These beautiful masks will WOW all of your friends at any Halloween party this season and they are fun and easy to make! 
DOWNLOAD MASK TEMPLATE: Mask_Template
Print Mask_Template onto Card Stock (preferably 100lb) and then cut it out. 
Start by gluing your novelties around the outside edge of the mask and work your way towards the center. 
Cut to size and apply fabric trim around eye holes.
Firmly glue thick ribbon to the back side of mask.
For fun try making more than one mask with different novelties. Enjoy!
Category: Crafts
Check out our fun free craft instructions here for kids and adults alike!
Under the Sea – Tissue Paper Craft for Kids
School is nearly over and summer is headed our way! YAY! The hope is that the sun shines all summer long but there is the possibility that you might experience a rainy day or two. So, Whimsical Publishing has created this fun summery craft for those rainy afternoons. This crafts includes free printable PDFs and requires minimal supplies. 
Materials: Scissors, Paper, Coloured Pencils or Crayons, Glue Stick, Coloured Tissue Paper, and our Free Printable PDF Cut-Outs. (It’s also nice to have white card stock but it’s not necessary.)
Originally I planned to only make the above cut-out page for this craft but my kids got in on the action and they created two more (below). Thanks Hannah and Hunter! 🙂
You can download these free printable PDF pages at these links below >
First, colour your printed pages. 
Then cut out your coloured characters.
Next, randomly tear up tissue paper pieces and glue them onto a plain piece of paper. (I like to use white card stock because it is thicker and makes a nicer backing to glue the tissue on.)
Glue the tissue paper on until the piece of paper is completely covered. 
Lastly, take your coloured cut-outs, arrange and glue them onto your tissue paper ocean. 
Happy crafting and don’t forget to check out all of our other craft ideas as well!
~ Micheline
Father’s Day Card to Print & Colour
Father’s Day is coming up! Check out this cute Father’s Day printable card, designed by Micheline Ryckman. All you have to do is download the free PDF at the link below the picture, print it off and colour it. We hope you and your Dad enjoy!
Click this link here to download a free printable PDF version >>> Father’s Day Card
Let’s Go Fly a Kite!
Hunter looked outside and remarked, “It’s really windy – I think it’s a good day to fly a kite!” I knew that we had some old broken kites somewhere in the garage but I wasn’t up for the search. Instead, we did a little online searching. The kids and I found some instructions which assured us that drinking straws, plastic grocery bags, string and tape would quickly produce fully functioning kites. Perfect – we set to work!
I’m sure you are not surprised to hear that once we got our homemade kites outside, they didn’t fly at all… 🙁 Hannah took this disappointment in stride but Hunter was pretty bummed. It’s always sad when your hard work doesn’t quite pay off…
Hannah didn’t give up though! She went into the garage, rummaged through and found one of our old kites. After a bit of sawing, taping and tying we managed to create a NEW-OLD kite that flew perfectly!
We all know that life is often more about the journey than the end result. My kids and I had a lot of fun constructing those kites together. And in the end, I also learned that making old things new again can sometimes be a better option than starting from scratch. 😉
Happy Sunday,
Micheline
Eternity Scarf Made From Re-purposed T-Shirts!
I ruthlessly purged my closet of old T-shirts and tanks this past summer. Initially I planned to trash them but surprisingly enough the big pile of holey, shrunken and shapeless tops was quite appealing! (I’m a sucker for colour.) I decided to recycle them instead. This is what I came up with > a funky hippie-ish eternity scarf. 🙂
First I cut up my old Tees into 18 various 7.5″ squares.
I used colourful thread and a regular sewing machine to sew the 18 squares together in an eternity shape (see pics below).
Because T-shirts knits don’t fray I left the edges unfinished for a more hippie-ish look and alternated seams.
Fast and easy-peasy! It looks mighty spiffy once it’s wrapped! This would be a quick and affordable gift to whip up as well.
Happy sewing,
Micheline
Free Halloween Printables
We saw these free Halloween party printables on Party Box Design – they are so cute! We couldn’t resist sharing them with you. Check them out by clicking on the image above or below. 🙂
Got Milk?
I’ve just returned from camping with the Halls and not surprisingly, learned a new trick to share with you.
