Temporary Shirt Decals - unPINspired

So, not only did Ash have a Nightmare Moon cutie mark shirt for the MLP birthday party - I dressed up as my pony alter ego, Applejack.

Rather than try to look like a pony, I took inspiration from the human version of Applejack: Jeans, "cowboy" hat (I used a straw hat), yellow wig, and a white button down shirt... with a green yoke. My white shirt doesn't have a green yoke. So, I added one!

First I used paper to make a template for the area I wanted to cover. Using the template I cut two pieces of green fabric that was 1/4" larger all the way around, ironed under that 1/4", then painted three apples on one side with fabric paint (regular paint would work too if you won't be washing it). Lastly I used my secret weapon: washable glue stick. Yes, you heard right, I glued the fabric to my shirt. It sticks great, and then I can peel off the decal and run the shirt through the wash!

Tip: this works best on fabric that doesn't stretch. If you'll be applying it to a knit shirt, try putting it in a spot that won't get much movement or stretching (perhaps the forearm of a sleeve) and/or lightly basting the edges.

Freezer Paper Stenciling

nananananananananananananananana - RAINBOW

There are a mix of photos today, the one above is of when I did freezer paper stenciling with the bigger daycare kids, and the rest are of Ash's Nightmare Moon shirt for his friend's MLP birthday party. My hands got pretty covered helping the kids, which is why there aren't any in-progress photos of when they did it (hence photos of one of my own projects).

Project: Freezer paper stenciling on shirts
Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228776429/
Page Pin is From: http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-presidents-day-shirts-intermediate-freezer-paper-stenciling.html
Participants: Ash, Lavender, Peony, myself

Difficulty: Medium. Requires painting more or less in the lines (with an inch or two of forgiveness) for the kiddos, and requires tracing, cutting, ironing for the grown ups or big kids. I chose super easy images (Batman for Ash and Peony, and an arch/rainbow for Lavender) and kept the size to approx 4"x6".
Prep: 5-10 minutes per shirt, including the mid-way adult work like ironing.
Mess: About the same as any painting project, but I had the kids take off their shirts first since we were using fabric paint which is designed to adhere to fabric permanently. A sleeved smock would work too. I got messier than usual somehow...
Cleanup: There's the normal paint project clean up, we used brushes not fingers so there was minimal paint on fingers. Then there's a final ironing of the painted shirt after it's all dry.
Age Range: I'd keep this to ages 3 and up, maybe 2 if you can closely supervise. Fabric paint can be toxic if ingested, and paint brushes can be a little difficult for littles to manipulate.

Verdict: So.Much.Fun. The kids LOVED this project. I gave Ash and Peony three colors of their choice for their Batman symbols and they painted free form, blending and such. Lavender painted the rainbow inside the arch, and we discussed the color order, etc. The best part was the reveal when I carefully pulled off the stencil and all of a sudden THERE WAS AN AWESOME PICTURE. Seriously, for kids that are still learning how to stay inside lines and who get frustrated about it, having that stencil automatically give a nice, crisp line is so satisfying. (for grownups too. ahem)

I actually found this post directly from the MADE page (not Pinterest) a few years ago when I had time to regularly read blogs, and have done several freezer stenciling projects.

I gave myself an inch of surround, for kids I make it bigger

I love the reveal!

MLP Bean Bags - unPINspired

This project is unPINspired - AKA one of my own projects that I didn't get directly from Pinterest. I do that sometimes...

Kitty is helping show off the finished bags

Almost no spilling! I'm so coordinated!

One of Ash's friends is turning the big F-I-V-E and having a MLP birthday party (My Little Pony, for those of you not in the know). There will be MLP activities and dressing up (more on that later), and I offered to make bean bags for the toss game.

I rummaged through my fabric supply to find some fabrics that represent each of the six main ponies and cut them around 3.5"x4.5" (little hands = little bags). I was thinking about using beans, but those are bulky for such a small bag. I thought I had some lentils in the back of a cupboard left over from a sensory bin... and found golden flax seeds. Score! The small seeds make an amazing filler, almost like the small plastic pellets found in the bums of some stuffed animals.

Keeping the right sides facing, I sewed three sides. Then I flipped them right side out, filled with 1/4 cup of seeds, turned under 1/4" on the open side, and carefully top seamed it shut. Done!

No leaves on that tree? Use a fabric marker to fix it.

Ham, Apple & Sweet Potato Scramble

Project: Cook a new dish and test it on my family before springing it on the daycare
Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/78531587228748780/
Page Pin is From: http://paleonewbie.com/ham-apple-sweet-potato-scramble-recipe/
Participants: Ash, Eli, Mom, Dad, myself

Difficulty: Minimal... if you can handle chopping a lot. It requires dicing sweet potato, onion, and apple.

Prep: So. Much. Chopping. (disclaimer: I really don't particularly like chopping vegetables, whenever possible I try to get someone else to do it) It took probably 10-15 minutes to prep, most of it fetching things from the pantry and chopping. To make my life easier, I chopped things in reverse order and put them in a large measuring cup/mixing bowl. So apple and ham went on the bottom, then sweet potato, then onion on top so they'd go into the pan in the correct order. That also meant I got to chop stinky onion last. Score!
Mess: Not bad - one large pan, one large mixing bowl, a cutting board, knife, a few utensils.
Cleanup: See above...
Age Range: Adult for prep, 1+ for eating (possibly younger)

Verdict: Overall win for the adults - Ash wasn't impressed. He picked out the ham, but the scrambled eggs weren't recognizable enough, and there was the whole issue of food touching. Casseroles don't fly with Ash or the daycare so I knew it was a long shot, but I was hoping that the presence of ham and eggs would help. Personally I thought it needed... something, but I also left out the cayenne because the kids don't do heat. So that could be the missing kick (Eli said he'd like it more with the cayenne). I'll probably make this again for home but not for the daycare.

why have milk OR juice when you can have BOTH at the same time??

Dino Tracks (with paint)

Project: Make dinosaur tracks with toy dinos and paint
Inspiration Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/242842604881672773/
Page Pin is from: http://www.mamaslikeme.com/2014/03/dinosaur-track-painting-for-preschool.html
Participants: Ash, Eli, and myself

Difficulty: Easy
Prep: 5 minutes - cover painting surface with newspaper, put out a few sheets of plain paper, gather dinos, and squirt finger paints on newspaper
Mess: It turned into finger painting, so a 6 out of 10
Cleanup: Not too bad, dinosaurs can go through the dishwasher, and I convinced Ash not to touch anything with his paint-covered hands.
Age Range: All Ages

Verdict: I'll do this one again! I like that it's all ages, easy, and kept Ash busy for a good 20 minutes. After the initial making of tracks, there was imagination play with the dinos and painting the dinos, followed by free-form finger painting and a little brush work.

I have to hand it to the blogger, Tina, she did admit that the project got messy (even if she did only show the pretty pictures). And she did it with her daycare/sons!