projects

Christmas Activity Planning Freebie!

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Don’t fear friends! I’m still working on my Ultimate Christmas Planner – 2021 edition! For now – here’s another freebie: Christmas Activity Planner !

Photo by Maria Orlova on Pexels.com

I find this portion very exciting because I’m looking forward to visiting some reindeer or maybe listening to some live Christmas music with my family. I feel like we don’t do this part of Christmas often enough – because we are always rushing around shopping and don’t plan for it particularly well.

Building this planner has given me hope that this might be our BEST Christmas ever!

If you have any ideas or ways to improve these worksheets – please email me at marj.sanpietro@gmail.com.

-Marjorie

Christmas 2021?!

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

I had a great Christmas this year! But…like always, we left many things till the absolute last minute! I had a terrible migraine Christmas Eve so Dave was left with a lot of last minute magic to make happen. We weren’t even finished with the wrapping…*head desk*

Here comes the awesome plan!

A customized Christmas planner/to-do list ready in time to use for next year! Be on the lookout for a .pdf to purchase in June! Along the way – I’ll be sharing tips and tricks to kick start your holiday and keep in high gear!

This planner will be for a kid-friendly, family oriented Christmas with light entertaining. We aren’t cooking for 50 people. God bless you if you do that.

I’ll be using the planner and creating a Facebook group for everyone to share about their experiences too!

Some of the topics it will cover:

-cleaning and meal planning

-grocery shopping

– cooking and baking

-favorite recipes

-holiday cards

-letters to and from Santa

– gift shopping and wrapping

-family activities, gatherings and crafting

– decorating

-fresh vs. fake tree

– advent calendars/elf on the shelf

If you are anything like me – you have a million plans but you get overwhelmed.

My first step is going to be making priorities. What about Christmas matters most to me? Those are the things I am going to focus on next year.

I hope you had a beautiful holiday! *hugs*

-Marjorie

When is it Art and When is it just Mess: An Exploration.

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

During these last few weeks, I have been working on quite a few projects. I had a yard sale and THOUGHT I needed something else to keep me busy. So I started working on a desk and chair set I found on the side of the road.

I started out painting the wood parts white with plans to use blue metal enamel that I had purchased for another project. The white paint didn’t really speak to my soul – so I started decoupaging the chair with ripped pieces of dictionary pages (one of my favorite materials). I broke out the enamel to do the metal and just sort of said huh…I wonder what that would look like on the paper.

My husband called on his way home from picking up auction purchases – another new hobby of ours…and I told him I was either making art or a mess. That’s how I still feel about it. So what’s the difference? And how far is too far? Comment below to let me know.

Sometimes you make a mess when you’re creating a piece. That doesn’t mean the completed work you make is a mess. I’ve been making little signs out of pieces of wood. The wood almost looks like the back of stamps, but they stand up well. I was trying to stencil a tiny pineapple on a couple of tiny pieces. I went through 8 pieces to get ONE perfect pineapple – I still need to get another one but I’m a little worried about going through 8 more!

My point in telling both of those stories is to remind myself and maybe you that creativity is a process and not everything we make is going to be perfect and may take a couple of tries. We should keep trying if we have that creative spark. I know that I have to feed mine.

*Amazing* Cat Tower for $38

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

We bought an amazing shelf for $15 and turned it into “Catopia” for our three kitties. We bought 8 pieces of scratchboard, 3 pieces of carpet remnants, 7 dust mop heads, a brush head for a broom, and a mop head from the Dollar Tree. I used E6000 glue for this project and I went through 1 large tube at $3. In total – $38 for an amazing sturdy piece of cat furniture.

Tools:

Protractor

Jigsaw

Staple gun

Rotary tool

Serrated knife

I started by gluing the scratchboard pieces with E6000 to the long side of the shelf. I reccomend doing this a piece at a time, letting it dry several minutes between each piece (if you make a Catopia someday). After it dried, I trimmed the extra off with a serrated knife.

Then I used the protractor to draw circles on the shelves – this part was easy! I used a Sharpie to darken the lines and then my husband and I used the dremel to make holes for the jigsaw to start in. He cut out the holes for me with the jigsaw. This was challenging because of the lack of space near the walls of the shelf.

Together we figured out where to put the other features. The glue was not holding the mophead, so I undid the yarn from that. We used a staple gun to attach it to the bottom of a shelf where it hangs down.

I used the staple gun to affix the carpet pieces. I love the paw prints in the front and the cute mini Hello mat at the bottom! My kitties literally had a welcome mat put out for them.

