In a Pinch - Wrapping Paper alternatives

Tablecloth (great for a really LARGE present!)

Beach Towel

Kitchen Towel

Kids Artwork

Fabric

Bath Towel


These could be for any type of present or fun with a theme!
(ie. kitchen towel for baking themed gift)

Advent Calendar Fillers - for a Toddler

I decided to make a mini stocking Advent Calendar - seemed like a project that I could do in short increments of time and wouldnt need any things that I would have to purchase (anything other than groceries are at least an hour away).

Here are some ideas for filling the calendar
(some items may be too large depending on the size of calendar)

* Hershey Kisses
* Box of Raisens
* Small toys (car, mini doll or animals, etc)
* Pencils
* Erasers (so many unique ones)
* Candy Cane
* "Turn the table into a Fort today!"
* "Let's go Skating!"
* jar of Sprinkles and recipe for Cookies
* Christmas Rhyme or Poems
* Snowflake Crafts
* Snowman Crafts http://123mytoddlerandme.blogspot.com/2010/01/snowman-crafts.html
* Ornament Crafts
* Making Wrapping Paper Craft (large pieces of paper & paints or crayons)
* Christmas Socks
* Beads & String to make a bracelet or necklace
* Small book
* Making Bird Treats Craft http://123mytoddlerandme.blogspot.com/2009/04/make-some-bird-treats.html
* Festive Stickers
* "Christmas Lights tour around town!"
* Rubber Stamp

* "Santa Claus Parade!"
* Finger Puppet(s)
* "Stay up 20mins later!"
* Puzzle (a few pieces over a few different days)
* Funky Shoelaces
* Snowman Snack today! http://123mytoddlerandme.blogspot.com/2010/01/edible-snowman-craft-snack.html
* Gingerbread House Craft
* Bag of Snowman Poop (Mini Marshmallows)

* Reindeer Poop (Chocolate Chips or Chocolate rainsens/peanuts)

* "Let's learn a new Christmas Song (or Poem or Joke)!"

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Jokes:
* Where does Santa stay on vacation? A Ho-ho-tel!
* Who delivers Christmas gifts to the pets? Santa Paws!
* What goes "Oh, oh, oh"? Santa walking backwards!
* What do Snowmen eat for breakfast? Snowflakes!
*

Poems
A chubby little snowman had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny and what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny, looking for his lunch
Ate that little snowman's nose - Nibble, Nibble, Crunch!
****
****
The best gift at Xmas is easy to see
Its not wrapped in paper or under the tree
Cos' the best gift at Xmas and all the year through
Is having a child as special as you!

Many of these items are activities or things that I would have been giving the kids anyhow - such as festive stickers & socks, doing crafts, and making cookies.

By putting them into the little stockings it should be a fun surprise every morning for the kids.

Upcycling Formula Cans

Once that baby starts on formula you will end up with MANY empty cans. They seem like they should have some great new purpose since they are a sturdy container with a nice plastic lid.

(Wipe clean with a wet cloth and thoroughly dry)


So here is a collection of ideas I have found.

1. Storage of dry cereal or crackers or packaged snacks.

2. Toy Storage - keep similar toys in each container with a picture or label of contents on outside of can. (Ex. polly pockets, animal figurines, marbles, rock collection etc.)

3. Arts & Craft Storage - Great storage for all the crayons (or markers or scissors etc) or for the foam stickers that come in a plastic bag and need to be restored in something else.

4. Piggy Bank: Cut a slot in lid with exacto knife. Voila!

5. Toilet Paper storage: holds the spare role of toilet paper perfectly. Outside of can could be decorated in wallpaper or scrapbook papers to coordinate beautifully with your bathroom.

6. Hair Accessory Storage: Decorate (have your child help) and store those multitudes of ponytail holders & clips!

7. Nuts, Bolts, Screws (etc.) Storage: Get that garage or shed organized!

8. Office: Use in a drawer at your desk to keep some plastic cutlery, tea bags, granola bars, etc. to have on hand when needed.

