Creative Crafts With Cardboard Tubes!

We all know they are everywhere! So, why not make a creative use out of them? Parents are always looking to use regular household products to create inexpensive, fun and entertaining projects for their children. Thanks to our good friends over at Happy Hooligans we have found this list of 22 ways to use these otherwise disposable products! 

22 Things to Make with Cardboard Tubes:

Click on the highlighted descriptions to see a full tutorial for each craft or activity.

Fall Decorations with Cardboard Tubes:

Use a cool paint process to make some fall napkin rings.

Make a turkey table topper for your Thanksgiving table.

Round up some fabric scraps and a few crafty odds and ends for some adorable toilet roll owls.

Crafting for Halloween:

The kids will love making a quirky monster mobile out of cardboard rolls.

A spooky crow or owl is a very fitting decoration for Halloween.

Our toilet roll mummies help little ones develop their winding and wrapping skills.

Winter Toilet Roll Crafts:

These cardboard roll snowmen are just the cutest little things, aren’t they?

The hooligans LOVE playing with our toilet roll Nativity set.

Cardboard Roll Christmas Crafts:

Fleece, batting and a cardboard roll makes an adorable Santa Claus.

Make a set of cute reindeer ornaments for your Christmas tree.

This snowman ornament would be great for the tree or as a gift topper.

Spring Crafts:

Summons up some April showers with a colourful rain stick.

These Easter chicks in paper nests are just too sweet.

Peeps!  Everyone loves Easter peeps, right?

And don’t forget about the Easter bunnies!  Check out our paint chip bunting too!

Bracelets and Cuffs:

Make some simple toilet roll cuff bracelets.

Anklets can be made using cardboard rolls and colourful duct tape.

Skill Building Activities:

Make some cool 3-D structures with tubes and a low-temp glue gun.

Toddlers love to drop things through our cardboard Drop Zone.

Arts and Crafts:

Create a unique piece of art for a kid’s room, toy room or classroom.

Turn a long cardboard tube into a torch.

Cardboard Tubes for Play:

In a pinch, a sturdy kitchen roll, makes an excellent bubble wand.

Make a set of simple “stand up” paper dolls.

Well?  What do you think?  Did we inspire you?  Now, it’s your turn to inspire me!  If you have a favourite cardboard roll craft or activity, I’d love to hear about it!

Now, I’ll bet you’re wondering how you can re-use all those Keurig K-cups you have stashed too!  Don’t worry!  We’ve got you covered: 25 Ways to Re-use Your K-cup pods.

Genius Snack Hack Ideas!

Thanks to our friends at Kids Activities, we discovered this holy grail of Snack Hacks! These fun, simple and creative ideas will guarantee a smile at snack time! 

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Get Organized

Have a bin of snacks ready and waiting in the fridge.  This is great for portion control and encourages diversity.  Kids have to eat the whole bin before it’s replenished.  via – Iheartorganizing

Don’t search for your kids cups.  Glue magnets to the sides of their cups and your kids can stick cups onto the fridge.  When they want a drink they can use the fridge dispenser and put the cup back on the fridge. via – Dayna Made It.

Have your fridge organized so you don’t spend time looking for food or forgetting about a veggie or snack. via – Glamorous Housewife.

Cut up apples ahead of time and then wrap a rubber band around the slices.  This will keep them from turning brown. via -  A helicopter mom

Enjoy drip-free popsicles.  Fill the popsicle molds with jello.  Tastes great and are less messy!

Play Date Tips

Give your kids cups of dip along with their veggies.  This is a great make-ahead tip that works well for playdates and parties.  No double dipping!  via – Floor 24

Cut slivers of oranges in a jiffy – no more peeling and picking off the white of the orange!

Layer a cake evenly with the help of dental floss.  You can also use this tip to cut blocks of cheese or rolls of dough.  via – wiki how

Create double decker snack cups with the help of a cupcake liner.  These were a huge hit at a recent slumber party!  via- I can teach my child

Freeze sponges to create a safe, drip-free icepack alternative in a lunchbox.  The kids can even use the sponge to clean up their table before and after they are finished eating.

Transform a regular water bottle into a sippy cup by punching a hole through the lid and inserting a straw. Perfect for a picnic.  Best part, you can dispose of it when you are done.

Portion control snacks with the help of a set of old Easter eggs.  You can even use an egg carton to transport the food.  “Egg” lunches are my kids favorite park treat.  via – Kailo Chic

Quick and Easy Treat Tips

Use a cupcake liner to contain drips when your kids are eating popscicles.   Your kids won’t be as sticky!

Create ice-cream sandwiches quick and easily with mini-icecream containers.  Heat your knife to make cutting them easier.  Then peel the carton away before eating.

Make a single serving of cake in a mere 3 minuets with only 3 ingredients.  This recipe tastes just like a mug of hot chocolate.

Happy snacking!! 

Are Your Kids Afraid Of Bedtime Monsters?

We have all been there...little Susie doesn't want to go to sleep because she is scared a ghost is hiding in the closet. So you spend countless hours convincing her there is nothing there but you still wind up waking up with a third little person in your bed in the morning. SO, what can you do?! 

I found this amazing little compilation of solutions for this MONSTER of a problem by my new favorite blog Happy Hooligans and it is a MUST READ! Put those scary creatures to bed with a few of these clever ideas! Enjoy!

