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Good morning friends. It's snowing outside of my window as I type and it's looking like it just might be a white Christmas indeed. Yippee! Which means, after the snowball fights and snowman building, it is the perfect time to come inside, sit snugly indoors and create with my Littles.
I don't know about you but this time of year often brings about a case of the sniffles. Which means we have have number of tissue boxes lying around the house. Well the Littles and I discovered just the thing to do with them. Make a little Christmas village, using glitter and duct tape of course! So that is just what we did.
To make the structure of the roof tops, we just cut up a few other tissue boxes (or any other discarded cereal box, etc.) and created the roof shapes atop the tissue boxes. We then proceeded to cover them with the duct tape and then had lots of fun decorating them!
We were so excited to find this gold and silver glitter tape, from Martha Stewart, at Michaels, and knew right away that it needed to be used in our little village. I love how it makes the shingles sparkle and come to life (and an extra bonus - it's really easy to cut).
I also played around with our hole punch a bit and was able to create polka dots with the gold duct tape by spreading out the tape onto parchment paper prior to punching. With a little finesse, they turned out great! (In fact we have updated our duct tape cutting methods altogether. If you lay it out on the parchment, you can get a really nice clean cut with scissors and create just about any shape your heart desires! Best thing about it: the Littles can be more involved in the cutting stage now! Yippee! I'll have to do a tutorial of this new cutting method on the blog soon).
And our little vintage wooden angel is just the perfect friend to inhabit our little village. Makes me want to create a few more wooden friends for her to carol to.
And how cute would it be to cut out the window and door shapes and then add a few battery operated tea lights or even a strand of white Christmas lights on the inside? I just might have to do this variation in the next day or so. Would be so magical indeed!
My friend Meta, of One More Mushroom, recently threw her son the cutest super hero party. She had this idea for a darling super hero photo booth, and she asked me if I would help by creating cereal box/duct tape buildings to imply a cityscape of sorts for the little vigilantes to fly over. Being a big lover of re-purposing discarded goods with duct tape, we of course said yes! We created four buildings, each with a different bright popping color and then adorned them all with black tape, adding just a few pops of contrasting color here and there. And I just love how they look with little masked crusaders flying over them. Head over to One More Mushroom, and Babyccino kids, for more great photos of the party and to learn how to set up the rest of the photo both.
My friend, Susan, of Freshly Picked, also created a great leather mask craft for the super hero's to paint and decorate. Take a look at how you can make your own here on her guest post for Martha Stewart!
Photos by Ashley Thalman
Have you had a chance to peruse the November issue of Family Fun that recently hit the news stands? If so you might have seen our Tea Box Circus Train in it! A couple of months ago Family Fun asked us to share our circus train idea with their readers and we were thrilled. Have you made one yet? It's really a load of fun. Could be a fun Christmas craft for around the bottom of the tree, yes? Which could carry a few little gifts for good girls and boys. So many fun ideas!!
If you are looking for the perfect trick-or-treat candy bucket, but you don't want to spend a lot (or if you are like me and don't want to bother going out to the stores only to find that what you're looking for just doesn't exist)...we've got just the thing for you! A Do-it-Yourself bat (or pumpkin) treat bucket from a tin can, adorned with cardboard wings and duct tape!
To make these candy buckets, simply gather together a number of household materials, such as:
- a tin can (paint cans work great as they already have a handle in them)
- a wire coat hanger and pliers (if you don't already have a handle)
- an assortment of festive duct tape colors
- an X-acto knife and self healing mat (see tips for cutting duct tape here)
- cardboard (for the wings if you are making the bat)
Start by punching holes for the handle into the sides of the can with a hammer and an awl (or use a drill). You can then bend and trim the coat hanger until you are happy with the size and shape for your handle. Don't place the handle into the holes just yet, though. I would wait to do this at the end once the tin is already covered in tape.
Once the holes are punched, you can begin covering your tin with duct tape. For the bat I covered it completely with black and created the face, and other decorative elements, with colorful tape. I even did a few rows of corresponding tape within the bucket to make things pop a bit. It's important that you have a good layer of tape folded over the top of the bucket so that no sharp edges are exposed. You can also cover the holes you previous made in the tin can and then puncture the tape where the holes are. This helps to cover any sharp edges that holes might have created as well. I then added a few bat ears by taping together pieces of black tape and then cut out triangle shapes which were then taped to the inside
of the bucket.
Once you have finished decorating your tin, you are ready to put your handle on. You might want to wrap a few layers of duct tape to the top of the handle to make it that much easier for little hands to hold throughout their night of tricks and treats.
For the bat wings, simply download this bat wing template and trace it two times onto cardboard (or a cereal box, etc.).