I sprayed it with catnip spray and baited it with treats. We are also putting them in it and petting them to let them know it’s ok to be in.

The best gifts are free…

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Dear Readers,

I recently posted about father’s day gifts that you could make inexpensively. My son did even better and made his gift for free. Except that it was priceless.

I offered the options on the list to both kids and my youngest chose the mug (which turned out beautiful). When I give the boys choices, I try to leave room for their own ideas. Sometimes it’s hard because I get excited too and have visions of how things should look.

Anyhow, my oldest said that he’d like to make a video for his Dad. We worked on it in two sessions. I had him practice what he’d like to say and then I jotted it down for him so he’d have notes. We used WeVideo to record him and used it in clips to break up the pictures. We also recorded it as audio only for mixing purposes.

With WeVideo we were able to intermix video, pictures and a sound track to make about a minute and a half worth of footage. He loved how we put everything together and had a great time picking music, pictures, and transitions. I really reccomend this tool because even the free version was amazing!

It was fun to make it with him because he was very engaged! It was truly special to see how much my husband enjoyed it! 💜💜💜💜💜

Marj💜

Comment below with a favorite gift you’ve given or received!

Making Large Paper Mache Dinosaurs – pt 3

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Progress goes slowly on the dinosaur. I’ve lost my helpers to Minecraft Dungeons…and the mastermind is not in love with the craft of paper mache. He does not love the glue on his hands.

Mr. Stegosaurus now has firmly attached feet. I ran strips lengthwise from the bottom of the feet up both sides of the leg and then wrapped additional strips around the leg.

I’m working on attaching the spines. I used what the boys drew and made more. I think I’ll need about 10 pairs of spines in varying sizes to finish. I used the handy-dandy masking tape from Scotch that doesn’t suck and went to town. One tip I can share – I attached the spines together where they met and hopefully gave them more stability.

I’ll reinforce them with more strips and glue and then add paper mache clay to give them detail. The next big task is making the paper mache clay. I’ll use the clay to smooth out my sculpture and add finer details – besides accenting the spines. I’m thinking toes, facial features, and bumps for knees are possibilities.

Three ingredients that I remember off the top of my head are joint compound, toilet paper and PVA glue (like white Elmer’s). I’m interested in how far the recipe from Ultimate Paper Mache that I plan on following will go in covering Mr. Stegosaurus. I think I’ll probably need multiple batches.

If I continue the dino paper mache saga – I’ll start cutting out the T-Rex. I feel like he is going to be more difficult – because he’ll be standing up on two back legs. Luckily, I found these cardboard boot inserts that I might use for his feet. They seem heavier and like they would give him more stability.

Stay tuned and comment below! What’s the craziest thing you have made for your kids?

7+ Fun, Quick and Inexpensive Father’s Day Gifts…with *two* free printables

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

These gifts are perfect for your kids to give their Dad, Grandpa or any awesome men in their lives! I’m using this list at home for my boys to choose from.

1 – Craft a book for Dad about all the reasons they love him! You can make an adorable book out of paper lunch bags. You need 3 paper lunch bags (if you’d like a larger book, experiment with adding more bags), some string and a hole punch OR a stapler, stickers or other decorations and some extra paper (any color or design would be fine).

Flip the bags every other way and fold them in half together. Then either staple or hole punch along the spine. If you use a hole punch – you tie the book together with string. A great idea to hide the staples is to use washi tape. A pretty awesome feature of this  book is that you’ll have little pockets to tuck things in !

One thing you could do is use the extra paper to make pull out notes – use washi tape for pull tabs. They can decorate it anyway they would like but some great ideas include photos or drawings that show things they like to do with Dad. It could also include one of those cute “All About Dad” interviews! Some great questions are:

-What does Dad always say?

-What does Dad do at work?

-What does Dad do for fun?

-How old is your Dad? (this is especially funny when they are younger)

2. Make a sharpie mug! If their Dad is anything like my husband – he drinks a lot of coffee. This is a fairly easy craft and it will make him smile every time he sees it. You need some oil-based Sharpies which you can find here on Amazon but should be available in the craft supply aisle as well. You will also need a ceramic mug…it’s time to visit the Dollar Tree!

Have the kiddos draw or write on the mug, let it dry for 48 hrs and then bake it in the oven @ 250 degrees for 2 hrs. Start with a cold oven and let the mug cool before you remove it. This should set the sharpie and make it hand wash safe. I used the general directions from Feeling Nifty and bonus, she has a lot of great design ideas to get started and more detailed instructions to make sure that his mug turns out great!

