Chinese New Year paper cup lanterns

As a Bostik Craft Blogger I recently received some Bostik products along with some crafty goodies and the challenge to come up with a craft for Chinese New Year. I've already shared my paper plate dragon mask and as promised here is a second craft using some of the other things that I received - home made paper cup lanterns.

Here's how we made them:

Materials:

Bostik glu dots
Paper cup - a gold one would be perfect
Pipecleaner
Beads (about four per lantern)
Foam strips
Gold ric rac
Star stickers
Assortment of coloured sequins
White glue and tape
(Tissue paper strips)

Instructions:

First decorate the paper cups using stickers and sequins. The foam star stickers are self adhesive, and we used white glue to stick down the sequins.

Then add the extra trimmings by wrapping the ric rac and foam strips around the cup and securing in place with a glu dot. The glu dots are really sticky and because the pieces were stuck instantly I didn't need to worry about them sliding down the cup while I waited for glue to dry.

Then thread a few beads onto a pipecleaner and make two holes with scissors in the base of the cup to post the pipecleaner through to form the handle. Fold over and secure inside the cup firmly with tape.

If you wanted to make your lantern even prettier you could decorate with some strips of tissue paper stuck around the inside of the paper cup to hang down. We used more glu dots to hold them firmly in place.

You can find more Chinese New Year crafts for toddlers here:

The box of craft materials was provided to me free of charge by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club.

Chinese New Year paper plate dragon mask

This dragon mask is a really fun craft to make with children for Chinese New Year. The mask can be made using a coloured paper plate or circle of cardboard, and decorated with brightly coloured scraps of paper and card to make a personalised dragon for a child to hold and play with.

I made the mask with Mia, and we had a really fun time!

Materials:

Bostik foam pads (small)
Red paper plate (or you can use a plain white one, or paint it)
Strips of yellow tissue paper
Strips of orange tissue paper
Card - black, red, gold and white
Two yellow pom poms
Lollipop sticks
Glue and tape
Glitter

Instructions:

I found it easier to prepare all the pieces for the mask in advance. I used gold card to cut two flames, the red card to cut a pointy tongue, the black card to make two horns, eye brows and the pupils for the eyes and the white card to make eyes and teeth. You could use coloured paper instead of card, or you could just draw the elements on white paper and colour them in. There are so many different ways that you can make a dragon mask - I used Google images for some inspiration.

I opted to make a mask that can be held in front of the face, but of course you could cut out eye holes so that it can be worn as a mask, with some elastic across the back to hold it across the face.

Then I sat down with Mia and we put the mask together. To stick the pieces on we used Bostik foam pads. These are small enough that they remain hidden, but because they are quite thick they make the stuck on parts of the mask really pop out. I found it easiest to place the sticky pads where she wanted the pieces to go, then she could stick them on. It worked particularly well for the flames at the bottom of the paper plate - I stuck on a row of little sticky pads and Mia stuck down the strips of tissue paper, it was a good opportunity for her to practice patterning as she alternated the colours.

Using the sticky pads was great as it meant that we didn't need to wait for any glue to dry. However the glue did come in generous amounts so that she could add plenty of glitter!

We finished the mask with a lollipop stick taped on either side. This means that the mask can both be held in front of the face, and also 'flown' around the room to scare people!

You can find more Chinese New Year crafts for toddlers here:

The box of craft materials was provided to me free of charge by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club.

Ladybird Tuesday - Learning to Sew

The Ladybird Book Learning to Sew was published in 1972 and is from my favourite Series 633 - Hobbies. The book contains a variety of sewing projects that a child can complete, beginning with a simple table mat and progressing on to little gifts like pin cushions and comb cases, as well as practical skills like sewing on a button and turning a hem.

I remember making simple table mats like this at school, in fact I think I still have a couple somewhere. The book has all sorts of different stitch designs, with examples of ways to use them in projects.

I'm not that good at sewing and I found the instructions for the projects quite vague in places without the step by step guides that I'm used to seeing on crafty blogs. I think that the book probably assumes that there will be a handy mother or grandmother on hand to help. While most of the projects in the book are quite traditional, I really like the last two. They are collage pictures made using all sorts of bits and pieces, for example nuts or washers from father's tool box!

If you love Ladybird books, do pop over and visit Ladybird Tuesday, where Being Mrs C is assembling a really comprehensive catalogue of Ladybird books and reviews.

Below you can find links to all my Ladybird Tuesday book posts.

