S is for Snowman

A winter tradition we have is to make a SNOWMAN!  Our snow was wet enough to pack earlier in the week and my daughter happily made a snowman with only a little help from me. We have a wooden kit with a long carrot nose perfect for a larger snowman.  This smaller snowman has a nose like Pinocchio!

A snowman looks great no matter what you choose to build him with! Here's two more of our silly snowman pics:

Three fun kits:

▬ Buy a Snowman Building Kit from Bronner's
▬ Make a Snowman on the Go kit from Make and Takes

▬ Make a Snowman Kit from Make It Do

You can have fun indoors too with snowman stuff!

○ Frosty and Friends craft on Parents

○ Frosty the Snowpuddle treat from Gourmet Mom on-the-Go

○ Snowman on a Stick snack on Family Fun

○ Smiling Snowman Cake on Family Fun

○ Snowman Cake Pops from Bakerella

○ Once There Was a Snowman song with Music from LDS.org
○ one, two, and three online Build a Snowman activities on akidsheart.com

Stick Puzzles

I babysat a lot as a teenager and had a fun bag that the kids enjoyed.  In my bag was videos, puzzles, treats, books and games.  My senior year of high school I was a preschool teacher and more good things were added to my fun bag like file folder games and popsicle stick puzzles.  My little sis was my artist back then and did the cute elmo and worm puzzle. Stick puzzles are a simple and fun craft!

•Tape, number/add a symbol, draw/color, untape/stick in labeled baggie•

I like big Woodsie craft sticks for these puzzles much better than popsicle sticks. My daughter's the artist of this robot puzzle.  She sometimes 'cheats' when putting the puzzles together by looking at the numbers on the back.  The numbers/symbols are also good to keep track of which sticks belong where if you get more than one puzzle out at a time.

▬ linked to Kiddos Create and Friday's Showcase ▬

Reuse a Box for Organizing

I have an organizing fetish and like to think 'outside the box' for cheap ways to do it!  I hold on to a good cardboard box for a while before I recycle it just in case I come up with an idea. 

Three ways I've reused a box to organize:

I was tired of straightening my son's coloring books on his big bookshelf so I found a solution with a diaper wipe box. I covered it with foam from the dollar store and let my little dude paint on two sides.  I'm happy with the results.






My crafty area can get pretty messy.  Baby/toddler shoe boxes hold little things like glue and embellishments perfectly.  I keep the decorated boxes on top of my scrapbook compartments.  Find some cheap patterned papers and go to town!




My head goes nuts when toys don't have a place!  When we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment I had to organize my kids small bedroom/playroom so I felt calm while in the room.  Cheap card stock along with packing tape was how I covered some good boxes for toys.


I also like to get rid of things while organizing.  This week's resolution for the Happiness Challenge was to toss and organize.  It was way too easy for me and I already had it on my big list so I tackled my storage room piles!  Gretchin says, "For most people, outer order contributes to inner calm."  Yep, it really does!

▬ Linked to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

Friendly Blogger: Vanessa from Silly Eagle Books

Vanessa is the 'author' of the blog Silly Eagle Books.  She's also mom to a 3 year old girl and an avid children's vintage book collector!  Through reading her blog I know that she is a dedicated mom who spends quality time with her daughter.  She lets her former English teacher/writer/editor background shine through in her blog writing.  Some of my favorites about Silly Eagle Books are the photos Vanessa shares out of books, the book posts that have a suggested activity (easy preschool time ☺), and the simplicity of the blog.  There's a sweet story behind the naming of the blog and you can read about that on her FAQ page!

I wanted to get to know Vanessa a little more so I asked her some questions:

Head on over to Silly Eagle Books for good book reading suggestions and easy crafts too!

Two Fun Ideas for Playing in the Snow

Our snow is dried out and crusty so we can't make snow angels or a snowman.  That won't stop us from having fun outside though!

I found this colored ice cubes activity on Parents.com-- 20 Games to Play in the Snow.  My kids ask often to have a colored ice cube scavenger hunt.  I keep the colored ice in a bag in the freezer.  Salad tongs add more fun and help prevent gloves becoming soaked.  If you don't have ice cube trays use small plastic containers.  A scavenger hunt for colored ice would be fun in any season!!  In the summer it would be a race to find them before they melt!





A home preschool activity in January '08- color the snow.  My daughter had a lot of fun!  All it takes is food coloring and water in a good spray bottle.

Dress-Up Capes

Capes are so much fun for kids to have in their dress-up box.  My little dude has 3-- one cut from an old sheet, a super tee (link to SuperMom Central below), and a Klutz cape.  He 'flies around' the house as a SUPERHERO quite often saving the day and being imaginative!

CREATE

▬ super easy, super fast, super hero capes from Creative Kismet
▬ Simple Superhero Cape Tutorial from Creation Corner  
▬ make an easy Custom Cape on Family Fun
▬ sew a Hooded Play Cape from Dollar Store Crafts
▬ simple Super Tee from SuperMom Central
▬ Superhero Cape from puking pastilles 
▬ Superhero Costume from Get Your Craft On
▬ Easy Sew Super Hero Cape on Craft & Fabric Links

BUY

▬ Capes and Masks from babypop designs
▬ The Superhero Starter Kit from Klutz
▬ Super Capes from the Dress-Up Drawer

Crafty CD Case

 Last month on Making Memories blog I saw a CD Holder idea made with paper that I knew I had to make.  I've downloaded lots of free music specifically for my mom and needed something to hold the CD's.  I love how these turned out.  I tweaked the measurements after I made the first one.  My husband mentioned that he thought paper could scratch CD's so I also added the foam circle.  The foam helps the CD to stay in the case a little tighter too.

Here's my picture tutorial.  Click on each pic for instructions.:

 

 

 

 

**Skip step 3 if you want to make the case with one piece of cardstock.

National Bird Day

Today, January 5, is National Bird Day!

◘ Make a craft to watch and feed the birds:

     -easy t.p. roll binoculars 

     -bird feeder with a bottle or a pine cone

◘ Take a Bird Call Quiz!

◘ Do you know your State Bird?  Utah's is the Common American Gull (a.k.a. Seagull) and they eat trash and are noisy! ☺

◘ Print a bird picture for coloring!