March 20th was the official first day of spring, though it certainly doesn’t feel that way! But even if you’re seeing more snowflakes than flowers right now, you don’t have to wait till it’s warm to embrace the new season. This year, try thinking about spring cleaning less as a to-do list item and more as a self care strategy for the whole family. Starting from the inside and working out, changes the way you experience the world. Help your home feel fresh and make space for new things to blossom.
1.Start with Mental Spring Cleaning
Before you get to work on your house, spend some time on yourself! After long winter months cobwebs can form in your mind as well as your closets. As Darling Magazine says, “In the same way we fall into messy physical habits that need to be cleaned up, we can just as easily fall into habits of thought that leave our mental well-being neglected and in need of some extra care.” To find new focus, first take inventory of your mental blocks so that you can move past them.
2.
Make De-cluttering a Family Affair
You’re not the only one with excess stuff. Rather than trying to sneak old items out of your kids room, introduce your kids to the KonMari method. Cleaning guru Marie Kondo suggests helping them purge by thinking in reverse.
“Don’t decide what to get rid of, only decide what to keep. You and your family should only save items that spark joy. Children as young as 3 years old can decide what gives them joy and the key principle is that each person should be making the decisions for themselves. If a parent or a spouse ever tries to ‘force’ another family member to tidy, not only will it not work, it could even have a negative effect.”
Kondo recommends creating a “Hall of Fame” for favorite books that you return to again and again. “When we are overloaded with books or other objects, our ability to receive and appreciate new information is dulled. The space in your home that you create after you tidy your books allows more information to come to you at just the right time”.
Entice your kids to clean out their closets by making an event out of it. Education.com recommends encouraging your kids to put on a fashion show. They’ll have a blast modeling their favorite pieces and will have no trouble deciding which ones are “so last season”.
3.
Roll up the Rugs
It’s a simple idea that can make a big impact. When it’s cold there’s nothing cozier than warm rugs but as Houzz points outs “Bare floors can be a treat to toes after the heavy socks and woolen carpets of winter.” Plus, carpet-less floors are much easier to keep clean!
4.
DIY Cleaning Products
Once you’ve decluttered and cleared surfaces, keep things fresh with chemical-free cleaners. Live Simply has experimented with all types of homemade recipes and shares her favorites for vinegar and castile soap all purpose cleaners. You can whip up both in much less time than a grocery store run.
5.
Make Cleaning Fun
If you do it right, family cleaning night doesn’t have to feel so different from family game night! Try out a few of these ideas and watch your kids act much more cheerful about chores.
Go Skating for Dust Bunnies: Have your children wear old pairs of socks and “skate” around the house collecting dust bunnies with their feet. See who can accumulate the largest dust bunny. Be sure to collect all of your dust bunnies in a trash bag as you go along so they don’t hop back onto the floor! Kids love this silly and energizing game that gets their hearts pumping and promotes agility and muscle fitness. (via Education.com) To really get in the game, buy a family set of mop slippers, above.
Musical Chores: Give your kids a specific task to get done by the end of a song. If they finish beforehand they can use the extra time to dance! (via Parents)
Follow the Leader: Give each child an apron and tuck an old rag or towel and a squirt bottle filled with a non-toxic cleaning fluid into the pockets. The designated leader must walk through the house and make multiple stops to clean or put away an object and the rest of the group must follow suit. Switch leaders every five minutes. (via Education.com)
6.
Organize with Matching Bins
After clearing and cleaning, bring visual coherence to your space with a set of cute containers. Each kid can have their own pattern and each room it’s own type to make clear where items live. Practice what you preach by returning things to their rightful place and your kids will learn to do the same.
Wake up your senses with a fresh fragrance. A coconut candle is all you need to make winter will feel like forever ago. Candles from Target
8.
Bring Greenery Indoors
Flowers are always nice but planting an herb garden with your kids is a real growth opportunity. Reann Kelly’s tin can herb garden is stylish yet simple to make and you can easily add to it if your kids want to expand their plant collection. Once the herbs get going, you can teach your little ones how to use them in simple recipes, or even about their medicinal values. Check out Learning Herbs for lots of great info.
9.
Do Some Birdwatching
Offer a feast to feathered friends by hanging a bird feeder outside of your kitchen window. Your kids can practice their observation skills and learn about seasonal migration by keeping an eye on which birds visit. A cleaned nut can is easily upcycled with the addition of a twig and some twine. Find the how to in our book, Project Kid: 100 Ingenious Crafts for Family Fun.
10.
