Like this:
This picture was taken standing in my front doorway. This industrious little fellow made his web completely across our front door.
I hate living in the country.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Sunday Switch: Animal Edition
Wordless weekend continues with the Sunday Switch, where I give you pictures of things that are not awesome.
Like this:
This picture was taken standing in my front doorway. This industrious little fellow made his web completely across our front door.
I hate living in the country.
Like this:
This picture was taken standing in my front doorway. This industrious little fellow made his web completely across our front door.
I hate living in the country.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Wordless Weekend: Animal Edition
Here is your Wordless Weekend list of "Things that are Awesome: Animals Around my House Edition."
I love living in the country!
 |
| Frog on the window of our front door. |
 |
| Bunnies in the backyard. |
 |
| Red-Tailed Hawk on our back fence. |
 |
| Blue-tailed skink on our steps. |
 |
| Misc. backyard birds on our patio. |
Friday, May 17, 2013
How to Be Awesome at Making Household Products
In my unending quest to save money and make my home more baby-friendly, I have started making a lot of my household products like cleaners and a few health and beauty supplies. This sounds really impressive at first, and you are welcome to think that, but in reality, it is a necessity for me as a way to cut back spending. Also, some of these were complete failures, so maybe don't get too impressed just yet.
By the way, one of the reasons I was hesitant to start my blog again was that most of the ideas I try are things I got from other blogs, so it's not like I can say they were mine. Plus, most people have already seen them on Pinterest, which is where 98% of my ideas come from.
Instead, here are some evaluations of the household products I have made and used. I found these all on Pinterest. Links to the sources are in the titles.
1) Laundry Detergent
.JPG)
This is one of the things I am the most proud of making myself, even though like, our great-grandparents did this, and it was no big thing. There are several variations on the recipe, but mine involves Borax, Washing Soda, Baking Soda, and Grated Fels Naptha bars.
I store it in a Christmas popcorn tin that has a clear lid. A batch costs like, $15 I think, and it lasts 6-9 months. No kidding. Even with us doing diaper laundry every night on top of regular laundry. And it works on just about everything. From Cricket's diapers to Brian's work uniforms. Pretty cool. Plus, no chemical additives, dyes, or fragrances, so I don't have to worry about sensitive skin.
2) All-Purpose Spray
I have a couple of variations of this. One is just a spray bottle with half vinegar and half water. I infuse my vinegar with orange peels for 10 days first. (Doesn't that sound so boss? Throw that in a conversation sometime.) I also have one recipe that uses orange vinegar, water, peroxide, and tea tree and lavender essential oils. I like this one a little better because I feel like the peroxide helps kill germs a little better, along the tea tree oil, which is a natural antiseptic/antibacterial. (NOTE: The recipe in the link includes Castile soap, which you should NOT use with vinegar. It de-saponifies it, making the soap useless. Use a detergent like Dawn, or just leave it out.) This spray works great at cutting grease in the kitchen, cleaning bathroom counters, or whatever else you use all-purpose spray for. And it doesn't smell as bad as plain vinegar does. I hate that smell.
3) Dishwashing Detergent
This one was a flop. I tried several versions, but apparently our water is just too hard, and I must use terrible, environmentally-detrimental chemicals. The one I tried involved Epsom Salts, Baking Soda, Lemmi Shine, and Borax. And dirty dishes.
4) Deodorant
I actually did make this and use it a couple of times, and I think it worked really well. But I stopped using it because I'm too much of a coward. I'm afraid if I did use it and it didn't work, no one would tell me.
5) Shaving Cream
This one worked ok, but not good enough that I would do it again. The one I used required shampoo, conditioner, baby oil, water, and lotion. It came out really thin, kinda gloopy, and hard to use, but too thick for a foaming soap pump. I made it work by forcing it through the foaming pump, which made a noise like I was strangling a manatee every time I took a shower. Not worth it.
6) Dryer Balls
These are felted balls of wool that you put in the dryer and they bounce around, creating magical pockets of air that fluff your clothes and help dry them faster. I made four balls out of one skein of yarn, but I didn't felt them enough the first time and they came apart. You are supposed to put the balls in a pantyhose sock and tie a knot between each one. Then you put them in the washer on hot water and then dry them, still in the sock. Repeat that a couple of times, and make sure you use hot water. Very important.
