Pompom Bunnies

I got inspiration for this cuddly Easter craft here.  There was, of course, a pin that led me to it.  Pinterest rocks!  Although our bunnies aren't quite like the others that inspired them, I think they are darling.  And my daughter is getting so good at crafting!  She made the white one.  Adorable, right? 

To begin this kid-friendly craft, you'll need to make two pompoms.  First you wrap a bunch of yarn around a piece of cardboard.  Just when you think you wrapped enough, wrap some more.  Trust me.  You don't want small, sad pompoms.  

Once you have wrapped a whole bunch of yarn around, slide another piece of yarn into the space and tie it off.  Then pull the whole bunch completely off the cardboard and snip the circle in half, being careful to avoid your tie-off yarn.  Now start snipping and trimming until you get a pompom you like.  Click here for more detailed instructions on making pompoms.

Once you have made two pompoms, one slightly larger, hot glue them together.  Next, cut out some felt ears and glue them into place.  Finish it off with some googly eyes and a felt or foam nose.  

Voila!  

These are great for the kids!  Of course there must be hot glue supervision, but the rest is no fuss!

Pompom Bunny

Supplies

• yarn
• small piece of cardboard
• felt for ears and nose
• googly eyes
• hot glue

Make pompoms according to instructions above.  (Alternatively, you may purchase pre-made pompoms.)  Glue the pompoms together.  Cut out ears and nose from felt.  Glue ears behind the smaller pompom then affix the eyes and nose.  

*I elected to exclude whiskers, but you could easily add those on with more yarn or fishing line.

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Monster Slime

Monster Slime.  Perfect for the ghoulish days to come!

My kids have been begging to make slime, particularly my son.  I was hesitant, however, because we still have slime on the ceiling from our last encounter with the ooey gooey mess-maker.  But, after a month-long (plus) ban, I decided to give it another try.  Besides, the homemade stuff isn't quite as goopy as its store-bought counterpart.

So I headed to Walmart for supplies while the kids were at school.  I came across a slime starter kit and it was on clearance.  My favorite!  It even had a recipe on the back.  This one was a little different than the slimes we have made in the past, but I figured it was worth a try.

The slime we made in the past called for glue, borax and water.  This one had glue, contact solution and baking soda.  When I looked at the contact solution ingredients, I saw that it contained boric acid, so I'm guessing that's a key component in slime-ification.

Did you know you can use a straw to blow bubbles in slime?  I hadn't thought of it, but apparently the kids are full of ideas. And it works quite well.  Go ahead, give it a try!

I will say that this one, made with the blue glitter glue (plus some extra blue glitter for good measure) worked the best.  The slimes made with clear glue and added food color and sprinkles seemed to seep water for some reason.

Below is the gold slime we made with clear glue, yellow food coloring and gold sparkles before it started to separate and get watery.

Slime Recipe

(from the back of the box)

Ingredients:

1 6-ounce bottle of glitter glue

1/2 tablespoon baking soda

1 1/4 tablespoons contact solution

Add baking soda to glue and mix thoroughly.  Add contact solution and stir until mixture gets firmer and slime begins to form.  

It's really easy, not to expensive and a lot of fun.  This is one of the easier and less messy slime recipes available, especially when you compare it to the cornstarch and water concoction my kids like to make.  That one I recommend for a warm summer day!

As a reminder, I'm taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge!  

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Minecraft Enderman Costume

My son always has a hard time picking out a Halloween costume.   Sometimes I just have to help him decide, but as he's gotten older he's been better able to figure it out.  My daughter, who was a pirate last year, is happy with a doctored up store-bought costume.  My son, however, really would rather make one for himself, which is fun if he decides with enough time to construct it.  From what I hear, my husband had a similar bent!

So last year, the day grew closer and no costume ideas were in sight.  I drove my daughter to the store to look for ideas and came back with a pirate outfit.  I think my son got nervous, but maybe it inspired him. Shortly after he landed on the idea of being an Enderman.  He showed me what an Enderman was, foreboding as that sounds, and I thought we could make it happen.

So I found a box and stapled a helmet from a previous Halloween costume into to the top of the inside of the box.  I cut out a strip of cardboard for his eyes and told him to paint it black.  At the dollar store we got glow sticks and put them on just in time for trick-or-treating.  For the rest of his outfit he simply wore all black.

For his treats, he covered and old trick-or-treat bucket with construction paper in the design of TNT.  You Minecraft fans will know what I'm talking about.

So there you have it.  A simple, mostly kid-made Minecraft costume that won't break the bank.  When it comes to costumes, store-bought isn't the only option!

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