Paper Boats

The other day, my 5 year old was wanting to do a craft, I thought I would show him how to make a paper boat. Since I haven't made one for a while, I brushed up on the technique with this YouTube video:

 We filled our kiddie pool and tried to get them to float. They didn't last too long.

 Then my son wanted to try this canoe he saw while we were on YouTube:

It floated a lot better than the regular boat. I think making it out of newspaper helped a bit, too.

Then we made a Sampan Boat:

The sampan held up remarkably well. We put the canoe and sampan together and tried to blow them around and race them.

A fun activity to do on a hot summer day!

Rice Bags

Last month, I was in charge of instructing a group of ladies from our church in a little sewing project. I had never done any kind of instruction like this before, but it was fun. I had a lot of experienced sew-ers there to help. We wanted to make something that would be relatively simple for those without any sewing experience. We made these rice bags using the Hot/Cold Rice Bag instructions from Make It and Love It.

I made one of these for me, and an extra one for a friend who couldn't be there. I thought they turned out really cute. And everyone really enjoyed the project.

Reading Corner Update

 

I finally finished the Rollie Pollie to put in our reading corner. I have had the inside part done for a month or two, but finally finished the cover. I was a bit intimidated by the zipper. I have never done a zipper before. Although it ended up a little off-centered, it worked out pretty good!

Now we have a perfect little reading spot.

And with a little bit of bribery, my sons will sit quietly next to each other and read, without fighting! :)

Summer Fun

We have been having a fun Summer, and I haven't had too much time to blog.

Here are a few fun activities and crafts we have been doing lately:

• Cereal Box Marble Run

• Sun-bleached Alphabet and Shape Puzzle (This was fun for both my kids. My 5 year old was especially fascinated with how it changed colors, and had to do several more)

• Lego Measuring (We used Trio Blocks, since that is what my sons play with all day, every day)

• DIY Name Stamp

• Angry Birds Water Balloon Game (Was a hit with my Angry Birds loving kids--they could have played all day, but my fingers quickly got sore tying water balloons!)

T-Shirt Fun

I found some t-shirts at the dollar store the other day, so we had some fun with them this week.

My 5 year old picked out a white one. He wanted a pterodactyl on it, since the last dinosaur shirt I made for him is too small now. My 2 year old wanted a smaller pterodactyl, so I just put a little one on a shirt he already had. I traced the image on this page of a pterodactyl onto freezer paper and painted it on. I think it was easier to paint it, than it was to get a decent picture of my active boys.

I also bought a couple shirts to refashion for myself. I took an 2X gray t-shirt and turned it into a super comfy summery skirt. I was inspired by this tutorial, although I didn't really follow it. I wanted it a little longer (the tutorial says to cut off under the armpits of the shirt, I went all the way to the front scooped neckline), so I had to sew up the sides a little, too. I also didn't do the shirring on top, I just folded it over and put in an elastic. It was quite easy and quick, and a great skirt to wear in this hot weather! I have a black one to make, too.

Group shot!

 

Winning Baby Shoes

I forgot to post the baby shoes I made for my giveaway winner. These are the baby shoes I made for Olivia. I hope her baby is enjoying them!

Homemade Pinwheels

Our air conditioner went out this past weekend, and it was super hot around here. We constantly had fans on trying to keep cool. So when I saw this tutorial to make a homemade pinwheel, I thought it would be a fun activity to play with in front of our fans.

The tutorial showed them made with a push pin, but I couldn't get them to spin around. So I made the holes with the push pin to begin with (to make the hole a bit bigger), then put a regular straight pin through, and then all the way through the eraser of a pencil.

I only made them with one sheet of scrapbook paper, rather than gluing two together. I kind of like the white on the other side, though. The bigger one I made with a 7 inch square. The smaller one is only 6 inches.

We had a lot of fun with them, though. We even rigged up a little tower out of Trio blocks to hold them in front of the fan.