2016 - Page 4 of 29 - Pretty Handy Girl

arts and craft, decor, Decorating, party

Making Hot Air Balloon Decorations

This year I’m helping out with the school book fair decorations again. The theme for our fair was air travel. We made cute hot air balloons, clothespin airplanes, a giant “Welcome” word cloud, and cut out book clouds (tutorial to come soon.) We had the most fun making these adorable hot air balloon decorations using Chinese lanterns and Dixie cups.

They cost next to nothing to make, but were a big hit with the kids. Ready to make your own hot air balloon decorations?

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Chinese lanterns
1/4″ sisal rope
Sisal twine
Hot glue gun (and glue sticks)
Dixie cups
Scissors
Popsicle stick (to depress rope and keep your fingers burn free)

Instructions:

Assemble the Chinese lanterns.

Pre-heat your hot glue gun. If you’ve never used a hot glue gun before or always get burned, read this article first!

Place one Dixie cup upside down on your working surface. Squeeze a dollop of glue into the center of the bottom of the cup. Place the end of your rope into the glue and wait a minute for the glue to harden.

Add a little glue around the end of the rope. Fold the rope back and start to shape it around the center point. (Use a popsicle stick or tweezers to hold the rope as the glue cools. Do I as I say, not as I do.)

Keep adding glue and wrap the rope around the center until you have covered the bottom of the Dixie cup.

Add glue around the sides and wrap the rope around the sides of the Dixie cup. Be sure to firmly press the rope toward the bottom of the cup to avoid gaps.

When the entire cup is covered, cut the rope and secure the end with more hot glue.

Tie one end of sisal twine to the bottom of the Chinese lantern.

Measure the length you want for the twine and cup to hang from the lantern and cut the twine. Tie the other end to the lantern. Fold the twine in half to find the center.

Put a dollop of glue inside the bottom of the Dixie cup. Press the center of the twine into the glue. Let harden for a minute. Run glue up both sides of the inside of the cup and press the twine into the hot glue. Make sure to adjust the twine until the cup hangs level under the lantern.

Once the hot glue hardens, you can hang your hot air balloon!

It could be fun to prop little lego people into the baskets. Or add a tea light into the baskets and light them at night.

Making Hot Air Balloon decorations is an easy craft project with big cuteness factor!

Hope you find somewhere to hang these mini hot air balloons because they will bring a smile to your face.

November 21, 2016/4 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, gifts

12 Toys that Help Kids Grow Creatively

For birthdays and holidays I like to buy gifts for my boys, nephew, and nieces that help grow their creativity and in turn boost their self-esteem. These gift ideas help increase creative thinking and problem solving (skills that are on the decline in this ever increasing digital world.) If you want to help that special kid in your life develop his or her right brain and instill confidence in them, check out these 12 Toys that Help Kids Grow Creatively.

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Assorted Balsa Wood (Small set) and (Large set)

Last Christmas my boys each got a box of assorted balsa wood. They love to build ramps for their matchbox cars, buildings for their stuffed animals and other fun creations. Balsa is soft and can easily be nailed, glued or screwed together. Thinner pieces can be snapped or scored with a knife.

Child-size Real Tools

Forget the cheap plastic tools for your child. These are the real deal (only sized for smaller hands.) Purchase a pair of safety glasses and let them loose on that scrap wood!

DIY Songbird Birdhouse Kit

Work together with your child to make this birdhouse. Hang it in your yard and you’ve helped foster an interest in nature and a sense of accomplishment.

Wooden Artist Easel

Although coloring books are nice, nothing helps foster creativity like a blank slate. Leave this easel stocked with chalk, colored pencils, markers and blank paper to inspire your little Picasso.

SunPrint Paper

This specially coated paper reacts to the sun’s rays. Show your child how to lay items on top of the paper and expose it in the sun. Your child will enjoy creating new art and appreciate a lesson on positive and negative space.

Learning Tower

Help that little one see the world from your angle. While my boys were growing up, we used a learning tower a lot. My sons could safely stand at counter height to help me bake, clean dishes or run mini science experiments.

EZ Fort

Forts are an essential part of growing up. Sofa cushions and sheets are all you truly need. But, this set lets your little one explore and learn geometry and construction while they create. The set folds away neatly when not in use.

Balance Beans Game

This is a game that my son recently received as a birthday gift. It seemed simple enough, until we started playing. The Balance Beans game cards give you a set number of “beans” you need to use and figure out how to balance them on the board. There are easy cards and there are super hard cards that will truly challenge your brain. It’s definitely a mind bender!

Contraptions

This set of blocks is perfect for experimenting with building tunnels, funnels, ramps and chutes. Then send the ball down the track and see how well your structure was constructed.

LEGO Classics Set

I’ve had a bone to pick with LEGO for a while now. All the fancy building sets are appealing to youngsters, but once they put together the model, the child assumes they need to buy another set. What happened to good old creative building with a basic set? Thank goodness, LEGO brought back this “Classic Set”. Now your child can truly get creative with LEGOs again.

Stick-lets Kit

This has to be the coolest way to encourage the kids to play outside. Stick-lets flexible and safe silicone connectors allow kids to connect sticks to create tents, forts and more! Pair this gift with a camo net and you may not see the kids for hours!

Build-it-Yourself Woodworking Set

I can’t resist this woodworking set that comes with a variety of shapes to encourage creative building projects. Help your child build something they want to play with or something with useful.

Do you have any suggestions for games or Toys that Help Kids Grow Creatively? I’d love to hear your favorites. Let’s empower this next generation and help them flex those creative brain cells.

