If you’ve been stressed about what to give your child’s teacher for an end of year gift, these crafts are for you!  Each use only a few items that most of us have on hand.  If not, they are very inexpensive and can be picked up at a nearby thrift store, Dollar Tree or craft store.

Button Bouquet

Materials Needed

• flat buttons of various sizes and colors
• pipe cleaners
• any clean jar (optional)
• approx. 12 in. ribbon, lace or yarn (also optional)

I keep all of my buttons in a jar.  Some of them have been handed down from my mom and grandma, some I have purchased over the years and others are extras and strays from old clothing.   If you don’t have a stash of your own buttons, they can often be found at thrift stores and craft stores.

You will want to choose 3 to 4 buttons in varying size and color.

You will need one pipe cleaner for each flower.

Starting with the largest button – push the pipe cleaner through one hole.

Next push the pipe cleaner through a hole on the medium sized button.

Finally – push the pipe cleaner through a hole of the smallest button.

Push all three buttons together on the pipe cleaner.

Push them down together a few inches on the pipe cleaner

Push the short end of the pipe cleaner back down through another hole in the smallest button.

Push the pipe cleaner back through all three buttons and then twist the end around itself  underneath the buttons.

Your child can make a bunch of them and give a bouquet of buttons to their teacher as an end of year appreciation gift.  If you like you can put them into an old vase or clean jar and tie a ribbon, lace or yarn around it into a bow and present them for an everlasting and cute gift sure to please any teacher!

Crayon Monogram

Materials Needed

• Old frame with glass removed
• acrylic paint (optional)
• crayons
• glue
• posterboard or scrapbook paper
• pen or marker

This is a quick and simple craft that any age child can do.

*This part should be done by an adult:  remove the glass from any old frame.

You can use the frame as is or use acrylic paint in any bright color.  If you decide to paint it, let frame dry for a few hours or overnight if needed.

While your frame is drying cut a piece of posterboard or pretty scrapbook paper the size of frame.  Draw a large size letter that begins the last name of your child’s teacher on the front of paper/posterboard.  Glue this to front of the cardboard backing inside frame.

Break new crayons in half.  You can buy an inexpensive box of new crayons or just recycle old crayons you have at home.  Using regular all purpose glue, attach crayons side by side across the letter to form the crayon monogram.

Let dry overnight.   Add your child’s name and school year and insert into frame for a unique teacher appreciation gift!

Have you ever thought to use the flowers you receive for Mother’s Day in a fun and creative way other than merely displaying them in your favorite vase.

This year why not incorporate those beautiful flowers into a fun craft you can do with your child? You can create a sweet flower wreath to display on a wall or hang on your front door.  You will need to assist young children, as we will be using a hot glue gun when assembling the
wreath.

This is an easy craft using things easily found around your home.

Materials Needed:

• Flowers
• Cardboard – I used a recycled cereal box. 
• Pencil or crayon to trace with.
• Scissors
• Any round household items you can use to trace circles.  You will need two different sizes to draw inner and outer circles for wreath.
• Glue – I used a hot glue gun for quick results.

Cut off flower stems.

 Trace a wreath shape onto your cardboard using two different sized round objects. I used a small plate and a cereal bowl.

 Use scissors to cut out your wreath base.

Apply  glue to your base in small sections and attach flowers. You can also add any extra adornments, like bits of lace or broken costume jewelry to jazz it up.

Once glue has dried use ribbon, twine or yarn to tie a loop onto your wreath.   Hang up your beautiful creation and enjoy! 

Here are some other ideas for using your Mother’s Day flowers in a craft sure to please mothers and children alike!

Fresh Flowers:

1. Make a lei, bracelets or crown of flowers in the traditional method of a flower chain.  You could also use those left over trash bag twisties or pipe cleaners to attach flowers together.
2. Glue a flower onto a piece of felt and attach to a pin or barrette.

