Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids

I've had this dance studio in process since last Christmas!  I did the printables for it last January, and just now got around to putting it all together.  I built this to use as a background for our Elf on the Shelf, JOY, when she teaches us about the Nutcracker like she did last year .  With the new Nutcracker and the Four Realms movie out in theaters now, this is a great year to introduce your kids to the classic ballet. To allow the ballet studio to be easy to store, I used a  Small Tri-Fold Presentation Board , which stands 14" tall and is 24" wide.  It's a great size for fashion dolls and elves.  First, I used plain computer paper and a  glue stick  to cover the edges of the board.  It creates a nice edge and gets you used to cutting and gluing on the cardboard. Next, I used the wallpaper printable that I made to cover the inside of the board.  It took a bit of creativity to make the patterns match up, but it wasn't too hard....

I'm constantly inspired by My Froggy Stuff's creations.  Today's elf printable is a Christmas version of her Tumbler Room photo clothesline.  There are sixty tiny Poloroid-style pictures to use for your own doll crafting, room decorating, or scrapbooking.  Watch My Froggy Stuff's video to see how to do the miniature clothespins and hang the pictures. The original pictures came from the royalty-free website,  Pixabay , and were gathered and formatted in my digital scrapbook program.  The miniature pictures are 0.8x0.7 but can be scaled up or down by changing the settings on your printer.  There is also a blank version and a captions version. > > > Click here to download the printable < < < For the picture clothesline in my Elf house, I first mounted the pictures on paperboard with glue stick.  Next, I cut apart wood matches to create the clothespins (Froggy uses toothpicks) and glued them to the picture first.  It's a bit tricky...

Today is the last day of the "All Wrapped Up" blog series for the year!  I really enjoyed it this year and found it much easier to do than last year when I did it during November.  The best part is that I still haven't run out of topics to write about!  I know I'll be doing at least a few more posts this year before Christmas.  But first, my magnum opus... an Elf Suitcase Dollhouse! I have been planning this travelling elf house for over a year!  I had the wood case picked out since last December and waited all year until I bought it.  The wall pieces are held in only by their own friction, so I can easily remodel it next year (haha) or replace broken parts as needed. I created the structures with 1/8 inch foam board s.  The left side is only 1 inch deep, so the the build-in needed to be only 3/4" deep.  The kitchen area isn't quite as detailed as I had hoped to make if the inset was deeper, but I'm pleased with it.  I started with the back ...

Miniature Foods, especially party foods are very popular lately.  If you search Pinterest, you can find miniature corn dogs, hamburger sliders, cotton candy, and more.  I have been thinking a lot about our Elf on the Shelf and how neat it would be if she could make miniature foods that we could actually eat!  This is what I've found.... Festive Mini Cakes // Snackworks Layers of vanilla wafers and jam make up these tiny treats.  Dip them in melted chocolate for an easy miniature layer cake that's perfect for elves. Gingerbread House // Uncommon Designs Online I am in love with this adorable miniature gingerbread house!  What a sweet, petite treat to go with coffee or cocoa.  Decorate them elaborately, or leave them simply adorable. Mini Cake Pops // Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats These cake pops were part of a whole elf party.  See the full spread by clicking on the link. Caramel Apple Bites // My Litter Although, we typically think of caramel apples as a H...

I've been working on my elf house quite a bit lately, but I'm not ready to reveal it yet.  As I was thinking about what I wanted to go in my house, I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from the Elf movie .  I love everything about that movie, from the adoption theme to the memorable quotes.  I'll be writing more about Elf in the coming months, but today I wanted to share a free printable! This picture was taken inside my elf doll house.  The lighting was a bit funky, but the picture is about 3x4 inches.  I made a frame for it with skinny craft sticks , which I painted red.  The base is a piece of 1/8 foam board , which I've been using to build all the interiors of my elf house.  Foam board can be a bit finicky to cut, but I think I'm getting used to it.  I recently ordered a new craft knife and blades to that should help, too. The printable has elf rules in 4 sizes, including a 8x10 for framing.  It is a very plain interpretation of the rul...

It's easy to find posts with list of Elf-on-the-Shelf specific crafts, but I wanted to do a post with the unofficial ideas.  I've chosen to say that my elf is small for our world and for their own.  Just like in our world, you can buy child-sized items, there are also many things that are not child-sized.  I've decided to use some 1:3 scale (or 18 inch doll size) and some 1:6 scale (or Barbie size) since the Elf-on-the-Shelf is about 11-12 inches tall.  There are many crafts for American Girl and Barbie dolls that can easily be adapted to fit the Elf. Pancakes and Syrup -  This mom has tons of amazing craft ideas and free printables.  Starbucks lattes.  Movie-style popcorn.  Candy.  Pantry products (cereal, Pop Tarts, Oreos, mac and cheese, etc).  Gingerbread Houses.  Clothes.  Furniture.  On and On!  It's a great resource for inspiration and tutorials.  Check it out at  American Girl Ideas  then get ...

A year ago, I published this post with free miniature coffee shop printables, just the right size for a Barbie or Elf on the Shelf.  As I've been crafting this month to get ready for Christmas, I finally got the shop started.  I'm really excited to share them with you, along with new printables, for today's All Wrapped Up series post. This printable was 100% inspired by  My Froggy Stuff .  I absolutely love her ideas and videos!  I don't know how many times I watched her craft instructions over the last few months. Froggy's coffee shop is based on Starbucks, and uses the green logo.  I wanted to do a Christmas version for my Elf scenes.  After brainstorming the idea with Dragonfly (age 6), she came up with the coffee shop name, "Cup of Cheer." Other than the bags of coffee, everything in the shop could be used for a cocoa stand or shop instead.  The printables include a strip of paper that can be made into a hot chocolate canister.  Of course...

It's October, which means that many people are searching for and crafting their own costumes!  For day 7 of my All Wrapped Up series, I want to share an easy one-piece costume you can make for your dolls or elves.  It is hand-sewn and uses less than 1/4 of a yard of fleece and a bit of velcro, plus whatever notions or extra fabric you want to use for accessories. The main part of the onesie is created by using 3 cut pieces of fabric, one large full-body piece and two half pieces (right and left).  You can plan for the onesie to open on either the front or the back depending on your costume design.  For this frog, I had the costume open in the back, but for a Santa suit, I had it open in the front. To create this particular doll onesie, I searched out frog costumes for ideas.  Many of the store-bought designs had a yellowish panel on the belly.  I decided not to add that part and to leave the tummy solid green.  You, of course, could do whatev...

We're getting ready for Christmas around here!  Part of our celebrations include an Elf similar to the Elf-on-the-Shelf .  I really enjoy crafting different costumes, props, and settings for our elf to make her visits more interesting. I recently discovered a very easy way to make portable sets for the elf.  Inspired by Youtuber My Froggy Stuff, I used trifold boards and scrapbook paper to create a background.  It stands by itself and folds down flat for storage.  You can get two sets on each board if you use both sides. For this scene, I used a  Small Tri-Fold Presentation Board , which stands 14" tall and is 24" wide.  It's a great size for fashion dolls and elves.  First, I used plain computer paper and a glue stick to cover the edges of the board.  It creates a nice edge and gets you used to cutting and gluing on the cardboard. Next, I used scrapbook paper to cover the inside of the board.  I know that the red strip is a bit overwh...