March 1, 2013

One of those cliche New Year’s resolutions seems to be getting more organized. Although cliche, this is a goal I seriously set for myself. We moved into a new apartment just before Christmas, after almost a year of living with other people and having all of our things in storage. Let me tell you, after months of not having your own things you forget how much you have.

When we were starting to put things away I knew I wanted things to have a system and be clearly organized so I would know where everything was. It took a couple days for us to get things figured out and contained, but it was worth it. I have to say that it would have taken weeks except my wonderful husband took a lot of initiative and did a bulk of the work. While I like to be organized, I tend to just deal with clutter. He made sure we accomplished our plan to be all cleaned up and put together.

One of the ways I organized my drawers and shelves was by cutting down large cardboard rolls into smaller pieces. I found an awesome work table at Costco for about $50 (here is a picture of it). After several cutting projects in the past, I knew this would be a great purchase. Turns out it was! Using our Multi-tool my husband was kind enough to cut down these rolls for me. It was a lot of work but I love how it turned out! It was a great cheap alternative to buying drawer organizers. I also used it to store all of my scarves. It works really well and I can see all of my scarves at the same time (as opposed to being in a pile on a shelf or in a drawer).

I know we don’t usually make a point of advertising products to you, but I really have to tell you how much I love my Craftsman Multi Tool! It is seriously one of the best tools we’ve purchased. It has all kinds of uses around the house. We got a set at Costco that also included a cordless drill (here is a link to the drill) as well. The quality is great and we have used both items around the house quite a bit.

Ok, enough of the tools :). We bought two sets of these metal shelves while in our last apartment and they currently reside in our extra room. While they are super handy, I really wanted to have a solid shelf for my extra dishes (food styling props). I didn’t want to have to buy wood for the shelves so I decided to try using cardboard. After I cut down the cardboard boxes we’d used to move to the correct size I realized they would be perfect! I had some fabric leftover from another project and decided to cover the cardboard with it to make it look nicer. I love how it turned out! Here is a little step by step of what I did:

Cut the cardboard to size

Hot glue the corners and sides

Finish up gluing all the sides

Voila!

During the days we were organizing I also made about 5 trips to the dollar store. They have so many great items to help with organizing! Plus, they come in lots of fun colors! I had a bunch of random containers I had saved over the years so I tried to use those as well before purchasing new things. I’m a little bit addicted to cute containers :).

Needless to say this was a very time consuming project and it involved some creative thinking, but I am so glad we did it! As it turns out cheap home organization is possible! A variety of solutions are possible, you just have to figure out what works best for you. All of these little containers has really helped our house stay so much cleaner and it is much easier to find things.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

January 31, 2013

What is a color activity or game I can play with my toddler to teach him the colors?

I have been working on colors with Smiley Man for about a month and a half now and he is slowly starting to make some connections when it comes to color. He is still young (21 months) and I don’t expect him to know all of his colors by the time the series ends. However, all of these color games and activities have been great.

Today’s game to teach colors is pretty easy. Several months ago, I did a busy bag exchange with several moms in my neighborhood. One of the bags that I got from the exchange was a Popsicle Stick Color Matching game. To make this game you will need just a few supplies.

• Felt in different colors (or cardstock in different colors)
• Popsicle sticks
• Hot glue gun (or sewing machine)

First, cut out two rectangles from each piece of felt (or cardstock) that you have chosen to use. I just have the 6 colors of the rainbow, but feel free to make as many different colors as you want. To know what size to cut the rectangles, you can just eyeball it. It’s not that hard. ;)

Once you have two rectangles cut from each color, hot glue around three sides of one rectangle. Leave the bottom edge (a short edge) open. That is where the popsicle stick will go. Now just put the other rectangle over the glue and let it dry. You can also use a sewing machine to sew the three sides closed, but if you don’t know how to sew, hot glue will work just fine, too.

