Cute and Simple Easter gifts and crafts!

Here are some super simple, inexpensive, and cute Easter crafts or gifts for the kids!

1. Wax crayon eggs

Draw an egg shape on wax paper and fill with shavings of used crayons. Place a piece of wax paper on top and then sandwich the wax papers between some cardstock and then lay a towel on top. Iron on high for a few seconds until crayons are melted. Cut out the egg shape, punch a hole and add yarn or ribbon. 

My little guy had fun with this!

2. Egg shaker people

Place some rice or beans in a plastic egg and glue it closed. Draw a funny face with permanent markers. 

3.  Pipe cleaner bracelets

String pony beads on a pipe cleaner and then string the excess sides back into the beads to form a circle. 

4. Stick puppets

Use whatever you have on hand to decorate animal faces on felt circles. Cut a circle out of thin cardboard for the middle and glue the felt on both sides with the stick tucked inside. 

Handmade games

I have been searching for some fun activities for toddlers that can be done independently. 

The first idea I liked was using a tube as a drop for Pom poms. I originally taped it to a door but Amilia kept pulling it off. That is when I came up with this 

The tube was reinforced with duct tape and taped to the inside of the can. She enjoys repeating the simple cause and effect of this game.

I wanted something she could do with her hands that wouldn't be messy, so I found this idea on Pinterest. 

The paint is inside the bag. I sealed the top so it can't be opened and then you can draw on it and the paint moves around.  I made a few in other colors. This keeps the kids occupied while I cook dinner. 

This is a reading game I made up called "Middle Sound Mixup". I wrote each vowel on a separate clothes pin and made several CVC word sticks by writing an initial and and final consonant with a space in between for the vowel clip. The game is played by clipping a different vowel clip in between each set of consonants and reading the word and deciding if it is a real word or a nonsense word. So out of c and b you can make cab, cob, cub, and nonsense words ceb and cib.  This game could be modified for initial sounds with word families. 

I poked holes in the lids of these containers. One is for pushing little pom poms and the other for small pieces of pipe cleaners. 

These are discovery bottles I made to give to the nursery kids at church. I hot glued the lids on so nothing spills. You can put anything inside the water like glitter, beads, shells and add a few drops of food coloring to tint the water. 

With a little creativity and resourcefulness, you can make fun and educational activities using things on hand or recycled materials!

Valentine Crafts!

We have been busy getting ready for the big heart day! Valentine's Day is such a fun celebration for kids and my Austin was very excited to make his own Valentine holder to take to school next week. 

This is a Valentine ladybug. We limited our creations to what we already had on hand at home. 

We made these cute matchbook style Valentine sticker books. I wanted to go candy free this year, so I bought some Mickey Valentine stickers that we placed inside with three sheets of white paper.

  Instructions: cut paper 3"x10.5" and score at 4.5 and 9.5. I designed the front logo on Photoshop. The white paper behind the sticker sheet is 2.5"x4.25"

I made some cute heart wall hangings for teacher gifts this year. I cut a whimsical heart from a thin cardboard box and Decoupaged patterned paper over it. I sprinkled glitter all over and made a border with glitter glue. I hot glued a button that was finished with thin ribbon and thick ribbon on the back for hanging. 

I thought they turned out adorable! I was excited to use this coral colored chevron ribbon that I bought on sale a few months ago from Stampin Up!

Whatever you do this Valentine's Day, I hope you are filled with love and happiness! 

Handmade Gifts

I meant to put this post out before the holidays but then it would have been a spoiler for all my family members that read my blog!  So I'm posting them now so anyone can use them as inspiration for birthday or other gift occasions in the new year!

1.  Lip Balm
These were the biggest hits!  I made 50 tubes of lip balm in just about an hour.  I learned how to make these through a friend who hosted a class with a DoTerra Essential Oil representative.  The recipe is simple: 1 tsp bees wax pellets (Hansi organics off Amazon), 1 tsp shea butter (you can also use cocoa butter), 1 tsp coconut oil, 3-5 drops essential oil.  You can also add a little Vitamin E oil.  The woman showed us how to use the silicone cupcake liners as double boilers.  Melt everything together (add the essential oil toward the end) and then pour into containers.    

 I made lavender and peppermint lip balms and labeled them with the ingredients and gifted some of them in these little mesh drawstring bags.  The biggest expense is the container.  I got mine for a fair price at Amazon (about 22 cents per tube).  However, now that I know I can do this process successfully and I am now in LOVE with the lip balm, I can buy 100 tubes at a time for a better price.  I barely put a dent in the other materials.  I estimate the cost per balm to be about 50-60 cents.

