Storybook Puzzle Blocks

To make these block puzzles you need 6 unfinished wooden blocks, mod podge, and storybooks that you don't mind cutting. I made a similar puzzle using pictures from O's 1s birthday party about a year ago, and I planned on using photos to make another one. Then I decided to do something a little different, and I hope she'll really like it :) We have several old children's books that have torn pages that I've been saving for a project, and I bought several elementary literature textbooks (25 cents each) for various projects. I decided they would be perfect for this! The books featured on the blocks are Frog and Toad (one of my childhood favorites), Little Bear (another favorite of mine), Goodnight Moon (O's favorite), Madeline, The 3 Little Bears, and Curious George. These blocks will be a Christmas gift for O, and I'll probably give them to her as an advent gift. I'm planning on putting clues in our advent calender and have her search (with my help of course!) for her gifts which will be hidden in the house. Hopefully, most of the advent gifts will be homemade!

O's Sticker Book

I made this sticker book for O for Christmas. To make it I used 8 x8 cardstock, scrapbook paper, and magazine pictures. I laminated the pages (so that O will be able to remove the stickers if she wishes), and Elliott tried to bind them together at his dad's office. This was a frustrating process because the pages were thick and the holes didn't punch well. I had to actually clip the holes and put the binding on by hand. It took awhile, but was fairly easy to do. I added a pencil pouch attached to the book with a book ring for her to store her stickers in.
These are my favorite pages :)
Here is one of the landscape pictures I added from a magazine. I was hoping to find more good landscape pictures for the book, but didn't have very much luck :( A good thing about the book is that I can add more pages if I need to. It feels good to mark another gift off of my homemade Christmas gifts list!

Number Rods

I decided to make the number rods at the same time that I made the red rods (if I hadn't, I doubt I would have EVER made them!). They were a bit more complicated, and I'm SO GLAD to finished with them! They are also cut into 5 cm increments. I was VERY tempted to only paint the red sections and leave the other sections as raw wood, but I had too many red smears on the raw wood.

The Red Rods

These red rods have been in the works for a LONG time. It took me quite a while to finally decide to make them instead of buying them. They are priced very reasonably, but they are so big that I knew I wouldn't have anywhere to put them. I decided to make them myself, so I could make them on a smaller scale. We've had the wood for months and finally got around to cutting it a couple of weeks ago. The pieces are cut in 5 cm increments (instead of 10 cm increments). They needed at least 3 coats of paint, so painting took a while, too. I'm really glad they are done, and I'm happy with the finished product. Now, I just hope that O likes them :) I ended up saving lots of money (only because I made them smaller). I spent about 20 dollars on wood and paint, and I had enough wood (and paint) to make the red/blue rods, too. I actually have enough paint left over to last for years, and I have a little wood leftover that I'll probably just sand and give to O to add to her box of blocks.

Rhythmn Sticks

Since I have lots of dowels left over from the dowel match activity, I decided to make O a pair of rhythmn sticks. These are 10 inches long. Another fast and easy project is done! Hooray!

Matching Dowels

The idea for this activity came from a preschoolers activity book that I checked out from the library months ago. I wrote a list of activities from it, but forgot to write down the title :( For this activity you need several dowels of different lengths and diameter. We cut these in 5 cm increments, so they are uniform.

O will match them according to length. As extension activities, she can arrange them in order according to their length or diameter. The dowels get progressively longer and skinnier. This was fun and super simple to make!

Thrifty Thursday

I had another good thrift day (or days)! On Wednesday O and I went to town to meet Elliott for lunch. Since we were in town, we HAD to check out the thrift stores. I was very proud of O because she stayed right beside me, and she reminded me "don't touch, mama!" We bought 7 baskets for Montessori work for $1.89 :) On Thursday I went to the thrift store near my office after work, and I found TOO much. I bought a milk glass mug for O for 25 cents (she needs her own special mug to make cake in a mug, right?), 2 wooden trays (for Montessori work) for 75 cents each, about 10 books, 3 loaves of Nature's Own Whole Wheat bread for $2.30 (I just paid 2.58 for 1 loaf last week. The bread expires in less than a week which is why it was at the thrift store. I froze 2 loaves, and we'll probably finish the other soon), and an old suitcase (I have BIG plans for the suitcase! Stay tuned...). I'm looking forward to next Thursday. I'm hoping to take at least 1 or 2 bags of things to donate. My goal is to donate more than I buy, but so far that hasn't happened :(

Paper Bag Water Painting

For this activity you need an unfolded paper bag and water :)

O was thrilled to make footprints...
and handprints on the paper! She LOVES making handprints!We also sprinkled water on the paper with our fingers, and O made fingerprint dots. After we were finished, I hung the paper to dry and then wrapped it up to use again another day.

Washing Shoes

The idea for this activity came from the Montessori n Such catalog (I LOVE that catalog!). You need a container, wash cloths (the small one is for washing and the larger one is for drying), a couple of brushes, a sponge, and shoes.
O had a great time, and I was excited that we accomplished a few tasks that have long been on my lists. In addition to 3 pairs of shoes, we also washed O's outside baby buggy and a rubber placemat that's been in the garage for several months.

O's Adirondack Chairs

My sister and niece gave O this set of Adirondack chairs and table for her birthday. They were easy to put together, but it has taken me FOREVER to paint them! I actually planned on white just being the primer color, but I've decided that I am done with them for now. Next spring O can decide what color she wants them, and we'll fancy them up then :)

Running out of Room

I'm running out of blog space :( I keep having to go back to old posts and delete pictures. I guess I could stop putting so many pictures in my posts, but the pictures are my favorite parts. If I can't have a picture filled blog, then I don't want a blog at all! So...if you read any old posts and notice missing pictures that's why :(

Making Chalk Paint

Since our last experience with our homemade chalk didn't work so well, we decided to try it again using a different (and simpler) method :) 1st we crushed O's wet chalk using the mortar and pestle. Then we added a bit of water and stirred.
Viola! Chalk paint!
This paint worked much better on O's chalkboard, and we had lots of fun! (aside from the fact that I was attacked by fire ants in the middle of the process! I'm just glad that they got me and not O!)

We Love Playsilks!

Since O hasn't been playing with her playsilks much lately, I decided that they needed to be more accessible. I *think* that the idea for this display comes from The Rowdy Pea, but I can't remember for certain. I used a leftover floorboard and hot glued clothes pins to it. Super simple and fast! O was thrilled, and she has been playing with her playsilks nonstop. She loves to wear them as skirts and hats :)

Muffin Tin Monday

O was excited about Muffin Tin Monday today. She had bell pepper strips, frozen blueberries, cantalope, pizza pocket (made in our sandwich maker with whole wheat bread with spaghetti sauce in the middle), cottage cheese, and mini dill pickles. She LOVED the pickles and was disappointed that these were the last 3.

Homemade Puzzles

This idea came from One Little, Two Little , and I've been planning on making these puzzles for a while. I saved a Cheerios box and Goldfish box, and I finally found the time to cut them into puzzles. I'm not holding out too much hope that O is going to love (but I hope she'll at least like them) these puzzles because she really shows very little interest in puzzles (except for the Montessori puzzles that are quite difficult and somewhat frustrating for her!).