Schoolkins // Making Nature Fossils in the City
If you’ve been anywhere — anywhere! — in the last several years, you know nature exploration is a thing. Nature walks and nature journaling have exploded in popularity, and at every corner you can find watercolor studies of leaves, plants, and insects. But this fascination is nothing new. People once crowed by the hundreds into drafty lecture halls, to listen in awe while explorers of old captivated them with tales of just-discovered wonders. Curiosity cabinets, those aptly named display cases of time gone by, were filled with insect specimens, unusual rocks, pressed botany, and yes, even preserved taxidermy. We as humans have always been enraptured by the unknown, the adventure that’s just beyond the horizon.
Today, especially in #schoolkins circles, there’s such an emphasis put on letting your children out into the wild open, and letting them splash through creeks, dig for worms, and forge their own trail through the underbrush. But if you live in an urban setting or an apartment building, like we do, this kind of exploration likely isn’t a natural extension of your day. There are occasional bursts of nature in the city, yes, but the open prairies come alive by reading Sarah, Plain and Tall rather than stepping outside our front door, and the only tree-houses we’re likely to encounter are those in Swiss Family Robinson.
And I know we’re definitely not the only family making our home in a multi-family building, rather than a mountainside cabin. That’s why I am happy to share this little fossil clay project with you today. It’s a nature project, but everything you need can be gleaned from your windowsill plants or collected from the sidewalks that wind their way through your not-so-wild landscape. We just miiight have foraged a little bit of faux-nature — stay with me here! — from the toy box, too.
Fossil Clay
To create your own fossils, you’ll first need to mix up some sedimentary rock. You can find fossil clay recipes in a number of places around the internet as well as in several books, but here’s how we did it. Make either a single or double batch, depending on how many fossils you wish to create. (Be sure to measure carefully, or your clay won’t be usable.)
1 c. baking soda // or 2. c. baking soda
1/2 c. corn starch // or 1 c. corn starch
1/2 c. cold water // or 1 c. cold water
Whisk together dry ingredients and water, and pour in to a saucepan. With a sturdy spoon, stir mixture over medium heat for just under 4 minutes, until it thickens into a consistency that’s a little less stiff than playdough. Pour the lump of clay onto a glass plate, and let cool for a couple of minutes, then knead until smooth.
Roll the dough into little spheres, then flatten into discs. Place the discs onto a non-stick surface, like a cutting board covered in wax paper or a Teflon-coated baking sheet. Your sedimentary rock is now ready to take the shape of the items you press into it! Before we made our fossil clay, we snipped rosemary clippings from our urban container “garden”, gathered leaves from houseplants, collected twigs and gravel from the sidewalks and the area around the downspouts, and even dove into the toy storage for some little creatures.
After you’ve imprinted all sorts of creative patterns — there are so many different options! — allow your sedimentary rock to dry. In a dry climate, leaving the fossils out uncovered overnight might be sufficient; you live in a humid climate, like we do, it make take a little longer for the discs to fully dry out. (You might also need to gently place the discs on a wire rack once the tops have dried, so the underneath can dry as well.)
Your littles now have a whole treasure trove of fossils, each one as unique and individual as their imaginations — and each one is as wild and wonderful as the place you call home, whether that’s in a secluded village or many stories into the city sky.
If you live in an urban area, what have you done lately to encourage exploration?
Craftykins // Schultüte (School Cone)
My son started Pre-School in Germany this week, and it is a German tradition to give your babiekins a Schultüte (a prettily decorated big cone filled with toys, sweets, school supplies, and other goodies) on their first day of school to make their big day a little sweeter. A Schultüte is really meant to celebrate entering the first grade, but since my family is new to living in Germany and I love starting traditions with my son, I decided to make him a Schultüte (entering pre-school is a pretty big deal too). I searched Pinterest for ideas and showed him several Schultütes: decorated traditionally; with ninjas; with soccer balls; with a giant crocodile; and one like an ice cream cone. My son, with wide eyes, picked the ice cream cone (an ice cream cone is his favorite treat after all). With my design inspiration in hand, I accomplished making my son his very first Schultüte, and this is a tradition I am thrilled to share with him and continue. Do you have back to school traditions you share with your babiekins?
Supplies | large cone or poster board | kraft paper | scissors | stapler | glue | packing tape | washi tape | measuring tape | ribbon | fabric | needle & thread | letters & or beads for decorating your Schultüte
Measure a large triangle for your Schultüte & or the paper to wrap your Schultüte with, then cut it out with scissors.
Decorate your Schultüte – I used washi tape, a drawing of an ice cream cone, and painted wooden letters to spell my son’s name.
Staple fabric to the top of your Schultüte, I also stapled a fabric scallop that I cut out to represent ice-cream, then fill the Schultüte with toys, sweets, school supplies, and other goodies.
Fill & shape the top of the Schultüte, I used bubble wrap or you could use tissue paper, then tie it closed with a ribbon at the top.
Lastly, decorate the top of the Schultüte to look like candies on the ice cream cone by sewing on beads. My son helped by picking out the beads to use, but I didn’t let him look inside the Schultüte – that was a surprise for his first day of school!
My son’s first Schultüte!
My son loved his Schultüte and he loved his first day of school. I hope your babiekins have a wonderful first day of school too!
