Where does the time go - AND a little project!

Wow - I'm so sorry you guys! Life caught up with us and I just did not get around to getting pictures of any of the projects Monster Boy and I have done lately....

But to assuage you all - I have a NEW project for you!

Last month, we redid Monster Boy's bedroom. We (finally) got paint up on the walls - he had been living with Builder's White since we moved in to this house three years ago! Well, our paint turned out a bit brighter than intended (think highlighter green!) but looks AWESOME with all his new bedding that we got on clearance at T.arget!


Well, as you can imagine, all that bright green is a little overwhelming with nothing on his walls!
We discussed long and hard our options for decorating his walls - we looked at stores and nothing just stuck out to us. Then came time to go through his school folder this last week - and lo and behold - the answer to our needs!

Monster Boy's preschool teacher, Mrs. R, is a fantastic woman who is SO wonderfully inventive. Well, she'd have to be with a class full of boys (seriously, Monster Boy has only ONE girl in his Pre-K class this year!). She has done several art projects with the kids (and has graciously agreed to let me "steal" them for you all here!) and, since Monster Boy's favorite colors to paint with are, conveniently enough, blue and green, some of their art projects made PERFECT artwork for his room! So off to the local craft store for some plain white mats and plain white frames (which I found on sale 2/$7 - doesn't get any better than that!) to make REAL art pieces out of them!

His FIRST project was "Painting with Cars". What a GREAT idea! Mrs. R let the kids take tempera paints and some matchbox cars and "paint" with the cars. Basically, the kids put splotches of paint on their paper and then ran the cars through them to create patterns. Here is Monster Boy's results - all nicely framed and ready to hang!




The other project they did was painting paper towels! Again, inspired! Mrs. R gave the kids some individual paper towels and water color paints. The paper towels really absorbed the paints in VERY cool patterns and look FABULOUS (well, at least in my opinion) all nicely framed up to hang on his walls. Monster Boy made two paper towel paintings on different days out of the same colors (have I mentioned he likes Blue and Green?) that really look like they belong together. So they are our other "works of art" for his room.



I think these projects are GREAT and are SO easy to do. And what better way to decorate your kids' rooms than with their OWN works of art? Monster Boy was so excited about framing these projects to hang up in his room.

Puppy Dogs

So the Turkey project wasn't enough entertainment for Monster Boy the other day, so I had to think fast and come up with ANOTHER project for him.

So we made Puppy Dogs out of foam as well. (Can you tell this is my new favorite product? It's PERFECT for preschool aged children!)

For this project you will need:

Foam sheets (any color - sticky back optional)

Glue

Scissors

Optional items:

Things to use for templates for your shapes

Any additional decorations you would like to add.

Step One: Create a backing for your project. We used foam cut in the same way as on the turkey project - but you could also use construction paper, poster board, etc.

Step Two: Have your child pick out the color for their dog's face, ears, collar, and eyes. (Again, we have a green dog, as this is Monster Boy's favorite color. This time we have orange ears, because he informs me this is his second favorite color, and blue eyes because that is his "other" favorite color.)

Step Three: Draw a circle for the dogs face. I used the bottom of a cup to trace the circle and it wound up the perfect size. (It was a foam drink cup). Have your child (if they are old enough) cut it out.

Step Four: Make your ears. I just drew a leaf shape onto the foam for the ears - it turned out pretty well. Again, have your child cut the pieces out.

Step Five: Make the whites of the eyes. For this I used a basic Bic lighter bottom. Again, it turned out just the right size. Cut out.

Step Six: Make the colored portion of the eyes (better known as the iris) I used the bottom of a AA battery for this one. Cut out.

Step Seven: Make the nose. Again I used the Bic lighter for the shape. We made a pink nose, but you could also do black if you preferred. Cut out.

Step Eight: Make a mouth. You can either draw a mouth on or cut one out of foam. I used remnants from cutting out the nose to create the curve for our mouth.

Step Nine: Make a tongue. I drew a small U shape onto the red foam. Cut out.

Step Ten: Make the collar. For this you just need a short, straight strip of foam. Cut out.

Step Eleven: Make the dog tag. I used gold foam, but any color will work. I used a quarter to trace this one. Cut out.