3. Make a Scrabble tile key chain! Use E6000 glue (available here on Amazon or in the craft store) to attach the tiles that spell Dad, Papa or another short name (Mike, Joe, Tim, Tom, Ben, etc…) together vertically and put an eye screw in the top and attach to a keyring.

You could even add the kids’ pictures to the back or have them write their names with a Sharpie. If you do this, I recommend sealing the keychain with something that will make it at least water resistant like acrylic spray sealer.

4. Create a comic strip featuring Dad! There are tons of printable layouts on the web and I tried my hand at making something fun on Google Docs – it’s available for free here! Imagine Dad as a super hero or just make a visual reminder of an important time they have had together. If you use standard sized printing paper – you can frame it! For even better results, use card stock – it will hold up better with markers or other mediums. Have them sign their art! 

5. Write an acrostic poem – using Dad, Daddy, Father, Papa, Grandpa etc. Have the kids think of a word to describe him or if they are a little older have them write a line corresponding with each letter. You can search for lists of adjectives for each letter.  This could be handwritten or typed and would also be suitable for framing. I made a nice printable on Google Docs for this activity, too.

For example:

D – Dependable

A – Awesome

D – Dynamic

6. Make a gift that ROCKS! I have seen two adorable ideas that really stand out. One is rock art or arranging and you can find it here from Doodle and Stitch. The other is painting the rock to look like Dad and you can find a really great example from AlphaMom. Rock crafts are easy, accessible, and fun! Two other decorative ideas are a short quotation/meaningful word or a design showing a hobby that Dad likes. 

7. The Ultimate Classic – hand print and footprint gifts! Paint your kids’ hands, stamp them on paper (or canvas or cardboard or wood) and use a cute saying like “Hands down, you’re the best Dad ever”! I found quite a few blogs offering printables to get you started if you are not a fan of handwriting. 

Or paint a foot, steal a shoe and title it “Walking in Daddy’s Footsteps”! Frame it! I don’t think these gifts ever lose their sentimental value because those babies grow up and you wonder how their hands could have ever been that small.

Here’s the plus part – you can combine several of the above ideas!

For example:

  • write the acrostic poem over the hand prints
  • use the scrabble tiles as your first letters for embellishment on the acrostic poem
  •  put your poem on the back of the tiles for the key chain 
  • use the poem for the book or a part of it
  • draw the comic on the mug
  • write the poem on the mug 
  • make your own frame or add some pizzazz to a store bought one

…there are so many opportunities to customize and expand on these ideas!

PLUS – count on my oldest to think of something else! We used WeVideo to make a special project for his dad! It was fun AND free!

Marj

p.s. comment below and tell us what you did or what you are planning for next year!

25 + Bored Jar Activities

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Everyone is panicking over what the kids are going to do this summer and while Pinterest is FULL of ideas like this – I thought I’d add my contribution.

Our Bored Jar – crazy stickers and some blue cardestock!

I wrote ideas that incorporate several areas of learning and will appeal to my target audience (school age kids). Most of my ideas can be done independently but some might require adult guidance. I’m planning to join the boys for many of the activities because I included things that will also appeal to me….shhhhh….it’s not cheating!

One thing that I recommend is that you have the materials handy for any activities you include. Many of the ideas I wrote can be done with practically anything you have around the house. The general idea is to write out or type a bunch of ideas – so that when the children say they are bored – you can send them to the jar.

The jar can be decorated and it doesn’t even have to be a jar!  Use a shoe box, a Ziploc bag, or a Tupperware container – it’s all up to you. I used a jar and some funny stickers I had around the house. Cut out the ideas and put them in the jar. If you’d like to reuse your ideas – you can attach them to card stock or craft sticks for added durability.

The mess I make when I cut things out…

Feel free to use some or all of my ideas from the list below for your “Bored Jar” – and if you’d like to share some of your ideas, email me. I created the original list in Google Docs and it is available to print here.