Pressed Flowers:

Press flowers by carefully layering them between two pieces of paper or wax paper.  You may insert the layered flowers and paper into the pages of a book and then stack several  heavy books on top of the flowers or just lay them on a flat surface and stack the heavy books on top of the paper.  I have always used our encyclopedias because they are large and heavy, but of course you may use any books.  Just be sure there is plenty of weight to get the best results.  Leave undisturbed for a couple weeks.  Once the flowers have been pressed, you may use them in any of the following projects:

1. Create a flower journal using pretty paper and bits of ribbon or lace.
2. Attach to homemade cards
3. Use glue or Modge Podge to attach to jewelry boxes, candles, etc.

Dried flowers:

An easy way to dry flowers it to tie a string around the stems of the flowers or bouquet of flowers you wish to dry.  Hang them upside down in a warm, dry area for several weeks.  A closet is a good place to hang them so they are out of the way and remain undisturbed.  Here are a couple of  fun projects you can create using your dried flowers,

1. Create your own potpourri adding spices like cinnamon sticks or cloves and other botanicals such as seeds, bark or leaves.
2. Gather and arrange your dried flowers into a pretty bouquet and tie with a ribbon or lace.  Display in a pretty vase or on a shelf or bookcase.

Creating something new from your Mother’s Day Flowers is an opportunity to create not only a longer lasting gift, but everlasting memories.

Kids love to create — especially when they are making a special gift for someone that they love! Thankfully, you don’t need to spend a lot to get them supplies. Many great crafting supplies can be found in your house right now!

My daughter is already excited for Mother’s Day, and has been sneaking a wide variety of things into her room which leads me to believe that an awesome Mother’s Day card and/or gift is in the works.

In about a week or so she will be asking me to go “out” so that she can work without me seeing what she is up to. Dad will help, and it will be the perfect surprise

But, if the Dad in your house is anything like mine, you will have to point him in the right direction so he can find the craft supplies.

Here Are Some Of Our Favorites From Around The House:

• Buttons – For some reason, I keep all of those extra buttons that come with clothes. I put them all together in a drawer, then I usually totally forget about them. I recently dug them out and I was amazed by how many loose, random buttons I had for clothes that I no longer wear! My daughter was thrilled, and I could see her dreaming up tons of projects to make with these buttons. Buttons are perfect for crafting flowers and bracelets.

Your child can create a flower two ways – by gluing the buttons to papers in a flower design, or by getting three buttons in different sizes and stringing them together on the end of a green pipe cleaner, beginning with the largest button. Once you get all three on, loop the pipe cleaner over, and bring it back through the buttons, going through a new hole. Once all the way, twist the pipe cleaner together to create a stem.

• Glitter – My house is stocked with glitter! We have regular glitter, plus glitter glue and even glitter stickers. According to my daughter, you can NEVER have too much glitter!

• Old Magazines – If you are a magazine reader, don’t throw them out when you are done!! Save them for your child to use for craft projects. You can use magazines for paper mache or for creating colorful collages.

• Macaroni – There are so many things that can be created with different shaped macaroni noodles. Necklaces, pictures, garland, bracelets and more this is a cheap and versatile crafting material!

• String, Yarn, Embroidery Thread and Ribbon – I keep all types of string and ribbon that I receive for my kids to make projects with. They use them to make bracelets, as embellishments, and everything in between.

• Fabric Scraps – I have been known to save old shirts and skirts that I really love but no longer wear. I try to repurpose them as much as possible by using the fabric for new projects. I always end up with a decent amount of fabric scraps, and my daughter snatches them right up. She uses them for all types of project – making doll clothes, knot jewelry, gluing them to her pictures, and much more.

• Tin Foil – We have recently been using tin foil for a lot of projects. It is a fun material to add to projects because it is such a great texture and color. We have used it to cover cardboard, and even as a tool to paint and stamp with.

• Paper – We always have a large collection of paper products … notebooks, card stock, blank paper, lined paper, computer paper, tissue paper, and construction paper. My kids tend to prefer the computer paper because it is blank and easy for them to fold and cut. Tissue paper is great for creating pop-out projects, giving texture and adding color to cards and pictures.