Once you have glued all of your felt into “popsicles,” get your popsicle sticks ready. You will need one popsicle stick per color. For toddlers, color the end of each popsicle stick with the color of the popsicle it will match. I just used markers to do the coloring.

If you want, you can also write the name of the color on the other side. I wrote the name of the color with that color of marker.

For preschoolers, write the name of the color using a black marker.

How to teach your toddler the colors

Hold up a popsicle stick or have your child choose a popsicle stick. Ask them the color on the end or have them guess the color. Now have your toddler find the matching “popsicle.”

Now your child can insert the popsicle stick into the correct color of “popsicle.” Pretend licking of the popsicle must occur. That is always Smiley Man’s favorite part. Continue until all popsicles are matched. I should note that putting the popsicle stick into the popsicle is not always easy for Smiley Man. Sometimes he gets the angle just right and the popsicle stick goes in without trouble. Sometimes he can’t get the popsicle stick in and then he gets frustrated. If he is having a hard time and I can tell he is getting frustrated, I’ll just put the popsicle stick in for him and we’ll move on to the next color.

How to play with preschoolers

Set the popsicle sticks and “popsicles” in front of your preschooler. Have them choose a popsicle stick and read (or at least guess based on the beginning sound) the color on it. Once they have correctly read (or guessed) the color, have them put the correct color “popsicle” on the popsicle stick. Pretend licking of the popsicle must occur. :)

Both of my kids love this game (mostly because of the pretend licking), but it is great for teaching colors. It also uses fine motor skill when the popsicle stick is inserted into the popsicle. This is a great way to teach a child colors. If you’re still wondering how to teach a toddler colors, check out all of our other color games for toddlers.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

January 28, 2013

What are some inexpensive Valentine gift ideas for her, for him, and for kids?

Have you ever been one of those girls that said you didn’t want a Valentine’s Day gift and your significant other actually listened to you!?! I never have because the simple fact is, I like gifts and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Gifts are a really great way to express love and that is what Valentine’s Day is all about, right? I do like giving and receiving gifts, but I also don’t like feeling pressured to spend a fortune. Just because I want a gift on Valentine’s doesn’t mean I expect an expensive diamond necklace. In fact, one of my favorite Valentine’s Day gifts was the Disney movie, The Incredibles. My husband knew I really wanted that movie for our family so he took the opportunity of Valentine’s day to give it to me, and it was awesome!

So, how do you have an awesome gift-filled Valentine’s Day without spending a fortune? First, set a budget. I know that seems so un-romantic to give a cheap Valentine gift or to set a limit and I’m sure lots of people will disagree with it, but that is what my husband and I do every year. We are each allowed the same amount of money to spend on each other. I’m pretty sure we were only allowed $5 each for our first Valentine’s Day. We have increased that amount as we make more money, but we never set a budget that is more than we can afford. Even if you don’t have money to spend on Valentine’s Day you can always do a homemade gift which can often be much more memorable anyway.

The next best way to have a gift-filled V-day without breaking the bank is to have a long list of inexpensive Valentine’s gift ideas. Luckily for you, I have supplied just such a list below. The list has Valentine’s Day gifts for kids, handmade gift ideas, gifts for her, gifts for him, and even Valentine’s Day gifts for elementary school classes or just for your kids.

Valentine’s Gifts For Her:

• Felt Lip Balm Holder
• Lacy Votive Holder (homemade)
• Make homemade heart soap using this bathtub crayon recipe, a heart mold pan to pour the soap into, and some essential oil to make the soap scented.
• Buy rose petal soap in a heart shaped box
• Arrange rose petals in a heart shape on a table or bed
• Heart shaped bookmark
• Fancy gift bags filled with candy or other gifts
• Wooden roses
• “Remember I Love You” gift
• Nail Polish
• Nail art kit
• Bubble bath
• Necklace
• Bracelet
• Earrings
• Ring
• Canvas bag decorated with paint or sharpies
• Heart measuring cups or spoons
• Glass nail file
• Candle
• Lotion
• Perfume samples
• Scarf
• Heart keychain

