Hey there folks, popping in real quick to share one of my children’s favorite craft projects with you and all Melissa & Doug’s blog readers (hi folks!!!! so glad you’re here, really! Hope you’ll stick around awhile and make yourself at home) This project comes to you just in time for Earth Day as part of a link up with my sweet friends Allie, Amy, Val & Zina.

We call it the Eco Art Camera because it is part art project, part craft project, made of 100% recyclables and all around awesome. Seriously, my guys played with these things for months before they eventually pulled the buttons and lenses off, then we added them back to the recycle bin and who knows what’s become of them now.
Pretty cool right? I was kind of impressed with them to, especially considering what we used to make them:
- an empty box of macaroni and cheese
- the lid from a large jar of spaghetti sauce
- half of a toilet paper roll
- a water bottle lid
- scrap pieces of aluminum foil, newspaper and string

As you’re about to see, tape and tempura paint were also used liberally …

We started by wrapping our box in newspaper and then using our favorite painting technique (not finger painting, but whole hand painting – the messier the better) to cover the newspaper and give the camera it’s color. You could skip this step altogether if you’re pressed for time, but it was my kids favorite part and what gave this project so much personality.

Wait for the paper to dry, we set them outside and went to the park for awhile.

When you get back wrap half of a toilet paper roll and a small piece of cardboard in aluminum foil – a piece of a cereal box or the inside flap of the macaroni box will work just fine. Tape the toilet paper roll to the flat piece of cardboard and then attach the new shape to the front of your camera to make the lens.

Separate the outer plastic ring from your spaghetti sauce lid and hot glue it to the top right of your box to create a viewfinder, anything could be used here really – feel free to get creative with it.

Glue the water bottle lid to the top of the box to act as your shutter.

Carefully glue your neck strap on to the sides, this was the only piece of this project I had to keep fixing for my guys. I never did come up with a really secure way to make it stay … maybe you will! And then you’ll be so kind to tell me about it Thanks.

That’s it, that’s all there is to it. Hand the camera over to your budding photographer and let them get busy snapping. There’s so much fun to be had.
These were a prominent part of our playroom for a very long time, until a toddler got a hold of them. If treated properly, they will last a long time. And if not, they’re simple to make so you can always whip up a new one using items from your recycle bin!

Happy Earth Day weekend folks, tell me have you ever made something using items from your recycle bin? If you have a post or a photo leave it in the comments section, I’d love to see it!

Let me know if you have any questions about any of the steps and do me a favor and join me on Facebook, I’d love to chat with you there.

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Valentines Day is just five days away, are you ready? Yeah, me neither …

Thank goodness I helped put together this beautiful Pinterest board with the superest Mom I know, Val of Frugal Family Fun. It’s chocked full of inspiration for DIY ideas that can be done on the cheap and almost at a moments notice … perfect for procrastinators like me.

Here’s a few projects I’m going to try and make happen around here

Color by Number Valentines (by one of my favorite Pinners!)

Valentine Kisses

Books instead of candy

& Family Time Coupons

Lots more cool stuff on the board, stop by and check it out:
Inspiring Valentines Ideas,
follow it even … that would make my day!

by the way, our reader Sheri won the apron giveaway. Sheri, if you’re reading this … I still need your address.

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We’ve been pretty busy around here crossing things off of our Summer Do list (still need to share it with you, hopefully before summer is over ). I found this recipe for Sidewalk Chalk Paint on the Family Fun website and knew right away it would be the perfect post nap activity. Bonus points since I already had all the supplies needed for this on hand.

To make your own homemade sidewalk chalk paint, you will only need three ingredients ~ water, corn starch and a little food coloring. Quite possibly the simplest project with the kids ever! So simple in fact, I let them make the whole thing. The kids chose to make our first batch in purple, orange, green and blue but it wasn’t long before we had to come back in for a resupply. That’s when they cooked up some pretty neat red and neon green. The colors turned out so gorgeous, in a pastel sort of way.

To make you own, you’ll need:

• 1/4 cup Water
• 1/4 cup Corn Starch
• Food Coloring in assorted colors
• Paint Brushes
• Leftover Containers
• A clear patch of concrete

I found a great step-by-step photo tutorial for you over at the Petite Elephant. Note: I only used between 6-10 drops of food coloring for each paint color (and made one recipe’s worth of each color). I read later, on at the Idea Room, that adding too much food coloring could potentially stain your driveway.

This was such an easy craft (even Dads could do it) and the results were so cool I think it would be great for preschool, a play date, a birthday party or any event with lots of kids.

The paint has a nice chalky texture when it dries and can even be painted over again with water (when you run out of paint) to create a new blended look (see pic below).

All three of my children (ages 1-4) were able to participate in this summer boredom buster and the fun lasted for well over an hour so that ranks up there pretty high on my scale of activities for the kids.

Let me know if you give this a try, I can’t wait to see pics. (Here’s a few pics of us in action)

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