Snow White and Rose Red
Hansel and Gretel
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Three Little Pigs
The Old Woman and her Pig
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
The Railway Children
A Little Princess
A First book of Aesop's Fables

A Ladybird Book about Knitting
More Things to Make - For Special Occasions
Easy to Make Puppets
Learning to Sew
Stamp Collecting
Tricks and Magic

Prehistoric Animals and Fossils
Dinosaurs
Stone Age Man in Britain
Great Civilisations - Crete
Charles Dickens
Nelson
Lives of the Great Composers Book 1
Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
The Story of Music

Plants and How They Grow
The Ladybird Book of the Night Sky
Sea and Air Mammals
The Farm

The Story of Nuclear Power
The Motor Car
How it Works - The Computer
How it Works - The Rocket
The Story of Ships
The Postman and the Postal Service
People at Work - The Nurse

Understanding Numbers
Talkabout Clothes
Going to School
Teaching Reading

Stories of Special Days and Customs
Christmas Customs

Girls and Boys - A Ladybird Book of Childhood

Tissue paper Valentine's Day collage photo frames

These simple Valentine's Day cardboard collage photo frames are a great Valentine's Day craft for toddlers. They are really easy to make, and all you need are a few bits from the craft box or recycling box. The craft is really simple even for very little ones, and would make a great gift for a loved one on Valentine's Day.

You need:

Card - while you can use something like a cereal box, sturdier card is better

Scraps of red and pink tissue paper, coloured paper, napkins and so on. I very rarely buy tissue paper, I save it up when I receive it in packaging!

PVA glue and spreaders

Any embellishments you want to add, for example we used heart shaped buttons

Instructions:

First prepare all your materials - I began by cutting my frames out of the cardboard. The frames are quite large compared to the size of the photograph, so there is plenty of room for collage and decorations. They measure about 20cm x 26cm. For the hole in the centre I placed my photograph on the back of the frame and drew around it, then cut the window out with a craft knife to make it slightly smaller.

Then I gathered a selection of red and pink tissue papers and tore them up into small squares. I laid everything out ready for Mia to get started.

We used plenty of white glue on the frames and stuck on the pieces of paper. I tried to cover the whole frame in a Decopatch fashion, and so Mia copied me, she did a really good job! When the glue was dry I folded over the larger pieces of paper and trimmed the edges to make them look neat.

The photographs are secured to the back of the frame using washi tape so they can be easily removed and changed. If you don't have washi tape, masking tape would work well too. They can then be hung with BluTak or you could thread some string through to hang from a nail.

We embellished the frames with a couple of heart shaped buttons each. Mia was so proud of her frame and there is no question of giving them away, she insists that they are going to be on display in her room! This activity made me realise that I don't often do crafty things just with Mia, we tend to wait until Harry is home as I don't want him to feel left out. But we had such fun together, that definitely needs to change!

You can find more Valentine's Day crafts for toddlers here - Valentine's Crafts for toddlers

The new Fantasyland at Disney World Resort, Florida

In May 2014, the New Fantasyland area at Disney World Resort in Florida was completed. The expansion started in 2011, and on our previous visits to Disney World we've seen new areas of the park opened, and watched the building of the new roller coaster ride, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. On our recent visit in November 2014 we were excited to visit and see the whole of the New Fantasyland open.

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train opened in May 2014 and has been very popular. The new FastPass+ system at Disney World allows you to book your Fast Pass tickets 30 days in advance if you are staying off-site. Hotel Guests are able to book their tickets 60 days in advance, and as off-site visitors we found that by the time we were allowed to book, all the tickets for this ride had gone. With queues throughout the day of up to two hours, the only realistic way that we were able to ride was to arrive before park opening and when the gates opened speed walk to the ride to join the queue. We only managed this once, and our wait was about 20 minutes. Luckily, like all of the other newer rides, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train has a very well designed queuing area, with a few interactive games and activities for children to keep them entertained while you wait.

In fact, the new and improved rides in Fantasyland are all very well designed when it comes to waiting in line. The best queuing area is at Dumbo the Flying Elephant, where children can play in an indoor play area while you wait for your pager to buzz and announce your turn to ride. The Journey of the Little Mermaid and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh also have excellent waiting areas with interactive games to play. Luckily we usually manage to plan our day with minimal waits but I can see how this would really make a difference to the queuing experience when you have little ones.

A new Fantasyland attraction that we hadn't managed to visit on our previous trips was Enchanted Tales with Belle, as again it is so popular that it has a very long wait within minutes of the park opening. This time we were able to visit as we had booked our Fast Passes in advance. You are taken through the attraction in small groups, and volunteers are chosen to play different parts in a simple story that is performed to Belle. At the end there is the chance to meet with Belle and have your photograph taken. We don't usually do the character meet and greets as they take up too much of the day, so it was a nice opportunity for the children to see a favourite character close up.

