Buzzmills

Shrinky Dink Shamrocks...

We are on our third snow day of the week, in March!  It seems like winter took a bit to get here this year and now it's reminding us it's not yet Spring!  We've been enjoying the snow, but at the same time we are eager for those little signs of Spring to start popping up, like green blades of grass and crocuses. 

Last weekend we finally took down all of our Valentine's day decor and birthday party decorations and brought out a few little St. Patrick's day things like our lucky posy, perler bead rainbows and a felt shamrock bunting, it was nice to add pops of Spring green into the house.  

And, earlier this week during our first snow day the kids made some more shamrocks...

I traced some shamrocks (four leafed clovers actually) onto shrinky dink paper and had the kids color and decorate to their hearts content...

They had lots of fun and enjoyed coming up with new and different patterns and colors for each shamrock. 

Some they chose to turn into necklaces for St. Patrick's day...

Some they wanted to hang in their bedroom windows...

And some, they let me hang up on our living room "mobile" sticks...

I think they turned out great!  It kept the kids occupied for a while on a snow day.  They were really pleased with the results too especially since they always really enjoy when they get a chance to help "decorate".  And, really, who does love making shrinky dinks, right? 

And maybe we'll get lucky and these lucky charms will bring us Spring!

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DIY Woodland Fairy Crafts...

Initially, I thought that Violet's birthday party plans were just of the "woodland animal" variety...
...and then she added fairies into the mix! 

I don't blame her at all, I mean we do love talking about and playing fairies around here, so why not, right?  It just wasn't what I had planned...HA!

The fairy talk began when she showed me her "party plans" with flying fairies in the sky... And then quickly progressed to her wanting to put together "make your own woodland fairy kits" for her friends to take home...

Of course, I thought the make your own fairy kits were a great idea (we are no strangers to fairy making...see here and here) but then, after seeing that her "guest list" was more boy than girl I was a bit unsure...but give the girl what she wants right? 

Oh, and add in some fox magnets, balloons and these sweet little wooden acorns inside the bags too...  ( I love these acorns!)

Anywho, hopefully some were excited and eager to make their fairies.  And if not, at least they had a fun little stamped bag to tuck things into... Inside the bag, each fairy kit included:  instructions, a wooden peg doll, an acorn cap, a square scrap of fabric, yarn, and felt fairy wings (Fairy wing template here). 

Henry and Violet and I put theirs together a couple of days ago.  They gave me their designs and instructions and I helped with the gluing and yarn hair manipulation... They loved them and I think they are so cute complete with kid drawn faces, and crazy hair! (Of course, it is not lost on me that some might not have fully appreciated the contents of the bag...oops!)

Of course, now, we can't forget those flying woodland fairies... These were a cinch to make, with a few supplies... Supplies: craft sticks, oval foam stickers, cardstock fairy wings (Fairy wings template), butchers twine (for hanging), marker/pen, hot glue

To make:  affix oval sticker onto craft stick, draw a simple face, glue wings to the back, and then glue butchers twine to the back of the wings...

Before you know it you'll have a whole army of fairies...

All ready to fly...

After the party I took them down from the ceiling...but couldn't bare to throw them away.  Instead I strung them up onto two sticks and hung them in Henry and Violet's bedrooms.  Fairy mobiles...

The flying fairies were definitely a fun idea for the party!  It made it feel much more magical!  Violet was pleased with my take on her design.  And now, a bonus for them, they each have their own flying fairies in their rooms! 

That's probably enough fairy talk for today...Next thing for me...shoveling from all of those snow fairies outside...and soon enough, tooth fairy talk!  (Yup, Violet has her first loose tooth!)

Have a great day!

Waxed dipped leaves...

It was high time to take down our colorful flowers mobile and get something more suiting the season up... I've had this project pinned for quite some time now, but haven't done it, mostly because it's a Martha Stewart project and well, let's be honest...often times her projects are a bit too involved for me.

