Bunchland

Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

I am always writing down the cute things that my kids say and the always take note of milestones met on the calendar. And then I can never find the tiny scraps of paper I have written these cute words on nor can I ever find the milestones written somewhere on some calendar that I shoved who knows where. I think I may have found a solution to this problem that will literally allow me to document milestones and cute events for the next 14 years!

Okay, I know this looks and sounds a bit crazy but I think it is really going to work.

For each child I found an inexpensive recipe box and filled each one with 365 index cards, each card having 14 lines.

I dated each card with month and day but NOT the year .The years are going to be represented on each line on the card.  Read more...

Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

With the warm weather right around the corner (ignoring the April snowstorm heading our way) my kids are getting bubble crazy. It seems like each store we go into is filled with every type of bubble toy imaginable.

While blowing the bubbles is great fun, I think my kids really love fighting over the bubble wands the most. You can just hear it now canʼt you: “His wand is bigger than mine!” and “Why does she get the shorter one?” and on and on and on! With these disputes in mind, I thought I would make personalized bubble wands and stop the fighting altogether. With a few inexpensive materials I think I have made some really adorable and super easy bubble wands.

Here is a little step by step picture tutorial I put together:

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Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

My little Ava is 5-years-old and just learning to spell and write notes. This exciting time in her life has resulted in a house full of pieces of intricately folded paper with three letter words written on them. In  order to mix it up a little I showed her how to make secret messages for us.

Step 1 (fyi…this is the only step!): Write your secret message with white crayon on a white piece of paper. Make sure to press hard with the crayon.

Voila! That is all there is to creating the message. To reveal the message just paint over it with any colour of watercolour paint. The paint will not adhere to the crayon and reveal your secret  message.

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Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

A super busy schedule around here the last couple of weeks hasnʼt really left us with any substantial time for crafting. Never fear, I have found pockets of time in which to dream, plan and bookmark crafting ideas that I am interested in doing. I have put together an Easter craft roundup of some of my favourite ideas and tutorials. Hopefully we can get some of these done before Easter!

1. I can imagine Ava cuddled up reading with one of these, these or these adorable bunnies!

2. Check out these Birdʼs Nest Cookies– they look super easy and delicious.

3. Cadbury Creme Egg cupcakes! I have a sister who would just go crazy over these cupcakes from My Baking Addiction… hmm, but does she deserve them?

4. Silk tie dyed eggs, chalkboard eggs and cross-stitched eggs. Yup! All on my list!  Read more...

Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

If your kids seem to respond best to the reward system like mine do, then you may find that keeping the rewards fresh, fun and exciting can be difficult. I think I may have found a solution to that problem: reward scratch tickets!

When someone in the house earns their allotted number of stars, they get to choose a lottery ticket from the jar. They then scratch the ticket to find out their reward. This system keeps the kids motivated and they seem to be more excited about scratching the ticket than the actual reward sometimes… BONUS!

Through extensive research (Pinterest) I have found a way to re-create the coating used for scratch tickets. Here is a very simple little tutorial that we put together:

You will need:  Read more...

• an image you wish to cover — printed on any type of paper

Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

I hijacked the kidʼs valentines this year. I have been wanting to make this style since last February and come hell or high water, this year, it was getting done. While it should have been as easy as 1-2-3-4 (take a photo of each child with an outstretched fist, overlay some font in Photoshop, print them off and cut a little slit above and below the outstretched fist to fit the sucker through), it just didnʼt work out that way.

I really complicated things with my over the top ideas. Since Anthony is really into super heros I thought I would make his card look like a comic strip. Avaʼs was a lot simpler because all she wanted was PINK. Despite my constant battles with Photoshop, I think that the cards ended up looking super adorable.

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Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

We love silly pictures in this house! Lately, we have been using photo props to liven up our shots and have a little fun. They are easy as 1-2-3 to make and add to much to your photos.

Step 1
Download and print or create your own desired props. I downloaded a whole bunch of free and adorable props from the Oh Happy Day blog. I printed them in colour on photo paper and was very happy with the result.

Step 2

Cut out your props and attach them with tape to wooden dowels, straws or wooden chop sticks. Basically you can use anything that will be sturdy and long enough to hold up the prop where you would like it.

Step 3
Choose your prop and shoot away!

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