Stocking Stuffers under $10...

...That your kids will actually enjoy!  I keep seeing lists of stocking suffers and everything I have found is either way too young for Bear or way to generic.  Afterall nobody knows my kid better than me so why should he get socks?  I'm sorry but you get socks for someone who you are not sure what to get...like your husband :)

This is my stocking stuffer list!

$4.95 - Picture Projector (Dinosaurs) Yup - a flashlight that makes giant dinosaurs on the wall!

$1.00-7.95 - Slinky Fun for a girl or a boy and it can either be the original slinky or one from the dollar store

$6.95 - Incog-neato Mustaches AMAZING!

$5.00 - Tattly Cute tattoos for cute kids

Sheriff Badge (Dollar store)

Various Colors of PlayDough (Dollar Store)

$5-10.00 Wikki Stix Craft stores have them and they are fun but dont poke you like pipe cleaners

Plastic Animals (Dollar or Toy Stores)

$4.95 Jacob's Ladder I loved this when I was a kid :)

$9.95 Nesting Doll Robots I got another set last year for Tim and Bear loved them

$7.54 Crystal Crayons Sweet!


$7.99 Hot Wheels 5 Pack

The of course an orange in the toe :)

What are you giving your littles for Christmas?

Love,

PlusPeace

Painted Birch Kids Room - DIY

Over Thanksgiving I came accross this pin which lead to a conversation with my sister about just painting the birth trees right on Bear's wall rather than dreaming of spending $120+ on them.  I figured I would never ever be able to pull it off so didn't put much more thought into it.  Then this afternoon we went to Home Depot and I decided to just do it.  I am not a pro-painter but I they came out AMAZING!  Bear loves his room!  Before bed tonight we put on his stars night light (projects stars on the ceiling) and lay next to the trees under the stars for a bedtime story, magical.

Painted Birch Tutorial

Materials:
Scotch Masking tape 3/4 inch thick will do ($1.99) - I did NOT use the blue tape because I've found that it doesn't stick well to our walls. The scotch masking tape was significantly cheaper and didn't peel off any of the paint.
Gliden Flat Matte paint ($9.49) - I just got the small container in the trim aisle. These trees will not work on white walls unless you get a darker color paint and do reverse.
Painting Sponge OR Edge Brush ($2.50-4.99) - The edge brush is not a paint brush it looks like a flat roller piece on an orange handle. I used this like a sponge since I didnt have one so a sponge would do fine.

How-to:
Step 1 - Prep your walls. Wipe them down with a dry cloth if fairly clean and if your walls have not recently been painted or are particularly dirty use warm water and let dry.  Plan how many trees you want and where.

Step 2 - Make your outlines.  Starting from the bottom of the wall, tape the base of your tree.  The great things about birch trees is they are very hard to mess up.  They have not many branches and, for the most part, are straight. To make them look like birch, I ripped small strips of tape and placed them randomly over the center and outlines of the trees.  The "knots" in the tree I just made with tiny pieces of tape in a circle.  Work ONE tree at a time so you have a better concept of the amount of space you end up with.

Step 3 - Paint! Sponge paint the inside of your tree in a fairly thin layer but make sure you are covering over the wall color.  Work from the top down and then repeat the process so the color is nice and bright.  The texture from using a sponge is OK because trees have texture.

Step 4 - Peel!  Peel off the tape from top to bottom while paint is still wet.  Go slow and some smudges are OK.  Dont forget all the bits in the middle that were painted over, you may have to gently scratch these with your nail to get a piece up to peel.

Voila!  I only did one wall with three trees today and plan to do the opposite wall tomorrow - and will post the pics :)

Any questions, just comment!

Love,

PlusPeace

Quick Craft Sunday

In honor of Thanksgiving and our (small but still notable) Native American heritage we decided to make brightly colored arrows for Bear's room.  I am working on making his room with a nature inspired theme and he finally got a "big boy bed" this weekend (great find from Casa.com  I ended up getting $70 off in savings and coupons) so we did a celebration craft.

This craft was sparked by these  but mine are WAY more simple.

You will need:
[2] 4' Dowels I used 1/4" thick ones for .88 at homedepot
[6] Different Colors of thin craft foam I got a big pack of small sheets for $1 at dollar tree
Kids craft paint in a variety of colors $1 at dollar tree
Exacto-knife or hand saw
Paint Brush another $1 for the multipack at dollar tree
Sandpaper
Glue-gun with clear glue

How to:
Cut each of the dowels to be 1.33' long and sand the cut ends to be rounded.  Cut your foam into 3-4" half feathers (a half oval is OK) you will need 3 half feathers per arrow.  Make fringe on the rounded edge of each of the feathers.

