Making a Pinata

We've been working all week to get ready for O's birthday party. One of our projects was making a pinata. It was easy and fun, and O thoroughly enjoyed herself. We'll definitely do this again!

1st we mixed 2 cups of flour with 3 cups of water
Then we dipped strips of torn newspapers into the mixture
We squeezed some of the excess water out
We then smoothed the pieces of newspaper out onto the balloon. After we covered the entire balloon, we let it dry. Then we put a second layer of paper mache on the balloon.
After the balloon was dry, we painted it green (O's choice). Then she and Guh-guh painted different colored polka dots on it. I added strings and a cup last night to make it into a hot air balloon. Its simple and not that pretty, but the kids LOVED it!

Homemade Sound Cylinders

I made these homemade sound cylinders using lotion containers that my mom, sister, and I have been saving for about a year (specifically for this purpose). Each container has a match, and I put lentils in 2, marbles in 2, and bells in 2. There are stickers on the bottoms of the containers, so that O can self check to see if she is correct. Here are directions for this work. We've done this work once, and it didn't go well. O was not at all interested in listening to the sound cylinders, and she only wanted to open the containers. We'll try it again once we start back with our Montessori school in a few weeks (or whenever the new shelf is built!).

Children's Storage Bin Recall

We've finally been affected by a recall. We were lucky up until today when I saw that these storage bins from Lowe's were recalled due to excessive levels of lead :( We have about 9 of these bins, and 4 of them were in O's room. It makes me feel a little bit like screaming. The good news is that the bins were high on a shelf, and she rarely even touched them. It still makes me feel sick. Anyway...if you have any of these bins you can return them to your local Lowe's for a full refund. So now I know what Elliott and I will be doing for our anniversary next weekend...

Homemade Paper Doll Birthday Card for My Sweet O

I really wanted to make a homemade birthday card for O, and when I saw this I knew what I had to do :) I printed the doll on cardstock, cut her out, and painted her with watercolor paint. After I painted her, I laminated her. I traced around the doll to create an identical back, so the card could open. I taped them together using white labels.
I cut dresses out of scrapbook paper, and then I laminated the dresses. I put a small sticky magnetic square on the back of the doll and on the back of each dress. Then I put magnetic squares in the file folder, so O would have a place to keep her doll and all of the dresses.

She's going to love the dot file folder!
This was an easy, fun, and quick project, and I hope O likes it. I'd really like to make shoes for the doll, but all of the shoes that I made looked ridiculous. I may work on them again later if she asks for shoes (and I'm sure she will!).

More on O's Play Kitchen

Several people have asked where we bought O's kitchen, so I thought it would be a good idea to post the answer instead of putting it in the comments section (just in case anyone else is wondering ) :) The kitchen is from Target, and the brand is Play Wonder. It seems to be fairly sturdy, and we hope it will last for several years at least. I don't think its a piece that will last until O has kids. My niece has a very sturdy one that will last for generations (see it here). The main selling point for us is that it is very compact (and our house is VERY small). I planned on building one, but Elliott was not in favor of that idea :) We are all very happy with this one. I've also gotten amazing deals on wooden food sets at Target. I just bought a lunchbox filled with a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, jelly, peanut butter, and milk for 3.74! Last year, at the end of the summer, I bought a smores & kebob set and a hamburger & hotdog set for 3.74 each. I love a good deal! I actually hesitated to buy them since they have lots of meat in them, and we don't eat red meat. However, I decided to call the meat in the kebab set teriyaki chicken since it's so dark. We call the hot dog a tofu dog, and we call the hamburger a mushroom burger. O was especially excited about the mushroom burger because she LOVES mushrooms, especially grilled portobello mushrooms :)

The Best Way to Wrap a Gift!

Leave the gift in the box it which it was shipped. Then put a few squirts of finger paint on it, and set your child loose! O had a great time painting Guh-guh's gift :) I planned on wrapping it in newspaper, and then painting it. Then I realized this would be much easier and faster (especially since I couldn't find any tape!). I think I know how we'll wrap all of our Christmas gifts this year! And the best part...its easy to recycle (I hate the waste of wrapping paper).

The finished product! Beautiful!

Felt Food and O's Play Kitchen

We gave O a kitchen for her birthday last night, and she LOVES it. Elliott and I bought the kitchen in February, and its been in a box in our garage ever since. We were very tempted to give it to her when we bought it, but luckily we resisted the temptation :) My mom and I have been making felt food off and on for the past few months to go with the kitchen set.
bell pepper slices, sweet potato chips, and carrot slices
a tomato slice, red sauce (under the tomato), and lettuce

fried eggs (I think this is my favorite piece!)
O cooked fried eggs for me this morning, and I asked her to make me a sandwich. This is what she brought me- an egg and goldfish sandwich :)
whole wheat bow tie pasta
whole wheat ravioli
pea pods- I made the stuffing into tight little balls so it feels like peas inside the pea pods

sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. Every time O opens the oven she says "stay back, mama! hot!"
This is another favorite of mine. Tiny goldfish to go with a tiny goldfish cracker box. I'm also working on different colored goldfish to go with a goldfish colors box.

