Hoping and dreaming and someday maybe sleeping....

Imagine having creative parents. And than imagine a creative parent that is also very DIY handy or has the number of a great carpenter. It's combinations like these that result in sleeping arrangements such as this HUT. It was posted last march on OEUF le blog and although many tutorials were requested no reply could be found. So if you don't have the above mentioned parent you're stuck watching this image and hoping and dreaming....

Make your own growth chart

If you can draw and paint this is a great idea spotted on the IKEA kids site. Use one of their rolls of paper, paint and your own imagination to create a growth chart. And the good part is. This one you can take with you when you move and write their growth on. I remember us doing this on the kitchen door post. You could really see a growth spurt around 14 years old.

Get ready for December 5th: Sinterklaas!

In the Netherlands we celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th of December. Get into the spirit with this free download game for the little ones. Designed by StudioFormo for MoodKids website. It's in Dutch but if you want to play all you need to do is follow these instructions:

Print double sets of these pages (download here) on thick paper. You each get one sheet with the houses to play with. Don't let the other one see your sheet during the game. Cut out all the figures from the other sheet.

Following a little story you make up yourself... you each have to place the cut outs in the correct place. For instance... In the red house lives only one person but he has been very nice and receives three gifts. The house with two doors gets five presents. On the roof of the brown house you can find two little helpers. After the story you compare your sheets.

Increadably adorable and very desirable

I don't know how to crochet. This was fine cause I did know how to knit, embroider and sew and where would I find the time to also crochet. But now that I see this little serie of images on House of Pictures I wish I did know how to crochet. This must be so nice for a little girl to play with. Change clothes, play with doll and bear or take a little nap on the sofa. I think I must meet up with crochet queen Yvonne for a little workshop.

Clever decorating by Weekdaycarnival

Those who read my Lille Lykke blog know I'm a big fan of Weekdaycarnival. She always has great clean and crisp decorations with fun little additions. These are some pictures she has posted of an update on her daughters room. I absolutely love the idea of cutting your own shapes out of honeycomb balls. These diamond shaped ones are much more 'today'.

Show your pictures

Kids love to look at pictures. And with our digital cameras these days we don't often make prints anymore. But done this way like seen on the Dosfamily blog I think it's really cute. Specially since there are also copies of old pictures used. And clever find, they're laminated and taped to tiles so you don't have to drill holes for a frame.

How cute is this birthday cake!

First of all I have to give my compliments to the mom baking this cake for her daughters birthday. I totally love the look of the rainbow cake and think the baking must take a lot of patience. But than.... will you look at this frosting layer. What an amazing idea to have your kid decorate their own birthday cake. I totally, absolutely, enormously LOVE IT! So Rosie from the Sweetapolita blog KUDOS to you! Go to her site to find links for the recipe.

Geometric shaped play house aka mat

You can always expect something creative from the Weekdaycarnival blog from Finland. Just like this little playhouse a.k.a. playmat that you can just zip together. She used the fabric from Finlayson. And if you love the bunkbed... It's Aalto + Aalto and the great TIGER poster is by Ingela P Arrhenius. You can buy this at one of our sponsors.

Making a kids lunch FUN!

Is your kid a bit of a troubled eater? Make his food fun and he or she'll be more likely to go for it. Like with these bento boxes. It does mean a bit of effort from your side but aren't these boxes like little food gifts. These come from the website Another Lunch with many great examples. I'm also a bit of a fan of the bento boxes by Dutch Larienet. You can find some of their examples on facebook. My favourite from their collection is this one.

Keep all your cardboard boxes!

Don't throw out your cardboard boxes after buying something. There are little ones that with a little help from mom or dad can play with them for hours and hours. How cute are these to examples of a car at a gas station and this cute little kitchen complete with little stove and fridge. These images are found on Pinterest and there are many more suggestions of cute things you can do with cardboard. But originally they come from the blog Declutterorganizerepurpose.

Painted blocks

Of course, a young child can play hours and hours with the natural wood colour blocks. But what an addition are these little faces and other painted decorations as spotted on the Lisen Adbåge blog. Easy to make yourself, just add different style eyes, mouths and other funny faces. If you need further inspirations you can also turn to the collection of the wooden blocks by Ingela P Arrhenius.  

Life size finger puppets

The best way to play monster is with these life size finger puppets made as a special project by Creature Features. I guess it would also be great fun to make one of these dress up monsters with the kids. Let them draw on a large white sheet, get a contrast coloured fabric from the market (or another old sheet) and sew them togehter. In the area of the nose you take some see through (I'd probably use material you would use for screens to keep insects out) black material. And don't forget while you are sewing to keep the open space for the arms. That makes these little monsters extra scary.

Something to create

Make sure you keep cardboard boxes and packaging boxes for nice little craft projects during the weekend. Such as these two cute little creatures. Wouldn't you put these on display in your home as art. I know I would. My son is just 5 weeks old so it will take some time before we can start crafting together. Doesn't matter, until that time I can scout, collect and share these projects. This inspiration comes from the great website Handmade Charlotte.

Having a crafty afternoon

I really hope to be able to spend many hours working on little projects like this with my kids. I love all kinds of craft work and so far my nieces and nephews have had the benefit of that. The masks are just an idea to get you started. The top ones are a free download by Sweet Little World and the Let's get ready to rumble masks are an example found on the Weekday Carnival blog. 


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Playing with a cool activity board

How cool is this activity board. Kids are always playing with plugs, switches and things you would rather not have them play with. If you make a board like this they can practice their fine motor skills by opening, closing, pulling, switching, screwing, bolting. Look for some tips on how to make one yourself on Lilla-a-design blog or if you don't want to get handy yourself you can always opt to buy one in her Etsy shop.