Homemade butterfly cake

In addition to the crafts, I'd like to share also some cake decorating ideas for kids birthday cakes. Starting with this butterfly I made in 2005. It's a sponge cake decorated with vanilla and chocolate creams.

Balloon face kids' craft

One of five-minute craft projects for kids— a balloon face. The idea isn't new, I saw similar projects on many sites on the Web, you can even buy a craft kit for it.

Inflate a balloon and draw a funny face on it using permanent markers. Cut out cardboard feet and decorate them. Attach the balloon to the cardboard using an adhesive tape. The feet should be big enough to hold the balloon steadily. Have you balloon wear a funny hat: a ribbon, a paper top hat, or a cap. Ours was wearing a doll's hood, but the doll asked it back right before the picture was taken :)

Kids' collage with symmetrical silhouettes

Cutting out symmetrical silhouettes looks to me like a magic. You fold a piece of paper, cut something that looks like nothing, open it and...

Make a cork horse toy with your kids

Inspired by this cork horse, we made a different one. For this project we used 4 wine corks, wooden toothpicks, black thread, glue and a knife.

How to make fringed flowers

I was asked to explain how I make fringed paper flowers. You can find a lot of examples and tutorials on the Web, but since I was asked... Here's a detailed explanation.

Papier-mache doll made using a plastic bottle

Inspired by amazing papier-mache dolls by Tatyana Dubinsky and her papier-mache tutorials, we made this doll. The fact that even my son enjoys playing with it speaks for itself :). For those who'd like to learn more — a detailed story with illustrations.

DIY: Cutting paper strips for quilling

I'd like to tell a little about the paper I use for quilling.

Special quilling paper is the best option, of course. It can be found in a huge variety of colors, thickness, widths and quality. This paper is pre-cut, the only thing you have to do is to lay it in front of you and let your creative side out. But... The problem with it is that you can buy quilling paper only in countries where quilling is popular. What do you think about this selection, for example: Quilling.com (Paper)?

Custom rubber stamps with animals

Another set of eraser stamps: a horse and a cow on the reverse side. Eraser stamps don't last long, but kids usually forget them by the time they fall apart. We used watercolour for printing. I wrote about making these stamps in the "Rubber Stamps" post.

Simple quilled aloe vera flowers

Another simple quilled card. I used short — about 7.5 cm (3 inch) — strips for the flowers. The stem is made of a 3x4 cm (1-1/4 on 1-1/2 inch) rectangle. The text is in watercolour, I'm just starting to learn calligraphy :)

Coloring T-shirts, having fun!

We had lots of fun making this t-shirt! I found this on the "Ten kids and a Dog" blog, and they reference "Steve Spangler Science", both the blog and the site are really wonderful.

Learning ABC: Homemade practice pages

This time I'd like to share the guidelines I use to make practice pages. This one if for learning Hebrew alphabet, but the main rules apply to anything of this kind. You can buy printed ones, but home-made are more fun, because kids can participate in making them.