The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

{30 days of pinspiration} Day 21: Contact Paper Hearts

Did you hear about Ana’s Valentine’s Day Cabin Fever Creativity Link-up?  Such a great idea.  I have zero talent in the clothes alterations department like she does, but her link-up instructions were just vague enough that I’m going to consider a kids craft “creative”.  


So with Valentine’s Day approaching, I thought I’d try a quick craft with the boys.  They were really excited because unfortunately, craft time has become scarce around here.  I just can’t seem to keep it together with a fussy baby and three boys going to town with paint and markers…and mess.  I think I’m a little more Type-A than I’d like to admit!


This craft was a good way to ease back into the groove.  No paint or markers (hurray!) and I did all the prepwork for minimal sibling bickering.  Here is the inspiration photo I had pinned: 

And here is our finished project!  The other hearts are love notes from the kids for their Daddy’s birthday.  I think this is just enough decorating for me.  

Be sure to link up with Ana, so we can see what crafty things you’re up to!  
P.S. There’s a giveaway involved too!

{30 days of pinspiration} Day 11: Snow Crafts with the Kiddos

 
Happy Monday, friends!  How was your weekend?  Did you see snow in your neck of the woods?  We heard rumors of 4-6 inches, but ended up only getting a dusting.  My boys were ecstatic anyway!   
 
 
Afterwards, my oldest and I snuck away and did a snow day craft, just the two of us.  We don’t get one-on-one time very often these days.  It was special. 
 

The pin is from the blog, Art, Paper, Scissors.  For maximum creativity, I explained the craft to M without showing him the picture.  The result was so him!  It is now taped proudly on our wall.  

In the mood to do a few wintery activities with your little ones?  Check out these links:

{kids craft} Welcome Fall with a Painted Leaves Collage

Well, I’m feeling quite embarrassed about my whine-fest in the previous post. Sometimes life is just overwhelming and writing it out is theraputic, you know?  Funny what a good night’s sleep can do. After weeks of insomnia or using the bathroom CONSTANTLY all night long (thank you pregnancy!), God has been gracious and given me a few consecutive nights of uninterrupted sleep! What a gift…and what an amazing way to gain some perspective.

So I’m happy to report that I’m in a much better place this week and in turn, I think I’ve been a much better mother.  And nothing gets a “Yay! You’re the best, Mamma!” like a spur-of-the-moment art project, albeit with a semi-selflsh motive.

Back story: After perusing our new SuperTarget, I came across these simple white frames on clearance for 50% off: 

 
$4.98 for an 11″x14″ frame?  Yes please!  I’ve also been on the search for simple (read: cheap) fall decor, since big purchases are just out of the question right now.  Oh to live on a budget…I’m sure most of you can relate. 🙂

Cue the kids and the art project.  My inspiration came from this tutorial, with just a few tweaks.  For one, we used tempera paint with paintbrushes instead of finger paint.  I limited the boys to red and yellow, which they then mixed to make orange too.  I also ended up tracing and cutting out the leaf shapes myself, since there was way more interest in the glueing part.  

Our final result:

 
I love it!  And yes, the walls really are that yellow….think Ronald McDonald meets the majority of my first floor.  Lots of home improvement posts to come!

{kids craft} An Easy Way to Restart the Day

Our day started horribly.  The big boys were awake way too early and their first argument of the day woke both me and J.  Breakfast included a huge meltdown with a “I don’t want this for breakfast!  I wanted that!” kind of fit.  Before I knew it, I was losing my cool and raising my voice.  Although it felt like I had been awake for hours and hours, the clock only read 8:00.

What to do?  I knew I had two choices: suffer miserably through this day feeling discouraged or make a conscious choice to turn it around. I’m glad I picked option B.

With my happiest, more cheerful voice, I declared we were having an art day.  I rolled the paper down the length of the kitchen with a dramatic flair.  The boys stood in awe (and silence!).  We pulled out our crayons and they had at it. 

And just like that, their attitudes changed.  They sat there with concentration written all over their little faces, figuring out just the right ninja or action figure to draw.  M made an impressive world map, with each country colored something different (seen in my PL post here).  Even J got in on the action!  Before I knew it, the roll was empty and lines of paper filled every inch of our kitchen floor.  I had a kitchen full of happy artwork and happy children.  And the day was good.   

