How To Turn A Lunch Box Into A DIY Traveling Dollhouse

My daughter Molly has always been fascinated with all things miniature, so I thought it was high time that all her mini friends (and mice) had a dollhouse to live in for the summer holidays. A lunchbox is the ideal size for a portable dollhouse, and more importantly, it’s a great way to reuse items after the school year that would normally be discarded.

This portable little mouse house has everything that your kid will need for pretend play. When they are finished playing, they can just snap it closed and travel with it in any direction. Into the garden, off to camp, out on a car trip, or even all the way to the beach – anywhere their adventurous hearts desire!

Ok, it’s time to get to repurposing! Let’s turn old lunch boxes into something really unexpected and cool. Here’s how:

What You Need

• Lunch box (or shoebox)
• White paint or household emulsion (for primer)
• Tissue paper
• Craft glue and small bowl
• Paint brush

How-To

Step 1
Paint the outside of the lunch box with white paint (acrylic paint or a little household emulsion will cover the printed graphics in just two coats.)

Step 2
When the paint is dry, rip up pieces of the tissue paper (into whatever shapes and sizes you like) and use your paint brush and craft glue to smooth them into place. Layering the tissue pieces looks great, too. It makes it so that you don’t need that many different colors of paper at all(we only used three!). The more you layer, the more new colors are created.

How cool does this look?! A humble lunchbox has been reborn into an adorable piece of DIY art.

Step 3
Now it’s time for some interior decorating! I used little matchstick boxes on the wall for picture frames, and a few bits and pieces from Molly’s playroom dollhouse to decorate the rest of the space. I also think it would be adorable to use stencils to create a patterned wallpaper or even a tiled floor.

Ok, wakey wakey Molly Mouse! No time for sleeping. It’s time to head to the airport for you next big adventure.

Bon voyage! We’ll see you there :)

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5 New Ways to Use Sidewalk Chalk

The other day we bought these new sidewalk chalk paint rollers and I was amazed at how much fun they were to use on our driveway! The coverage was so much better than our regular ol’ sidewalk chalk. I’ve never bothered with anything but the usual stuff, but now I think we may be hooked on experimenting with every kind of sidewalk decorating approach there is!

Luckily, there are bloggers out there already a step ahead of me, creating tons of fun ways to reinvent the humble piece of chalk. With homemade recipes and original ideas floating all around the place, it won’t take long to find your favorite. I’ve handpicked a couple of the projects I know my family wants to try – the ones that don’t require too much know-how or prep time, but that still produce super fun results. Because that’s how we roll around my house – by the seat of our chalk dust covered pants!

Exploding Chalk Bags
see tutorial at Growing a Jeweled Rose

I’m telling you, this may be the coolest thing you’ll ever get to do with chalk. And the results on the driveway are gorgeous. Your neighbors may think you’re awfully messy, but I think it looks wonderful!

Make Your Own Sidewalk Chalk
see tutorial at Playful Learning

The idea that I could create the custom color palette of my dreams has my artsy side all antsy to make my own chalk right this second. That way, no matter what your kids draw, you know the colors will be gorgeous!

Wet Sidewalk Chalk Activity
see tutorial at Happy Hooligans

Get your chalk wet! It’s such a simple concept, but the results are crazy cool. It’s like working with oil pastels on a larger level. Mmm, feels so good.

Sidewalk Chalk Paint
see tutorial at All Things Simple

This is a simple recipe for sidewalk paint that lets kids use as much as they want. Plus, it’s so quick and easy, that you can always make more. Am I the only crazy crafty lady who wants to decorate my entire driveway with fabulous scenery?

Pictured at top: Driveway Photography, see the images via Annanimnity.

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Have A Big Time Under The Big Top With Colorful Cardboard Circus Tents

Every summer I teach an art camp at my house for kids ages 4-8. Our kickoff week was called Join the Circus! We made clown masks, trapeze mobiles, ice cream cones, and lots of cheery bunting. Our favorite project were these spectacular circus tents! Completing the crafts almost completely on their own, the kids were so proud of their colorful new toys… and their teacher was pretty proud, too :) I’m excited to share with you the tutorial and for your little ones to experience the magic of the Big Top.

What You Need

• A small cardboard box (about 8” x 8” x 6”)
• Scissors and an exacto knife
• One cardboard paper towel tube
• Single hole punch (1/8”)
• White school glue
• Washi tape
• Pipe cleaners
• Beads (we used pony beads and cut-up paper straws)
• Duct tape
• Colored paper cut into little squares (for the floor)
• Red striped fabric (or paint/color your own stripes on white fabric)
• Egg carton (cut into individual cups)
• Tempera paint
• Several small paint brushes
• Pom-poms (one large for the top of the tent)

How-To

Step 1
Prepare your box, as shown above. Use scissors to cut off the top flaps of the box. Draw an archway on all four sides, then cut each out with the exacto. Trace the circumference of the paper towel roll on the bottom of the box, in the center. Now cut out the circle on the top layer of the bottom flaps (see bottom right image). Make sure not to cut through both flaps! This is important.

