Some animal themed crafts from Baker Ross

As a member of the Baker Ross Bloggers Network I'm lucky enough to receive regular deliveries of their fabulous arts and crafting kits. The latest box had so many lovely things in that I've divided it into two posts, and this first post is all about some animal themed crafting.

Zoo themed stuffed toy storage box

Mia loves her stuffed animals. She has quite a collection, and she loves all of them. She has a huge pile in bed with her at night, they follow her around the house, and although she does have a few particular favourites she seems to play with them all equally. I never really had any proper storage for them, I just shoved them on a bookshelf in her bedroom when I found them lying about, so I thought that it was time to come up with a way to store them properly, yet still make it easy for her to access them.

So she helped me to make a zoo themed storage box which fits nicely on her shelf and means that her soft toys are a little more contained and easy for her to put away. You just need a large cardboard box,  and we used the one that our Baker Ross order was delivered in. I cut off the top flaps and cut away some of the box on one side so that you can easily see and access what's inside. I reinforced the box with some packing tape to make sure that it was sturdy, then Mia and I ripped up lots of different coloured Safari Tissue Paper and used slightly diluted white glue (approx. one part water to two parts glue) to stick it down over the sides and inside the box. Be warned, you need a lot of glue!

To finish we used some zoo themed letter stickers that we had in the house to make a sign for 'Mia's Animal Zoo' (her choice of words!). Then when she wasn't looking I surprised her by hiding some gorgeous Jungle Animal Plush Toys inside. She was thrilled, they really are lovely little stuffed toys.

Unicorn Sewing Kits

Both children really enjoyed making up the Unicorn Cushion Sewing Kits. The shape of the unicorn head is simple to sew around, and because it's not too big it wasn't too daunting for them. They enjoyed decorating their head with the self-adhesive stickers, although I ended up doing the manes as it was a bit fiddly for them and they got bored! They were really pleased with their finished stuffed unicorns, they are a gorgeous finished craft product!

Elephant Coin Banks

Last month we had a lot of fun painting ceramic bird planters, so I was pleased to see some Elephant Ceramic Coin Banks and some more of the lovely Brights Porcelain Paint Pots. The paint covers the ceramic beautifully, drying to a lovely shiny finish, and the colours are so vivid, it looks fantastic. The paint dries really quickly too so you can do a first coat and then add detail on top in the same painting session.

Farm Animal Pom Poms

I loved these cheerful Farm Animal Pom Pom Decoration Kits. The pom poms are very easy to make around the foam shapes, and because they are quite small it doesn't take too long for children to make them. We made a lovely sheep and duck, with the pig saved for another day.

Modelling Clay Animals

Finally we tried out the Rainbow Clay Multi Bars modelling clay. I asked the children to go along with the theme and make animals, and they eagerly got started. The clay was lovely and soft to work with, and didn't make their hands smell which is a bonus. It was a bit difficult to separate the colours initially but it didn't bother the children (and of course it always ends up mixed together in the end anyway!) Here's Mia working away busily (yes, her hair always looks like that by the end of the day!)

The clay comes in lovely bright colours and I think it's a bargain for the price! They made some lovely little models and it looks as though it will store well ready for play another time.

I received these products as a member of the Baker Ross Bloggers Network.