Yes or No? A box with answers

I did say I'd do something for the boys from The Big Ideas Book, but it's not just for them - making these little boxes is fun for anyone really.

The reason for the 'boy' tag is they're very, very quick. I don't know about you but that's certainly music to my ears when I'm doing anything crafty with mine. My boys are often keen, always impatient, and have the attention span of a gnat. So the faster they can see results the better! Yes-No boxes are perfect because they're pretty much instant. This is all you'll need - empty matchboxes and a pen or pencil.

Slide out a tray and draw a two-way face on both sides (there are two trays here to show this). Slide it back.

The kids decorated their boxes too, drawing on sticky address labels, but skip the colouring-in bit if you want.  Then the idea is to whisper a secret question needing a 'yes' or 'no' answer into your box..

..shut it, toss the box in the air and pick it up as it's fallen. Open slowly halfway, and the face gives you the answer.

There were squeals of delight and howls of despair - so much fun watching them.

I heard whispers of goals, Arsenal, Disneyland and daddy, the Red Arrows? and something about an iPad (I don't think so..)

and someone obviously thinks they're getting sparkly shoes for christmas..

Linking up with For the Kids Friday

Going Batty

I thought we'd give our Owl and the Pussycat tube creations a spooky, Halloween twist. Very easy as it turns out, because they're a perfect shape for bats with those pointy little ears. So, time to gather up more toilet rolls...never imagined I'd be this happy to run out of loo paper...

They're made in exactly the same way as the owls and cats - gluing the top of the tube shut by brushing a good layer of craft glue inside the tube end, and using paper clips to hold it in place while the glue dries.

But this time paint them black, and when dry, cut a curve into the glued end and trim a few cms (1in) off the bottom (squeeze the sides together near the bottom and cut across the tube).

Draw and cut out eyes and fangs - I went for evil, grinning, vampire bats, but up to you how scary you want them to be!

I made half a bat wing using card, then folded some coloured paper, put the template on the crease and drew around it, before cutting and opening out the wings. Glue everything in place.

Next - time to get these bats up, and flying about.

Now due to the run on toilet rolls, we were just short for a bat-only mobile - so we made some ghosts to join them. They are very quick and easy. Cut a cup out of an egg box, brush glue all over the outside of the cup and stick the flat base in the middle of some white tissue paper (fold it double so it's not too thin). Hold it down with a loose elastic band while the glue's drying. Draw a haunted, ghostly face on one side. Cut the bottom in rough zig-zags, to make it look like a raggedy old sheet.

The mobile is just two wire coat hangers bound together at the top and bottom with some thin, pliable wire (or you could use string). I removed the top part of one hanger with wire cutters. Then cover it all with stretchy, creepy cobwebs and spiders - great stuff and easy to pick up in the supermarket around Halloween. I used some transparent thread to hang them up, but ordinary is fine too. Thread a needle and make a hole through the top of the ghosts, attach the thread underneath with sticky tape. Make a hole between the bat's ears with a threaded needle and tie a knot.

The Gallery - Old

The school run, 70's style - when it was apparently quite normal to put your baby in a carrycot in the back, and have the kids climbing all over the seats. Seems strange now even thinking about no belts and no car seats - and not just from a safety point of view - you wouldn't be able to pin them down at all. Mine would never sit still if they weren't belted in. Long journeys must have been torture.

I'm the one wearing glasses. The one who looks like Velma from Scooby-Doo.

It's been fun flicking through my ageing album for this week's theme. I'm so glad my mum took the time to put it together - lovely to have a collection of old photos that spark countless memories.

I've been trying to do the same for my kids, so they each have a book. Needless to say I'm already behind. The eldest has done ok. He has two albums - one is full of baby photos and only goes up to when he was 6 months old! Easy to be snap happy with your first. They trail off after that.

The albums have been neglected, but I'm going to put them back on my to-do list, because I know it'll be worth it. The kids mightn't be all that bothered now, but they will be one day, when they're crinkly and a touch sentimental like me.

The Gallery theme this week is Old

Day 339 - A wise idea?

My very lovely, talented sister kindly offered to sell some homemade things for me at a few London craft fairs she was doing in the run up to christmas last year. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to build up a flock of small, knitted birds. They turned out ok, but in my head these tiny birds were going to be simple and quick to make.  They really weren't. They were a bit faffy and took ages. Definitely not a money-spinner.

This time I wanted to try something bigger and less knitty, that wouldn't take so long. Would owls be wise?  Now I know this isn't a novel idea by any stretch - they're everywhere at the moment, but I love that simple retro owl shape, and thought I'd give it a whirl anyway. One of the things that got me thinking along the owl line was this fantastic old flowery sheet I picked up in a charity shop for a few pounds. Must be enough here for a whole colony.

I've made small, medium and large ones and they're all around the kitchen, watching..

They're stuffed with the filling from cushions bought at a car boot, so almost completely created out of recycled bits. And for some owl variety I found these other vintage prints at a fantastic place in Hereford selling secondhand/salvaged material and haberdashery.

The wings on the bigger owls are knitted, and I stuck on bits left over from the good old mouse/mitt cashmere socks for the small ones. A friend suggested these little fellas could be used as pin cushions - maybe this would be fun too?

and there's more owly nonsense.....they are the cashmere socks that keep on giving...

