#5 of the $10 Toddler Time Series--I Spy Princesses

Welcome to #5 in the $10 Toddler Time Series! We're half-way through the 10 post series! I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to read and share this series!! 

Today we're making an I Spy bag, a no-sew version for the non-crafty folk. 

(I'll be doing a sewing tutorial soon too!)

You'll need the following:

Envelope-Already had ($2 to buy a 10 pack)

Rice-Already had ($2 to buy)

Small items to put inside-Already had (Find small things around the house)

Sandwich bag-Already had ($1 to buy)

Tape-Already had ($2 to buy)

Scissors-Already had ($1 to buy)

Gather your items. Emily helped me pick out a few small items to add into the I Spy pack. We have a flower, button, bead, penny and stickers from her Valentine's Day cards. I left out the number 1 in the pic because it was a little too bulky. 

Draw and cut out a window in the envelope. I ended up making mine a little larger at the end, but you get the idea. Emily wanted princesses to find, so I used the stickers from her Valentine's Day cars. I stuck them on the cards, then cut them out so they wouldn't have sticky backs and would be a little more sturdy.

 

Place the sandwich bag in the envelope and fill with rice. I only filled to just above where the window is on the envelope. I ended up using about 3/4 of the bag of rice. You can use more or less depending on how you feel. Just remember the more you use, the more you'll have to clean up if you decide to let your toddler loose with one of these and turn your head for 5 minutes to do the dishes. But, I did use tape to reinforce the sides of the envelope AND I also taped the envelope closed at the top. 

 

Here are Ariel and Tiana just hanging out waiting for a shuffle of the bag so we can find them all over again! 

(See the reinforced edges? I know my child all too well.)

 On the back, I've added a list of things for Emily to look for so she knows just what is inside. 

I've also let her decorate the envelope with more of the stickers. I'd rather them be on the outside of the envelope than all over my table, the TV or anything else in the house.


See ya next Tuesday for #6!

#4 of the $10 Toddler Time Series--Great Finger Paint Tip

Back in my old life (the one I had before I became a wife and mom), I worked at a preschool. It was a lot of fun for the most part and I picked up a lot of great ideas to use now that I am the mom of a 2.5 year old.
One good lesson was to go with the flow. See how that played out for this week's toddler craft time.

The conversation went something along the lines of this:
Me: Emily let's do some arts and crafts now so mommy can blog about it and share with the world. We're going to make super cute ladybugs.
Emily: No thank you.
Me: What?! You don't want to make ladybugs so we can count their spots??? (sounding a little disappointed)
Emily: Nah.
Daddy interjects: What about Christmas Trees?
Emily: YEAHHHHH
Me: Ummm, Christmas is over. What about Valentine's Day hearts?
Emily: No, I want to make Christmas Trees. Let's do that!
Me: How about we make a big sun and we'll do some painting?
Emily: Yeahhh and make snowmen?!
Me: Nooo. We are not making snowmen today.
(Had there actually been SNOW on the ground, we would have totally made real snowmen, but it was in the 60's today and sunny.)

Here's what you'll need to do what we did:

Paint--Already had ($1 each color to buy)

Paper Plate (I'm classy like that, ya know?!)--Already had ($1 for 10 or use some leftover birthday ones!)

Paintbrush--Already had ($1 for some cheap-o ones)

Paper--Already had ($5 for 150 sheets)

Liquid Soap--Already had ($1 to buy)

Not necessary, but nice to have for this and other projects:

Hole punch--Already had thanks to my awesome hubby! ($25 to buy)

Glue--Already had ($1 to buy)

Scissors--Already had ($1 to buy)
Smock*--Already had (used one of Matt's old t-shirts. See note at bottom)

So that's what we did. I broke out my new circle punch. It's a 3.5" massive punch that I happen to be loving right now! I punched out a yellow circle and got out some paint. Now you could paint a circle to start with, you can also cut a circle out with scissors...I wanted an excuse to use my new punch. I glued it down on a sheet of paper and demonstrated without paint, how we were going to do the project since I would need to be taking pics and couldn't guide her the whole time. I painted her fingers and thumb on her right hand and let her place her hand around the circle to make the sun rays.
 

Oh! The super awesome tip to share: Add liquid soap to the paint! It REALLY helps make clean-up a lot easier!! Just add a few drops to each color and mix. 

 So here's how it went..Pretty well, I'll say. 

After a few times of me pushing down on her hand, she wouldn't let me help anymore.
I forgot I was raising Miss Independent. 

 She painted a little more with a brush after the sun was finished.

       And it ALWAYS makes Emily happy when Daddy joins in on the fun :) 

Clean up was a breeze! 

