Now that October is *almost* here, are you all sooo ready to get crafting your kiddos’ Halloween costumes? Yeah, right! We’ve shared a lot of fun kids costume ideas in the past, but working with cardboard, scissors, and maybe some paint has gotta be pretty do-able as far as DIY costumes go, eh? Especially for those of you on the hunt for costumes of the no-sew variety! Snag the deets for this silly costume, complete with a cardboard bird house and colorful wings, here, and scroll on through the rest below!

Cardbord dragon and giraffe costumes via aticgrafic. Pretty artistic use of cardboard, we’d say.

Sometimes all you need is a fun mask, like these from Handmade Charlotte. Cutest shark face ever! See all ten Halloween mask ideas here.

Seriously darling DIY cardboard swan costume from Mer Mag.

The cutest DIY cardboard ice cream costume from Hello, Wonderful.

This easy shark costume DIY comes from Hello, Wonderful.

They also have this sweet DIY kids rainbow costume.

And an easy octopus costume. Genius!

It would be super fun to do a mommy and me version of this DIY bird cardboard costume from Paper & Stitch.

Or these Copenhagen row houses from The House That Lars Built. Eeeeek, so creative!!!

Okay, on to alllll you can do with cardboard…

…And you don’t even need paint, if that’s not your thing!

You can actually snag templates for all those last costume ideas over at Zygote Brown Designs. So fun!

Whatcha got up your sleeves for Halloween this year? Don’t forget to use #cakeletcostumes on Insta, it’s soooooo so cute.

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Raise your hand if you have a list of like 150 cute little projects you want to make for your kids, but never seem to get around to finishing. (Or starting!) Hoping it’s not just me.

Kristina here, popping in to share this super simple DIY Memory Game project I made last week in partnership with our friends at Petit Collage. From start to finish, including a trip to Michael’s for a few supplies, this project took all of 90 minutes. So achievable! I initially made the game for Louella, my almost 2 year old, but all three of my kids have been playing with it non-stop. Because kids just love looking through photos of themselves and their family, don’t they?

Supplies:

3 in craft punch
glue stick
scissors
patterned scrapbook paper
card stock
And family photos of course!

Step 1:
Print two copies of each family photo on thick card stock. (Make the photos slightly larger than 3 inches square.) Use as many family members as you like! I turned all of mine black and white for consistency, but color would work too.

Step 2:
Using the 3 inch punch, cut out family photos. Punch the same number of patterned paper circles.

Step 3:
Glue each family photo to a patterned paper circle.

Done!

I printed her brothers, her papa, her grandparents, our nanny, and of course her own photo too.

For the toddler set, the fun is really just naming each family member as they come up. Louella could do this for at least an hour so I call this little project a solid win!

And not surprisingly the big kids love this game even more. We had a bunch of kids at the studio last Friday and as you can see they quickly took over.

You can see more cute DIY templates over on Petit Collage‘s website, and their entire product line, which I’ve used on many a long car trip and airplane ride. And their back-to-school line is pretty darn adorable too. Which, OMG. We’re already back to school!

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Who’s ready for a fun DIY project?! I just planned my son Daxton’s second birthday and created this DIY peace sign floral wall hanging. See details below and make one for your next celebration!

The party theme was Summer of Love, so I kept the palette bright by choosing white, yellow, and orange flowers. I’d say to keep your wreath colors to three max. This way it’s more cohesive. You can pick up real or faux flowers. I choose faux flowers to make it a few days before the event to reduce some of the party madness on the day-of.

All you need is a wreath form, wire, flowers and a hot glue gun!

Tip: When using faux flowers, it’s easy to weave them into the form. You can also pick off the floral tops to hot glue onto the arrangement.

Viola! Get a closer peek in our gallery:

View The Gallery For More

Project Resources:
Round Wire Frame
Silver Wire
Faux Yellow Flowers
Faux White Flowers

You can see this and more DIY projects here and click on over to check out Daxton’s whole party, if you haven’t. Happy crafting!

Photo: Scott Clark Photo / Design: Jillian of 100 Layer Cake

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K friends, we’ve got one last bit of Easter inspiration for this Sunday’s festivities, if you’re in the mood to get crafty this weekend! Photog Shannon Von Eshcen is pro at Easter DIY projects (remember these cement eggs?) and these individual egg shell planters are the sweetest. Just look at those tiny nests! Scroll down for her tutorial, and let us know if you give them a try… They’d make perfect little additions to any place setting or spring table, we think.

