DIY Stick Horse

Let me start by saying that I can not sew.  So these DIY stick horses are no-sew.

One of the activities in Mr. Monster’s Justin Time Party was a horse race.  I needed to create a dozen stick horses quickly and inexpensively.

So we headed to the dollar store and grabbed one dozen oven mitts.  Then we headed to the craft store and grabbed a few other inexpensive supplies.

**Edited to add: Over 2 years later and these oven mitt stick horses have held up.  Mr. Monster “rides” his through the house at least once a day.

Don’t miss these other stick horse ideas!

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Yield: 1 Stick Horse

How to create a no-sew stick horse

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Create a simple no-sew hobby horse with this step-by-step tutorial.

Materials

• Oven Mitt
• Wooden Dowel
• Large Googly Eyes
• 2 Small Paper Cups
• Yarn
• Ribbon

Tools

• Hot Glue Gun

Instructions

1. Start by attaching an eye to each side of your oven mitt using hot glue.
2. Next, glue together the two cups at the openings.
3. Push the cups into the large section of the oven mitt. This helps your horse keep its shape.
4. For the hair, start by measuring the length of the oven mitt onto your dowel and adding a few inches.  Mark that spot with a pencil.
5. Then wrap the dowel in yarn up to your mark. Secure the yarn with a bit of hot glue.
6. Grab a piece of cardboard that is the length you want your hair to be. Then wrap your yarn around the cardboard about 50-60 times.Remove the yarn from the cardboard and place it around your dowel. Start spreading the yarn across the wrapped portion of the dowel. Try to make the top of your dowel have more hair than the rest.  Once the yarn is in position, run hot glue along the yarn and wiggle the yarn in the glue to create a good hold. Last, snip the loops so that they turn into strands.
7. To attach the head to the stick, run a bead of hot glue down one end of the dowel and push it down onto one side of the open oven mitt.  Repeat on the other side.
8. Attach a piece of ribbon around the nose of the horse.
9. Finally, attach a long piece of ribbon to either side of the head.

If you want to create this in bulk, I recommend completing each step for each of your horses before moving on to the next.

We placed all of our horses into a tall laundry basket and placed them at the start of the race.

The kids went running when they saw all the stick horses. And they were off to the races.

More ways to make a fun hobby horse toy

• Create a classic sock stick horse
• Use up an old pool noodle from last summer
• Grab a free pattern for a felt horses head
• Grab these ideas and more in our collection of stick horse DIY ideas.

This project is great for making in bulk. Especially since there is no sewing machine required. It’s a fun project that will provide hours of fun for little girls and boys.

Tips for making a hobby horse.

The basic concept of attaching a horse head to a stick is not new. Kids have been playing with these classic toys for years. Here are some tips for making this easy stick horse.

• You can try adding a styrofoam ball or soft stuffing material to the nose, instead of the cups. It may hold up better.
• Make a more glamorous hobby horse by adding a fun feather boa or choosing fun colors for the hair.
• The wooden dowels will make up the base of the horse. Choose a size that is appropriate for the amount of use. After years of play, these were the parts that broke in the end. I still have a horse’s head in my house. horse eyes
• If you don’t want to buy a wooden stick, find an old wooden broomstick instead.
• You could swap the ribbon for a thicker brown cord, for a more realistic look. Or you could use a beaded necklace for a fun twist.
• Make sure the position of the eyes matches on each side of the face.

Don’t forget to pin these stick ponies to your Crafts Pinterest board!

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The post How to make an inexpensive DIY stick horse appeared first on Twitchetts.

Justin Time birthday party.

I have to say, this boy is lucky his mommy is a procrastinator. Because even thought I had it all planned out in my head, I hadn’t started actually making or buying anything for the pirate party. So he was in luck…a Justin time party it would be.

I only had a couple of weeks to figure this party out, so I started with my beginning brainstorming session and then went on to Pinterest for more inspiration. Do you know how many pins there are currently on Pinterest for a Justin Time party? About 5…And they are mostly cakes.

