How to Frame a Collection of Halloween Toys

All year long I have been collecting vintage Halloween goodies to add to my collection. It's that time to start framing and displaying my loot. One of my favorite scores was at the Round Top Flea Market last spring. I found the prize display from a vintage Halloween themed gum ball machine. It was cheap and really beat up, but I knew with a little TLC and Tacky Glue I could restore it to it's former kitschy glory.

SUPPLIES

Various Small Halloween Toys

Scissors

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Plastic Canvas

Picture Frame with depth (shadow box)

Crafty Chica Paint in black

I happen to have a thrifted frame and orange plastic canvas already in my studio because I am a craft hoarder. I cut my orange canvas to size.

I wanted black to peek through the back of the orange canvas so I coated the cardboard backing with Crafty Chica paint. I also painted the inside of the frame black.

After washing my little prizes and removing them from their shrink wrap prison I picked a few of my favorites. Alas, not everyone could fit. The next thing I did is using Tacky Glue I attached the toys to the plastic canvas.

I think the little collection of stickers, witches fingers, keychains and treat bags fits right in with the rest of my collection. What do you think?

Given I realize not everyone has access to vintage Halloween toys. There are plenty of cute new ones that you could frame. Also, I found mine in one fail swoop but you could also gather a collection bit by bit. I'm thinking of framing my collection of vintage Halloween cupcake toppers that I have picked up through the years.

Check out more Halloween themed posts here. You can find more I Love to Create tutorials here.

Baby Easter Basket

Last week for I Love to Create I made a toddler themed Easter basket for Tallulah and this week I am showing you a few options for the extra wee ones. This is technically Baxter's second Easter, but he was only about a month old last year. This year he is old enough to get a basket full of goodies and maybe even hunt for an egg or two. I was inspired by a post I saw on Modern Parents Messy Kids where they made activity oriented Easter baskets. Now that Baxter has been diagnosed with a fairly severe peanut allergy it is not like I can load the kids baskets up with candy. They don't need candy anyway, but now that we are living in a nut free world it seems like every chocolate Easter bunny is no longer a friend but a foe with hidden nuts. The suggestions I have for my baskets will entertain your kids for a lot longer than a piece of candy and there is no risk of a sugar buzz.


Even your Easter basket should be something fun to play with. Tallulah got the sand pail and Baxter gets a dump truck. Make your basket functional and not something cheap that will get thrown out. Heck, make your own out of recycled paper if you want. Anyway, both kids will get to use their baskets soon enough in the new green turtle sandbox their grandmother got them that I have filled with...wait for it....pink sand.


Like Tallulah not everything in Baxter's Easter Basket is handmade. Here are a few suggestions for baby baskets...

Bubbles (he is a little young for them, but his sister will help)
Socks (Can you really ever have too many?)
Stuffed Bunny (his sister was getting one so I thought he might like something to cuddle)
Bunny Glasses (futures so bright, I gotta wear bunny shades)
Ikea stacking rings (I have a plush version that is getting a little flacid)
My First Crayolas (he always watches Tallulah color longingly)
Board Book (nothing says Easter like pictures of cute puppies)
Flash Cards (who does not like to learn about animal sounds)

Ok, onto the stuff I did make!


Tallulah probably paints every single day. Poor Baxter just gets to sit on the sidelines and watch most of the time. Occasionally I will give him some pudding and put him on a piece of posterboard or in the tub and he has such a good time. Usually he just paints with chocolate pudding, but for Easter I decided to expand his color options.


Using empty baby food jars I used my trusty cheap pudding, but this time I chose vanilla and added food coloring. Nothing fancy, but I know he will love playing with this. I'll set him up outside one hot day soon and just hose him off when he is done. If he does not lick himself clean first.


Have you ever noticed most plastic Easter eggs have 2 small holes on both ends? I'm not sure why, but they do. These holes inspired me to try a version of a project I have seen on Pinterest where you engage a child's sense of smell.

SUPPLIES
Plastic Easter Eggs
Glue Gun
Aleene's Tacky Dots
Spices


I applied 2 Tacky Dots to both sides of the inside of my Easter Egg. Next I shook a separate spice into each egg. Use strong easy to smell spices like curry and cinnamon. I closed my egg and shook the spice around then opened up and dumped out the excess. Plenty of spice stuck to my glue dots. Next use a glue gun to seal your egg closed. I just did a blind smell test with husband and they totally work. A half dozen fit perfectly inside a small Max and Ruby tupperware.


Baxter is a little old for rattles, but I couldn't resist making one of these jars of rice. I have seen them all over Pinterest and Modern Parents Messy Kids made some for their baby basket. You can use the food coloring and alcohol method like I did with the pasta I dyed for Tallulah or you can just spray fabric dye from Tulip.


SUPPLIES
Rice
Tulip Spray Dye
Baby Food Jar
Aleene's Tacky Glue

I spread my rice out on a paper plate and sprayed with fabric dye. I let the rice dry and then tossed and sprayed again. All that was left to do was fill an empty baby food jar and glue the lid on.

Hopefully Baxter and Tallulah will spend hours upon hours quietly entertaining themselves with their baskets and the contents. Then again, maybe not. I should also mention that you should supervise all these activities with your wee ones. Things like glass rattles should be investigated on grass or carpet not cement or hardwood. You get the drift. Have fun and happy Easter!

Here are a few other suggestions of fun goodies to make for your babies Easter basket: stenciled onesies, customized bibs, sensory bottles, grandparent's puzzle, pull toy, booties.

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Hot Lava Rugs

Did you ever play "Hot Lava" as a child?  You run from object to object, making sure not to touch the floor.  Well, I was at the dollar store the other day and they had these little rugs.  That's where my mind went - hot lava.  However, we're taking it up a notch and adding some educational value.  

First I'll show you how to make them and then I'll tell you a billion different ways to use them.  Okay?

While you could free hand the numbers, I chose to make a freezer paper stencil.  I used my Silhouette to cut the numbers out, but they wouldn't be that hard to cut by hand.  (If you haven't tried freezer paper stenciling or if you've never heard of it, you can watch my video tutorial HERE to answer all your questions.)

Now I was extremely careful when I ironed the stencil to the rugs.  Why?  Because carpet can be melted really easily.  I put my iron on medium heat and only blotted it on.  I never left it on more than a half a second.  I wasn't super picky about the stencil adhering perfectly, because it's textured carpet.  It's not really possible.  However, ironing it on will be enough to keep it in place like you need it to.

I got out my Tulip fabric paint and a sponge brush.  You need a fair amount of fabric paint because the carpet sucks it in a bit.  I went through a little over a bottle of paint.

You can't really paint it on.  I used a stipple movement, pouncing the brush everywhere.  Then I peeled off the stencil.  Because I used fabric paint, the rugs still feel quite soft.  They aren't crunchy under your feet.

Now, how can you use them?  Well, there's the basic hot lava, of course.

However, I gave them numbers so that my boys could learn as they played.  Here are some questions/games I play with them (in order of easiest to hardest).

1) For my youngest I call out a number and he stomps on it.

2) Put the numbers in order.

3) Make bigger numbers.  I ask my older child to make twenty-four or thirteen.  

5) Simple addition and subtraction.  I ask what's five minus two?  He stands on the correct rug.

I think there are endless possibilities and I love an inexpensive project.  Even with the paint the whole project is about $6.50.  (Obviously you could make more, but my dollar store only had 5 left.)

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