• Crayons, Colored Pens and Pencils, and Markers – This one is pretty self explanatory, but you do need to have a supply of writing, drawing and coloring utensils

• Flour and Water – I am sure this one is a tiny bit confusing, but you need paste (glue) for so many projects, and I cannot tell you how many times I have run out of store bought half way through a making a paper projects! You can quickly and easily make paste out of flour and water. There is no exact recipe, you just make it as thick or as thin as you need by adding more or less water to your all purpose flour. Easy peasy paste!

What are some household items your kids like to use for craft projects?

My kids are both super creative. They love to make projects, paint and draw … anything that keeps both their hands and their imaginations busy. We are frequently pulling out our craft supplies and making fun, colorful messes while we create.

If your kids are anything like mine, you will know how much space craft supplies can take up and how expensive some of the materials can be. We don’t have lots of extra space (as we currently live in an apartment) and honestly, I don’t have extra cash to spend on super pricy materials. But that doesn’t hinder my kids crafting – we just get creative with things we already have.

Some of the best projects have been made with things that I have had laying around the house.

• Jewelry gift boxes
• Ribbon
• String
• Buttons
• Old Clothes
• Food (potatoes, apples, carrots, flour, pasta)
• Marbles
• Tin Foil
• Paper
• Stickers

All of these items are readily available here and they lend themselves to so many fabulous project!! You can easily make stamps for paint out of the potatoes and apples, and the carrots make a neat pattern if you use them to paint with (by rolling them around on the paper). The same is true of the marbles, and even tinfoil can be shaped and used so many ways — as a stamp, as a template, or even as your project base.

The great outdoors can also be the perfect place to find craft supplies! Rocks, leaves, sticks, acorns, and pine cones can all be used to create fun projects.

Easy Projects Using What You Have On Hand

Pasta Creations – Pasta can be used for SO much. You can string different shaped (uncooked) pasta together to create fun bracelets, necklaces and even decorative garland. Color your pasta with paint or markers, and you have a super colorful and unique accessory. My daughter also likes to make pictures with different shaped pieces of macaroni – she uses elbow noodles, wagon wheels and any other fun shapes I can find. We have even made sentences with alphabet noodles.

Paper Mache is another fun, easy, and super inexpensive project that you can make at home using anything that you have on had. Your paste is made out of flour and water, and you can literally use any type of paper available – computer paper, newspaper, magazines, tissue paper, wrapping paper … ever paper towels! Ultimate Paper Mache has two basic paste recipes (a cook and a no-cook version) and tons of project ideas.

Make a Rock Buddy! When I was little, we would go for long walks through the woods and down dirt paths. I would always take a bag to collect any goodies that I found, and I always seemed to focus on rocks (something my kids also do). Once I got home, I would clean up the rocks and paint them! I made lady bugs, smiley faces, letter rocks and rocks that just had pretty designs. They were fun and easy, and the perfect outdoor craft.

Salt Dough can be used for so many projects – you can harden your child’s creations for lasting keepsakes or gifts, or they can use it as play dough. Best of all, you only need three basic ingredients to make it – salt, flour and water!

What To Buy

There are a few items that you will have to head to the store for. But most these items are reusable, so they are worth the small investment.

• Paint Brushes – Pick up a package that has many different sized brushes, including a foam brush.

• Paint – If your kids are like mine and love to paint, then the larger bottles are probably your best bet. If you are just starting out, or thinking that you don’t want the mess of too much paint, start out with a smaller starter pack to see how it goes. When my daughter first started painting, she got into the paints by herself and painter her whole body, the kitchen table and the floor. I was VERY happy that it was only the small paint pots and not large bottles!

• Crayons, Markers and Colored Pencils – If you stock up around back to school time, you can pick up these items for less than a $1 a package. Crayons are even as low as $0.25 around this time, so stock up! You can do so much with crayons, that it is worth the small investment. And don’t throw away broken crayons – save them to melt and turn into candles or new, fun shaped crayons.