Make Space to Daydream
Designate an area for new ideas to enter by building an A-frame tent. This sweet design from Cakies functions indoors and out. You’ll be ready for the first “real” day of spring, and in the meantime your kids can enjoy some living room camping.
It’s totally old news that we are big fans of mixing elements of nature into crafts with kids—sticks, rocks, pinecones…they are so sturdy, beautiful, and free! As a kid I used to explore the woods behind my house and pretend I was building nature’s fantasy world to shelter my toy animals and dolls.
When I saw this beautiful Animal Menagerie Craft Kit from Kid Made Modern, I knew I was destined to give it a home. Once your kids have finished coloring in the beautifully designed wood pieces, they can easily assemble the menagerie and start collecting Mother Nature’s craft supplies for the house. We mixed in some fun colored supplies from the Bright Bundle Craft Kit to add a little pop!
You can build this in so many different ways, but here’s a little detailed exploration of what we did here at Project Kid:
What you’ll need:
1. Use the fuzzy sticks in the Bright Bundle Craft Kit to bind the corners of the house together. You can add a dab of hot glue underneath for extra security if your sticks are on the wonky side. Carefully remove the caps from acorns and glue pom-poms in place of the nut. We used ours to top the main legs of the party house.
2. The pinecone is now nature’s chandelier! Glue the beads from the Bright Bundle Craft Kit to the ends of the pinecone’s scales. Use the colorful string to hang it from criss-crossed sticks above.
3. Cut leaf shapes out of the neon stickers sheets and attach them to the bottoms of the four side posts. We wrapped skinny duct tape around the base of the legs, and set some painted rocks around.
5. It’s always a party with this animal menagerie, so we folded the duct tape around the nylon cord and cut it into flag shapes.
6. No animal can resist a party hat. Make some for this crew out of duct tape and pom-poms.
I truly love planning my kids’ birthday parties—taking their theme of choice and running with it. But then it comes to the favor part and I am confronted with a personal conundrum—to give plastic junk or to not give plastic junk. I want to be known as the mom who gives killer goody bags, but I hate the idea of sending kids home with junk that’s bound for the land fill. I’ve tried so many work arounds (such that I could write a weekly column on this topic) and I feel there’s an economical, valuable solution for every single party.
We did some brainstorming and googling to find these ten goody bag alternatives that will thrill beyond the car ride home.
This post contains affiliate links!
1.
Art Bar knows how to keep the fun going after a crafty birthday with a bag full of supplies. Include materials to make a specific project, or a random assortment to encourage creativity. For an added bonus, give the supplies in a muslin bag that can be decorated too!
2.
Kids may not be excited about soap but they’ll be eager to reach the prize inside! Homemade soap is a great way to incentivize hand washing, plus you can include toys to match any party theme. Follow the easy how to from Super Make It.
3.
For a cooking birthday buy kid sized aprons in bulk that can be used during and after the party. You can also send guests home with a jar of ingredients for a favorite treat – just don’t forget to tie on a recipe card! Image via Today’s Parent
4.
Though we take photos all the time, a printed picture feels likes a prize. Set up a silly photo booth, like this one from Mood Kids, and use a mini printer, such as an instax, for photos. For a more finished feel, slip photos into colorful frames, or have guests decorate frames as a craft activity.
5.
Form a twelve piece orchestra by giving each guest their own instrument. It may take a while before they make beautiful music together, but they’ll have a lot of fun trying! These instruments can be bought as a set from Amazon.
6.
No matter the theme of the party, a book is a favor both kids and parents will appreciate. To find affordable options, check the discount bin of your local bookstore, buy a set of classics and break them up, or browse bookoutlet.com
7.
Encourage growing green thumbs with a plant kit – the opposite of a throw-away favor! These hairy examples from Today’s Parent include a mini pot, seedlings, a bag of soil, and of course eye stickers.
8.
A scavenger hunt is the perfect pick for a nature themed party. A treasure hunt, like this one from Nellie Design, doesn’t have to involve toys, kids can use a checklist to mark observations and collect outdoor items.
9.
All mini magicians should be equipped with their own deck of cards. Or split a big box of classic tricks, like these from Becky and Me Toys, and let the party goers practice on each other.
10.
For a truly favor free birthday, share the money you would have spent on goody bags with a charity instead. Let the birthday kid choose a cause they feel strongly about, like a local animal shelter, or consider an organization like The Birthday Party Project, which throws parties for homeless youth. All the party guests can sign a card together.
This year I’m all about wild and crazy eggs (did you see the messy eggs I made for Parents magazine?). When we were testing different processes for that story, this was one of the rejects, but I held onto them because they were so organically gorgeous.
