Easy and Cute Origami Paper Dolls

Today I'm sharing the most adorable and easy origami craft project with you. It's cute. (Or should I say kawaii?) It's simple to make. And it's fun to decorate! Ta-da! Grab the kids because we're folding these super sweet origami paper dolls!

How to Fold Sweet and Simple Origami Paper Dolls with Kids

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Cupcake Liner Dumpling Craft (and our 10+ favorite Asian Food Picture Books!)

A couple of weeks ago, our family celebrated New Year (and made a ton of Chinese New Year Crafts.) Even though the celebrations are over, I've still been in the mood to eat lots of yummy Asian food. The boys and I recently tried making dumplings (using this super easy recipe). Today I thought it would be fun to put together a fun list of Asian food inspired picture books + share a cute cupcake liner dumpling craft. Enjoy!

10+ Awesome Asian Food Inspired Picture Books AND a Cupcake Liner Dumpling Craft

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means I make a tiny bit of grocery money from each purchase made at no cost to you. Thank you for your support! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Chinese New Year Pig Watercolor Paintings

Did you know that this Chinese New Year is the year of the pig?  A couple of nights ago my boys and I began making our annual Chinese New Year Crafts together.  One of my good friends is an art teacher and she painted some lovely pigs with her students.  I loved her idea so much that I wanted to try the activity out with my two boys too.  (Thanks, Alicia for the awesome idea!!!!)

Tada!  We all had fun trying our hand at painting some watercolor pigs for Chinese New Year!

Painting Watercolor Pigs for Chinese New Year!

(Can you guess which one my preschooler painted?  He fully enjoyed himself and got immensely messy!)

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Faux Henna Tattoos for Kids

Have you ever heard about Henna tattoos? These are beautiful temporary tattoos that people around the world apply during certain celebrations or rites of passage.  (You can read more about  Henna tattoos here.)  Years ago, I attended a Mehendi Ceremony and completely fell in love with all the beautiful designs that the artist applied to our hands. That was the first (and sadly the last time) I ever got Henna done.  Today's post is an attempt to recreate the beautiful details of the Henna tattoo... in a very kid-friendly way!

Kid-Friendly Faux Henna Tattoos

(Kids can draw them + they're completely washable too!)

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money! For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Quirky Origami Sumo Wrestlers

Awhile back I made these super cute Sumo Wrestler bowling pins from plastic bottles.  Maybe this makes me a crafting dork, but I still look back fondly at that craft.  They were just so quirky and fun!  Today I am once again inspired by Sumo Wrestlers.  But instead of making them out of plastic.... we're folding them out of ... origami paper!

Yes!  Let's get folding!

How to Fold Origami Sumo Wrestlers

Plastic Bottle Sumo Wrestler Bowling Pins

About a year ago I had the great opportunity to be a guest craft poster at Sugar and Dots (Now Hello M{ess}).   My first craft on her blog was this set of cute and quirky sumo wrestler bowling pins.  It's still one of my most popular (and favorite) craft posts, so today I thought I'd re-share my sumo wrestler pins over here.

Plastic Bottle Sumo Wrestler Bowling Pins

Ack!  Too cute....

Keep reading to see how these cute guys were made:

Cherry Blossom Tissue Paper Flower Craft (Tree printable included!)

I know, it's a little early for cherry blossoms crafts.  But this mama is seriously over winter.  Buh-bye!  With yet another snow storm scheduled to come tomorrow, this tissue paper cherry blossom tree craft is my attempt to kick winter in the face.  Hiyah! 

Ahh, cherry blossoms... so beautiful... so springy...

Like the tree?  You can use it for your kids' crafts too!  I turned my painting into a pdf so you can just download it and print it out....

Crapty Paper Fortune Cookie Advent Calendar

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first of December!  Aiyah!  How quickly the time flies.

I love advent calendars.  I don't know why, but there's something immensely satisfying about moving a little figure from one day to the next.

We own one small felt snowman advent calendar, but I wanted to try making my own out of crap.  (Why?  Why not!  I love crapting.  There's just something immensely satisfying about transforming garbage and recyclables into something beautiful.)

I've always loved eating fortune cookies. (They're the best part about eating Chinese food!) So, I made my advent calendar look like paper fortune cookies.  Unlike their doughy counterparts, these fortune cookies don't contain traditional cookie wisdom.  Instead, each holds a Christmas-y activity that our family can do together or a way that we can serve others. Each cookie also holds a bible verse.

Hopefully these paper treats will help put us in the right frame of mind this holiday season.

Want to make your own paper fortune cookie advent calendar? Read on!

Materials:
- paper grocery bags (<--crap!)
- scissors
- cup
- pen
- computer paper
- glue stick
- gold paint
- paintbrush
- string
- tape
- Bible Advent verses

Directions:
1)  Trace and cut out 24 circles.

 2)  Write down fun Christmas-y activities or different ways you can serve others onto the circle's backs.

 3)  Make your fortune cookies!  Fold your circle in half, making sure your writing is on the inside.

 4)  While still holding your half circle, use your other hand crease the circle like so.  (Thumb and middle finger on the edge while your pointer finger gently applies pressure and creases the paper.)