• Paper – It is inevitable that you will need a lot of paper. We keep sketch pads, computer paper, card stock in tons of colors, drawing paper, and construction paper on hand at all times.

• Scissors – I also pick up scissors at back to school time. I get two pairs for each of my kids because it is guaranteed that they will each loose a pair quickly. I also keep a larger pair that I use just for crafting with them – these scissors get very gunked up depending on what we are cutting and it is nice to have a dedicated pair.

• Glue and Tape – Same as before, stock up on these items right around back to school time for the best deal. Tape usually goes on sale right after Christmas to clear out some of the overstock that stores have.

• Plastic Bins – I find that it is easiest to craft when everything is in one place. I use plastic bins to store all of our supplies, and then I can quickly pull out what my kids want to create with. I have some that I keep under the bed, and others that are stored on a shelf, but having these craft boxes has saved me a lot of time and frustration searching for supplies.

Shop At Yard Sales And Thrift Stores

You can pick up great craft supplies for next to nothing. Some things to keep an eye out for are

• Fabric
• Greeting Cards
• Baskets
• Stamps
• Stickers
• Ribbon
• Yarn
• Embroidery Thread
• Beads
• Buttons
• Holiday Garlands
• Old Magazines
• Glitter
• Craft Sticks
• And anything else that jumps out to you!

Crafting with kids is so much fun! Take your kids with you to yard sales to look for items that inspire them. You may be amazed at what they pick out!

I am a planner by nature.  I have been known to start planning my child’s next birthday before I even get through her current birthday.  I’m so bad it has worn off on my 10 year old daughter.  She just turned 10 and she has already told me what she wants to do next year.  Let me tell you, the planning has really paid off though.  Every year I provide my children with a party they aren’t soon to forget and many of my friends come to me for party planning help to give their children that unforgettable birthday party.  I am going to share with you some of our favorite parties to date.

A Year In The Life Of Baby Party

The 1st birthday is a big deal.  I am not big on using a specific character theme for the 1st birthday.  One year olds don’t generally have a character preference yet.  It’s not really for the child, as she isn’t going to remember this day, and it’s more for the adults.  So I am all about creating tangible memories of the day for the child to look back on.  I missed the ball with my oldest daughter, but I went all out for my middle daughter.  I made this as an invitation for her…

1st Birthday Invitation

That was the cover of the card.  Inside I wrote:

“It all began (insert date of birth and time here) when (insert child’s name here) came into the world.

We have watched her grow and change.  Shes gone from rolling to sitting to crawling to standing and almost walking.  Now it is time to get together and share in the joys of insert child’s name here 1st birthday.

On (insert date of party here) we will be having a birthday party at (insert time and location of party here).

(Everyone is asked to come ready to share a fond memory they have had with (insert child’s name here), or a piece of wisdom for her, or perhaps a touching poem you would like to share with her!)

Please come with plenty of memories and be prepared to share in a joyous event!”

I had created a scrapbook of her first year which all of the poems and wisdom went into along with notes from everyone who came.

For my son I did a slightly different twist on it.  We created a time capsule for him which we will open on his 16th birthday.  I asked all of the guests for the same things I asked for in my middle daughter’s invitation.  All of that went into the time capsule along with a few other things from his first year, including his DOC Band Helmet and his hospital bracelets.  And now two out of four of my children anyways will know exactly what was important to the ones who love them at that point in time of their lives.

Fairy Tea Party

Of course what little girl doesn’t love a tea party?  My middle daughter being a huge fan of Tinkerbell had to have a fairy tea party one year.  So for her 7th birthday we put together a tea party fit for a fairy.

Tea pot shaped invites:

Fairy Tea Party Invite

I folded a piece of card stock in half and cut out the shape of a tea pot making sure not to cut along the fold.  On the front I wrote, “Come to a Fairytastic Tea”.  Inside was this cute little verse:

“Peek into the land of Fairytopia and what will you see?
A sparkly little fairy, flying amongst the trees.
Her name is insert child’s name here and she’s turning insert age here.
Please join us for a party,
Where there will be lots of food and tricks.
The good fairies there will help you earn your wings,
and we’ll play games together
and make pretty fairy things.
Hope you can join us!”

