3 Ways to make your own tree block tree houses

These tree houses made from real tree branches are so much fun!  They involve a lot of imaginative play.  These tree house blocks are available commercially and featured in popular catalogs such as Magic Cabin.


We got a set similar to this one for our then 7 year old son.

The thing I love most about this set is that it is sturdy AND interchangeable.

The log pieces come with dowel rods that allow them to be attached to the flat "landing" pieces or other logs.

So it doesn't tip over when you are playing with it. Then the whole thing can be disassembled and repositioned for play or for a *much* smaller storage space!







We purchased a set similar to this (sans dolls and furniture) for our then 3 year old daughter, thinking she might enjoy the creative aspect of building, but we invested more into her wooden doll house thinking she would prefer that. 

It turns out she *really* likes to play with this set. 

The only problem is that we found it hard to keep the pieces balanced long enough to really interact and play with the structure. 

They tend to tip and wobble.  Perhaps some thicker taller pieces of wood could help. But still she likes to play with it.




The commercial sets can be very nice.  But in all honesty you can really make these things on your own now that I've seen them up close and personal.

Here are some wonderful hand made sets using regular tree branches which can be sanded and varnished if desired.  (Some people with allergies prefer the branches without bark.)
 
In these examples they used hot glue to permanently attach the structures.  Some bits of string and screws can be added for more features.

Check out the additional instructions and photos at these websites:

Childhood 101 Treehouse

Irresistible Ideas Treehouse

Stitch Craft Tutorial

5 Tutorials for Making your own Waldorf style Dolls

Dolls handmade in the Waldorf tradition can be a tremendous delight to children with their ability to carry any emotion or dream of the child.

Made with love and quality materials from nature, they can also be a sensory delight.  Instead of wool stuffing, my friend Susan stuffed hers with millet and lavender.

Surprisingly, these dolls are not extremely difficult to make!

Here are some wonderful tutorials and patterns.

Echoes of a Dream
Tiny Twist Creative
Crafty Sheep
Toureasy47201
Make Baby Stuff

Lina doll from Crafty Sheep

Boy doll from Echoes of a Dream

My 5 new obsessions

Here are the things making me crazy obsessed today.

Dollar Store Crafts appears to have an endless supply of contributors and projects for repurposing and doing pretty things with cheap stuff.

I probably shouldn't have done it but I did.  I signed up for a craft of the day email from Martha Stewart.  Of course, once you visit the website for instructions you're tempted with dozens of other scrumptious projects. 

And what could possibly be more distracting that a daily craft email from Martha?  A daily project with America's favorite its-almost-like-glue-but-not-quite-glue from Mod Podge Rocks.

Dumpster dive + Mod Podge = Treasure. Or craft fail.







So you think you're crafty?  It's reality TV on blog. This came at just the right time.  I'm suffering from Project Runway withdrawal.  And they have dollar store challenges!!  I'm loving Jessica's bookends.


Craft Fail.  If it's deformed, ugly, not toddler proof, or sends you to the ER, your craft project belongs here.  It's hard to believe there are so many stories of crafts gone bad.  I've never laughed so hard about glitter mishaps. Ever.

Easy canned goods storage for the pantry

This is such a cool website!!!





They have instructions on how to make your own storage rack to rotate cans.

It has a "first in first out" with a top loading design!

It uses nothing but cardboard you could find around the house. FREE!

Visit their site for complete instructions.








And one of their readers offered another suggestion for a large can roller system in a very slim space.

Look at this DIY from Jayce that can storage you can build in a weekend. 

It still features "first in, first out" principles. Check out the website for instructions and more photos.

3 ways to make art out of office supplies

You know I'm always excited to find ways to turn ordinary things into works of art.  I love finding these amazing talented artists who do just that!!

(1) Pencil nibs into jewelry

Karolin Felix Jewelry at Ecouterre

Karolin Felix makes and sells these unique pieces of art from embellished colored pencil nibs and is featured at Ecouterre. 

I can just imagine a charm bracelet made of these.

I think I would want to make sure the pencils are shellacked though.  Otherwise I would be likely to mark up everything I touch.






(2) Paper clips into lampshade

Can you believe these chandeliers are made from paper clips? 

These creations are featured on Dollar Store Crafts. 

Patterns for these chandeliers are available for purchase from etsy.








(3) Post it notes into wall art

Rachel T Robertson Image

I love the super simple post-it note art featured in the current IKEA catalog.  See page 144 of the 2012 IKEA catalog. 

So I tried to google the image and tripped over this.

Just try to google post-it note art and you'll be busy for a while. 

This artful selection is from Rachel T Robertson and featured at colour lovers.

