Ask An LA Expert: Family-Friendly DIY Crafts On A Budget

Nothing to do on a lazy day when your kids suddenly become restless? Need to find something to do for the rest of the day that makes them think while having fun in the process? Willing to nix movie watching or playing a board game to come up with a project that requires creativity and some independent thinking, too? OK, then take a look at the DIY projects Ashley Erikson does on the cheap with her family and then join her, courtesy of this self-described mompreneur's ideas, complete with step-by-step instructions.

Ashley Erikson
Mischief & Mudpies
(818) 632-6888
www.mischiefandmudpies.com

Ashley Erikson is the creator of her family fun-oriented site called Mischief & Mudpies. A mom of two young boys, ages 2 and 6, Ashley seeks to encourage and inspire parents by providing fun and exciting activities to do with their kids like she does with hers. Her motto? “Create, Explore, and Learn.” Based out of Southern California, Mischief & Mudpies offers top Los Angeles-area places to explore as well as provides science experiments, crafts, activities and unique holiday traditions to create. Ashley calls herself a full-blown mompreneur. She's president and founder of a local business association, she's a social media marketing guru, she's a graphic designer, she's an event planner, she's a creative writer and she's a photographer. But first and foremost, she's a mom!

Don't Break The Bank

The dollar store is a mom's best friend. Ashley says she goes to her local store "once a month to stock up on all my favorite DIY and activity supplies. I get everything from beans and rice for sensory bins or play food and shaving cream for arctic water tables to colanders for gold mining." She is enthusiastic about the dollar store because she is able to snag "what I need for creative play with my kids without breaking the bank. I have yet to walk out of one saying, 'How did I spend that much.'"

Here, Ashley offers her favorite dollar store craft: homemade slime! She says, "It's sticky, it's oozy, it's colorful, and the kids love watching it transform from a liquid to a solid. With three ingredients of borax, food coloring and white glue, this fun dollar store DIY project only costs you $3." She says the slime is "lots of fun to make and lasts a long time. We made a bunch of different colors and saved them in Ziploc bags for days and days of play!"

What You'll Need:

• Borax
• 8 oz. white glue
• Food coloring
• Water
• Bowl
• Measuring utensils

Empty the bottle of glue into a bowl. Fill the empty container with warm water, shake and add mixture into the bowl. Add coloring to your liking. In 1/2 cup of warm water, dissolve 1 tsp. of Borax. Once dissolved, pour the water mix into the bowl, start mixing and watch the magic happen!

One Man's Trash, Another Kid's Treasure

Ashley points out that pounds of trash are produced per person, per day. She says, "That's why I love finding things that are about to be thrown out." She then repurposes this formerly extraneous material to create a kids craft project. The recyclables Ashley likes to use again and again include paper towel rolls, juice bottles, milk cartons, egg cartons and soup cans. Erikson points out, "Your only limit is your imagination, and including your kids in the process can be much more fun. Ask them these questions: 'What is this?' 'What is it used for?' 'Look at it closely, what else can we use this for?' {Then] go with their ideas!" Her favorite recycled craft? A toilet paper roll bird feeder.

What You'll Need:

• Toilet paper rolls
• Natural peanut butter
• Kid-safe knife
• Bird seed
• Paper plate

Spread the peanut butter over the toilet paper rolls until completely covered. Roll in bird seed and place on branches all over the yard.

Shop At Home

Ashley finds that "sometimes what we're looking for is right under our nose. With two kids and on a tight budget, I don't usually have the time or luxury to run out and get craft stuff for the week. So that's when I shop in my own house." Ashley says she saunters through every room in her house, "grabbing paper plates, scrap paper, Q-tips, cotton balls and anything else." So what has this creative mom done with her homeward-bound finds? "We've turned plates into penguins, cotton balls into snow scenes and Q-tips into x-rays," she says. Here's how to make the latter.

What You'll Need:

• Chalk
• Q-tips
• Glue
• Black construction paper

Trace your child's hand with chalk using the black construction paper and then have the kids trace your hand, too. Then have your child glue the Q-tips within the chalked outline in place of bones. After this is done, a realism piece or abstract will emerge.

Collect As You Go

Buying craft supplies in bulk can be the cheapest way to save over time. But when you don't have a big budget to work with, shop as you go. Ashley says, "When I'm at the store, I might throw in a $1 bottle of tempera paint to add to my purchase. The next week I might add in a pack of $3 construction paper. Over time I have collected multiple colors of paint and paper so I have the supplies on hand when the kids are ready to do crafts." With that said, using their accumulated items, Ashley's family likes to create marble paintings as well as fun animal-shaped hand prints and paintings she hangs in her kids' room so the boys can admire the art these two created. The marble paintings are a great way to express your kids' artistic side. Ashley explains how to make these prized possessions.

What You'll Need:

• A couple of marbles
• A few colors of tempera paint
• 2-in. deep rectangular baking pan
• White water color paper

Place the white paper into your baking pan, cutting paper to fit if needed. Add a couple drops of different colored paint in small dollops around the paper. Add the marbles to the pan and have your child shake the pan around so the marbles are rolling in the paint and creating beautiful streaks of color. The more you shake the pan, the more the colors mix and the more white space is covered.

Get Into Nature

Ashley observes that sometimes, "the best materials are right outside your front door. I love using nature in crafts because it's free and it gets the kids outside exploring and learning about the different trees and plants in our area." She adds, "We usually make a little trip out of [this practice, walking] around the block with a backpack to collect items as we go. We find fallen seed pods, acorns, rocks, fallen leaves and sticks and bring them home with us. We'll pour our treasures out on the floor and then sort them into categories. Our favorite craft is a nature wreath." See the instructions for Ashley's nature wreath below:

What You'll Need:

• Cardboard box
• White glue
• Glue gun
• All the goodies you collected outside
• String
• Hole puncher

Cut the shape of a wreath out of the side of a cardboard box. Have your child glue the leaves, sticks and seeds to the wreath, trying to cover as much of the cardboard as possible. To secure heavier items like rocks and big sticks, you may need to apply with your glue gun. Once the glue is dry, punch a hole in the top and tie a string so you can hang this artistic creation on your front door for all to admire.

Related: Ask A Los Angeles Expert: Easy Crafts To Do With Your Kids