or more large flower petals.

At this point, separate the long wires into two legs. Fold each one in half and twist the wire, leaving a little loop on each end for the fairy’s “feet.”

 

Time to style some hair! You can twist the hair and glue it on top the fairy’s head. You can simply cut the thread loops and let it hang wild and free. Get creative with it!

 

To finish each flower fairy, glue a small flower on top of the hair. Too cute!!!

 

 

To host a tea party for your flower fairies, be sure to check out our “It’s Tea Time! Tea Party Ideas” page!

 

DIY String Bowls

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Before we packed up our Easter stuff, I decided to make some fun and funky STRING BOWLS with L…we used the bottoms of our Easter eggs for molds. How cute are these? And even better, all the materials needed we already had lying around the house…you probably do too! If you don’t have Easter egg bottoms to use, any small or medium-sized bowls will work for molds.

Materials needed:

  • small plastic bowls or Easter egg bottoms
  • yarn or string
  • white glue
  • water
  • plastic wrap
  • scissors
  • glitter (optional)
  • hair dryer (optional)

First, cover your molds with plastic wrap.

In a small bowl, mix a little bit of water into some white glue. If you like, mix some glitter into the glue as well.

Next, cut your string into small pieces and stir it into the glue. You can experiment with this step…we did one bowl using 1-inch pieces of yarn, another using 2-3 inch pieces, and one bowl using one long piece of string.

 

 

Remove each piece of string from the glue, one at a time, and lay them across your mold. If the glue is thick on the string, you can squeeze some of the excess glue off.

 

 

Once all your string is laid out across and around your molds, lay them aside to dry. It may take a couple days for the glue to dry completely, or you can speed up the process by using a hair dryer.

After the glue has dried, turn your bowls over. Remove the molds and the plastic wrap.

 

 

 

 

Using fine-tipped scissors, you can trim any string or glue that you may need to off the edges.

 

Beautiful and fun! Perfect for rings, hair clips, buttons and trinkets!

April Fools’ Jokes to Play on Your Kids, Spouse and Coworkers!!!

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APRIL FOOLS’ DAY is just around the corner! What a delightful day of the year — one of my favorites!!! Many of these harmless pranks are quick to throw together and result in silly fun and laughter had by all! Enjoy!

For Little Kids:

  1. Fill your little ones’ shoes with buttons, beads or poof balls.
  2. Stick googlie eyes and mustaches on pictures and objects around your house…cups, the front door, bathroom mirror, backpacks, shoes.
  3. Serve your kids food on teeny, tiny, doll dishes.
  4. Switch your kid’s socks with your spouse’s the night before April Fools’ Day.
  5. If the head of your sink faucets are removable, unscrew the head and place an Easter Egg dying tablet inside. Screw the head back on. When the kids turn on the sink, orange, blue or green water will come rushing out!

For Teenagers or Your Spouse:

  1. Take an empty water bottle and using a pin, poke 10 holes in the bottom. Fill the bottle with water and quickly screw the lid back on. Dry off the bottle. Ask somebody to help you open the bottle and watch as water falls out the bottom!
  2. Using safety pins, pin all their underwear together in one long line. Carefully replace the underwear back in their drawer, so when they go to remove the top pair the next comes out too, and the next, and the next, and the next…
  3. Short-sheet their beds — Remove all the sheets from the bed. Using one sheet, lay it out over the bed and tuck it in at the top. Fold the bottom of the sheet up to the top and tuck the sides in. Cover with their quilt or comforter. The bed looks normal from the outside, but when they get into bed their feet will only go in halfway!
  4. If their bed is messy, unmade or lumpy, put a bristly hair brush into their bed. When your kids feet touch the brush, it’ll feel like a prickly animal or giant bug!
  5. If your spouse is heading to the grocery store, add some “extras” to list: 2 lbs of banana peels, a dozen robin’s eggs, 1 loaf of bread crumbs.

For Coworkers:

  1. Write “April Fool!” on a sticky note. Stick it to the bottom of your coworker’s computer mouse. Not only will the mouse not work, when they flip it over, perplexed, your message will be delivered.
  2. If you’re wearing a blazer to work, take a spool of thread and thread a needle onto the end of the string. Poke the needle through near the shoulder of your jacket, from inside out. Remove the needle, leaving a couple inches of string showing on your jacket. Place the spool of thread in the inner-pocket. Just wait for your coworker to notice and remove the string for you…then wait for the horrified look on their face as the string pulls longer and longer and longer!

 

Knuckle-Print Carrots

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How cute are these KNUCKLE-PRINT CARROTS we made for Easter? They’re not only fun to make with your little ones, but they make sweet gifts for parents and grandparents too!

Materials needed:

  • paper
  • orange and green paint
  • little knuckles

Just a little note: Whenever doing projects like this, I like to have a sheet of paper to practice on first. Our practice paper is the big white one here, giving us lots of room to experiment with before making little Easter cards for the grandparents.

