MM Painting Dinosaurs

Today for Masterpiece Monday, Sebastian painted a dinosaur from a paint kit he got for Christmas. (He chose the one he wanted and said the other one was for "Kyler". Skylar was at school so they didn't get to paint together today)

Great all-in-one kits!! These are about $7.99 and very well loved

Sebastian painted the poor guys head like 15X, no joke, haha. I tried everything I could to get him to paint the rest of his body, but he wasn't interested.

Must get the head perfect!

Masterpiece!!

Sensory Project: Water Beads

Sorry I haven't been keeping this very current!! October always gets away from me. Sebastian's party (and the entire weekend went great. I'll post pics soon!) Next up comes Pumpkin Patch and Halloween activities. YAY!!
So today I will bless you with a fun little sensory project we did. Basic flower water beads. Who knew kids would adore squishing these in their hands? I think even Skylar got a kick out of them! (btw, these come in multiple colors and are sold in the floral aisle at Wal*Mart. The pack I bought was $2. I got clear because I was afraid of the dyes rubbing off on them, but I think I will buy colored ones next time! Color is just fun, and it'll come off eventually, right? :) )

Little packet of Beads

Put into large bowl and cover with water

An hour later, as they swell up absorbing the water

In 2 hours I considered them done, (package says could take up to 4 hrs)
Then drain off the excess water

Closeup of the beads

Now it is time to squish!!

8/22/11 MM: Milk Magic

So while reading a blog I adore I saw this lovely idea. I can honestly say, this was a new one! I figured since today was Monday, we would give it a go! After all Monday is for Masterpieces, right? ha ha.
Supplies needed:
*Whole milk (any milk is fine but whole works best)
*Toothpick
*Dish soap
*Food color
*shallow dish

^^ My guess is you already own all that right? So here's the deal
*Pour the milk into the dish and put various drops of food color all around. Dip the tooth pick into the soap and begin to swirl.
Sebastian absolutely adored this project! We had to repeat with another color choice and let him create again. FUN. FUN. FUN. Hope y'all try this and let me know what you think!!

Yes, ha ha. He had to touch the milk, hahaha

After adding the milk, drop in some color. Dipping your toothpick into soap and then dipping the milk creates the colors to run away from the tooth pick. Very cool effect!

Take 2, ha ha. He wanted to do it again.

I seriously adore this. The color technique just looks so neat. Don't be surprised if it shows up as my new background!
ETA: I did add this as my background, ha ha

SS Bday Gift #1: FlowerPot

Today we worked on a craft for a friend. I am in a Mommy Group with other October 2009 babies. We have been in a little group of us 10 girls for over a year. Some of us have actually gotten rather close. ( I also mention this group here) This year for the kids birthday, we decided to do a Secret Stork (SS) and make a gift. Sebastian is to make something for the child's name we got and we should be receiving a handmade gift as well. I am looking forward to seeing what the other moms do!If our SS is a reader or follower on this blog, I hope this doesn't give it away!!
The first thing we did was a flower pot w/faux flowers.
Skylar, of course had to make one too, and maybe she will bless me with her flower pot? haha I can only hope. In fact I think these are precious and want one from both kids.
The kit comes with 3 ceramic flower pots, a set of paint, 1 paint brush, 3 pieces of foam and 3 sets of flowers. All you do is paint the pot, let dry over night, insert foam and your choice of flowers and Wah-La, a beautiful gift! I found this on sale at Walmart for $10, so you figure a little over $3 each if you make it into 3 gifts! nice deal, huh?
They both thoroughly enjoyed doing these. Sebastian didn't want to stop even after his was painted!
Tomorrow's goal was inserting foam (after they dried all night) and putting in the flowers, but we may have to paint something, haha. My kids just LOVE painting!
 Today was Step 1&2: Paint and let dry

On Day 2: Sebastian simply added the foam in the pot and inserted flowers. I showed him how to *fluff* out the flowers a little and he took over. It's amazing to think this was totally done by him! LOVE that. (Skylar hasn't added her flowers yet). I really hope his friend likes it!

Bubble Snakes

Today we made Bubble Snakes! So fast and easy, but best of all, both kids thoroughly enjoyed it.
I got a book at the library about quick and easy crafts, so I copied some down! Hope y'all like them, as I plan on doing them in the upcoming MM and beyond!
So, Bubble Snakes are simply that: Snakes made from Bubbles. Instructions could not be simpler:

 ITEMS NEEDED:
*Old bottle with bottom cut off
*Use a rubber band to secure a washcloth to the opening in bottom
*Shallow bowl w/water and a tiny squirt of Dawn
*(I tried adding food color to the water, didn't work. I'm going to add it to the washcloth next time)

 Simply dip your bottle into the bowl and blow.

