DIY Paper Lantern Hot Air Balloons

I just love seeing hot air balloons floating up in the sky.  They are so beautiful!  I wanted to recreate that beauty at home, and made some gorgeous colorful hot air balloons out of paper lanterns.  They really are very easy to put together, and look great in a nursery, child's room, or as party decor!

I'm sharing my fun tutorial today over on the Darice blog Live. Craft. Love.  I'd love for you to check it out and leave a comment.

Have a great day!

xo, Laura

Chocolate Coconut Nests Recipe for Easter

I was experimenting in the kitchen a few days ago with some chocolate, and suddenly had the urge to try and make some cute little spring nests out of chocolate and coconut.  I could have gone with the more realistic chocolate brown color to make these nests, but decided that I wanted them to be lighter, a pretty blue pastel color perfect for spring!  

These little nests were a breeze to make, take almost no time at all to make, and are perfect for kids to help with.  You can use them as Easter or spring treats, or even as place settings for an Easter brunch.  They are just so irresistibly cute… 

Ingredients:

• Chocolate Melts (I used Wilton's)- in any color you like
• Shredded Coconut

To create the nests, you can either shape them yourself, or use some kind of mold.  I used an egg holder that I just bought from World Market, and it worked perfectly.  I also tried to make a nest with the smaller half of a plastic egg, and that also worked.  You could even use an egg carton as a mold to make these nests…. be creative!  

Directions:

1.  Spray whatever mold you are using with a cooking spray so that you can easily remove the nests.  Don't go skimpy on the cooking spray, or your nests can break when you are trying to remove them!

2.  Melt the chocolate melts according to the directions on the package.  I have a small Wilton chocolate  melting pot that I use and it works well to keep the chocolate warm so that I don't have to keep reheating the chocolate in the microwave.  Either way works!  

3.  Place some coconut in a small bowl, and add some melted chocolate to it.  Mix thoroughly, then drop by spoonfuls into the molds that you are using.  I wanted to be sure that the chocolate didn't harden too quickly while I was working with it, so I did this in small batches to make about three nests each time.  After dropping a spoonful or two of the mixture in my mold, I would use a spoon to push the mixture up the sides of my mold and hollow out a space in the middle so it looked like a real nest.  

4.  Let cool, and then use a butter knife to trace around the chocolate nests before carefully popping then out of the mold.  If you used enough cooking spray and enough chocolate, they should come out fairly easily.  Fill with robin egg candy, jelly beans, or any other egg-shaped candy that you'd like!  

But be careful.  If you leave the eggs in their nests for a few minutes, you just might come back to a nest full of hungry chicks.  ;)

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

How to Make Disney UP Wilderness Explorer Badges

Last week I shared with you the Disney UP-themed event for church that I put together.  One of my favorite crafts/projects from that night is the Wilderness Explorer sash and badges that I made to sit out on one of the tables.  Remember the cute boy Russell from the movie, and the sash with badges that he wore?  This is a replica of that, complete with the same badge designs that he wore!

This DIY sash is perfect for a Russell Halloween costume, an UP themed party costume or decoration, or even just for fun!  It was not hard, but took a little bit of time.  I found Pixar's Wilderness Explorer badges online and printed had them printed at the copy store onto thick photo paper.  I used this tutorial here as my inspiration, but made a few changes.

Supplies:

• Badges (printed onto thick cardstock or photo paper)
• Mod Podge (I used Matte)
• Craft foam
• Scissors
• Foam brush
• Adhesive
• Dark brown felt
• Glue gun

First I had the badges printed at the copy store.

I carefully cut out each badge, then glued it onto a thin strip of craft foam.  Using a foam brush, I brushed on a thin layer of Mod Podge to protect the paper badges and make them more durable.  Then I cut out each individual badge from the foam.  The grape soda badge was a favor left over from an UP birthday party we went to last year.  So glad I saved it!

Next I used my son and measured the brown felt, and cut out two long strips.  I glued the strips together with the glue gun (yay for no sewing!) to look like a sash.  I then glued all of the badges onto the sash, leaving a spot for the grape soda badge of course!

My son begged me to keep the sash, because he loved how it looked.  It was pretty easy to put together, too, which is always a plus!  So how would you use these cute little badges?

You can check out more photos from the event, including a sky backdrop, UP garland, painted paper mach houses, and lots of balloons!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Cat in the Hat Boutique Hair Bow- Please Help!

I have a huge favor to ask all of you that will only take less then a minute of your time.  My Cat in the Hat Hair Bow is in a big blogger craft contest with a lot of other craft bloggers- I would LOVE your vote in the contest!

You can only vote once throughout the entire contest, so I would love if you could hop on over HERE to the craft contest and vote for my bow!  You'll need to scroll through the entries and find the above  photo and click VOTE next to it…. that's it!