First, paint your kid’s knuckles orange. Have them stamp the paper with their knuckles. We found that it worked best if L was standing or on her knees doing this part, making sure she was well above the paper.

 

 

Next, I marked each carrot lightly with a pencil, so we knew which side would be best to put the “leaves” on.

Using your child’s thumb or index finger, have them make little leaves atop each carrot. I had to help L with this part…as you can see in the picture below, when left to do it alone, she was happy putting green dots all over her carrots! Ha!

 

 

 

So sweet! Happy Spring!

Egg Carton Flower Wreath

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Can you believe this beautiful Spring wreath was made primarily out of egg cartons!?! I just love the outcome! I’ve wanted to make an EGG CARTON FLOWER WREATH for years! Last year we tried it, using tempera paints, but the colors weren’t nearly as vibrant. I highly suggest using acrylics for this project. Our EGG CARTON FLOWER WREATH hangs inside Our Beautifully Messy House, as we await the first blooms of spring flowers outside in our garden!

 

 

 

 

Materials needed:

  • 3 egg cartons
  • med-large cardboard piece
  • sharp scissors (fabric scissors)
  • acrylic paints
  • hot glue gun and glue

First, cut the egg cartons into flower shapes. Get creative! The pointy, divider sections can be used to make narrow flowers or daffodil trumpets and the lids of the egg cartons can be cut into leaves.

After all your flowers are cut, time to paint with your little ones! L and I painted side-by-side…when she was finished with a flower or bored with a color, I’d let her start on another one while I filled in any spots she may missed. After all the flowers were painted a solid color, I went back and painted on some details! Although the flowers look great in solid colors, the details really bring them to life…worth the extra 30 minutes of painting!

 

 

 

 

 

To make your wreath base, use some large mixing bowls to trace circles onto your cardboard and cut it out. I used two separate pieces of cardboard and just taped them together. Once your wreath base is cut out, give it a quick coat of green paint.

 

Next, using a hot glue gun, glue the leaves onto your wreath base randomly.

After the leaves are in place, glue the flowers on. Try to space the colors out, but don’t think too much about order. In nature, nothing is perfect and the imperfections themselves are beautiful!

 

 

 

 

Hang your wreath on a door, a wall or in your kitchen window! Enjoy!!!

 

20+ Non-Candy Easter Egg Surprises

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Last year we put a few chocolates into L’s Easter eggs, but for the most part the Easter bunny left her with NON-CANDY EASTER EGG SURPRISES and she LOVED it! Inside the eggs were buttons, a spool of thread (to string the buttons into a necklace), a lil plastic turtle, and strips of paper with fun activities for the whole family to do.

 

Some of the “ACTIVITIES” included:

  • Hop like a bunny.
  • Jump like a frog.
  • Who can laugh the silliest?
  • Give daddy a hug.
  • Give a bunny kiss to mommy.
  • Walk backwards.
  • Clap and count to 10.
  • Peep like a chick.
  • Play ring-around-the-rosie.
  • Roll like an egg.

 

Yes, it was silly and ridiculous, but we had so much fun!!!

Other NON-CANDY EASTER EGG IDEAS:

  • Army men
  • Marbles
  • Puzzle pieces
  • Stickers
  • Crayons
  • A Prism
  • Coins
  • Beads
  • Play-dough (Recipe here.)
  • Fairy folk (DIY here.)
  • Shoelaces
  • Plastic figurines
  • Wooden Stamps
  • Jacks
  • Story Stones (DIY here.)
  • Buttons (and thread to make a necklace)
  • Mardi-Gras Beads
  • Miniature Tea Set
  • Rocks (like Jade, Obsidian, Pyrite, Quartz, etc.)
  • Dice
  • Erasers

 

 

 

You also might like these CRAZY COLORED EASTER EGGS…

 

And this DIY SOCK BUNNY RABBIT! Enjoy!!!

I Spy Bottle and Games

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How many of you grew up loving the “Where’s Waldo?” books by Martin Handford or the “I Spy” books by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick? My brothers, sisters and I adored them and now, L enjoys reading them too! The I SPY BOTTLE is very similar in principal and so much fun! It’s a fully contained game…no pieces to lose or to pick up! We take our bottle with us to restaurants on occasion and always on long car trips. The I SPY BOTTLE would be great fun in a classroom too! Be sure to scroll down, after the “how to” I’ve shared a few ideas of games to play.

Materials needed:

  • clear bottle with a wide mouth
  • rice
  • electrical tape
  • lots of small objects

First, remove the label from your bottle and clean and dry it completely. Goo Gone always works great for removing any stickiness and label residue! Fill the bottle a little over halfway with white rice.

Next, drop your objects in. We used beads, a bouncy ball, a plastic ring, spoon, animal figures, a marble, dice, a stamp, buttons, a clothespin, a rubber band, a paperclip, a toy car, keys, a wine cork, and although pictured is a crayon, I switched it out with a paintbrush. I was afraid the crayon would melt if left in the car!

