Call me crazy, but...

Okay, again, with the cloth diapering! I have become a cloth diapering ADDICT! I need help!I counted up my stash the other day, and holy crap, I have a lot of diapers. I have 21 gDiapers (I love my g's!) and 3 BumGenius All-in-Ones. I haven't actually gotten to try out the BumGenius yet - I just got them in the mail yesterday and am washing and prepping them as I type. We will try them out tomorrow. I am liking the look of them though - and they seem like they will be super easy, and a good candidate for my nighttime diapers!Anyways, so I belong to many, many blogs about cloth diapering now - and some of them are doing some great giveaways. This is a current giveaway that is just TOO good to pass up - you should go check it out! http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2009/11/bum-flipn-genius-super-fluff-friday-56.html

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!