Ottoman Lego Storage - partly unPINspired

We love legos. I love attractive storage. I have a lot of pins related to legos and

how to store them, here are a few favorites:

• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228642653/
• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228134735/
• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228017309/

Here's the one that I chose that worked with both the way we use legos and utilized a piece of furniture I already have.

Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228642657/

Page Pin is From: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/97/f2/2c/97f22ca00bfac46951e7400b00bbe0ec.jpg (it's not a tutorial)

Participants: Just me!

I referenced this pin https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228900172/ (direct site: http://www.u-createcrafts.com/diy-lego-activity-storage-box/) on how to best cut the base plate.

I cut it down to size, then simply used all purpose epoxy to glue it to the inside of the lid. Done!

DIY Playdough

Project: Make playdough and play with it

Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228811788/

Page Pin is From: http://domesticsuperhero.com/2013/03/28/the-best-homemade-playdough-recipe/#_pg_pin=580205

Participants: Ash, Lavender, Peony, Viola, Reed

Difficulty: It requires attention and minimal distraction while you are doing the stuff on the stove because it gets ready fast (think: soupy, soupy, slightly less soupy, OMG IT'S DONE). The actual process is pretty straightforward. I did three batches - yellow, blue, and green.

Prep: Plan on a half hour to do this. Especially if you will have a toddler helping you measure and pour the ingredients. Ash and I made this on a weekend.

Mess: Not bad. The pot cleaned up with soap and water. I cleaned the pot between each batch.

Cleanup: The dough itself is great - it has stayed soft even after several weeks and it doesn't flake into tiny pieces. When we're cleaning up we take a larger chunk and smoosh it onto the smaller chunks, super easy.

Age Range: It's all non-toxic, so really any age as long as they have the motor skills to manipulate it.

Verdict: LOVE THIS. I've made a few playdough recipes, and this one really is the best. It's still soft and pliable, I love the texture, and it makes a TON. Each batch made almost a softball sized lump. The three batches made more than enough for five kids. I used coconut oil, and it smells SO MUCH BETTER than store playdough. I don't think I'll bother buying it again!

Shamrock/Clover Paper Plate Hat

Project: Use a paper plate to make a four leaf clover hat and have the kids color it green

Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228927309/
Page Pin is From: http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/diy-holiday-hats-for-every-occasion/

Participants: Ash, Lavender, Peony, Viola

Difficulty: Easy - the kids just color, and the grown up has minor scissor work
Prep: Should take five minutes. Don't be me - use the paper plates you can fold in half easily. I got the heavy duty ones because they have pretty flowers on the edge... meaning I couldn't fold it. So first thing in the morning before the kids arrived, with half a cup of coffee in my system, I cut out six paper plates the hard way. When I passed them out, I realized I only needed four. In my defense: half a cup of coffee.
Mess: Virtually none
Cleanup: Virtually none
Age Range: Anyone who can handle a crayon, marker, or colored pencil

Verdict: We'll do this again. It's an easy way to celebrate a holiday - and the kids like wearing hats!

Paint a Clover Field (Pepper Stamps)

Project: use halved peppers and paint to stamp clovers/shamrocks
Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228927305/
Page Pin is From: ... I couldn't get a viable page to come up, just a bunch of errors. If someone is able to get a working page for me, I'll update!
Participants: Ash, Lavender, Peony, Viola

Difficulty: Easy!

Prep: Five minutes or less - cut peppers in half, provide paper and paint. I used mini sweet peppers (don't use hot!) rather than the bell pepper pictured. Keep in mind that the longer peppers tend to flatten out in the middle and wouldn't provide that 3-4 petal stamp so try to choose shorter, rounder peppers.
Mess: A bit less mess than the usual finger painting since the pepper stamps took the brunt of the paint. Lavender in particular kept her hands pretty clean.
Cleanup: Again, a little less mess than a usual finger paint project, and since I use non-toxic finger paints I just used the peppers for lunch... Just kidding, they went in the compost!
Age Range: Even the babies could do this one (if they stay awake), lots of room for interpretive painting, and the peppers are safe for mouthing

Verdict: Great project - would totally do it again!

Yarn Organization - unPINspired

This one is so easy I'm not even going to do the usual post layout.

• Use your favorite spreadsheet program to make a chart with the yarn names/types (I did just my bulky yarn that I use for the hoods that I sell)
• Punch holes
• Loop through a length of yarn
• Done!
  

Erupting Baking Soda Paint

Project: make baking soda paint, paint with it, then squirt vinegar on it to make it fizz
Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/259590365997547060/
Page Pin is From: http://www.learnplayimagine.com/2014/08/erupting-baking-soda-paint-recipe.html
Participants: Ash, Lavender, Peony, Viola (Reed was going to participate, but decided on an early nap instead)

The fizz - the best part

Difficulty: The painting was easy for the kids, and the three older kids had no problem with using a syringe for the vinegar. Viola couldn't manipulate the syringe, but I'm sure she would have figured out a dropper if I had one. I had to be incredibly hands on with this project.
Prep: 15-20 minutes... while the kids were "helping" me. Probably would have gone faster if I had been able to prep by myself. I didn't have the liquid watercolor paint, so I used the food coloring and water option. I set up enough little paper cups so each child would have three colors - blue, green, and yellow.
Mess: It got a bit messy, but not much worse than a regular painting project.
Cleanup: Surprisingly easier than expected - I thought the food coloring would stain the table and counter, but the baking soda cleaned it right up. All I needed was a damp cloth.
Age Range: Ages 1 and up. None of the ingredients are toxic, but shouldn't go in their eyes - and babies love to rub their faces when their hands are dirty.

Verdict: An overall nope. The amount of prep and involvement that I had to do would turn me off from doing this again. The kids weren't super excited about it until we got to the vinegar and fizz part since the paint is cumbersome and separates easily. The fizzing was fun, but we could have gotten the same amount of enjoyment from putting baking soda in a sheet pan, mixing in a little food coloring, and squirting it with vinegar. Their art also couldn't be displayed, because after it dried the baking soda crumbled all over. The blogger said she displays hers, so perhaps that's a matter of using food coloring instead of the liquid watercolors.

Lots of mess after it dries!

Fingerprint Trees (and some impromptu dino tracks)

Interpretive leaves are the best leaves

Technically this project is to make a fingerprint tree guest book for a wedding, where each guest puts a fingerprint leaf on the tree and signs it. I reinterpreted it for the kids to just make a tree.

Project: Using finger paint to make fingerprint leaves on a tree
Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228806151/
Page Pin is From: http://calgarybride.ca/home/the-diy-wedding-tree/
Participants: Ash, Peony, Lavender, and myself

Difficulty: Easy!
Prep: Minimal, print out the trees and get the green finger paint ready. We used light and regular green for some dimension... and because I happen to have it.
Mess: Less than normal finger painting mess since I encouraged the kids to use their finger tips instead of their whole hand.
Cleanup: Less than the usual for finger painting - granted I did it with the older kids, so if the littles had been involved I'm sure there would have been more to clean!
Age Range: If you don't mind the littles doing an unstructured finger paint, then the babies can get involved. If you want the leaves to look more or less like leaves, probably leave it to the 2.5+ crowd.

Verdict: Big hit! The tree is gorgeous (template available on the site), and the kids loved the concept of the project. Ash grabbed a few dinosaurs to share, so each tree is a mix of finger prints and dino tracks. The project went quickly, great for a filler project but not for a long distraction. I'll be keeping the tree template handy for future projects - like fall leaves, trees with birds in them, flowering spring trees, teaching about family trees... There are a lot of options with this one!

Lots of dots!