Sticky Windows, Fall & Winter

Winters are long and cold where we live, so I try to come up with some fun indoor activities to keep MC busy (Pinterest helps!). Something I came across on Pinterest that I thought would be fun to try was a sticky window. However, being a huge fan of the holidays, I wanted to make these sticky windows more festive.

The first sticky window was for Halloween. I drew a pumpkin on the backside of clear laminate and taped it to the sliding door. I cut up construction paper, yarn, and strips of tissue paper in Halloween/fall colors (orange, green, brown). I had MC help me tear the strips of tissue paper into smaller pieces (she loves this activity, and it's great for fine motor). MC explored the sticky laminate for a few minutes, and then I showed her how to stick our goodies to it. It didn't hold her interest for as long as I hoped, but she still had fun. I saved the extra pieces for another day. 

The next sticky window I came up with was a maple tree. My family owns our own maple sugaring business, so it's on our minds a lot. I found some fake maple leaves for a couple dollars, drew a tree on the back of some contact paper and taped it to the glass slider. MC loves nature and being outside, so if I can somehow bring nature indoors, I will. 

The next was a ghost with white tissue paper. Again, I cut strips of white tissue paper and had MC help me tear the strips (a great fine motor activity) into smaller pieces. Hint: If you spell anything out, like I did, make sure you spell it backwards... My "Boo!" looks like "!ooB", haha!

This sticky window was for Christmas. We also happened to be learning about the letter D! So, on top of the tree, I drew a D tree topper. I gave her some Christmas bows to stick on and also some diamonds (starts with D) cut out of contruction paper. One thing I should have done differently is gone over the lines I drew several times so the tree would show up better. 

I plan on continuing with my holiday themed sticky windows throughout the rest of the year, so stay tuned for more sticky window ideas!

DIY Advent Calendar

Oh, what have I gotten myself into? I wanted to buy an advent calendar for my daughter MC, to start a new Christmas tradition with her. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year, so I want to make it a really special, magical, and memorable time of year for her as well. The cheapest advent calendar that I found (that I liked) was $30 and came blank (I'd have to decorate it myself, which is no problem because I love crafts anyway). But, $30 seemed a little too steep for my cheap blood. So, I decided I create my own...from scratch. 

I decided I wanted to incorporate my favorite Christmas story "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement C. Moore onto it. I also decided to use boxes so that MC can receive a small gift on each of the 25 mornings. I searched for small cardboard jewelry boxes or paper mache boxes, and discovered that they are very overpriced. However, I did find six boxes at a local craft store for 25 cents each, but I wanted several shapes and sizes so, I made the rest of the 19 boxes myself out of cereal boxes.

Step 1: The Boxes

I measured and traced with a marker.

I cut them out and folded each box. 

Then, I got out my trusty hot glue gun, and glued each box together. 

Step 2: The Canvas

I bought an 18x24 inch art canvas and burlap to cover the canvas with, for my background (this was my sister's idea) and stapled it in place. 

Step 3: Spending More Money

I bought a few (used) copies of The Night Before Christmas to cut up, some scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, and some embellishments. 

Step 4: Getting Creative

I placed and numbered my boxes 1 through 25. Then, started decorating! 

Step 5: Putting It Together

When I was finished decorating the boxes, I hole-punched two holes in the back of each one. Then, I pushed brads through the holes and into the canvas to attach each box. 

Here's a look at the back of the canvas when I was finished.

Lucky for me, I (or someone I knew) already had many of the supplies I needed for this project (hot glue gun, stapler, paint, scrapbooking supplies, ribbon, yarn, etc.). So, it wasn't as expensive as it could have been. I spent about $30 on this project (which means that it would have been close to $60 had I bought the one I originally wanted!), and wasn't it worth it!

Here is a list of some of the items I plan to put inside the advent calendar as gifts for MC: 

1) stickers

2) baby food pouches

3) tree ornaments

4) animal figurines

5) magnets

6) spinning tops

7) a note leading her to a new book 

8) Playdoh

9) hair barrettes

10) Pretty much, any sort of stocking stuffer.

I hope this helps inspire you! Enjoy creating and have a Merry Christmas!

Sensory Gloves

It rained today. No, it poured, which means we were stuck inside. LB's toys are on a rotation. I pull out a few things at a time and leave them out for a few days, or until she gets sick of them, and the rotation continues. But, once in a while I like to come up with something new, whether it be a toy or activity. Today, it was sensory gloves. I pulled out three rubber gloves (I have a box of them on hand, as I use them to clean with), and filled each one with something different. In the first glove, I put rice. In the second, flour. In the third, cereal. Then, I tied the end of each glove into a knot. Simple! At first, LB just kept asking to put them on. I explained to her several times that she couldn't wear them and that they were just to play with. Whether she understood me or not, after a few minutes, she started tossing them around. 

We'll see how long the sensory gloves last until one of them pops and we have a mess to clean up. For now though, it's another simple, cheap, yet fun DIY toy for her to enjoy. 

Six Little Ladybugs

It's been months since I've written and I've got some catching up to do. Summer was busy and went by fast, as always. It's October now and the ladybugs are everywhere! It reminded me of a Christmas present I made for MC that I am going to share. First of all, I created a felt board. I hot glued felt onto the back of a magnetic white board, so it serves more than one purpose. Then, I started creating the felt pieces for it. Ladybugs were my first set. I started out by drawing the outline of a ladybug on paper, cutting it out and tracing it (the head piece traced onto black felt, the body onto red felt). I decided that I'd write a song to go along with these little ladybugs, and since there are so many songs about five critters, I decided to make mine about six ladybugs. It's to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and goes a little something like this...

I made six ladybugs, each with a different number of dots on their backs (1-6) to help MC learn to count. I also created a window for the ladybugs to crawl around on. 

I gave them a test run, and let MC play with them for an afternoon to see if she liked them. I also wanted to make sure she would be interested in playing with the felt board before creating more sets, and she did! So, since then I have also created a multi-colored train, mix and match owls, the alphabet, a princess castle, a farm, and a town, complete with houses, a church, and a duck pond (MC loved feeding the ducks this summer). 

I've called it quits for now, but if she enjoys playing with the felt board, she may receive more felt sets as future gifts. It was hard to find the time to create my felt master pieces but I had a lot of fun doing it. I hope she has just as much fun playing with it!