Warm water took care of her hands, the brushes and our dining room table.
Now, let's hope that sometime this week she'll want to do those ladybugs!

*Easy Smock--Find an old adult sized t-shirt. I used one of Matt's old shirts. I cut about 4" out of the back of the shirt (lay shirt flat on table and eyeball a few inches to cut out. You'll want to cut from the collar all the way to the bottom seam--just cut it off of the shirt) but you can cut more or less, depending on the kid and shirt sizes, to make the opening. I use a safety pin to keep the collar tight.  I just throw the shirt up in the spare shower when it's not in use. 

#3 of the $10 Toddler Time Series--Silky Dough

I've made homemade playdough a few times and thought I'd try something different this time. This is a neat project to do and can be quite messy, depending on the kid of course! 

To make this silky type dough, you will need:
1 cup Baby Oil--Already had ($1 to buy)
8 cups Flour--Already had  ($2 to buy)

Large bowl or storage bag--Already had ($1 to buy)

I wasn't sure how this would work out so I decided to cut the recipe in half this first time. 

And yes, I tried to add food coloring, not such a good idea...Paint would probably work better, but I didn't feel like making THAT much of a mess. 

We stuck it out being its natural color.

I actually mixed these in a plastic storage bag, but you could use a bowl instead. 

I didn't have a big enough bowl that was clean. 

True story. 

Emily said she was making a "sandcastle" although it looks as if she is about to destroy it in the next photo.

And then it was destroyed! The bits were scattered all around and then they looked more and more like a sandbox had been dumped out on the dining room table. Emily loved the feel of the "dough" and I thought it felt a bit like deodorant all crumbled up. It smelled nice and made my hands feel pretty and moisturized. 

I suppose I could have added more baby oil to make the dough more "sticky" but we really did have fun with it just the way it was. Obviously, if you wanted it more dry, add more flour. 

We made a turtle!!

 And we practiced our letters! It's "A" week again here!

In the end, it was a fun 30-minute distraction from the real world. We enjoyed it and she's already asked if we could play in it again. I did wipe the leftovers back into the storage baggie and put it HIGH on a shelf in the closet. Clean-up was a cinch! It wiped right up off the table and the small bits that managed to get on our floor were swept up easily also.

EXTRA BONUS!
It used up the baby oil that has been in the closet since one of my baby showers for Emily! I love crafts that use up stuff that has been just sitting around collecting dust!

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Valentine's Coaster Giveaway!

I took some spare time and whipped up some fabric Valentine's Day Coasters. It's a set of 4. I am giving them away on my Facebook Page. Entries will be accepted now until Jan. 25th. Here's the direct link to the giveaway:
SUPER COOL AWESOME V-DAY COASTER SET


And here's a shot of the coasters!!

#2 of the $10 Toddler Time Series--Counting Birdies

Sunday afternoon was rainy and nasty out, so I took a few hours to come up with a quick little schedule for Emily and I. Each month until the end of the year has a theme and each week, we'll be discussing a little bit about the monthly theme, along with a letter of the week. All this because I have entirely too much time on my hands...according to some people :)  
This month's theme is numbers! And this week, we're learning 1,2 and 3. Now, Emily can count already (and she counts to 15 then switches over to Spanish...lol), but I want her to be able to recognize the numbers and to start practicing writing them as well. 

Anywho, this project is super simple. You could use construction paper for everything but I had a bad experience with some and threw the whole pack out. Yeah, apparently when it gets wet, the colors bleed...and bleed they did, onto the wood floors and stained them in one corner. Nice, huh? That's why I tossed the rest of the sheets I had. Not swearing it off forever, I just haven't remembered to purchase more. 

Here's what you'll need:
Construction Paper or card stock and paint-Already had ($5 to buy 150 sheets, paint is $1)
School Glue or tape, depending on your patience-Already had ($1 to buy)
3 (1 for each number) Craft sticks-Already had ($1 to buy 150)
Pen/Marker-Already had ($1 to buy)
Scissors or sharp craft knife-Already had ($1 to buy)
Paint brush-Already had (0.50 to buy)
Paper Plate-Already had ($1 to buy 20)

Put it together:
I have paint, so that's what I used. I am not claiming to be a painter...I have ZERO painting and drawing skills, really. I painted half of each craft stick blue and the other half brown. Then, I painted some blue blobs on a sheet of card stock and painted brown underneath. See pic.

I folded a paper plate in half. I glued and taped it shut. 