9. Office2: Keep your collection of spare pens, pencils, highlighters from cluttering up the drawer by being in the can.

10. Tea Bags!

11. Use as a gift container for items such as baked cookies, homemade hot cocoa mix, brownies, fudge, spiced nuts, bath salts or any other gifts that will fit!

this container was decorated by my daughter and we kept her Halloween treats in it (on top of the fridge)

The Very Busy Spider Craft Activities

Next week we are reading "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle at Toy Library as it is my daughters turn to bring in a favourite book. One of his many fabulous books. We will be doing a craft afterwards and here are some of the fabulous ideas I have found or thought of.


SPIDERS:

Egg Carton Spider: a cube cut from a cardboard egg carton. Painted black or coloured with markers or covered in tissue paper that is glued on. Poke in pipe cleaners for legs and glue on googly eyes. Easy peasy!

Bottle Cap or Lid Spider: Using a jar lid or bottle cap, glue on legs & googly eyes. Can't get much simpler!

Styrafoam Ball Spider: Styrafoam balls painted black. Pipe cleaners poked in for legs and googly eyes glued on.

Handprint Spider: Have child dip hand in black paint. Place on paper to make two handprints together so they meet at the wrist. Put on eyes.

Thumbprint Spiders: Place child's thumb in ink and press onto paper in several spots. Let child draw legs & eyes on spider. Could also do this onto a web.

PomPom Spider: Two different sized pom poms glued together with pipecleaner legs & eyes.

Sure couldnt live without those googly eyes! they are a staple in our craft supplies and get reused when a craft gets tossed.


WEBS:

Glittery Web: Draw a web on a piece of paper. Let child trace with glue. Sprinkle with glitter and shake off excess. Glue on a spider - either made by child or cut out by adult for them to glue on.

Laced Web: Styrafoam plate with holes punched along edge. Let child "sew" the web by placing yarn through one hole and then pulling through a hole on opposite side of plate and then back to the other side etc. Or they can put through random holes for an abstract web.

Marble Web: Place black or dark paper in bottom of cardboard box. Place a few small dobs of white glue sporadically on paper. Place a marble on the paper and gently roll to create a beautiful white web.

Painted Web (with string): Put a long length of string into a puddle of paint. Coat string thoroughly. Pull string out and lay in random pattern on paper. Move string to create the web look you want. Remove string. Your fabulous web now needs some spiders - thumbprint spiders look great!

this pic done with the string painting & thumbprint spiders

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One of the above spider crafts would look great on these webs!

Halloween Suncatcher

Create Halloween Suncatchers using black paper, tissue paper, and tape.

Cut black paper into Halloween shapes - Jack o Lanterns, Cats, Bats. Be sure your shape has some holes cut in it and then tape tissue paper to the back. Hang or tape to window to let the sun shine through the tissue paper.

Apple or Thumb Pumpkin Prints

An apple sliced in half and dipped in orange paint will print a terrific pumpkin shape! Let them go crazy making the pumpkin shapes and then have fun giving them different expressions!


Could also make pumpkins using orange THUMBPRINTS! Place your child's thumb in orange paint and then print three or four thumbprints in a row to make a pumpkin. Do several sets on one page and it is a PUMPKIN PATCH!


Expressions could be made using a Marker, Crayons, Paint or a Potato could be cut into small triangle shapes to be dipped in black paint to create the pumpkin features.

Have Fun!

Halloween Spiders, Ghosts & Jack o Lanterns

Some Halloween Crafts for your Toddler


your typical egg carton cube, painted black, eyes glued on and pipe cleaners poked through. We tied string on the inside of the spider and dangled them from a ceiling fan. Very cute.


I LOVE these! Foot prints with white paint on black paper. Little Eyes & Mouth made with a black marker (or paint). Make it a keepsake by doing on artist canvas or do on construction paper and then frame them to bring out every year with your decorations!

I did these on a thick cardstock that came with some curtains I had purchased. The top footprints are by my 5m old and the bottom ones by my 3yr old.

