Carrots for the Easter Bunny

Today was a CRAZY day.  Let's just say teething sucks.  Actually the only time the house was quiet and calm today was during craft time.  Maybe because painting is therapeutic or maybe because kids forget they are supposed to be ticked off when they are having fun.  Anyhow, we made these cute carrots for the Easter Bunny! 

You will need:

Cheap shaving cream
Glue
Food coloring
Cardstock
Green tissue paper
Paint brush
Paint shirt

First mix equal parts shaving cream and white school glue.  Add red and yellow food coloring.

Then, cut a shape that looks something like this....



Ok, stop laughing.  I never claimed to be an artist!

Let the kids paint away!  Remember, shaving cream is not "non-toxic" so please supervise closely.  Also, this mixture may stain so paint shirts are a must!!!



I bought these plastic placemats at the grocery store for $1.  They make clean up a breeze!



Next, stick some green tissue paper on the top (I cut ours into strips).

Here is the finish product...

Happy Crafting!
Ames

Easter Egg Gender Reveal

A Paint & Prozac reader, Tina, emailed me with this adorable project she did with her toddler.  It's so cute, I just had to share.

This is what she said:

"I used your paint in a baggie idea and added plastic Easter eggs!  She shook them up and then we drilled holes in the top and threaded ribbon so we can hang them!  We are using them to reveal to our families on Easter what baby #2's gender is!  We are filling them with either pink or blue candy and Riley will hand them out to everyone!" 

This idea makes me want to get knocked up ASAP!

Happy Crafting,

Ames

Water Color/Glue Design Painting

Finley (she is 16 months) has been really into watercolors lately.  She knows how to rinse off the brush and dip it into the colors and then onto the paper.  Even I am a little impressed! We did this project with her buddy, Aidan, today. 

First you will need to make a design on a piece of white paper (I prefer cardstock) with glue (the thick white school glue).  I wrote the kids names but you can make any kind of design you want.  Then, let it dry overnight.  Once it's dry let your little one paint on the paper with watercolors.



It snowed here today, so that's why my girl is wearing snowflakes in APRIL!





Check out those hands...that's what happens when mommy is playing with her new camera for too long!  No worries, it washed off :)



Happy Crafting!
Ames

Today is...

My birthday!  And guess what my amazing hubby gave me...a new camera (remember I lost mine during our move).  Plus our internet is FINALLY hooked up and that means I am back to blogging!!!!  So exciting.  I wanted to share with you just a couple of the super simple crafts we have done during my forced absence. 

Plastic Wrap Painting (abstract) Flower

I put a piece of white paper (I love cardstock) on a cookie sheet.  Then I put a line of green paint and a blob of red/white paint.  I covered the whole thing with plastic wrap.  Then I let Finley have at it.  I really thought she would like slapping the cookie sheet to make noise but without any prompting she stood on it (the cookie sheet was on the floor) and kinda danced all over it.  It was the funniest thing I saw all day.  I put too much green since the stem ended up looking more like a tree trunk than a  flower stem...oh well.

Easter Eggs

I bought a pack of foam Easter eggs at Hobby Lobby with no real plan for them.  So whenever I didn't have a brilliant craft idea for the day (rare, but it happens...jk!) we decorated them in one way or another.  They are a great base for a project.  You can glue stuff to them, paint them, make picture frame magnets out of them...the possibilities are endless.

Here's one Finley decorated with Bingo Markers.

This one is painted with water colors.

Spring Sponge Painting

I bought a pack of "Spring Sponges" at the grocery store on clearance for like $1.22 or something close to that.  There were different flower sponges, butterflies, etc.  So we used them to make this painting.  Finley was having so much fun that she sponge painted a bit too much :)

So that's what we have been up to!

Happy Crafting!
Ames

Bunny!

What says Happy Easter better than a bunny?  Today I cut out a brown bunny (because my favorite bunny is a chocolate one) and the plan was for Finley to paint the bunny with white paint using a scrub brush to make it look like fur.  Well she had other ideas and none of them involved white paint and a scrub brush.  Instead we ripped up some cotton balls and glued it on the tail.  She was much happier with this idea and it looks darn cute on my fridge!


Camera is still missing so you only get one pic from my phone today, sorry.

 Happy Crafting!
Ames

Hey, remember me???

