This made my day.

Source: blog.craftzine.com

Holiday project #2

Post-it calendar

There are lots of things happening in December. The Hanukkah, New Year (which is the main winter holiday in our family) and our daughter's 4th Birthday. She's really excited about her party. I think she spends every second of the free time in school asking other kids whether or not they will be coming to her party. At least that is the only thing she reports to me when I pick her up.

Have you ever tried to explain to a 4 yo why her party is not tomorrow, but on 19th? Time is an abstract thing for little kids. So, we make a post it calendar. We took 31 post-its, still attached to each other; and she wrote numbers 1-31 on each of them. Then we marked the important events like Birthday and Party day and holidays. She tears the leaf off every morning. And we talk about how many days are left till XXX. Also it gave her a change to practice counting and writing numbers.

	You can make a last minute Advent calendar or just like us - a "busy month calendar". We like ours a lot and we might continue to make our own calendars.

Holiday project #1

Make your own cards

Even better if you have a bored 4yo - ask her to draw something [tree, snowman, happy face], then either color it or glue small pieces of paper or foam on the lines. Sign. Send. Enjoy.

Here is lots of new blue goo now.

New goo. Blue goo. Gooey. Gooey. Blue goo. New goo. Gluey. Gluey.
[from "Fox in Socks" by Dr. Seuss]

We made a goo. Blue, because it's kiddo's favorite color. And spent the whole afternoon playing with it. It's rather simple.

Ingredients:

1 tsp of Borax

4oz of Elmers glue (PVA glue)

water

food coloring -optional

In the mixing bowl, mix glue and water 1:1. Stir well.

You can add a food coloring if you'd like. Keep in mind that it will stain your hands.

In the small cup mix borax and 1 cup of water. Mix until dissolved.

The following is better done with two people. Keep stirring glue, add borax solution, few drops at the time. You'll see how the glue is polymerizing. It will be harder and harder to stir the slime, keep mixing for as long as you can. [you will have some left over borax, never mind it] Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes. Finish mixing by hand.

Have fun! Make balls, and feel the bounce; stretch it; make a snowman and see it "melt"...

NB: Store the slime in the ziplock bag in the cool place. It's not toxic, but it's not edible.

Kids' craft turned WOW.

Even kids like to make things that work or at least get put to everyday use. This simple to make pendant is sure to bring you tons of compliments. I felt bad telling people that I only spent about 2hr of my time and less than $10, when I was told that it looks design store worthy. Here are a step by step instructions: 

You'll need:

1. round balloon - for better results use punch balloons or a beach ball (I used the latter, but see a note below)

2. ball of cotton crochet thread - you will need about 200 yards for a 20" ball. They come in variety of colors and sizes, I think I used size 10, but feel free to pick the one you like the look of. I've got mine from the Walmart for about $3.  

3. Stiffy or any other fabric stiffener. Sold at the craft and fabric stores. I think PVA glue will work fine, too. You'll need about 6oz of Stiffy for a 20" ball.

4. foam brush

5. pendant light hardware *optional

Step 1. Winding

Make a balloon, knot it. Take a thread and tie it to the neck of the balloon. Turn on some nice music. Wind the thread around the balloon. It is very relaxing once you get a hang of it. The coverage should be lacy and more or less even. Stop when you like the way it looks.

Cut the sting, tie it to the balloon, too.

Step 2.Mess making

Cover your work area. Pour Stiffy in a shallow cup. With a foam brush apply the glue to the thread, making sure to completely saturate it. Take your time. 

Step 3.Drying

Hang the ball. Allow to dry for at least 12hr. You'll know when it's ready. And here's why you should NOT use a regular balloon - they tend to deflate! If that happens - you'll end up with a deformed ball or a completely ruined project. Both beach balls and punch balls perform equally well -give you a pretty round ball and hold the air well. BUT the punch ball is easier to work with on the next step.

Step 4.Freeing

IF you used a punch balloon - poke it with a needle, making it burst. Pull the balloon out. You're done!

IF you used a beach ball it is trickier. First, with a Q-tip pock around separating the surface of the balloon and the sphere. IF THERE'S a part of the sphere still stuck to the beach ball, deflating of the ball will make it DEFORM! Then, you will need to cut the tip off, because there's no way to deflate the balloon w/o squeezing the air out of it, and you can't squeeze it.

Step 5.*optional - Lighting up

Cut the hole around the balloon's tail. Proceed with the instructions that came with your pendant light kit. If you just have a cord with a socket:

-screw the light bulb in the socket (use low wattage light, I have 40W incandescent bulb).

-insert it through the hole in the sphere.

-take a plastic lid (e.i. from a take-out container) and make a small hole in the center of it (enough to fit around the cord), and another cut on the radius. 

-tie a knot on the cord so the lightbulb is positioned at the center of the sphere.

-insert the lid INTO the sphere, put it on the cord ABOVE the knot.

Step 6.Admiring

Hang your new pendant. Walk back and admire. Invite some friends over or take pictures and send to your friends. Enjoy the compliments! Go ahead and make another one, you know you want to... I do!