Speed Racer

What we are doing today... Making Recycled Race Cars.

1. Paint a roll of paper towels

2. Punch a hole in a recycled lid.  (This lid was too small. for our car) 
Cut 4 wine corks in half. 

3. Punch hole in side of paper towel tub and push bbq stick through. Add one lid and wine cork on each side.
Cut the stick to make a clean edge

4. Stample the side closed.  You can leave the back side open if you want flames to come out the back. 
5.  Draw you Driver and cut out and glue on the top.
6.  Embelish your car!!!

7. Have fun!

What a Hoot Owl Craft

We have a small obsession with owls at our house, so I was excited to try a new owl craft made out of cardboard, paper and Paint.  It was so simple and fun to make.  It does help to have an example of an owl to look at for this project.  We used a owl stuffed animal from Ms room for our inspiration. 

How to make your own What a Hoot Owl.  

Feel free to ink over (trace) your kids lines with a black Sharpie Pen if some of the paint covers up the orginal lines. 

A Little Vitamin D

Photo of the Day



10 on Tuesday

1. So happy to see the sunshine today. Please let spring stay this time. 
2. Had a wonderful time celebrating Alexander's 1st Birthday.  We had two parties, one for family and one for friends.  It was so great to see everyone together for Alex's big day.  I still can not believe I have a 1 year-old little boy.  I can't wait to open his time capsule in April 14, 2028. 
3. I still need to clean up after the parties.  I just found Alex's baby bib in the bath tub from Sunday with cake in it!  Yuck.
4. My mind is onto a kick-off to summer house party in June.  So excited to host an adult party! 
5. Morgan keeps asking me, "where is the Easter Bunny".  She has always loved playing with eggs for some reason and she loves chocolate, so this is her holiday. She is going to be so excited this weekend when she gets her Easter basket. We have a family Easter egg hunt planned for Saturday.  I sure hope it is sunny this year.  It seems like it cold and rainy every year on Easter.  
6. This week Grandma and I are taking the kids to get their picture with the Easter Bunny.  A tradition we have had for 4 years now.   Morgan had screamed and cried every year but we keep going back.  We say, "next year she will like it".  This year we might get a smile but Alex is going to scream. 
7. I'm procrastinating with all my blog posts today because I do not want to clean the kitchen and fold and put clothes away.
8. BING
9. BING
10. BING

An Egg Carton Wreath for Spring

My sister told me about this egg carton project and I fell in love with it.  It's so colorful and bright for spring time.  Who would have thought you could make this out of an egg carton.  I did most of the cutting and Moran helped paint the flowers. It took a few days for drying time but I love how it turned out.

Direction and pictures can be found here

AN EGG TREE

What to do with all the Easter Eggs?  Why not make an egg tree? 
Need some inspiration? 
Here you go...



 Mr. Volkner Kraft’s egg tree in Saalfeld, Germany
As of last year, there were 9,800 eggs hanging on display. And it’s still growing.



Life Size Self Portraits

Make a life size self portrait of your child.  All you need is a large roll of paper, a marker and some paint.   This is a great project to help teach the different parts of your body.

1. Place the paper on the ground and have you child lay on the paper. 
2. Trace their body with a pen
3. Let your child paint a face and clothes

1. 

One Year in a FLASH

Every parent says it… they grow up so fast! In just a year’s time, they go from snuggling and sleeping most of the day to toddling around the house, laughing, and calling out for “Ma Ma Ma”. The desire to capture this fun time in our little one’s life inspired the theme for Alexander’s first birthday party: One Year Old in a Flash.

I loved planning Alexander's party. I got the idea of the One Year Old in a Flash theme from here, you will notice that I stole many of the party ideas!



A Year of Pictures.
One for each month of the year.
And yes, I made the birthday banner, Alexander's hat and window curtains.



Our Amazing Mike's Cake.
Thank you Grandma! 
It was perfect.

We asked each guest to bring a note/item for the time capsule to be opened on his 18th Birthday. 
April 14, 2028

The Picture Perfect Frame

Alex covered in cake

A Kandinsky Tree

A Rainy Day Monday Craft

For our tree we used a technique of collage, glue, cardboard and newsprint to created our bark.

