Pipe Cleaner Challenge

We spent a wonderful weekend at the cabin with some special friends. It was so nice to spend time together with no time constraints. While we were there, I presented all the kids with a simple Pipe Cleaner Challenge. My kiddos are like me and always up for a challenge. Everyone quickly divided into 3 teams. I handed each of the teams 2 basic items…the same amount of tin foil and pipe cleaners. Their only instructions were to come up with something creative, and work together. I love challenges that evoke both thinking and working together. I told them to get creative with their minimal supplies and sent them off to separate rooms.

Crafts don’t need to be extravagant or even use every supply in our cupboard. I can easily get caught up with Pinterest and all the beautiful crafts that I forget that kids have wonderful imaginations and we need to be fostering their creativity. By limiting what supplies are available and presenting this activity as a challenge, it got kids thinking in a new way. I love that!

Tinfoil is a fun creative tool for kids to play with. Encourage them to twist it, mold it and shape it into anything they want. You may be surprised at how sculptable it is. With the addition of Pipe Cleaners your kids are set to build anything they can dream up!

This beautiful castle was created from our youngest team. I love that the King and Queen are sitting on their thrones in front of the entrance. This group felt a little rushed, but I love the results!

Nothing like a pretty spring flower garden to cheer you up:) The flowers are adorable but I think my favorite is the bug. The perfect garden for the King and Queen to take a stroll through.

It can be hard to find crafts that suit a wide range of interests. However, by presenting this activity as a challenge and not a craft, encouraged even the non-crafty kiddos to have fun. Our 10 year old boys even got into it, and that is saying something:) All they needed was a little imagination. Now the the King and Queens castle will be protected with a quiver full of arrows and bows! Nice work boys!

Have you ever presented your kids with a crafting challenge? I would love to hear your experience. This will be something that we will be trying again really soon!

Disclaimer: Not too long ago we received a delightful package from CraftProjectIdeas.com. It was packed full of craft supplies. One of the things we received was a ginormous package of Fuzzy Sticks or pipe cleaners. They were perfect for this challenge.

Glow-In-The-Dark Dance Party ~Kids Co-op

This week I decided to just feature my favorite link up from last weeks Kids Co-op. There were so many great ideas that I had a hard time choosing. With my kids help we decided that the one thing they “for sure” had to try was this simple Glow-In-The-Dark Dance Party from Crayon Freckles. Click on the red link to take you to her post. Thanks for sharing your creative ideas, I can’t wait to see what you link up this week!

Come back every Thursday to see if your creative idea were featured and link up any new ideas! (I will be using one image and a link back to your blog.)

If you don’t want to miss out on any of the fun we are having at Housing A Forest, make sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Google + and Twitter.

20 Valentines Card Holders

Create the perfect holder for all your Valentine Cards

I’ve been on the lookout for some simple, and of course, cute ways the kids can contain all their Valentine Cards for school. Lots of these simple Valentine card holders are quick and easy to make. I hope you enjoy our top picks for “best of the web” in DIY homemade Valentine’s Day card holders!

Our house is gearing up for the kids school Valentines party. The kids are putting the last minute touches on their homemade Valentines. Once that is finished we need to create 3 Valentines card holders, one for each kiddo. I am drawing a blank this year, so did a quick Google search for inspiration. Here are a few of my favorite Valentines Card Holders from around the web just in case you are like me and in need of a little inspiration as well.

