Bunch Family

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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Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

When my kids show an interest in something I usually end up going over the top to encourage them, as evidenced by WAY too many dinosaur books, toys and movies sitting a little dusty on my shelves.

I couldnʼt let such an opportunity pass me by when Ava came home bubbling with excitement after a class trip to the post office. With her enthusiasm in mind, I decided that I was going to put together a letter writing kit… I just love this type of crafty/nerdy project!!

I started with a vintage suitcase to house the kit. I happened to have one hanging around but thrift stores are usually a great place to find a whole bunch of suitable cases.

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Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

Christmas 2011 was the year of the handmade gift around this house. While I loved each and every gift given and received, I particularly loved this treasure created for Anthony by Ava and I.

We made him a custom dragon pillow to go along with the knight accessories that were high on his “pretty please” list. I love this idea of hand embroidering the kidʼs drawings to create unique pieces of art. I used this same process to make wowed-over framed gifts for grandparents and friends. While it is not a really quick or super easy craft, it is one that is thoroughly worth the effort.

We started with Ava drawing this fantastic picture of what she thought was “the dragon of Anthonyʼs dreams”. I photocopied the picture (how dare I touch the original) and used the copy along with some carbon paper to trace the dragon onto some light-coloured denim.  Read more...

Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

If you are like me, when you dig out your box of christmas ornaments your stomach drops as you notice there are significantly less ornaments than you remembered from last year… thanks to a curious dog and a even curiouser little boy who just couldnʼt keep his hands from tree. I used this very quick and easy recipe to make some simple ornaments that SMELL just like Christmas to hang on my tree. Here is just a quick little tutorial to follow if you want to do the same.

Supplies:  Read more...

• 1 cup cinnamon
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 2 Tbsp white glue
• 2 Tbsp nutmeg (optional)
• 2 Tbsp ground cloves (optional)
• cookie cutters (free form shapes would be cool too)
• rolling pin or something to roll the dough out with

Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

We’re kicking it up a notch! In my last post, my family and I were making and really enjoying shadow puppets. While my kids still love playing with the puppets, they are getting a bit bored with trying
to find an adequate wall to put on their shows. We decided it was time to build a theater for their puppets to perform in.

We constructed the theater out of an old box we had lying around.

It was very easy to make. First I cut off the back and top flaps. Leaving the sides attached to the bottom makes the theater pretty sturdy. I turned the box inside out and re-taped ours as it was black and the kids would not have been able to decorate it to their standards. I then cut out a large rectangle in the front which I covered with white paper — this will be the stage.  Read more...

Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids

So, last post I admitted that I was a saver of bottle caps and this post I am going to admit that I also save straws… oh, that sounds way creepier when I actually say it out loud. This past Halloween we actually found a use for said straws. We made our own spooky shadow puppets using this tutorial over at Chez Beeper Bebe. I did the tracing and cutting (with an x-acto knife) as the template puppets provided were quite detailed. We attached our hoarded straws to the back of each one as a handle using a glue gun.

The kids had a great time dimming the lights and putting on a variety of shows for us. These shows often ended in sibling discord but I would say they consistently play nicely for a good 15 minutes before the yelling begins. In my house that means craft success!!!  Read more...