Next we cut-out cardboard circles and painted them different colors.  After they dried we hot glued circles together.

We cut-out a moon and attached it to the top of our tree with a toothpick and some hotglue.

To complete the project we also glued a wood block to the back to stand it up.

This project is inspired by the work "Squares with concentric circles" of 1913, the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky 

Watch Me Grow

Make Your Own Growth Chart

We painted a tree large with acrylic paint on the wall.  Then added an owl out of paper and MOD PODGE to make it stick.  MAC is obsessed with measuring things and loves to see how much taller she is today.   The best was when she demanded to put on her “high heels” (princess shoes) for the measurement. 

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear

Picture of a Day

A Royal Affair

A Prince and Princess CROWN

Here is a simple rainy day craft for kids. My sister came over with these pre-cut crowns from Joann Fabrics.  The kids loved painting them and embellishing them with stickers and glitter pens.  And 10 crowns for $2.99, you can't beat it.

M & M - Friends Forever

Picture of the Day

Ten on Tuesday

1. Excited to have my new blog (Pitter-Patter in Seattle) up and running.  I have a lot more work to do and some serious blog learning but I'm excited join the blogging world again.  
2. This Friday we have date night planned with some of our favorite friends.  We are going to attend a benefit for Seattle Theatre Group, Doors - Opening the Doors to the Arts.   We are really excited because rumor has it there are some big named bands that are going to be performing. 
3. I'm officially a stay at home mom and I love it.  Taxable income this year... a big 0   
4. Alexander's Room has officially moved upstairs with his big sister.  It's not without it's challenges but better than the alternative.
5. I'm excited to be planning the annual Hope on the Hill Guild's annual fundraiser to support uncompensated care at Children's Hospital .  Keep a look out...it's coming to a winery near you.   
6. Potty Training continues.... good news Morgan went number two three times on the potty without being asked. This is a BIG deal.  We have been fighting this battle for months and just maybe she has got it. :0 
7. With Alex upstairs, I have a new ART ROOM and craft closet.  This has inspired a lot of art this past week. I hope this trend continues.
8. Morgan and Alex had their first fitting for See Kai Run shoes this week.  They were selected to be models for their new catalog.  I wonder if they noticed Alex's home haircut?
9. Stressing out. Alexander's 1st Birthday is two weeks away... how did that happen?  Yikes, I still have tons of stuff to do to get ready for the party.
10. My mind is in The Cloud

Spring Showers

Picture of the Day

Our GG

Picture of the Day

A hug from Great Grandma. She is suffering from Parkinson's Disease.  It's so sad to see a loved one suffering from such a debilitating disease.  GG is in her eighties with 4 kids of her own, 16 grandchildren and 8+ great grandchildren. 

Spring has Sprung

A Room Makeover

Our new wall mural made from recycled materials for spring time.

I love all the cherry blossoms trees in full bloom this time of year, so we decided to create one in the playroom...  and a cherry tree would not be complete without some caterpillars and butterflies.

This was a grate project with little kids.  MAC loved dipping and coloring the coffee filters.

• the tree: is made of cardboard wrapped in Amazon packing paper. 
• clothes line: is clothes pins on a string.  we display art work here or hang pieces when it needs to dry.
• flowers: are coffee filters that we dipped in colored paint and water.
• caterpillar: is a painted egg carton with pipe cleaner antenna
• butterflies: are clothes hangers with coffee filter wings and pipe cleaner

Flower Power

Spring Flowers Pots

add some color to your room with recycled spring flowers. we love making recycled art projects and this is a fun and simple spring art project for kids.  the best part is the bloom lasts all spring and no watering needed.

project materials

• cardboard
• recycled lips and bottle caps
• popsicle stick
• paint
• ribbon
• glue

follow these steps

• cut a flower pot shape out of used cardboard and paint
• paint popsicle stick green
• glue lids and caps together to make flower
• glue (or duck tape) flower together
• decorate flower pot

inspirational websites

• http://www.artgrange.com/michelleworkshop.html

Forest Hands

A Hand Tree

Here is another fun project from Fem Manuales.  The arm tree is made of cardboard and attached to a wooden block, and beneath the tree is a little self portrait.  A vrey fun and cute project for kids.