Category Archives: DIY/Crafts

DIY/Crafts, Homeschooling

How to encourage little Scientist.

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My boys LOVE science experiments.

It is their favorite part of any school day.

They could do it all day!

I decided I needed to make a kid friendly science kit where they could mix crazy things up to their hearts content.

It would be their supplies just like they had their toys.

Here are some basics that I got to start them out.

Distilled White Vinegar

Baking Soda

Baking Oil

Antacid Tablets

Food Coloring (I decided to be brave)

Clear Plastic cups (to mix things in, clear so they can see the whole reaction)

Stir Sticks (I just used coffee sticks, they work great)

Disposable baking tray (to catch the overflow)

Sandwich bags (I thought these would be good for mixing powders but the boys have not used them so I am not sure you need these)

I put all of these things in nice plastic (washable) baskets in a washable (indestructible) space.

I like to throw in some fun stuff every once in a while.

Instant Snow

Magnets

Growing Pills (those little sponges that grow in water)

I bought them some little vials of instant snow and they LOVED them so their Grandma bought them more for Christmas!

Smashing the Antacids with Thor’s hammer…

Food coloring!!!

Beautiful!

They loved thinking up things on their own with no directions!

This one turned out really well!

My boys no heat Lava Lamp:

Fill a clear glass 3/4 full of oil 1/4 with vinegar.

Add Antacid Tablets and Food coloring.

Then lastly add baking soda and watch your ingredients react!

Although my boys do love making up their own special recipes we have done a lot of experiments together with directions so they have a ideal of what to do.

The best thing I did was by little bottles of oil and vinegar!

They use a whole bottle in one day!

I refill with bigger bottles.

They really need a smaller box or a new small container for the baking soda because they tend to use a lot of it and get the box all wet.

I think I will be putting their baking soda in a glass or plastic container soon.

The other night they spent over an hour in their “lab” (the laundry room, I had it in the kitchen before that) creating.

They really thrive with all of the control they have over their experiments!

If you have a curious little one get them supplies, put them in a easily cleaned up space, and let them go!

DIY/Crafts

Kitchen utensil boards

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I decided I wanted to hang up some things in my kitchen after seeing this pegboard at A Beautiful Mess.

The problem, the only wall in my kitchen is right where I have to open cabinet doors.

My husband helped me realize it would not work to hang a pegboard because it would stick out too far.

After trying to search online for a something thin to hang utensils on and failing, I decided to make my own.

My husband cut me two pieces of plywood and I painted them white.

Then I measured and marked every two inches, taped it off, and started painting.

I just used an outdoor craft paint I already had.

I took the tape off while the paint was still a little wet.

Now came the hard part!

I layed out all of the things I wanted to hang up and tried to figure out where I wanted them.

Then I marked the spot with a pencil.

I bought hooks from walmart to put in my boards but I hate trying to screw them in!

I found the easiest way was to hammer a small nail into the spot I wanted to put the screw, pull it out, then screw in a screw a little ways with a screwdriver.

I then took it out and screwed the hook in.

This worked vastly better then trying to just screw the hook straight into the board.

I bought small hooks and mug hooks.

It is best to check and make sure what you want to hang with work with the hooks first.

Some things were too big.

After I was done making the boards I screwed the boards directly to the wall.

I tried to find the wall studs but was unsuccessful (many, many times) despite the fact I was using a stud finder.

My husband had to show me where they were and they were not in the right spots for the boards.

The walls hate me.

I used anchors for three of the fours screws.

I was able to hit a stud for one of the screws (miracles do happen).

I used two hooks to hold up my menu board.

I have had it for a while and did not want to give it up!

I am glad I was able to work it in!

I used some white nails for things that did not fit well on the hooks.

After doing the first board I realized it would have been better to use nails instead of hooks on the top row.

It is a little harder to get the spoons off the hooks that are high up.

Other then that I really like them!

It helps me feel like I am using all of my space to it’s fullest also!

DIY/Crafts

Superhero Transfer

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I keep seeing projects on transferring a picture to a canvas or a board.

I thought the boys might like a superhero spin on it.

I mostly followed this tutorial.

First the boys painted their boards(I just used what we had laying around).

The tutorial suggest using Acrylic paint dabbers because they are more chalky but I just used the regular kind because that is what we had on hand.

Then they laid the superhero picture (I just printed free coloring book pages online) of their choice on the wet paint.

Then comes the worst part when you are two little boys, waiting for it to dry.

It finally dried so then we sprayed them with a little bit of water and the boys started rubbing the paper away.

I was really sceptical that this would work but it did!

Superman turned out better then Spiderman.

I think it was because the Superman had thicker lines and my son painted his a lighter color.

We used Mod Podge to give it a little more personal touch.

Of course my son would write the C upside down when I cannot erase it…

Next time I think I will paint the mod podge over the whole thing so it all looks the same but my boys were really happy with them.

I do not do many crafts with my boys because I find it extremely stressful!

They are not careful at all and do not want to put much work into it.

So most of the time it takes an hour to set it up, and hour to clean up, and my boys only want to craft for about ten minutes.

How do you handle craft time craziness?

I guess I could line my whole house with newspaper and then just tear it off and throw it away…