In my last camping post, Going Clean, I mentioned how we came up to the campsite on the heels of a pretty intense storm. Although our own home had been rendered powerless when we left Friday evening my husband, Chris, found it fully restored the next day when he came home to shower. (One of the awesome things about camping with the Halls –aside from hanging with them—is that we’re only about ten minutes from the house, even though it feels like we’re in the middle of nowhere.)
Not everyone in town was as fortunate as we were when it came to getting their power restored. At least that’s what I heard when I went to get ice, and again when I went to get ice, and again when I went to get ice… Every place I went had the same story; they were cleaned out by people without electricity who needed to keep their fridges and freezers cold.
When I went back to the campsite without ice for any of the coolers I thought we’d be drinking warm water and juice (which is especially gross if it’s apple juice…). I needn’t have worried; my resourceful camping guru Sheila, sent her husband, Dan, home to get ice from their freezer.
What he came back with was brilliant. It was a two-litre plastic milk jug full of frozen water –in essence, a block of ice. Apparently they always have a couple of these in their freezer for emergencies. Not only are they great for the cooler but in the case of a power outage you just place one in yer fridge, keep the other in yer freezer and you won’t have to worry about your food spoiling. Best of all, you won’t waste time running around town looking for sold out ice!
With the images attached here there are some really cool websites on milk carton crafts –from beautiful butterfly window ornaments and a full-size children’s igloo to an honest-to-goodness Star Wars Stormtrooper Halloween mask. Incredible!
Marble Game – Craft for Kids! Easy!
My kids actually came up with this idea – somewhere – years ago – and they still seem to make a new model every few months or so. 🙂
It is super easy and requires mostly average household items.
As you can see above you only need the following supplies;
– Marbles
– Empty kleenex box
– Scissors
– Tape and/or glue
– Construction or decorative craft paper
– Our printable PDF for numbering – click here to download >>> Numbers Printable Page
Step 1: Cut off the top of the Kleenex box as shown above.
Step 2: Cover the box with decorative/construction paper using glue or tape – shown above and below. You can actually skip this step if you already like the design on your Kleenex box. 🙂
Step 3: Cut out numbers from our free printable PDF and glue to the side of the Kleenex box as shown in the two pictures below.
Step 4: Cut various sized openings along bottom edge of box as shown. Make sure openings are large enough for a regular sized marble to fit through.
Step 5: Set the game up as shown above – grab yourself an opponent and see who scores the highest!
Happy marble gaming!
~ Micheline
Summer to-do Charts! Easy FREE printables!!!
Every child cheers in victory at the end of the school year and then after about a week or two at home they begin to complain, “I’m boooorrreeed…” Ha ha haaaaaa! So, in response to this complaint I create a summer to-do chart for my kids. Some of the activities listed are chores and some are purely for fun. If my kids complete the chart before the end of summer then they earn a trip to an amusement park.
Although I have seen some pretty beautiful and crafty summer charts out there in the online world I tend to keep mine simple… Years ago I created these charts on my computer which I update (if needed for age appropriateness), print out and pin onto a bulletin board. It is a brilliant solution to “boredom” complaints and gives the kids something to work towards over the summer season.
I also created a sheet of colourful check marks which we cut out and glue onto the chart when a task is completed. I have provided 5 printable PDF’s for you at the end of this post. The ideas and work are all done – you only need to print them off, pin them up, have your child cut out the check marks and then your summer-to-do charts are ready to go! Easy-peasy! 😉
Click each of the links below to download the free printable summer to-do charts and check mark pages >>>
I hope you and your kids enjoy! 😀
~Micheline
Pretty Flower Hair Elastic – Craft
This is a super easy craft to make with your kids – it’s also an especially nice way to use up scrap felt or even other scrap fabrics!
What you need;
– scissors
– needle & thread
– paper
– hair elastics
– felt fabric in various colors
– Flower Template<<<please click here to download free flower template.
First cut out paper flower template and use this as a guide to cut felt flowers and flower centers.
Arrange flowers as shown above and sew through all three layers into the hair elastic – as shown below >>>
It’s as simple as that! I hope you enjoy!!!
Please check out out other FREE crafts, coloring pages & activities for kids >>> CRAFTS – COLORING PAGES – ACTIVITY PAGES
~Micheline