December | 2012 | The Adventures of Action Jackson

Looking for a cheap inexpensive activity for your little ones? Why not paint? Have no idea what to paint on, just grab an old box you have in the garage or an old shoe box and give it new life for a few moments.

We love to paint in this house. The only art work up on the walls actually are of Jackson’s paintings. So today when he wanted to go outside I wanted to give him an activity to do other than digging up my flowers.

I brought out our Tempura Paints and did a few squirts into muffin cups. I was able to pick up smaller paints and brushes in Target’s $1 isle yesterday. Took an old moving box out of the garage and onto the back patio. And I let him have some fun!

We tried a little bit of drip painting. He got bored with that fast since it didn’t fall off quick enough.

we have to paint rocks!!!

While singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” he started painting body parts =)

Yes you can paint my white flowers blue.

When we were all done, we turned the muffin cups inside out and smeared the remaining paint!

Our finished painting!

Have fun and enjoy!!

So I know we will be having some adventures real soon! But you can’t have adventures with out a cape! This is toddler fashion 101. You must have at least one cape! This is how we make our capes. Please feel free to tweak this however you may need to so that it fits you and your little one the best!

First what you will need are 3 different cotton fabrics. 1/2 Yard for the actual cape, then 2 contrasting colors for the shape and for the initial (these two can be larger scraps of fabric). You will need a shape and an initial too. These you can free hand draw (like I did today with my J) or you can find a font online and use that. You will also need a sewing machine, chalk to mark the fabric, a round bowl,and velcro.

I usually use a solid for a base which you need to cut from 1/2 yard, today I used black since Jackson just got a Batman shirt. I also used a bright green for my diamond and a scrap of robot fabric for my J.

My craft room doesn’t have the best lighting, I apologize!

Step 1:

Measure your child from the top of his shoulders to mid butt. Add 1 1/2 inches to that number for seam allowance. I came up with a 19″ cape for my 3 year old. He is tall and skinny. But, this size should fit from 1 1/2 – 4 year old.

Step 2:

Fold the fabric you will be using for you cape in half vertically.

From the folded edge : measure 6″ at the top going horizontally

measure 19″ going vertically (my straight ruler only goes to 17″ so that is why it doesn’t say 19″)

and at the bottom of the fabric measure 13″ going horizontally again.

Mark a straight chalk line from the end of 6″ on top to the end of 13″ on bottom.

You will now have your folded half of your basic cape shape. Cut on your lines and wipe excess chalk off.

Step 3:

Take your round bowl ( I used a round 1 qt pyrex lid for this) and place it over top of your folded edge. The top diagonal side should have 2″, and vertically should measure 5″. Cut out your neck. For easier sewing you can make a small V-shaped cut at the base of the neck.

Step 4:

Iron your seams. Have a 1″ seam on the bottom and make sure your edges come to a point.

1/4″ seam allowance on the sides and 1/2 seam allowance on the top.

Step 5: optional

In a coordinating fabric (preferably the one used for your shape) make two 1/2″x4″ for the neck. This can be used for Velcro, just incase the neck hole isn’t big enough to add it on the actual base fabric. You can also make these strips longer if you want 1/2″x12″ if you wish to tie your capes. I suggest any kid under the age of 5 have velcro on capes for safety reasons. We do not want any child to strangled because they can not get out of their capes. SAFTEY FIRST!