After the wings had been pinned on Tinkerbell

We had little tea sandwiches (PB&J cut up into small squares).  I had gone to Goodwill and found a nice set of china and a tea pot to use that I didn’t mind if it was dropped by accident.  We had iced tea to drink.  And no party I ever do is ever complete without a Pin the Tail on the Donkey sort of game.  This one was Pin the Wings on Tinkerbell.  I had actually used this Tinkerbell for two parties.  I drew Tinkerbell on a piece of poster board and created wings out of some craft paper and the children were blindfolded and sent on their way to pin the wings on Tinkerbell.

A Rockin’ Birthday Party

One of my oldest daughters favorite birthday parties to date was her rockin’ Hannah Montana party when she turned 10.  Hannah Montana was big 3 years ago.  Probably not so much now, but this party could easily be adjusted to feature whoever the popular artist of the time is.  Her invites were created to look like concert tickets:

A Rockin' Good Time

A piece of card stock cut into the shape of a concert ticket and glitter glue made these the perfect invites for this party.  If you notice the section, row, and seat are all 10′s which represented it being her 10th birthday.

For food we did pizza rolls and other little appetizer things.  We rented a singing game for the Wii and the girls all got to sing Hannah Montana songs.  If you have a Karaoke machine that would work great too.  And the cake was probably the biggest deal of all.  A guitar shaped cake that I made with the Hannah Montana colors and the logo too.  It’s really one of my favorite cakes to date.  It looked amazing and I hated cutting into it.

A Halloween Theme Party

After having two April birthdays to plan for, having a fall birthday finally was a thrill for me.  My son’s birthday is the day after Halloween.  So when he turned 2 and Halloween fell on a Saturday I knew I had to do a Halloween party for him.  That was a blast and I can see  many more Halloween birthday parties for him.  Of course you don’t HAVE to have this party for a birthday, but for me it just made it more fun.

So the invites were made in the shape of a ghost.

Outside it said, “BOO YOU’RE INVITED”.

Inside it said, “Child’s name here is gonna be age here!  Come join us for a Boo-tastic good time!”

For food we did snacky things and to drink I made a witches brew out of sherbert and sprite.  Just a pint of your favorite sherbert and a bottle of sprite in a bowl with a serving spoon makes for the perfect foamy witches brew.

The major game was my spin on pin the tail on the donkey.  This year it was pin the mouth on the ghost.  A piece of poster board and some markers.  I drew the shape of a ghost and cut out black circles for the mouth.

For the cake I got a ghost shaped cake pan.  And then decorated it according to the instructions.  I went for a cute look since this was for my son’s 2nd birthday.  Perhaps if he were older I would have tried something a little creepier.

We invited everyone to wear their Halloween costumes as well.  My son was a prince that year for Halloween.  His sisters were princesses.

A Construction Party

Every little boy loves tools, right?  Or maybe it’s just mine.  He has been fascinated with tools.  Handy Manny was his favorite show last year so we went with that theme which was so much fun.  While a lot of it was centered around a TV program that might not be popular forever there were a lot of things which could be transformed to fit any construction theme party.

My son driving his dump truck

The best game of all was the beanbag toss.  Everyone loved it.  I made a large dump truck on a cardboard box.  I cut the window out and everyone got a chance to toss a beanbag into the window.  The dump truck was set up in my son’s room and played with daily after that for many months.  That’s how much fun it was.

We also had a game of Pin the Glove on Handy Manny.  I drew Handy Manny on poster board and made gloves out of card stock.  Of course if you weren’t going to have a Handy Manny themed party something else you could do is pin the tool belt on the handy man.  Or if you wanted to stick with trucks it could be pin the wheel on the truck.

