My Creative Space

Elliot and I have been working on a joint project this week, stamped Thank You cards to send out for Archie's Baptism.

We bought blank white cards and a 'thank you' stamp which we used with a regular green ink pad. We then potato stamped a cross onto the cards with regular blue paint.

Simple, cheap, quick and a great craft project for toddlers too!

Check out more creative goodies at Kootoyoo.

Painting with Kids - the easy way!

After having a much needed home day the other day, the boys and I got to the afternoon and needed something to do. I couldn't be bothered (as terrible as it sounds) to get all the painting and craft things out for Elliot to decide 2 minutes into the activity that I had to finish it off because he'd had enough. I also couldn't be bothered getting something for Elliot to do and then having to distract Archie with something else while El worked on.it (probably for said 2 minutes).

I decided that water painting on the verandah would keep them both occupied for a while, and boy oh boy, did it work! They both were completely engaged for at least half an hour, until Archie decided it was more fun to tip the containers out and splash in the puddles. Meh, worked for me! After that El had had enough so went off to the garden and Archie swiftly followed.

I just gave them containers of water coloured with food colouring and some sponges and brushes and off they went, painting the verandah balustrading and the walls and windows of the house.

It was such a cheap (super duper cheap), super easy, not super messy and super duper fun! Super!

A Surprise in the Post

Well not really for me, but Elliot. I ordered some new crayons from a brilliant online shop Spiral Garden. They have a great range of natural toys and craft supplies. I got really sick of cheaper crayons breaking and snapping, little fingers not being able to manipulate skinny crayons easily and Archie taking massive bites out of softer crayons.

Perfect for toddler sized hands!

These Stockmar block crayons are amazing! There really strong and hard (they've already survived the Archie bite test) and being little solid rectangles they are really good for creating different effects using the different sides for rubbing, corners for definition etc.

This is why we needed some heavy duty crayons!

They survived use by Archie! Excellent!

Elliot put them straight to use doing a couple of drawings to turn into thankyou letters for a lovely gift he and Archie received from a friend. We popped the letter in the post so that someone else would get a surprise from the postman.

After he dictated the letter to me Elliot stamped his name and the letter was ready to post!

And really, who doesn't love getting a surprise in the post?

My Creative Space

I've decided to join in My Creative Space, hosted by Kootoyoo, with lots of other crafty bloggers every Thursday. Head over and check out all links to see what creations are happening this week. There is so much inspiration!

In an attempt to give handmade presents (something I decided about 2 weeks ago!) I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with some quick, easy gifts for 4 (!) children's birthdays we've got coming up. One is in a couple of weeks while the other three are not until later next month. With the move coming up in 2 weeks I knew I wouldn't have time to knit something for each of them so I figured I'd give hand sewing a go. I haven't sewn (at all) since high school Home Economics so I was a bit apprehensive, but it's a breeze!




I can't give too much away because some recipient's parents may be reading, but I'm really pleased with how things are turning out! I'll be sure to post full pics once the presents are given but from these shots it's not going to take too much brain power to figure out what some of them are!!!

A Downward Turn

Elliot is going through a funny phase at the moment of wanting to do craft/messy things, but then changing his mind about 30 seconds after we start. More often than not his changing his mind has to do with the messiness of the task. He's going through a "I don't want to get messy/sticky/dirty" patch. He likes the idea of playdough and painting and digging in the garden, but once we start he's had enough "my hands are dirty, I wash my hands now". So then everything gets packed up.

He also is not big into craft that needs him to create something from his imagination. He is very visual and has a fantastic memory, so once he sees something done one way, that is the way to do it.

For his birthday recently he received a great Thomas the Tank Engine Make and Do craft book. I'm not really into craft books, I'm more of a "lets just do it and see how it turns out" kind of girl. But it was right up his alley because all the ideas were there, along with stickers, scissors, textas etc. and a picture of what it needed to look like.

As has been the case lately, I set up all the paint and he did one brush stroke and had had enough. So I was left painting the box! The main thing he wanted to do (and kept asking to do) was the crunchy crepe paper bushes on top. I set him up with scissors, glue and crepe paper and left him to it. He had a wow of a time! This is a boy who loves cutting and gluing!

We're still not finished the tunnel, but we're on to the fun bit, more cutting and crunching and gluing bushes on the top!

I'm going to try and do some sort of craft everyday in an attempt to get him used to the messiness of it. I probably won't have much luck, but I'll have fun trying! In the mean time I can see lots of collage being made!

Thankyou craft

We had a bit of a rainy weekend so there were lots of indoor activities, cutting, pasting, painting, playdough etc. As a result we have lots of wonderful artworks lying around the house, taking up valuable dining table and kitchen bench space.

I thought we'd get into gear and turn some of these paintings into thankyou cards for all the wonderful gifts Elliot received for his 3rd birthday recently. If I don't do it now I never will!


I cut out postcard rectangles from plain white cardboard and then cut slightly smaller rectangles from the paintings. Elliot then glued the painting pieces onto the postcard pieces and I wrote on the back. I asked him what he would like to say to people and some of the responses are priceless. My favourites were "I had a Toby cake", "My very own whisker!" and "Nan and Pop came up for my birthday lunch". I think he kind of got the gist and I filled in the rest with the usual sentiments.

El was getting creative with the offcuts while I wrote on the cards. This is a giant L, and he later turned it into a road for his cars.

It was a cheap and fun activity and we produced something useful at the end of it too! Love a win-win activity!

So now off to the Post Office we go!

Mother's Day Craft

Elliot loves craft, especially cutting. And glitter. Really, what almost-3-year-old boy doesn't love glitter? ;)

I organised a craft activity for Playgroup on Tuesday, but Elliot really wasn't too interested in doing it when we were there. He did it, but I kept prompting him, glue here, stick that there etc etc. Not the sort of craft I'm a fan of. I much prefer to supply the tools and then let the child create whatever they create.

I took home an extra set of supplies as I knew he'd be much more interested in doing it if there weren't heaps of other people around. He is much more of a one-on-one person than a group person.

So this afternoon after our weekly trip to the markets and after he'd had a really big sleep we got stuck in. He cut and cut and cut and cut and was the happiest boy in the world! He's now created two lovely Mother's Day presents, one for me (it's going to be a big surprise on Sunday) and one for Nanna. They look similar, but the one done at home is much more 'Elliot'.

Here are some photos of the man in action, but I have tried to not show too much of the finished product as Nanna may read this post and we don't want to give it away!




Once Sunday is done and dusted I'll post some pics of the completed project. It should come in very handy!