Single Egg Planters & Nests
• Six napkin rings
• Six raw eggs
• Egg holder (or egg carton)
• Dish soap
• Decorative moss
• Flower or greenery cuttings
• Water

1. Make your egg planters. Gently crack the top 1/3 of the egg and peel away slowly. Pour the yolk and egg white into a small bowl (for either scrambling or baking later, yum!). Once your shell is emptied, rinse it under warm water and use dish soap to gently clean the egg inside and out. Though the risk is low, this decontaminates your egg planters from any possible salmonella bacteria. After rinsing your egg, prop it up in your egg holder or egg carton to dry. Repeat on the rest of the eggs.

2. Make your egg nests. Using the napkin rings, carefully lay them flat on the table and then fill in the “hole” with decorative moss. This does not have to be perfect, but will create your “nest” to hold the egg planter in place once you’re ready

3. Fill your planters with about 1/3 with water. This will keep your flowers fresh! (Keep each planter in the egg holder (or egg carton) until you’re ready to move them to their nests.

4. Create your flowers for the planter. Use tiny flower or greenery cuttings and arrange them to your liking within each egg planter. This can be as simple as adding 1 or 2 tiny stems and being done, to crafting a mini arrangement of many different floral varieties to sit inside. Once your arrangements are complete, you can move them to the nests, making sure they’re steady in the moss.

Not too tough, huh? And sooo lovely, especially if any fresh wildflowers have sprouted up where you live (hello, super bloom!).

View The Gallery For More

Thanks, Shannon! Wishing you all a happy Easter!

Photography, Styling & Design: Shannon Von Eshcen / Photo & Styling Assistant: Kendall Von Eschen / Venue: The Old Valmont School, Boulder, CO / Potted Plants: CreekSide Tree Nursery

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For this stocking, you’ll need the same supplies, but less felt.

Felt:
A Child’s Dream Come True 12×8″ 1mm Holland Wool Felt:
One sheet of Soft White 18×18″
One sheet of Red 12×8″
One sheet of Green 12×8″

Supplies:
Templates (print on card stock if you have it, which is easier to trace around)
Small scissors with sharp tip
Ruler, rotary cutter, mat (helpful but not required)
Fine point Sharpie or ballpoint pen
Fabri-tac Glue
Coordinating thread to match your felt colors
Needle with large eye (helpful but not required)
Pinking Shears
Optional: yarn and pom-pom maker, ric-rac for stocking loop

Cut List:
Soft White – 2 Stocking Back (Two will fit on one 18×18 sheet as long as you put the template as far to the bottom left, and top right, as possible. See photo under Step 4 of Snowy Hills.)
Red – 2 Stocking Cuff (And, if you don’t plan to make pom-poms, trace a quarter and make 3 holly berries)
Green felt – Letters, plus 4 Holly leaves (only 2 if not using pom-poms)

Follow steps 1-5 for the Snowy Hills tutorial.

6. Make four red pom-poms on 45mm pom-pom maker. Tie off pom-pom and leave ends long. Trim pom-pom neatly.

7. Lay out Holly leaves and berries on Stocking Front. Once you have a spot you’re happy with, pick up one leaf slightly and make a thin line of glue down center and put back in place. Repeat with second leaf. (If you are not using pom-poms, glue red berries into place.) Do NOT glue pom-poms yet.

8. Top stitch leaf veins as shown in photo, sewing through leaf and Stocking Front.

9. Take your other two leaves, and stitch veins in those as well. Trim threads. (Skip this step if not using pom-poms.)

10. Attach pompoms. The final step is attaching pom-poms to the front. You can simply glue them in place if you’d like, and use a good amount of glue (being careful not to get it on the rest of the stocking). I chose to also stitch mine in place using the long ends of yarn.

To do this:
Thread your needle, and bring one yarn end through the Stocking Front at center of leaves. Thread the other yarn end of pom-pom, and bring it through the Stocking Front. Pull your berries out a little, being sure not to pull the yarn stitches out. Add a good amount of glue to the holly berries, and glue in place. Hold in place about 30 seconds until they’re set. From inside the stocking, pull the yarn tight (but not too tight) and knot in place. This will ensure the holly berries stay in place over time!

Fold down cuff and you’re done! I added ric-rac to the edge of the cuff, and stitched it in place.

Taking a cue from vintage Christmas stocking sewing patterns, you could also cut any shape you like for the front of the stocking. Using this tutorial, just cut two stocking cuffs, two stocking backs, and add whatever you’d like to the front.

Thank you so much for sharing these tutorials with us, Lauren. Love them so much.

When you’re ready to get started, Download the templates here!

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