For the cake we made an excavator cake.  Pound cake, a twinkie, twix, oreo cookie crumbs, some mini donuts, and some well placed twizzlers and other candy made for a really fun cake design.

Aren’t you ready to go digging just from looking at this cake?

Decorations were caution tape, balloons, and yellow and black streamers.

Mickey Mouse Party

Mickey Mouse is timeless.  I loved him as a child and now my son does too.  His birthday this year is one we won’t soon forget.  I hope it’s for the theme and not the start of a 3 day power outage in the middle of his party.  Even without power we managed to have a great party for him.

The games were a Mickey Mouse bean bag toss and pin the hat on Goofy.  On a cardboard box I painted Mickey Mouses face and cut out a hole for his mouth to create the bean bag toss game.  Again, this was a huge hit.  And for pin the hat on Goofy I drew Goofy on a piece of poster board and made his hat out of card stock.  It was so much fun, even in the dark.

For decorations we used basic colors like black, red, and green.  It was so much fun watching my son enjoy characters from my childhood.

Older Children Party Ideas

Now that my oldest two daughters are getting past the kid games and stuff I have had to revamp my birthday parties a little.  This year for my just turned 10 year old daughter we had a sleepover party.  For this I made invitations that were shaped like sleep masks.  Two pieces of felt cut and glued together with a cute ribbon attached and a tag with the party details written on it made for a cute invitation.

At the party we made our own pizzas, painted finger nails, decorated hair clips, and watched a movie.  The girls stayed up very late.  I had to wake them up the next morning for some pancakes for breakfast and to get their stuff together to go home.

My oldest turns 13 this year.  For her birthday we are taking her and a few of her friends to a PG-13 movie.  Why not?  It is after all her first chance to get into a PG-13 movie without her parents.  So for that one the invites were made to look like a movie ticket.  She will have her friends sleepover too.  I imagine they won’t be needing me to butt in too much into what they are doing.  So I haven’t planned many games or activities to do with them.  They’ll be happy to listen to music and play video games and read magazines all night I’m sure.

So these are some of our favorite birthday party ideas!  As long as I plan in advance I have no problem getting everything done that I want to for the special birthday party.  Even though my older two girls are getting beyond the pin the something on the something games they get right in there at the little ones birthdays.  It’s just something that has become such a part of our birthday parties for the kids.

As the children get older they get more and more involved in the planning of their party.  It is after all for them so it needs to be the party that they want.  You don’t need to spend a ton of money either to make amazing parties.  All of the party games I create are from stuff around the house and generally speaking for party decorations and food I don’t spend more than $100 to create a fun and memorable day for my children.

I have wanted to learn to knit for a while, and as soon as my daughter saw me giving it a try, she begged me to teach her as well. Being as she has just turned 5, I knew the knitting needles would be too much for her to handle (I was struggling with them!) and decided to find an easier way for her to knit with me.

I found a wonderful tutorial for teaching kids how to finger knit on NurtureStore, and knew right away that this was something Little Miss would be able to do.

We picked out the perfect yarn and set out to make some fabulous accessories for her Barbies, baby dolls, and her Amma (that is what my kids call their grandmother).

We decided to set up in the living room, nice and comfy on the couch, and got to work.

The method:

Finger knitting is really very simple.

• You start by making a slip knot with a loop in the bottom of your yarn. Make sure to leave a fairly long tail for tying later.
• Place the loop over your index finger. This is the start of your chain.
• Holding your piece of working yarn (the piece coming out of your yarn ball) in your opposite hand, wrap the yarn around your finger in front of the first loop.
• Pull the first loop forward over the second loop and off of your finger.
• This is your first stitch.
• Repeat the process until you reach the desired length for your chain. Tie off the end with a simple knot through your last loop to prevent the chain from unraveling.

Here’s a video that shows you everything:

There are so many things that your child can do with this new skill. They can make scarves for their baby dolls, funky and unique bracelets, or even a really neat brooch – what a great gift that would be!

