ReCycle Craft: Cardboard Box Puppet Theatre

"C" and I made this puppet theatre out of a box

recently. The perfect place to act out little plays

with our finger puppets!

Here's our basic set up, just a simple hole I cut in the box lid

for the stage opening. 

It would be less floppy if I glued the boxes together in this "L" shape

but we kept it separate so it's easier to clean up and put away. 

For the rainbow design, we just glued little 

scrapbook paper squares 

around the edges of the box. 

 For the curtain, I just strung some yarn between two buttons

(small holes poked in the side of the box with an x-acto knife)

The curtain is just some fabric with a simple pocket sewn for the yarn to run through.

To add some pizzazz to the theatre,

I made this little dry-erase board topper 

so she can write the title of the play. 

It's just a scrap of white cardboard, 

cut into a semi-circle with 

clear contact paper stuck to it, 

glued to the front of the theatre (with glue gun)

We can use dry-erase markers to write 

the name of the play on top. 

Then it just wipes off when we're done!

A good way to practice our letters. 

Time for the Ballerina show!

Time for The Three Little Pigs!

Remember these toilet paper tube finger puppets we made?

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!

The top can lay back down in the bottom of the box

so we can slide it on a bookshelf when it's time to clean up.

View from Backstage.

 Then we were on to the 

Three Little Kittens Who Lost their Mittens!

Happy Playing!

Fondly,

pink and green mama,

Art Studio Tour

Well hello there!

I'm over visiting at Craftaholics Anonymous today

as a guest blogger giving you a tour of my own playroom,

my art studio!

Hop on over for a sneak peek and say hello : )

Fondly,

pink and green mama,

Barbie Art Gallery With Shapescapes

"Person In A Wheelchair"

I recently got out our "Shapescapes" toy

and "E" had a great time making a 

Modern Art Sculpture Garden 

for her Barbie Dolls to visit. 

That's Malificent and her son "Henry" (batman)

visiting the garden. 

I love the sculptures "E" made and 

had to take photos to show and tell!

"Mom Bird and Baby Bird"

aka "Big Bird Eating Little Bird"

''Moose Eating Blueberries In Maine"

"Monthly Calendar"

"King" and to his left

"Man Walking Dog"

Here's "E"s whole Barbie family, 

Malificent and her husband Edward,

their two teenage daughters, Jane and Snow White,

and their two youngest kids, 

Beatrice (Catwoman) and Henry (Batman).

(Be careful not to look directly at Jane or she'll turn you into stone!)

They really enjoyed their afternoon at the 

Modern Art Sculpture Garden!

Fondly,

pink and green mama,

I couldn't find a link to our Shapescapes toy,

but they're very similar to our Zolos

(that we also LOVE!)

* DIY Spring Peg Dolls

I've recently been bitten by the peg-doll-making bug!

Please stop me, it's getting out of control. 

It started innocently enough when I agreed to 

do a peg doll exchange...

then, it was too fun drinking my morning coffee

and painting with my (Awesome!) Yarka watercolors.  

Then, I started adding little felt flower hats

and acorn tops with some Aleene's craft glue.

Then, the girls took over.

Little flower fairy friends started to appear all over the house. 

On playroom windowsills. 

On my grandmother's loom in the art studio.

In the art studio. 

Then, one appeared in the mailbox!

This one came from We Bloom Here blog.

She has a FANTASTIC Peg Doll Tutorial HERE!

Look how sweet she is! 

Like a little snowdrop. 

LOVE!

You can see the other little peg dolls from the swap gallery here.

And a few of ours, jumped in the mail too,

one to California and one to Southern Australia!

Happy Peg Doll Making!

Fondly,

pink and green mama, MaryLea

Sensory Box: Zoo Box

"C" suggested that we make a 

Zoo Box 

a few weeks ago 

and I thought it was a great idea. 

I'm always up for a new sensory box.

We Re-Cycled our dry Black-Eyed Peas box

(it was our Halloween Sensory box this fall)

and added some Zoo Animals.

We rounded up some play fences

from our Play Mobil farm

and some fences from our various "lands"

I liked the way she built extra

"cages" for animals outside of the box.

That's the Meercat habitat -- 

just like the prairie dogs at our zoo!

It was a great sorting activity for her 

to find and gather the animals

 and their families for the zoo.

(Farm animals, Ocean animals, Zoo animals)

We had to have a Giraffe family

(her favorite animal since she was a baby,

other than kitty cats!)

As well as some Lions and Tigers

(oh my!)

A Zebra Family. 

See the monkey in our felt toilet paper tube tree?

A Panda family.

A lovely afternoon 

in the playroom sunshine.

Our doll house family took a field trip

and had a lovely visit at the zoo. 

Happy Playing!

Fondly,

pink and green mama,