Handmade Math Counters: Butterflies from Paint Chips
Handmade Butterfly Math CountersI believe in handmade birthday parties...and this includes the party favors. I refuse to buy a bunch of junk toys that will clutter my house. Little Snail will be having her party soon, so am working on making her little gifts to her friends. I made these butterfly math counters with paint chips and this puncher from Martha Stewart, bought at WalMart. I just punched them out, and hot glued the backs of two of them together, so that I see color on both sides. The paint chip cards make these handmade counters very sturdy. These butterflies would be really pretty attached to fishing line and turned into a mobile. I guess I am going to have to post about all of my handmade birthday ideas....the pirate party and snail party were a blast!
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25 friends said...:
Those are so cute! I guess there is much more that you can do with 'scrapbooking' supplies than just scrapbooks, huh? I love that you are recycling as well!
Yes! Definitely do! I would love to hear more about your home made party favors.
I like the idea of useful gifts. I'm so tired of kids just getting and giving junk!
I agree...I don't give out all that junk either.
These are the cutest butterflies...but you ALWAYS have the most creative ideas!!! :)
Oh my gosh, that is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing it!
I just picked up some paint chips the other day...was wondering what to do with them...great idea thanks.
I would LOVE to hear your party ideas. I refuse to give out party favors that I refer to as "landfill". Last year we gave out terracotta pots with organic soil and seeds. The year before...sheesh...I can't remember, but it was something sustainable. Anyway, I can't wait to read more party ideas from you.
P.S. The butterfly paint chips are cool!
What a fantastic idea! I love home-made favors and gifts, too. Holly
Great Idea!
I love the simple, handmade things too. These are great.
what an awesome idea, so colorful, so beautiful, thanks for the tip :)
Love those!! I have Martha's butterfly punch, also, and Lilly loves to punch her some butterflies.
Can't wait to see what you're up to!!
Elise
Love the butterfly counters ~ and my girls will too!! I might take them away from them as soon as we get home so i can use them in their workboxes!!
Adorable! We will do very few bday parties...at least with friends. BUT I agree that I don't want to send kids home with junk...we all have plenty of it!
The butterflies are awesome! Very clever!
How's your habit? Hope you don't mind me asking, but I care!
I saw these and thought of you :)
http://creaturecomforts.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/free-printable-snail-stationery-set.html
I am not a crafty person, but the Martha Stewart craft supplies are so handy. This was a neat idea and I completely agree about not filling the house with junk. We are constantly paring down, but everything fills up again!
You are an unstoppable force of art. I love it. How lucky your kids are to have such a creative mom.
-Francesca
My favorite blogs have been tagged and you are one of them here in my blog :)
http://storytime-storytime.blogspot.com/
Very cute butterflies--how did you obtain so many paint chips?
Tammy, I can get 4 butterflies out of one paint chip. Everytime I go past a paint department in a store, I get a few paint chips. I keep a box of them in my laundry room and they just collect.
These are the best! I came back to your site to thank you for your kind comment and I find the most beautiful things. You know why I like this butterfly idea so much. Because I am already obsessed with paint sample cards.Now I have a legitimate reason to collect them...because actually painting a wall is out of the question!! :-)
So glad to connect with you!
Gina
how do you use them as "counters"?
CLEM,
You can use any object as a math manipulative. "Counters" can be purchased or handmade. Counters are used in counting, sorting, patterning...you name it. Google "Early Childhood Math Activities" to find lots of games that you can do with counters.
GREAT IDEA! I collected lots of paint chips one day in hopes I could find something great to do with them! Thinking I would beable to do this in something boyish! GREAT IDEA!
I love your butterfly counters! I'd love to link to this idea from my Very Hungry Caterpillar party post over at Growing Great Kids. I get a lot of hits on that from Kirtsy.
For our Very Hungry Caterpillar party, one of the party activities was making their own "Very Hairy Caterpillar" with pantihose, soil, and rye grass seeds. They worked with their grownup to fill a section, then tie it off, until they had three body sections. This was an awesome party favor!
We also made Very Hungry Caterpillar bookmarks with thin ribbon and small beads. These caterpillars actually fit through the holes in each food he eats through in the book! My kids helped me make them beforehand, which was fun for us, and then couldn't wait to pass them out to their friends at the party!
Thanks for the great math counter/party favor idea! You rock!
Here's the link to my Hungry Caterpillar Party posts: http://growinggreatkids.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Very%20Hungry%20Caterpillar
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