P.S. In case you’re curious, the paper is the Melissa & Doug Easel Paper Roll.

{kids crafts} Valentine’s Day Craft Roundup

Valentine’s Day is just a week away!  With a house full of boys, this holiday has minimal appeal, but here are a few ideas I just may be able to get them to do!

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Have you signed up yet for the first Mamma Support Swap?  Find all the details here!  Sign-ups will be open all week.

{kids craft} A Homemade Highway (using Painter’s Tape!)

The cotton balls are supposed to be snow.

This week in school, we are reading Katy and the Big Snow and learning all about how a city runs.  I found this idea on Pinterest months ago and thought it would be fun to do with boys.

OH. MY. WORD.  I truly underestimated the awesomeness of this little project.  If I hadn’t run out of painter’s tape, we would have had our roads spanning the entire kitchen floor.  The boys have played happily all week and it has been a life-saver when I’m trying to bake something or get dinner on the table!

This is a great idea for rainy days, winter days, even I’m-dying-for-a-break-from-these-kids days.  I did the majority of the taping, but I’m sure a child slightly older than my oldest can be left free to his own imagination.       

P.S. My husband thinks I would make a fine urban city planner.  Please take note of my amazing parking lot. 🙂

{kids crafts} A Year of Interviews

Can I just say how much I love the preschool age?  My kids are hilarious…their thoughts, the stories they come up with, what jokes they think are funny…the list goes on and on!  As a mamma, I want to bottle up this time of unfiltered thoughts and keep them forever.  But how?  
Inspired by Becky Higgins, I created “A Year of Interviews” scrapbook for the 2011-2012 school year. 
  
I just used a 3 prong folder (is that what they’re called?), a pack of page protectors and some colored cardstock.  M designed the cover with a “swirly rainbow” that he drew and cut out himself. 

The title page will have a photograph of him once I get my pictures printed. 

The plan is that I will interview him every month.  The questions will all be different. 
This is what I did for September and the start of school:
  • I asked him to write his name (I want him to write his name at the end of the year too, to see how much he’s improved)
  • I asked him general favorites: color, food, toy, etc.
  • We traced his hand and we’ll do that again at the end of the year too, to see how much he’s grown
  • On the other side of the two-page spread, we’ll include some pictures of activities/projects we did that month and maybe a drawing
At the end of the school year, we’ll have one little book full of memories.  Hurray for documentation without lots of clutter! 
Now onto his request for learning this year: how Marines do their fighting.  Hmm. 

{kids crafts} Marshmallow Structures

M is such an interesting little guy.  The older he gets, the more we learn about how he sees the world.  He is very detail oriented and is particular about things.  He has just recently become interested in Legos and we will find him in his room, surrounded by those teeny pieces, making rocket ships and laser blasters.

So I just knew he’d love this easy, open-ended craft using mini marshmallows and toothpicks.  Mark showed him the idea and he was off!  In hindsight, I think next time, we’ll either snap the toothpicks in half when using the mini’s or just use regular sized marshmallows.  Our structures were quite fragile!  But we had lots of fun! 

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P.S. I’d like to add that while M was in his building element, his brother couldn’t take the temptation and just started chowing down.  That boy…

{kids crafts} Recycled Crayons

A great craft to do with the kids on a day when it’s too hot to go outside: RECYCLED CRAYONS!  They are so easy and fun to do and the possibilities are endless! 

Here’s what you do:
Find a bunch of old or broken crayons.  Remove all of the wrappers.  Break the crayons into small pieces and place into a muffin tin or silicone pan (we used a mini brownie pan made of silicone that I had on hand).  Place in the oven at 275 degrees for 15 minutes, or until melted.  (If using silicone, I recommend placing it on a firm cookie sheet before putting into the oven.)  Remove from the oven and let your new crayons set completely, about 1 hour.  Then, pop them out and color away!  

The boys just loved this project and we came up with a lot of ideas for next time:

  • I would use an Xacto knife to cut slits down the paper before peeling the wrappers off of the crayons.  This step took the longest and we had some trouble with the older crayons (the paper tended to stick more). 
  • I want to try to make crayons in different shapes.  I know they have candy molds at Michaels for pretty cheap, which would work perfectly for this craft!  How adorable would they be as party favors?
  • I think it would be neat to combine two colors into one space.  Once you have them all melted, swirl the colors with a stick! 

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