Step 2
Use your hole puncher to punch holes around the top of the paper towel tube. These will be used later to attach the pipe cleaners.

Now for the fun part! Let the kids cover their paper towel roll with washi tape (this could be a fun activity even without making the tents!) The kids can either rip the tape with their fingers, or use small scissors.

Step 3
Glue the paper towel roll into the bottom of the box. Let dry overnight.

Once the frame of your tent is good and dry, string pipe cleaners through approx. half the holes at the top of the paper towel roll. Let the kids bead the cleaners until they reach the top of the box. Then use duct tape on the inside of the box to secure the other end of the pipe cleaner (we used colored duct tape to make the inside of our tents as fun as the outside). Continue beading the pipe cleaners all the way around until a roof is formed.

Step 4
Now it’s time to tile the floor. Gather up all your pieces of cut paper. Pour some glue into a little bowl and use a paint brush (I like using the ones that come with paint sets) to stick down the papers.

This is optional. You can always just squeeze straight from the glue bottle, but using a bowl and brush makes it easier to reach inside the box, plus kids tend to use less glue.

Step 5
Pour a little bit of tempera paint into a few small bowls (I used yellow, light green, pink, and light blue). Choose your roof color and paint the outside of your egg carton cup. Glue the carton cup facedown to the top of the tube. Add one big pom-pom of a different color.

Step 6
Cut out a piece of the striped fabric to fit a side of the box. Now use this as a template to cut three more. Cut a slit up the middle of each piece of fabric, making sure to stop just before reaching the top. Glue all four pieces to the sides of your box using craft glue.

Step 7
Pull back the curtains with small pieces of pipe cleaner (I simply cut a regular pipe cleaner in half).

We completed this project over the course of three days. Every day the kids arrived so excited to continue making their tents! It was a labor of love, but they never got tired of working on them. Between taping rolls, beading pipe cleaners, tiling floors, and cutting curtains, there was enough variety that each new step seemed fresh and exciting!

Oh! And the little clowns were made by the kids and my 14-year-old assistant (who happens to be my lovely daughter). I was off cleaning up and when I came back, they had found the pegs and added fabric clothes, a pom-pom hat, and a black sharpie face. You can find the materials for these wooden people at any craft store.

I hope you have a big time under the Big Top! There is nothing better than a toy made by a child’s own hands :)

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Stitch Along with Adorable Kid-Friendly Cactus Cards

It seems that everywhere I turn right now, I see a cactus. As a little girl, my grandpa always had a grouping of mini cacti growing. I can’t tell you how tempted I was to touch them, but I never did (not even the ones that looked fuzzy), because let’s face it, cacti (at least real cacti) aren’t exactly kid-friendly.

After all these years, I finally have a solution for cacti-loving kids (and grown-ups). I’ve drawn up some cute cactus friends that are much safer to play with than the kinds you have water. Thread gives texture to the cards, which little ones will love running their hands over, plus it’s a great starter craft for young stitchers. All the things I love wrapped up into one adorable craft!

What You Need

• Cactus Stitching Cards Template: download here
• Card stock
• Cardboard or styrofoam (for hole punching)
• Needle with a large eye
• Embroidery floss
• Scissors
• Tape

How-To

Step 1
Print the cards onto card stock, then cut them out. Place the card on a piece of corrugated cardboard or styrofoam and use the needle to punch a hole at the ends of each cactus needle.

Step 2
Cut a piece of embroidery floss (about 18 inches is probably good.) You can use the embroidery floss just as it comes out of the skein, or you can separate it into thinner pieces. To do this, divide the thread into two sections of three strands each. Slowly pull them apart, then let them untwist on their own.

Step 3
Tie a knot in one end of the embroidery floss and thread the other end through the needle. Sometimes the knot can pop through the hole, so it’s a good idea to secure the end with a small piece of tape on the back side of the card.

Step 4
Starting from the back, stitch through the pre-punched holes, taking the thread over each cactus needle, and threading it back through the corresponding hole.

When bringing the needle from the back to the front, I find that it’s best to flip the card over so you can see what you’re doing and so you don’t end up making extra holes.

Step 5
When you reach the end of your embroidery floss, flip the card over and secure it with a knot and another piece of tape. You’re then ready to start with another piece of thread and keep stitching!

After you’ve stitched one card, you’ll want to do more and more. You can frame them or simply stick them up on the fridge for some fun, touchable, and not-so-prickly cactus art.

Happy Cactus Crafting!

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