Step Twelve: Have your child place the Dog face onto the foam.

Step Thirteen: Place the ears at the top of the dog face. I glued mine on drooping down, Monster Boy preferred to have his pointing up, and then decided to move them again so they were sticking straight out!

Step Fourteen: Place the Whites of the eyes in between the ears of the dog on the dog face.

Step Fifteen: Place the iris of the eyes on top of the whites at the bottom edge.

Step Sixteen: Place the nose directly below the eyes.

Step Seventeen: Place the mouth below the nose and position the tongue so it is "sticking out" of the mouth.

Step Eighteen: Place the collar directly under the dog's head.

Step Nineteen: Place the dog tag directly below the collar.

Step Twenty: Have your child write their name if they are able, or write their name and date the picture for them!

Monster Boy's dog:

Gobble, Gobble

So, we had a busy day in the Mac household today! TWO projects!

Our first project was a new take on the good old hand print turkey. Here is what you will need for this project:

Several foam sheets in whatever colors you like (found at most craft stores. I got lucky and found some that already had sticky backs to them, but that isn't necessary - you can always glue!)

Craft glue (Elmer's good old school glue will work just as well, but glue sticks will not)

Leaves (real or fake - I had intended to use real leaves, but unfortunately our tree decided to drop all of it's leaves two weeks ago, so we went the fake route)

Scissors

Optional - glitter (if you don't purchase already glittered stuff)

Shaped foam stickers (we used pumpkins and leaves - again can be purchased at craft stores)

Ribbon (if you would like to give this hanging capabilities)

Googly eyes or pom-poms

Now for the fun stuff!

Step One: You need to create a background. I took a non-sticky piece of foam and cut it into quarters. This gave us plenty of space - I believe it wound up around 4x6 inches.

Step Two: Have your child choose the color for the body of the turkey - Monster Boy's favorite color is green, so we have a green turkey!

Step Three: Trace your child's hand onto the foam they have chosen.

Step Four: Cut out (or have your child cut out) their hand tracing.

Step Five: Cut out your feet, legs and beak - I cut the corners off of the sheet of foam for the feet and beak, and just cut a thin strip of foam for the legs, which I later cut in half.

Step Six: Make your wattle. For this piece, I made a tall, skinny figure 8 on the back of the foam and used that as a guide to cut it out.

Step Seven: Place your hand cut out onto your foam backer, using either glue or just sticking it down.

Step Eight: Place your beak piece against the thumb edge of your hand cut-out.

Step Nine: Place your wattle directly underneath the beak.

Step Ten: Place your legs underneath the turkey. For the feet, you will take your triangles you made earlier by cutting the corner of your foam and place them with the longest flat point down.

Step Eleven: Place your eye. Monster Boy wanted a glitter eye, so I took some scrap foam left from our legs to make the eye - you can also simply draw one on, or use a googly eye if you would like!

Step Twelve: Now for our turkey feathers! Take your leaves and glue them on top of the finger portion of your hand cut out.

Final Step: Add any miscellaneous decor you want, have your child sign it if they can write their name, and be sure to put the date on there somewhere!

And Viola! Happy Turkey Day!

Ghosties!

Monster Boy cannot call them plain Ghosts, for some unknown reason, so we named this project "Ghosties". He had a BLAST making these and it was super-easy!

Items you will need:

Styrofoam balls (in the size of your choice - I used multiple sizes for this project)
White fabric (you will need to cut this into squares to go over the Styrofoam balls)
Yarn, ribbon, or other tying mechanism of your choice! (We used yarn)
Black Marker or Fabric Paint (We went the marker route, but you may want to test your fabric first - the marker bled pretty badly on our fabric)
Optional - Small Dowel Rods or Paperclips and string

Directions:

Take your Styrofoam Ball (if you have chosen to use a dowel rod, you will want to insert it into the ball at this point) and cover with your fabric. Using your yarn (or other choice), tie around the fabric underneath the ball to create a head. (If you are using a dowel rod, you will want it to be coming out of the loose fabric) You now have the basics of your ghost. Taking your fabric paint or marker, draw a face on your ghost - our preferred face was two solid black ovals for eyes and a larger solid black oval for the mouth. You now have a Ghostie! You can use stamps, stickers, markers, etc to decorate your Ghosties however you want. If you have chosen the Paperclip and string items - bend one end of your paperclip out straight and press through fabric and into Styrofoam ball to create a hook.

