Spring Art: How to Make a Bunny Garland

By Rachelle 4 Comments

Yesterday I shared how to make watercolor paintings with kids. And from those paintings, I cut out these cute little bunnies.

This was all my daughter’s idea.

She mapped out a plan for Spring decorating, and one of the things on her list was “a bunny garland, with bunnies that are the same shapes as the ones in in the mobile in your bedroom.” She tends to cut right to the chase.

I asked for some advice here and on Facebook, on how we could turn our watercolor cut-outs into a garland, and you came back with some great ideas. Jen from the amazing blog, Paint Cut Paste, shared a Pin terest Board dedicated to all-things-garland, M Wall suggested that we use small clothespins, and Megan S. gave me the idea to add small paper clips and hang them from baker’s twine.

When I was out in the morning I did a quick hunt for tiny clothespins with no luck (that would have been cute, eh?), but I like how the colorful paperclips that I found ages ago at Daiso helped pull this together.

I clipped them all up, leaving a few inches between bunnies, and then strung them in the garden.

The very windy garden.

And they lasted about three minutes before they were scattered all over the lawn and plants. Hmmm.

So we brought them inside where they’re safe and sound, helping us welcome Spring on this cool and windy Spring day.

21 Kids Christmas Ornaments that Your Kids will Love Making

By Rachelle 1 Comment

Do you have a family ornament-making tradition, or would you like to start one? Making kids Christmas ornaments is a rich and easy way to encourage creative thinking while developing a family ritual of crafting love. Pulling out craft supplies and tinkering with hot cider in hand is a sure way to make the season feel full and alive.

A Tradition of Making Kids Christmas Ornaments

Each winter my girls and I make ornaments together. Last week we filled clear baubles with pom poms and glitter and made Pom Pom Pinecones. As we trimmed this year’s tree it was heart-warming to unpack ornaments past. The tradition of crafting together helps us connect while building family traditions that are now deep-rooted in our fabric.

I asked some of my blogging friends to share their favorite Kids Christmas Ornaments, and they gifted us with this amazing collection that you’re about to explore. Thank you (in no particular order) to Red Ted Art, Mama Miss, Art Bar Blog, Babble Dabble Do, No Time for Flash Cards, Toddler Approved, Hello Wonderful, and WillowDay.

I’m sure there will be something here for you. And if you’re like me, you’ll try a bunch of them and save a few ideas for the years to come.

21 Favorite Kids Christmas Ornaments

Roll over the images for more information and click the link icon to get the tutorials.
[ess_grid alias=”kids_christmas_ornaments”]

Pom Pom Christmas Bauble Ornaments

By Rachelle 3 Comments

Oh what fun! When the holiday season gets a little bit too busy, I like to retreat with a hot cup of tea, cozy socks, and a juicy magazine. And when it comes to crafting, I try to keep things super simple so my mind doesn’t feel that intense overwhelm that can come with doing too much. In that spirit, this Pom Pom Christmas Ornament Bauble has got to be one of the easiest ornament crafts around. To set this up requires little effort, and the result is charming.

Supplies

Note: This post contains affiliate links

Clear plastic ornament balls like these.
Small pom poms like these
Ribbon
Low-heat glue gun << We used this dual temperature glue gun from Elmer’s

Set-up and Steps

Clear the table and set up a bowl of pom poms, a few clear ornament balls, ribbon, and the low-heat glue gun.
Invite your child to create an ornament.
Fill the ornament with pom poms.
Tie a ribbon around the top loop.
Add pom poms to the ribbon with the glue gun.

Creativity Corner

Sometimes kids will come up with their own ideas that stretch outside the bounds of what you may have in mind. I love these moments and encourage them as they help children develop their independence and imagination. If your child wants to add sequins or buttons instead of pom poms, or wants to fill the ball with glitter, be open to the possibility that your child may come up with his or her own ideas. This is a great opportunity for playful crafting. Encourage creativity and imagination!

Glue Gun Crafts with Kids

Scrap Wood Sculptures: Glue Gun Skill Building Activity

Build Found Object Junk Critters

More Ornaments with Kids

Salt Dough Ornaments. These are gorgeous and last for multiple seasons.

Pipe Cleaner (Chenille Stem) Ornaments with beads

Stacked Felt Ornaments that teach sewing basics.

DIY Fabric Ornaments, beginning sewing project.

More Pom Pom Ornaments!

Click here to learn how to make another super easy Pom Pom Christmas Ornament with Pinecones…

Easy Foam Sticker Crafts: DIY Stamps

By Rachelle 1 Comment

This easy foam sticker craft is even better if you happen to have some foam stickers and blocks (or bottle caps, glasses, anything smallish with a flat bottom) lying around. However, a quick trip to the craft store for foam stickers will be worth your while (especially if you’re like me and you could spend hours lurking around paints, yarn, and paper).

Foam Sticker Crafts: Easy DIY Stamps

Foam Stickers. I found ours at Michael’s. Or save yourself a trip to the store and pick up these foam heart stickers from Amazon (affiliate)
Blocks or other smallish, flat object
Inking pad and/or Stamp Markers

Place your foam sticker on a block, and you’re in business!