Your or your kiddo can paint the dowels. We made the rounded tips grey and the base of each yellow with various colored bands in random spots.  Once the paint is try, hot glue the straight edge of the feathers to the non-pointed end of the arrows.  Glue 3 one each at 90 degree angles from eachother.  You can put 4 on each but I left one side "flat" because I intend to hang them on the wall somehow.

I ended up doing all the work on these and Bear pretends they are flowers or rockets but they are still tons of fun!!  I cant figure out a good way to hang them because for some reason the 3M stickies dont work well on Bear's walls. 

Enjoy :)

PlusPeace

To a new mom...

I saw a Carters commercial this afternoon with the line "When a child is born, so is a mom."  I was thinking about how meaningful it is for someone to call me "Momma" and depend on me for everything from dinner to bath to scaring away the monsters. The greatest thing about being Mom is getting to be a kid again and make the little things is life magic for another being.

Here are a few things for all new mom's (going through long sleepless nights and not being able to wait until their kid will enjoy the zoo) to look forward to...

- By age two the whole family will be eating on neon colored "take n' toss" plates because it is simply just easier that way.

- The gas in your baby's tummy you dread now because it causes screams, will soon cause endless laughter.

- Toys are totally overrated. We STILL prefer tupperware, paper tubes and boxes.

- Your child's imagination will blow your mind as soon as he/she is talking. Be a pirate too and make the living room your lagoon.

- You will go from "Ya, I'm little" to "Big boy pants just like daddy's!!" overnight.

- When your child is old enough to understand trips like the zoo and a museum, it becomes ALOT harder for you. Relax and run around too.

- Christmas is way better with kids.  Traditions are made and old ones honored.

- Throughout the day when times get stressful, you'll find yourself wishing for a slobbery little kiss and tight hug to make it all better.

- "Preggo-Brain" becomes "Mom-Brain" and you forever have an excuse for forgetting an appointment or two.

- If you get sick of singing the same songs to your baby, it is 100% worth it. They will remember the songs and sing them to you all horribly mixed up and jumbled and it is THE cutest thing.

Good luck, hang tight and spend EVERY moment falling in love.

Love
PlusPeace

Christmas Deal of the Day

Groupon has a great deal to CitrusLane they are offering a 3 Month Subscription for $35 (normally $75) for those of you not familiar with Citrus Lane, it is a monthly subscription for kids goodies.  You input your childs name, age and gender and they will mail a package to your home each month with cute toys, healthy snacks and useful products for your child based on their information!! So awesome.

The one they sent to toddlers in August looked like this:



To get your's go here

The best part is they tend to get organic and green items that would normally be pretty costly on their own but for $12 per month for 3 months is not bad. I plan to put this stuff in Bear's stocking :)

I will post photos of what we get when it comes in the mail! Also they have some pretty neat stuff on their pinterest boards.

Love,
PlusPeace

The Occupied Toddler

I often like to include Bear on what I make in the kitchen but sometimes, it's just not that interesting or not age appropriate.  I saw a pin (I wish I could find it) for putting paint in a bag and letting them play with it on the counter.  Since Bear is smart and a "picker", as in he picks at things, I had to re-enforce the bag.

I used:

Quart size double zip baggie

Green crayola finger paint (the key here is water based)

Clear packing tape

I put the paint in the baggies, got ALL the air out and zipped it shut.  Taped it on the top and bottom to the counter (horizontal) and then used smaller strips to cover it (vertical).  There is NO WAY that paint will get out of there and it entertained him for a full 15 minutes before moving on to another task.

I left it on the counter (been there 3 days) and he has played with it a few minutes here and there each day.

Definitely a fun, easy activity!

Love,

PlusPeace

Books Books Books!

I love reading to Bear but unfortunately the "under two" age group gets more learning books than story and lesson books, which after the 30 millionth time, are no fun.  Bear is now in the stage of his two's where he likes listening to an entire book being read and actually takes from it.

The holidays are coming fast and I know that we are quite broke now that we have our own home so when I find a good deal or come across a couple bucks I will jump on the opportunity to collect for Christmas.  The greatest deal I stumbled on when I went to my normal soap.com was a new sister site: BookWorm.  They have two offers going on - you can only use one so at checkout try the 30% Off 3 Books (BBOKWORM30) OR try the one for buy 3 get 1 free (1FREEBOOK).  I ended up using the 30% off since I bought only books under $12 that was worth $2 more.  To make the deal super sweet if you go through Ebates first you get an extra 2.5% cash back.  Now that's what I call some good double dippin!

Here's what I got:
Where the Wild Things Are $8.95 (-$2.69)
 Blueberries for Sal $6.89
Corduroy (with plush toy) $12.89 (-$3.87)
Make Way for Ducklings $7.99 (-$2.40)

$27.76 with $.70 cash back

Not bad for 4 books and a stuffed bear!!

Also been lurking around BJ Wholesale and found 70 hot wheels cars for $19

Good Luck!
PlusPeace