Up-styled toad stool
Get the children to think about up-styling furniture from an early age. Restyling old, unwanted furniture is a great skill to have and can be done simply and cheaply. It is also an excuse to add some cool furniture to your children’s rooms.
Materials
• White and red acrylic paint.
• Large paint brush.
• Wooden stool.
• Old newspapers.
• Pencil.
• Compass.
• Card.
• Paper scissors.
• Blu-Tack.
Lay down a few pages from an old newspaper and create a work area that will help keep your work surface clean.Cover the wooden stool in two to three layers of white paint. Allow the paint to dry fully.While the white paint is drying, use a compass to draw circles in various sizes onto a piece of card. Cut out the circles with the aid of an adult’s helping hand.Place a small piece of Blu-Tack on the back of each piece of card. Arrange and stick the pieces of card onto the seat of the stool.Paint the seat of the stool in a layer of red paint. Be careful to not allow the red paint to go underneath the card circles.Allow the seat to dry and then remove the card circles from the seat.
Fairy houses
Every fairy needs a magic house, but sadly, fairies are not the best at construction. Spend an afternoon creating fairy houses with your little ones, using a few bits and bobs from around the house.
Materials
• Toilet roll or kitchen roll cardboard.
• Colourful paper.
• 50cm ribbon.
• White paper.
• Colouring pencils.
• Paper glue.
• Paper scissors.
• Sticky tape.
Cut out some colourful paper for covering the cardboard from the toilet roll. Use the cardboard as a guide and mark how much paper you will need. Cut out the colourful paper with a paper scissors and then glue the paper around the toilet roll. If the paper is very thick and won’t stay in place, use a little piece of sticky tape.Using white paper, draw a colourful door for your fairy house. Experiment with various shapes and colours. Once finished, cut out the little door and glue to the front of the fairy house.To make the roof of the fairy house, take a piece of colourful paper and draw a large circle and cut out. Place the nib of your pencil in the centre of the circle and draw a straight line from the centre of the circle to the edge of the page.Using your paper scissors, cut along the line you just drew. Turn the flat circle into a cone by over lapping the two straight lines. Take 10 centimetres of ribbon and fold the ribbon in half. Using sticky tape, attach the ribbon to the inside of the top of the cone.The folded half of the ribbon should be placed outside the cone. Fold the cone into shape and place a small piece of sticky tape on the inside. Experiment with different roof shapes and trim the cone as needed.The roof can be attached to the house using sticky tape or a little glue. Once the houses are complete, you can hang them around the house or garden and wait for the fairies to arrive.
Up-styled toad stool
Get the children to think about up-styling furniture from an early age. Restyling old, unwanted furniture is a great skill to have and can be done simply and cheaply. It is also an excuse to add some cool furniture to your children’s rooms.
Materials
• White and red acrylic paint.
• Large paint brush.
• Wooden stool.
• Old newspapers.
• Pencil.
• Compass.
• Card.
• Paper scissors.
• Blu-Tack.
Lay down a few pages from an old newspaper and create a work area that will help keep your work surface clean.Cover the wooden stool in two to three layers of white paint. Allow the paint to dry fully.While the white paint is drying, use a compass to draw circles in various sizes onto a piece of card. Cut out the circles with the aid of an adult’s helping hand.Place a small piece of Blu-Tack on the back of each piece of card. Arrange and stick the pieces of card onto the seat of the stool.Paint the seat of the stool in a layer of red paint. Be careful to not allow the red paint to go underneath the card circles.Allow the seat to dry and then remove the card circles from the seat.
Fairy houses
Every fairy needs a magic house, but sadly, fairies are not the best at construction. Spend an afternoon creating fairy houses with your little ones, using a few bits and bobs from around the house.
Materials
• Toilet roll or kitchen roll cardboard.
• Colourful paper.
• 50cm ribbon.
• White paper.
• Colouring pencils.
• Paper glue.
• Paper scissors.
• Sticky tape.
Cut out some colourful paper for covering the cardboard from the toilet roll. Use the cardboard as a guide and mark how much paper you will need. Cut out the colourful paper with a paper scissors and then glue the paper around the toilet roll. If the paper is very thick and won’t stay in place, use a little piece of sticky tape.Using white paper, draw a colourful door for your fairy house. Experiment with various shapes and colours. Once finished, cut out the little door and glue to the front of the fairy house.To make the roof of the fairy house, take a piece of colourful paper and draw a large circle and cut out. Place the nib of your pencil in the centre of the circle and draw a straight line from the centre of the circle to the edge of the page.Using your paper scissors, cut along the line you just drew. Turn the flat circle into a cone by over lapping the two straight lines. Take 10 centimetres of ribbon and fold the ribbon in half. Using sticky tape, attach the ribbon to the inside of the top of the cone.The folded half of the ribbon should be placed outside the cone. Fold the cone into shape and place a small piece of sticky tape on the inside. Experiment with different roof shapes and trim the cone as needed.The roof can be attached to the house using sticky tape or a little glue. Once the houses are complete, you can hang them around the house or garden and wait for the fairies to arrive. 
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