Tuesday, 12 May 2015 by Irene Hoofs

DIY Skittles by Emma of Showpony
In the West Coast of Scotland we get way more than our fair share of rainy days, so I like to think of ways to bring outdoor games inside. Rather than recycle our juice bottles like a normal family, we’ve been stashing ours for a few weeks so that we could make a set of indoor skittles.
What you'll need:
* 6 empty, and clean plastic bottles.
* White acrylic paint
* White poster paint – or ordinary children’s paint
* Coloured paper
* Scissors
* Paint brush
* PVA Glue
* A blob of old mixed up play dough

Step1: To paint the bottles white you will need to use acrylic paint first – this sticks to the plastic and can then be painted over with cheaper white paint. To make it easier for little people to paint the bottles and (hopefully) minimise the amount of paint that gets splattered around the place, we secured the bottles to the table with a blob of old play dough.

Step2: Once the bottles have had a couple of coats of paint its time to decorate. Cut out shapes from your coloured papers, we made rectangles, circles and triangles. If your little ones are helping keep the shapes fairly large so it isn’t too fiddly for them.


Step3: Then using the PVA glue stick them on, brushing a layer of PVA over the whole bottle once you’re finished to keep them well and truly stuck.

Step4: Once they are dry, just pop the lids on.
The skittles are really light so will easily be knocked over with a nice soft ball. All you need to do now is set them up and start playing.


I hope these help pass a rainy day in your house. - Emma
Craft contributed by the lovely Emma of Showpony!
Friday, 27 March 2015 by Irene Hoofs

DIY Marbled Easter cards by Emma of Showpony
Easter cards made from your child’s unique artwork will make a lovely gift for any relatives that you might not be able to visit over the holidays. The other bonus is that you might finally find another home for some of the growing piles of priceless artworks created by your talented off spring. There’s only so much you can put on the fridge and the recycling bin is overflowing!
To create these Easter Cards, Download Easter Card Template and print onto the thickest Card your printer will take.
What you'll need:
* Some painted paper, an 8cm x 10cm piece will be enough
* A blank piece of card 11cm x 11cm
* Craft knife
* Metal ruler
* Tape
* Cutting mat.


Step1: Firstly score your fold mark onto your printed card. Then cut out the card rectangle using the printed cutting marks. To make life easier don’t cut right to the edges if you do this you’ll chop your guide marks (see the image below) Also cut out the egg shape leaving an egg-shaped hole.

Step2: All you need to do now is stick your painted paper behind the hole and stick the blank card piece over the top to keep everything neat and tidy.

Step3: Bravo! Gorgeous quick and easy handmade cards the whole family can feel proud of. - Emma

Craft contributed by: Emma of Showpony
Tuesday, 10 February 2015 by Irene Hoofs

DIY Valentine's glitter hearts by Emma of Showpony
This is a really simple little valentine’s gift that is definitely easy enough for you to do with your kiddo, and quick enough that even young ones won’t get distracted.

What you'll need:
For the salt dough:
* Half a cup of water
* 1 cup of flour
* 1 cup of salt
Other supplies:
* Glitter (we used chunky glitter but fine stuff would work just as well.)
* Heart shaped cookie cutters
* Badge backs or magnets
* Paintbrushes
* Glue
* Twine

Step1:
Make the salt dough. Just dump all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix it up with your hands.


Step2:
Then add in your chosen glitter, we just kept sprinkling it in and mixing it up until it looked like enough.

Step3:
Then onto a clean surface roll out your dough to about ½ cm thick and using your cookie cutters stamp out your shapes and place onto a baking tray.
If you didn’t have heart shaped cutters I’m sure you could freehand this easily enough.
If you want to string them with twine don’t forget to make a little hole in the heart before you bake them.


Step4:
Then bake your salt dough hearts at around 110°C/225°F/Gas Mark ¼ for 2-3 hours or until they are hard and completely dry. You can air dry them but it takes around 48 hours.
Once dry you can glue on a badge backing or magnet or string through your twine.
Ready to hang as decorations or give away for Valentines Day. - Emma of Showpony

Craft contributed by: Emma of Showpony
Tuesday, 28 October 2014 by Irene Hoofs

DIY Halloween decorations by Emma of Showpony
I love Halloween and I’m really excited that my son who’s nearly three is just about old enough to get excited about it too. So to help him get in the mood for all things spooky I wanted to spend some time making decorations with him. These are really simple and perfect for a toddler to get involved with.

What you'll need:
* Polystyrene balls - I used 4 cm balls
* Black and orange paint
* Black pipe cleaners
* Black cardstock
* White paper
* String or cord
* Paintbrushes
* Scissors
* Black pen
* Glue
* Darning needle/ thin knitting needle

Step1: Paint your polystyrene balls. Paint some black for bats and spiders, some orange for pumpkins and leave a handful white for your ghosts.
Step2: For the spiders: Cut two pipe cleaners in half and half again making the eight legs, push them into the sides of a black ball and bend into shape. Cut out eye shapes from your white paper, draw in the pupils and stick in place.

Step3: Make the bats: Fold a piece of black card in half and draw on one wing shape, Cut this out and push or punch two small holes in the fold. Using a small piece of pipe cleaner attach the wings to the back of a black ball. In the same way as before stick the eyes in place.
Step4: To make the pumpkins: Use your black pen to draw on some pumpkin markings, add your eyes and push a small piece of pipe cleaner into the top to make a little stalk.

Step5: For the ghosts: Cut a strip of white paper long enough to wrap around a white ball. Cut a wavy shape into the bottom of the paper and stick around your polystyrene ball. Cut large black eyes from the black card and stick to your ghost.
Step 6: Using a thin knitting needle or long darning needle push holes through the centre of the polystyrene decorations. Thread a large darning needle with your string and push through the holes. Tie knots in the string to stop the decorations from slipping down and carry on adding as many decorations as you like.

Craft contributed by: Emma of Showpony (our lovely new craft contributor!)