Her first attempt! Little Miss turned this into a bracelet for me

Once your child has mastered a simple one finger chain, you can add more rows to make a larger product! There are many different methods, but I like the tubular result from this How to Finger Knit video and the fancier look from this Finger Knitting video.

This is a fun and super affordable hobby for your child! Keep an eye out for different colors and textures of yarn at garage sales, resale stores, and the clearance bin of your favorite craft store.

Happy Finger Knitting!!

Sooner or later your child will want to redecorate his or her bedroom. The adorable little lamb wallpaper they’ve had on the walls for the first 11 years of their life is just not going to cut it. They need something cooler and less babyish. This is a great opportunity to help give your older kids an updated space, and get to spend some more time with them in the process.

Some things just won’t change. Girls will probably still gravitate to bright colors and anything sparkly. It can be harder for boys to pick out a decorating scheme so they might just keep it short, like blue or stripes. Ask your kid to do some research on what kind of styles they like. Have them pay attention to the bedrooms they show on their favorite TV shows or movies. Clip a few pictures from magazines or print some from the internet. Talk about the choices together and decide on a new direction.

Make Decisions Together

Go shopping together. Start with new linens and bedding. It’s so much easier to match paint to fabric than fabric to paint. Let them pick out the color or print. If your daughter wants to paint the walls hot pink, try to meet her halfway with a lighter wall color and hot pink bedding.

The good news is you don’t have to get rid of everything in the room and buy all new stuff. You probably don’t need all new furniture. Breathe new life into their old dressers and side tables with fresh paint. Kids will start having to take home more and more homework as they get older, so a desk is a good investment. Check out thrift stores and garage sales for desks or long tables.

Move Furniture Around – Make Room for Storage

The floor plan of the room will also change. Kids will need less open floor space to build giant Lego towers and Barbie cities. Soon they will want their own space to hang out with their friends. Fun, affordable seating like bean bag chairs or ottomans are perfect for a tween space.

Storage is essential for a tween bedroom. Kids will start to accumulate more clothes and will need more closet space. If closet space is tight, consider installing an extra hanging rod in the closet or hanging fabric shelves. Give your son or daughter a laundry basket and put it in plain view so they know to use it! IKEA is a great place to look for any kind of storage solutions from shelving to under the bed bins.

Just a Few Keepsakes

Although your child might want a more mature bedroom, they aren’t ready to get rid of all of their favorite childhood treasures. Trophies, collectibles, and stuffed animals all have a soft spot in their hearts. Provide high shelves for them to store their favorite items, without having them in the way. You may also choose to leave just a few of their most prized childhood possessions to display and put the rest in storage. Take the time to work on a project for your child’s new room together. Make a photo collage with pictures of friends and family.

Although tween style is always changing, and you want your kids to express themselves, you don’t want to revamp the room every year. Make sure that they can grow with their choices. Add fun, low cost items (beanbags, lava lamps, and posters) that can be replaced without a fuss. Stores like Target offer inexpensive products with a teen slant that your kids are likely enjoy.

So tackle the transition from baby to big-kid by redecorating your child’s room together. Not only will it help them feel more mature, but it’s an opportunity to get to know your child as an individual with his or her own set of ideas, preferences and interests.

This article was written by Amanda G a writer for Erie Construction. You can follow Erie Construction on Twitter.

For a little girl, a dolls’ house is a magical present, even now, in the age of DSs and iPads and dolls’ houses are still incredibly popular, both as toys and as collectibles. Although they can be quite expensive, it is quite easy to buy a cheaper one or a second hand one and customise it.

This is a fun activity that you can do with your children on a rainy day, and you can be as creative as you like. And the best part is, you don’t have to spend a lot of money!

So, here are some tips and ideas for decorating your dolls house using craft supplies and bits and pieces you can find round the home. You’ll need the following:

• Fabric offcuts
• Old magazines
• Glue
• Scissors and/or craft knife (keep away from little fingers!)
• and any other bits and pieces you can find!