Valentine’s Gifts For Him:

• Felt Tissue Pouch (homemade)
• Candy bouquet
• “We love you to pieces” handmade Valentine’s gift
• Buy a candy bar pizza or just make a homemade one using mini candy bars
• “Hooked on You” gift
• Small photo album filled with pictures of the two of you
• Personalized photo mug
• Cufflinks
• Cell phone charger for car
• Coasters that match his hobby or interests
• Pocket Squares
• Paperweight
• Game for his cell phone or another kind of app he might like
• Universal remote
• Bathrobe
• Pocket Knife
• Stud finder or other Measurement tool
• “52 Reasons I Love You”

Valentine’s Day Gifts For Kids and Elementary School Classes:

• “Love Bug” Valentine
• Crayon Heart paper (write a Valentine message with a sharpie on the top)
• “Burst my Bubble” Valentine
• Valentine Rolo Pencils
• Printable butterfly Valentine’s and a few other printable Valentine’s
• Sticky Note Clipboards, write “Valentine, I’m “stuck” on you!” on the top
• Valentine Treat Pockets
• “Pop Quiz” printable Valentine
• Secret Valentine messages
• Handmade Calla Lily Bouquet
• “Thanks for sticking by my side” printable Valentine

Valentine’s Day Gifts for Anyone:

• Altoids or some other type of mint
• A bar of Toblerone or another gourmet chocolate
• An extra special homemade dinner
• Movie tickets
• DVD, here’s a great selection of DVDs that are $5 or less
• iTunes gift card
• Cute mugs and hot chocolate

If you still haven’t found just the right thing you can take a look at the list we made for Christmas with gift ideas under $30. We would love to hear your ideas and add to the list! Feel free to leave comments and link to any ideas you have! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

January 23, 2013

I want to introduce you to my sister! She has some amazing sewing skills and has done some really great things lately with sewing her own clothes and also refashioning clothes. One of her projects was especially interesting to me so I asked her to write a blog post for us so we could share it with you.

My name is Brianna Northrup and I am Cassidy’s sister. I have recently been getting into sewing and refashioning clothes and have had quite a bit of success doing it. For my guest post today I am going to tell you about one of my more successful Saver’s shopping trips and refashion projects.

Over the past couple of months I have been following the blogs of people who go to places like Saver’s and Goodwill and find clothes that still have some wear in them and give them new life. I am a pretty good seamstress and thought this sounded like a lot of fun. I had some free time on a Saturday and was in the mood to sew so I headed to my local Saver’s to see what I could find. I have never been the kind of person to shop at thrift stores and upon walking in I was reminded why, but possibility of a good find was just too tempting so I made my way into the store.

After about a half an hour of looking I stumbled upon a polka dot dress that seemed like it had some potential. It was several sizes too big but the fabric still had a lot of wear left in it and other then a small tear in the seam on the front the dress was I good condition. I picked up the dress and headed up to checkout. On my way to the checkout an infinity scarf near the register caught my eye. I had been looking for one similar to it for awhile so I picked it up as well.

My purchase totaled about $6. $4 for the dress and $2 for the scarf. (Sorry about the awful picture of the dress, I was in a hurry to get sewing so I just snapped a picture with my phone).

I brought my purchases home and I got to work on my dress. I had to wash it twice before I began to get rid of the smell. Once my dress was clean I was ready to begin. There were three things that I wanted to change about the dress. I wanted to take in the sides and the sleeves and hem the dress. To get an idea of how much I would need to take the dress in I turned it inside out and placed a dress that I like the fit of on top and traced the sides (see photo).