This one wasn't.  It was perfectly simple and easy.  All you need is an old pot and wax.  I dipped mine several times to get a nice even coating. It took me longer (as it usually does) to string them to my mobile sticks than the actual "crafting" itself. 

They turned out beautifully... Violet and Henry enjoyed finding the leaves with me.  They loved watching the wax melt from a solid chunk to a liquid.  We turned the whole crafting project into a little mini lesson on why leaves change color and why they fall.  We discussed the similarities between the leaves and the differences.  We talked about the different parts of the leaves.  They helped me count them so that we had an even amount for each mobile.  And Violet helped me come up with a pretty order to hang them in... A perfectly simple and beautiful fall project.  And a lovely update for our mobile sticks!

Have a great day!

Hummingbird Mobile...

Hey there, I'm over at Petit a Petit & family today guest posting about something that I love...hummingbirds... We haven't seen any here this summer though for some reason...boo!  So I made some instead.  Stop on over to see the hummingbird toy I made for Violet and Henry and find out how you can make your own.

Once I got started making hummingbirds I couldn't stop it seems...I made a mobile too! I started by soaking large colored craft sticks in water for several hours and then gently bent them into a bowl with another bowl placed on top to dry.  After they dried they had a nice gentle curve to them.  I hot glued a toothpick to one end of one craft stick.  Then carefully hot glued two craft sticks together, added wings, and tied some butcher's twine around the top.  Three tied together using a stick from the backyard gave me this modern, abstract hummingbird mobile. 

So now I've got some little hummingbirds flitting around me...even if I did have to make them myself... Don't forget to head over to Petit a Petit & family today to see my other hummingbird project!  Here's a sneak peak... PS. I find photographing mobiles to be nearly impossible!

Happy Earth Day, and KCW day one...

Alrighty, so today is a big day...Earth Day and day one of KCW and somehow we managed to get in a lot of beautiful outside time, a recycled craft and an upcycled outfit!

Where to begin? 

First, we painted some egg cartons. I cut the egg cartons into flower shapes yesterday and then we painted them with watercolors this morning.  Once they were dry I strung them up to our ever present stick with butcher's twine.  Violet wanted to bring back the birds, which we may do in a month or so, but for now I'm really liking the crafty flowers.  (ps. check out some of the other things we've hung from our sticks here.)

Next, we left the beginning of my KCW day one project on pause... And headed out for a hike through the woods... Which also included a bonus bulldozer (ok, that's probably not what it's called, but that's what I call it...) digging and planting a tree!  A fairy "construction sight", fiddle fern, and a mini library... After the hike, we found some tulips! And then it was time to finish my KCW project...an old button down of daddy's... Snipped across just under the arms, with a Geranium top for the top I actually squared the top off, you can see where I drew my line for that above.  Here's the result...
Violet loves that it's one of daddy's old shirts.  She chose which shirt she wanted (we have a few) and then helped me to choose the top fabric as well.  Once she saw the fish, it was decided!  I've had the fish fabric, Heather Ross Mendocino, since Violet was a baby.  I bought it back before I really even knew who Heather Ross was and before I knew that I needed to hoard her fabric because it's hard to find once you use it all.  I used the majority of the fabric in a little car seat quilt I made for a friend.I used the rest of the shirt placket that didn't get used in the skirt as the closure for the back of the dress... Violet really loves the dress!  She wanted to keep it on, but today it's only in the 50s here so she will have to wait until another day.
So, that's it, day one complete!  It's not perfect, but pretty good.

I think it might be a late night here...I've got to get some prep work done...

Oh, and I forgot to mention...that the flower mobile was inspired by this garland.  And the dress was inspired by this dress.

And, one more thing...As it turns out, squaring the neck allows the neck opening to be just big enough for Violet to slip this dress over her head, super bonus!  It's always nice when she can put something on all by herself!

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