Natural Homemade Living

I'm always amazed at kids toys and how expensive they can be, then you buy them and they end up playing with the box it came in-or it ends up in the bottom of a toy box soon after.  I have been making toys out of everyday items for quite a while now and these are a couple that seem to keep getting pulled out of the box and played with over and over. They were easy and cheap to make.  You can use plastic water bottles, soda bottles or something like it.  Then find all the little shiny, fluffy and interesting things you have in the junk drawer and put them in the bottle.  You will want to put some type of strong glue or hot glue around the inside of the cap to make sure it stays on and check it often to make sure it hasn't loosened.  These are good for infants, toddlers and even preschoolers. The little ones like to look at it, roll it and shake it, and for preschoolers it makes a fun "I Spy" game. I filled that bottle with rice, a rubberband, some little...

    Happy Mother's Day!  Here's a quick card idea for kids if you need one. I did this one with my daycare babies and toddlers yesterday. I just traced the infant's hands and cut and pasted. For the 2 year old, I traced his hand and he did the gluing, and put some bug stickers on his flower pot. I hope you have time to relax and enjoy your family this weekend! ~Simply Angie  

If you are looking for quick project to do with the kids to keep them entertained, homemade play dough is always a favorite at my house. They can help make it by mixing and kneading and picking what color they want to make it and then when it's done they can of course play with it.  For our batch we made red and yellow, then we could mix a little from both and also have... orange! (this was very exciting to a 2 year old!) This recipe makes quite a bit so if you only have one child you could half it. It will last quite awhile in an airtight container. I keep mine in the fridge. Here's what you need: 1cup flour  1/2 cup salt 1 cup water 1 tsp cream of tartar 1 Tbsp oil food coloring This can be cooked on the stove or in the microwave. Mix all ingredients in a pan or microwave safe bowl, if you are cooking on the stove, stir and cook until the ingredients leave the sides of the pan then remove it and let it cool. For cooking in the microwave, mix in a microwave s...

  If you have infants or toddlers, you know it can be a little tricky to make gifts, or craft projects that they can actually "do themselves". In my daycare, I have a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old. Here are a couple projects that they can pretty much make on their own..with a little supervision, of course. The first one is golf ball painting. I put a piece of construction paper into a box (you can cut it into a shape or leave it the size it is, you will want a box with high sides). Then add a little paint and a couple golf balls, you can also use marbles if you have them. Then have them tip and shake the box to roll the ball around to spread the paint on the paper.  When it's done, you have a cute gift or decoration that they made "all by themselves!"                                                                ...

We had a sleepover last weekend with our 5 year old grandson and our 9 year old granddaughter. It is our tradition to complete a craft project of their choice, so they decided to make a Valentine's Day gift for their parents. This project requires adult supervision (and lots of help) but there are parts of the project that the children can do alone. I let them choose all of their material, colors, and design their own project, and this is how they turned out - so cute and they were thrilled! Materials: 8x10 plain canvas quilt batting (optional) scrap material wooden letters paint glitter mod podge hot glue or fabric glue buttons, fabric flowers, or any decorations they choose I started the project by having them paint their letters while I stapled the batting and material (using a staple gun) onto the underside of the canvas. After the paint was dry, they painted a layer of mod podge over the letters and sprinkled glitter over them. While the letters were drying, we...

    If you are looking for a project to do with little ones, this is a great one for people of any age. Tammi started showing my kids how to make them years ago when my kids were little. They still like to make them. It's fun to look at them every year and see how much more creative they had gotten as they got older.  I bought these clear glass ornaments for under $2 for a set of 6. I put  a couple drops of acrylic paint inside (you can use other paint, that was just what I had). Then roll, shake and turn it until the paint is covering the inside of the ornament. This one was made by a 2 year old that I have in my daycare. After he was done rolling it around I put his name and year on it with a metallic marker, you could also use a Sharpie marker. Then I turned it upside down for a few hours to let the extra paint drip out and dry. If you don't want to use paint, you could also use glitter or pieces of tissue paper or anything small enough to fit in it. He ma...

It seems like whenever our mom comes to visit me, we "shop til we drop" literally-then we start projects! I saw these cute little figures and trees on sale when we were out shopping, (after all the hustle and bustle was pretty much over, Black Friday afternoon).  The glass jar was a thrift store find for $1, then I added fake snowflakes from Target, for $2. I used poster tack to stick the trees and people to the bottom of the jar so later I can take them out and use my jar for other things. The whole project cost about $8.  This would also be a fun project to do with the kids.   We also canned Spiced Cranberry Sauce and made a "No Sew Valance" from a bed skirt we found on clearance..more on those in a future post!   We hope you enjoyed time with your friends and family, and also had some quiet moments to just relax...or maybe work on some fun projects! Let us know what you are working on, we love hearing new ideas! ~Simply Angie

It was craft time at Nana's last weekend. My 9 year old granddaughter spent some time with me and she made a cupcake decoration. We had a house full of family, helping me with my Christmas tree, stringing lights around the deck, and making some new holiday decorations. Usually I decorate using red and green but this year I really wanted to change to a more shabby chic, vintage Christmas. You know what that means, lots of pink! How to make cupcake decoration : Styrofoam balls (use any size) I used the hard foam Mod podge Acrylic paint Epsom salts Glitter Cupcake wrapper Decoration for the cupcake top Start with the size ball that will fit in your cupcake wrapper. Paint the ball with your favorite color. Let it dry, it only takes 15 minutes. Brush a coat of mod podge over the ball but don't brush over the top. Sprinkle glitter over the mod podge, we used pink glitter. When this is dry, paint mod podge over the top and dip the top into Epso...

With kids being out of school, it won't be long (or maybe you've already heard) "I'm bored!" Here is a fun, easy project for all ages to get involved in making, playing or both...unless you're a teenager, they just won't admit they are having fun!  I know there are lots of recipes for clay and play dough, I think I have tried most of them. This is one of my favorites for clay. This is a super soft dough, easy to clean up, and little hands can squeeze and mold it. It will harden if you leave it out or it can be dried in the oven.  We just keep ours in a bag in the cupboard, or the fridge if it's warm. It will last a few weeks in an airtight bag or container. This recipe was adapted from argocornstarch.com. It makes about 2 pounds (about 6, small fist, sized balls) but can easily be halved. Here's what you need: 1 c cornstarch 2 c baking soda 1 1/4 c cold water 1 T oil  food coloring is optional In medium saucepan stir cornstarch and ...