Monster Spray: Decorate an empty spray bottle, or grab a printable Monster Spray label here, and fill ‘it with water and a few drops of essential oil. Mist your child’s bedroom at night, paying special attention to the closet and under the bed.  Dozens of parents swear by this trick, and I am one of them!

Monster swatter: One caregiver reported: “I have a fly swatter with the words “Monster Swatter” printed on it. I’ve sent it home with several of my daycare kids to keep until they swat the monsters out of their room. They usually sleep with it a few nights and return it to me when they are ready. It’s been 100% effective!”

Monster hunt:  “I had issues with bedtime monsters in my closet and My Mom and Dad brought up a garbage bag to my room and went Monster hunting and threw all the creatures away in the garbage! and I must say it worked!”

Kick ‘em to the curb:  When my oldest was afraid of bedtime monsters, I’d would pretend to round up all the monsters in his room, and I would escort them down the hall, speaking loudly so my son could hear me “Come on, you, out you get!  Away you go!  You’re not welcome here!”  I’d open the front door, and slam it shut while hollering “…and don’t come back”.  Then I would walk back to my son’s room, dusting off my hands, and announce “They’re gone.”  He loved that!

Carry them out:  Get a big empty box, go into the room and close the door. Make a few thumps and bumps and come out with the box, making it move around as though there’s something in it. Huff and puff as if it’s heavy, and take it outside to the bin. …and similarly, another reader reported: “I had issues with monsters in my closet and My Mom amd Dad brought up a garbage bag to my room and went Monster hunting and threw all the creatures away in the garbage! and I must say it worked!”

Watch a monster movie: Two titles that parents mentioned time and time again were Disney’s “Monsters Inc”. and Veggie Tales’ “Where’s God When I’m Scared”.  Both can be purchased through Amazon.com

Special Powers:

• “My husband very seriously told the boys he had special power, and he could pass it to them. He laid his hands on their heads for a moment and then said “Monsters…BE GONE”  He then told them to hold their arms out and repeat the words,  This special “ceremony” resulted in my husband having to say this EVERY night at bedtime with the boys, and sometimes, in the middle of the night, we would hear a tiny voice loudly proclaim “MONSTERS…BE GONE”.

• “We empowered our boys. We had them tell the bedtime monsters that it was time to go to bed and go home. Usually worked.”

• ‘We tell ours to ‘abracadabra’ them into funny frogs and tell them to hop away. He ‘abracadabras’ everything with a pretend magic stick so we suggested it for monsters and it’s worked really well.”

• “My husband preformed a smudging ritual for bedtime.”

Tools to banish bedtime monsters:

• A magic blanket some children believe they’re safe as long as they stay underneath it.
• an old remote control to “change the channel” of their dream if they’re having a bad one.
• soft music and a night light
• ” We take foam swords and go door to door with them to fight them off before bed”
• Use an empty squirt gun and shoot under the bed and into the closets every night.
• a flashlight that turns off automatically after 10 minutes can be comforting if they wake up scared in the night.

• Listen for the sounds: Lay in bed with your child and listen.  Ask him to identify the sounds that scare him.  Sometimes it’s the car racing by or the screeching of a cat.  A young child isn’t able to make sense of these sounds when he hears them in the night, and assumes they belong to something very scary.

• Look around from their level: Lay on the bed with your child and look around.  Is there something casting a scary shadow on the wall?  A chair or piece of clothing hanging from a hook?  Move it.

• Move the bed so that your child can see out his or her bedroom door.  Leave the door open a little and a hall light on.

• Monster costume or pyjamas:  Monsters are afraid of other monsters, so dress like one!  You can an old tee shirt into this  easy no-sew monster sleep shirt!

Enlist the help of your furry friends:  

“My son is going through same thing. Both our parents have big dogs, so he has a picture of a dog warning sign and he puts it into the bedroom window as thats where he thinks the monster’s are.”

• Many parents assure their child that their cat or dog protects their house from monsters at night.
• “Dogs eat monsters.  That’s why they lick their chops in the night”.
• A favourite stuffed animal perched high on a shelf will keep watch over the room and protect the child.   One mom recommends using a stuffed owls because owls are known to remain awake and alert all night.

Ask your child where the monsters are:

• Under the bed?  Get down on your hands and knees order the monsters to get out.  Get firm with them if need be.
• In the closet?  Lean a chair up against the closet door.

• Sprinkle salt on the window ledge and in the doorway.  Monsters are allergic to salt.

Call up some Fairy Friends:

Sprinkle homemade fairy dust around the bedroom. Make a fairy door so fairies can come and go throughout the night. Sprinkle a pinch of “pixie dust” (baby powder) over the bed at night.

Charms and Chimes:

• Make a lucky charm for your child to hold while she sleeps – a rock or a plastic crystal for example.
• Hang a wind chime in the window and tinkle it to scare the monsters away before turning out the lights.
• Invent a chant to say at bedtime: “Abracadabra, Allakazam, send the monsters to another land.” to hang it in the window to trap bad dreams and ward off monsters.  I LOVEthis dream catcher by Crafting Connections.
• Wash up and brush up: Some parents have had success by telling their children that monsters do not like the smell of toothpaste, shampoo or soap.  Bonus – your child will be eager to have his hair washed and brush his teeth!