Craft Contributor Olivia Foster

Halloween Yarn Spider Egg Sacs

With less than 2 weeks until Halloween, its time to start organising costumes, shopping for lollies & decorating the house!

Any other month, I would be horrified to have real spider egg sacs hanging around my house, as it would leave me no other option than to burn it down! However, the month of October means we have to make exceptions when it comes to decking out our house with creepy decorations.

Today I’m sharing a messy & fun craft, perfect for after-school! It’s inexpensive and totally spooky! Here’s how to make Creepy Spider Egg Sacs

>>> How To Make: Halloween Yarn Spider Egg Sacs

Ages: 5+
Time: 30 mins + drying time

You’ll Need

Water Balloons
White Yarn
Scissors
1 cup Flour
1 cup Water
Plastic Spiders
PVA Glue

To Make:

1 // Blow up water balloons to the size you want your spider sacs. We used an air pump, as water balloons are near impossible to blow up!

2 // Cut yarn to desired lengths. We cut ours in 25 – 35 inch lengths, dependent on how big the balloons were.

3 // Combine 1 cup of water with 1 cup of plain flour in a bowl and mix until smooth.

4 // Place yarn into the mixture & let them soak.

5 // Cut small lengths of yarn and tie to the tops of the balloons.

6 // Take a piece of wet yarn and squeeze out excess liquid and then start wrapping string around the balloon.

7 // Hang to dry with the short length of string.

8 // Once dry, pop and remove the balloon.

9 // Glue plastic spiders to the inside and outside of the yarn & allow to dry.

Any other month, I would be horrified to have real spider egg sacs hanging around my house #halloween

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That’s it! All that is left to do is hang your spider sacs amongst lots of fake spider web! Happy Crafting!

If your house is showing off some rather spooky decorations? Tag @oliviasfoster and #craftyliving or #nannyshecando in your photos!

>> Do you trick or treat on Halloween?

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Olivia is a full time career nanny based in Sydney, Australia. She is passionate about children and child development. She uses creative and fun activities to develop teachable moments. Olivia shares an insight into her ‘nanny life’ on her social media accounts. You’ll find Olivia on Instagram & Pinterest at @oliviasfoster, sharing Arts, Craft & Activities for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers. Up next for Olivia is the exciting launch of her website ‘A Crafty LIVing’, coming soon!

Shredded Paper Seed Starters

Over winter our veggie garden was forgotten. So we spent the first few days of the school holidays out in the sun giving it some much needed TLC getting it ready to sow some Spring seeds. We took a trip to our local nursery to pick out different fruit, vegetable, flower and herb seeds we wanted to grow.

These seed starters are a fun way to get school age kids into the garden, a perfect activity for the school holidays! The seeds are embedded into the shredded newspaper, which acts as a mulch, helping your seeds to grow. They also make wonderful gifts!

>>> How To Make: Shredded Paper Seed Starters

Ages: 5+
Time: 40 mins

You’ll Need:

Newspaper
Tissue Paper
Water
Scissors
Seeds
Cookie Cutters
Piece of Cardboard

To Make:

1 // Shred newspaper and tissue paper, and then cut into small squares.

2 // Place in a bowl and cover with water.

3 // Mix with your fingers (tissue paper will bleed out and may stain your fingers and or clothing).

4 // When the paper is soft, drain out the water. (We used a mesh bag to squeeze out the water.)

5 // Press a small handful of the damp paper into a cookie cutter. Be sure to press down firmly into all corners so it holds its shape.

6 // Sprinkle the top of the paper with your chosen seeds.

7 // Top with a thin layer of the paper mix, continuing to press firmly. Remove the cookie cutter and place on a piece of cardboard. Allow to completely dry out in the sun. This can take up to 48hrs.

8 // Once completely dry you’re ready to get planting! Place the seedling starters into the ground or a pot as you would normally with seeds. Give it a good drink of water & wait! In a few months, you’ll have a garden of growing veggies!

Now to learn the art of patience whilst we wait for our seedlings to grow! Show us your Seed Starters; we’d love to see them! Tag @oliviasfoster and #craftyliving or #nannyshecando in your photos!

These seed starters are a fun way to get school age kids into the garden. #schoolholidays #ausnannylife #diy

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Happy Crafting! And don’t forget to keep watering your veggies!

>>> Are you excited for warmer weather and spring?

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DIY Sandpaper Crayon T-Shirt for Dad

Dads are best known for being king of the BBQ, telling embarrassingly bad jokes, and having a super-hero-like figure. With Fathers Day quickly approaching we decided to gift him a stylish new addition to his wardrobe with a cute & easy, original art t-shirt. A gift that he can proudly wear whilst we return the love and affection he gives to us daily.

>>> How To Make: A DIY Sandpaper Crayon T-Shirt for Dad

Ages: 4+
Time: 50 minutes

You’ll Need:

Fine Sandpaper
Quality Crayons
Cotton T-shirt
Paper Towel
Piece of Cardboard
Iron

To Make:

1. Draw a picture onto sandpaper. Go back over the image to create a thick layer of colour. Remember the image will be reversed.