The first step is to give the dolls’ house a good clean out using a soft cloth and some warm soapy water, especially if it’s second hand. Dust and grime can stop wallpaper and carpets sticking properly, plus, it’s more hygienic! Once this is done, you’re ready to go!

Wallpaper

For wallpapering your dolls’ house, you can buy offcuts of real wallpaper from a DIY shop, cut patterns or pictures you like out of magazines, draw your own design, even find a pattern you like on the internet and print it out… there are tons of different options.

When you find a pattern you like, cut to fit and stick to the walls using a strong glue (be careful, this can get very messy!!). Leave to dry for a few hours, and you’ll have a beautifully wallpapered dolls’ house!

Carpets/flooring

For carpets, again, you could use offcuts, but these can be quite thick.

A good alternative is to go down to your local fabric shop or craft shop and buy some offcuts of material. For example, you can buy felt in lots of colours, which really gives a nice warm feel to your dolls house.

You can also use leftover fabric to make curtains, rugs, even bedcovers for dolls.

If you don’t want to carpet in your dolls’ house, there is still so much choice. You can even buy very thin “floorboards”! Otherwise, you can buy mini-tiles and lay them (although this is fiddly and time consuming and might not be as interesting for the littl’uns), or you could buy textured paper or card from a craft shop. Once again, cut to fit and stick down.

Accessories and furniture

Have a look round the house for bits and bobs. When I had my Sylvanian Families manor house, years ago, which I used as a home for all of my dolls, I mixed together all sorts of bits and pieces that I found lying around at home.

I made armchair covers and curtains out of old hankies. I filled the tiny jars with seed beads, sequins and bits of Fimo, to look like food. I used clear nail polish to “varnish” furniture. And I even cut little photographs of bands and actors (mainly from Neighbours!) out of magazines so that my Sylvanian Families and their assorted friends could be cool and have “posters” on their walls!

Here are some other tips for making furniture:

• A toothpaste tube lid makes a great wastepaper bin or lampshade. And a golf tee is a good lamp base!
• Ribbons or bits of embroidery thread can be used as furniture trimmings or curtain tiebacks.
• Use empty matchboxes to make chests of drawers. Just paint them or cover with fabric and stick beads on for handles.
• The stick from a cotton bud (Q-tip) can be used as a mop handle (with some white wool for the mop head) or as a hanging rail in a wardrobe.

Finishing touches

For a really nice finishing touch, your local craft shop is a good place to visit for pretty things to decorate your rooms and furniture.  Buttons and beads, flowers, ribbons, mini stickers, even tiny plants and fences can be found here. And they’ll really make your dolls’ house look amazing!

There’s really so much you can do, so if it’s the school holidays and it’s raining outside, why not spend the day decorating? Roll up your sleeves, get the kids to go on a “treasure hunt” to find objects they can use, and get decorating!

Helen Laird writes for Sylvanian Heaven, a family run, Nottingham based company who sell new and second hand Sylvanian Families online.

I came across the Craft Passion site while looking for patterns for crochet blankets and I just have to highlight some of the amazing and super fun projects she has for kids! Fair warning that once you start exploring the site it’s hard to pull yourself away. She must use the same time lapse trick that Facebook uses.

Mummy Pencil Holder
This pencil holder just requires a little bit of cardboard in the shape of a tube, some white fabric, of course googly eyes and a few other essentials. Kids can have fun in wrapping their tubes and glueing the eyes on and once it’s done you always know right where the pencils are!

Ghost Lights
Okay I’ll admit I am more than impressed with this creative use of ping pong balls and lights. Not only do kids get to see something used in a unique fashion but hello you get to mod podge. That right there is warrant enough to make a few dozen sets of these super cute floating ghost lights.

Candy Corn Memo Holder
Been hanging around the water cooler at work a lot lately – take those cups with you! This super cute memo holder that looks like yummy candy corn is a great project to do with the kids. You’ll have to help with the wire but the gluing and twisting of the yarn is totally kid-friendly. It’ll be a small fight on who gets to do the googly eyes and the funny mouth but it’s totally worth it!