Paper Dress: Chasing Butterfly

Playing in the park is probably one of Little E's favorite things to do. Although she is still not a fan of the swings at age 4, she really likes the slides,  bike riding, observing insects and birds, or just running around on the grass for no reason.

Recently she has discovered a new activity to do - chasing butterflies! There are some monarch butterflies flying in the neighborhood park. Every time Little E spotted them, she would just took off running excitedly after them, trying to see how beautiful they are and how high they can fly!

I thought it would be a great idea for make a butterfly paper dress during this season. 

I glued 2 pieces of violet tissue paper to make the dress. 

I found a butterfly pattern on line. Little E traced it on colorful origami paper.

She used glitter glue to to decorate the biggest butterfly. 

It's her first time using glitter glue at home - sticky but sparkly!

We let the glitter butterfly dry overnight. 

The next day, we cut out all 7 butterflies from the origami paper.

 Glue them randomly on the violet tissue paper.

Voila! Here is our 16th paper dress made together - Chasing Butterfly!

Storybook: Odor Boy and The Arguing Peas

Big E discovered a couple of chapter book series he's interested in reading from our weekly library visit. One of them is Captain Awesome. The story is about a 8 year old boy who loves comic books and superheroes. He also has his very own secret superhero alter ego - Captain Awesome!

The vivid illustration has inspired Big E to create his own superhero storybook. And of course, I can totally tell my 7 year old boy's humor in his character and plot creation...

Here is Big E's new storybook - Odor Boy and The Arguing Peas

Paper Dress/Vest Party - Butterfly and Dragonfly

Mahika's mother contacted me for the idea of having a nature-themed paper dress making party for her daughter's 6th birthday. The birthday party will be held at their house and there will be 7 girls and 1 boy attending the party.

As I started preparing the paper dress and paper vest pattern cut-outs and all the supplies, I thought about the colorful monarch butterflies and blue dragonflies flying around in our neighborhood parks. So I decided the children will be making butterfly paper dress and dragonfly paper vest together at the birthday party!

When I arrived at their house, Mahika's mother has already prepared the perfect set up for children to work on this craft project!


I taped a sample of the paper dress cut-out on the wall as an example while I instructed the children how to make the tissue paper ruffles for the dress and the sleeves.

After cutting out their own butterfly patterns using the origami paper, the girls used markers to decorate them. The boy was cutting tissue paper strips to make grass and gluing on the dragonflies.

 Look how fabulous the paper vest turned out to be!

All the girls had done a wonderful job making their own paper dresses today! 

I am sure it will be a great memory for Mahika.

Happy 6th Birthday!

Paper Dress: Marjorie the Cow

We had the storybook "The Cow that Laid an Egg" at home since Big E was in preschool. Both kids love this story as the plot is interesting and the illustration is very cute.

The story is a about Marjorie the Cow who laid an egg. The other cows didn't believe Marjorie could lay an egg. The chickens were thrilled to see a cow-spotted egg. The whole world was waiting to see what would hatch out of it. Marjorie took care of the egg like a moo-ther the whole time. Finally, her baby came out  - it's a little chick who moos. Marjorie held her baby tight, said "A cow!" And she named it Daisy.

Last week we found the second book at the library about Marjorie the Cow and her baby Daisy. The kids enjoyed reading it so much that Little E asked if we can make a Marjorie paper dress.

I started by cutting a dress pattern out of big drawing paper. 

I also drew Marjorie, her cow-spotted egg and Daisy.

 Little E used her cup to trace circles on black origami paper and cut them out.

She glued the black circles on the dress to make the spots. 

Then she started coloring Marjorie, the spotted-egg, and Daisy.

Little E cut out 4 strips of used red tissue paper. 

We glued 2 strips at the bottom of the dress to make ruffles. 

Then we taped craft sticks in the back of the egg and Daisy. 

I used the other 2 red tissue paper strips to make a flower for Marjorie. 

Glue Marjorie on a piece of white paper strip to make a head band.

Here is our 15th paper dress made together - Marjorie the Cow! 

Story Inspired Craft Kit: The Very Busy Spider

Ever since I started this blog, I'm very fortunate that lots of friends have supported me by telling me they like the paper crafts I designed. They share my blog and Facebook page with others, which make me feel confident and proud of what I do with Big E and Little E.

One month ago, I was chatting with a mommy friend about the idea of starting my own business - teaching a paper craft class or making craft kits as party favors. Although it was just a random chat and a preliminary idea, she jumped right in asking me to make her little boy's 4th birthday party favors. How lucky am I!!!

I prepared a paper craft inspired by Eric Carle's storybook "The Very Busy Spider". The little guests who receive it as a party favor can simply look at the complete project photo in the front to finish the project independently or with parents' help.

I cut out the pieces for making a spider and use googly eyes and craft pipe cleaners for legs. 

Kids can color/cut/glue the animals showing up in the story on the appropriate line.

 Little E made this project at home first.Here is the complete look of the project!

I hope the little guests will enjoy this paper craft as much as we do.

Paper Dress/Tie: The Muir Woods

I'm not exactly an hiking or camping type of gal. As a family, we haven't been actively exploring what the nature has to offer in the bay area. After living in the bay area for almost 3 years, it took my best friend who was visiting from Taiwan to persuade me about visiting the Muir Woods with kids.

I was worried that kids will complain about the heat or the long walk. Surprisingly, it turned out to be an exhilarating experience on Memorial Day weekend. The kids walked on the trail with us for 2.5 hours, totally enjoying the fresh air and the exquisite scenery of red woods. Some of the red wood trees had been burned by random wild fire, however, they continue to grow strongly since the roots weren't hurt by the fire. Amazing!

This week, I had the idea of making a paper dress about the beautiful red wood trees which completely changed my view toward hiking. Little E and I started by wrinkling several pieces of origami paper - brown and green. Then we tore the paper into small pieces

 Little E started to glue the paper pieces on the 3 columns I drew on a piece of black poster paper.

We drew and cut leaves from another piece of darker green origami paper. 

Little E glued them on one by one.

At the same time, Big E is also working on a tie.

Here are the finished pictures! I also made a bigger tie for Daddy as a surprise!

Here is our 14th paper dress (and tie) made together - The Muir Woods!