Sorting Game

I'm always on the look out for ways to entertain (and secretly teach) my kids. During the summer months it's pretty easy to keep them occupied outside, at the splash pad, but we are getting into some cooler weather, and I need to be prepared! I found this cute sorting game on Pintrest. I didn't have the nifty tray, so naturally I adpated it to what I had on hand. (Also don't mind the pictures. They are always an after thought, usually after I've already started the process, and I'm too lazy to go back and do it again. Luckily this is easy enough that you don't need pictures, but who wants a pictureless post, right?)

You'll Need:

A box or tray
Assorted construction paper
Colored popsicle sticks (From the Dollar Store)
Glue
Toilet paper rolls
scissors

Step one: Cut the construction paper.
Step two: Cover each toilet paper roll in a color that corresponds with the popsicle sticks.
(On the left you see some covered and non covered rolls.) I rolled the paper all the way around the toilet paper roll so I wouldn't have to see the brown. The technique: cover the paper with glue, place the roll on the paper, and roll the paper around the roll.

Step two: Glue the toilet paper rolls to the box or if you're using a try glue them to a stray piece of card board. At this stage I used hot glue to speed up the process.

Step three: Drop some colored sticks around the rolls and let the kiddos sort to their hearts content. My little princesses loved it. Yes, at one point they did start fighting over the sticks, but then I put my three-year-old in charge of teaching the 17 month old and all was harmonious! Enjoy!

Painting is So Much Fun!

I remember back when I was little I loved to paint. So why not let my kids make a huge mess and enjoy the process? I found this little wonder on Pintrest (of course;), and I had to give it a try.

What you'll need:

Toilet paper rolls (I seriously save these all the time. You never know when they will come in handy!)
Washable Paint
Thick paper, like cardboard or poster paper
Paper plates
Tarp (optional)

How to do it:

1) Designate a paint-safe zone outside or inside. We opted for outside. I laid out a huge tarp because the OCDness inside of me couldn't handle paint on the concrete, even if it is washable.

2) Shape the toilet paper rolls into different shapes. I made a heart, triangle, square and circle.

3) Squeeze the paint onto the paper plates.

4) Lay out paper on the tarp, hand the kids the paint and rolls, and let your kids dip and stamp to their hearts content!



My kids loved this so much; we might have a repeat art day. And since we did it outside it was suuuper easy to clean up! (I love that!) We are all happy and the master piece is hanging in the princess's bedroom.  Quite cute!

Everyone Loves a Gift Basket!

I'm going to a good friend's wedding this weekend. I'm traveling pretty far, so gas is really eating up the gift budget. I decided to go with a homemade gift basket. Why? Because it's fun to make and really easy to personalize! On a side note, it's also a budget friendly! I'm actually really hoping she doesn't see this post until after her wedding, but if not. Happy Wedding gift! I hope you like it! Now act surprised when you open it!

The theme for this particular basket is Breakfast. So it's a Breakfast Basket. I love alliteration! I purchased a basket, small muffin pan, muffin mix  (I wanted to get this special kind but the grocery store discontinued it. boo!), hot chocolate packets, and I personalized two mugs.

I found this great tutorial for using Sharpies to personalize mugs. I made my own stencils for the letters. I found a font I like on the computer, printed the letters, cut them out, and traced around the stencils with a pencil on the cup. Then I went over it with the Sharpie. Bake the cups at 350 degrees for thirty minutes and Voila! Personal mugs! But they're hand wash only!

It was actually a really fun little basket to throw together. I hope they enjoy it. All I have to do now is wrap it up! Oh and drive 6 hours with two kids;) Wish me luck!

Hero Hero Capes

In our house, we don't have superheros, we have hero heros. And what better way to celebrate hero heroness then with capes?

 (The only way I could get a picture of the back of the capes was by turning on the tv. They zoned out enough so I could capture the moment.) 

What you need: Old bed sheets, felt, craft glue, safety pins, and any decorations you can find in your house, we used jewels, a butterfly, and a flower.

