#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! :)

Happy (almost) New Year!

Happy (almost) New Year! 

During the chaos of the holidays, I started quite a few new projects!
Hooray for keeping busy!

And although I've been trying my hardest NOT to start anything on Pinterest, I find myself on there at least once a week...still not a member. I probably won't sign up until there is some sort of privacy block on the boards. I have no desire to share my "pins" with everyone else in the world. That takes away from the individuality...and besides, if I want to try out a new idea and have it "pinned", I'd hate to see friends do it before I get around to it. Does that make me selfish???
Perhaps! It's on the same lines as me not giving out my exact recipes all the time. If it is a special recipe, I'll leave a detail or two out. Nothing personal, but if I worked to achieve a certain flavor or technique, I'm surely not just going to give it up to anyone. Guess that makes me slightly evil, but I'm ok with that.

Next post will show pics of some of the fun things I've been making! Stay tuned!

Saving money for the holidays!

Sooo I did pretty good last year with buying Christmas presents on sale and got some really good deals. I was pretty proud of myself! I used swagbucks (click the link to sign up if you're not already a member) for 8 months out of the year and used the FREE amazon.com gift cards to purchase most of the gifts. If you keep a watchful eye, you can get some really good deals on there!! Also, sign up for Amazon Mom (free) and you can get free 2-day shipping on a lot of products. Swagbucks is now offering printable coupons as well! You can earn 10SB for each coupon that gets used--just don't forget them at home like I usually do!!

Another program I've joined an would like to share with you is ebates.com!
It's simple to use! Anytime you are going to make a purchase online (and they've got TONS of stores to choose from) just go through your ebates page. A tracking ticket is created and once the order is confirmed, you will get a percentage back! I've got mine set up to go straight into my paypal account....very handy! They also have a $5 sign up bonus :)
Check them out and sign up here: My ebates link

Ebates is nice because it literally takes just a few seconds to log in (I use FB login to make it even quicker) then to pick the store you are going to purchase from. Some of my favorite stores on there are crocs.com (5% cash back), fabric.com (4% cash back), walmart.com (2% cash back) and maurices.com (4% cash back). I do the majority of my shopping online because we live in the boonies (it's about 2 hours to the nice mall) and I can't stand the holiday rush of people...Seriously?! Where do they all come from????

What are some ways you plan on saving money this year???

Resurrecting the Blog!

Ok, so I'll admit, I've not been the best blogger recently. Fear not, all that is about to change!!

I've been crafting a lot lately and cooking/baking as usual. Now that Punky Brewster (Emily) is a bit older, she's been wanting to "help" a lot more.

Sooo I've been thinking, why not just blog about the stuff we are already doing. It'll encourage me to write more often, force me to remember some of the arts & craft activities from my preschool teaching days, find awesome ideas to share and maybe come up with a few of my own!

I'll share tonight a quick homemade potato chip recipe, that I've come up with.

You'll need:
5-6 large Russet Potatoes
Pampered Chef Ultimate Mandolin (came in my consultant kit and is VERY handy!)
Olive Oil
Dehydrated or fresh minced onions
Salt

Start by washing off the potatoes, with hot soapy water. Cut them in half, place on the Mandolin food holder and slice away. I like to use the crinkle blade for these. Pour olive oil into the pan you plan on using and heat on Med. heat. I prefer using a non-stick 10'' skillet. You'll want to have enough in there so that when you place the potatoes in, they're covered so amounts will vary depending on your pan size. As the oil is heating up, I put in the onions. Around here we rarely have fresh onions...they just go bad before I get around to using them. Dehydrated onions can be found on the spice aisle of your grocery store and while I first thought they reminded me of someone's clipped toenails, I've come to love using them. I usually throw in between 50-75 flakes...I've never actually counted but obviously if you want more onion flavor, you'll add more. Ok, time to put in the potatoes. I place them in one at a time, careful not to get any oil splashed back on me. Let them simmer for about 3-4 minutes and then I flip them using tongs. You'll see the potatoes start to turn a golden brown color and that's a good thing. Take them out when both sides are golden brown. I always put them straight onto a plate covered in paper towels to absorb any extra oil. Then just lightly salt them and enjoy! I find that I can't fry them up fast enough around here! They don't last long since they're so yummy but if you wanted to make some to enjoy at a later time, I would make sure to get them nice and dark so they don't turn mushy over time. You can also experiment with different spices. I've used garlic in with the onions before and it had a really good flavor.

Here' a pic of tonight's chips:


If you make these, let me know what you think!

You can't clean clutter!!!

You can't. All that ends up happening is things get shuffled around. The solution? De-Clutter!! Ta-DAH! I know it's not an original idea or anything, but it is something that I need to start working on. Why?? Well because I honestly believe Emily has more toys than she could ever play with...because I have more craft stuff than I could ever use (admitting that was HARD!) and because we deserve to live in a happy, clutter-free home.  How does clutter build-up?? Well it didn't take much here. We moved into a house that was pre-occupied. A lot of things we've found wasn't even from that person, it was the owners before plus the things from my house and then DH's stuff too. Add on top of all that everything a BABY requires (and acquires!) and Yep! Clutter. It's here...it's EVERYWHERE!
So here's the plan: GET RID OF IT! ha! Easier said than done, but that's the plan. And here's the reminder I need to get rid of everything.

I really made this sign and it is posted on the fridge. I also have been a fan of the Flylady system, but have fallen off the wagon. Time to get back up though, brush myself off and work harder this time.

How often do you de-clutter?? How do you keep the clutter away?? I'd love to know!