Click HERE to vote!

You can also click on the project and see the tutorial and how I made this easy bow.  I'm not allowed to share it on my blog yet, because it's going to be published in an e-book that will be published April 1st.

The winning blogger gets $1,000, which would be amazing and would cover lots of the expenses of running this blog (craft supplies, blog conferences, etc.).

Thanks in advance for the help!!  I have the best readers <3

xo, Laura

Creative Indoor Kids Crafts with Crayola

These creative kids crafts are part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias and Crayola at Walmart. #ColorfulCreations #Collective Bias

This weekend we had a couple very rare rainstorms here in Southern California, which was a nice change, but meant that we were stuck inside for a few days.  Luckily for me, I had just purchased some Crayola crayons, washable kids paint, and sidewalk chalk at Walmart, so we were all set for some fun craft time!  You know I'll find any excuse to get creative and make something, and luckily my kids love creating just as much as I do!

There was a large area devoted to Crayola products at Walmart and a huge selection, which was great, because they had tons to choose from.



We decided to create three different crafts with our new Crayola supplies- painted animal rocks, leaf and flower rubbings, and fingerprint animals.

Painted Animal Rocks

Supplies:

• Small to medium sized rocks
• Crayola Washable Kids Paint
• Paintbrushes

These painted animal rocks were the kids' favorite craft of the day.  When there was a break in the rain, we went outside and collected rocks that we could paint to look like different animals.  We went back inside and the kids brainstormed what animals they thought their rocks looked like, and then got to work painting!

My kindergartner decided to paint her rock blue, with a cheerful pink and purple butterfly in the center.

My son found the perfect broken rock to make the shell of a turtle!  

He decided to paint an oval rock brown for the head, and then we glued them together with a strong glue to make them stick.

My oldest made a blue dragon, complete with small, detailed scales.  She used smaller sharp rocks painted white for the ears, and added a few colored scales to the dragon's back.  

I loved her creativity!

You know I had to get in on the fun, too!  I chose to make two insects, a ladybug and a bumblebee!

Even my two year old had fun creating!  The best thing about this paint is that it's washable!  I didn't worry when my son had paint all over his shirt and hands because it all washed right out, which is perfect for my four kids and their messes!  

Fingerprint Animals:

Supplies:

• Ink pads (or paint would work as well)
• Crayola crayons
• Paper, blank cards, to tags

This fingerprint animal craft was SO easy, and kept my kids occupied for a long time, which is always a good thing!  

All they had to do was press their finger or thumb into one of my ink pads, press their finger down onto paper or a tag to leave a round print, and then use their crayons to add the details to their fingerprint animals with their crayons. 

My five year old made two cute little tags, one for her grandma and one for her grandpa who were taking her to a play later that day.

My son decided to create a jungle scene with his thumbprints, complete with a swinging monkey and bird up in her nest!

I love that there are so many possibilities with this craft!  You can create any animal you want with just the tips of your fingers, ink, and some crayons, which makes this craft easy and so fun!  Plus, who doesn't love a fresh new big pack of crayons?  My kids were practically drooling when they saw the new big box I bought them, and all of the great color choices they had!

Leaf Rubbings:

Supplies:

• Leaves, flowers, and other mostly flat items from nature
• Crayola sidewalk chalk
• paper

Now when you think sidewalk chalk, you think about big pictures drawn by your kids out in the yard, right?  But when it's raining or snowing outside, that's not an option.  We decided to get creative with the sidewalk chalk indoors, and make nature rubbings with the chalk and some leaves, flowers, etc. that we found out in the yard when there was a small break in the rain.

Here's what we gathered…

The directions are simple.  Place a leaf or other somewhat flat item from nature underneath a piece of paper (the thinner the better- we used copy paper which worked great), and carefully rub over the paper and leaf with the sidewalk chalk.

You'll find that some leaves and items work better than others, so it's an experiment to see what worked and what doesn't.  This is a great opportunity for discussion with your kids, too, as to why one leaf made a great rubbing (maybe it was thicker and had deeper veins), and flower didn't work as well (maybe the petals were too thin to leave a mark).  

You could also use this as a way to discuss different types of plants and their characteristics, what plants need to grow, etc.  As a former elementary school teacher, I know that the best way to teach is to tie learning into fun activities, and sometimes your kids won't even realize you're teaching them science because they're having so much fun!

I hope I inspired you to get creative with your kids indoors!  Crayola has so many great products, perfect for keeping your kids thinking and creating when the weather isn't cooperating and your kids are stuck indoors.  

Happy creating!

xo, Laura

Sharing here: Show + Tell

DIY Iron-On Transfer Dr. Seuss T-Shirt

Who here still loves Dr. Seuss books?  I think his writing is just brilliant, and am pretty sure we own almost every book that he has written!  They are my favorite books to read to my kids at bedtime, and were my favorites to read to my students at school (I taught elementarty school for seven years).