  • Draw your favorite animal in different color than you usually see it.
  • Design a tree house for you and your friends. 
  • Draw a self portrait using only squares.
  • Write a new story featuring your favorite character from a book or TV show.
  • Design your dream house in 3D – use legos, cardboard, recyclables or anything else you can think of!
  • Make a gift for someone.
  • Make a birdhouse or a yard decoration.   
  • Make an item for a fairy garden. 
  • Create a magic wand.
  • Hide a treasure and draw a map.
  • Design a spacecraft. 
  • Draw a  blueprint for a new machine.
  • If you made a robot, what would it do? Write, draw or build a model of your robot. 
  • Make a list of things that you are grateful for.
  • Write a thank you letter to someone who has helped you.
  • Ask an important question you have been thinking about.
  • Who do you admire? Write a letter telling them why.
  • Think about a play made from your favorite book. What would some props be?
  • Read a poem and then draw a picture about it.
  • Look at a famous piece of art. What does it make you feel?
  • Draw a picture of two animals combined together.
  • What do you want to do when you are older? Find out 5 facts about it.
  • If you were the president, what are three things you would do and why?
  • Make your own desert  island with clay, blocks, or recyclables.
  • Make a list of your 10 favorite toys, games, movies, or books.
  • Read about someone who is doing a job you’d like to do when you are older.
  • What are three things that help you when you are feeling sad?
  • Draw a picture of your family using only circles. 
  • Paint or draw or make a collage using your favorite color only.
  • Pick a historical event and share 5 new things you learned about it at dinner.

Do you think this will help keep the kids occupied this summer? Comment below with your ideas!

Making Large Paper Mache Dinosaurs – pt. 2

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment
My husband says it looks like a dinosaur right now…a zombie dinosaur 🤣.

Alright, Scotch brand masking tape for general purpose for the win!

I continued using larger pieces of paper scrunched and otherwise manipulated to add more body.

I focused on the sides and head when I added shape. I also wrapped the legs with more paper to bulk them up.

It would be pretty funny to have a dinosaur with teeny tiny legs.

If you are as crazy as me and want to attempt this –

1. Use large pieces of masking tape to attach all of your paper and do not go bargain masking tape shopping for this large of a project

2. Do not worry about perfection – think of it as impressionism or giving the general idea of something at this point. You are going to add more layers and can add detail later.

He is about a third of the way covered at this point with another coat of  paper and glue.

It helps smooth out all of his “insides”. We added his feet with tape which the mastermind behind this madness drew and cut out.

The stegosaurus is almost the same size as my large dog…

The madness will continue…

The next step will be continuing to seal in his insides so he’ll be less zombie-like and we’ll be adding spikes and plates.

I’ve already asked the mastermind what color we’ll be painting him and he is considering grey.

Does anyone know if stegosauruses were grey?

Also, a triceratops has been added to the dino wish list. 🤦‍♀️

A serious question – what does one do with large paper mache dinosaurs when they are completed?

Comment below if you have any ideas!

Making Large Paper Mache Dinosaurs – pt.1

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

My 6 year old is a very creative kid and when he decided that we needed to make were some BIG dinosaurs – my brain went right to paper mache for this project because it’s inexpensive and these dinosaurs don’t need to weigh 100lbs each.

I was really impressed when I suggested it to him, because he knew exactly what I was talking about and related it to a display he had seen at school. He decided that he’d like us to make a stegosaurus first AND THEN if that worked out, we could try a T-rex. 

To begin with, I needed some reference material. We looked at a couple of his dinosaur books so I could get a general shape for this stegosaurus. I drew and cut the torso pieces out. I created the head and tail pieces separately so that I could try to position them a little different from the rest of the body – realism counts when you’re making dinosaurs, y’all.

The boys helped me out by tracing my first pieces onto other cardboard – you need at least two of everything to give it some volume because we’re going for 3D! They also helped by making some plates, spikes, and feet for the stegosaurus to be used later. 

To continue building the shape, I connected the top of the stegosaurus more narrowly than at the bottom. I attached the main pieces by adding strips of cardboard of the correct width along the sides and held the whole thing together with masking tape, slightly angling the head and tail. Before I closed Mr. Stegosaurus completely up, I stuffed him with recycled newspaper to give him some mass for better stability.

Here’s Mr. Dinosaur in our living room – hanging out waiting to be permanently sealed up – you can see the tape starting to have some problems.

I’m not sure what was going on with the masking tape – maybe it was too cheap for the job? We put the stegosaurus aside for a few days but the situation became critical when it didn’t seem to be staying together anymore. 

It was definitely time for some good old fashioned glue and paper. I typically use an approximate 50/50 mixture of water and PVA glue. We tore up scrap paper and pasted it on the frame of Mr. Stegosaurus – sealing up all the seams and making any last minute adjustments.

Next we started bulking up the body. I used paper towel rolls to begin forming the legs and then larger pieces of paper scrunched and otherwise manipulated to add more body.

At this point – we were using the same crappy masking tape and I got frustrated – so it’s been sitting for about a week now. I did go buy some better masking tape. We’ll see how it goes…to be continued.

Comment below if you’re excited to know how this project turns out!