Make Your Own Doll House

Something that we have plenty of in this house are diaper boxes. They come into this house often and I always wonder what to do with them. I have used them to store old baby clothes, made them into doll beds with Lorelei's help, made one into a stuffed animal bus, recycled them and now made one into a doll house.

This box kept staring me in the face every time I rounded the corner so finally we got out our craft paper, glue and scissors and got to work. We started the doll house on Friday early in the morning and then had company so we set it aside.

Lorelei has been asking me all weekend if we were going to finish the doll house because she wanted to play with it. Today was the day.

When we were finished Lorelei put all kinds of guys to work in the house.

I couldn't help myself but to take some pictures. This is Lorelei's painting she made including the frame. She also was the one to glue it up and pick the spot in the house.

The other painting she made. I was the one who cut out the rectangles for her. She painted the picture, chose the spot of color she liked best, I cut it out and she glued it up.

Here is the view of the house. She helped cut out windows and the carpet. Lorelei also chose all the colors for everything and decided where everything should go. She sometimes told me where to glue it or she glued it herself.

Here she is playing with her doll house. I think she liked it. The brown piece of paper you see is a couch. When she started playing she asked "but where's the couch?" when I made the couch she then asked "but where's the remote? They need to watch T.V." The T.V. is the black rectangle she glued above the black and purple bookcase. She did choose the colors of the bookcase and told me what to draw in it as well.

Gluing the back of her painting, Lorelei is working on her house. She is always very serious when working on craft projects. That or she is goofing around and not listening. Mostly serious though.

Even Hannah climbed up into the chair and wanted to help. This is a painting Lorelei had already made, but Hannah was content just watching the activity.

More playing with her house! She absolutely loved it. The joy on her face was priceless. I watched her more than anything. Her role playing skills are reaching a whole new level of cuteness.

The finished product. This is how Lorelei set up the guys so they could all watch T.V. I learned something with this activity. 1) it was a little advanced 2) she loves telling me what to do 3) the glitter lights that are on the ceiling are too messy. She dumped the glitter.

This project was a bit hectic, but in the end she really loved it and loves playing with it so I am happy with how it turned out in the end. I would offer advice of breaking the project into a couple of days if it's with a younger child and relax. Messes will happen, but let the kids enjoy the crafting. You too!

Potato Stamps

The plan for the day involved the beach and the beach only. Sounds relaxing doesn't it? Especially when you include naps in between. Well, we were rained out. It doesn't look like the weather had our plan in mind. So when you can't go outdoors you plan crafts in my house.

I had read on another blog yesterday that she had used potato stamps to decorate her kids clothing. I was inspired, but I'm not sure if I'm that enthusiastic or that talented with a potato. Being in the experimental stage I wanted to make it fun for the girls too.

First I halved a few old potatoes.

Next I tried a couple of different techniques to get the actual shape to appear on the potato. First I tried to use the tip of the potato peeler and created a circle. Then I carved it out with a mix of the steak knife and potato peeler. Using these tools made it a bit messy and the technique wasn't easy. In the end what worked best for me was drawing my shape out with the tip of a tooth pick. After making a deep outline with the tooth pick I used the steak knife to slice from the outside of the potato in to my tooth pick design. I plucked off the excess and viola. A potato stamp.

I took some paper from the easel and taped it down onto the table and dressed Lorelei in something I didn't mind getting paint on. The paint did say washable, but you can't be too careful. I completely took Hannah's clothes off because you just never know where the paint might end up with a one year old.

Hannah wasn't interested one bit as it was closing in on her morning nap time. Instead of the stamps I squirted out some finger paint for her. She still wasn't interested. Lorelei however was super excited. I used an old lid from a shoe box to squirt the paint in and an old make up brush as the paint brush.

The potato was very easy for her to hold and I didn't have to worry about it slipping or making a mess. Plus the make up brush was large and covered the stamp easily. She mixed her paint and stamped away.