Hey, it's me...Ames!  I feel like I have been gone for ages.  Technically I am still without Internet except for the glorious moments when I get to escape to Panera for my WiFi fix.  Unfortunately, those times are limited and usually are used for paying bills and such. 

Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean that we haven't been crafting.  Two huge U-Haul trucks full of boxes and a MOUNTAIN of laundry (the dryer was broken when we moved it) can't keep us from doing what we love. Here's the catch...while unpacking I put the camera is a safe place...a.k.a. a place so safe that I can't find the damn thing.  So I am unable to share the process of making our lovely creations with you...use your imagination (the pic below was taken with my phone). 

My most favorite project in the new house so far is the painted canvas in the playroom.  The best part of the new house is a HUGE playroom.  It's a toddler paradise I tell you. The previous occupant left a big black tv bracket thingy (I have no clue what it's called) on the wall.  I was going to take it down but noticed that several crater sized holes would be left in it's place.


Really, I have no intention of dealing with that so I bought  a big canvas at Hobby Lobby for around $15 on sale along with 3 bottles of acrylic paint ($1 each) that match the wall colors. Since it's acrylic paint and not safe for toddler hands or mouths I had to be creative. I put some circles of paint on the canvas and slipped it into a big garbage bag (the black ones used for leaves).  Then Finley had a great time playing with  the bag and even dancing on it.  When I took the canvas out of the bag it looked pretty cute and I was able to hang it over the dreadful "bracket thingy."  We might add some more creamy colored paint to tone it down but I think it works for a playroom.

Happy Crafting!
Ames

Prickly Cactus from Modern Day Suzy Homemaker

Everytime I visit lindsay's blog, Modern Day Suzy Homemaker, I wonder why didn’t I think of that? She is super crafy and who would have thought that a prickly cactus could be so cute!

Happy Crafting!

Ames

Hi Paint and Prozac followers! My name is Lindsay from www.moderndaysuzyhomemaker.blogspot.com. Amy asked if I could write a guest post while she’s moving. I was honored! So here is a little project to keep your wee ones busy. And to Amy, I hope your move goes smoothly and you are back soon!

You will need: rice, green food coloring, zip top bag, scissors, construction paper or cardboard and glue.

 

Draw and cut out a cactus shape from the constriction paper or cardboard.

Put some rice in a zip top baggie with a few drops of green food coloring and let your little one shake, shake, shake.

 

Next, spread some glue on the cactus cut out.

 

Put the cut out in the box (glue side up) and then dump the green rice on top.

 

Put the lid on the box, add a rubber band to be safe, and let them shake it box.

 

Open the box and shake off the extra rice. Let it dry and there you have it, a Prickly Cactus.

 

Lindsay





Welcome to Heir to Blair

I am thrilled to have a guest post from working momma extraordinaire, Blair, from Heir to Blair. The girl can throw together a few words and an ampersand and like magic I’m cracking up! 

Enjoy!

I'm a total crafter wanna-be, so when Amy asked if I would be willing to blog about a craft with Harrison, I was simultaneously pumped & intimidated. Coming up with creative things to do with Harrison has been on my to-do list for awhile now, but it keeps falling to the bottom of the list (sadly). Plus, I can barely manage to not burn myself with a glue gun at the age of 27, & I'm supposed to supervise a toddler with something creative? oy.

I flipped through a few ideas & wasn't totally inspired, until I saw a hand-print sheep for Easter. It would be PERFECT for us to start our toddler-crafting. Plus, Harrison could make a ton in quick succession, meaning that I'd have one for my office, Nate's office, the grandparents, & our refrigerator.

He was pretty hesitant at first - "umm, Momma? Are you sure you want me to get dirty?" - but it quickly turned into "THIS IS AWESOMESAUCE." once I showed him how to rub his hands together to get paint on both.

We took both hands & pressed them on the paper. The hardest part was getting him to lay his hand flat without curling up his fingers & smearing it into one big blob, so he really needed my help to lay them flat & make sure every finger made a mark.

We let them dry overnight, then while he napped on Saturday, I whipped out scissors & hot glue gone. I cut cotton balls into thirds, then hot glued them onto the palm part of the handprint so that the fingers became sheep legs & the thumb became the head.

Cute, right? The whole project cost less than $3.00 to make 4 sets of handprints!

p.s. if you're framing it, get a shadow-box frame because of the cotton balls. this week, they're on sale at Michael's for 40% off.