Works of Art

Daddy just got a new office with a big empty wall, so we decided to help him out and create some masterpieces for him to hang. I gave each child a canvas (very cheap from Michael's, of course). I then gave them different colors of acrylic paint and some brushes and told them to pick one color to cover the entire canvas so that there would be no blank white spots. We then let it dry and they continued with their painting.

Yesterday, we took daddy out to lunch from work and the kids were so proud to see their paintings hanging in his office!

Bug Jar

The kids have been very interested in bugs lately. They love ctaching ants and fireflies. I made them these bug jars out of plastic peanut butter containers. I painted a bee and a lady bug on the lid and then we used a small drill bit to put a few holes in the top. The kids have been catching bugs all morning. So fun!!

4th of July Shirts

Like I mentioned before, the kids will be in a 4th of July parade tomorrow and we made them special shirts to wear. We used sponges in the shapes of stars. You can either make them yourself or buy them at Michael's. We used fabric paint and put stars all over the front and back of the shirt! We used paint brushes to touch up any holes that were made by the sponges.

They can't wait to wear them tomorrow. They are with daddy right now decorating their bikes that they will ride in the parade.

4th of July Hats

Every year we have a parade in our neighborhood that the kids can ride their bikes in for the 4th of July. We made some cool hats that we got from Michael's and then decorated it with some star stickers! They can't wait to wear these in the parade!

Art Work Frame

We got some unfinished wood frames and painted them so that we could put the watercolor initials in them. We are hanging them in the kids' playroom.

We used some acrylic paint and the kids just covered every bit of the wood. They are so proud of their masterpieces!

Watercolor Initials

We saw this one at Blissfully Domestic. I couldn't wait to do that with the kids and hang their creations in their playroom.

1. Using your computer, make the largest letter you can in whatever font you want

2. Put clear contact paper over the letter and using a knife, trace around the outline of the letter

3. Stick the letter on the card stock

4. Paint away

5. Once the paint is dry, take the contact paper off

This is part one of our project with this one. More to come tomorrow! :)

Father's Day Card for Dad REPOST from V-day

For Valentine's Day we made a giant card for daddy and the kids named all the reasons why they loved him and I wrote them on smaller hearts in the middle. This could also be done for Father's Day. Instead of hearts, you could use Stars. VERY cute! I must say that I think that this was by far my husband's favorite card EVER.

Father's Day Stepping Stone

This is the 3rd year in a row that we have made stepping stones for Father's Day. Both of my kids make their very own every year, give it to their daddy and he puts them in our garden. The kids LOVE making them because each year the kids put their hand print right in the middle and then they decorate it. They love seeing how much their hands have grown on their older ones. In addition to the hand print, we also write their name and the year on them. We love them! The stone kits we got were from Michael's as they are on sale EVERY year at this time. They are a wonderful keepsake.

Father's Day Beverage Cooler

We have already begun getting ready for Father's Day! It is kind of risky at this point because it is SO VERY difficult for a 3 and a 5 year old to keep a secret.

We decorated Colorful Foam Drink Cozies that I got from Michael's with foam stickers. On the bottom it says who it is from. The kids had a lot of fun with them and actually want one of their own, which I find strange because neither one of them drinks anything that comes in a can (soda). I suppose I could put water bottles in them. :)

Peanut Butter Suprise Cookies

As many of you know, my family LOVES ANYTHING with peanut butter and chocolate. The kids and I decided to try this recipe just because it looked so gosh darn yummy. Thanks again, my dear friend Martha Stewart. You came through again! :)

Just to mix things up, I followed the recipe from here, and did half the batch on cookie sheets as the directions called for and the other half I put in mini muffin tins. They were both equally delicious.

Other crafts to do with Caterpillars and Butterflies

Button Caterpillars

Caterpillar Clip Magnets

Coffee Filter Butterfly

Egg Carton Caterpillars

Butterfly Clips

Butterfly Drawings

We have been all about butterflies this week! Since our field trip to the conservatory, we took our butterfly guide and colored butterfly cut outs to look like some of our favorites we saw. We had some great discussions about all that we learned about butterflies that we didn't know before.

Butterflies!

Last summer we raised some butterflies of our own and the kids had so much fun doing it. They were amazed at every step of the metamorphosis. We got caterpillars and everything we needed to properly raise our 5 new friends from Bugville. I highly recommend doing this with your kids. It comes with a DVD that explains the process and what to expect and tells you how to care for them. I can't tell you how engrossed the kids were. They loved it. I must admit that I thought it was pretty cool too. :)

Franklin Park Conservatory

We went on a field trip to the conservatory to check out the butterflies that they have every year. The kids had so much fun looking for them and see what kind they found on their Butterfly Guide! I highly recommend the visit if you live in Ohio. It was so much fun!

Thanks for being patient!

