Pretty Garden Markers

We planted seeds at the garden last week and with all the interest in digging in the dirt I figured we needed to mark where it is not ok to dig until the plants come up making it more obvious.

 

I grabbed some quick supplies and we started working on our markers.  We used paint stir sticks, faux flowers, pipe cleaners and markers.  We made a marker for each row writing each veggie on a marker with a marker.  Then we cut flowers and pipe cleaners, held a flower stem to a stir stick and twisted the pipe cleaner around the stick to hold the flower in place.  Lastly, we went outside and used a hammer to push the sticks into the ground at the front of each row. 

Super Simple.  Super cute.  Super effective!

 

 

Little Hats

We have a set of grocery type baskets in the playroom that are played with every day in many ways.  One of the ways they love to use them is on their heads, which is great until one gets stuck.  It really is a safe place to play folks. 

I had an idea to come up with hats for the kids to play with.  I used plastic bowls that whipped topping comes in.  I cut slits on two sides, strung a piece of elastic through and secured the elastic by sewing a button on each side.  Easy!  Then I let the kids decorate their hats with bits of construction paper and glue sticks.  It is so fun to listen to the games they play while wearing their hats from dirt bike rider to birthday party.  So fun and easy.

Cute Little Flowers

I actually saw a picture of a flower like this on the internet somewhere but did not mark it at the time, so I cannot claim this idea as my own because it's not.   They even made something similar on Calliou today.  But, I am a big flower child and always love to have flowers indoors.  This is a quick and easy way to have pretty blooms in the house when there aren't many outside and it takes a minimal amount of supplies. 

 

You will need:  Cupcake liners, buttons and pipe cleaners, which I don't think are actually called pipe cleaners anymore in craft stores.  You simply punch a pipe cleaner up through the bottom of a cupcake liner, thread it through a button, push it back down through another hole in the liner that you make with the pipe cleaner and twist it on to the remaining longer piece of pipe cleaner.  WaaLaa... paper flowers!  I also criss-crossed scotch tape over a mason jar to make holes so the stems would stand up better.  And as you can see you can get as frilly as you want with the centers and stems as pipe cleaners are very bendy friendly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kid Kazoos

Here is a fun idea for when you feel like a lot of noise in the house!  If you don't find youself feeling this way... get yourself some earplugs! 

 

Material List

 

empty cardboard toilet paper rolls

waxed paper

rubber bands

 

 

Begin by cutting the waxed paper into a four inch circle.  Place the piece of waxed paper on one end of the tube.  Gently pull the paper down the sides of the tube and secure with a rubber band.  Your job is done.  Hand it over and hold your ears.  Or if you are anything like me... make one of your own and join right in!

 

The kazoos can be decorated before hand with glue and glitter, paint or markers by the kids.

 

 

Playful Interior Design

When it is nap time for the little ones it is not so much for the big kids.  Kids that are too old for naps.  But it is still tough to keep the volume down.  Putting something interesting in their hands is the best thing. 

Today, we chose a little interior design lesson...  and she flew all over it.  When we are waiting for the bus I always get the mail out of the mail box from the day before.  Once a week it usually houses junk ads.  The furniture ad is always her favorite to look at.  She will go through the say "which bedroom set would you pick for your house?"  So we indulged and cut out furniture and lamps from a magazine and found patterns for rugs and tiny food for the kitchen.  We had the most fun!  We  used a ruler and drew lines for walls in the house made of a piece of card stock.  She absolutely loved doing this and went on to create the landscape and garden on another piece of card stock. 

Living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and one bath.

It looked fantastic after the glue dried.  I think she did very well with furniture placement and lighting.  She even has a computer and time out chair!  Good stuff!