 These are really fun to play in and if it weren't so hot out today I could totally see this lasting a while with both kids.
Be warned though. If doing this with a toddler, have a sibling, older child or adult do the blowing. I had a lot of "baby do it" requests but I fear them not properly blowing and you could suck in soap. Bleck, no one wants that! Therefore, I was the designated Bubble Blower.

 *oh, and another thought! How fun would this be in the bathtub??? haha

Jul25, 11 MM (Black Magic)

So today we decided to try a little something called Black Magic.
The cheapest and easiest craft ever! My toddler adored it and it even made my 9 year emit an audible "ooohhh". What more could you ask for?
Supplies are super simple, instructions couldn't be easier.
So what is this magic you ask?
A black crayon, black paper, water and a paintbrush.
yeah, that's it!
Simply have the kid draw on their construction paper with their black crayon. I told them ahead of time, it may be hard to see, but be patient. Sebastian was confused by this, and said "it's broke. new one?" as his markings didn't quite show. I urged him to scribble a bit more. Skylar drew her picture.
Next I had them paint over it using water. As the water hit the crayon marks they instantly highlighted them, causing Skylar to "ooohh". Sebastian was pretty impressed to. "not broke!" he exclaimed. Haha
I took photos, and will post them but to be honest, it doesn't show up as neat as it did in real life.
Skylar was so enthralled she tried again with another matched items. Purple paper and purple crayon, green on green, etc. LOL very fun!

Sensory Boxes w/animals

Today I got out his old sensory box, aka a container full of blue rice. I added some more rice (that I dyed green) and 6 of Skylar's Schleich animals. I hid them inside and he had to find them. He had such fun. I think this was his favorite time. It was so cute he'd be all "PIG!!! Are you??" (yeah he doesn't add the *where* haha), then if he found a different animal than the one he had called for he's say "No, turtle!" and shove him back in and continue the pig hunt, aha sooo much fun. This is another time he played with the box and here too.
I won't do any more commentary and let the pics do the talking, haha

Jul 20, 2011 part 2 (craft time)

So today's craft was kinda impromptu and I didn't exactly have the right supplies, but we went with it!
We did stained glass photos using tissue and construction papers. Skylar made a fish, Sebastian did a flower, and then Skylar went back and made a quick octopus! LOL, loads of fun! here's the pics!

I drew Sebastian's flower, while Skylar drew her own fish.
Just draw whatever design you want and then redraw it inside itself creating a border

Next cut out your designs and you are ready to go!

(side note, my mom was here and kept holding his glass afraid he'd drop it on the floor while I took pics, haha)
Next you lay your "Pretty Side" (no pencil marks) face down. Then cut tissue paper into squares. For the adhesive paint, I just mixed together Elmer's glue and a little bit of water.
You will paint the entire design and layer it with the tissue paper. Be sure to overlap and cover your entire design

Allow to lay flat and dry. This took several hours, unfortunately.
But when it's dry you trim the excess tissue paper and flip over.

The final result is beautiful and ready to be hung!!

I do see us making these again, but I will try to have cuter tissue paper available, lol.
to see Part one of Jul20, 11 click here and you can see the cakepops we made, including my attempt at a Mickey one!!

April 4,11 (MM: Butterflies & Clouds)

Today we decided to do 2 projects. The first was a paint transfer butterfly and the second was an idea I stole from my friend Rachel! That project was a cotton ball cloud.
The Butterfly was super fun and well loved by both kids! I folded a piece of construction paper in half and (roughly) cut out a 1/2 a butterfly. That way when you open it you get the whole thing, like we all did with hearts as children. I then taped it to Sebastian's tray (while folded) and let him chose 3 colors of paint. He chose red, white and blue cuz that's how he rolls, haha. I poured out a small dallop of each color directly onto the butterfly. He used his hands to smear it all around. Next I removed the butterfly from his tray, unfolded it and folded it the opposite way onto itself. I smoothed the two sides together, with Sebastian helping me. Then when you unfold it you get a beautiful tye-dyed effected butterfly! AND as a bonus, an extremely messy toddler. But that is all part of the fun right?
Skylar did one too but was unhappy with how hers turns out. She didn't blob up her paint enough and wants to do this again.
Sebastian wanted to pait some more so I gave him another sheet of paper to use his leftover paint on, then it was a fast cleanup (to get up most of the paint) and onto the cloud!

Rachel did hers a bit differently I think, but here is how we created ours. I (again, roughly) cut a cloud shape from blue construstion paper and poured Elmers glue all over it. Sebastian and I both smeared it all over. The we tour up some cotton balls and adheared them to the cloud shape. Sebastian did freak out a little when the cotton started sticking to him so I had to create a silly "Cloud stuck on me" song to get him back laughing. In the end his project turned out beautifully, as did Skylar's cloud!

during my song, haha

Skylar's Art