Last Minute- Thanksgiving Fun!

This pinup turkey is a 30 minute keeper that will provide some quick, last minute Thanksgiving fun, to your kids day!

I keep this enormous mess of recycling objects that I "might" want to use on the top of my refrigerator.  Haven't you had those frantic moments where you ask yourself if you saved that milk jug or that amazingly shaped plastic container?  :)  I have those often so I started keeping a stash of fun items for later use..  I saved the lids to our Parent's Choice baby wipes in hopes that I would some day find use for them.. and Sunday, was that day! 

We just glued all of the pieces together and then I used the hot glue gun for the heavier pieces, such as the clothespin.  We placed them up on a lamp shade.  :)

If you need more post- Thanksgiving fun, you can view earlier posts, watch a holiday movie, or read an amazing Thanksgiving book like "Over the River", "Turk and Runt", or "T is For Turkey".

Happy Thanksgiving!

Candice S

Fall Garland

I don't have a lot of space for Fall/Autumn inspired decorations so I have been very selective with what we have been creating and hanging around our home's living area.  I am so often inspired by awesome garlands of all shapes, themes, and sizes, and decided that it was time to grab my little Harmony helper and get to work!

We made Ghosts, Spiders, Pumpkins, Leaves, and used a shaving cream painting technique for our Fall Leaves.  I did most of the cutting.  Harmony is still learning to plunge into what she calls, "Snipping".. Everything turned out so unique and with an elegant appearance. 

Look at how we did...  My other helper was my glue gun and hole punch.  I used scrapbook paper for each fall creature and then hung each on up on fishing line.  Our spider was made out of a bottle cap, felt fitted and then glued on top.

 

Shaving Cream Painting:  Combine paint and shaving cream and then swirl with a toothpick.  Dip cardstock into paint (and you can remove shaving cream if there's excess..)  Wawwwllaaaaa.. Beautiful, Fall Leaves!

What Fall activities have you enjoyed doing?

Happy Fall!

Candice S

Tot Spot: Montessori Sensory Basket

I read How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way at the beginning of the year and fell in love with quite a bit of Dr. Montessori's methods for teaching small children and the emphasis of importance she placed on supporting the learning environment from birth and beyond.  Simple techniques are discussed, as well as ideas's for extremely simple sensory play examples using items from the home.

  Creating a nature basket is an idea that is recommended for babies.  I have found that most of our learning toys, textures, and objects laying around the house have become favorites for our basket.  About once a month I change out the books, toys, and textures so we can explore something new.

Sensory Basket

Straws with a small, medium, and large cup used for nesting.  My 18 month old loves nesting cups and placing objects (straws) inside of them so this idea was super simple and he LOVES it! 

Pom Pom Game.  A recycled tub of butter becomes a game by stuffing pom pom's inside the hole, which promotes coordination.  Mark's attention span is astonishing while playing this game.

Texture Swatch/Sample.  A sewing swatch with a picture on it for Mark Jr. to feel, see, and explore.  The picture is of Mommy and Ni Ni (Sister)

Nesting Caps.  Various bottle cap sizes to use as a nesting toy.  **Beware of smaller bottle caps as babies enjoy placing these in their mouths.

V Tech Record and Learn Photo Album is definitely one of our favorite items.  You can record a personalized story and change out the photo's as often as you'd like.  This product also plays music and explores sights and sounds... 

I included some our Sock Puppet's for role play.. and to use while reading the following stories!  Mark loves using these and growling..  "Rooooaaarrr"





What are some of your favorite activities to do with your toddlers?

Candice S

Tot Spot: Creative Play with Upcycled Cardboard Box

Harmony started Kindergarten this week so I have been planning toddler/tot curriculum and activities for Mark Jr.  We are just enjoying each other right now, trying to keep "happy" and "calm" without Big Sister to play with.  I have saved this box for a few weeks now because Mark has really enjoyed tossing it around and playing with it so I decided today, that we would make it into a car because his favorite toys are firetrucks and cars. 

"Vrrrooooommm vrooooom", Mark Jr. loves to say.


You start by cutting the flaps off of the sides of the box with a razor blade.

Trace the shapes with things around the kitchen, such coffee tins and cookie cutters.

You can use scrap cardboard to cut out the steering wheel and then attach it with wire, a tact, or use a paper clip.

If you want to get super creative then you can even make straps and attach them to the sides of the box so your little one to walk around with their new car zzzzoooooooming all over the house!


There are so many fun things you can do with recycled materials!  My 16 month old loves his car, but I can tell you that as cute as the steering wheel is.. it isn't going to last five minutes!!  I love it!










Have a great weekend!

Candice S

Guest Post on MoneySavingMom.com

Crystal, at MoneySavingMom.com has provided me with the opportunity to be a guest blogger and post how to make homemade baby wipes. 

