"Project Store" Fun!

Last summer we discovered a local toy store that did free craft projects every week all summer long and we made sure to go back and continue the fun this summer, too! Daniel quickly named this store the "project store" last year; that name stuck and now even Annabel talks about the project store, too! This summer, Annabel got to do all the same projects as Daniel, and she just loved being able to participate and make the same thing. It was cute to see how different their projects turned out. It was also fun to see what things they liked adding to their project- for example, Annabel was obsessed with the feathers. She also LOVED using the glue and did pretty well with it actually. The kids both liked the glitter glues, although their bottles were never very easy to use because they were always pretty empty and then it's just hard to get what's left out. (I found an awesome brand of glitter glue for us at home, it's not cheap, but wow is it just super bright and eye-catching glitter glue! We love our glitter glue! Definitely a treat. We'll see how it lasts, though.) The dot markers were always fun, too- I think I may have to break down and get some of those sometime. (I say breakdown because I know they can splatter and that drives me nuts- Daniel used to use them in his Wiggles & Giggles classes, so I know about this splattering...but I also know the kids are older now and more responsible about things, too, so they should get a chance to try them out more.) And of course painting was always fun, too- you know how much my kids love painting. It was always interesting trying to juggle wet projects out the door and into the car! Usually we stayed and played with the train table and shopped a bit while letting things dry a little.

We made lots of different projects throughout this summer- cardboard birdhouses (probably the most fun project for the kids, they worked at this one for the longest time), suncatchers (with actual glass paint, not the tissue paper kind!), painter's hats (just cheap plain white hats), stuffed sea animals, cardboard treasure boxes, and canvas bags. I think we only missed a couple projects, because of other things that came up, but the projects were marked on my calendar and I made sure we went every week we could. We had a lot of fun and we're so sad that those are done now...just another sign that summer is almost over. Here are some pictures of our crafting fun! We'll be back next year, I'm sure!