Category: creativity

Posted on

A Cheap…ahem–what I meant to say is: A Frugal Fix

Spin Cycle over at Sprite’s Keeper this week is all about Arts and Crafts…and I have done neither in the past few years that don’t involved washable paints or crayons. Oh, and there was the ribbon project I completed a couple of weeks ago….

This project all started when Lily asked her daddy why there were loops on the ends of her handlebars. Her bike is a hand-me-down from a neighbor, and the tassels that used to hang there no longer exist. So after Ed explained that there used to be ribbons hanging from the handlebars, we all piled into the car, and drove to Walmart to find new ribbons.

The only bike tassels at Walmart came in a package along with a Barbie basket and bike bell. It cost around $8.00. Ed said he was thinking bike tassels would be more along the lines of two dollars, especially since if we bought Lily the Barbie basket package, we’d need to buy Emmy one too and would end up spending $16.00.

If I had been by myself (what was I thinking when I typed that? By myself…hmm, interesting concept…) Anyway, if I had been with just Lily and Emmy, I probably would have bought the baskets. I’m a sucker for my little girls. Ed is too, but he’s a little more, well, economical than I am.

So we traipsed on over the the gift wrap section, and bought a three pack of wrapping ribbon–pink, purple, and silver– for about two-fifty. “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” says Ed.

When we got home, I had to figure out how to attach the ribbons to the bikes. I looked in my craft box left over from my crafty days, and found some pink pipe cleaners. Perfect!

I don’t know how long these will hold up, but the girls like the sparkle they add to their bikes.

Emmy posing on her tricycle. She hasn’t figured out how to pedal yet, but she still loves her bike.

Emmy’s trike–It’s been rainy and cold, so these haven’t had a chance to fall off yet!

Lily is showing me how sparkly her ribbons are.

Lily on her bike–with ribbons!

*Normally I am entirely against wearing flip-flops while riding a bicycle due to damage inflicted on my own toes when I rode my bike without shoes as a little kid, BUT we just came outside for a couple of minutes on a rainy afternoon, so Lily decided to wear shoes that COULD get wet, which just so happened to be her flip-flops, which she wore to the pool this summer. I just wanted to clear that up.

**Oh, and Lily refused to wear her jacket since we were only going out to get the mail, originally, until I saw the bikes, and then saw the RIBBONS, and thought of SPIN CYCLE, so I ran to get my camera and we were outside longer than I thought we’d be!

Posted on

Kid’s Corner Craft: Shape Collage

I discovered a great Saturday meme! Anissa of Our Chaotic Life has started a “Kid’s Corner” for sharing craft ideas.

Photobucket

This is a craft I did with my daughter when she was about 2 and 3 years old. I cut shapes out for her to glue onto a piece of construction paper. This is a great and active way to teach shapes.

Afraid to use glue with your little one? Make sure you use school glue and open the tip just a little bit so your little one can put small dots of glue on the paper. You can also put a small “puddle” of glue on a saucer or paper plate, and have your child use a paint brush to “paint” the glue on the paper. I like school glue better than glue sticks, because even though glue sticks aren’t as messy, your creations fall apart more easily after the glue dries.


Lily is showing off two of her creations that we dug out of her craft drawer.

To adapt this craft for older children, just make a shape collage using shapes from magazines or catalogs. Have your child find shapes and cut them out themselves. You may want to have them trace the shapes they find with a pen or crayon. (Washable markers may smear on those glossy magazine pages!)

Have fun!