Homemade Silly Putty Eggs

Recently we had a school snow day (I know, a SNOW DAY in SPRING! Crazy Canada.) We decided to make the most of it and make something fun! My littlest loves silly putty. I had come across some recipes online awhile ago and thought we would give the homemade silly putty a go. 

We followed a few different recipes, playing with all the amounts until we got the results that we wanted. Squishy but not runny. Perfect for play! Once we discovered the magic combination my gal was able to make this all on her own in minutes!

Here is what worked for us

1/4 cup glue (elmer's or any no name brand ~ we tried a few)

1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 tbsp borax powder

1 tsp washable paint (you can use food coloring too ~ we used paint to have more colors options)

To begin:

Place 1 tsp of paint into a bowl. 

Add in your 1/4 cup warm water and stir.

Next, measure out 1/4 cup glue and add to your paint mixture. Mix thoroughly. 

Measure out 1 1/2 tbsp of borax and spinkle over the mixture. 

Stir until it starts to become a gloopy  mess like this.

Now for the really fun part! Take it in your hands and squish it silly! It should co-operate and become some super silly putty.

We thought we would create some Easter inspired colors of silly putty and the results were lovely!

Perfect time of year to create silly putty, as we had the eggs to store it in. Just like the real deal!

These shall surely fill some of our Easter baskets this year. 

There is SO much fun you can have with silly putty!

1. Press things in to it and use it as a mold.

 2. Create a bouncy ball by rolling it into a ball and placing it in the freezer for an hour. 

3. Watch it float by shaping it into a boat shape and placing in water.

4. Draw a picture with pencil and press the putty flat on top so it copies the image.

5. Juggle with it.

6. Perhaps the best part of all....

Squishing it! How can you resist?!

Happy stretching, bouncing, squishing and squeezing!

Egg Owl

With egg crafts exploding all over the place, we wanted to do something a little different.

Inspired by an old paper crafting book, we tried our hand at nesting egg owls.

To make your own you will need:

an egg, (with the insides blown out)

toilet paper tube

egg carton

felt

paint & paint brush

glue gun and glue sticks

something to imitate "nesting" material

(we used Easter grass)

sharpie

To begin…paint your toilet paper tube brown…this is your "tree" base.

Paint on some "bark"

Adding a couple of leaves is optional…we cut ours out of the egg carton and painted

them green and glued them on.

Now cut out your egg carton like so…these are your "nests"

Taking your glue gun, glue on your "nesting" material.

Now glue in your egg.

Cut out eyes…beak…feet…wings…and little feathers for its head.

Glue them onto your egg owl!

And the end result is something like this.

An "egg"traordinary craft!

April Fool's Day for Kids: Letter Surprise

Do you like to do silly surprises on April fool's day? Here's one that is sure to grab a giggle or two  Head on over to CBC to check it out this funny flying letter trick!

Hope your day is full of lots of laughs!

Butterfly Finger Puppets

With spring seemingly unwilling to show it's face and snow still surrounding us, we decided to take matters into our own hands and bring spring to us.

What speaks spring more than butterflies and flowers?!

Here is our spring inspired solution...

Flower-filled butterflies to conjure up spring's warmth and new life.

To create you will need:

flowers (pressed flowers work best for the longest lasting collage)

sheet of colored construction paper

tape

mactac (also know as contact paper)

To begin:

Print or trace this butterfly template onto your colored paper.

Cut out your butterfly and then cut out the insides of the wings.

Gather up you flowers.

Cut out two squares of mactac a little larger than your butterfly.

Peel the backing off one of the squares of mactac and place the butterfly on top of the sticky side.

Now for the *FUN* part.

Fill the wings with flowers to make the butterflies come alive with color and beauty!

When your flower collage is complete, peel the backing off your other square of mactac and press it firmly on top of your butterfly to seal your flowers in. 

Cut off the excess edges around your butterfly.

There you have it. A flower-filled butterfly!

When it was done we couldn't resist placing in in a sunny window for a bit to admire.

Instant spring to make us smile.

Soon it was time to let this butterfly fly.

To turn it into a finger puppet, simply cut a small strip of paper and tape it onto the back to fit the finger of the "flyer".

Ready to take flight!

Butterfly

Flutter by,
Butterfly,

Floating flower
in the sky.

Kiss me with your
Petal wings—

Whisper secrets,
Tell of spring.

Author Unknown

Welcome spring sunshine and butterflies!

Rainbow Fairies

We LOVE colour here at my house…

to help us celebrate SPRING and colour and our LOVE of fairy folk

we decided to create some simple Rainbow Fairies!!

To make your own you will need:

paint in rainbow colours

paintbrushes

pinecones

wooden bead "heads"

wood rounds

"wings"…we used silk leaves for ours

(felt would also work for wings)

glue gun and glue sticks!

To begin enlist the help of a pint sized friend, (willing 5 year olds are great),

paint each pinecone a colour of the rainbow!

This is how ours looked after they dried…we glued them to our bases, 

(which were some cut up small pieces of wood we had)

Paint "hair" on your wooden beads

Using a very small brush, paint on faces…when they are dry using a red pencil crayon

or a beeswax crayon, draw on small cheeks.

We used food colouring to dye our wings all the colours of the rainbow…

soak them for about 10 min, then drain them and dry on paper towel…easy peasy!

Grab your glue gun and glue on the bead "heads" and wings…they should look like this!

This simple craft inspired LOTS of rainbow play at our house…

it was an inexpensive and JOY filled craft to do with my own little rainbow loving gal.

Wishing you all the colours of the rainbow!

Mama & Baby Bunnies

With spring now officially here (YAY!!) we were inspired to craft up some fresh faces for our spring nature table. My daughter Luna, has a real love of  bunnies and I have a real soft spot for all things itty bitty... combined these baby bunnies and their mama just needed to be born!

They were short and sweet to whip up.

To create you will need

walnut

pipe cleaner

wool roving

acorn cap

felt

cotton ball

paint & paint brush

peg doll

To begin 

Pry your walnut open and scrape out the insides.

Slide your bead onto a small piece of pipe cleaner.

Wrap the pipe cleaner in roving to create the baby body.

Add on an acorn cap and glue the babe into the walnut shell.

Cut out some little felt ears and glue on.

Add a face if you wish.

For the mama

Measure and cut a pice of felt to cover the body and glue it on.

Add on an acorn cap and a face.

Cut out felt ears and glue on.

Add a little felt tummy and glue on a cotton ball tail.

There you have it! Mama and baby bunny.

Seeing as bunnies tend to be a bit prolific and that the bitty babies were so much fun, we couldn't resist but give him a sister. Doesn't she look so happy to be a part of things?! 

In spring love