A picture of them together would have been nicer of course, but Harry was too nervous to approach Belle until he saw that she was handing out bookmarks, and luckily that was enough incentive for him to pose for a photo!

With small children we spend most of our time at Disney World in Fantasyland as the rides are just perfect for them, and so close together that you don't need to ask too much of them when it comes to walking around. If you arrive early and plan your day, especially if you take full advantage of the new Fast Pass system, you can really minimise the time that you spend waiting. I'm not enough of an expert to discuss it here, but this is an excellent guide DisneyWorld FastPass+ Overview, Tips and Advice (and I'd also fully recommend paying for the planning tools on that website, it's currently only $12.95 for a year and it has been brilliant for us, no affiliation just a genuine recommendation!)

I hope that you enjoyed my little glimpse into the New Fantasyland!

Ladybird Tuesday - Easy to Make Puppets

This week for Ladybird Tuesday I have another book from Series 633 - Hobbies. Easy-to-make Puppets was published in 1973 and features instructions for a variety of different puppets, as well as ideas for scenery, props and even a simple puppet booth.

The book begins with a basic elephant puppet made from a thin sheet of card through which you post your finger to make the elephant's trunk. The book then carries on with ideas for a huge range of different puppets, made from household items including plastic bottles, handkerchiefs, apples and yoghurt pots. The designs are all simple, and yet some are really clever!

The puppets increase in complexity as you progress through the book, finishing with papier mache moulded heads and handsewn glove puppets. You could put on a really professional style puppet show with some of these.

The puppets in the book tend to focus on characters that featured in children's games and stories at the time, like Red Indians and robbers. Nowadays as well as traditional fairytales children would probably enjoy making puppets for their favourite Disney films and television characters. I know that my children love printing out pictures of their favourite characters and sticking them to lollipop sticks to make very simple puppets, and now I'm inspired to try something a bit more complicated!

If you love Ladybird books, do pop over and visit Ladybird Tuesday, where Being Mrs C is assembling a really comprehensive catalogue of Ladybird books and reviews.

Below you can find links to all my Ladybird Tuesday book posts.

Snow White and Rose Red
Hansel and Gretel
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Three Little Pigs
The Old Woman and her Pig
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
The Railway Children
A Little Princess
A First book of Aesop's Fables

A Ladybird Book about Knitting
More Things to Make - For Special Occasions
Easy to Make Puppets
Learning to Sew
Stamp Collecting
Tricks and Magic

Prehistoric Animals and Fossils
Dinosaurs
Stone Age Man in Britain
Great Civilisations - Crete
Charles Dickens
Nelson
Lives of the Great Composers Book 1
Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
The Story of Music

Plants and How They Grow
The Ladybird Book of the Night Sky
Sea and Air Mammals
The Farm

The Story of Nuclear Power
The Motor Car
How it Works - The Computer
How it Works - The Rocket
The Story of Ships
The Postman and the Postal Service
People at Work - The Nurse

Understanding Numbers
Talkabout Clothes
Going to School
Teaching Reading

Stories of Special Days and Customs
Christmas Customs

Girls and Boys - A Ladybird Book of Childhood

Now We Are Six

Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne

When I was One, I had just begun. 

When I was Two, I was nearly new. 

When I was Three I was hardly me. 

When I was Four, I was not much more. 

When I was Five, I was just alive. 

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever, 

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

Today is Harry's sixth birthday, and at the weekend I copied this poem out into his birthday card.

When I was little I remember helping my Mum write the poem above by A. A. Milne into a friend's birthday card. I loved it so much that I insisted on having it in my own card when I turned six, and we had a copy on our noticeboard for years, so I've always remembered it.

Today it's Monday again, like the day that Harry was born. All through my labour that morning in the hospital I had the radio on, and in every news bulletin the day was referred to as the most depressing day of the year and although of course it's completely made up it has stuck in my mind!

Harry wasn't a very contented baby, and I found the first few months hard. He just didn't like being a baby very much. As soon as he was able to talk and understand things he became so much more fun and he has grown up into such a lovely little boy. He's a sensitive little thing, funny and clever, and interested in everything.

We had a little party for him on Sunday with some cake, then tonight we are going out for dinner, followed by a soft play party for his friends next weekend. Harry's birthday always seems to be spread out over several days! So Happy Birthday to Harry, my not so little boy!