November 18, 2016/2 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft

Thanksgiving Pie Free Printable

Jaime here today from That’s My Letter sharing a free pie printable. As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday I was looking for a cute Thanksgiving Pie Free Printable for the kids (and adults) to color but I couldn’t find anything I liked. I designed this ‘Give Thanks’ pie printable for my family and to share with you!

Just like real life, each pie is different and you decide the fillings with zero guilt about calories! My favorite is pumpkin with all the crust please! And, I do love a pretty lattice pie.

Simply download the free printable here and print as many copies as you like! I recommend printing on cardstock for a nice thick surface, but regular printer paper works fine too.

Print up a stack and set out colored pencils to keep the kids and guests entertained while the turkey is cooking!

Or let your guests try to guess which pie you’ll be serving. The possibilities are endless with so many pie fillings in all different colors!

Your Thanksgiving guests (especially the little ones) will definitely enjoy this pie printable coloring page.

I hope you enjoy this free pie printable coloring page as much as I enjoyed making it. Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Read More of My Tutorials ~

Pin for later!

November 16, 2016/0 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

Build It

DIY Christmas Tree Crate

Hi Pretty Handy readers! It’s Jillian from I Am a Homemaker, and I am here to share a fun and inexpensive idea to hide your Christmas tree stand.

I have always had a tree skirt for my tree, but this year I thought I would mix it up a bit. I have so much scrap wood in my shop. Finding uses for it is almost a relief. It took one hour and cleared up one tiny little section of my pile, but now I have a great DIY Christmas Tree Crate for the bottom of my tree. Interested to learn how to make your own? Let me show you!

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Materials:

2- 1″ x 4″ x 8′ board
Pneumatic Staple Gun (or Cordless nail gun)
Permanent Marker
Stencil
Wood Glue

Cut List:

12 – 1″ x 2″ @ 24″
4 – 1″ x 1″ @ 7.5″ cut from left over 1×4

Instructions:

Step 1: Before we get into cutting, measure your tree stand. My tree stand is 20″ across but I wanted to make the crate to accommodate any stand I may buy in the future, so I made each side of my box 24″ long.

Cutting a 1×4 down to size makes this project inexpensive, but if you aren’t comfortable using a table saw you could also buy 1×2 boards instead.

The 1x4x8 can be cut in half lengthwise and then cut into 24″ sections. You will have enough scrap left over to slice into 1″x1″ pieces for the corners. We’ll pretend I only took a picture of 4, right? ‘Cause you only need 4 ;-).

Step 2: Lay two 1×1 boards onto your work surface. Dry fit the 1x2s on the top to figure out your spacing. You can just eyeball a space that looks good to you. (I’m sure Santa doesn’t require the elves to have perfect measurements on shipping crates.)

Glue and staple the 1x2s onto the 1x1s.

It is fine if you want the top 1×2 to come a bit above the 1×1.

Step 3: Continue stapling the 1×2 boards onto the 1×1 to create a box. Line the sides up flush on the ends.

There is no need to create a bottom because the tree will sit directly on the floor in the middle of the crate.

Step 4: Once you have completed the four sides of your crate, you can customize it with stencils. You could write something like “North Pole” or “To: your family’s name From: The North Pole.”

Step 5:

Add your tree and some burlap, shredded paper or left over packing peanuts. You could also add small, wrapped gifts or ornaments for fun.

I have been meaning to build this for years. I am so glad I can finally cross it off my list!

I’m off to wrap some gifts and get this season started.

What is your favorite way to camouflage your tree stand?

-Read more of Jillian’s posts-

Pin for later!

November 9, 2016/4 Comments/by Jillian Grennon

Fall Leaves, inspiration, Photography

A Walk in the Woods

Last week I waved goodbye to my son as he hopped onto the school bus. As I walked back toward our house I began ruminating on why I’d been feeling low and irritable. Usually the cause is because I’ve been working too hard or spending excess time taking care of the family’s needs. I knew the main reason was the “me time” tank was running on empty.

As I neared our driveway I admired the sun streaming through the trees.

Suddenly I knew I had to pull on my rain boots and go for a walk in the woods.

The air was crisp and clear. Dew still clung to the bushes and flowers.

For the morning I would just wander and admire. No projects, no writing, no updates on social media, and no Facebook perusing. Just me, Nature, and anything she put in my path.

A slight breeze whispered in the leaves and dropped a single dew drop on my nose.

The birds were chirping their gossipy songs to one another. Underfoot, the crunch of acorns crackled as my feet slipped and rolled over the bumper crop of acorns. I maintained my balance and walked through our back gate into the woods.

The scenery was truly inspiring as the sun shown through the trees and highlighted the changing leaves.

I carefully stepped around wild ferns and pricker bushes.

I meandered over the soft forest floor toward the creek beyond our property line.

I noticed several animal tracks and knew they had been there earlier that morning for a cool drink and maybe a meal.

Lichen and moss wrapped around trees and branches as if coating them with a warm sweater in anticipation of cold weather.

As I walked back home, I noticed the sun had begun to rise in the sky and the dew had disappeared.

Our beauty berry bush was bursting with color. Soon it will lose its leaves and the berries will shrivel.

I said goodbye to my blue hydrangeas a few months ago. They have since turned a beautiful green and magenta color. Once again, I’ll fill a vase with clippings to enjoy through the winter. I’ll miss the colorful landscape in a few months, but know it will be back with new shoots and flowers come spring.

From now on, every time I get in a funk I’m going to pull on my boots and go for a walk in the woods.

How about you? What do you do to fill your tank?

November 7, 2016/15 Comments/by Brittany Bailey