Check out this awesome piece of personalized artwork from Sticks and Stones. Visit their site and choose from the library of letters to spell out a word or name and they'll mail you a matted and framed keepsake - a one of a kind gift for sure! (Fun Fact: All the photos were taken by the company's founders and their three young daughters when they started an ongoing project to find letters in nature and architecture.) So cool!
If you haven't yet discovered Kids Craft Weekly, then it's time. Amber Carvan, Australian mom of 2, offers up really accessible, adorable, and kid-friendly craft ideas. You can sign up for her themed newsletters that will give you fantastic ideas for rainy day crafts, birthday party crafts, and educational crafts.
The most recent edition is about flowers—you can get complete instructions for these precious blooms and step by step photo-illustrations on her site. Kids Craft Weekly is the perfect remedy for the "I'm bored" weekend mantra!
If you are really into scrapbooking and crafting, you'll know that rubber stamps can cost a ton of cash if you are of the type that needs variety. Here are a few super-easy techniques to M.Y.O.S (yes, I have officially coined this term).
Got a collection of great cookie cutters? Sew-Mad came up with this great way to make stamps from a cookie cutter, craft foam, and a piece of scrap wood. Check out her site for the great tutorial (and look at the precious craft she created with this bunny stamp). Thanks to Whip Up for the link.
Kids Craft Weekly uses this classic technique with sponges to make a stamp. I love how she glues the sponge to a jar (yes, we'll all about reusing) as the "handle".
CraftChi went for the all- in-one and carved a shape from a wine cork (parents, this one is strictly for you). I love the simplicity of the designs.
Are you a stamp-master that thinks beyond the potato? We'd love to hear your cool ways to M.Y.O.S.
One of my favorite blogs, Bloesom Kids posted about these sweet collages by Lorena Siminovich at PetitCollage. They are created in a limited edition of 50, yet no two are ever alike. She uses found, recycled and vintage papers in her work--you may find Japanese architectural drawings from the fifties next to a sliver of a school map from Costa Rica.
Yes, they are a bit pricey at $140 a pop, but if you enter promo code "springspring" at the checkout, you will receive $20 off. (According to Bloesom Kids, this expires on April 18th, so act fast!) And if you don't want to shell out the dough, perhaps they will inspire a little craft project of your own.
We went to visit good friends last weekend, and when we got home, we realized—to our horror—that we'd left behind my daughter Jane's beloved "changey markers." These Alex Color Changers aren't a new product, but they still amaze me. Each set comes with two colorless "magic wands." When you use them to color over what you've drawn with a different marker, the color changes—from blue to yellow or black to pink or green to brown. I don't know how they do it, but these markers are one of the very few things that will entertain both my 3-year-old and my 14-year-old. Thankfully, we got our set back.
In the 50 years since the Crayola 64 Box was first introduced in 1958, 200 million 64 boxes have been sold. Fun Fact: The 12.8 billion crayons inside would circle the earth 24 times! To commemorate this milestone, Crayola decided to revamp the classic so that it better reflects the color preferences of kids today. Eight new "Kids' Choice Colors" for 2008 were chosen by kids across the country in an online survey and will be sold in the limited edition 50th Birthday box. Check out the cool new colors and their meaning:
famous American Idol and shows like it inspired this hue, as kids believe they can become celebrities just like everyday people who become stars
bear hug a hue of harmony, as kids want their homes to feel warm and loving just like a great big bear hug
super happy kids don't want to worry, they just want to be happy - "super happy" - as their color says and they wish the same for others too
best friends this shade of purple reveals who kids' real BFFs are - their parents - and spending time with them is what they enjoy most
fun in the sun riding bikes, playing soccer, skateboarding, and gymnastics - kids said this color means exercise and keeping fit are important... and fun!
giving tree it's a colorful truth that kids are thinking green too and want to play a part in protecting the Earth
awesome means kids think school is cool and getting good grades feels awesome
happy ever after kids want to make a difference and create Cinderella moments for others, so everyone's story has a happy ending
What do you think of these Kid's Choice Colors? Do you have a favorite classic Crayola color? Final Fun Fact: Americans love blue! Out of all of Crayola's 120 shades, blue is the #1 ranked color. (Cerulean, midnight blue, periwinkle, aquamarine, denim and cornflower all made the top 10.)
The "rule" of pink is for girls, blue is for boys has always been a bit of a phenomenon to me. Beginning with nursery decor and birth announcement color palates, it seems we direct our children into loving and collecting these gender-defined hues. Or is there a biological preference for color, as outlined in this study by Newcastle University?
Starting with her 5-year old daughter Seowoo, South Korean artist JeongMee Yoon conducted a documentary-esque study of children and their possessions. She orderly arranged their belongings, from clothing to pencils to books, in their bedrooms. The resulting photographs are astounding; not just for their color wheel consistencies, but for the magnitude of stuff.
What do you think? Do your girls naturally heart pink, or do your boys buck for blue? Or could there be a biological color preference as outlined in the Newcastle University study?
JeongMee Yoon's work is on view at the Jenkins Johnson Gallery in New York City through April 26th.
I'm obsessed with these funny handmade prints from Etsy artist johnwgolden. His "By Order of the Management" series is a like greatest-hits collection of classic parenthood sayings. And not only are they witty and cool, they might actually help your kid to remember to play nice, share his toys, or eat his veggies. That's smart art.
Here's yet another cute new take on wearing your kid's artwork. I think these Doodle Tags are especially nice--they're whimsical and fun but still pretty chic. Bonus: They throw in a custom rubber stamp of the design to use on stationery, thank you cards, etc.
via craftzine
Let's face facts: Kids like things that smell. And they like things that smell yummy even more. Which explains why scratch 'n' sniff stickers, Mr.Sketch smelly markers, and Strawberry Shortcake (remember her sweet scented hair?) were wildly popular in the 80's. Luckily, today's generation of kids has something smelly to call their own. Rainbow Colored Smencils are made from 100% recycled newspaper and each has it's own delicious smell (orange, cherry, bubble gum, peppermint, fruit punch, watermelon, grape, pineapple, root beer, and cinnamon). Take a whiff for yourself at Delight.com.