Suggested uses: If you utilized the dowel rods, you can create a "Ghostie" bouquet - take a pot, bucket, candle holder, anything really, and fill it with the green floral foam. Stick the dowel rods into the foam at random intervals to create your "bouquet" of Ghosties. Cover the foam with face spiderwebs and plastic spiders for even more fun effect! If you created a hook with your paperclip - hang with string from the ceiling, doorways, in windows, or wherever you (or your child) would like!

Flower Power

Our first project!

I tried to get some pictures, but my husband apparently has the camera at work :(. So I'll have to load those later. I will add them in to the directions hopefully tonight, so if you are confused about one of the steps, keep checking back!

This is a super EASY project for your preschooler and you. It only takes about ten minutes to do (although you can certainly drag it out for longer). You will need the following items:

(this is PER FLOWER)

2 Pipe cleaners (Monster Boy likes the glittery ones)
Construction Paper (You may want a few sheets for "do-overs")
Markers (Again, multiple colors are good, but you really only need one)
Scissors (Safety Scissors for your preschoolers - Adult sized Scissors if you prefer to do the cutting)
Any miscellaneous decorations you or your child would like to add - stickers, colors, glitter, etc.


First, help your child draw a circle (any size) on the construction paper. This will be the center of your flower. Then, let your child draw on their petals - this gives it character! If your child wants to "decorate" their flower, let them at this point. If you have an older child who has experience with scissors (like my son) you can let them cut out their own flower once they are done drawing it. For a younger child, cut out the flower yourself. Then cut a SMALL X in the center of the circle you have drawn. Take ONE pipe cleaner. About an inch or so down on the pipe cleaner, fold it over and around to create a "knot". This will hold the flower in place on the pipe cleaner. Straighten the rest of the pipe cleaner back out, leaving the "knot" in place. Slip the pipe cleaner end CLOSEST to the "knot" through the X you cut in the flower, and fold over the top of the pipe cleaner to create another "knot". Now, take your second pipe cleaner and cut two 3-4 inch pieces from it. These will be your leaves. Fold them over to create a "fish" shape - you want a V at one end and a loop at the other. You will take the V and place the pipe cleaner stem in the center. Twist the ends of the V together on the other side of your stem, and then fold over to conceal the ends. Repeat with your other "leaf". And Voila! A Flower!

About Me.

Let me introduce myself.

This is actually my SECOND blog, so you probably won't be seeing a whole lot of activity on here. For daily chronicles, you should hop over to my original blog, www.thecleftofthematter.blogspot.com.

I recently became a stay at home mom, and my intent is to use this blog to post ideas for other stay at home mom's to use as entertainment for their kiddos - snack ideas, learning games, arts & crafts, and so on. We'll see how this goes.

So for the last seven years I worked in the rental industry. When my company effected layoffs at the end of July, my job was cut. My husband (Daddy Mac) and I (Mommy Mac) decided that I would at least temporarily stay home with our kids - Monster Boy who is 4, and Little Miss Sunshine, who is 7 months old. We made this decision based in part on the fact that Miss Sunshine has a cleft palate and will require surgery (currently scheduled for January) which involves a two week recovery period, and starting a new job would prevent me from being able to be home for that. The current plan is for me to be a stay at home mom through the end of next summer at least. Depending on what our financial situation is at that point, when Monster Boy starts school full time, I will either go back to work or continue to stay home. Since Daddy Mac just started a new job the week after I got laid off (as he had been laid off the six months before that!) we aren't really sure where we will be in a year - so we are playing this all by ear. I will be going back to school next semester to get a second degree in nursing - starting with my LPN, which I am hoping to be able to finish by next September by taking night and summer classes - and then we will be looking into me getting my RN after that, depending on how things go.

So for now, I am a stay at home mom. And I have come up with all sorts of cute and fun activities for my son and I to do, along with creating fun snack and lunch ideas (some of which I am sure you have heard of before...) that I plan to share at least weekly. So, welcome to my blog - and to my exciting new life as a stay at home mom!