MoneySavingMom.com is an amazing resource and tool for tips, couponing, frugality, and home management.  Check out my guest post, here.

Happy Thursday!!

Candice S.

Jumbo Toddler Crayons

The last time we made jumbo crayons was when Harmony was about 2 years old, so we have quite a bit of small piece of broken crayons that can be repurposed. 

Sort the crayons by color, or have your super smart/super sorter toddler/preschooler assist.

Take the paper off of each crayon.

Put in a muffin tin or mold.

Bake on 350 for about 10 minutes or until the crayon pieces have melted into one beautiful crayon!

I want to get some molds to make various shapes.  Any good idea's on where to get these molds from?

Have a rocking Tuesday!

Candice S.

Linking to: 

 Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative :)

Mother's Day Gift Idea's

Here are a few quick idea's of what you can give your Mom for as a gift for Mother's Day.  These are fun gifts that Harmony and I have created in the past from recycled materials and things laying around the house.

Sugar, Honey, Vanilla, and Brown Sugar Handscrub.  Simple ingredients, mix about a tsp of vanilla and equal parts sugar and honey until moistened.  The labels are made from recycled paper and modpodged on, as well as lids.  This handscrub can be made with various scents and oils, so have fun!!  They work GREAT for removing paints and craft glue from artist's fingers.  :)

Paper Weights from recycled baby food jars.  They say "Your love weights down my heart."  Made from food coloring and corn syrup.

Chocolate Covered Chex Mix.  Super simple and fast!  YUMM.

 Tissue Paper and Egg Carton Bouquet of Flowers.

Cherry Blossom Hand Print made from construction paper, brown paper bag (recycled), tissue paper, glue, and an old book that Harmony and I decided we were going to use for crafting.

If you need last minute gift idea's these are quick, easy, and super cute!  For more idea's you can visit Silly Eagle Books, Tip Junkie, and Martha Stewart.

Happy Mother's Day!

Candice

Elegant Tissue Paper Bouquet

I came across a brilliant post from Ms. Vanessa over at Silly Eagle Books, of a beautiful arrangement of tulips.  Vanessa portrays the amazing world of books, beautifully, and creates such unique crafts that allows a parent and child to portray the story in such a brilliant way.  Silly Eagle Books is inspiring, informative for new ideas for children/infant books, and beyond elogantly innovative.  You must check out her work! 

These are just a few pictures of our bouquet that was inspired by Vanessa's work.  I wanted to take a minute and share our's with you. 

 Harmony wanted to see "bugs" in her bouquet so we created a catepillar with dowels, pom pom's, googly eyes, and a pipe cleaner.

These make a perfect addition to our table.  The bouquet would also be a wonderful Mother's Day present!

Enjoy!

Candice

Easter Egg Counting Game

Our household has not had too many preschool activities going on.  I do apologize for not posting as often as I would like.  We are in the process of relocating and have started packing arts and crafts tools.  My husband and I also just started a small break from school so with all of these things in mind, I have slacked in maintaining Harmony's preschool schedule and sticking to it.  That being said, we are slowly getting back into the swing of things and will hopefully be creating some Earth Day, Easter, and Spring crafts and lesson plans within the next few weeks after we have successfully moved.  Until then, bare with our disarray of posts.

  Sorting, matching, color coding, or spelling- Harmony pretty much enjoys all of these things.  With this fun game, you can match the numbers to the eggs or you can have an egg hunt outdoors or indoors.  ..You can even just toss them all over your living room and have an egg party like our house did this afternoon. 

The possibilities are endless and enjoyable for children who are learning how to recognize numbers 1-18.

Happy Spring!

Candice S

Valentine's Present: For The Couple

I have been wanting to do this for quite some time.  It is a conversation box that contains questions, conversational pieces that allow a couple to learn and discover more about each other.  I loved it then and I loved it now. 

This is a perfect, inexpensive Valentine's Day present that is perfect for every couple!! 

Supplies:

Massive Pickle Jar or Container
Ribbon
More Ribbon
Handwritten Questions or Statements That Allow For Conversation Between Two :)
Hot Glue Gun (I burnt myself pretty good, too!)
And A Little Love....

Happy Valentine's Day

Candice S

Science Experiment #2: Varying Sounds and Tones (Making Music!)

Our musical glass jar have had a prosperous life making music for well over an hour.  I decided to use some variety to allow us to hear different sounds other than just tones, so we also used a recycled tin can and a plastic container.

The goal was to determine the changes in tone by feeling up each glass jar with 1 cup water, another with 1/2, and then the last two with a 1/4 cup of water.  Then we added 1-2 drops of food coloring to each glass jar.  Harmony did this successfully while supervised. 

The experiment was to determine which glass jar was louder, why, and the differences in the tones that the jars that were filled with different levels of water.  We whipped out our observation booklet and documented the different tones that each one made, compared and contrasted, and determined what the possibilities (the water) were of the tones being so high, low, loud, quite, etc. 

