How to make a Pay it Forward Advent Calendar from Craft it Up Christmas ...

We love a chocolate Advent calendar as much as the next person. But we were thinking, wouldn't it be good to give something back in the days leading up to Christmas, instead of taking? The divine Jen at CICO books has made a fabulous You Tube tutorial so you can make one just in time for the 1st of December!

Deconstructed craft

Clearly I love a craft project and the structure it teaches. But I am also a huge proponent of allowing kids to let their imagination run wild and to create without boundaries or restrictions. My 6 year old made me this fruit bowl yesterday. She's my fifth child, and it wasn't always easy for me to stand back and allow thick brown plastic packaging tape to smother pretty pink tissue.

This holiday or weekend or rainy day, make sure you've stockpiled some cereal boxes, toilet rolls and tape. If you have the materials available, it makes it so much easier for kids to experiment. And you can put the kettle on...

St Patrick's Day cupcakes

Here in the Craft It Up studio we need very little encouragement when it comes to cupcakes and baking with the kids!

 

This is such a great baking project where you can sneak in some colour mixing, weights and measurements and safety drills. At least that's what we're telling ourselves. Really, we just love cupcakes! And who wouldn't when each mouthful is a rainbow of cake?

 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

 

 

Give thanks! Thanksgiving jar

This year we are grateful for so many things! For our families and friends...and for a new book contract! You'll be seeing even more of us in 2014!

 

Even though Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here in Australia, we think it's a good time to join our American friends and think about what we are thankful for! This project should come together fairly quickly and all of the components are flexible. Use what you can find! The head doesn't have to be a ball, you could use a piece of card instead. And if you don't have a glass jar for your notes, you could swap it for an ice cream tub or bowl. If you want a quicker project you can use a hot glue gun instead of waiting for the PVA to dry.

 

Thank YOU for visiting! We're thankful for you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ooooooooooh!...not so spooky Halloween Wreath

If you like your Halloween to be more about cute pumpkins and friendly witches and less about dripping blood and severed hands, then this craft project is for you!

The best bit is that kids of all ages can cut out the felt circles. And because you're stacking them together they can be cut out fairly slap dash and it'll still look amazing!

This project uses a lot of felt, so it can be pricey. You could try using any fabric scraps for more texture, or even circles of paper and card.

Reader pics: Jamaica: "Bang on Time" Tin Can Drum

How good is this? One of our awesome readers Zara made this drum. Love the way she has used 2 very different patterns and such a vibrant colour!

Book giveaway!

Here in Sydney we've just started 2 weeks of school holidays. If you're looking for ways to entertain the kids then look no further! We've got a shiny new copy of the book to give away!

 

Just leave a comment here, inbox us on Facebook or email us at craftitup (at) live (dot) com (dot) au

And because it's Spring here in Sydney, the sun is shining and we're feeling happy...we'll send the book out to you wherever you are!

The winner will be picked on Wednesday which gives us enough time to get the book to you in time for the second week of the holidays! Yippee!