Cut the wings out of the cardboard and then cover with duct tape. Fold the wing over (at the dotted line) and tape securely to you bucket.
But don't let the fun stop there! You can continue to create an assortment of other haunted treat containers for your home or to give away as ghoulish gifts. Have fun raiding your pantry for a variety of cylinders. We made this little pumpkin guy out of an old discarded chow mein noodle package and we've become quite fond of him (not to mention the goodies he now holds inside!).
Now that your trick-or-treat buckets are complete, your little ones are ready for a spooky night out on the town! And my favorite thing about these treat containers is that they are mighty durable and, if treated well, should hold up for at least a few years. (To store, simply remove the wings and lie them flat. Any nicks and scratches can easily be repaired with a new "coat" of duct tape). And little O's favorite thing about these buckets? Well the candy they hold of course!!
 OK friends, I've finally got everything together to share with you our latest cardboard + duct tape creative adventure (which is the perfect weekend project for you and your Littles). Presenting...our Interlocking Cardboard Play Castle! We are having SO much fun with this, you wouldn't even believe it. In fact I think I've found just thing to get me more engaged and on the floor playing with my Littles in their world. I'm not usually one to sit down and "play" with my kids. I typically help to facilitate their play and then let them go at it. But with this castle...well I've been down on my hands and knees playing castle right alongside them (and I forgot how fun delving into accents can be..).
 Well I have to confess, I got a little obsessed with this one. It was SO much fun to make.
Once I finally figured out how to cut and handle duct tape, well I couldn't wait to try my hand at something a little more involved.
To begin, I used sturdy cardboard (taken from an old Baby Lock sewing machine box) to cut out the basic interlocking shapes of my castle. I decided to go with a 10"x10" squares for each portion of each wall (so a 20" long sheet of board all together) and then added a mix of castle-like rooftop structures up top.
 I then cut out door frames from each wall, making sure they were large enough for the Littles play things (namely Playmobil characters) to fit in and out of.
And now comes the fun part...decorating the castle walls with brightly colored duct tape! (I should get them to sponsor these posts, don't you think? I mean I'm only singing their praises like, every other minute...:)) The only hard part in decorating the castle was deciding on what to leave out, as there are so many directions you could take this.
 In the end I decided to keep it fun and graphic and not too specific as
to what you would do in what room (but you could always go more literal by having more
obvious interior and exterior rooms, etc. for yours if you like).  I did add a few small elements to some "rooms" such as a tree to suggest the outdoors and small table with a tulip for an indoor room (hey, even strong warriors need a calm place of respite after a long journey or a fierce battle, right?). I also added flags to some of the rooftops by simply wrapping duct tape around a tooth pick and then cutting it down to the desired shape. From there I just pushed the tooth pick into the top of the cardboard (I might however decide to hot glue them in later for greater permanence).
If you want to have your Littles help with this process, adding the
details/decals is a great way to do it. Just be sure that you are doing the cutting and then you can hand the decal over to them and have them
place it on (and depending on their age you might want to help them with this. A would get really frustrated whenever an item folded over onto itself and he couldn't take it apart). You can also bring them in on the design process. They'll love letting you know just what they have in mind for their castle.
And if you are interested in creating an interlocking castle yourself, and want to follow the basic shape of mine, I have created some templates for you to use. Just print them out and use them as patterns to trace onto your thick cardboard (or foam core works really well too).
 These templates are created as an 18"x24" document so that you can print them in their entirety. I would suggest saving the files out to a thumb drive and then taking them to your local copy store and have them print them on large sheets of paper there. Click on the pictures above to download each section of the castle.
 Now that you are done decorating your castle, it's time to assemble it by lining up the center notches and pushing the top one down (be careful not to un-stick all of your duct tape "siding" in this process. I might suggest scoring the duct tape a bit where the two boards interlock so that this doesn't happen). Now it's time to gather together your little ones toys and figurines and let the play begin! Oh and you can invite the Littles to join you if you so wish.
 And what fun you will all have exploring all your many rooms! (which can actually change by the way, depending on how you assemble the boards together at different times).
 I also love just how portable and rather study this little castle is (that's the great thing about duct tape, it's sort of indestructible). Just bring it over to the kitchen table while your making dinner and your Littles will be entertained for a good long while.
 And if you make one of these, I really really would LOVE to see what you do with it. I'm just so excited about the many possibilities for this little castle and I have a feeling that your touch is just what it needs to take it to the next level of magic. So don't forget to email me and share!
Happy Weekend Friends! I'm off tomorrow to hear A perform his songs he's been practicing for Kindergarten graduation. I'm pretty sure it's bound to be just about the most adorable thing ever. And then next week we have a field day, a Teddy Bear picnic and more. Oh how I love the last few days of school and the beginning of summer!