Preschool+ age appropriate and beyond.  Even our Stud had fun banging wooden spoons around..  Simple enough for us and the supplies were easily accessible without purchase.

Happy Saturday!

Candice S.

Valentine's Paper Weight

Aren't they pretty?  They're paper weight's that Harmony and I made for Valentine's Day. 

Ingredients and Supplies:

Baby Food Jar

Corn Syrup

Food Coloring

Construction Paper

Mod Podge

Brush

Scrapbook Stuff

Hot Glue Gun

Total Time: 10 Minutes

I so love the fact that I found another great use for those baby food jars (and my husband LOVES to see them go!).  Fill the jar up with corn syrup, have your little one add a few drops of food coloring, and then stir away!  Mod Podge some construction paper (tray a larger lid for size) to cover the baby food jar lid.. and then add some jewels or accessories to spruce it up.  I also used some hot glue to seal the around the edge's of the lid so you can't remove it. 

On the label I wrote, "Your love weighs down my heart."  Super adorable and perfect inexpensive gifts for your loved ones!

Happy Early Valentine's Day!

Candice S.

I'm linking this to....

Simple & Elegant Picture Puzzle

Love my puzzle, cause I do!  :)

Supplies needed:

Left over gift boxes from Christmas

Some Mod Podge and a itsy bitsy brush

Scissors

Apply a thin layer to your gift box and set a family picture or whatever type of picture your heart desires onto your gift box.  This will allow the puzzle to become sturdier, somewhat like card stock.

I applied a layer of mod podge to "seal" the photo from moisture and oils that are on our fingers.  It can actually ruin the photo.  After that, WAAA LAAAA!  Trace your puzzle shapes onto the back of the picture and cutout with X-acto Knife or scissors.

That's all you need to create this beautiful puzzle.  I was so impressed with how it came out.  Harmony's loves putting it together.

I am going to be posting a recyling series on multiple outlets that you can use to recycle a lot of household goods and use them for school activities, craft activites, and even decor!  There are so many idea's floating around out there that I can't wait to share with you.

Have a great Tuesday!

Candice S.

Ballerina Wand

 Harmony begged Santa to bring her a ballerina wand like Angelina Ballerina's.. but Santa couldn't find one.  :(  ... What to do, what to do..  Mommy to the rescue!  

I took a dowel and covered it with a mixture of silver glitter and Mod Podge.  I have done this so many times before and it comes out so pretty when you mix the Mod Podge with glitter!  

Then I took some red ribbon from our Christmas box and started wrapping the end of the dowel until I had a decent length for my "Angelina" to twirl around with.  

I hot glued some gems onto the ribbon but we've been slowly removing them.  They provide a little sting when you're twirling spastically and get hit with one.  So beware of its beauty and the possibility that may want to decorate the dowel with jewels and not the ribbon itself. 

 This is just another of the many lessons in the life of crafting that I have learned.

Then you can.. "Get down, get down, get down!"  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Candice S.

Snowball Counting Game

This game was so fun!  I labeled an egg carton 1-18 and placed the snowballs/cottonballs all over our house.  Harmony loved finding them!  

This game promotes number recognition and fine motor skills.  Harmony held the egg carton and placed each one in the next slot.  I chose this egg carton because Harmony is learning to recognize numbers 11-20.  This was perfect and even slightly challenging.  Harmony did excellent!

For more winter themed ideas click here.

Happy Friday!

Candice S.

Holiday Traditions, Gifts, and Family Fun.

I love Christmas.

I love the season, the cold, family, eating, and fun festive activities that we all love to do with our family.  I'm going to miss it, dearly.   So, to keep the Spirit of Christmas alive I want to share some of Rattles and Redheads, and your's truly, family traditions that are old and the fresh new one's that were welcomed into our family this holiday season.  Some of them I posted about, other's I didn't get a chance so it'll be your first time seeing them!  :o)

• Having Pinkie Pie watch over us during the month of December until he/she flies back to the North Pole to report on our behavior.

• Opening PJ's on Christmas Eve and other presents with our extended family member's.

• Setting out Reindeer Food (made of oat's and glitter) and Homemade Cookies for Santa.

• Our Christmas Activity Box is so fun that I might make one themed for each month!

• Buying Christmas Santa Claus Storybook

• Watching a Christmas Movie

• Receiving Santa's Bell (Polar Express Idea)  We bought the bell from The Dollar Tree and put a pretty ribbon on it.. Only those who believe can hear it.  :)  What fun!  

• Homemade Ornaments and Gifts

• Family Handprint Christmas Tree.  This is my all time favorite present that we could have made this year!  I love, love, love it!

Merry Belated Christmas and to a Happy, Happy New Year!  I hope that your holiday was as special as our's!

Candice S.