2. Lay a piece of cardboard on the inside of the t-shirt so the crayon doesn’t bleed through to the back.

3. Place the sandpaper right side down onto t-shirt.

4. Cover the sandpaper in paper towel or a folded tea towel and iron for 20-30 seconds on the cotton setting.

5. Slowly lift paper from the corner and remove. Re-place paper towel over the image to set colour and then place in the dryer for 20 mins.

Don’t forget to thank your Dad for everything he does for you and maybe try to be a little more tolerant of his silly Dad-jokes this Fathers Day.

Let the kids make this DIY gift for Dad #fathersday #nannylife @oliviasfoster

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Happy Crafting & Happy Fathers Day!

>>> Tell us your best Dad joke below + join the Father’s Day crafty action by tagging @oliviasfoster in your photos or using the hashtag #craftyliving or #nannyshecando

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Olivia is a career nanny of 5 years and craft extraordinaire. Having travelled Australia working with many families, Olivia now resides in Sydney and cares for 7 children aged 15 months to 1o years old. Craft + diy activities feature prominently in their daily schedule. You can follow Olivia on instagram {@oliviasfoster} for crafty ideas and activities.

How To Make DIY Rainbow Scratch Paper

Books light up our World! Book Week 2015

Books light up our world, just like they light up our children’s faces when we come across a good one! To celebrate, we picked one of our favourites and got crafty!

The Day the Crayons Quit is a popular children’s book written by Drew Daywalt, about a boy and his box of crayons. Each crayon writes a playful, funny letter explaining why they’ve quit. Red Crayon is sick of colouring fire engines & strawberries whilst White Crayon is sad he never gets used.

We used crayons to create Rainbow Scratch Paper. You can purchase Scratch Paper quite cheaply, however making it yourself is twice the fun!

>>> How To Make: DIY Rainbow Scratch Paper

Ages: 3+ (younger with supervision)
Time: 30 minutes, plus dry time

You’ll Need:

Crayons
Cardstock
Black Paint
Dishwashing Liquid
Toothpicks
Paintbrush

To Make:

1. Colour a piece of card with crayons, making sure to fill the whole page with colour. The more colour, the better!

2. Mix together black paint and a small squirt of dishwashing liquid.

3. Paint over the crayon with the paint mixture and allow to dry.

4. Once dry, use a toothpick to scrape patterns, words, pictures etc.

Whether you’ve got a toddler or preschooler, you’re guaranteed to end up with a masterpiece you’ll be proud to hang.

Books light up our world, like they light up our children’s faces! #bookweek @oliviasfoster

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Happy Crafting!

>>> We’d love to see your The Day The Crayons Quit inspired creations for Book Week 2015. Tag me @oliviasfoster and #craftyliving or #nannyshecando in your photos!

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St. Patrick’s Day Craft: Rainbow Pot Of Gold

Christmas feels like it was just two weeks ago and yet here we are, crafting our way into March! St Patrick’s Day is just days away so my pre-schoolers got busy creating a keepsake rainbow. And you can’t have a rainbow without a big pot of gold, can you?

Celebrate the heritage and culture and chat about the luck of the irish with this fun easy kids craft. This rainbow painting and pot of gold is the perfect St. Patrick’s Day Craft and is a great activity to do with the kids in an afternoon, with lots of creativity, reflection and thinking, and laughter (of course).

>>> How To Make A Rainbow Pot Of Gold for St. Patrick’s Day

You’ll Need:

Coloured paper & black card
Scissors
Glue
Markers
Gold paint
A cork, bottle lid or similar

To Make The Rainbow:

1. If you’ve got a writer, have your child write on a pre-drawn and cut cloud: “If I found a pot of gold and a leprechaun gave me six wishes, I’d wish for a rainbow of things!”

2. Cut long strips of coloured paper and glue onto the back of the cloud.

3. Now comes the fun part – the wishes! Picking only 6 is hard but your kids are guaranteed to come up with some pretty cute (& strange) wishes.

4. Write one wish on each colour of the rainbow.

To Make The Pot:

1. Draw or source a pot and stencil onto black card.

2. Use a cork, bottle lid or similar to stamp into gold paint and onto paper. Tip: If you don’t have gold paint, yellow paint with glitter works just as good!

3. Once dry, cut out the coins and glue onto the already cut pot.

Don’t have gold paint? Yellow paint with glitter works just as good! #StPatricksDay #craftsforkids

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We had lots of fun imagining and wishing for everything we could only dream of whilst making this St. Patrick’s Day Craft! Happy crafting.

>>> If a leprechaun gave YOU 6 wishes, what would you wish for?

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Olivia is a career nanny & craft extraordinaire from Sydney, Australia. She shares her passion for children & creativity by providing simple arts, crafts & activities full of learning opportunities. Her aim is to encourage & inspire you to be creative with your babies, toddlers and preschoolers!
You can find more from Olivia at www.acraftyliving.com or follow her on Facebook & Instagram at @acraftyliving.