I thought of this little circus unicycle rider awhile back. It’s easy to make, but requires pretty good motor control to wheel around, which is great for kids. If you want to try it out, watch the one minute video to see how to make them. There’s also a template below, but I encourage you...Continue Reading
Ever since I saw these awesome owls at El had a de papel, I’ve been wanting to try it out. Last week, my son got a Batman Lego set, and is very excited about all things Batman and Robin. So we made these! He loves them, and they were so fun to make!Continue Reading
I’ve been getting requests for a printable Valentine’s Day project. And I thought it would be cool to make a card that was also a toy. So here are some funny little Valentine’s card creatures. There is a small flap on the back so you can write a secret Valentine’s note underneath. We’ve been having...Continue Reading
I was drawing with some non-toxic fabric pens the other day just for fun. (See my favorite tools, if you want to know what kind of paint pens.) I’m not sure what I’ll do with all the drawings yet, but I made this bird into a little pillow toy. Kind of cute, and very fast...Continue Reading
We got to spend all of last week at my mom’s house. Among the exciting fun with grandchildren, I got to spend some time with my mom too. We made this play mat for little E. I was lucky enough to somehow end up with this very cool strip of fabric from London that my...Continue Reading
It seems like we’re always in the need of more kids activities for restaurants and travel. Shortly after I made Paper City Paris, I wondered what a miniature version would look like. Finally, this week I had the time to try it out. It was really fun redesigning and simplifying the folds and structures. For...Continue Reading
Today it was decided that we needed more people for the dollhouse, so I got out some scrap wood and had the kids draw figures on the pieces. Then I took my woodburner and traced over their drawings and made some “doll blocks”. It was so fast and fun that I had to try making...Continue Reading
Baby E got ahold of my son’s old giraffe toy that I made when the twins were little, and she is having a pretty good time with it. I just used some natural canvas fabric and drew on it with non-toxic fabric pens. It’s held up really well over the last two years. I might...Continue Reading
Last night I got out my paper scraps and glue to make a collage gift card for my friend’s birthday party. (He loves Datsun 510 wagons.) And once my kids saw what I was doing, they wanted to join in, too. So I gave them a piece of paper and let them dig through my...Continue Reading
My son is really enjoying dinosaurs these days, so in case you have any dino-fans around, I thought I’d share some of the activities we’ve been doing – paper clip cutout toys, building dino skeletons in the yard, a pretty awesome interactive dinosaur book on the iPad, and jurassic artwork. This first one is some...Continue Reading
My kids love wrapping and decorating presents. So in preparation for the winter holidays, I thought it would be fun to make some gift tags that they could cut out or color. Happy wrapping! Click on the image below, then print.Continue Reading
My wife took the kids to see the Pinkalicious musical today here in Portland. My daughter had a pink dress all picked out, but my son realized he had nothing pink to wear. So we quickly made this paper necktie together with an old cover of an Art Forum Magazine. It was very fast to...Continue Reading
Come join a pretty great discussion, here on the Facebook Page, for some wonderful methods and ideas on teaching your kids to read. There are some really great comments coming in, and we’d love to hear any of your ideas, too. Happy reading!Continue Reading
Our baby girl is starting to play with toys! At almost 5 months old, she’s still having a little difficulty holding on to things, and getting the right parts of certain toys into her mouth. So I decided to make her an easy to hold, sun shaped toy, with lots of rays to suck on....Continue Reading
I’ve been so busy for the last two weeks, I haven’t had time to make many new crafts, so we printed out the Paper City style trick-or-treat scene from last year. The fall leaves were so nice in our yard today, the kids took the paper people outside to practice up on their trick-or-treat lines....Continue Reading
Our new baby girl loves looking at the Modern Paper Mobile for Babies that I made awhile back, but her favorite place to relax is in her bouncy seat. So I made this simple stand with some scrap wood and wire. It’s very lightweight and sturdy, so I can carry it around the house along...Continue Reading
Voilà, Paper City Paris! I’ve been working on this for a very long time now and had so much fun creating it. My kids have been watching me draw and sketch for two months, and they’re now huge fans of the city. They kept asking me, “When are the buildings going to stand up, Daddy?”...Continue Reading
My wife’s birthday was this week, and we made her some necklaces. The kids made bead necklaces, and I wanted try something with wire. It worked pretty well. I just bent sterling silver wire with pliers, and then gently pounded it flat, using a slightly rounded hammer. I took less than 15 minutes total. I...Continue Reading
I just created this coloring sheet for a wonder project, Community & Parents for Public Schools, a national organization with a portland chapter. They’ve been working to make schools better for over 10 years. Every year they hold an annual Parent Leadership & Engagement Conference ( Oct. 22nd, 2011) . This coloring sheet will be...Continue Reading
Here’s an easy little fish toy that I made today for the baby. I used fabric scraps, including part of an old neck tie. So far she likes to watch me wiggle the fish tail in front of her. It’s pretty cute. If you want to try making one, there are photos and directions below....Continue Reading