These work really well, and you don't have to worry about chemicals on your clothes. (I experimented with felting some raw wool onto one of them, which is why it has white spots. It's not some type of dryer ball leprosy.) Downside: They are loud.
7) Hairspray
I was super proud of this, and consequently super stubborn about admitting that it didn't really work. I used it for a couple of months before I gave up and bought some that actually does something. I mean, it works about as well as a spray bottle full of nice smelling water would work on your hair. Supposedly you boil citrus fruit down, and the um...something in the fruit makes the hairspray sticky, and you add water and rubbing alcohol and it makes hairspray. Except it didn't. It might help lay down a few flyaways, but they are just gonna spring back up once it dries. And also, I was always a little afraid of being swarmed by bees.
8) Facial Astringent
This one I really like, and have actually made several batches of. It's just lemon juice and witch hazel, but it's a lot cheaper than buying a bottle of specialty astringent. Works well too, and since I have super sensitive, super temperamental skin, I'm a good test subject. Oh, and the first time, I actually squeezed lemons by hand, but the pulp was annoying, so now I just use the bottled stuff. Works fine.
9) Room Air Freshener
Basically you just put baking soda in an open jar and add a few drops of essential oils and your house magically loses all bad odors and smells like whatever wholesome oil you chose to use.
Did not work. At all.
After a few days, the spots where the oils had landed in the baking soda turned black, so either my house smells so bad that the air freshener actually died, or this is just not a great idea. Maybe if you made like, a dozen of them, and put them all around...or you could just get a wax melter. That works great.
10) Bath Salts
This was from a blog intended for kids, but it is great for adults, too. It's easy to make: it's just Epsom Salts, food coloring, and whichever essential oils you want to use. This would be a great gift in a cute jar with a pretty tag. I did eucalyptus to help Cricket when she has a cold, and I love it!
If you are interested in looking at any of the actual sites where I got these recipes, you can click the links in the titles, or they can all be found on my Mission Accomplished board on Pinterest. It's where I pin all the things I have actually tried. If you're on Pinterest, you should follow me, or at least follow that board, 'cause that's where the doable stuff is, and not the crazy stuff like how to make a chandelier out of toilet paper tubes or how to paint your nails to represent each individual dwarf from the Hobbit.
By the way, one of the reasons I was hesitant to start my blog again was that most of the ideas I try are things I got from other blogs, so it's not like I can say they were mine. Plus, most people have already seen them on Pinterest, which is where 98% of my ideas come from.
Instead, here are some evaluations of the household products I have made and used. I found these all on Pinterest. Links to the sources are in the titles.
1) Laundry Detergent
.JPG)
This is one of the things I am the most proud of making myself, even though like, our great-grandparents did this, and it was no big thing. There are several variations on the recipe, but mine involves Borax, Washing Soda, Baking Soda, and Grated Fels Naptha bars.
.JPG) |
| Grated Soap: Not as delicious as it appears. |
(PROTIP: Use a food processor to grate the bars of soap. I grated them by hand the first time, and it took several days because my arm got so sore I had to stop. Also, I'm a weakling, so maybe you could do it by hand without a problem.)
I store it in a Christmas popcorn tin that has a clear lid. A batch costs like, $15 I think, and it lasts 6-9 months. No kidding. Even with us doing diaper laundry every night on top of regular laundry. And it works on just about everything. From Cricket's diapers to Brian's work uniforms. Pretty cool. Plus, no chemical additives, dyes, or fragrances, so I don't have to worry about sensitive skin.
2) All-Purpose Spray
I have a couple of variations of this. One is just a spray bottle with half vinegar and half water. I infuse my vinegar with orange peels for 10 days first. (Doesn't that sound so boss? Throw that in a conversation sometime.) I also have one recipe that uses orange vinegar, water, peroxide, and tea tree and lavender essential oils. I like this one a little better because I feel like the peroxide helps kill germs a little better, along the tea tree oil, which is a natural antiseptic/antibacterial. (NOTE: The recipe in the link includes Castile soap, which you should NOT use with vinegar. It de-saponifies it, making the soap useless. Use a detergent like Dawn, or just leave it out.) This spray works great at cutting grease in the kitchen, cleaning bathroom counters, or whatever else you use all-purpose spray for. And it doesn't smell as bad as plain vinegar does. I hate that smell.
