2.for.Tuesday

The little men are obsessed with pets and bugs and catching bugs and making them pets. I can't count the number of times I've had to tell them there are absolutely no bugs allowed in the house. I don't care if it's their pet. They've also been catching sea creatures + urchins and trying to make them pets. The sea creatures are just soggy weeds, rocks, or clumps of reeds that they have envisioned as creatures, but they need to be kept in a murky cup or jar of water. We all know what happens next.

one: bug catchers. made from paper cups. I really enjoy scrolling through the pages of the lmnop e-magazine. They usually have some fun ideas and this is no exception. It looks pretty straight forward and simple. I imagine you'd just have to:

1. decorate a paper cup
2. cut a door + glue a piece of a zip lock bag or some of that clear window stuff from a junk mail envelope to cover it.
3. Cut out a floor [but don't glue it on yet... I think it would be easier to catch a bug with the wider opening... though I do like their plastic bugs. much much better].
4. The roof is just a circle with a wedge cut out of it and the cut edges glued together to make a coned shape. Glue it on and then
5. go catch a bug.

two: the best kind of bugs. The super cute paper ones. I love this butterfly mobile from Royal Buffet's etsy shop. I think I will make one to hang in the girls bedroom window since [as you may or may not already know or suspect] I have an aversion to curtains. Obviously, since this is from a shop there is no instructions, but again I think it's simple and straightforward:

1. grab an old book or dictionary or use yesterdays newspaper and cut out butterflys [I would double over the paper so that you have two that match up].
2. Sandwich a piece of string between two butterflys and glue/tape them together on the thorax [center] only + repeat for as many as you want on each string. It looks to me like there is 5-6 on the center string and 3-4 [or more depending on the size you cut... and you should cut different sizes I think] on the outside ones.
3. Cut a sunburst/star or doily/flower shape from a piece of cardboard or cereal box covered with the same paper.
4. Poke holes in the paper and thread your butterfly strings through holes and glue/tape down.
5. String a loop from the top for hanging and voila!

There you go. Two fun and cute crafts to make with your kids.

Enjoy the journey!