I just found these at my local Dollarama for only $2 each! Aren’t they cute?
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My 10 year old daughter loves crafts. She comes by it honestly, as I have always loved crafts myself. But I have realized she is far from alone. When asked what we should get for a friends birthday, almost always the answer is, craft stuff.
For awhile, we would purchase ready made craft kits. Mostly from Michael’s or Chapters. These kits are fun, but certainly can limit creativity as most have instructions on how they are to be completed. These kits are also expensive.
I suggested customizing a craft bin from the dollar store - and what a success that was! My daughter loves choosing things especially for her friends, and I adore dollar store craft supplies. I find them to be of good quality, quantity, and of course - price.
Each bin she gives is a little different, but they usually have these things inside.
The modeling clay from the dollar store is actually quite a good buy for older children. Play-Doh is a great idea for little ones.
We also put in some neat tape, glue, or velcro. It’s great for children to experiment with different materials while creating, so we try to add in some fun, different ways to hold two things together.
I was amazed that we purchased a package of 8 embroidery threads for only $1. Fancy ribbon in different widths is also a great idea. These are great for tying, or making jewelry.
We try to add at least one personalized craft item for the birthday child. A sewing kit was a great buy for $2 at Dollarama - with thread, buttons, needles, and safety pins - for the budding seamstress.
We always end up putting in some good old fashioned craft supplies: googly eyes, feathers, buttons, and pipe cleaners are a must for any crafter!
We put a $15 limit on filling the birthday bin, but truthfully, $10 would be plenty because the cost of these items are so fantastic when shopping at dollar stores. And much to my delight - these bins are always such a hit!
It’s important to keep the real reason of buying birthday gifts at heart - especially for children. I encourage my daughter to think about the birthday friend, likes/talents/interests, and customize a gift that is just right for them.
With the end of the school year quickly approaching, you may be looking for a thoughtful gift idea for your child’s teacher. This one is a great one - it is quick, easy, inexpensive, and easily personalized. Older kids can even do it themselves!
Please Note: I planted my flower after gluing on the pencils, which did not work very well. I would strongly suggest planting your flower in the jar first!
First, we hot glued each pencil bottom to the jar, being sure to keep the erasers flat on the work surface.
Then, we weaved the red ribbon in and out of each pencil.
After that, we hot glued the top of each pencil to the jar.
Finally, we planted our flower. We put a few rocks in the bottom of the jar to help with drainage.
This would make a very cute pencil holder as well. After the flowers have wilted, they can be removed, the jar can be rinsed, and it can be used to hold pencils, markers, scissors, and so on.
This could be personalized with different things attached to the ribbon, or with what is used to wrap the jar. Pencil crayons would look very cute for a primary teacher. Crayons on a small jar would be adorable for a kindergarten teacher.
These jars can also be personalized by what is put in them. Pencils or flowers are very cute, but they could also be filled with chocolate kisses or candy.
As I have mentioned previously, we are doing a lot of fixing up in our home. One of the least expensive ways we have spruced up is by painting. And we have done a ton of it! From ceilings to walls - very little has been left untouched.
I have seen the paintbrushes at Dollarama, but I was hesitant to try them. I have painted with “cheap” brushes before and they would leave bristles in my wet paint, which I would then have to pick out (or sand out if I missed them) and re-paint. Not at all worth the few dollars I saved.
But I was willing to give the brushes from Dollarama a try.
I was refinishing the base of my kitchen table. It is a rather inconspicuous place to paint, so I thought I would give the dollar store brushes a try. I bought two brushes at Dollarama. The ProPainter Brush was $2 and the Duramax Brush was $1.
I chose to review three specific areas with these brushes:
- Loss of bristles
- Paint coverage
- Clean up of the brushes
Before I began painting, I gave a light pull on the bristles, to see if any loose ones would fall out, and to give me a heads up for what I may be in for! To my surprise, not a single bristle was loosened from the ProPainter brush. The Duramax brush was a different story. I easily pulled out many bristles:
I continued to gently pull out any loose bristle, until my pulling resulted in no more bristles coming out of the brush.
Then I began painting. Both brushes provided good paint coverage. I was impressed with the lack of streaks. Both brushes provided even strokes and a nice layer of paint evenly to my table.
The Duramax brush did lose a few bristles throughout the paint job. I caught about 3 while painting, and have noticed 1 more now that the paint has dried. Not too bad for the small area I was doing, but could be problematic if doing a large area.
I was very impressed with the ProPainter Brush. It did not lose a single bristle.
The ProPainter brush also washed clean very quickly and easily. The Duramax brush was a bit more challenging to clean. I could not seem to get all of the paint out of it, and ended up tossing it in the trash.
The Duramax Brush
- Lost a lot of bristles, both before I began painting and throughout the painting process. It reminded me of other “cheap” brushes I had used in the past.
- Painted evenly and did provide good paint coverage.
- Did not clean up very well. The paint was very difficult to wash out of the brush.
The ProPainter Brush:
- Did not lose a single bristle, either before or during painting.
- Provided good paint coverage and an even coat of paint.
- Cleaned up quickly and easily.
I would highly recommend spending the extra dollar and purchasing the Pro Painter brush. You will still be saving a bundle from avoiding the hardware stores. I truly wish I had tried these brushes sooner!
Buying paint for children from the dollar store is a good idea for three reasons. It is a great size of bottle, the colours are nice and bright, and it is cheap. However, usually it does not come out of clothing that easily, and is not often the best for finger painting.
With a few minor adjustments, this paint will last even longer - making it cheaper. It will also be easier to come out of clothing, and will make better finger paint.
This will more than double the amount of paint you have and save your clothing (and couches, and carpets - or are those just my kids?).
This is how we finger paint at my house - and how I attempt to manage the mess.
We put the paint into muffin tins or ice cube trays and use a different spoon for each colour. For my toddler, I do the spooning out of the colours that he wishes onto his paper. He tells me the colours, the amount of the colours, and where on his paper he would like them.
I need him to think HE is in control - or we have temper tantrums. And let me tell you, finger painting and temper tantrums? Scary. Very scary.
Now that you have your wonderful finger paints, here are some fun projects to consider:
I originally made similar cute animals in my kindergarten classroom as an extension to a story. But these little animals will be finding frames as they are my littlest boy’s hands and deserve a place in his nursery.
Be it a butterfly or a heart - this one is a classic!
This one can look very neat! Using masking or painters tape, tape a word, name or quote on your paper. Next, have your little one finger paint over top. When the paint dries, peel off the tape. This can also be done with stickers. Make sure to use thick paper, such as card stock (sold at Dollarama), to prevent rips.
Using a dropper and finger paint (the paint may need to be thinned a bit with water), suck up the paint and squirt it out on the paper. This is a great time to experiment with mixing colours.
Water your finger paint down with 50% paint and 50% water. Put a few spoonfuls onto the paper and blow it with the straw. To make this tree, put a big drop of brown or black paint at the bottom of the page. Blow a straight line up, and then blow lines to the side for branches. Use a Q-tip dipped in red or pink to make the blossoms.
Pop a piece of paper (card stock is best) in a zip-top bag. Add in your paint and let your little one paint away. All the mess stays in the bag and off of your little ones’ hands.
It’s also fun to experiment with textures, such as using bubble wrap or sand paper to paint on. Consider painting with a toothbrush, small rag, spoons and forks, or your toes.
With the nice weather right now, it is a great time to go outside and get messy!
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