3) Dishwashing Detergent
This one was a flop. I tried several versions, but apparently our water is just too hard, and I must use terrible, environmentally-detrimental chemicals. The one I tried involved Epsom Salts, Baking Soda, Lemmi Shine, and Borax. And dirty dishes.
4) Deodorant
I actually did make this and use it a couple of times, and I think it worked really well. But I stopped using it because I'm too much of a coward. I'm afraid if I did use it and it didn't work, no one would tell me.
5) Shaving Cream
This one worked ok, but not good enough that I would do it again. The one I used required shampoo, conditioner, baby oil, water, and lotion. It came out really thin, kinda gloopy, and hard to use, but too thick for a foaming soap pump. I made it work by forcing it through the foaming pump, which made a noise like I was strangling a manatee every time I took a shower. Not worth it.
6) Dryer Balls
These are felted balls of wool that you put in the dryer and they bounce around, creating magical pockets of air that fluff your clothes and help dry them faster. I made four balls out of one skein of yarn, but I didn't felt them enough the first time and they came apart. You are supposed to put the balls in a pantyhose sock and tie a knot between each one. Then you put them in the washer on hot water and then dry them, still in the sock. Repeat that a couple of times, and make sure you use hot water. Very important.
These work really well, and you don't have to worry about chemicals on your clothes. (I experimented with felting some raw wool onto one of them, which is why it has white spots. It's not some type of dryer ball leprosy.) Downside: They are loud.
7) Hairspray
I was super proud of this, and consequently super stubborn about admitting that it didn't really work. I used it for a couple of months before I gave up and bought some that actually does something. I mean, it works about as well as a spray bottle full of nice smelling water would work on your hair. Supposedly you boil citrus fruit down, and the um...something in the fruit makes the hairspray sticky, and you add water and rubbing alcohol and it makes hairspray. Except it didn't. It might help lay down a few flyaways, but they are just gonna spring back up once it dries. And also, I was always a little afraid of being swarmed by bees.
8) Facial Astringent
This one I really like, and have actually made several batches of. It's just lemon juice and witch hazel, but it's a lot cheaper than buying a bottle of specialty astringent. Works well too, and since I have super sensitive, super temperamental skin, I'm a good test subject. Oh, and the first time, I actually squeezed lemons by hand, but the pulp was annoying, so now I just use the bottled stuff. Works fine.
9) Room Air Freshener
Basically you just put baking soda in an open jar and add a few drops of essential oils and your house magically loses all bad odors and smells like whatever wholesome oil you chose to use.
Did not work. At all.
After a few days, the spots where the oils had landed in the baking soda turned black, so either my house smells so bad that the air freshener actually died, or this is just not a great idea. Maybe if you made like, a dozen of them, and put them all around...or you could just get a wax melter. That works great.
10) Bath Salts
This was from a blog intended for kids, but it is great for adults, too. It's easy to make: it's just Epsom Salts, food coloring, and whichever essential oils you want to use. This would be a great gift in a cute jar with a pretty tag. I did eucalyptus to help Cricket when she has a cold, and I love it!
If you are interested in looking at any of the actual sites where I got these recipes, you can click the links in the titles, or they can all be found on my Mission Accomplished board on Pinterest. It's where I pin all the things I have actually tried. If you're on Pinterest, you should follow me, or at least follow that board, 'cause that's where the doable stuff is, and not the crazy stuff like how to make a chandelier out of toilet paper tubes or how to paint your nails to represent each individual dwarf from the Hobbit.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
How to Be Awesome at Saving Money: Part One
Since I have stopped working, saving money has become my job. My goal is to save as much money as I used to make. Since half of what I used to make was spent on my classroom, I already have a head start on this goal, but I still have to find ways to save the rest.
I actually Googled "Ways to Save Money" one day to see if I had just not thought of something. This is my method for approaching any and all difficulties and/or questions in my life. I Google them. Sometimes I read books on them, too, if it's a big issue.