Teaching circuitry safely with playdough: Squishy Circuits

There was a TED talk that took the world by storm with the concept of squishy circuits. 

Using different types of playdough, LED lights, and electric gizmos kids learn about circuit design.

When I asked the author, Ann Marie Thomas, she said lessons plans would be coming soon.

My local hackerspace group pointed me to the lesson plans which are now online. Thanks, Conan!

TED talk video

Kids and parents will both enjoy using Squishy Circuits Lesson Plans!

If this sounds too complicated you can always use these popular and kid-friendly learning toys. Yes, Snap Circuits are so fun they can be considered toys even though they are really educational products!

3 Pretty Things I want to make

These are some very pretty things I would love to make!!

(1) EMBELLISHED LANTERNS. These paper lanterns from Childhood 101 involve a variety of skill levels so children can help participate in making the art. Visit the site for instructions and even more styles of lanterns.

Paper Lanterns from Childhood 101

(2) EMBELLISHED FOUND NECKLACE. This thread and jewel necklace is from instructables contributor thanksimadeit. Half the fun of making this necklace is going on the hunt for some vintage jewelry. Check out the instructions at the site.  It's much easier to make than it looks.

Instructables DIY Thread and Jewl necklace

(3) EMBELLISHED GLASS. These amazing sea glass pendants are by Can't Stop Making Things and is featured as a Dollar Store Craft.  Used as necklaces, charms, or tags they offer many options and can be made with just a few bucks.

Pendant from Can't Stop Making Things

4 Fun games with Halloween candy

The good thing about unschooling is that everything in life becomes a learning opportunity.

The bad thing about unschooling is that everything in life becomes learning opportunity!

At least I'm pretty sure that's what my kids think some days.

They're starting to realize that all those games we play are actually "school work." Mwaaahaaa! My evil plans. LOL.

Here are some of the games we played with the Halloween candy:

(1) Candy Store

First she had to organize the candy. (A woman after my own heart!!!)

She organized her candy by type. 

Then she gave me some play money that she made and asked me to buy her candy. (But not for keeps!)

We added, grouped, and multiplied candy prices for a while and had a great it of fun.





(2) Kid Candy Burrito

My tuckered-out son fell asleep as soon as he was done trick or treating.

But my daughter was ready to literally roll around in her candy loot.

She wanted to be an ice cream burrito with candy sprinkles.

"Kid burritos" offer an amazing calming experience for a lot of kids. And it helps to get centered for learning activities.

Lots of kids (but not all!) like to get wrapped and rolled up tightly in a blanket. It's a great sensory tool for kids with sensory processing disorder, autism, adhd, etc.

(3) Candy "I" Spy

This was my favorite game. It was fun and had lots of literacy and numeracy aspects to it.  We heaped the candy in a pile in between us.

We closed our eyes and mixed up the candy. 

Then we took turns calling out what kinds of candy to look for when we both opened our eyes. 

We each tried to be the first to find these kinds of things:

Can you find a candy with a number in its name?

Can you find candy with two syllables in its' name?

Can you find candy whose name starts with the letter S? R? K?

Can you find candy whose name has two of the same letters in a row?

How about candy with 2 pairs of the same letters in a row?

Can you find something on a stick?

Can you find something you don't chew and swallow?

Can you find Square candy?

Rectangle candy?

Circle candy?

Something that is 2 of a kind? 3 of a kind? Full house? LOL.






(4) Venn Diagrams

Similar to the last game this helps classification skills.

On the dry erase board we made two intersecting circles.

In each of the circles where there was no overlap we put candy that had one of the two desired attributes. e.g., Square or Red.

In the area of overlap we put candy with both attributes. e.g., Square and Red

Outside of the circles we put candy that had none of the attributes. e.g., Not square and Not red.

Have fun with your candy!    What games do you play with Halloween loot?

Artful Handwriting Helps

Some kids really struggle with handwriting. 

Teachers, parents, and home educators might not have special education staff, occupational therapists, or other resources to assist with children who are frustrated with writing.

Here are a few tips from waldorf certified teacher, Sally Haughey:

Know what handwriting skills are developmentally appropriate - Don't push writing too early!

Use a letter writing zoo helper - visualize lower case letters as chickens, giraffes, and monkeys

Using special writing tools - triangle pencils with special magic fairy dust add sparkle to the joys of writing

More recipes for picky eaters!

Here are more helps for picky eaters:

Image and recipe from My Recipes

 Picky Palate: Original family style recipes for even your most picky eaters -- Tons of recipes, searchable recipe index, giveaways.

Picky eater recipes from Parenting with an emphasis on healthy foods.