I'm linking up with Lakota's 'Ta-dah!' Tuesday

The Owl and the Pussycat #kidscrafts

Mr Maker would be proud of my kitchen at the moment - it's crazy craft central here, thanks to The Big Ideas Book. I picked up this 70's classic by Susan Stranks in a charity shop - and happily, age hasn't dulled its creative sparkle. I'm very much hoping our crafty wave of enthusiasm will carry us through to Christmas, because there are some great pressie ideas.

Anyway I mentioned I'd make some things from the book, so this is the first of what I hope will be a regular slot...

We decided to try paper roll animals first. Susan Stranks (one of the original Magpie presenters) makes her own paper rolls - rolling and glueing coloured paper - but for a stronger, longer lasting one, we used cardboard toilet paper rolls. The only bit of forward planning needed, is to glue the top end of the tube closed - use paper clips, and make sure the glue goes about a cm or two down the tube, because you'll be cutting into it.

Next, painting time, chose any colours you want - the tubes don't need to be painted right down to the bottom as this bit is going to be cut off. It also means the kids are less likely to paint their hands and half way up their arms....I was a little late with this tip for my makers...

With a pencil, mark a shallow curve at the glued end of the tube and cut it out - also take about 2cm off the bottom. This should neaten it up.

For the owl, from coloured paper, cut out circles for eyes (draw round a coin), pointy beaks (cut out a triangle on a paper fold so you end up with a diamond shape), wings and claws (longer than you want them to be so you can glue the extra bit inside the tube).

For the cat, petal shaped eyes (again draw half a petal shape on a paper fold and open it out) and a curly tail. Use coloured paper or painted plain paper.

The rabbit instructions are here.

The kids decorated the wings and eyes with a black felt tip pen, before sticking them on. 

..and cut out a little fish for the cats.

Simple to make and they turned out really well.

Next week - 'Something for the boys'

The Gallery - Yellow

This is me in the mid 70's doing a pretty good impression of a lemon. The canary yellow trousers were my favourites - I remember they had an embroidered sunrise on the back pockets, and I didn't want to let them go, as you can probably tell from the high flare and strain around my middle...

It makes me laugh I was so coordinated - none of that's stayed with me!  Even a yellow clip - from memory it was the shape of a pencil. Funny how things come flooding back when you take the time to look.

I showed this photo to my 5 year old, and once I'd managed to convince her it was me (quite a leap for kids sometimes..) she said, 'You're all yellow mummy'.  Indeed.

There's no way she'd wear yellow trousers. 

The Gallery theme this week is Yellow

Day 331 - You couldn't make it up

I had a very interesting chat with another mum during ballet. She was asking how I was doing with my husband still away - I said things were ok but I was feeling it more this term, and she said that was completely understandable seeing as I was pregnant....

WHAT? 

I had a frozen moment as I tried desperately to get over the surprise, and think of what to say.
And that pause, right there, was the ONLY pregnant thing going on.
Apart from me being ancient, my husband hasn't exactly been around much.

I also knew there was little chance of the mum or me getting through this conversation without a pink glow of embarrassment.  Did she think I looked pregnant? Admittedly I've probably put on weight. Or was there some kind of mad rumour going around?

"Noooooooo, I'm definitely not pregnant! Just eating too much..!"

"OH no! It's not that, it's just your daughter told mine you were having a baby..."

And there you have it. My darling 5 year old had made up this whopper about me being pregnant. She'd even told her friend I was having a girl. A case of make-believe in the playground getting way out of hand...

And then I was wondering who else had heard? You know what the school gate's like - a breeding ground for gossip. It's like the worst kind of chinese whispers down there.  Last term my 7 year old came back from school with a 'sorry you're leaving' card from his best friend. He wasn't going anywhere.

Of course my daughter hadn't really got a clue what she'd done. Quite hard to handle, because it didn't seem right to get very cross with her.
She was upset when we had a talk, and kept saying it was just a pretend game. I know she can get carried away with her stories, and had obviously been a bit too convincing. I'm all for having an active imagination, as long as it doesn't run completely wild.

Once we'd all got over the shock, I did feel relieved the mum had mentioned it and we'd cleared it up quickly. Imagine if she hadn't said anything, and gone on believing...

I'm sure this will make my daughter think twice before she starts spinning another tale. And if I cast my mind back, I know I wasn't adverse to making up the odd story or two - though can't remember any backfiring in such spectacular fashion!

Day 328 - Dear Tooth Fairy....

Good try, note boy...think he was angling for some special treatment, but the Tooth Fairy isn't so easily swayed...

I did smile though, when I found it lying outside my seven year old's room. Not smiling so much when I had to search for his tooth. Usually it goes in a TF-friendly little box, but this time he'd insisted on putting it under his pillow. Thankfully he didn't stir as I felt around on the sheet.

I found some lego, 2p and an elastic band.

And just as I was starting to get a little desperate, my hand brushed over the small, sharp tooth.

I added it to my growing collection in a dark cupboard corner, and then wrote a teeny tiny card in my best teeny tiny writing, wishing my husband was home, because he has the smallest handwriting known to man.

Always an early start the morning after the Tooth Fairy visits.
He galloped into my room, waving the pound and the card in the air, 'LOOK Mummy, LOOOOK!'

I love that joyful burst of pure excitement when they still believe. And I want to remember this one, because I know my note days are numbered.