I painted one side of the plate brown. Emily added a touch of orange...you'll see it later on. I let those dry for an hour and cut out my shapes from the blue blobs and brown painted paper. Again, my drawing skills are lacking so I did basic birdie looking shapes. The "sticks" for the nest are just strips of the brown painted paper. I glued on the bird figure to the blue end of the stick. 

Here is Emily adding the "sticks" to the nest. We did a mixture of me putting dots of glue on the plate and letting her dip the back of the "stick" into the glue. I bet you all can guess which one she preferred :)

I added tufts of hair to the birds. Bird 1, received one spike, Bird 2 has two...you get the idea, right? I painted on little orange beaks and using an ink pen (where on Earth are my Sharpies????) added eye balls and wing detail. On the back side of the craft stick, I wrote out the number words and added the number to the bottom. I used a sharp craft knife to cut 3 slits in the top of the nest (along the fold) and inserted the birds on sticks. Emily likes putting them in the nest and taking them out again.

 
Next week's project will again be number related and the book for next week is The Ants Go Marching...I'm trying to figure out a cute craft that includes ants...not real ones, of course :) 

~Kristin

 
 

#1 of the $10 Toddler Time Series-Paint Bubbles!!

*Since this is the first of the series, I want to warn you that I rarely follow directions, that I often "make-do" with what I've got and will do whatever I need to do in order to reach the end product. You can take from the posts what you'd like to get out of it or change it up to fit your needs. It's called being able to adapt and overcome.


I saw this craft over at Disney Family Fun and thought it would be perfect for us to do. There is even a nifty video on their site if you get confused :)


What you'll need:
Bubble Solution-Already had ($1 to buy)
Tempera Paint (I used Food Coloring since we only had Acrylic paint)-Already had (Paint $1 or Food Coloring $2 to buy)
Pie Tins-Already had ($1 to buy)
Drinking Straws-Already had ($1 to buy)
Paper (I used card stock so we can use it for a future project)-Already had ($5 to buy 150 sheets...enough for SEVERAL projects!!)


**To make this toddler friendly, I covered our work station with a plastic sheet we had around the house.

Gather supplies. Mix 1/2 cup paint (or add food coloring, I used about 15-20 drops) with 1 cup bubble solution and pour into pie tin. (Finally get to use my pie pans for something! Hooray!) Stick one end of the straw into the paint/soap mixture and blow! Bubbles will start forming and the pile of bubbles will get taller and taller! FYI: I did try using the acrylic paint too, but the color didn't show up. That's why I broke out the food coloring.


***Watch your kid closely to make sure they don't suck in through the straw! If you have any doubts about your kid, wait until they are a little older please.*** Emily knows better...I have to get on to her about blowing chocolate milk bubbles almost daily! I still watched her closely though.


Once you have a pile of bubbles, hold the paper in both hands and lightly pat the bubbles with the paper. Rotate the paper and repeat with more bubbles if you want more of the effect. I did it three time each because the first few times were pretty light. You can just do the one color or you could do a rainbow of colors on one sheet. It's up to you!!


I used this as a teaching project! Emily knows her colors, so I was showing her how blue+yellow=green! She thought that was neat! We also did red+blue=purple. I want to do this next time using multiple colors in one pie pan to see the effect it achieves!!
So simple to do and no two works of art are ever the same!


Here are some pics from our experience!! Yes, she's wearing pj's...just be happy she even has clothes on!

New Year's Resolutions...

Almost everybody has them...and I'm included! Here's what I'll be working on this year! Best of luck to all of you with your goals!!

Personal goals:
1. De-clutter the house!
--Take out at least 2 bags of clutter a week, either for donation if it's still usable or to the trash if it's not usable.
2. De-clutter my body!

--I want to shed 30lbs before May. I CAN do this! Six pounds a month is very reasonable!
3. To not let people take advantage of me and to be ok with saying "no" sometimes.

Business Goals:
1. To not buy any more fabric unless it is for a specific project that I WILL complete or if a customer requests it.
--Luckily I have some orders on tap that will help with this. I am hoping to have all the fabric on hand reduced to 1 closet worth by the end of the year. I may have to get pretty creative with this one, but we'll see! I may also do some de-stashing since it does count as part of the clutter too!
2. To reach 1,000 fans!! I'm at 730 right now.
--Giveaways should help!!
3. To clean up my work area once a week so I am more efficient.

Blog Goals:
1. $10 Tuesday Toddler Time...a series of toddler friendly crafts done on the cheap!
--Using stuff we can find around the house. If you have an idea, please comment or send me and email!
2. 65 Blog Posts this year!!!!! 64 more to go!
--Going to schedule a little time each week for this.

3. Post more pictures!!
--I got this! :)