So in celebration of Dr. Seuss birthday, and for Love of Raeding Week at school, I created a quick and easy Cat in the Hat t-shirt for my cute kindergartener to wear to school.  It literally took me about 15 minutes to make, and cost me a grand total of $2!

Of course this technique can be used to make any kind of t-shirt that you like, whether it be one that your child created and drew, or one that you (or your child) designed on the computer.  The process is easy, fast, and very hard to mess up! ;)

Here's what you'll need:

• Plain white t-shirt (I bought mine at Jo-Ann for half off with a coupon- can't beat $2!)
• Iron-On Photo Transfer Sheets
• Scissors
• Iron

1.  Print out the character or design that you would like onto the iron on transfer.  I just googled Cat in the Hat, and used on of the images that came up.  Some brands of sheets can be colored or drawn on, so be sure to check the instructions that came with yours if you would like to try this method.

2.  Cut around the character or design if you like.  I think it makes the shirt look more "finished" with the design cut close to the edge.

3.  Follow the directions that came with your transfer to iron it onto the t-shirt.  Directions vary by manufacturer, so I don't want to get too specific since your directions might be a little different, but basically you will be placing something over your transfer sheet and t-shirt and will be ironing over it all for a specific amount of time.

Let the project cool, and you have an easy, adorable and cheap t-shirt, perfect for a special day at school, a birthday party, or just for fun!

I also made a fun hair bow with the Cat in Hat right in the middle, but that one is entered into a contest I'll be sharing with you soon, so I can't give the directions on that one quite yet...

She begged me to take a picture of her doing this, and I indulged ;)

And just for curiosity, what's your favorite Dr. Seuss book?  It's a toss up for me between The Sneetches, Fox in Socks, What Was I Scared Of (I loved when my dad read this to me as a child!), The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, How the Grinch Stole Christmas,… I could go on and on!

Happy crafting!  And happy reading!  This weekend is going to be wet and rainy here in SoCal, the perfect weather for cuddling in a warm blanket with a good book… 

xo, Laura

Sharing here: Show + Tell

Disney UP Themed New Beginnings Program

I was recently asked to put together a program for the 12-18 year old girls at our church called New Beginnings.  I decided to go with a Disney UP themed evening after seeing these two fun programs here and here, and because it's a lot more fun for everyone when have a great theme!  Many of the ideas I used came from these two sites, and many I came up with on my own.

I wanted to share what I did with you, because a lot of these ideas can be applied to any UP themed party, whether it's a birthday party, a baby shower, bridal shower, etc… the sky is the limit!  ;)

The photos taken from that night were taken at night in a church building when I was scurrying around trying to make everything perfect, so please keep that in mind :)

I bought some sky and clouds butcher paper from here that worked perfectly as a backdrop for the evening and the decorations.  I have a large PVC stand that my husband and I came up with for our party backdrops, and it worked perfectly with the cloud paper!

I found the cute picture of Russell, the boy from the movie, and added the words "It's UP to you to Come Unto Christ."  This is one of the ways that I tied the UP movie theme to our Young Womens New Beginnings Program.

I made Russell's little Wilderness Explorer sash and badges, too, just for fun, and will be sharing an easy tutorial soon on how I made it!

The girls each got a small bag of colorful gum balls with the same Russell picture and words as the above sign.

I love this easy garland I put together for the program using Party City paper fans, these Pixar Retro UP Poster Art prints, and some string.  It added a lot of color and added to the overall UP theme, too.

All of the leaders helped me out and brought some delicious treats for dessert!  I forgot to push the table back up against the sky paper until halfway through the night, so ignore that little space in between the table and the paper.

One of my favorite decorations of the night were the brightly colored paper mache houses I spray painted in bright pastel Krylon spray paint colors.  I used the colors Blue Ocean Breeze, Gum Drop, and Satin Meringue to paint each of the 6 houses.  

I attached balloons to all of the houses, and used some on the houses on our main table, and some as centerpieces on the round tables we used.  

Because I didn't have enough houses to use on each table, I also used grape Crush soda on the other tables, with balloons tied to them, UP retro style posters leaned up against them, and paper fans lying by them on the table.

I feel like the evening was a great success, and everything went really well.  The girls, leaders, and parents all loved the theme, and it was a lot of fun to put together!

Oh, and I almost forgot… here's one of the photos I put on Instagram taken at church, when I passed out the girls' invitations.  They LOVED them!!  I designed some cute invitations with a house on them floating with tons of balloons on the top, and a blue sky background.  I attached the invitations to each balloon (that I filled up during the second hour of church), and passed out to the girls at the end.  I wanted them to get excited about coming, and I think these balloon invitations did just that!

xo, Laura

Sharing here: Show + Tell