2.  Rainbow Hand Kites
This was an idea found on pinterest.  I gave these to my kids for Christmas and they loved them!  I bought the ribbon at Dollar Tree and there was enough ribbon for 6 kites.  The wood rings are 3 inches in diameter and the best deal I found was at www.craftamerica.com   After measuring each color and tying them in rainbow order, I hot glued the knots to the ribbon and to the wood.  I sealed the ribbon edges with a lighter. These cost $2 each to make and took about 15 minutes each.

3.  Stamped Fabric Gifts
Stampin' Up stamps can be used with fabric paint and will wash off easily.  I used my stamps to make a shirt and some dish towels.  These take less than 5 minutes to make each one.

For this shirt, I stamped the flower in the center, then used the eraser end of a pencil to do the beads.  I outlined the flower with white and silver puffy paint.  Once the glitter puffy paint dries, it looks really pretty.

These are Aunt Martha's flour sack towels from Amazon.  I could have found less expensive ones, but theses were the perfect size and texture I wanted so I didn't mind paying a little more.  I used a ruler to line and space the stamps evenly at the bottom of the dish towel.  I stamped the kids' hands to make the trees then decorated them with puffy paint and painted the trunks.  The possiblities for this project are endless!  Different stamps or handprint designs can make a great gift for any occasion.

4.  Wooden Puzzles

I bought wooden puzzles at Hobby Lobby and had my son draw his own design and paint them himself.  He gave one to his sister and one to my nephew.  

5.  Salt Dough Ornaments
There are several variations of this recipe on Pinterest.  Many of them post equal parts salt, flour, and water. However, my dough was too wet, so I started with 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour and gradually added water starting with 1/4 cup until I got the dough consistency I wanted.  Roll them out into whatever shapes you want.  Use a straw to make a ribbon hole for ornaments.  You could also cut them into squares to make coasters or shape them into whatever you want.  Bake them at 200 degrees for 2 hours, turn them over halfway through.  I made these at school with my students and my son made the ones pictured below.

Repurposing with Duct Tape!

Don't you love the cute duct tape designs they have now?  There are several designs at Michael's and using a 40% off coupon can get you a great price.  Duct tape is so fast and easy to work with and can enhance any container!

Here are a few things I have done with duct tape:

1.  Repurposing a Clorox/Lysol wipe container:  You can store plastic grocery bags in your pantry or car.  I use one by my sink to store used Bounce dryer sheets.  I use the dryer sheets to scour my dirty dishes and clean sinks and counter tops.

2.  Decorate an upcycled can:  A stripe of duct tape with some ribbon or raffia tied around it can be a cute gift container for cookies or punch holes in the sides and add wire to make a little bucket.

More ideas to come!  Keep checking vivamomvegas or subscribe for notifications!

Repurposing formula containers

What to do with those empty formula tubs?

I have several tubs of Enfamil that I couldn't bring myself to toss or recycle.  I saw an idea on Pinterest to cover with paper or fabric but then I saw my son's orange duct tape and it came to me!  You can use any color or design of duct tape to easily wrap around the tubs then decorate with stickers or labels of some sort.  These are going to go in my son's room to hold art supplies, little toys, etc but you could fill them with candies, cookies, or other goodies to give as gifts.

Handmade Valentine Crafts!

Make your own Coloring Kits!!

These are the coloring kits I made for my students.  They turned out so cute! Instructions to make:

cut 8 1/2"X4 1/2" for the folder, score at 4" and 4 1/2" and fold

cut 4"X5 1/2" for the crayon holder, score at 1 1/2", 2", 3 1/2", 4" fold to make a box and glue it

cut 1 1/2"X4" for the strap score at 1 3/4", 2 1/4", 3 1/2"

draw a small pencil notch on both sides of the inside of the folder 1 1/2" from bottom so when you glue the crayon box to the inside left and the strap to the outside they will line up

I recommend sticky strip for the box since it will bear the weight of the crayons.

Line up the folds of the tab to the folder then fold the last flap in and glue it so it creates a studier pull tab for the velcro closure.

Finish the project by cutting 1 1/2"X4 1/2" patterned paper to decorate the front and back cover and add any other embellishments you'd like.  Slide your little package of crayons in the box and attach several 3X4" sheets of white copy paper by a paper clip or binder clip.  

Make your own heart finger puppet!

This idea came from Disney Family Fun magazine!  My son made these adorable heart finger puppets for all his classmates.  I traced the heart shapes for him and he was able to cut them out, punch the circles, decorate the faces, and signed the back with his name and a Valentine stamp.