What came up was a long list of ideas, some of which I tried. For example, I discovered very quickly that Extreme Couponing is not for me. I know lots of people who do this now, thanks in large part to some TV show that I guess is on. They are always posting on Facebook about how they spend $38 and saved $286.47 or something like that, and that's awesome. I, on the other hand, found my grocery bills significantly higher when I was concentrating on using coupons, because even though I was careful to get only things we would actually use, I still bought more than I normally would, and I usually had to buy brand-names to use the coupons. It didn't work, and it's probably because I didn't do it right, so don't get all defensive if you are a coupon-aholic. I still use coupons occasionally, but they are not the focus of my shopping.
In general, saving money is easy if you never want to have fun again and if you don't mind eating lots of oatmeal and Ramen noodles. However, it gets trickier when you DO like having fun and you might occasionally want to eat actual food (and don't get me started again on buying organic food). So in my ongoing quest to be awesome at saving money, I have learned that it is a lot about changing my mentality. I have lots of practical tips, and we'll get to those, but first I had to get some things straight in my head.
1) Decide where you will save money and where you won't.
I will buy off-brand for most things. I don't mind. However, there are some things I refuse to buy the cheap versions of, either because the quality is remarkably different or because I'm just a snob in that area. For example:
In the quality area, I refuse to buy cheap toilet paper. It can be just downright abrasive! Plus, it's so thin! It's like spider webs held together with baby tears! You end up using 5 times as much of the cheap stuff anyway, so it really doesn't end up saving too much money.
In the snob area, I also refuse to start using reusable toilet paper. (Yes, it's totally a thing.) I know people who do, and good on them. It certainly would save money, but I draw the line there. I will give up driving before I give up disposable toilet paper.
2) I can't afford spending to save.
It is frustrating to me that you often have to have money to save money. This is the case frequently with couponing, shopping at warehouse stores like Costco or Sam's, and buying in large quantities, like buying a whole side of beef. Also, this is the concept that sites like Groupon and Living Social work off of. Yes, the cost per unit may be lower, but unless you have the money up front, it doesn't matter how much it "saves" you later.
Incidentally, this is how people with plenty of money like to "save," since saving is all the rage now. People I know who make literally two to three times as much money as we do will brag about saving money by using coupons to buy $541 worth of stuff for $286! That's a great deal, but you still have to have that $286 extra dollars, plus a place to store all that stuff. Nothing wrong with doing it this way, but I am saving money because eating meals is awesome, not because all the cool kids are doing it.
3) Overall lower prices beats really good sales every day.
Some stores have fantastic sales, BOGO deals, and special buys, but the rest of their stuff is priced higher, so even though your receipt says you "saved" $26.87, you actually spent more than if you had just gone to a cheaper store where everything is always the same price.
Case in point: Publix vs. Aldi.
I love Publix. I would shop there exclusively if I could. In fact, I used to. Publix is the lovechild of a grocery store and a Sandals Resort. It's such a nice atmosphere, everyone is so pleasant, and they have tons of options and specialty stuff. They even have samples of entire meals with recipe cards and everything you need for those recipes right there by the samples! Genius!
But they have really high prices.
Yes, even with the BOGO's on cereal and the great weekly sales. It's still higher overall.
I didn't believe it at first, and fiercely defended my Publix shopping experience to others until I started shopping at Aldi.
Aldi is the lovechild of a grocery store and a middle school cafeteria.
It is not pretty. There's an intermittent loud buzzing sound that scares the bejeebers out of me every nine minutes or so. There are like, three people working in the entire store at any one time. They pretty much only carry their brand, so they don't have tons of choices, and there are always a few things on my list that they don't have. Plus, you have to bag your own groceries, and you have to bring your own bags or pay for the plastic/paper ones. They don't run many sales or BOGO's.
But their prices are Rock. Bottom. Best deals I've found. I've actually gone through Publix, Walmart, Aldi, and Sam's with a notebook, writing down prices per unit to compare. Overall, Aldi wins, hands down.
When I started shopping there, my grocery budget dropped over $100 a month, without changing anything else. Pretty cool. Yes, they don't carry much in the way of organic. Yes, I have to go across the street to Walmart after I finish at Aldi, so I can get the rest of the things on my list. Yes, it's a pain with a baby in tow. But it's worth it.