Craftykins // No-Sew Mommy and Me Tote Bags for Mother’s Day
Tote bags are one of my favorite sewing projects. They require very few materials, take less than thirty minutes to make, and have so many great uses. And, if you don’t know how to sew, they are actually even easier! I made these totes as a gift to myself and my daughter to “tote” around on Mother’s Day and I think I’ll just go make ten more…
Materials needed:
- One yard of any type of fabric (cotton, canvas, jersey etc.)
- Strips of vinyl or leather for the handles
- Fusible bonding web (stitch witchery)
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
- Iron
- First, cut out your pieces. I cut the large tote 12in. wide x 28in. long and the small tote 9 in. wide by 20 in. long, but you can really make them any size or shape you want. Cut two vinyl straps for the larger handles 24″ long by 1/2″ wide and two straps for the small tote 14″ long by 1/2″ wide.
- Fold the fabric in half width-wise so that the right sides are facing each other. Open it and place a strip of bonding along both edges. Fold the fabric right sides together again and iron on top of the fabric so that the bonding seals the fabric pieces together.
- Fold the top edge of the tote bag down about 1 inch and place more bonding underneath the fold all around. Iron again on top of the fabric.
- Turn the tote bag right side out and hot glue your straps down. I placed mine on the outside because I liked the look of it but you can also glue them to the inside of the bag.
Let the straps dry for a few minutes and your bag is done! Repeat the same steps for each bag.
Fill them with flowers, snacks, or even a picnic blanket and your enjoy your Mother’s Day with your little ones!
Valentine’s Day Fridge Magnets
Whenever another holiday comes around, I like to think of creative ways to display the cards that I get in the mail from friends and family. I found these birch tags at my local craft store and thought they would make cute magnets for displaying Valentine cards on the fridge.
There are so many things that you could make with these little birch tags but I just picked up a few things that I saw in the craft store. You could also use markers or paint that you already have around your house and decorate them with your kids.
I found these tiny paper roses and itty bitty pom poms at the same craft store and then I also picked up the sticky magnet roll. The gold paint was leftover from a previous project so I used that as well.
I cut the magnet to fit each piece and then stuck it on the back. I used a glue gun to stick on the paper flowers and the pom poms letters, and then some painter’s tape to make a geometric heart which I painted with the gold spray paint. And that’s it! These would be really fun to use for displaying your kid’s Valentine cards from school.
Mini Ikea Play Kitchen Makeover
I have always been a fan of Ikea’s kid’s toys. When I was searching for a play kitchen for my daughter, I came across Ikea’s Duktig play kitchen. It was modern enough for my taste and easy on the budget. Since I have always wanted to remodel a kitchen of my own some day, I thought that this might be good practice, ha!
Here is what the play kitchen from Ikea looks like:
Here is my version:
I had so much fun painting it, and was surprised at how simple it was to put together.
Here was my to-do list for the mini kitchen:
1. Add “butcher block” contact paper to the counter top
2. Change the handles on the cabinets
3. Paint the wood parts white
4. Paint the sink, faucet, stove, rail/hooks, and legs metallic gold
5. Add a faux subway tile back splash
6. Add mood lighting underneath the microwave area
Materials used:
- Ikea TAG handles
- Butcher block contact paper
- LED stick-on lights
- White spray paint + primer
- Krylon gold metallic spray paint
- White foam poster board
- Black Sharpie
The first thing that I did was assemble the bottom part without the cabinet fronts, shelves, or countertop. I spray painted the whole thing with primer as well as the sink, faucet, stove, rail/hooks, legs, and cabinet handles. I also primed the blonde wood pieces for the top parts of the kitchen.
After everything was primed, I spray painted the fixtures with two coats of the gold metallic spray. Then, I spray painted all of the white parts with a white gloss spray paint. It took only a couple of hours to dry but I would recommend letting everything dry at least a day or two before you start to put anything together.
The next thing I did was cover the counter top with the faux butcher block contact paper. This was a little tricky but it easily peeled right off if I made a mistake so that I could fix it. I used a credit card to smooth out any air bubbles as I went. Once it was covered, I cut out the spaces for the sink and stove.
After everything was painted and covered with contact paper, I assembled everything together. The last step was to create the faux subway tile back splash which I made using foam poster board and a black sharpie! Easy peasy! I made the “tiles” 2in. x 4in. and then just nailed the poster board into the back of the kitchen.
Lastly, I stuck on the LED lighting and adding in her play accessories. I just love how it turned out and it has held up perfectly so far to my destructive two-year-old!
DIY Decorations
Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments
I can remember making these simple Christmas ornaments as a little girl. They’re easy, kid-friendly, and will make your kitchen smell divine!
To make about two dozen ornaments {depending on the size of your cookie cutters}, you’ll need:
1 cup applesauce
1 cup cinnamon {plus a bit extra for rolling out dough}
2 tablespoons ground cloves
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until everything is well incorporated and a dough forms. This is easiest using your hands.
Note: even though only food ingredients are used, don’t eat these!
Roll out dough, sprinkling extra cinnamon as you would flour to prevent sticking to the rolling pin and counter.
When dough is about 1/2 inch thick, use cookie cutters to cut out ornaments.
Use a wooden skewer to poke a hole through each ornament.
Place ornaments on a cookie sheet and bake in a 225 degree oven for about an hour. Ornaments should be rock hard and completely dried out when they’re done.
After the ornaments have cooled, thread a piece of twine through each hole and hang!