Snowed in-a craft for the kiddos

We are on day two of what is sure to become known as the "Great January Snow Storm of 2010" and while we are all enjoying this brief chance to have some snow play-we are also very completely snowed in!
Today we worked on a "snow" related craft that I had originally planned on making with our playgroup this week but had to postpone due to sick twinkies-with recent weather events it seemed the perfect choice for a little game I call "what to craft today" that I play when we're stranded at home for more than a day!

First a couple shots of my cuties posing in the snow

Now onto the craft! Simple enough, all you need to do is trace your little ones hands on a piece of card stock (thumb apart but rest of their fingers close together) after cutting up some scrap yarn into small pieces cover the "mitten" with glue and let your little one cover it with their yarn pieces. On the backside I wrote their names and ages.

Scrap Yarn Mittens

Redneck snow fun-keeping it classy folks!

Yes we have made every effort to keep it classy during this massive snow storm that has been crippling us down here in Virginia.
We don't own snow boots nor can we buy them so our solution-put the boys in sneakers and then wrap their feet in a shopping bag. That's keeping it classy folks.
We don't own sleds nor can we buy those here so our solution-redneck laundry basket sledding. That too is keeping it classy folks!

Toddler Friendly Batik

The twins have been under the weather, way under the weather so I have had to get creative while coming up with cute little crafts for us to make until we can all get out of the house!
In school I made a wax batik and we recently came across it while moving boxes around and I thought it would be neat to try with the kids but not with real wax-so I scoured the web until I found a "glue batik" and we used some good old Elmer's glue, material and paint to create these cool kid friendly batiks!
First we had to "decorate" our material with glue. We used the blue Elmer's gel glue because it comes out much slower than regular glue and you can draw with it better. I helped them write their names and then they went wild with squiggles, dots and lines.

Connor

Braden

We let these sit and dry over night so that we would be sure that the glue was completely dry.

Next was the painting part. I watered down some paint so that it was more "spreadable" (aka runny) for them and they could achieve that tye dye look without really tye dyeing.
We once again let these completely dry (not over night but it took a few hours)

Then I soaked them in WARM/HOT water and took an old baby tooth brush I use for crafting to them to get the paint to flake off of the spots where they had drawn on the material with glue.

After wringing them out I tossed them in the dryer and as the boys would say "tah-dah!"

New Ink

Our new tattoo's...

I got three stars representing the "Three Stars Who Light Up My Life"

Orange-Mike, Green-Connor & Blue-Braden
Mike got three starts representing his "Three Lucky Stars"
Purple-Me, Green-Connor & Blue-Braden

Project Life

I just ordered Becky Higgins Project Life kit and I can not wait for it to arrive and for me to begin! I think it is going to be a really fun and basic way for me to document a year in our lives. 365 days of photos! It will be a great way to "scrap" all those in between or daily moments that happen between the big ones that I never seem to have the time to scrapbook.

www.beckyhiggins.com/projectlife/

Super Hero!

A cute little Super Hero book for the little Super Heroes in your life! I made this cute little album for Melissa over at Delovely Scrapbooks using the new Junior line from American Crafts. The line is so much fun for any one who has little boys.

Valentine for teacher

I love that my boys love to craft, truly I do! So we grabbed a little of this and a little of that (i.e. foam heats, ribbons, beads, glitter pens and rhinestones) and whipped up some cute Valentine magnets for their preschool teachers. On the teacher ones we only wrote the teacher's name on the front (so this can be a reusable holiday magnet) and on the backside beneath the magnet the boys signed and dated them. They had a great time making them (in total we made 12!) and can't wait to hand them out!

My Little Valentines Frame

Take a $1 wooden frame & wooden Valentine elements from Michael's, some red paint and a pink glitter pen, add to it a cute new pic of the twinkies in adorable red shirts and you get:

My little Valentines

Kids Arts Palooza

Yesterday we went down to the Sandler Center For The Preforming Arts in Virginia Beach for their Kids Arts Palooza festival. This was our second year attending, it's a lot of fun!
In addition to meeting the VBFD Fire Clown, Buzz Lightyear, Elmo & the D.A.R.E. Lion the boys got balloon swords, their faces painted, made music, took in a Theatrix Productions show and made some really cute crafts! A fun time was had by all!

The Sandler Center

Kids Arts Palooza
Doggy aka Connor & Cat aka Braden

Tissue Box Cover

Since it appears to be a guarantee that at least one person in our house will always have a runny nose and we go through Kleenex like crazy I thought why not at least be cute about it? So I bought a plain tissue box cover and decorated it up. The boys love it!

A decade

Ten years ago I started dating the boy that would become my husband and the father of our amazing twinadoes! It's been a wonderful decade of memories...here's to many more!

Michael & Michelle 2000

Michelle & Michael 2010

It's been so nice...

It's been so nice. We have really enjoyed being able to get out and enjoy the warm sunny weather we're use to at this time of year without bulky winter coats, hats & mittens!
We went and played last night for awhile at Oak Grove Lake Park...

Mike & I hamming it up for the camera-it's hard to believe that tomorrow is our TEN year anniversary! What a decade of memories!

Daddy bouncing the boys-they thought it was hilarious!
Connor & Braden posing in a tube

Sliding down a slide with Mommy

Connor

Braden

This afternoon I had a minor lapse in memory and forgetting we had somewhere else to be...we went to the Zoo in Norfolk to soak up some more rays.

The new elephant statue they were installing while we were there

Brady, Mommy & Connor

My three guys!

A random stranger offered to take this shot of us...

Pleased to announce...

I'm pleased to announce that I am going to be doing some crafting for Delovely Scrapbooks! Melissa posted the following blog on her site today:

"Introducing...my newest "team" member, Michelle!!! Michelle will be sharing some of her super cute projects here from time to time using various supplies from Delovely Scrapbooks.
I asked Michelle to write a brief introduction and I'm very impressed that she was able to write just 2 sentences. Maybe I just talk to much. Hmm.
"I'm a 28 year old stay at home mom who is a devoted twin mommy and proud police wife. I love to craft and create about, for and most importantly with my three guys!"
Michelle has already submitted her first project to share and I will be sure to post pics and details tomorrow!"

Be sure to head on over to the site for inspiration & shopportunities!

Salt Dough Fossils

Today the twins and I made Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils. It's super easy and turned out super cute. I still have a half of batch of dough left (in the refrigerator) that we have to decide what to make with next!
*Recipe:
4 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1 1/2 cups of water
extra flour for kneading
Mix it up and roll it out. We used a drinking glass to make our circles (6) and refrigerated the rest of the mixture.

Here are our circles and dino's we plan to make fossils of

Connor pressing his dino into his circle to make an imprint

Braden pressing a leaf in for an imprint

All six circles ready to bake. We put them in at 350 for about an hour.

Our fossils post baking

Connor "green washing" his fossil with watered down green paint

Braden of course "blue washing" his

Their finished product after a coat of modge podge!

This cute little idea was inspired by http://thatartistwoman.blogspot.com/