The Kids are bored...what to do?

Welcome!

Kaleidoscope by inkspired 

You are at the dining room table,

enjoying a nice Christmas dinner,

THWAP!

A bored child has discovered how to make 

irritating noises with his spoon

 and leftover mashed potatoes.

🎄

Let’s get some prep work done before

that happens!

Babalisme.blogspot.com

Print out some paper dolls.
Buy some scissors at your favorite store.

Have blank paper to make your own outfits.
A stack of old magazines/catalogs 
can provide plenty of outfits also.
Fun!
🎄
Don’t forget jointed dolls or puppets either!

Found on Pinterest
 🎄

Vintage Santa Claus jumping jack or articulated doll
Found on Pinterest

See my earlier posts for directions on how to
string it all together to make
Jumping jacks.
🎄 Be sure to place a paper cup with some brads in it,
and a paper hole punch with the printed sheets.
🎄
Of course anything I suggest you need to adapt for the age group you think you will have at your holiday gathering.
🎄
Here are 2 vintage paper dolls from magazines -

Katy Keene, drawn by Bill Woggens in the 1950’s

Created by Edgar Martin, ‘Boots & her Buddies’
ran syndicated from 1924 - 1968

🎄

How about a table set up with all the fixins’ 
to make gingerbread houses?

Here is a diagram to cut graham crackers
for ‘gingerbread’ houses:

Found on Pinterest

Here are some photos that can help build one -

From HomeschoolingSC

Courtesy Kim Buyers, Pinterest

I like the last one above, 
as the kids don’t have to cut up any graham crackers.
Just use the squares.
🎄

Have frosting ready to ‘glue’ it all together.
I would probably try to add some
powdered sugar to stiffen the frosting a bit.
There are plenty of recipes on the internet
for ‘frosting glue’.

Tip:
Place frosting in a ziplock plastic baggie.
Snip one corner just a bit when ready to use.
This makes an instant pastry decorating bag.
Easy to use, easy cleanup.
🎄

Here is a different twist to the traditional
gingerbread house -

🎄

A plastic drop cloth under a card table is a nice 
smallish creativity center.
Be sure to cover the table with something washable
or disposable.
🎄
If the kids are in nice party clothes,
have a stack of old Large t-shirts ready to slip on.
🎄
I hope this has inspired you,
and made the holidays look
a little less stressful.
Enjoy!

Kaleidoscope by inkspired 

‘Til next time,
Inkspired

Truth: (usually experienced before coffee/10 am)
Do NOT tell The Dog to
‘Wait until I wake up’
when The Dog has clearly asked to be let out.
Really.

Print, Cut, Decorate!

Welcome!

Kaleidoscope by inkspired

‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!’

Do you like to decorate for the holidays,

 but always seem short on cash when they roll around?

No problem!

‘Poverty is the primary source of creativity!’

Paper snowflakes and chains as house decorations 

Found on Pinterest.


I am very ‘into’ recycling and recycled art.
Let’s make some fun things,
and maybe even lessen the load to the landfills.

Found on Pinterest

The hanging swirls use the pattern above. So easy!

Cutting squares of paper into beautiful snowflakes
is easy to do also,
is economical,
and fun for any age!
Do you have a pair of scissors?
Any color paper, or white, that can be cut up?
That’s all you need.
(Even magazine pages can make beautiful snowflakes!)

If you feel more comfortable drawing a design first,
grab a pencil.

 An easy to follow chart showing how to fold your SQUARE piece of paper.

found on Pinterest.

After folding the paper so many times, it can be cumbersome to cut.  Try to use the lightest weight paper you can find.
I have even used a light hold tape 
to hold it together while I am cutting.

Here is another use for those cut snowflakes -
Paper Doilies!

There are many places you can find free patterns, so I am going to move on to another ‘free’ and cheap decorating idea for you.

Jumping Jacks & Puppets

There are many free patterns on the internet 
for vintage and modern jumping jacks.
Here are a few you can print, cut and string.

Here are simple directions on how to string your jointed paper doll to make it a jumping jack:

Here are a couple that you can color before cutting out:

PheeMcFaddell.com 
(This site has many more to color and cut out.)

A few hints that might help:
🎄
after printing & coloring, 
glue puppet to the back side of a cereal box.
🎄
tieing a small weight to the bottom string will help the jumping jack keep his strings orderly
🎄
remember to attach brads loosely
🎄
Santa can be any color you want!
(Our favorite Santa from our son was colored baby blue!)
🎄
Leaving the wings off turns a fairy into an elf

I do hope you try a few of these charming jumping jacks.

‘Til next time,
Inkspired

Truth:
(Usually learned before coffee/10 am)
Emptying the dishwasher is NOT advisable
When your Significant Other is trying to sleep.

Kaleidoscope by inkspired

Leaves Galore!

Welcome!

Vintage magazine cover, Autumn 1912

I hope you are not tired of gorgeous Fall leaves yet.

I seem to have more to share with you.

😁

I found more leaf crafting on Pinterest,

and would love to share with you.

Taking dried leaves, these artists have stitched,

crocheted, drawn, painted, cut and doodled their art.

Crocheted leaf, BoredPanda

Embroidered leaf by Susanna Bauer

Embroidery on a rose petal by Hilary Fayle

Painted leaves by Nevuela

White painted leaves by Alisa Burke

What to do with these decorated leaves?

*Frame 1, 3 or more and hang in a grouping.
*Tie embroidery thread around the stem 
and hang several in a sunny window.
*Drag out your Christmas tree and decorate it 
with all natural ornaments like these leaves,
pine cones, acorns and nuts, etc.
Or
*Make a wreath, as Landeelu.com has done here:

Leaves painted with glittery gold paint, formed into a wreath

By Landeelu.com

A kaleidoscope by inkspired

Let’s take a leaf break,

fire up the printer and print out some Fall

Jumping Jacks!

Courtesy of EKDuncan

Use one of your decorated leaves as her body!

If you Google or Pinterest search there are many tutorials out there to show you how to string her together 

to turn her into a jumping jack.

Fun!

Here is a jointed Leaf paper doll for you 

to print, cut and join together.

 I like to use brads, but you can also use jump rings, wire or string.

Leaf puppet by Phee McFaddell

www.pheemcfaddell.com

I do have more to share, but I have decided to make my blog posts more ‘bite-size’ than ‘book-size’.

So give me some feedback already!

😁

‘Til next time,

inkspired