She washed up easily with the Crayola washable Kid's Paint pack we used too. The clean up was super easy with practically no washing, because I used such a large piece of paper that covered the table and the "stamps" just got thrown out. I wiped the paint "tray" out and am letting it dry on the counter while the brush just gets rinsed.

What I learned: Next time I wont cut the potatoes in half with a steak knife. They left lines in the stamps. I might even dry the potatoes a little bit after rinsing them. Over all it was great fun and we all enjoyed ourselves. (Except Hannah who went down for a nap while the project was still progress.)

I might suggest adding other objects to your stamps like paper towel or news paper as well. Crumple them up and let the kids make different designs. Kids love to see what the results will be with different objects, techniques and shapes.

Ducks in a row. Oh, now mom needs a little smile too.

A Little Creativity Goes a Long Way

Cuddling into blankets, pillows and stuffed animals galore Lorelei asked for me to read a book. As silly as it sounds it was past nap time and the lights were already out while I was sitting down with Hannah. So I decided to get creative, which works well for Lorelei since she really enjoys something personal. So here it is, or at least how I remember it.

Once upon a time there was a big green, harry troll who lived under the bridge, hey. Princess Lorelei and Princess Hannah were crossing the big green, harry old trolls bridge when all of a sudden. "Hey! I am the BIG green, harry ole troll who lives under the bridge and you owe me a toll."

Princess Lorelei dug through her pocket to find exactly one coin. She handed the coin to the big green, harry troll who lived under the bridge and they were on their way again. They were headed to the park when all of a sudden from behind a bush jumped out the BIG bad wolf.

"What is in that basket you have there?" Asked the big bad wolf.

"Cookies" cried Princess Hannah.

"I want one and I want one now!" said the big bad wolf.

"I will share a cookie with you if only you say please and thank you. These cookies are for our grandma" said Princess Lorelei.

"No. I will not. I want a cookie and I will take a cookie." said the big bad wolf.

The big bad wolf was not using his manners so the girls went on to the park when all of a sudden the big bad wolf came out from behind, yet another big green bush.

"Hey! I want a big cookie. I want it! I want it! I want it!" said the big bad wolf.

"I would be happy to share if you say please." Said Princess Lorelei. Again, the big bad wolf was not being friendly and saying please so the girls finished on to the park to play for a minute before going on to Grandma's house.

The two girls were swinging on the swings and sliding down the slides when all of a sudden out popped the big bad wolf again.

"I want that cookie. I will not say please. I will take that cookie." said the big bad wolf when all of a sudden Princess Lorelei said "Big bad wolf no swiping!" The big bad wolf walked off.

The girls finished up at the park and when they were almost to their grandma's house they saw the big bad wolf peak out from behind a big green bush.

He said "I wan that cookie! I want them all."

Princess Lorelei said "I would love to share with you if only you said please. Mind your manners."

The big bad wolf looked very sad when Princess Lorelei asked the big bad wolf to come over and play at grandmas. She offered some cookies and tea. The big bad wolf blushed and started to smile and said "All I ever wanted was a friend and now I have two."

They all walked up to the door when Grandma came out. Princess Lorelei introduced the big bad wolf to grandma.

"Big Bad Wolf this is Grandma. Grandma this is Big Bad Wolf."

"It's very nice to meet you Big Bad Wolf. Would you like to come in for cookies and tea?" Asked grandma.

The big bad wolf being so happy said please and thank you and ate all the hot cookies and warm tea he wanted.

They lived happily ever after. THE END

As much as it may seem that our stories are silly or don't make all that much sense our kids love them. When we share something creative and don't feel ashamed by what we come up with our kids will gleam with confidence when they try. After all if mom and dad do it so can they.

Make up your own story. Relax a little and have a good time with your kids! Good luck! Oh, and a little note. Try to remember what you have said, because they will ask for it again.

Inspiration for my story was from The Little Red Riding Hood, author Brothers Grimm and Dora the Explorer on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.