Handmade Card Swap Part 2

Here's some more cards the boys have made.  We should have enough for the handmade card swap and some of the family too.

We cut out candle shapes from different coloured paper then made the flames using some gummed paper I discovered lurking in our box of papers.  I think they came out really well - a bit funkier than your average Christmas card :-)

 

Book Sharing Monday - I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur

This is a gorgeous book.  Not only does it tell a very readable tale of a boy who dreamt he was a dinosaur, written in a rhythmically repetitive way (perfect for a bedtime story) but the illustrations are totally beautiful.  They are all embroidered with felt, sequins, buttons etc so are an absolute joy to look at, especially for stitchy mums and dads and their offspring!  We *heart* Barefoot Books.

Handmade Card Swap

This year, we have decided to join in with the Handmade Card Swap over at Kids Craft Weekly.  The idea is that the boys make 10 Christmas cards which we send off to 10 other kids and we should get 10 cards in return.  Today has been windy and wintry, so it seemed as good a time as any to get started.  My fabric scrap bag is overflowing, so donated some to make some collage Christmas trees.  They started out quite tasteful and minimalist... but then out came the glitter :-)

Upcycling a School Uniform

I am thrilled to report that Gman has made his first project on the sewing machine!  He made a beanbag using a scrap of fabric rescued from an old school polo shirt.  As you can see he is very proud and rightly so :-)  Will have him making Morsbags before you know it!

[caption id="attachment_89" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Gman shows off his beanbag!"][/caption]

Family Drawing Time

Inspired by my latest library book, The Creative Family, we have decided to start having a weekly Family Drawing Time, after dinner on a Sunday.  The idea is that the whole family sit down together to do a drawing and each week we will have a different "theme".  Gman made the first week's choice, which was Monsters.

I must admit, drawing has never been my "thing" as you will probably see from the drawing I did, lol.  However, I really want the family to have some creative time together and see that it's all about doing your best, having a try and seeing how it turns out.  We will keep the pictures together in a folder and look back and see how much we improve over time - at least that's the idea!

Both boys really enjoyed the session, and so did Mummy and Daddy :-).  Here are the pictures we drew:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="Gman's monsters"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Waif's monsters"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="Dad's monster"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Mum's monster"][/caption]

Waif has chosen next week's theme - Flowers - watch this space!

More Cotton Bud Art

Inspired by the cotton bud skeleton we made a week or two ago, we decided to have a go at making a cotton bud firework picture and it came out pretty well.

First of all, we cut the cotton buds into different sizes (they ping everywhere and you will be finding them in strange places for days).  Next we set out three pots of water and added food dye and glitter (we only had yellow, red and green dyes but I think blue would work well) and then dipped the cotton buds into these, setting them out on paper plates to dry overnight.

[gallery]

The next morning we took a large sheet of black contstruction paper and started sticking them into firework shapes.  To help Waif work out the direction, we drew a dot in the middle of each one.  Once they were all stuck, we painted strips of glue around and sprinkled generous amounts of glitter around.  The results are pretty striking!