Valentine Card Holders created from a cardboard box

K-Cup Valentines Box from I Should be Mopping the Floor
Bird House Valentines Box from Faith Hope Love
Frog Prince Valentines Card Holder from Plaid Kid Crafts
Lego Valentines Box from The Pretty Poppy
Mail Valentines Box from Paper Jewels
The Bat Mobile Valentines Box from Susiej

Valentine Card Holders created from a Recycled Container

Valentines Card Holder Purse from Plaid Online
Carousel Valentines Holder from Glue Guns and Roses
Can Valentines Holder from Housing A Forest
Yellow Submarine Valentines Holder from Plaid Online
Squirrel in a Tree Valentines Box from Make It Do

Valentine Card Holders created from Bags, Plates and Jugs

Paper Plate Valentines Holder from Veronica’s Korner
Owl Valentines bag from Create with Dee
Love letter Haning Mailboxes from Blue Cricket Design
Heart Felt Bag from Martha Stewart
Pretty Little Piggy from Giggles Galore

Valentine Card Holders created from a Cereal or Tissue Box

Cereal Box Valentines Holder from Art Designed to Inspire
Panda Bear Valentines Card Holder from Plaid Kids Crafts
Crocodile Valentines Box from HP Creative Studio
DIY Letter Box from AdaLou
Monster Tissue Box Valentine Holder from Giggles Galore
Glittered Valentines Box from Once Upon A Craft

I would love for you to leave a comment on what your favorite Valentine Card Holder is, or what your kiddos created. Since we have a ton of egg cartons laying round, I’m sure that we will be using them some how. I will post as soon as they are created.

For more creative Valentine Boxes, check out our:

20 of the cutest Valentine Boxes

3 Easy Valentine Card Holders

Super Simple Valentine Box

DIY Mailboxes

Simple Valentines Stamp

How to Make a Simple DIY Stamp

My kids made these little Ornament Valentines last year for their friends. I found the hearts on clearance after Christmas. They were originally intended to decorate your Christmas tree, but they made perfect as Valentines. I still have a few of the felt hearts floating around and decided they would make the perfect simple Valentines Stamp.

Who knew a Christmas ornament would make such a great stamp!

All I did to transform the felt ornament into a stamp was hot glue it onto a piece of cardboard. That’s it. Nothing fancy, but I love the impression it leaves behind. The stamp looked perfect on the front of a card.

I have posted about making my own stamps before (links below) and to tell you the truth, I like them better than the store bought ones. Each of them are unique, and have character that their store bought counter parts are lacking. I hope that I inspire you to think out side the box and look at everyday items in a new way. If it has texture, or a raised design then it probably will make a great stamp. You might be surprised at what you find.

Here are a few of my favorite DIY stamps that we have made: (click on the red link to take you to the tutorial)

I would love to hear what you have made stamps out. I love hearing creative uses for everyday materials.

Bleeding Tissue Paper

Tissue Paper Hearts ~Valentines Art for kids

This pack of Bleeding Tissue Paper has been in the back of our art cupboard for a while. We used it often before I started blogging, but for some reason it got pushed to the back of the cupboard and forgotten about. If you have not used bleeding tissue paper before, it is a special type of paper that is sold in art and craft supply stores. It is designed to run and bleed when it gets wet, creating a simple art work.

You will need:

Heavy Weight Paper
Bleeding Tissue Paper
Paint Brush
Container of water
Spray Bottle

We started out by cutting a large heart out of heavy weight paper. Hand your little one a paint brush and a container of water, and invite them paint the entire surface of their paper with water.

Once everything is good and wet, lay squares or strips of the bleeding tissue paper on top of the wet surface. We found that overlapping the tissue paper creates a wonderful effect. This process based art work is perfect for little fingers. Encourage them to continue painting their project with water, the wetter the better!

I also handed the kiddos a spray bottle, just to ensure that the tissue paper was entirely soaked. This step will intensify the colors of the tissue paper bleeding into the paper. The kids loved using the spray bottle.

Let the project dry entirely before lifting the tissue paper off to see their master piece. The kiddos enjoyed removing all the pieces of dry tissue paper and were excited to see what colors had transferred to their paper.

The colors are slightly muted from the original tissue paper colors, but still beautiful. A little glitter on top and they were perfect (according to the kids). Apparently a little glitter makes everything perfect:)

This is one of the easiest art projects, and perfect for even the littlest hands. I would love to try this with regular brightly colored tissue paper. Has anyone tried this with regular tissue paper and had good results?