 5)  Keep applying pressure until you have your fortune cookie shaped.

 6)  To keep the paper in this shape, you'll now need to let go of the paper and dab glue onto center crease. (Or you can use one of those glue dots... but I'm cheap so I just used my glue stick.)

 7)  Now, refold your fortune cookie.  Apply a bit of pressure to where the glue is to make sure both fortune cookie "arms" (no idea what  they're called) stick together.  Insert a bobby pin inside the "arms" so that they remain sticking together until the glue dries.

 8)  Repeat the process to create the rest of your fortune cookies.

9)  Come back 24 hours later.  (Or earlier if you wish.  I just waited to make sure the glue was dried.)  Paint half of the fortune cookie gold.  While waiting for the paint to dry, write out your bible verses and corresponding numbers on thin slips of paper.

9)  Once your paint dries, tape the slips of paper into the fortune cookies.

10)  I wasn't sure how to string the cookies up, so I created small loops out of leftover paper and taped them to the inside of the fortune cookies.) String up your cookies and enjoy!

Jellogami

I'm not very good at folding origami.  I struggle with the wordless 300+ step directions needed to make just about anything.  I'm too impatient to interpret the images.  I find the dotted lines and curly arrows confusing.  Plus, I struggle with mentally rotating images.  Because of my white belt origami status, I bow down to those crazy amazing black belt folders.  I also bow down to the dexterous hands (and brains) behind My Jello Americans.

Folding paper?  Tres Tricky.  Folding jello?  Well, who could have imagined that? 

Play with your food!

If I had my way, this poor panda bread would soon be extinct.   Muah ha ha ha!

Image taken from here and first seen on this lovely food blog

Capturing summer in an instrument

Summer is swiftly rolling by, as evidenced by the shorter days, cooler nights, and the abundance of "back-to-school" sales.  Hubby and I are trying to savor these last weeks of good weather and freedom by stuffing ourselves with Michigan fruit and ice-pops.  Lately, I've also been listening to people play the ukulele.  Whenever I hear that happy strumming, I think of smiling people and summer island living.

Falling asleep or waking up?

This baby is just too cute.

Cheering up

I found this video on a friend's blog and couldn't stop laughing.  There's something about exaggerated dance movements and hammer pants that brightens my day.  Enjoy!

Can you identify this plant?

Sometimes hubby and I bemoan the absence of Asians and Asian cuisine in our area.  However, as much as I miss seeing Asian faces and eating delicious foods (oh steaming bowl of ramen, tender bulgogi, juicy soup dumplings, NY style bubble milk tea, tender kong xin cai, salty nasi lemak, fresh sushi, and piping hot samosas-- how I miss you) we are fortunate to have befriended a few Asian gals.  

So we're not so alone.

One gal is originally from Cambodia and though we often misunderstand each other, we do share the common language of  food.  Most of our talk centers around food: what we enjoy eating, what we've made, and what we want to make some day.

 Recently she brought me this plant to grow in my deck garden:

The stems have to remain in water until roots grow.  Then, I'm supposed to pot them in soil.

Apparently the leaves are (1) tasty with pork, and (2) good for people with bad eyes (I wear glasses.)  Hubby and I are excited to try the leaves out, but there's one problem:  I'd like to know the name of this plant before I put it in my mouth.

So that's where you, dear readers, come into play.  What is this plant called?  I tried googling "Asian plant tastes good with pork leaves Cambodian" and didn't find anything besides kaffir lime leaves.

Here's an up close shot for all you super sleuths...

Pot o'sushi

Happy St. Patrick's  Day!  

According to Irish legends, leprechauns store treasures at the end of rainbows.  If I were a leprechaun I would store sushi at the end of my rainbow.

I miss eating sushi and I've tried curbing my cravings with homemade attempts, but they never satisfy.

 Sad pseudo sushi

Once the baby pops out, I'm going to (1) hug baby and (2) eat a piece of sashimi.

Will my hospital will serve meals like this?

Chirashi image taken from here

(3) We also wore red.

Hubby's attempt at Chinesey red

My attempt at Chinesey red

Good luck, come our way!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today I'm going to celebrate my Chinese heritage two ways: 

Bruce Lee and me

According to my hubby, I frequently make the "Chinesey" sound "Aiyah!"  I didn't think I said it that often until one day he pointed every "Aiyah!" out.

You know what?  He's right. "Aiyah!" is my go-to word when I

• lose my balance 
• am surprised (ex:  I see a mouse)
• struggle with using an object (ex: can-opener) 
• struggle with opening a tightly sealed object (ex:  jar of olives )
• hurt myself accidentally (ex:  stub my toe)

Last night when watching tv, hubby pointed out another person who also uses my special term a lot.   

It's you and me, Bruce Lee.

image taken from here

I love sushi.

Flavored seaweed

Here's an interesting food combination that only the Japanese could dream up:  tomato sauce and seaweed.  Before you groan in disgust, take a look at this tomato-seaweed snack that I found at the store.

Doesn't the cute packaging draw you in?

It was yummy- great texture and slightly sweet and salty.  We finished the whole bag in a couple of minutes.