Could also make these adorable ghosts using handprints (upside down).




Paintings

My daughter loves to make smiley faces so here is the Halloween version :-). I framed this one to be able to keep.


Orange paintings cut into pumpkin shapes - great way to reuse or recycle her previous artwork!

YARN PUMPKIN


So cute from the blog below!


http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-make-yarn-pumpkin.html



Can't wait to give these a try, but instead of a little stick stem, I think I will use brown felt or brown yarn so it can be baby & toddler friendly.

Halloween

Starting to give some thought to Halloween and the weeks leading up to it!

Orange Themed Snacks - perhaps a daily orange snack or an entire day of Orange / Black snacks.

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Orange Jello

Christie Cheese Bits Crackers

Peach Slices

Orange Wedges

Cheddar Cheese

Crackers / Toast with Cheese Whiz

Orange Juice or Kool Aid

Cupcakes with Halloween theme or Orange tinted frosting

Raisens on Celery Sticks w/ Cheese Whiz

Tiger Stripe Ice Cream

Kraft Dinner

Goldfish Crackers

Ice Cubes made with Orange Juice used in 7Up or Apple Juice (or other clear drink)

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

For my daughter's 3rd Birthday, we are using the theme from the book "THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR"

These are some of the ideas I have found and will pick and choose from them for what will work for me. Once we have the party, I will post pics too!


INVITATIONS:

* Green Construction Paper folded into card shape and then cut into shape of leaf. Perhaps a "Bite" cut from it. Details inside.

* Using daughter's thumbprints and red & green ink, create caterpillar on front of card.


FOOD:

*Fruit skewers of 4 green grapes and 1 red strawberry (resembles caterpillar)

*Foods from the book and a hole in each (strawberries, cheese, salami, etc.)

* Red Juice with green ice cubes

* Pasta Salad or Mac n' Chz made with the twirly noodles that look like worms.


CRAFT:

* Pompoms & Googly eyes glued onto green construction paper leaf to resemble caterpillar

* Coffee Filter coloured with markers and then clipped in center with clothespin to resemble butterfly

* Pompoms & Googly eyes glued onto clothespin or popsicle stick w/magnet (plus fruit stickers!)


ACTIVITIES:

Caterpillar Obstacle Course (crawling throughout various obstacles like under chairs, through tunnels, over stuff)

Colouring (The author Eric Carle has colouring papes on his website - google it)

Read the Story

Bean Bag Toss (picture of caterpillar and the fruits & vegtables - bags tossed into the holes in the foods)


CAKE:

Butterfly

Caterpillar created from cupcakes

Caterpillar created with Bundt pan

http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/amazing_cake.html

Our Poster (made from her three finger paintings - one dark green, one light green/yellow, one red - then ovals cut and pasted onto bristol board)

and our caterpillar cake!

DECORATIONS:

Red and Green everything (check your Christmas supplies!)

Tablecloth in theme colours (I have a green tablecloth with red apples that will be perfect)

Huge wall caterpillar created with a red balloon and several green ones. Tape or hang these in the birthday area.

Butterfly decorations (will be using some artwork of my daughter and then cutting into butterfly shapes to hang)

LOOT BAGS:

Gummy Worms

Bug Box or Net

Magnifying Glass

Butterfly Stickers or Tattoos

The craft they completed

One of her favourite gifts was a Hungry Caterpillar Jack-in-the-box. She played with it endlessly until it needed to be hidden lol.

Toddler Craft - Funny Faces

my daughter likes making these cute little faces right now. She helps draw the head by tracing around a lid and then glues on the eyes, pompom nose, and shredded tissue paper. Completes by drawing a little mouth. The green one is at the bottom of a Birthday Card she made.

Toddler Summer Craft: Fishy Feet

Fishy Feet craft for Toddler:

Trace your childs feet. Let child glue to paper and decorate with eyes, glitter, tissue paper, etc.

