March 21, 2018
Early Elementary, Everyday Crafts, Preschool, Toddler, Toddler, Toys, Uncategorized
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!
What you’ll need:
Make it:
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!
March 17, 2018
Activities, Age, Baby, Early Elementary, Easter, Family Bonding, Grown-Up, Holidays, Older Elementary, Preschool, Toddler, Tween to Teen
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
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!
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!
March 15, 2018
Activities, Decor, Early Elementary, Family Bonding, Grown-Up, Older Elementary, Outdoor Fun, Preschool, St. Patrick's Day, Toddler, Wall Decor
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.
March 15, 2018
Decor, Furniture, Organization, Styling, Wall Decor
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!
March 12, 2018
Activities, ad, Age, Decor, DIY Home, Early Elementary, Family Bonding, Grown-Up, Kids Rooms, Playrooms, Styling, Unplugged Time, Wall Decor
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…
What you’ll need:
Make It:
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!
