If you read just one book this year, make it The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. This one has been out for about a year, but I am just now discovering it because I live under a rock. I happened to notice many of you who follow Inner Child Fun also follow Amanda’s blog […]
Shamrock Lanterns
March 4, 2009 by
Last night Emily helped make some Shamrock lanterns from empty baby food jars, tissue paper, glue (mixed with water), and some thin gauged wire. The white tissue paper almost looks like frosted glass. To make your own lanterns, cut pieces of tissue paper into squares. Mix the glue with water for a 50/50 mixture. Invite […]
Scratch N Sniff Painting
February 27, 2009 by
We had some leftover unsweetened powdered drink mix that was several years old — I’m not kidding! It probably would have been okay to drink, but instead we made scratch n sniff paint with it. I lightly penciled in some fruit pictures for Emily to paint. It made very vibrant colors, and the pictures smelled […]
Mardi Gras Fun
February 24, 2009 by
This morning I helped Emily make this cute Mardi Gras mask from some leftover craft supplies, cardstock, stickers, a drinking straw, and some glue. First, I drew a pattern using a pair of her sunglasses as a guide for where to put the holes for the eyes. Emily traced the pattern onto the cardstock. If […]
The Celebration Continues…
February 19, 2009 by
Emily had this idea to make a birthday book for Mark’s birthday. She used one of her old, beat up board books and transformed it into this! This took quite a bit of work, and she completed it in several stages. She was quite proud of herself. I helped with some of the cutting and […]
Spring Baskets
February 11, 2009 by
This was such a simple, easy project and it made Emily and I feel a little closer to Spring. This afternoon we worked on Spring baskets made from strawberry cartons, ribbon, and pipe cleaners — all found in our Invention Kit. We filled them with some tissue paper and a bunch of Hershey’s kisses — […]
Tissue Paper Bouquet
February 9, 2009 by
Can’t wait any longer for Spring to arrive? We had a great time creating this flower bouquet from tissue paper and pipe cleaners. Don’t they look beautiful? So simple to make and extremely frugal! Spray with a little perfume and they will smell fabulous too. These tissue paper flowers are so colorful and are sure […]
The Frugal Princess
February 7, 2009 by
I found these templates for princess gear from HP and they are FREE! We printed this beautiful wand and this personalized tiara and put them together in minutes. They do not even use a lot of printer ink! Tip — I found these go together much easier using tape instead of glue. Emily could put […]
Frugal Valentine Mobile Project
February 5, 2009 by
I spent some time with Emily yesterday creating this Valentine Mobile for our dining room. It is so simple and easy to make (and extremely frugal). To make your own mobile all you will need is some tissue paper, white glue, a paintbrush, embroidery floss or ribbon, scissors, a marker, and a zipper storage bag. […]
Valentine Book Making
February 3, 2009 by
Emily and I made these adorable little books from empty cereal boxes and deeply discounted craft supplies from Big Lots. The decorative paper, brads, and a complete Valentine rubber stamp set cost less than $5 combined. We will probably make several crafts from these materials combined with items from our Invention Kit. What better time […]
Fun with Felt – Play Valentine Mail Set
January 29, 2009 by
Emily does not know it yet, but I am going to surprise her with this homemade felt play mail set for Valentine’s Day! Isn’t it cute? I know, I know, 25 cent postage… those were the days, right? As a learning tool, the address labels and stamps can be moved around. She can practice placing […]
The Day We Unplugged – Part II
January 22, 2009 by
This is something that has been on my “To Do” list for awhile – organizing the Learning Studio. Last summer, Mark and I (mostly Mark) created this fabulous space in the house for the girls to get creative. It is full of every craft supply you could possibly imagine, plenty of books, and a good […]
The Day We Unplugged — Part I
January 22, 2009 by
I thought it would be fun to outline what we call “unplugged day” in our household. Every so often, we try to have a full day where we do not watch any television or play video games. It amazes me how productive I can be on these days! This morning, I had a conversation with Mark […]
Weave a Placemat
January 20, 2009 by
This craft is so frugal, and keeps kids busy for a good while. Younger kids might need a little bit of help, but the older ones will have no trouble. Use these as a great opportunity to teach patterning! To make your own woven placemats, you will need: Two sheets of contrasting construction paper Scissors […]
The Invention Kit
January 16, 2009 by
Several of the crafts Emily and I create are products of the Invention Kit. We love recycling materials and finding new uses for things, so we set aside a separate box with things that might be useful for future projects. Here are some of the things we keep in the Invention Kit: Egg Cartons […]
Fun with Juice Lids — Size Matching Game
January 15, 2009 by
Emily had fun playing this matching game this afternoon. To make your own size matching game, you will need: several lids from frozen juice concentrate white paper double sided tape or glue dots stickers of similar objects in different sizes Trace the juice lids on the white paper and cut out to attach using double […]
Fun with Scissors
January 13, 2009 by
Emily cutting white paper. Much of today was spent with me running around like a chicken with its head cut off in a vain attempt to clean and de-clutter the house. Did I say house? I meant kitchen. Yes, from 9am until 3pm I scrubbed and tidied up the kitchen from top to bottom. Now […]
Fun with Felt — Ravioli
January 5, 2009 by
Emily spent a good deal of time this afternoon feeding her dolls these fabulous felt ravioli! If you have never sewn before, this is a terrific starting project because the felt is very forgiving. Since it is ravioli, the seams do not need to be perfectly straight. To make your own felt ravioli, you […]
