Do-it-Yourself Gorgeous Paper Daisies

Fabulous Pink Flowers make the party.

I saw these lovely Pink Paper Daisies in a post by Making it Lovely. Makes me swoon to think of hanging them in the baby’s room or at a wedding or shower to create a lovely sky of flowers. The paper flowers are about $2 at Lunar Bazaar, but if you want to customize them for a special color or size, you can easily make these yourself. My favorite colors are blue and aqua, but pick any color paper to make these delightful, inexpensive decorations to bring color and interest to your home, shop, or party.

For an easy tutorial, check out Paper Source’s Paper Rosette Tutorial for step-by-step instructions.Try using premium colored tissue paper which comes in a vast array of colors to create large, airy flowers. Scrapbooking papers are another source of endless designs and colors and would look lovely strung in a row on a string or ribbon. Of course, this project only takes less than 5 items: Paper, tape or clue, string or ribbon, and a hole punch! Perfect!

Easy to make paper rosettes by Paper Source

Check out how Stemparties created a fabulous pink baby shower theme using these lovely flowers. Seriously? Her party decor is amazing, but a little over the top. Who has time to make all that stuff? She must not have small children. However, her party decor gives some great ideas.

Pink Party Flowers photo by Stemparties
White Paper Rosette photo by Paper Source.

Get Ready for Spring with these Home-made Sun Jars

Solar Powered Home Made Sun Jars

I know it’s still cold outside. I mean, Jeez. There WAS snow this week. But the days are starting to get longer and the sun is starting to shine to break through the gloomy Pacific Northwest sky. It makes me feel hopeful that spring and summer are just around the corner, and if you are anything like me, it might take a few months to organize and make enough of these to put around your deck or patio or even hang from the frence for those crisp nights when you WILL be sitting outside enjoying the beauty. Once again, this craft by Not Martha is a fave for me because it takes less than 5 items to make! Woohoo! This greatly increases the chances that I might actually make it!

Not Martha does a great job of breaking down the instructions for these Homemade Sun Jars based on the Sun Jar design by Tobias Wong. For your less than 5 items supply list, you’ll need a small Ikea glass jar, one solar garden light, glass frosting spray, and some Blue Tack. This great project will give you a solar-powered warm glow on your deck, porch or patio all summer-long. Save power! Make Home-made Sun Jars!

Photo by Not Martha.

Make Fairy Flower Lights

Make Fairy Flower Lights from Recycled Egg Cartons

This is an amazing repurposing craft! How adorable are these lights and you’ll be repurposing those egg cartons at the same time. This easy craft from Espirit Cabane has such a short suppply list (less than 5) that you probably already have lying around your house: egg cartons, scissors, a string of LED christmas lights, and a hole-punch (optional). What a creative way to repurpose egg cartons and make something lovely for your bedroom or to drape in your kid’s room for some twinkly fairy lights. Get the full instructions here.

Photo by Espirit Cabane.

Measure Up with this Stylish Growth Chart

With three kids 4 and under, I had scoured the stores for a cute growth chart. I didn’t really want a big clunky wall hanging. I just couldn’t seem to find something stylish and cute that would work easily in the kids small room. My husband had been tracking their height changes over the last couple of years on the door frame to the kitchen, but I wanted something a little more portable in case we ever moved. Besides, I also wanted to paint the door frame. So, I settled for a peel-n-stick wall decoration from Target.

Stylish Growth Chart by Bold and Noble

I WISH I had found this sooner. This stylish growth chart by Bold and Noble is graphic and beautiful. Bold and Noble’s designs are hand pulled screen prints made in England by wife/husband team, Jane Tobitt and David Wardle. Gorgeous.

Teaching Your Preschooler the Value of Money with a Chore Chart

There is a parenting debate about whether you should teach your children that they should do chores simply because they are a member of the household or if they should get compensation or paid for doing chores. If you go one way, your child might think that they are entitled to receiving a certain amount of spending money regardless of their contributions to the house. If you go the other way, your child thinks that they should be paid for everything they do and don’t learn that they have obligations and duties as a member of a household.

After considering both sides of this issue, I think that allowances should be contingent on work performed for these reasons:

• Children should learn that you need to earn money. That it comes with hard work and dedication. That it takes effort to work, earn, and save enough money to purchase what you want. Yes, they should do things as a member of the family, but it is also useful to show them that they can earn some rewards for their efforts.
• Children learn how to manage the money they earn.

To test my theory (although I won’t be able to judge for sure if this works until my children are adults with savings accounts), I’ve decided to implement a chore chart for my four-year-old son, Jonas, to use. My middle child is quite three years old; so, this really hasn’t made any sense to him, but Jonas is VERY excited by this idea.

We printed out a chore chart from Simplemom.net, cut out the chores, and pasted them on. Then, Jonas happily performed a variety of the chores in exchange for a check mark in the box (which he was allowed to make as well). Each check mark could be exchanged for a nickel or 5 minutes of playing a video game or computer game (redeemable only only on certain days and in specific quantities - e.g. 30 minutes).

The chore chart is working lovely so far. Jonas is excited to do his chores - even asks to do them! He happily marks his sheet and waits anxiously for the weekend to redeem them. His first week he traded half for time to play his favorite video game and half for coins he counted into his piggy bank. This week he traded his points in for money to purchase a small toy.

Try it with your child and let me know how it works for you! If you want a chart you can just print out and skip the cutting and pasting, try FlipFlop and Applesauce’s chore chart.

Make Paper Hearts

Make paper hearts for a lovely display.

Here’s another great inexpensive idea for Valentine’s Day. Using pieces of paper that you might already have in your craft stash, you can easily make these paper hearts to decorate your space. Sweet and inexpensive. You only need pretty paper, scissors, and tape or glue. Go to Flip Flops and Applesauce for the complete instructions.

To display, punch a hole in the corner and string several along on a pretty ribbon or some string or yarn. Hang in front of your window, on your bulletin board, or on a cubicle wall for some love no matter where you are!

Photo by Flip Flops and Applesauce.

Entertaining Your Kids with Paper Crafts

With the economy in a slump, I’ve got my eye on the budget very closely. All those trips to Target are getting nipped in the bud, but my preschool age sons are not interested in saving for a rainy day. How does one stay-at-home mom keep the kids busy without paying out a fortune for crafts, games, and toys?

Enter the world of paper craft. When I was a little kid, I had a paper doll book. These days, they have intricate paper origami and paper craft for everything imaginable. The other day, my four-year-old, Jonas, wanted to buy a Millenium Falcon he saw at the store that cost around $150. I promptly said, “No, maybe we can make one at home.” I kind of thought I would just print out a picture of it for him, but then my ever-helpful husband found a papercraft to create a suprisingly realistic version of the space craft.

Image by SF Movie Paper Craft

Of course, this is NOT a craft for young children and is really designed for a Star Wars loving adult with plenty of time to construct. But I did put one together for Jonas over a couple of evenings and he thought it was COOL! And it only cost me a few sheets of cardstock, printer ink, and some elbow grease. Download your own Millenium Falcon papercraft here. You can make a much simpler origami version by watching this video.

Again, my helpful husband also directed me to a few much simpler paper craft characters. Not quite the impact of the paper Millenium Falcon, but much easier to make with a couple of preschoolers tugging at you. Cubeecraft.com boasts quite an array of characters ranging from Spiderman, Super Mario, Darth Vader, and even Barack Obama. Try it.