Super Easy Suncatchers

We love suncatchers around here. This blog post is going to be short, but sweet.

We took our pony beads (get at WalMart pretty cheap) and put a single layer of them in a muffin tin and a pie pan. These are pans we use only for art.

We then melted them on the grill. We didn't do it inside because the smell of burning plastic...ewe.

On the grill (325 ish) for about 10-15 minutes. Let them cool (don't be alarmed by the cracking noises, it's just the plastic setting/shrinking from the pan).

 Hang to enjoy! You can drill holes, or loop string through any openings you find. We made several of these and plan to give a few as gifts! So much fun.

If you want to see fancier sun catchers and other artful ideas, check out the Artful Parent!

To Pee around a Tee Pee?

So I really wanted to make a garden tee pee this year. You know, with morning glories and green beans, fun project for the girl.

 

Here's a great image of one that sold me...

 

 

 

 

We planted in the Spring with green bean sprouts that we germinated. They were going great, that is until..deer came and ate the majority of them overnight! My girl was really upset. She had tended to the plants all Spring and half of the Summer, only to have them disappear overnight.

 

Luckily, the Morninglory's that we planted really took off fast & we were able to add more fairly quickly.

Here's the status of our tee pee now...

 

 

I'm really hoping it will fill in more before it gets too cold to get inside and enjoy.

 

 

We used 6ft. bamboo poles and we speng maybe 2 hours setting it up. This is so easy to do & it's something you can do with small kids.

The fun part was adding the string (and ribbon) around the tee pee for the vines to climb & then checking on them each day. It's amazing what grows overnight!

 

Ehow has a great tutorial on how to put one together. A great idea for kiddos and so fun to hang out in and harvest too!

 

We did enjoy a handful of green beans from the tee-pee, we ate them outside frsh off of the vine...they are better that way, says the girl.

 

Now, the title of this post is a bit odd, no? A neighbor told us to put urine or human hair in a parameter around the tee pee to ward off deer. Hmmmm....so many questions about this one.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Home Preschool Attempt

My biggest project lately has been to switch the 'play area' in the basement into more of a preschool learning environment. We've decided to keep our girl home this fall/winter(she's 3.5) , so I thought a somewhat structured environment for learning/exploring would be in order. BTW, I'll also be home with her baby brother, so that should prove to be an INTERESTING mix!

Here's what I've come up with...again, mostly garage sale and thrift store finds. This is a small corner area in the back of our basement (no door).

Leaving 'imaginative play' market in place, I just reorganized, added and labled stations for learning. The station signs were free downloads (just search 'preschool station signs') and print/laminate/hang.



A bookshelf and Lego table with building blocks underneath.

Sorting activities, lacing cards and stringing beads.

Mostly Dollar Store or thrift store stuff. My plan is to add/rotate new activities every couple of weeks.

Workbooks, school literature books and magazines sorted.

Phonics/ABC's area on the ledge.

This is The Geo Safari system we found at a thrift store! It's awesome (although a bit old school). You can find them on Ebay ( a pic from Ebay below). We LOVE this thing. We have cards for Phonics, Science, Math, Concepts, Bible and many more...got it all for $12.



Thrift store phonics game, homemade phonics box (click here to see how we made it).



Here's a simple basket we made using a dishtowel, cards and wooden letters (Dollar Store stuff).

Music and movement area in front of mirror with a basket full of instruments.

We have a CD player/radio with different music selections on the ledge above.

 

Independent reading/quiet time area.

Science... we are using a thrift store play workbench for this center.

Exploring magnets!

 Random science/practical life stuff under the bench.

Puzzles and math area 

Pegs, counting games, number cards and puzzles..oh boy!

Since this area doesn't have a door, I'm a bit worried that it will turn into a 'free for all' and be hard to keep in order (like the playroom was). I'll just hire an off-duty officer to keep it in check.

I have also decided to do the FIAR (Five in a Row) program with her as we can, the rest will be as time and energy levels permit!

Eh...Why Not?

With kiddos you only have a short window of time before they grow on to the next stage.

That being said, I absolutely love to embrace a 'why not?' attitude when it comes to letting my girl explore, have fun AND get super messy (as long as it's safe). This is one way to create great memories and allow personalities and imagination to grow!

Here are a few of our most recent 'why not' moments...

Bubbles in the sand/water table. Perfect way to clean it out too!

Another was letting her paint her body with the finger paint we made (safe). Just rinse off in the pool after.:) Here's our link on the safe finger paint we made.

This idea came from a friend who found it on Pinterest. Easy enough... shaving cream and a dollar store tablecloth. Loads of fun but VERY messy. I gave my girl two baths after this one!

Making some delicious mud pies. We actually have a separate blog post about mud pies!

Check it out here...



I'll admit, sometimes having a 'why not' attitude with stuff like this can be exhausting (extra work with clean up) and it does require you to be relatively laid back with messiness. Ironically, this was NOT me prior to having children.

I think you also have to be in the mood for it...stars aligned. I figure it's all in the name of fun and exploration....plus, how great will it be to look back at the photos years down the road?!

Scrappy Fashion Fun

On one of my most recent rummaging trips, I found these wood doll slate thingamabobs.
I had never heard of them (actually called Woodkins fashion plates) and wasn't even sure what they would be used for when I scooped them up (they were shrink wrapped together and marked $1.99). There was no fabric, box or instructions with them.

Tuns out they are are perfect for my leftover fabric scraps!

I cut up several pieces of fabric to size and even a few pieces of wide ribbon for my girl to get creative with.

 Let the mixing and matching begin...

I just love how the fabric pops through once the plate is closed. I also love how this kept my girl busy for a few hours (on and off during the day)! Love spending next to nothing on something that captures interest and promotes creativity for long periods of time!

Apparently their faces are magnetic, so they can be swapped out too (beauty is in the eye of the beholder with these two).

I saw a few on EBay for cheap (when researching what these things were and what they cost retail/new). $4-$15 depending on what kind of set you find (there are even some for boys).

Hmmm...future Project Runway stars?

$2 Butterfly Garden

How many times have you passed up these $1 boxes of wildflowers? You see them everywhere, Target, Walgreens, Dollar Store...

Well, we finally decided to give them a 'go'. I wasn't expecting much.

My girl really loves flowers and she especially loves dragonflies and butterflies. I decided that her own butterfly garden would be in order for this summer/fall.

We cleared a spot in the back, around the gladiolas that were already starting to sprout.

Then we spread (or rather dumped) the seed all over & stomped it in. By the look of the contents of the box, I decided to be happy if 1 or 2 flowers came up.

Water, water, water...

Within three days...sprouts! (Beginning of June)

In about 4 weeks, we have several blooms!

They are attracting a few butterflies here and there and more than anything, my girl loves to give them away or display them indoors.

Certainly not the plethora of wildflowers as displayed on the box, but happy with the quantity and variety for $2!