Spring/Summer Picture

Create a Spring or Summer Picture using paints, muffin liners, grass (either the Easter Grass or cut from paper), Popsicle Sticks, and Buttons.

Take large sheet of construction paper. Have child paint top half blue (for sky) and bottom half green (for grass). Paint a few popsicle sticks (for flower stems) green. Let Dry.

Flatten a large muffin liner and glue a smaller muffin liner inside. Glue to a painted popsicle stick. Glue a button into center of small muffin liner.

Glue green grass to bottom of picture.

Glue popsicle stick flowers to picture.

Paint or glue on a sun in the sky.

Complete!

EASTER Crafts for my Toddler

Fridge Easter Egg Magnets:

Craft Foam
Magnets
Glitter Glue & Paint

Cut egg shapes from the craft foam in various colours. Let child paint. Once dry, decorate with glitter glue. Once dry, attach magnet to back.
Pretty simple! Good craft to save as decorations for future years. Remember to write the year on the back!


Rice Easter Egg Pictures:

Coloured Rice*
Glue
Construction paper or Poster Board or Cardboard (or recyle a Cereal Box!)

*Coloured Rice* Put rice into small bowls. Add a few drops of food colouring. Stir well. Allow to dry for a day or two stirring once in awhile. Store in ziploc bags.

Draw a large egg shape on the Paper. Draw lines across egg. Let child paint the glue onto one stripe. Pour the coloured rice onto the glue. Pour off extra rice. Now proceed to next stripe and continue until egg is all colourful with rice stripes! Allow to dry well before hanging.


Easter Pages:

Colouring Book Pages
Different Mediums like markers, bingo dabbers, paint, glitter, crayons, etc.

Each day for a week or so preceeding Easter, let child decorate a picture with a different medium. One day doing paints, another using crayons, etc. Hang around the house to decorate for Easter.


Recycling Previous Artwork:

Using some previously painted works of art, cut into Easter Shapes. Child can decorate a little more by adding pom poms, sequins, buttons, glitter, etc.

Canadian Wind Sock Craft

Supplies needed:
A cylindrical cardboard box (like from oatmeal or ice tea or hot chocolate)
Construction paper (red and white)
Red and white crepe paper streamers
Glue
String
Scissors
Hole punch

Cut the bottom off a cylindrical cardboard box.
Let child glue on red and white construction paper to look like the background of the Canadian flag. Cut out a small red maple leaf and glue it on the white central part of the windsock.
Cut some red and white crepe paper streamers and glue or staple them to one end of the wind sock.
Punch four holes along the top of the wind sock.
Cut two pieces of string about a foot long. Tie the strings to the wind sock (tie the opposite ends of a string to holes on opposite sides of the cylinder).
Tie a longer piece of string to the smaller pieces - you'll hang the wind sock from this piece of string.
Hang it up!

Bugs or Flower Garden Birthday Theme

Great theme for any child - boy or girl - and any age! Can be an indoor theme on a cold winters day or an outside party in spring, summer, or fall! Very versatile!

Invitations
Make fun flower garden / bug themed birthday invitations for your party. Your child could make several 8x10 abstract paintings - then cut into a butterfly shape. Write party details on the back. One 8x10 painting could be for two invitations.

Write party details on a recipe card and attach some themed stickers. Hole punch a corner of the recipe card and tie to a plastic flower.


Decorations
Cover the top of the tables with sunny yellow tablecloths (or other vibrant colours)

Add large artificial flowers all over the room

Blow up helium balloons and tie them with long strings of curling ribbon. Attach butterflies, dragonflies or any flying bug to the end of the curling ribbon. Let the balloons float to the ceiling and the butterflies and bugs will “fly” around the party area.

Coffee Filter bugs - let child decorate a coffee filter with bingo dabbers or markers. Scrunch in the middle and clip with clothesline pin. Glue or draw two eyes on clothesline pin. Create several and hang from ceiling or curtain rod.

LADYBUGs: All decorations would be red with black dots.


