Getting crafty with Shopping Bags

 

 

I really like Woolworths' re-usable shopping bags. Besides using them for shopping, I use mine as going-out bags to throw in extra clothes for the kids and I also love using them as beach/swimming bags. I have even made a few as Baby Shower gifts for friends, because with baby there is always so much stuff to carry around. And, I don't have a picture, but I once gave one as a teacher appreciation gift - I chose a black bag and added a nice red felt apple.

   

You can even decorate your bag to match a season or a special holiday.

All the designs here were cut out from felt (except for the bunting - I used an old pair of jeans for that one) and glued on with my glue gun. Really easy and fun to create. :)

Have you ever decorated or embellished a re-usable shopping bag? I'd love to see it. 

Till next time. 

PS. The Christmas tree template you can find here at Whimsy Couture Sewing Blog and the bunny here at Punkin Patterns.

Egg Wobbly Heads

Do you have some plastic eggs lying around after the weekend? Here's a simple and fun activity to get up to with them. I saw this idea over at Parents magazine and Crafting in the Rain. 

Take some play dough and put it in the bottom of the more rounded part of the egg. With a permanent marker draw a funny face on it. Push it over and watch it wobble.

Happy playing :)

Easter {Egg} Boxes

I have been so quiet this year on this blog, but this week I'm making a nuisance of myself. Hope that's okay. :)

Inspired by a lovely Easter gift at Sugar Lander, I used egg cartons to put together some Easter gift boxes. I love the simplicity of this egg carton (I like the pretty hen design), but I think adding the Humpty Dumpty finger puppets made it more fun.

I wanted to make a few extra gift boxes to give to some strangers, but we didn't make enough Humptys, so I needed a sweet and simple alternative. These lovely free bunny and chick templates from willowday were perfect and I decorated a few more boxes. Some ribbon may have been a nice touch, but I didn't have any extra and I think a good motto is to do the best you can with what you have! 

If I don't post again this weekend, I wish you a very blessed and special Easter time with your family.  

PS. Sharing at Shine on Friday.

Egg Puzzles

 

I remember seeing a super idea for making egg puzzles, but I cannot remember where? My apologies for not giving the proper credit. 

I added to the idea and created a quick counting activity. It was easy enough to create and Little One liked it. Match up the number of dots to the correct numeral and of course this is aided by the fact that each egg is a puzzle.

The template for the eggs, I found here.

The best was when Little One had packed them out and started counting them. When he got to four he said with great delight and surprise "Only one more to go, then I'm five!" Only one more Little One. Only one more. :)

PS. Sharing at Show-and-Share Saturday at I can teach my child

Fun with Humpty Dumpty

There are a lot of eggs around at the moment - have you noticed ;) - which got me thinking, who's the coolest EGG around? 

Humpty Dumpty of course. 

With that in mind we have been having some Humpty Dumpty fun over here...

 A bottle top Humpty.

Build a wall by matching the number to the dots. 

Little One loved this activity.

Our favourite Book about the famous Egg. 

All the King's horses and all the King's men...

(Peg craft inspired by the amazingly creative lilla a)

Shortbread Soldiers.

(Plain biscuits from Woolworths)

Capital H activity from Making Learning Fun.

Finger Puppet Humptys.

I have plans for these - you will have to wait and see. :)

More Easter fun to come. Till next time.

Bunny and Tail Colour Match

I wasn't going to post again this weekend, but I couldn't resist sharing these bunnies that we made this morning and also linking it up to a fun Easter Linky Party (see below).

I used this sweet bunny template from Punkin Patterns to cut out a number of coloured bunnies. I then set up a little bunny tail station. Little One loved sticking the matching tails (pom poms) onto the bunnies and it was a good recap of all his colours. We also spoke a bit about the missing colours. His best part was squeezing out the glue - I had to pry the tube from his little hands :).

I love how these turned out. I think that there is so much you could do with them. I am going to use them as Easter gift tags and if there's time I might make some bunting for our Easter table tomorrow.

