Leaf Transfers

This one can be done using a variety of materials.  My husband did this with our kids, they used -

crayons (with the paper pealed off)
paper
a leaf

Put the leaf under the paper (bottom side up), turn the crayon on its side and color over the leaf.  Continue moving the leaf (under the paper), and coloring.  Experiment with different leaves.  A million varieties of patterns can be made.  Have fun!

Bubbles!

Homemade bubbles, anytime.  Here is the original solution:
1/2 c. corn syrup
2c. dishwashing liquid
5 c. warm water
Combine.

But, I only had 1/2 c. of dishwashing liquid in the house.  And, I didn't realize it until I started pouring the dishwashing liquid.  The corn syrup was already in the bowl.
Here is the solution that I used:
1/2 c. corn syrup
1/2 c. dishwashing liquid
2 1/2 c. warm water

We whisked the ingredients in a bowl.  We took the bowl of soap, a baking dish, a slotted spoon, a spatula with holes and a plastic child's clothing hanger outside. 
Using the bowl, the results were not great.
We poured the solution into the baking dish, dipped the hanger and "ta-dah" - success!

I recommend doing this in the grass.  On the patio, the bubbles left a little "trace of soap".  Any "trace of soap" was easily cleaned with the hose.

The materials.  The bowl was good for mixing, the baking-dish was the choice for "bubble production".

Dip the hanger.

When you lift the hanger, you will see the soapy film in opening.

Gently move the hanger through the air.

The grown-ups loved this one too!

Have fun!  Please let me know how your adventure turned out.  E-mail me at blog@klinecreative.com.

Party Hats

What you will need:  large paper, stapler, tape, decorating stuff (markers, crayons, glitter, whatever you have around).

Today happens to be my birthday (yeah!), but party hats are always fun.  Why not wear a party hat to dinner on any given Wednesday?
We started with poster-board.  You can use smaller paper, just make a chin strap.  A little ribbon, a couple pieces of tape - party hat!  If you're really feeling fancy, you can use some kind of material.
Draw a circle on the paper.  Then, make a little dot in the center of the circle.  Draw a line that extends from the little dot, to the outer edge of the circle.  Cut along the line.  At this point we had to make decisions about hat size.  Once you've decided how large you need the hat, cut another line extending from another exterior point to the little circle.  Now you'll have a pizza-wedge size stray piece of paper, and a larger piece that is the beginning of a hat.
Roll the larger piece into a cone shape, and make a mark so that you'll know where to stop decorating (where the paper will overlap after stapling).  Then, go to town decorating!  Our hats were pretty simple; markers, crayons, ribbon and some glitter glue (by the way, they're not joking about the word "glue").  We taped ribbon onto the top of the hat.  Glue was not our friend today.  
Roll the hat into a cone, and staple.  Party hat!

Please send me your awesome party hat photos, blog@klinecreative.com. Have fun!