11.05.2007

homemade christmas idea #2



I've said it before and I'll say it again: my friend Julia is so amazing. She came over a couple of weeks ago and showed me how to make these little pop-up scenes... and they have been consuming me ever since. So far my kids and I have made this kitchen, a bedroom, a castle and a city... the possibilities are endless! You just take some cardstock, fold it in half, and then experiment with different lengths of cuts (always done in sets of two) that you then reverse-fold to make the "pop".

When I say homemade christmas idea, what I have in my mind for my family (we'll see if the plan actually gets executed) is for a sibling-to-sibling gift. My 6 year old really likes this project, and I'm hoping that we can keep the enthusiasm going long enough to hammer one out for the 4 year old (who plays with her little plastic pet shop kitty everywhere). Wouldn't it be so neat to make a whole house of these little rooms?

On a different note, I read last week about letterboxing over at stephanie's blog (see stephmodo, to the right - no, I still haven't figured out how to link on my computer! the link instructions don't work on my mac). If you are looking for a free, fun outdoor thing to do with the little ones, go to www.letterboxing.org -- the site has faq's and a map with all the hidden letterbox locations (letterboxing is basically where you find a clue (via the website) and follow the directions to find a little hidden stamp which you then stamp in a blank book you bring. The idea is to collect lots of different stamps in your book - kind of a record of all your treasure-hunting adventures). We did it on Friday and then on Saturday in the town over. So fun! I thought my kids were going to throw up, they were so excited, when we found the first one on Friday. Apparently there are over 20,000 boxes hidden over the country, so chances are there are some in your area.

Okay, off to sneak some halloween candy!

7 comments:

Jess said...

That house is fantastic!
I will try it with the 3.95 year old at our house.

Carissa said...

Lynne,

The paper house is darling. I also love the letterboxing idea. I went to the website and there is one here in Brighton so we'll try and get started on that later this week. I love fun free things to do with kids.

melissa said...

That miniature house is so adorable! What a fantastic idea. I love the little pictures on the walls. It is so sweet and simple. I'm going to do one this morning with my gal. I hope it works! Thanks for sharing such a brilliant idea!

Unknown said...

What a fun idea! My friend taught us how to do something similar lo the many years ago, but I've only ever done cards. I never thought beyond that point! I'm going to have to get the kiddos going on a fun art project. Yay!

Fine Little Day said...

I really like this.

Stephanie said...

I'd love to know how to make these...any links to "how-to's"? This is awesome and right up my daughter's alley.

Re: adding links (since we're on the subject!) you need to have Firefox. Email me for more details if needed :)

ModCherie said...

We did letterboxing a few times in Orlando. It's like finding treasure!