The water bottle chandelier is the clever creation of Jordan from Oh Happy Day. Follow the link through to the full (and thorough) tutorial.

Make wax paper shapes and then hang them from a fabric wrapped lamp shade skeleton.

Ribbons tied to a hoop make a pretty chandelier – the tutorial can be found at Shannon Berrey.

So, back to the Polish paper chandeliers. While it might be a craft for older children, and might be quite time consuming I thought I would post links to some How-Tos and inspiration because I have suddenly found my Summer project.

Oh Happy Day (one of my favourite blogs of recent times and one I keep going back to for it’s endless source of good things) has a great DIY tutorial for a giant paper chandelier.

A Beautiful Mess (above) also published a DIY tutorial.

Tea in the Sea put together a paper chandelier without using a tutorial and using bits and pieces she found around the house. Her instructions and clear and simple and perhaps a good option when creating one with kids.

And now for some inspiration:

Emily Green is the original inspiration for me – she creates the most incredible paper chandeliers full of colour and pizazz.

I love these newspaper print flower additions with felt bobbles on this version from The Makerie.

And I just love this one from Aunt Peaches . It’s time to get Pajaki-ing.

More inspiration on Decor8.

Here are some samples:

Then check out these other youtube videos with some simple beatboxing how-tos:

“Too many children in the world are born into lives with little or no hope. Our film reveals a mind-boggling, inventive effort to change that – musical instruments made from trash. In the barrios of Paraguay, a humble garbage picker uses his ingenuity to craft instruments out of recycled materials – and a youth orchestra is born. Music arises and children find new dreams.”

Find out more on the website.

1. Balloon bongo, rice shaker & güiro

Fill a clean can with rice or lentils, stretch a balloon over the top and secure with an elastic band.

From Minieco

2. Cardboard Box Guitar

From Minieco

From e-how

3. Jammin’ Banging Wall

From Days of You and Me — inspired by Soulemama:

4. Toolbox Glockenspiel

Quinoa’s Gatsby-themed birthday party was a hit. Everybody loved the part when she ran over little Marimba with her tricycle.

Quinoa appreciated Ezra’s intensity at their play date, but declined a sip of his latte when she realized he had stopped blinking entirely.

Quinoa and her BFF Chevron were not only ready for their field trip to the zoo, they could barely contain their excitement.

“Mommy, tell me the story of Brooke Shields’ early career again while we walk in the sand.” – Quinoa

When we met Quinoa’s friend Ridley for brunch, he was unhappy to learn that the bistro’s chicken nuggets were not free range.

When I asked Quinoa what was on the horizon, she stared at it and said, “Chambray.”

One thing about Quinoa’s friend Günter and his ill-fitting Burberry sweaters, he knows where he is going in life. Quinoa respects that.

Visit My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter for a whole lot more.

You will need:
3 (same sized) waterproof boxes
A lid for one box, or hessian sheet or piece of cardboard
Insect screen to fit into the bottom of the boxes
Drill and bits (1/4 inch)
Two bricks to support the worm farm

alternatively: A store bought worm farm (be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions).

plus:
Water
1000 – 2000 composting worms*
Newspaper
Well decomposed compost
Potting mix

• Firstly choose a place outdoors for your worm farm. Make sure it’s shady with good drainage.
• If you are making your own farm, drill evenly spaced drainage holes in you container.
• Line the bottom of your first container with three sheets of damp newspaper, and then half fill with compost, shredded damp newspaper and potting mix. You may also like to add grass clippings or garden soil.
• Stand the container on the bricks so that extra water can drain out of the holes. You could put another box underneath this to catch all that good stuff and pour it (usually diluted) onto your garden.
• Add your feisty, raring to go worms
• Water until moist and then add your lid or hessian sheet
• Add food weekly – just a small amount at first and then increase the amount over time as you get a feel for how much they will break down. If there is uneaten food remaining then you know you will have overfed your worms. Wait until this is eaten before adding more. After adding the food scraps, make sure you cover it all with a layer of compost or soil to avoid attracting vinegar flies. As your worm population increases, so will the amount of food you can put in.
• Water your worm farm every few days, or more regularly if it’s hot and dry. Don’t make the worm farm soggy – just moist, plus there is moisture in food scraps.
• After 6 months your worms may have out-grown their first container. Now it’s time to place the second container (with holes drilled in the bottom) over the top. Put the food scraps in the top box and they will move up through the holes to eat them!
•  After a few months the worms should have moved up into the second box and you can use the castings in the first box on the garden as compost. Just place the castings around your plants and water in. Don’t pot anything in the castings alone.
• Add a new box as they outgrow each level.