Activities

Nature Scavenger Hunt. This can be done at a park, lake, pond or backyard. Each guest receives a nature scavenger hunt list and collection items. They then are sent off in pairs or groups to look for the items on their list. Have a prize for the winning team who finds the most items. Give each hunter a gallon size plastic baggie, bucket and spoon (the bucket & shovel might be their loot bag too!) to collect their items.
Scavenger item ideas: pinecones, leaves, white rock, feather, birch bark, etc. You could also hide a few plastic bugs that they are to find.

Pin the bug on the flower. Played just like pin the tail on the donkey only use a large poster of a flower and bug stickers. Buy or draw a flower on a poster board. Make sure the flower has a stem and leaves and doesn't take up more then 10% of the poster. Mark a spot on the flower with a sticker or marker in case more then one player gets their bug on the flower - the player closest to this mark wins. Attach the poster to a wall. Give each party guest a bug sticker with a number written on it. If you can't find stickers then you can make ladybugs and beetles out of construction paper.

Bug Landing (variation of musical chairs). Cut large leaves out of poster board or felt - at least large enough for two children to stand on. Make one leaf per guest. Place the leaves around the floor of the area you will be playing in. Tell birthday guests that they are going to pretend to be bugs. When the music plays they will pretend to fly around the room, but when the music stops they must find a leaf to land on.

If you are giving away prizes: Before the party buy small prizes - enough for each guest - with a bug / flower theme.

Digging for Bugs: Fill a large bucket or shallow rubbermaid container halfway with soil. Add enough water to make it goopy and muddy. Mix in different rubber and plastic bugs & reptiles. Each child gets to dig out an item until all the items have been found. (Have a bucket of soapy water handy!)


Craft Activities

Make bug antenna's with headbands, pipe cleaners and Styrofoam balls.Decorate sunny yellow foam visors to look like flowers.

Paint picture frames green and then paint on bugs or flowers. An easy way to make bugs is to have them dip their index finger in paint and make dots on the frame. Then come back when dry with a small paint brush and paint on dots, eyes and antenna’s. You can also let them decorate the frames with stickers, jewels or foam cut-outs.

Decorate clay pots with paint. Then fill with dirt and add few flower seeds. This makes a great party favor for the guests to take home.

Decoupaged clay pots. Using slightly diluted white glue, let the children paint the glue on the pot and put on small pre-cut squares of fabric scraps. Paint a layer of glue over finished product. Tissue paper also makes a great decoupage medium.

Bug Pet Rocks - Find or buy several very smooth round flat rocks. Let the party guests paint their rocks to look like bugs. Glue on googly eyes if desired. Then let the guests name their pet rocks and take them home for a party favor.


Food

Cut Jell-O jigglers with a bug, butterfly or flower shaped cookie cutter.

Sandwiches cut with flower or bug shaped cookie cutters.

Honey Bee crackers.

Bow tie pasta - it looks like butterfly wings!

Cheese (cut with butterfly cookie cutter) and crackers.

Make dirt / garden cupcakes. Fill individual cupcake liners 1/2 way with chocolate pudding. Crush Oreo cookies and sprinkle them on top of the chocolate pudding to fill the liners. Place gummy worms in the cupcakes and a pretty plastic flower on top. This a also a fun activity for the party goers to make!

Chocolate Pudding cups with a gummy worm or spider

Birthday cake shaped like a caterpillar, butterfly, or a dirt cake (google it for recipe but I think basically a frosted chocolate cake that is then sprinkled with oreo crumbs and gummy bugs)


Party Favors

Bug Nets
Magnifying glass
Plastic bugs
Stickers of flowers and bugs
Small terra cotta pot with a packet of seeds
Small toy rake or hoe
Any item that the birthday party guests have made as a craft

**For instance, the kids painted or decoupaged a clay pot. When it's time to leave, place a baggie of soil, flower seed packet, a baggie of gummy worms, and a thank you note inside the pot. A complete loot bag that will be used rather than tossed because it's all plastic junk! **