Here's how we did it: Cut a trapezoid shape out of the old bed sheet. Leaving enough room at the top to tie around your child's neck. Then use the felt to cut out the first letter of your child's name or their superhero sign. Use the craft glue to stick the letter and decoration on the cape. (Sorry there are no pictures of the process. Just my cute hero heros.)

Voila! Instant hero hero! When it's dry, tie the cape around your child's neck and secure it with a safety pin. This project took about 15 minutes to make, but about an hour to dry. And the best part! I had all this stuff on hand so it was FREE!!!! I love free fun!

Hanging Out with the ABCs

 I'm always scouring the internet for fun ways to teach my kids. One idea I stumbled on was for ABC organizing!

You need: 26 clothes pins, paint (optional),fine point Sharpie, hanger.

So the first question people ask is are the black ones vowels? And the answer is no. I had to search my house to find 23 clothes pins. (Thank goodness for a great neighbor who donated 3 pins to the cause. I didn't want to make a trip to the dollar store for 3 lousy clothes pins!) Some of them were painted black from another project. So . . . they stayed black.

I let my toddler paint the clothes pins with me, but while she was sleeping, I did the rest. Because some of my pins were black, I used white paint to add the upper and lower case letters to each pin. If you can use a Sharpie, do it! It was really hard to paint the letters neatly.

 But it was worth it. My toddler loves pulling them off and putting them back in order. It conveniently hangs from any door knob, so she can work on it in the kitchen or her bedroom or anywhere there's a door.

I'm gearing up to paint the numbers 1 to 26 on the back of the clothes pins so she can work on numbers as well. Wish me luck!

Headband Jam

So I don't know why, but the Fourth of July literally snuck up on me. I blame it on the middle of the week holiday. So it's ten o'clock on July 3rd, and my kids are in a parade at 8 am the next morning, but they have nothing patriotic to really show off their cute girliness. So in desperation, I turned to my go-to source for solving these problems: Pintrest! I found an awesome tutorial for Knotted Jersey Headbands! Fifteen minutes later, I had two cute headbands to spruce up my kids Fourth of July ourfits. And they were pretty stinkin' cute, but alas I didn't get a picture of them together. (Bad mom, I know!) Here is what the headbands look like:

Brittany over at Love Stitched gives such an awesome tutorial that you should visit her blog for the specifics. All you need is an old t-shirt, scissors, and the tutorial!

I did diverge from her plan by looping an extra piece of red fabric through the headbands to make them a little more patriotic. You can sort of see the back view here:

I took one 1/2 inch strip of red fabric and weaved it through the knot. There's no special technique. Just weave it through until you think it looks good. I didn't get a really good picture of the weaved headband, but this one might be better:  (Ignore the smudge.) 






I think these even work on adults. My husband says it makes me look youthful, but that can be a good thing, right? 

Grilled Cheesy Potatoes

Warning: these potatoes are highly addictive! If you make them once, you will crave them again!

What you need: 
BBQ Grill
4 to 6 Russet Potatoes or a bag of country style hash browns
2 Tbs Butter
1/2 white onion
2 green onions
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese
2 tsp minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
Optional: crumbled bacon!!!

The Process: 
Step 1: Preheat grill.
Step 2: Cut potatoes into small squares. The smaller the better. They cook faster. Or if you want to be lazy use the frozen hash browns, either way it tastes good! Place potatoes in a large bowl.
Step 3: Chop the onion and green onions. Add to the bowl. Then add cheese, garlic, and the salt and pepper to taste. If you have bacon throw it in the mix.
Step 4: Carefully mix so that all the potatoes are coated in cheese and seasoning.
Step 5: Roll out some foil. (I like to double mine to prevent leakage.) Slice 1 Tbsp of butter and place it on the foil. Dump the potatoes onto the foil and top with 1 Tbsp of butter.
Step 6: Put it on the grill over the flames. It takes my grill an hour to cook the potatoes through. So check your potatoes and stir once or twice to make sure they all get heated.
Step 7: Enjoy!!!! Everyone will think you're a grill master!