4) Make it or make do.
This is a mindset shift, and it's taken me a while to get into this. Almost everything you buy at the store, besides basic supplies, has a homemade counterpart that is cheaper. It's not always prettier, and it is most often less convenient, but if you need to save money, start there. Pre-made mixes in the kitchen, home decorations, clothing, children's toys, the list goes on and on. You can buy it, or you can make it, or you might just need to go without it. I was out of practice saying "no" to myself, but in the two years that I've been home, it has gotten easier and easier.
Mostly, I pretend I'm Laura Ingalls Wilder and we live in a dugout. You don't order pizza to a dugout. You make it yourself. You don't drive to Starbucks for treats every week in a covered wagon. You make smoothies at home! (Well, she would have, if she'd had a blender.) If you think of it like that, it feels a lot less like "doing without" and a lot more like "living simply," which it is.
5) Saving money means less convenience.
You decide how much less convenience you are willing to live with, and that's how much money you can save. Since I'm not working outside the home, I can put up with a ton of inconvenience right now, and save a ton of money. When I was teaching (aka working a 55-60 hour week) I could not handle much inconvenience at all, so we spent a ton of money (relatively), and that's ok, too. You just decide which resource you have more of right now: time or money. Then you work with what you have.
Once the mentality is in place, the specific, practical things fall in line. Before you know it, you'll be weaving your own reusable toilet paper out of spare scraps of string. Yay, dugouts!
To see the second part of this series, click here!
To see the third part of this series, click here!
I actually Googled "Ways to Save Money" one day to see if I had just not thought of something. This is my method for approaching any and all difficulties and/or questions in my life. I Google them. Sometimes I read books on them, too, if it's a big issue.
What came up was a long list of ideas, some of which I tried. For example, I discovered very quickly that Extreme Couponing is not for me. I know lots of people who do this now, thanks in large part to some TV show that I guess is on. They are always posting on Facebook about how they spend $38 and saved $286.47 or something like that, and that's awesome. I, on the other hand, found my grocery bills significantly higher when I was concentrating on using coupons, because even though I was careful to get only things we would actually use, I still bought more than I normally would, and I usually had to buy brand-names to use the coupons. It didn't work, and it's probably because I didn't do it right, so don't get all defensive if you are a coupon-aholic. I still use coupons occasionally, but they are not the focus of my shopping.
In general, saving money is easy if you never want to have fun again and if you don't mind eating lots of oatmeal and Ramen noodles. However, it gets trickier when you DO like having fun and you might occasionally want to eat actual food (and don't get me started again on buying organic food). So in my ongoing quest to be awesome at saving money, I have learned that it is a lot about changing my mentality. I have lots of practical tips, and we'll get to those, but first I had to get some things straight in my head.
1) Decide where you will save money and where you won't.
I will buy off-brand for most things. I don't mind. However, there are some things I refuse to buy the cheap versions of, either because the quality is remarkably different or because I'm just a snob in that area. For example:
In the quality area, I refuse to buy cheap toilet paper. It can be just downright abrasive! Plus, it's so thin! It's like spider webs held together with baby tears! You end up using 5 times as much of the cheap stuff anyway, so it really doesn't end up saving too much money.
In the snob area, I also refuse to start using reusable toilet paper. (Yes, it's totally a thing.) I know people who do, and good on them. It certainly would save money, but I draw the line there. I will give up driving before I give up disposable toilet paper.
2) I can't afford spending to save.
It is frustrating to me that you often have to have money to save money. This is the case frequently with couponing, shopping at warehouse stores like Costco or Sam's, and buying in large quantities, like buying a whole side of beef. Also, this is the concept that sites like Groupon and Living Social work off of. Yes, the cost per unit may be lower, but unless you have the money up front, it doesn't matter how much it "saves" you later.
Incidentally, this is how people with plenty of money like to "save," since saving is all the rage now. People I know who make literally two to three times as much money as we do will brag about saving money by using coupons to buy $541 worth of stuff for $286! That's a great deal, but you still have to have that $286 extra dollars, plus a place to store all that stuff. Nothing wrong with doing it this way, but I am saving money because eating meals is awesome, not because all the cool kids are doing it.