OK…plan B. Let’s watch the show. The show is about a little boy named Justin. Justin has an imaginary friend named Squidgy…who from what I can tell is made of yellow playdough. As Justin is going about his day, he runs into a problem, (a preschool age problem) and using his imagination, Justin and Squidgy travel to a different time and or place. Once they are there, they find their other friend, Olive, who joins them on an adventure that eventually helps Justin solve his real world problem.

Also, the theme song has a lot of arrows…

Justin Time Birthday Party Food Table

So I used the arrows to decorate the food table.

To make the arrows as big as I wanted, I went to my go-to party supply. Plastic table clothes. Seriously, these things are amazing for decorating a party. Plus they’re cheap.  But not too cheap, spring for the 1.99 ones, they will hold up much better, and cut smoother than the $1.00 versions.

I taped a blue table cloth from the ceiling to the top of the table. Then cut 3 arrows to tape onto the blue.

Since the party was at 2:00, I didn’t need to have a whole lunch spread. Instead, I chose some snacks that I knew a room full of preschoolers would enjoy. Fruit and cheese.

I used Susie’s tip from V’s PJ Masks party and created some simple skewer toppers and lovingly named them all Squidgy Snacks.

The cake was a simple white frosting with character cutouts that I glued to a couple of skewers. Probably the easiest cake I’ve made yet.

Create a Squidgy

Squidgy is a very memorable character on the show, and you can’t have a Justin Time birthday party without him.  The first idea that came to my head was to give all the kids a container of yellow play doh. As the kids arrived, we let them use their play doh to create their own Squidgy’s.

It was the perfect opening activity.

The kids sat next to a banner of Squidgies so that the little ones who had not watched the show could have a bit of inspiration.

Once everyone arrived, we headed outside for our Justin Time Party activity. Check out all the fun details here!

I have to admit. When Mr. Monster said that he wanted a Justin Time birthday party, I was not very excited. Being a blogger, I wanted the party to be something that more kids knew. But as I was planning and creating I became more and more excited. And the look on my little one’s faces showed that I need to remember, their party is more than just a blog post. It’s a day of memories. And this party more than delivered those.

Check out all of the Justin Time Party Details Here!

The post Justin Time Birthday Party ~ Mr. Monster’s Third Birthday appeared first on Twitchetts.

I chose 3 episode themes and created a leg of our journey using them as inspiration.

Justin Time Party Activity ~ Wrong Way

The first leg of our journey was a horse race.

Mr. Monster’s favorite episode is about a horse named Wrong Way. I created stick horses for each of the kiddos to ride across our lawn for a horse race.

If the kids were older, I would have created an actual track…but a bunch of 3-year-olds are not going to stay on course, so I just let them run.

Justin Time Party Activity ~ Pirates

At the end of the horse race, it was time for the 2nd adventure. The pirate adventure.

I chose this because I already had some pirate fever from his original theme choice. So the kiddos put on bandanas and eye patches and “walked the plank”. Most of them took their horses with them.

Justin Time Party Activity ~ Bumbling Knight

The last part was from Hubby’s favorite episode. The Bumbling Knight. We created a sword and shield from a large cardboard box and then wrapped it in foil.

To give the shield a little bit of character, we glued a couple pieces of yarn down before wrapping it in foil.

We filled several balloons with toys. (Definitely a two person project)

Then we wrapped the balloons around a tree.

The kids took turns popping a balloon with the sword. Since they were little, Susie stood behind the balloon with a pin and helped when the kiddos were having troubles.

At the end of the party, the kids got to run around with the horses, pirate gear and sword and shield and play freely.

Each kid got to keep a little something from each leg of the race, so the party favors were built into the activity. It was quite a hall for a kids party. A horse, a pirate bandana and eye patch, the trinkets from inside their balloon, and their Squidgy playdoh.

Plus, even the kids who had never watched Justin time enjoyed all the activities.

Check out all the rest of the party fun here!

The post Justin Time Party Activity ~ Bring The Episodes To Life appeared first on Twitchetts.