I love that even the youngest of makers can get with these…there is literally no way to mess them up!
Here’s how you make em…
What you’ll need:
Eggs
Liquid food coloring
Water in cups or bowls
Spoon
White vinegar
Measuring cups and spoons
Make it:
Mix white vinegar and water at a 1 to 1 ratio. Dip a paper towel in solution and wipe onto the egg.
Microwave a 1/2 cup of water mixed with a 1 teaspoon of white vinegar for 30 seconds. Add about 6 drops of dye and stir. (Do this for each color of dye that you want.)
Use a spoon to drizzle dye over the egg surface. You can let it just flow around the egg and drip off or you can twist the egg around to make active lines. Let it dry for a few minutes.
Drizzle another color or a deeper tone of the same color (just add 6 more drops to the original dye bath!) on top.
Bunnies and chicks often steal the spotlight at Easter, but they aren’t the only animals who are craft-worthy! Who says a panda and a penguin can’t be festive? An Easter egg is the perfect canvas for all sorts of creatures. Whether your favorite animals are of the woodland, farm, or tropical variety, we’ve collected 10 fun ways to animate your eggs.
1. Don’t be deceived, this doe-pe deer only looks difficult to make. With a faux flower crown and felted collar you craft a show stopper just like Lauren Conrad’s.
2. For another woodland option, Lia Griffith shares great ideas for using a paper punch. A few circles and a set of ears will make your eggs bright eyed and bushy tailed in no time.
3.
They may not quite be birds of a feather, but a swan and flamingo still look sweet flocking together. Follow Studio DIY‘s lead to help eggs hatch into beautiful birds.
4.
Though they usually prefer mud puddles, these crafty pigs will look right at home on your Easter table. Martha Stewart keeps them cute from their button noses to their curly tails using crepe paper and pipe cleaners.
5.
If you want to keep it classic, you can’t go wrong with a white rabbit. Covered in yarn, felt, and pom poms, we heart these fuzzy little bunnies from Parents magazine.
6.
To craft Easter decorations that aren’t in danger of cracking, a plastic egg garland is a cheery choice. Chicks and bunnies keep things bright and can be used year after year. via Family Fun
7. These cute egg cups from Archies can morph into any animal you want, just add ears (and accessories!)!
8.
We love these fingerprint eggs from Fraulein Klien – especially the panda. Starting with such a simple shape means the types animals you can make are only limited by your imagination!
9.
Tiny toys, whose main purpose seem to be poking your feet on the rug, are given new life perched atop Easter eggs. Flax and Twine douses them in gold for a look that’s refined but still playful.
10.
Encourage your kids to play with their food for once. These edible animals are a waste-free way to craft for Easter. Though they’re so cute you might be tempted to keep them around for at least an hour or two. Follow directions from Eating Richly.
Thanks to Brother for sponsoring this post and providing crafters with a new tool for our trade!
If your little ones are itching to be the stars of the show, give them a drum solo! They’ll love making music with an instrument, customized just for them. What this drum lacks in size, it makes up for in style—especially with the help of the P-touch Embellish tape and tibbon printer.
We started with soup lids, wrapped them in custom printed tape and created ribbons to produce an instrument worthy of a future superstar. Every icon needs their signature look, so let your kids choose the symbols, words, and patterns that suit their personality best.
Rock on, little ones! Go march to the beat of your own spin drum!
1. Trace the soup lids onto the paper, trim to fit the top of the lids and glue in place.
2. Add colored tape to the edge of each lid to create a solid rim; fold any extra tape inside.
3. Trace the bottom of the foam paintbrush handle onto the edges of both soup lids and cut out. Glue the paintbrush into one lid, adding glue to the foam and on the dowel.
4. Print two six-inch ribbons with whichever pattern or words you’d like (we chose the musical note symbol) and glue them to the inside edges of the lid on opposite sides of the paintbrush.
5. Glue the second lid on top of the first by adding glue to the foam. If you need more height to make it reach, glue small pieces of cardboard to the foam.
6. Print two six-inch strips of tape with whichever pattern or words you’d like and, starting at the middle top, stick them on your drum covering the seam between the lids. Tip: when you reach the ribbon, cut the tape and make a vertical cut to go around the ribbon.
7. Tie a bead on the end of each ribbon. Make sure the bead is at the right length to hit the drum when it’s spun then cut off excess ribbon and add hot glue to secure.
Thanks to Brother for sponsoring this post and providing crafters with a new tool for our trade!
