Furious Shirley » make with kids

Making Play Dough!

Shannon Shirley — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:29:56 +0000

The other day, Ava and I decided to make our own play dough. I found a no-cook recipe on instructables, gathered the ingredients [flour, salt, water, food coloring], and sat down at the table with a very excited little girl!

I covered the table with some scrap paper and handed her the measured ingredients to dump into the bowl. Then I gave her the spoon and let her mix it up – her most favorite part of helping me in the kitchen.

Once the dough was thoroughly mixed, I divided it into three lumps [I had to keep adding flour until the dough wasn't so sticky] and then added the food coloring. [I would really recommend wearing disposable gloves for this part, unless you want red, blue, and green hands like I ended up having.] Just keep kneading the dough until the color is blended.

Hooray – play dough!

After I just reminded her to NOT smash it all together.

After I reminded her that once you smash them together, it’s very unlikely to have three separate colors again.

“Oh well, mom. I’ll just make a rainbow worm.” And that was perfectly fine with me. :-)

Simple Project to Make with Kids – DIY Feltboard

Shannon Shirley — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:47:29 +0000

This craft is so simple that even someone with no crafting skills [like me] can do it! It’s also perfect for little ones who can wield scissors. As you can tell from the photo, my scissor skills aren’t the greatest, [I can't cut a straight line to save my life] but Ava doesn’t care. She loves taking the pieces off and rearranging them. I also use it to tell her stories. Originally, I glued the widows and door onto the house, but she just pulled them off [she's 14 months] so I recommend just keeping all the pieces separate for those too young to understand the concept of “please don’t break that”.

What you will need:

Canvas [or piece from a cardboard box]

Spray Glue

1 Sheet of Stiff Felt

1 Pack of assorted felt squares

Scissors

Spray glue the stiff felt sheet to the canvas or cardboard. Cut out some shapes, characters, etc. from the felt squares. That’s it. You’re done. You can’t really get any easier than that. Send me a picture of yours when you’re finished and put mine to shame. LOL

DIY Dollhouses

Shannon Shirley — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:55:33 +0000

When I was a little girl, my grandpa built me a beautiful dollhouse. It was blue and had a hinged roof with little wooden shingles. He had also custom made some of the furniture inside and put carpet in the living room and bedrooms, and tile in the kitchen. I loved that house. I have it in “storage” [at my grandma's] and am just waiting until Ava is old enough so I can redecorate it and give it to her. Now, I’m no carpenter like my grandpa was, so I went looking for some DIY dollhouses that pretty much anyone can create …

This felt creation by Melissa Crowe is actually a piece commissioned by the Wintergreen Arts Center in Maine, but it’s a great idea you can make for your own home [little ones old enough to use scissors can help!]. The house is mounted on canvas and decorated in felt and moleskin that can be moved around [just like a felt board]. For more photos [and more great crafts], check out Melissa’s blog, Checkout Girl.

These adorable wooden dollhouses are made from unfinished cd houses that are then painted and decorated to your own liking. I have been dying to make one of these for Ava, but so far have been unable to find the unfinished wooden piece [which is said to be available at Michael's Arts & Crafts ... so far I have only been to one and the hunt will continue this weekend]. Visit Angry Chicken for more info on this piece …

…and Bright and Blithe to check out this version!

I also found several versions of these cute cardboard and foam core board dollhouses. The customization possibilities are endless and it’s super mobile and would be a fun project to put together with your little one. The tutorial for the picture below is available at Cookie Magazine.

That tutorial was the motivation for this super duper dollhouse put together by the obviously crafty Amy of Sweet Sweet Life.

Taking inspiration from the Constantine Dollhouse from Kidsmodern, this creation was born out of a cardboard box, lots of tape, and some magazines. Read the full tutorial from Elsie Marley.

This tutorial for a recycled materials dollhouse can be found at Craftastica, where Kristy and her daughter Eva fashioned this house based on the above idea.

I found this multi-level cardboard dollhouse in a feature on Ohdeedoh. It was made by Adrienne and decorated with scrap fabric, wallpaper samples, popsicle sticks, etc.

This dollhouse gets an A+ for creativity – it’s built on a closet organizer!!! [via Gina2424 on Flikr]

One Scoop or Two?

Shannon Shirley — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:08:44 +0000

Well, the hours quickly turned into days and now I am ready to blog again. We had a fun filled Fourth of July weekend … shopping, a picnic in the park, trips to the playground, fireworks, more shopping, and more eating. We climbed out onto our fire escape for a surprisingly excellent view of fireworks being set off on random Brooklyn rooftops and from the massive Macy’s display along the Hudson River. All in all, it was one of those weekends we wished would never end [but then, I feel like that every weekend].

As I am writing this post, I can hear the ice cream truck making its way down the street. I was never really an ice cream person, but during my pregnancy that all changed. There was a time last summer that I actually went out searching the neighborhood for the ice cream man. Unfortunately, the craving did not end after giving birth. This weekend, we happened upon a gourmet ice cream truck serving up organic goodness with flavors like pistachio, green tea, and hazelnut – delicious! I’ve been wanting to make some homemade ice cream … I can still remember sitting on the back porch with my grampa when I was a little girl; helping him crank and crank and crank for that sweet frosty payoff. If only we knew then that we could just throw the ingredients into a bag and shake it for five minutes like the kid-friendly recipe I found on Kaboose.

And since ice cream makers do all of the cranking for you now, it’s much easier to whip up cold and creamy delights like this Rocky Road [egg free!] recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Want a healthier option? Try a fruity sorbet or granita! I found a great recipe for Tripe Berry Sorbet [sweetened with agave] on The Wind Attack. Or if you are really short on time [like me!], toss some frozen berries into the blender with mint or lime or lemon and some agave. I just blended up some strawberries, mint, lemon, and agave and spooned the mixture into popsicle trays and stuck them in the freezer and will share the end result with you later on. Hot summer day … cool summer treat. Ahhhhhhhh…..