 

Once the rice and objects are inside the bottle, use electrical tape to seal the lid closed. You could always use super glue, but I was afraid a time would come that we’d want one of the objects locked inside!

Now, time to shake your bottle up and play!!!

 

 

 

Different ways to play:

  • Call out the color of an object…”I spy something green!”…and have the other person find it.
  • Call out the function of an object…”I spy something that makes art!”…”A paintbrush!”
  • Things that rhyme. “I spy something that rhymes with ‘moon.'”…”Spoon!”
  • If your children can read, you could make little cards that go along with the I SPY BOTTLE too. How perfect would that be for a long car ride? Easy entertainment! Enjoy!!!

 

 

DIY Tin Can Bird Feeder #2

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To celebrate the last week of National Bird Feeding Month, L and I made these adorable TIN CAN BIRD FEEDERS! They are really easy to make, look beautiful and cost nothing…just go digging through your recyclables! Not only will the birds love this winter treat, this bird feeder would make a fantastic gift for your children to make for a friend, parent or grandparent!

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Materials needed:

  • tin can w/ lid
  • wooden paint stirrer
  • pliers
  • acrylic paints
  • hot glue gun
  • string
  • glossy sealant (optional)
  • church key can and bottle opener (optional)
  • bird seed

 

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First, make sure your can is clean and remove the label.

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Using your hands, carefully bend the lid of the can in half. Using pliers, squeeze it flat.

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Using the hot glue gun, glue the paint stirrer inside the can. You can break the stirrer if it’s too long. This will be the birds’ perch.

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Next, glue the bent lid back into the can as pictured. Try not to make a huge mess with the hot glue gun, but if the glue shows it is no big deal…you will paint over it next.

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Paint the can any way you like.

 

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After the paint dries, you can use the can opener to make holes in the can from where you’ll hang it on a string. On one of our cans I placed two holes on the top…this bird feeder will hang from an old clothes line end.

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On our second can I made holes in the back of the bird feeder…this one we will tie onto a fence. I was careful to put the holes in the can after we painted it, because I wanted to avoid any sharp edges while L was handling the bird feeder.

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If you’d like your bird feeder to have a shiny, glossy finish, spray the can with a glossy sealant. It only takes 15-30 min to dry and will help protect the paint as well!

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Thread string through the holes of the bird feeder and fill with bird seed!

 

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Now, find the perfect spot to hang your TIN CAN BIRD FEEDER! We placed one of ours right outside our kitchen window…the girls will love watching their little wildlife friends snack throughout the day! Enjoy!

 

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In case you missed it, here’s the first DIY TIN CAN BIRD FEEDER we made! Another fun nature craft!

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Snow Candles

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Ever since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to try making candles in the snow and today was the day!!! Such a cool experiment! I just love how they turned out! The sides of the SNOW CANDLES have this beautiful texture created by the crystals of snow. Just like snowflakes, each snow candle is unique!

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This is definitely a craft that should be done with adult supervision, though it is a fun one for kids of all ages.

Materials needed:

  • snow
  • paraffin wax
  • crayons
  • candle wicks
  • med/large pot for water
  • tin can or candle pouring pot
  • stick

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First, decide what color you want your candles to be. Pick out 5 or 6 crayons all similar in color. L chose purples for our candles. Using a knife, cut a slit down the side of the crayon papers and peel the paper off.

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Fill your pot with water about an inch high. Next place your pouring pot or tin can in the water creating a double boiler. (If using a tin can, make sure it is clean and the paper has been removed.) Place 3 blocks of paraffin wax and your crayons into the pouring pot or can. Bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down to med-low so it’s at a simmer. ***Never melt wax directly on the stove top without the double boiler! The high heat may cause a fire!***

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Watch as the crayons and wax melt completely. Turn the stovetop off as you go outside to prepare your candle molds.

Outside you’ll need about a foot of snow. If the snow isn’t deep enough, you can use your hands to pile it up and lightly pack it down. Using a stick or a spoon handle, dig a little hole in the snow. We made ours about 4 inches deep and 1 to 2 inches wide.

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Back inside, turn the stove back on for a couple minutes to heat up the wax again. Gather your candle wicks. When you’re ready, carefully remove the pouring pot or tin can (using an oven mitt) and quickly go outside to pour the wax into your molds. After a couple minutes, insert the wicks into your candles and hold in place until the wax hardens a bit…about 4-5 minutes.

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Leave your candles in the snow for an hour to harden completely. As the wax hardens, the candles take on their funky shape and texture. So cool!

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Once they have hardened, carefully dig the candles out of the snow with your hands. Inside, use a knife to shave off some of the bottom of the candles if needed, so they will sit flat. Using scissors, trim the wicks to 1/2 inch high.

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Arrange on a dish or in a large bowl, add some decorative “fairy stones” if you like and enjoy!!! Beautiful!!!

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