And what will they eat?
Left over cooked vegetables
Left over cooked fruit
Fruit peelings
Vegetable and fruit scraps and peelings
Coffee grounds and tea bags (though not every day)
Crushed egg shells
Saw dust
Soaked cardboard
Hair clippings and vacuum cleaner dust
Stale biscuits and cakes

Avoid onions and garlic and a lot of citrus peel. They may not like tofu, beans or banana peels. Steer clear of feeding them meat and poultry or dairy products as these will smell and attract insects and vermin.

Food scraps should be small and partially decomposed before adding them to the worm farm. Keep them in a sealed plastic container for a couple of days.

For further information please do a search on the web for “make your own worm farm” but you can also check out:

Vermicomposting on You Grow Girl

* Composting worms are Reds, Tigers or Blues in Australia and Red Wrigglers in the US.

When I say nothing, I mean we have a house full of books, Playmobil and drawing paper. There are spontaneous play dates. There is netflix and many computer games – but limits on screen time. There is a yard with a swing, sandbox and a hose and a bag of water balloons. We drive to the lake, or the pool or the park. There are family excursions to the grocery store and a few compulsory setting-the-table-like chores. It’s hardly “nothing”. But it’s usually simple, mostly cheap and mostly self-directed fun. And there are still gaping hours of “Mum, I’m bored!”.

And this (while incredibly annoying after I’ve heard it 6 times in fifteen minutes), you might agree, could be seen as an incredibly important part of childhood.

Let’s ease into this idea gently:

While not exactly an article about doing nothing, The Huffington Post highlighted The Incredible List of 10 Steps to Create a Magical Summer for Kids by Maggie M. Ethridge which I really like because none of the suggestions are terribly overwhelming and she emphasises just doing the simple stuff. Her list includes “Find water. Enter. Repeat.”, “Surround them with books” and “Do nothing”.

The Guardian ran School’s out for summer. Is it time to give kids a break? :
“Some educators believe we should allow kids to play freely – and allow them to be bored and figure out what to do with that boredom. They believe there is something to be said for balancing the knowledge children acquire 10 months of the year with some downtime to help their minds relax and function better come September.”

This article is a great balanced look at unscheduled time while keeping in mind the need to make sure kids are active and healthy. It also addresses the realities of a family’s need to have parents working over the long summer months and how this impacts on a child’s summer. It could be argued that freedom of time is a middle-class choice and a luxury.

When it comes to letting your kids do nothing and not feeling too guilty about it, many experts agree.  Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says:
“Dr Teresa Belton told the BBC cultural expectations that children should be constantly active could hamper the development of their imagination”

Parents often watch boredom take the form of sibling bickering, antisocial screen-time and destructive craziness, just as whole societies see boredom leading to less than ideal behaviour, but  Is boredom vital to the way we work and the way in which we create?

“Britain is the fourth most-bored nation in Europe and boredom is blamed for everything from rising crime rates to this year’s riots… [but] There is a growing argument among academics, sociologists and scientists that boredom is actually beneficial to our thought processes, creativity, society and even the economy. So beneficial in fact, that we should actively defend it against the modern onslaught of entertainment.”

There’s good advice in there for us adults too. It’s so much easier to check Facebook or Feedly or Twitter than to do nothing. But nothing is sometimes where the magic happens. Why Boredom Is Good for Your Creativity from 99u will give you some tips to get bored.