 OK, so I'm sure you've noticed that I've been on duct tape kick as of late. And if you are just catching up now, you can see a few of my past projects here and here. If you are looking to delve into some duct tape endeavors of your own, I thought I'd share a few helpful hints on how to handle duct tape - specifically how to cut it without wanting to pull your hair out (I had to learn this the hard way).
First off, do NOT use scissors. I made this mistake when I initially approached my first project. Basically you'll end up going nuts and vow to never do anything with duct tape again. Duct tape is super sticky so when you try to slice it with scissors things just start sticking to each other and once the sticky part of the tape sticks to itself, it's nearly impossible to get it apart. It's also hard to get precision when cutting and your scissors end up all gooey and well, it's just not fun.
So let's talk about how to do it right, shall we? You will need a utility knife, a self healing cutting mat and of course some duct tape.
 1. Start by rolling out and sticking your duct tape to the self healing mat. Cut a portion of tape off of roll (you can get a really nice straight line this way (and if you want to use a straight edge or ruler, that works even better).
2. Cut desired shape out of tape by pressing utility knife firmly into the tape so that it cuts all the way through.
3. Peel away newly cut shape. I've also found that if if you use the tip your knife to get right under the shape to begin lifting, you avoid the slight turn over your fingernail could create.
4. Enjoy your new shape and place where you want it...
...such as on the upper right hand corner of this of castle that
I'm working on (this is just a sneak peek of one of my most favorite
cardboard/duct tape projects yet...let's just say I got a little
obsessed with it and I can't wait to show it to you! Hopefully
tomorrow?!...)
And what's even more fun is that A got an impromptu craft project out of my left over cardboard and duct tape cutting scraps.
 Don't they just make the most perfect skyline? I seriously love how it turned out (and I love that I didn't have to plan a thing for it!).
 Our spring cleaning was delayed for some reason or another and it just so happens we are knee deep in it now, organizing closets, purging this and that and finally decorating some much neglected spots around the house. We've been in our place for about 10 months (I can't believe it!) and I still feel like we are new here. And to prove it we still, (yes, I'm embarrassed to admit it) still have boxes that need unpacking/sorting through, etc. And with unpacking/sorting, etc. comes a cluster of extraneous boxes. And well, with the current box/duct tape fervor going on around here, we knew just what to do with some of the smaller sized ones. Re-purpose them and make colorful animal masks of course.
 To do this you'll need to start with a box the is just larger than yours or your child's head. (If you don't already have one to size, you can easily duct tape together 5 pieces of cardboard and make a box yourself). Once you have your box you can then go crazy with fun and colorful duct tape, electrical tape, paper, markers, paint, you name it! (I only used tape for my masks but you can use a number of craft materials to make yours. have fun with it!). Once the mask was decorated I used a utility knife to cut out the eye holes.
I did this craft with Little O (3.5yrs) when A (6 yrs) was at school and let me tell you, this was the perfect thing for him. He LOVES to dress up and is obsessed with characters and taking on their different personas. He's more our imaginative play enthusiast while A is more our linear thinker (loves puzzles, putting things in order, math, etc. - Although A was the only one who had imaginary friends...I haven't heard from any of them lately, wonder where they went to?...). A also has never really been into masks as he's not one for a lot of sensory items around his face and neck. Sometimes I worry that my crafts for the boys cater more towards A's personality so I was very happy to have this time with Little O where we could indulge in some one-on-one time, creating and playing in HIS world. And...if we are in in his world, then we must bring along a number of his friends, such as Mr. Bear here (who is actually A's but Little O has pretty much taken over the entire stuffed animal collection and A's more or less perfectly OK with it).
 And in Little O's world, Mr. Bear needed to be outfitted with a mask as well. And I agreed that it only seemed fair. So we cut up a Go-Gurt box and made a fun warrior bunny mask of sorts just the right size for Mr Bear. And together the two of them had a grand time sneaking around, dancing, jumping and performing in their new incognito forms.
 When A came home he enjoyed the masks as well (although was not too keen on wearing one) and the boys couldn't get enough of trying them on their various stuffed animals and softies. You'd think it was the most hilarious thing in the world, to hear their giggles.
 And I have to admit, I've really been enjoying the bright pop of color these recent crafts have brought to our otherwise black+white+neutral home decor color scheme. Makes me think that summer really is just around the corner.
And I hope you're not too too tired of our cardboard and duct tape creations, because I can't quite shake the bug. I fear there might be at least one more craft we'll have to share with you that involves a combination of re-purposed house hold items and fun bright pops of duct tape!
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