Draw on your Stamps with Markers

I love this invention of layered foam stickers that my 6-year old came up with.

She the drew on the stamps with our awesome stamp markers. These Le Plume II (affiliate) double-sided markers are acid-free and non-toxic, and they’re designed specifically for stamps. My daughter really enjoys the variety that these markers present her with, and I agree.

With the markers, you can draw fine details (like the purple dots) or flip the marker over and color with the paintbrush end.

Happy Stamping!

More Valentine Art Activities

8 Favorite Valentine Crafts for Kids

30 Valentine Activities for Kids

The Amazing All-in-one Heart Envelope

More Stamping Activities

Sponge Stamping

DIY Stamps made from Cosmetic Wedges

Sweet Potato Heart Prints

Cardboard Roll Heart Stamps

Leather Stamping

The No-Sew T-Shirt Scarf

By Rachelle 6 Comments

I’m a sucker for repurposed objects, and have been wanting to make a no-sew t-shirt scarf for a while now. However, because we’ve been really good at purging our closets of unwanted items, I had not one old t-shirt to forage and upcycle into a DIY tshirt scarf.

Sigh.

So, last week my littlest and I headed to our local Goodwill, and walked out with five large t-shirts for about $2 each. Deal! I used approximately one shirt for the scarf shown in this tutorial, which makes this a really affordable craft. If you make some version of the braided scarf necklaces shown here, you can make about four per large men’s shirt (or more if you use multiple colors as we did).

Like just about everything I share, there are no fast rules, only experiments. Take this as inspiration and come up with your own unique scarf, necklace, headband, or wrist cuff. There are so many possibilities!

p.s. Inspiration for this post came from the wonderful world of Pinterest, and this post, specifically, from Ette Studios. It includes a great roundup of t-shirt scarves and is definitely worth a look!

DIY T-shirt Scarf Steps

Cut the bottom hem off of your t-shirt, and then cut the shirt into horizontal strips, approximately 1″ – 1 1/2″ wide. Go all the way up to the armpit of the shirt. These strips will be stretched, so don’t worry yourself with perfection. We were on vacation and I left my favorite sewing scissors behind, and my choppy strips worked just fine!
Stretch your loops. Find a willing and enthusiastic partner to help you! You really can’t pull these too hard.
Collect your loops together and pull them once more to make them all even in length.
Double loop the loops 🙂

If you want, you could stop right here and have a perfectly cute loopy necklace scarf. If you want to add a decorative flourish of color, keep on going.

You’ll need one more t-shirt in a contrasting color.

DIY T-Shirt Scarf – Binding

Cut one loop of the bottom of a t-shirt
Cut the loop open and secure it around your looped scarf with one tie. Be sure to have a tail on the short side of the binding that’s at least 5″ long. You’ll use this extra fabric to tie a knot in a minute.
Start to wind the binging around the scarf. Be sure to wrap it over the hanging piece.
When you have as much as you’d like, cut it off.
Tie the ends together in a knot.
Tuck the ends under the binding. You may need to loosen the end of the binding to make room for this extra fabric.

The results

As soon as this scarf was done, I put it on. It looked so cute! So much, in fact, that my 6-year old asked if she could have it…forever. I failed to get a picture of either of us wearing it, and then promptly moved on to make three more scarves with my kids. This was such a rewarding and fun project to do with my girls, and a great way to turn old clothes into something fresh and wearable.

Layered Rainbow Colored Rice Jars

By Rachelle 2 Comments

Yesterday I shared a recipe for colored rice, and today I’m sharing a fun and simple creative invitation to make a layered rainbow colored rice jar.

Like all things on TinkerLab, this is just a jumping off point and should act more as inspiration than doctrine. Offer your child the materials and then see what he or she comes up with. You may be surprised by the results!

Supplies: Rainbow Colored Rice Jar

Colored Rice – Recipe here
Funnel – I made a paper funnel by twirling a half-circle of paper into a funnel shape and then taping the edge shut.
Spoon
Glass or plastic jar

Rainbow Colored Rice Jar Set-up

I set up all of the materials on the table just as you see in the photo above. My kids were VERY eager to jump in and get started, and began filling the jars before I had a chance to grab an empty-jar version of the invitation. This set-up is super inviting, and MANY jars were filled that day.

My kids, ages 3 and 5, figured out without any verbal cues that this was an invitation to fill their jars. They came up with their own color combinations and enjoyed the process so much that they foraged the kitchen for mason jars and anything else that could hold their colored rice.

More Ways to Explore Colored Rice

Make it a Gift! Make these as gifts for family members
Vary the material: Try this with Colored Salt or Colored Sand, instead of rice.
Make a Sensory Tub: Pour all of your rainbow-colored rice into a big sensory tub and invite your child to play with it. Add funnels, bowls, and scoopers for extra entertainment. Add small character toys and pretend they live in the land of rainbows. The wheat berries in this sensory tub could easily be replaced with rice or colored sand.
Use the rice like glitter. Offer your child a sheet of paper, white craft glue, and a bowl of rice to sprinkle into the glue.