Fireworks Artwork

 Firework Artwork Supply List: construction paper, 1 paper towel roll, crayons, scissors, glitter paint, paper plate

 Start by drawing a picture of your city or town or home on a sheet of paper.  After we finished this craft I realized that dark construction paper with a white crayon and the glitter paint would have turned out really nice.  Oh well, maybe next time.

 Cut thin slits about inch long along the bottom of your paper towel roll.

  

 Dip your paper towel roll in the glitter paint and stamp your fireworks on the paper.

Book Suggestion: Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags: The Story of the Fourth of July Symbols is a great book to read over the 4th of July or really anytime this month.  Cole loved reading about the different icons from American history.

Wandering Wednesday {Cute Little Owls}

First of all, let me apologize for being missing in action this week.  We've been busy swimming and enjoying a lot of outdoor time in some beautiful weather.  Here are some cute little owls for this week's Wandering Wednesday post and I promise to be back very soon with some new crafty goodness.

Wandering Wednesday {Toilet Paper Roll Pincushion}

If I gave away an award for the biggest transformation to a toilet paper roll I think this Toilet Paper Roll Pincushion would take the cake.  I had to take a second look at these because I almost didn't believe it was a toilet paper roll.

Paper Towel Roll Hamster Entertainment

This may be old news to rodent owners but last month while on vacation in Boston we visited the Museum of Science.  The museum was incredible and the kids had a blast and wouldn't you know that one of the exhibits had a hamster cage, complete with paper towel roll for added entertainment.  

Waiting For Paint To Dry

The other day someone emailed me and asked me what we do while I'm waiting for the paint on my tp rolls to dry.  It kind of made me laugh because it seems like we do spend a lot of time waiting for the first part of our project to dry so we can move on.  A few months ago I found this great set of printables over on The Moffatt Girls Blog.  I'm usually not a fan of worksheets, but these are short and fun and involve reading, writing, cutting and gluing.  Typically while we're waiting for our paint to dry we'll do a worksheet, bake some cookies or muffins, run through some flash cards or just create something with our leftover supplies.  What do YOU do while you're waiting for paint to dry?

Toilet Paper Roll Unicorn

Ok, let me start by saying that I consider this to be a total cheat craft.  I mean, we really made it, but I used a printout for the body parts that go with the unicorn.  This is not something that I usually do but in the last month we've moved, had end of the school year shenanigans and taken a week long family vacation.  Needless to say it's been crazy busy around here.  Shortly after the move Cole was begging to do a craft and this was a quick and easy answer.

Unicorn Supply List: 1 toilet paper roll, paint, glue, scissors, glitter, unicorn template found here

Start by painting your toilet paper roll.  Cole chose to mix some purple with white and some glitter glue.

While you're waiting for your paint to dry cut out your unicorn pieces.

Paint your unicorn pieces with some glitter glue to make it extra sparkly.

Glue on your legs, head and necklace.  Not the cutest craft we've ever done, but it was still fun.

Wandering Wednesday {Toilet Paper Roll Lamp}

When I first saw this lamp, I thought it was something right out of the IKEA catalog.  But nooooo... It's a lamp made out of toilet paper rolls.  How crafty is that?

Reader Spotlight

This is a new segment I've added where I'm going to spotlight pictures sent in by my lovely readers.  These photos come from Laura and her son Evan.  Using a wrapping paper tube Laura and Evan made a race car ramp similar to the one I showed here.  Thanks for the pictures Laura, it looks like Evan had lots of fun racing his cars!

Toilet Paper Roll Paint Chip Peacock

 Peacock Supply List: 1 toilet paper roll, 5-7 paint chips cards, google eyes, paint, scissors, glue, scrap of yellow paper

 Start by painting your toilet paper roll and allow to dry.

 Trim your paint chips to approximately 2 inches by 6 inches long.  I did this to trip the color names off the sides of the cards.

 Fan out your paint chips and glue them one on top of each other.

 Glue your toilet paper roll on top of the paint chips and let it sit to dry.

Add your eyes and beak and your peacock is ready to play.

Book Suggestion: Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails: Patterns & Shapes is a poetry book about patterns that occur in nature.  After we finished the book we talked about the patterns on our paint chips and then looked for some patterns around our house.  It was a cute book that was fun to read.

Wandering Wednesday {Toilet Paper Roll Origami}

So, technically this isn't a toilet paper roll craft, but I did think it was a craft way to display your toilet paper.  Evidently, there is a whole book dedicated to toilet paper origami.

Paper Towel Roll Flag {Flag Day}

Happy Flag Day!  Here's an easy little craft to help celebrate the birthday of the American Flag.

Flag Supply List: 1 paper towel roll, sheet of construction paper, packing tape, scrap paper, glue, scissors

Cut strips of paper from your scraps and glue them down on your large sheet.

Use your packing tape to adhere the paper to the paper towel roll.

Wave your flag all over the house!  We loved this craft and it was simple and required little drying time.  It would be a great activity to do with a large group of kids.  I think we might adapt it to create an American Flag for the 4th of July.

Book Suggestion: We checked out F Is For Flag at the local library and it was a great find.  Flags are everywhere, but this book talks about how a flag can have many meanings.

Stamp Your Own Gift Bag

 Gift Bag Supply List: 1 gift bag, 1 toilet paper roll, paint

 Use a bowl or plate to mix up some paint.  Cole wanted to mix some green with a little yellow and some glitter glue.  Glitter glue is very popular around here these days.

 Use your toilet paper roll to stamp circles on your gift bag.

Add some tissue paper and ribbon and you have a lovely gift for Father's Day!

Summer Bingo

I'm going to let you know that this has nothing to do toilet paper rolls but since summer is here I want to share some of our summer plans with all my lovely readers.  This is the second summer that I am playing Summer Bingo with Cole.  If you're interested in learning more I've posted details about it over on the From the Fence Post blog.
Update: If you are interested in downloading the rules and a few card templates you can click here.

I use 5x7 sheets of cardstock to mount the bingo cards.  I hole punch them and put them on a ring so that we can keep them all together.  The picture you see is the cover of the set and then the rules card and finally the actual bingo cards.  Cole gets a new card every Sunday and he has a week to do the activities listed.  Every time he gets a bingo he gets a ticket which can be turned in for prizes.

Wandering Wednesday {Bathroom Border Stencil}

I thought this little number over on the House*Tweaking site was brilliant.  Using a toilet paper roll to stamp circles on the walls of your bathroom is a great decorating tip.  I might have to try this when we move into our new house.

Toilet Paper Roll Toadstool

 Toadstool Supply List: 1 toilet paper roll, white paint, scissors, glue, construction paper

Cut about an inch off your toilet paper roll and save it for a later project.  Paint the remaining portion of your toilet paper roll white and allow to dry.

 Cut a circle out of a piece of red construction paper.  I let Cole do the cutting on this one.

 Paint white circles on your red construction paper.  I painted the circles for Cole and then he filled them in.  Cut a slit on one side of the circle up to the center.

Bend your construction paper slightly and glue the sides together.  Glue your construction paper on top of your toilet paper roll and allow to dry.

Book Suggestion: My kids love pop-up books and Pop-Up Toadstool  is no exception.  This book is full of beautiful pictures and beautiful pop-ups as well as a delightful story.  After we made our toadstool Cole got out his plastic bug collection and they played on it just like in the story.