3) Overall lower prices beats really good sales every day.
Some stores have fantastic sales, BOGO deals, and special buys, but the rest of their stuff is priced higher, so even though your receipt says you "saved" $26.87, you actually spent more than if you had just gone to a cheaper store where everything is always the same price.
Case in point: Publix vs. Aldi.
I love Publix. I would shop there exclusively if I could. In fact, I used to. Publix is the lovechild of a grocery store and a Sandals Resort. It's such a nice atmosphere, everyone is so pleasant, and they have tons of options and specialty stuff. They even have samples of entire meals with recipe cards and everything you need for those recipes right there by the samples! Genius!
But they have really high prices.
Yes, even with the BOGO's on cereal and the great weekly sales. It's still higher overall.
I didn't believe it at first, and fiercely defended my Publix shopping experience to others until I started shopping at Aldi.
Aldi is the lovechild of a grocery store and a middle school cafeteria.
It is not pretty. There's an intermittent loud buzzing sound that scares the bejeebers out of me every nine minutes or so. There are like, three people working in the entire store at any one time. They pretty much only carry their brand, so they don't have tons of choices, and there are always a few things on my list that they don't have. Plus, you have to bag your own groceries, and you have to bring your own bags or pay for the plastic/paper ones. They don't run many sales or BOGO's.
But their prices are Rock. Bottom. Best deals I've found. I've actually gone through Publix, Walmart, Aldi, and Sam's with a notebook, writing down prices per unit to compare. Overall, Aldi wins, hands down.
When I started shopping there, my grocery budget dropped over $100 a month, without changing anything else. Pretty cool. Yes, they don't carry much in the way of organic. Yes, I have to go across the street to Walmart after I finish at Aldi, so I can get the rest of the things on my list. Yes, it's a pain with a baby in tow. But it's worth it.
4) Make it or make do.
This is a mindset shift, and it's taken me a while to get into this. Almost everything you buy at the store, besides basic supplies, has a homemade counterpart that is cheaper. It's not always prettier, and it is most often less convenient, but if you need to save money, start there. Pre-made mixes in the kitchen, home decorations, clothing, children's toys, the list goes on and on. You can buy it, or you can make it, or you might just need to go without it. I was out of practice saying "no" to myself, but in the two years that I've been home, it has gotten easier and easier.
Mostly, I pretend I'm Laura Ingalls Wilder and we live in a dugout. You don't order pizza to a dugout. You make it yourself. You don't drive to Starbucks for treats every week in a covered wagon. You make smoothies at home! (Well, she would have, if she'd had a blender.) If you think of it like that, it feels a lot less like "doing without" and a lot more like "living simply," which it is.
5) Saving money means less convenience.
You decide how much less convenience you are willing to live with, and that's how much money you can save. Since I'm not working outside the home, I can put up with a ton of inconvenience right now, and save a ton of money. When I was teaching (aka working a 55-60 hour week) I could not handle much inconvenience at all, so we spent a ton of money (relatively), and that's ok, too. You just decide which resource you have more of right now: time or money. Then you work with what you have.
Once the mentality is in place, the specific, practical things fall in line. Before you know it, you'll be weaving your own reusable toilet paper out of spare scraps of string. Yay, dugouts!
To see the second part of this series, click here!
To see the third part of this series, click here!
Monday, May 13, 2013
How to Be Awesome at Making Toys
I have been doing a lot of "round up" style posts recently, mostly because I am recapping over a year of blog silence. Eventually I'll get caught up and start doing more in-depth posts about one specific project, but for now, just think of me as your personal Pinterest tester.
I have really enjoyed making toys for Cricket. I mean, don't get me wrong. She has plenty of store-bought toys, too, but there is something fun about making a toy for her, and besides, it's usually cheaper, and it gives me something fun to do.
(I tried to add links to credit the sites I got the ideas from if I actually used a tutorial or read a how-to article. In a couple of cases, they were ideas I saw floating around several places, so I don't have any one site to credit.)
Crinkle Toy
When Cricket was very little, I made her a crinkle toy, and she loved it.