I'm sharing these at the Hippity Hop Easter Project Hop. To see lots more fun Easter ideas, just click on the button below.

PS. Also sharing at Show and Tell @ ABC and 123.

Easter garden Sensory box

 I whipped up this Easter garden sensory box for Little One yesterday. I added some coloured rice, Easter eggs, pom poms, some mini garden tools, planters, paper flowers and butterflies. I would have liked to have had a little watering can, but I couldn't find one, so we used our imagination :).

Little One first gobbled up some of the Easter eggs (of course!) and then got down to some playing.

To colour the rice, put it in a deep bowl and add food colouring and a little bit of water. Stir in well and keep adding until you are happy with the colour. Then spread it out to dry on a big tray. I put mine outside for a few hours and it dried easily. 

Wishing you and yours a very Blessed Easter weekend! 

PS. Sharing this at Spring Link Up @ Rust and Sunshine.

Sock Bunny

Like this bunny?

What about this one?

I saw this idea for a sock bunny at the Disney Family Fun website and I couldn't resist making one. I used grown-up socks (instead of kiddies size) and lentils. The bunny feels quite heavy and floppy. Very different to my sock kitty , which is filled with batting.

I also don't know how they (Family Fun) got their bunnies' ears to stand up so nicely?  They must have some secret photo shoot tips that they are not sharing with us ;). Big One made me feel much better about it, when he told me that he actually prefers the floppy ears (YAY!) and he thinks my bunny is great. I so love hearing things like that!

My little secret photo tip for getting bunnies' ears to stand up straight is...wait for it...lay your bunny on it's back...hee hee. 

I am really enjoying these little sock animal additions to our home. I think I'll keep making them...perhaps a puppy next. Have you ever made a no-sew sock animal? Please share a link in the comments if you have. I would love to come and see.

Easter Printables

With Easter around the corner, there are some super Easter ideas around the net and some of the nicest free printables can be found at We love to illustrate for children. I got so excited when I found this site and went to visit all the individual blogs involved. This is one group of super talented ladies and they are so kindly sharing some of the most amazing free Easter goodies. 

Wouldn't this just make the prettiest  Easter bunting?

 And this printout lets you play dress-up with some large sized eggs!

  

To see more, be sure to visit the site. They also share these fantastic free back-to-school printables here.

Have fun!

Resurrection Eggs

These little eggs are one reason why I love the internet and especially love blogging. This was a discovery I made at Carisa's site (see link below), where she shared about these little eggs and how you can use them to teach your child the story of the Resurrection. In a nutshell, each egg has a small item inside that symbolizes one part of the Resurrection story.

Egg 1  - donkey- Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Egg 2  - coins   - Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 silver coins.

Egg 3  - a cup or bread- The events at The Last Supper.

Egg 4  - praying hands- Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Egg 5  - whip- Jesus was whipped after his trial.

Egg 6  - crown of thorns- Jesus was mocked by the soldiers.

Egg 7  - nails - Nails were driven into Jesus' hands and feet.

Egg 8  - dice - The soldiers gambled for Jesus' robe.

Egg 9  - spear- A spear was pierced into Jesus' side.

Egg 10- cloth- Jesus' body was wrapped in linen cloth.

Egg 11- stone- The tomb stone was found rolled away.

Egg 12- empty egg- The tomb was empty because Jesus had risen!

The original  Resurrection eggs can be purchased here. I, however, decided to make my own set and used these plastic eggs from Woolworths. I also used a combination of actual items, such as real coins, nails and a piece of cloth, as well as printed pictures for the other items, which I found at Christian Preschool Printables.

This is the first time that I have shared the Resurrection story with my oldest son in such detail and he really loved the concept of the eggs. I think that being able to open each egg and hold and touch the items inside, really helps children remember the details of the story...and of course there is the BEST happy ending ever!

Carisa at 1+1+1=1  also has some wonderful printables that can be used with the eggs. To see what she did, click here.  Jill at Totally Tots also shares incredible insights about what she has discovered using the eggs and you can read her post here. I will definitely be saving mine, as I know I will be using them for years to come.