I made a tiny cupcake with a #2 on the top, but its disappeared. I'll post a picture of it when I find it. Also, check out this fabulous felt food!

Just a Reminder

I just wanted to say again (in case you missed it) that I answer questions in the comments section in which they were asked. Its the simplest and fastest way for me to answer questions, so if you have asked a question make sure to check back for your answer :) Thanks!

We Had a Wonderful Day!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! O was very excited this morning when she came upstairs and saw her crown and everything else. She immediately tried to cut her cake, but it was a little difficult. She insisted on having goldfish crackers for breakfast (along with bananas and raisins). After breakfast we went to storytime at the library where she had fun dancing and singing. She was very excited that dada went with us to the library. We signed up for swimming lessons, then headed to the water park to meet up with our family and friends. O took a short nap on the way to the water park. She was very excited about her "choc-choc" banana and the delicious homemade peach ice-cream that Aunt Mem made. We played in the pool and relaxed in the lazy river for a fun-filled 4 hours. What a great day!

Happy Birthday, O!

Happy Birthday, O! I can't believe you are 2! Its almost 1am, and Elliott and I are busy getting ready for O's birthday. Elliott is putting together her kitchen set that we bought in February. I set up her place at the table with her birthday crown (its missing the ribbon, but we'll finish it before her party on Sunday), wooden cake, birthday ring, and her 1st birthday block puzzle.
I taped balloons to all of our chairs. She is going to be SO EXCITED when she wakes up in the morning and sees everything. We have a busy day planned for O (storytime at the library, picnic with family and friends, and then swimming and playing in a small spray park), but I'll try to post pics tomorrow night :)

Another Masterpiece

O made her Grandaddy Harry a handprint painting as a thank you gift. He and Elliott have been building a deck playhouse for her, and we are so thankful and excited about it. They worked all day on the roof, while I painted the house, and O played. Hopefully, it will be finished by her birthday party on Saturday :)

Chocolate Covered Bananas

O requested bananas when I asked her what she wanted to eat on her birthday. She said it in an excited tone like bananas are a special treat that she doesn't get very often...she eats AT least one, usually 2, bananas a day. So... I decided to make frozen chocolate covered bananas. They are covered in dark chocolate, and I rolled most of them in walnuts and a few in sprinkles. O is going to be so excited! We are having a picnic tomorrow after storytime at the library, so I hope the bananas don't melt before we eat them :)

Making Foam Maker

The idea and directions for this project came from this blog. All you need is a bottle with the end cut off, a washcloth, and a rubber band. Super simple and fun! Once you construct the foam maker, all you have to do is dip it in a flat dish of bubble solution and then blow. You'll have lots of fun foam! Unfortunately, this is not the greatest activity for a toddler. O helped make the foam maker by stretching the rubberband over the washcloth, but then it was time to make foam. Here's my advice to you...don't let your toddler blow on the bottle because if they suck back in, they will get a mouthful of soapy foam. Not fun! Poor little O. She was foaming at the mouth :( She handled it well, but she wasn't willing to try again.


Here's my foam maker.
O REALLY enjoyed playing with the foam, so this was definitely an activity worth doing.

A Gift for Guh-guh

O made a special birthday present for my mom today. They share a birthday (which is on Wednesday), and we wanted to make Guh-guh (aka Duggie) something original. So... Duggie, DON'T look!! O had fun painting the canvas green. She said she was "done" before covering the canvas, so we painted the rest of it together. She liked me holding her hand and helping her finish which surprised me. After the canvas was covered with paint, she held her hands up and I pressed them onto the canvas. O was super excited when she saw her hands on the painting, and she wanted to make more. I told her that we'd make another one soon (because I want one for my wall!). The idea for this project came from here.

Homemade Bathtub Crayons

I thought it would be fun for O and I to make bathtub crayons a few days ago. I was right...it was fun, but the crayons were a dismal failure :( I can't find the recipe that I used, but its similar to this one. I think I should have grated my soap finer, and I added in extra water when the soap hardened too soon. Don't do that if you make these crayons! The crayons with the extra water were mushy and crumbly. O enjoyed helping grate the soap
and mixing in the warm water
and mixing in the washable paint.
Here they are. Aren't they lovely? I didn't have any candy molds or cookie cutters, so we tried to shape them like these cool rock crayons. Didn't turn out so well :( The good news is that O had a terrific time playing with the bathtub crayons in the shower tonight. She colored a little bit, but then she made a delicious soapy soup in her upside down water drum. We'll try this again soon, and hopefully it will turn out a little better :)