It's just a piece of plastic wrapper, like from a bag of dried cherries or a package of printer paper, (basically trash) sewn inside two pieces of fabric, (I used fleece and cotton.), with ribbon tags on the sides for babies to play with. For a long time, she wouldn't go anywhere without it. Now it's in the bottom of the car somewhere I think, but it served its purpose. These also made great gifts.
It took maybe thirty minutes from start to finish, and I used scraps of fabric and ribbon, so it cost pretty much nothing. And it takes zero sewing skills, which is perfect for me. If you can sew a straight line on a machine, you can do this. (And my lines aren't always even that straight.)
Discovery Bottles
One of my favorite toys to make for her, especially when she was about six to nine months old, was discovery bottles. Basically, you take any kind of clear bottle and you fill it with something that looks cool and/or sounds cool when you shake it. Then you seal the lid on with hot glue and BAM! Instant toy. Cricket loves them, so I've made a bunch.
I use peanut butter jars, Parmesan jars, spice bottles, juice bottles, and my favorite: bullion cube containers. (Again, basically giving my baby trash to play with.) I fill them with everything: water beads, food coloring, erasers, necklaces, pom poms, beads, alphabet pasta, Kosher salt and plastic snow confetti, pieces of pipe cleaner, water, bouncy balls, and glitter. I combine two or three of those things for different effects. It's really fun.
TIP: Put hot glue around the bottom edge of the lid once it is tightened. If you try to put the glue on the threads before you put the top on, the glue will dry with the lid halfway on and leak glitter water all over you. Ask me how I know.
Sensory Board
This next ideas are <GASP> not from Pinterest. I actually came up with these two on my own. (Well, ok, I had help from this site for the first one.) I had some cardboard cake circles left over from something, so I used them to make a sensory board.
I just hot glued a bunch of different textured materials to the cake circle. I used a gift wrapping bow, some tulle, yarn, a piece of cotton t-shirt, a gauzy ribbon, a piece of felt, and a velvety ribbon. I later replaced the gauzy ribbon with foam stick-on letters that spelled her name. She played with it a lot.
Velcro Board
I used another cake circle to make a Velcro board.
Color Cards
Also from Pinterest, I did a couple of activities using paint sample cards from a home improvement store. (You're not really supposed to just walk in there and get some for craft purposes, but surely you have some lying around from the last time you repainted your house.)
First, I used some of the small square cards to just make color cards. I glued them back to back, using dark and light versions of the same color. They were pretty cool. Nice and sturdy, and she played with them some.
Color Book
But what she really loved was this book I made for her.
Paint sample cards, stickers I got on clearance, binder rings, and some card stock. Easy to make, but she LOVES it. She asks me to "read" it to her over and over. Most of the time, I just say, "Red. Orange." etc. But sometimes I get adventurous and read all the silly names they have for the different colors. It's fun.
Oh, and also, she loves this one.
Stick and Hole Game
Parmesan shaker + dry spaghetti noodles = hours of entertainment. I saw this one on Pinterest and then had a friend do it with coffee stirrers, which I think would work better because they wouldn't break as easily, but I couldn't find any that day, so spaghetti worked pretty well.
Apparently, the moral of this story is, "Give your child trash to play with." Not really, but it is amazing what you can do with things we usually throw away. These also make great toys to pull out when other kids come to play. They are usually things the other kids have never seen before, so they are interesting. They are imagination powered, so they hold attention well, and if they break, it's no big deal because it was trash to begin with!
They are like dead toys walking. Got nothin' to lose.
I have really enjoyed making toys for Cricket. I mean, don't get me wrong. She has plenty of store-bought toys, too, but there is something fun about making a toy for her, and besides, it's usually cheaper, and it gives me something fun to do.
(I tried to add links to credit the sites I got the ideas from if I actually used a tutorial or read a how-to article. In a couple of cases, they were ideas I saw floating around several places, so I don't have any one site to credit.)
Crinkle Toy
When Cricket was very little, I made her a crinkle toy, and she loved it.
It's just a piece of plastic wrapper, like from a bag of dried cherries or a package of printer paper, (basically trash) sewn inside two pieces of fabric, (I used fleece and cotton.), with ribbon tags on the sides for babies to play with. For a long time, she wouldn't go anywhere without it. Now it's in the bottom of the car somewhere I think, but it served its purpose. These also made great gifts.