I was so excited when Parents magazine asked me to craft “messy” Easter eggs…beautiful egg designs that were all left to chance—leave your perfection at the door! I love this idea for two reasons
We can get so caught up in making “Pinterest-perfect” crafts. We see these precision-crafted egg designs, and while I love them (and make them) they can be very intimidating.
I love the idea of embracing the process…letting the dyes, paints, and materials take control and waiting to see what the final result is. It embraces the ideas of process art (check out Art Bar and Meri Cherry for some amazing process art tips!)
SHAVING CREAM MARBLED EGGS
Spread a thick layer of shaving cream on a cookie sheet.Add 4 or 5 drops of food coloring to a small section and mix it around with a toothpick or a straw.Roll an egg in the dyed shaving cream, and let the shaving cream sit on the egg’s surface for about 10 minutes. Pat excess off with paper towels.
Tip: Presoak eggs in white vinegar for 2 to 3 minutes for more vibrant color!
WATERCOLOR EASTER EGGS
Stand an egg up on a bottle cap or an overturned egg carton (resting the egg between the cups). Drip 1 to 4 drops of first color of food coloring on top of the egg. Spray with water. Repeat with additional colors.
SOAP-BUBBLE EASTER EGGS (top)
Mix 2 Tbs. dish soap with 1 tsp. water and 10 to 15 drops of dye. Blow into the solution with a straw, and then stir vigorously with the straw.Dip an egg into just the bubbles and let dry.
BUBBLE-WRAP EASTER EGGS (bottom)
Dye an egg the color of your choice.Press solvent ink pads onto Bubble Wrap. Lay an egg on the inked Bubble Wrap, gently pull up the corners, and wrap around egg.
Tip: Don’t move the eggs around on the Bubble Wrap or the ink will smear!
TAPE-RESIST AND TAPE EASTER EGGS
Wrap an egg in thin washi tape, pressing it firmly to the eggshell. Use a paintbrush or your finger to cover the egg with tempera paint. Let paint dry completely, then remove tape.
Tip: Use different widths of tape and stickers for more graphic designs!
If you haven’t made any St. Patrick’s day plans yet, fear not! It’s the type of holiday where it just takes a few special touches to make a memory. And because it’s on a Saturday this year, there’s the extra chance for family fun. Whether your crew’s favorite way to celebrate is by eating, making, or doing, we’ve collected ideas for all three.
1. Getting your kids to eat a rainbow is not only holiday appropriate, it’s healthy! Say Yes suggests a supermarket scavenger hunt with your little ones to find foods for each hue.
2.
Santa’s not the only one who appreciates being left holiday sweets. These tiny Leprechaun donuts from Hello Wonderful are made out of baked biscuit dough so they’re easy for little hands to help with.
3.
For a St. Patty’s drink that’s as pretty as it is festive, try Sugar and Cloth’s coconut mint chip cocktail (extra points for rainbow macarons). Sugar Spice and Family Life shares the recipe for a kid friendly mint chocolate chip green smoothie.
4.
If green isn’t your color but you don’t want to be pinched, this clover corsage from Vitamini Handmade is a sweet option. With it’s vintage vibe, it may become a holiday staple.
5.
Let your little one take a rainbow wherever she goes with this adorable ribbon purse. It may not fit an entire pot of gold, but it’s the perfect size for a few chocolate coins! via Handmade Charlotte
6.
For a grown up version of your mini me’s rainbow purse, follow the how to from The House that Lars Built. A placemat and ric-rac combine to make the worlds cheeriest clutch.
7.
Hello Wonderful proves that an ombre rainbow can be just as much fun as its multicolored counterpart. Plus, this craft is a good chance to teach your kids compass skills as they draw concentric circles on cardboard.
8.
If you’re looking for a one-and-done holiday decoration, this shamrock may be the answer. A piece of wall art this big surely brings enough luck for the entire house. Check out Oleander and Palm for instructions.
9.
Honeycomb paper always feels holiday appropriate, but especially when it’s holiday shaped. Follow Studio DIY‘s how-to and craft your own field of clovers.
10.
For a St. Patrick’s day surprise you’re kids won’t forget, recreate Oh Happy Day‘s rainbow yarn treasure hunt. No matter what lies at the end of the rainbow, getting there will definitely be half the fun.
Project Kid started the new year with a big change – a new workshop at the inspiring Industry City in Brooklyn! We feel beyond lucky to have a place dedicated to crafting and only crafting. We’ve unpacked all of our supplies but there’s still so much space to play with. For now we’re filling it with daydreams until we craft the perfect layout. Below is some of the studio eye candy our Pinterest boards have been bursting with!