I apologize for the lack of posts lately.  It has been pretty busy at the LuckyMe! house.  The end of the school year for my kids and for me (I am a teacher too) has definitely kept us on our toes and we even managed to take a VERY exciting trip to Chicago.  I promise to get back on track soon.  I appreciate the emails and blog comments.  I promise all is well here and I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.  Keep coming back!  I will be posting again soon!  :)

Sock Puppets

Using some kids socks we made a cat and dog sock puppet. We also used felt and fabric glue as well as pom poms for the nose. Make sure the glue dries completely before letting the kids use them. You may also need to put a piece of cardboard in the sock so that the top and botton don't get glued together. Hours of fun!!!

Paper Plate Lady Bugs and Bowl Turtles

Using some things we have a round the house, we made some lasy bugs and turtles. We painted both first and let them dry. After the lady bug plate was dry we glued down some black spots and a head with googley eyes. We also included pipe cleaner antenae. For the turtly we used construction paper for a head, tail and legs. So cute!

"Hand" Made Totebag

This is such a cute totebag that my son made me in preschool. It is such a cute gift idea for parents and grandparents. It has been designated as my library bag to transport books to and from the library. I love it!

Supplies needed:
fabric paint
plain tote bag (you can buy them at Michael's or JoAnns)

Kid Created Flower Hanging Basket

My husband took the kids to the nursery to pick out some flowers and this hanging basket to give to me for Mother's Day, but it was so much fun for them that this could be done any time. They picked out some colorful flowers and planted them in the basket using their little shovels.

They were so proud of the finished product. Anytime someone comes over to our house, they take them in the back yard to show them the hanging basket they created. They also love to use their watering cans to water them. I will never forget to water them because they ask to water them all the time :)

Dot pictures!

When I pulled out the box of sun catcher supplies the other day, the kids saw the paint dots and wanted to play with them as well. We made pictures just with dots today. We made flowers, caterpillars, and creatures. We also had some pictures that were made of circles that they could just fill in. So much fun! My son then began practicing writing his numbers using just dots. The possibilities are endless. We have also done this using stamp pads and fingerprints.

Painting Sun Catchers

I got these supplies from Oriental Trading . The kids love to paint them and they make great gifts. The paint will last a LONG time since a little goes a long way. You can also buy these things at Michael's also.

Spring Felt Board

We made felt boards about a year ago by covering pieces of cardboard with felt and gluing it on. I cut out a bunch of basic shapes at first and the kids had a ball. Then I made them a set of cut outs that would help them build snowmen and it was a huge hit. As I noticed my son making another snowman today, I thought it was about time to cut out some spring shapes. Here are our creations today. :)

Button Caterpillars

My daughter and I made caterpillars out of buttons. They were so much fun and very cute. We also added some googley eyes so we could see where the head was. :)

We liked our caterpillars to be multicolored but you could easily make these using patterns.

Supplies needed:

buttons

pipe cleaners

googley eyes
glue

YUMMY Brownies!

I had two small children look up at me tonight and ask desperately for some brownies. It was kind of sad actually. Not thinking I may actually have all of the ingredients to make them, I looked for a recipe on my good friend's website (Martha Stewart) :)

I came across this one and I actually had all of the ingredients and became the hero for the evening. Boy, were they delicious!! Click on the link below.

Martha Stewart's

Super Fudgy Brownies

(since the recipe calls for 8 oz of semisweet chocolate chips and the bag had 12 oz in it, we mixed the remaining chips in the brownie batter and had chocolate chip brownies)

Homemade Bubbles

I saw this on Make and Takes and just had to try them.  We had so much fun!  

Supplies needed:

4 cups water

1 cup dish soap (we used Dawn)

1/4 cup Karo syrup

cookie cutters

bubble wands

pipe cleaners

Painting Planters and Planting Seeds

To celebrate Earth Day, we had some old, faded metal pails and we decided to liven them up a bit by adding our personal painted touches. The kids also planted some daisy seeds in them and can't wait to see them grow.

Earth Day Crafts

We have a bunch of crafts that we have done that use recycled materials. Here are some ideas for some fun crafts you can do to celebrate Earth Day tomorrow!

Water bottle flowers
Musical Instruments
Foamerator
Milk Jug Bird Feeder
Funny Feet
Thread the Tube Game
Egg Carton Caterpillar
Crazy Faces
Color Collages
Crayons
Painted Vases

Painted Vases

It was beautiful outside so we decided to go outside and paint!! We took clean, empty spaghetti sauce jars that will be some new flower vases and painted them using acrylic paints. They dried so quickly by sitting them in the sun for a bit. So beautiful!

Simple Chick Craft

I found these cute little chicks on kiddio . They are so cute! We made these today and they are currently in little hands flying all around the house.

We used a cup and traced circles onto card stock and folded the circles in half. Then we made little beaks and the kids colored the bodies with crayons and colored pencils. We glued on some googley eyes and taped a couple of feathers underneath the body.

Supplies needed:

Cardstock

feathers

crayons/markers/colored pencils

googley eyes

tape

glue

Paper Plate Easter Bunnies

Easter is coming soon!! We made some Easter bunnies out of paper plates and the ears were made out of card stock. We also used buttons and googley eyes, pom poms and a black marker. They are too cute!!