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| This was a "cuter" version I made as a gift. |
It took maybe thirty minutes from start to finish, and I used scraps of fabric and ribbon, so it cost pretty much nothing. And it takes zero sewing skills, which is perfect for me. If you can sew a straight line on a machine, you can do this. (And my lines aren't always even that straight.)
Discovery Bottles
One of my favorite toys to make for her, especially when she was about six to nine months old, was discovery bottles. Basically, you take any kind of clear bottle and you fill it with something that looks cool and/or sounds cool when you shake it. Then you seal the lid on with hot glue and BAM! Instant toy. Cricket loves them, so I've made a bunch.
I use peanut butter jars, Parmesan jars, spice bottles, juice bottles, and my favorite: bullion cube containers. (Again, basically giving my baby trash to play with.) I fill them with everything: water beads, food coloring, erasers, necklaces, pom poms, beads, alphabet pasta, Kosher salt and plastic snow confetti, pieces of pipe cleaner, water, bouncy balls, and glitter. I combine two or three of those things for different effects. It's really fun.
TIP: Put hot glue around the bottom edge of the lid once it is tightened. If you try to put the glue on the threads before you put the top on, the glue will dry with the lid halfway on and leak glitter water all over you. Ask me how I know.
Sensory Board
This next ideas are <GASP> not from Pinterest. I actually came up with these two on my own. (Well, ok, I had help from this site for the first one.) I had some cardboard cake circles left over from something, so I used them to make a sensory board.
I just hot glued a bunch of different textured materials to the cake circle. I used a gift wrapping bow, some tulle, yarn, a piece of cotton t-shirt, a gauzy ribbon, a piece of felt, and a velvety ribbon. I later replaced the gauzy ribbon with foam stick-on letters that spelled her name. She played with it a lot.
Velcro Board
I used another cake circle to make a Velcro board.
I used stick-on Velcro dots and a wooden puzzle that was missing some pieces. The best part of this is, I can change out what I stick on there and I don't have to make a whole new board. Cricket absolutely loves pulling the pieces off of this, and as long as I am there to put them back on for her, she will play with this thing for ever!
Ball Pit
I am very proud of finding a trash bag (I'm sensing a theme...) of ball pit balls at a consignment sale for $3! Then, the next day, my mother-in-law found another bag at a thrift store! Put them in the Pack-n-Play and you have an instant ball pit! (You can also put them in the bathtub or a kiddie pool.)
Cricket's does not fully realize yet how amazing this gift is. When I was little, if someone told me they had a ball pit in their house, I would assume their parents were the President of the World. Ball pits were that awesome to me Now, they've taken them out of most public places (Something to do with sanitation. I don't know) so most kids don't understand what an amazing thing this is. But still. Ball pit = Awesome.
Color Cards
Also from Pinterest, I did a couple of activities using paint sample cards from a home improvement store. (You're not really supposed to just walk in there and get some for craft purposes, but surely you have some lying around from the last time you repainted your house.)
First, I used some of the small square cards to just make color cards. I glued them back to back, using dark and light versions of the same color. They were pretty cool. Nice and sturdy, and she played with them some.
Color Book
But what she really loved was this book I made for her.
Paint sample cards, stickers I got on clearance, binder rings, and some card stock. Easy to make, but she LOVES it. She asks me to "read" it to her over and over. Most of the time, I just say, "Red. Orange." etc. But sometimes I get adventurous and read all the silly names they have for the different colors. It's fun.
Oh, and also, she loves this one.
Stick and Hole Game
Parmesan shaker + dry spaghetti noodles = hours of entertainment. I saw this one on Pinterest and then had a friend do it with coffee stirrers, which I think would work better because they wouldn't break as easily, but I couldn't find any that day, so spaghetti worked pretty well.
Apparently, the moral of this story is, "Give your child trash to play with." Not really, but it is amazing what you can do with things we usually throw away. These also make great toys to pull out when other kids come to play. They are usually things the other kids have never seen before, so they are interesting. They are imagination powered, so they hold attention well, and if they break, it's no big deal because it was trash to begin with!
They are like dead toys walking. Got nothin' to lose.
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