We did a bit of tidying up that involved several trips up and down the stairs. So we installed an elevator in our foyer! Problem solved! Added bonus — the buttons on the inside of the elevator helped with Clara’s number recognition. Suddenly, I had no shortage of helpers to make the trips up and […]
Nature Study Kit from Recyclables
July 26, 2010 by
This afternoon the girls and I went around the house collecting recyclables and put together a Nature Study Kit to enjoy some educational outdoor fun! There were lots of interesting containers to collect specimens — a baby food jar, a tea tin, a mint tin, and a leftover mesh bag from a sack of lemons. […]
Configure Your Own Cardboard Castle
July 22, 2010 by
We made this cardboard castle set, and it kept the girls happy and busy for a large part of this afternoon. For something as frugal as cardboard, it was a big hit! Not only did they spend a lot of time immersed in pretend play, but they also really enjoyed getting to decorate the castle […]
Solar-Powered Lunch!
July 7, 2010 by
We had a scorcher of an afternoon today — prime conditions to make our own solar oven! We recycled a pizza box and a clear plastic lid from a disposable cake pan. Add a little aluminum foil, and voilá… a super eco-friendly and frugal solar oven!! We even made our own sun tea, just to […]
Lemon Rubbings from Yogurt Lids
June 22, 2010 by
Do you follow FFFB on Twitter? If not, you should! The Stonyfield Blogger Barnstorming Tour is starting this weekend, and I’ll be tweeting and posting virtual postcards from the road. Thank you, thank you, thank you for voting for me! I wish I could give each of you a great big hug!! If it weren’t […]
Easy Garden Welcome Banner
June 21, 2010 by
After having done countless craft projects that involved tissue paper, I had been saving a rather large collection of tissue paper confetti. Since I’m never one to throw stuff away, I saved these bits of colorful goodness to recycle for other projects like this one! Our vegetables are starting to arrive in our garden, and […]
Sunset Silhouette
May 19, 2010 by
I have been playing around with the idea of a tree silhouette at sunset painting for some time now, but I was struggling to find an easy way for Emily to do this and get good results. Then I had a “eureka” moment this afternoon while playing with some rubber bands. Let me explain… First, […]
Repurposing Toys — Peter and the Wolf Play Set
April 27, 2010 by
Last weekend, our family went to see Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” (Thank you, Aunt Julia!) We all really enjoyed the ballet and music! So much so that Emily wanted a play set so she could re-enact the story. I thought that was a fabulous idea, so I sent her on a scavenger hunt to […]
Crafting with Recyclables – Design a Robot Kit
April 22, 2010 by
In honor of Earth Day, I thought we would do another fun craft with recyclables — a kit to design your own robot! Of course, we craft with recyclables year round, since it’s better for the environment, plus I consider them to be free art supplies. Emily has been on a robot kick lately, as […]
Mother’s Day Gifts Kids Can Make — Recipe Journal
April 20, 2010 by
While Clara was napping, Emily and I made this very special recipe journal for Grandma. Emily thought this would be a particularly useful gift, and I had to agree! Added bonus — We recycled some beautiful paper that was FREE!! Not many people seem to know about this, but if you’re looking for some gorgeous […]
Easy Kid-Made Stamp Wheels
April 6, 2010 by
Emily was so happy to make her own stamp wheel so she could create this fun rainy day picture! The stamp wheels were easy to make and made good use of recyclables. We used some foam stickers we had on-hand, in this case, clouds and raindrops. Emily started by sticking the cloud stickers around an […]
Blossoming Cherry Tree
April 5, 2010 by
With just a bit of help from her big sister Emily, Clara was able to enjoy some crafting fun with this blossoming cherry tree craft! To make your own, you will need brown, white, and green paper (we recycled some leftover scrap paper), pink tissue paper (again, recycled from a gift bag), and some glue. […]
Flower Prints from Soda Bottles
March 23, 2010 by
Another rainy day here, and the girls were starting to go through a bit of “messy art withdrawl”. We made flower prints using empty soda bottles! In our case, they were empty seltzer water bottles, but you get the idea. Clara really got into the painting today! She could hardly contain her excitement! To make […]
Welcome Birds with a Bird Nester
March 12, 2010 by
The girls had so much fun putting together these bird nesters, and Clara was thrilled to participate along with her big sister! These are similar to bird feeders, but instead of filling them with bird seed, we fill them with soft, natural materials for the birds to use for building their nests. First, Emily tore […]
Quick Craft – Pot of Gold Suncatchers
March 9, 2010 by
For a super quick St. Patrick’s Day craft, cut out a pot from black construction paper, and place it on a sheet of clear contact paper with the sticking side up. Invite your little ones over to sprinkle tissue paper and gold foil confetti into the pot! We reused gold foil candy wrappers mixed with […]
Crafting with Recyclables – Giant Sunflower
March 1, 2010 by
It was the sheer size of this giant sunflower that made us smile, and what a fun way to reuse those empty oatmeal canisters! We used a technique similar to the one here, but on a grand scale. We love crafting with recyclables because they are FREE art materials! To make your own giant flower, […]
Will You Be My Paint Chip Valentine?
January 27, 2010 by
The girls and I were busy crafting up these handmade Valentine’s Day cards made from leftover paint chips (found free at any hardware or paint store). We had a bunch of different shades of red and pink, which made perfect Valentine cards! To make your own paint chip Valentine’s, place two paint chips back-to-back as […]
3-D Paper Lantern Picture
January 11, 2010 by
It’s a bit early yet for Chinese New Year, but that didn’t stop us from creating these fun 3-D paper lantern pictures. They were so easy and so much fun to make! Plus, it uses recyclables. I love projects like these, don’t you? The highlight of this project…… Clara using glue for the first time! […]