Wall storage is number one on our list! Pegboards rule craft rooms for a reason. As Oh Happy Day demonstrates, they’re perfect for holding everything from spray paint to spools of ribbon. We love the way Ladies & Gentleman Studio pairs their pegboard with a metallic grid. The shelves in the third image are designed to hold supplies for an entire children’s art studio, but with the amount of materials we have, they’d probably fit just right. We also love how artist Lisa Congdon’s bookshelf is accessible, organized, and even has space to display treasures.
For more contained storage options, light wood looks so lovely with pops of color. We tend to forget about our patterned paper when it’s all rolled together but a hutch like this one repurposed by Something Turquoise would show it off, plus it doubles as a seamless shooting station – genius! Our props are another collection that would be fun to display (image via StudioDIY). Craft Storage Ideas demonstrates how a smart combination of shelves, drawers from Ikea, and hangers allows a slim closet to be used to its full potential.
While Project Kid isn’t a home studio anymore, that doesn’t mean we need to lose all the homey touches. A couch like Judit Just’s would be the perfect spot from which to admire all the artwork on the walls. Justina Blakeney’s cabinet brings a bright pop of color while holding drinkware and pillows. And though we might not have enough space for a human-sized rabbit, it would be nice to capture some of the whimsy of Nathalie Lete’s workspace. We are also totally tempted to copy Say Yes’s swing set, after all unleashing your inner kid might not be a bad way to brainstorm craft ideas.
Though white floors could invite messes they also transform the whole room into a blank canvas and what’s more inspiring than that? Images clockwise from top left FJELDBORG, The Cottage Market, Say Yes and In/Out . Say Yes adds a smart touch by installing a roll of seamless near the ceiling for a ready-in-a-second photo shoot.
Saving room for sunlight and greenery will help keep our workshop zen. We love that Jasika Nicole ‘s studio has a treehouse feel thanks to those lovely windows full of leaves. The white planters in Sarah Sherman Samuel’s office make it seem like the plants are growing out of the space itself. Designer Lotta Nieminen and artist Abby Kasonik both demonstrate that it only takes a few strategically placed plants to make a big impact.
Finally, even after our workshop is “complete”, we will always continue to daydream! Mood boards are the ultimate inspiration tool. It couldn’t be easier to add to a grid like Design by Tjejen. Paper and Stitch has the good idea to double their giant house mood board as an organizer. We love how Emma Robertson’s mood board takes over her wall and Judit Just’s is so multi dimensional.
Stay tuned as we share the results of all this inspiration in our own workshop!
Thanks to Brother for sponsoring this post and providing crafters with a new tool for our trade!
Raise your hand if your photographs live on your phone, computer, or tablet and never make it to paper. Yep, that’s what I thought. Cameras and camera phones are getting better and better, and yet we rarely print out photos to display in our homes.
Here’s a fun project that shows off your entire family in a creative way—craft a modern, colorful version of a family tree. Now this tree is not your great-grandmother’s family tree of yesteryear…this one is bright and playful, one that can match the décor in a casual family room, playroom, or entryway. A family tree is never complete without names and birthdate labels, and that’s where our P-touch Embellish Ribbon and Tape printer comes in. Type out the names and birthdays of your family members and print them vertically on the ribbon to finish off your little award-ribbon frames. Recognize those bright circles? That’s because they are made from kids’ activity dough lids!
The beauty of this tree is that you can keep adding branches as your family grows and grows and grows…
1. Glue photographs inside the kids’ activity dough canister lids. 2. Print out the names and birthday vertically onto ribbon using the font and frame of your choice. (We used the Brussels font with frame no. 80.)
3. Trim the ribbon and hot glue the tops of the ribbons to the back so that the text faces forward. Set these aside.
4. To make the tree, place one full-length dowel in the center, and cut balsa wood at an angle with a utility knife in varying lengths to make branches. Create enough branches at different angles to hold all of your frames.
5. Hot glue your photographs to branches, putting the eldest family members at the top.
Put Styrofoam inside a jar, vase, or flowerpot and insert the trunk of your tree down into the Styrofoam. (I covered my styrofoam with white sand, but you can also use moss or pebbles for a natural look or bright pompoms for a crafty vibe!)
Thanks to Brother for sponsoring this post and providing crafters with a new tool for our trade!
Start with Mental Spring Cleaning 
Image Source: Small Shop Studio
Image Source: Gaijin Pot
Finally, even after our workshop is “complete”, we will always continue to daydream! Mood boards are the ultimate inspiration tool. It couldn’t be easier to add to a grid like 