Healthy foods and recipes from My Recipes including my favorite strategy which is food on stick.

Picky eater recipes from Kraft Foods that obviously feature their products.

Recipes and strategies from Nick Jr. -- Tips, tricks, tools, and recipes for parents to use in coping with picky eaters.

Strategies and recipes from Food Network to expanding the culinary horizons of picky eaters.

IMPORTANT NOTE!

If you find yourself really frustrated that your child has a really small range of foods they will tolerate, you might have a problem eater, not just a picky eater.

Don't despair, however.  There is help!  The sequential-oral-sensory method is helpful for addressing feeding issues.  The Star Center Foundation has more information about this method.  You may be able to find out more about this strategy from a local occupational therapist.  This method is useful for picky eaters as well as problem eaters.  You can also explore resources on Food Chaining.

5 Ways to Turn T-shirts and Tidibits into Accessories + 2 BONUSES

Project Runway is over for the season.  Project Accessory has started.

So my desire to make clothes out of trash has now been replaced with a desire to make jewelry out of trash, left-overs, recycled items, or things otherwise unexpected.

Since I'm not talented I like to get my creative fix with easy DIY projects.

A I'm going through the closets to move from summer to winter I'm finding lots of raw materials for these projects:

Doll Clothes Patterns

T-shirt to cotton boa scarf/necklace for you or a little friend

Wasabi Fashion Kult

T-shirt to circle scarf/necklace no sew

Lakeland Local

T-shirt to fringe scarf/ necklace no sew

Kevin [&] Amanda

T-shirt to ringlet scarf/necklace no sew

No Knit Scarf Martha Stewart

Strands of yard to scarf no sew/knit

T-shirts into girls streamer skirt

Skirt tutorial from Sew Easy Being Green

BONUS: Visit Craft stylish for 7 ways to restyle a t-shirt including tranforming them into a cardigan, ruffly cardigan, or gathered tunic.

T-shirt to tunic from Craft Stylish



Green Apple Orchard

Bonus! Easy peasy instructions for a rag quilt to give life to old t-shirts or jeans :-)

Indulgent websites for crafty mom with kids

Image Source

If websites were like warm luxurious bubble baths I could soak in this one for hours.

Creative Jewish Mom: Enhancing every day in every way with creativity.

I'm not Jewish.

I have almost no clue about the religious, cultural, or traditional significance of the food or crafts she describes. 

But the projects are fantastical whimsical delights -- both grown up and kid versions.

There is even an entire section devoted to "recycled crafts" which is one of my passions.

You'll never look at glass bottles, lids, cupcake liners, or paper plates the same.

Fabric Flowers

No sew fleece cozies

Elegant Paper Roses

Zipper flower headbands

Make your own kid-friendly watercolors

Double Duty Green Design: Solar Flowers

Dubbed the "solar-power generating tree that bears two fruits – green power for public areas and a treat for the eyes" the Solarflora design is taking center stage.

The Long Beach California company launched the product in the fall of 2010 and has been taking this solar powered flower on tour around the country.

From their website: "An engaging and elegant sculpture intended for use at public squares and parks of all kinds, outdoor malls, museums, festivals, business complexes, universities, and sidewalks, the Solarflora houses up to four solar panels and can supply as much as 750 watt-hours per day, powering evening park lighting, on-site offices, street lamps, and charging stations for electric bicycles and other small vehicles. Made in Long Beach, California from locally produced materials, this highly original combination of environmentally friendly technology and public-space friendly artwork is creating new solar power enthusiasts of all ages and professions..."

Lush living: 3 Ways to Decorate with Living Greenery

Pouring over some delicious magazines (thank you library!!!) I found inviting indoor projects to try.  These are nature crafts sophisticated enough for adults but things the kids can do to.

Hopefully they can help to help fill the winter void when I'm missing my time in the flower beds and gardens.

Terrarium

From The Vintage Modern blog

The Vintage Modern provides a handy tutorial on making your own terrarium. Featured in the September 2011 issue of Real Simple, the terrarium is described as adding many components to the home:

-- Like a fish bowl it adds life
-- Reflects light, brightening dark walls
-- Feels calm and homey

-- Adds sophistication when used in modern shapes

Living Cactus Wreath

Featured in the October 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens this succulent wreath can provide an easy care decorative element for indoors and out. 

Check out the complete instructions at their site.

Living Moss Balls

From Carissa's Creativity Space

Carissa offers a great tutorial on inexpensively making a real life living moss ball for display. 

It will need to be kept moist and out of the sun, but otherwise is a simple way to incorporate greenery a display for any season.