Feeling crafty?

I've been wanting to look up some "how-tos", so I thought I'd take some time to put a lot of links into one blog post.

First, I have been intending to get some PVC pipes for the kids to just play with. They are very inexpensive and so much fun to build things with, so there is now a reminder on my phone to get some in a few days. Here are some links I found on making toys and crafts out of PVC.

Rola Bola (this site is so cute!)

Train whistle (definitely doing this one!!)

Pipe flute (lots of how-tos to pick from on this one!)

Ladder Golf

Rackets (genius!)

Baby/toddler toy to lay under (definitely need to do this too for our new baby!!)

A smaller version of the toy rack

Toddler parallel bars by the same people....genius!

Deluxe Kid Wash (been meaning to make this for a while!)

Another more simple sprinker

Super soaker guns, and guns of all types!

Marshmallow gun (how-to video.....this is a really cool gun, and I think the guy is funny!)

This site has lots of homemade toy ideas! (where I got the marshmallow gun video) Some of my favorites are Checkers, Mancala, swings, puppets, play-dough and sorting toys!

We have also had a TON of fun making our own hula hoops! They are super easy and very inexpensive, and they last for years!!!

Since I posted my eHow link, here are a couple of other how-to articles I posted on things we have also done in the past and loved!

Imitation Floam

Jump ropes out of nylon loops

And speaking of nylon loops, this is a very inexpensive book that has quite a few really cute crafts in it using nylon loops or plastic laces.


One more....here are some fun science experiments to try!


I need to stop there for now. There is just so much that it will take all day! I think we will be making a lot of these in the next few days and weeks ahead. I will be sure to post pictures of all our creations!

F L O A M

What fun! I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and we finally did today. We made our own floam! Okay, technically it is "floam-like dough". We made 5 different colors for a total of under $4, when we would have paid about $35 (plus tax) to buy the same thing pre-made. What a bargain! That tells you how much profit the company makes off of Floam!





The lighting was really bad, so the colors are not good. Jonathan had teal, but it looks sky blue, Jayla's wasn't quite as bright as it appears and the darker blue is actually purple! My hands are now rainbow colors, and the kids' hands have a little color as well from playing with it, but not much. I think after the first time of playing with it, next time probably won't bleed on them.

So here and here are a couple of links and the exact directions for what we did.

The first link says to use food coloring. The second link was actually listed on the first link, and this lady suggested using the Wilton Icing Colors. Well, both of the recipes are a little different. I was really impressed with the pictures in the second link, but I didn't have the Poly Vinyl Alcohol. Long story short, I read both directions several times and decided to combine the two and come up with our own.

This is exactly what we did:

We took a gallon size freezer bag, one for each color. In each one we put 1&1/3 cups of the styrofoam beads, the smaller the better. (I actually took these straight from a beanbag chair!) Next I added 1/2 cup of water/glue mixture (equal parts). I also added a small "smear" of the icing color. I closed the bag and mixed thoroughly until evenly distributed. Next I added 2 Tbsp. of the water/borax mixture. (The first link said 3 and the second link said 1, so 2 seemed to work perfectly!) It almost immediately formed into a ball, but there was still some stuck to the sides of the bag. (This is where it got messy.) I took it out of the bag and scraped as much off the sides as I could and mixed the rest by hand. After just a few short minutes, it was ready to play with!

Jayla was building a wall with hers, and Jonathan was burying a car in his. He wants to use the green to make a dinosaur for a contest (which we need to enter this week). Jacob tried to play with some a little bit, but I think it was too hard for him to manipulate, so he quickly lost interest. The other two played with it for quite a while though. :)