Then I started to sew. I started at the edge of the sleeve and sewed all the way down to the bottom of the dress following the lines I had traced earlier. After I had sewn both sides I tried on the dress to see how it looked. It was still a little bit loose fitting so I sewed it in a little bit further following along the seam I had just sewn. I had to do this three times before I had it just perfect. Once I had it the way a wanted it I cut out the extra fabric. I tried it on one more time just to make sure I liked the way it looked. Now I was ready to do the hem. As you can see in the first picture the dress was almost to my ankles. I wanted it to come just below my knees so I decided to hem it about four inches. I pinned it up four inches and tried it on again. I liked the way it looked so I sewed them hem and trimmed the excess fabric and I was done! In the end it took me about two hours to do and I was very pleased with the result. What do you think?

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

January 18, 2013

How do I make homemade bathtub crayons for my kids to use in the bath?

About a year ago, I was introduced to bathtub crayons. I was very intrigued by the concept that kids could play with crayons for the bath. Little Bear went through a stage in his life where he hated baths. Luckily, some fun bath toys quickly remedied that problem, but I wish I had known about bathtub crayons back then. He would have loved coloring while bathing. Plus, homemade crayons for the bath are made with soap. That means, little hands get extra clean when they play with bathtub crayons.

There are two kinds of bathtub crayons that I know of. The first are the store bought kind like these Crayola bathtub crayons, these Munchkins Bath Crayons, and these Endangered Species Bath Crayons. I have not used any of the store bought bathtub crayons, but I have heard they are tricky to clean up. Mostly I am too cheap to buy something that I can make homemade. So, I decided to make homemade bathtub crayons.

Here are the supplies needed:

• Glycerin Soap (I used less than ½ lb.)
• Pot for melting soap
• Something to stir the soap
• Water bottle ice cube tray (any type of ice cube tray will work. I specifically used the kind for water bottles because I wanted my bathtub crayons to actually be crayon-shaped.)
• Food Coloring
• Cooking Spray (optional)

First, cut your soap into small chunks. The soap I bought was already cut into chunks, so I skipped this step. My chunks were about 2”x1 ½ “x1”.

Next, put one soap chunk into your pot and put on very low heat. It will take about 5 minutes for the soap to melt completely.

While you are waiting for the soap to melt, spray cooking spray into the slots where you will be pouring the soap. This step is optional, but it does make it easier to remove the bathtub crayons after they have cooled. I forgot to do this for the first few bathtub crayons that I made and I was still able to remove them. However, they were MUCH easier to remove when I sprayed the ice cube tray with cooking spray first.

Add food coloring. I experimented with different amounts of food coloring and 20 drops seemed to be the ideal. The color of the crayons got darker and darker the more food coloring I added, until about 20 drops. After that they pretty much looked the same. The color is still kind of light on the bathtub walls, but it is still dark enough to see and my boys absolutely love them!

Next, stir the food coloring in.

This next step should be done very quickly with as little cooling of the soap as possible. Remove the pot from the stove and quickly pour the soap into the ice cube tray. My chunks of soap made about 1 ½ crayons in the water bottle ice cube trays.

Let the soap sit for about an hour while the soap hardens. If desired, make some more bathtub crayons.

Finally, use the bathtub crayons on your bathtub wall. As I mentioned before, the color of these homemade bathtub crayons is not very dark. It does show up though and both Little Bear and Smiley Man BEG to play with these crayons for the bath. I would not suggest making a yellow crayon. It will not really show up, no matter how much food coloring you add, so you might as well skip it altogether.

I wondered what would happen if they crayons were left in the tub for a while. Eventually they will fall apart so you don’t want to leave them in there for too long. This is what it looked like after about an hour sitting in the water (just so you know, it was a short crayon, only about an inch long).

One last thing, it is very easy to clean up after using these crayons for the bath. Simply get a washcloth, loofah, or even your hand wet with warm to hot water. Now, wipe the crayon off of the bathtub wall. Voila! Easy. I have even let the crayon sit on the wall for several days (certain masterpieces must be cherished longer, after all) and it was still just as easy to clean up. I love that these bathtub crayons are made with soap because I’m not worried about the color getting on skin or staying on the wall.

Plus, we use bathtub crayons for a really fun preschool activity. I’ll be posting about it in about a week so check back to see it.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me