DIY Trash Bag for the Car

I have been on this huge organizational kick lately - cleaning out drawers, closets, cupboards, you name it! As I was cleaning out our car the other day, I noticed bits of trash (and gooey used gum!) here and there and I realized I really needed to come up with an easy way for all of us to properly dispose of our rubbish. After a quick inspirational search on Pinterest, this is what I came up with...

Using some fabric leftover from another project, I hand stitched a basic pouch, and attached a bit of ribbon and a couple flowers to it (hey - just because it's a trash bag, doesn't mean it can't be pretty, right?!). I wanted something that could be reusable so I sized the pouch to fit around a brown paper lunch bag. When it's full I'll simply remove the paper bag, toss into our regular trash bin, and then insert a new paper bag into the fabric pouch. Easy peasy!

Here it is in action. (You'll kindly ignore all the beach sand in my car!) You can see the ribbon loop hangs around the drive shaft. It's very handy and - best of all - keeps the trash OFF of the floors (and doors!). I made a second one to hang off of the back of the passenger seat which is in front of James' car seat.

I whipped this together in about 30 minutes, though I expect someone with a sewing machine could do it in about 10. I totally eye-balled this project, so I'm afraid I have no dimensions/measurements to share.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Homemade Baby Food

It's the simple things that make me happy. Like this little selection of homemade baby food...

It's the colors, the freshness, the simplicity of it that I love.

I made all of James' food when he was little and I was working outside of the home, and I'm making Juliet's food, too. We're using a combined pureed-baby led weaning approach and it's going really well.

If you have a little one, I highly recommend you give homemade food a try! Making your own food is super easy, plus it's healthier and MUCH cheaper (I saved over $100 in just one cooking session!) than store-bought food. Here's are my two favorite baby food cookbooks - here and here - and my go-to website for the whens/hows/whys for making baby food.

~Thank you for your comments!~

DIY Fabric "Wipes" Toy

Juliet gets a kick out of pulling wet wipes out of their package. Now, while I encourage her exploratory enthusiasm lol, at $35/case of wipes it's a spendy activity she's designed for herself!

So, you can image my delight when I saw this idea on Pinterest. I kid you not when I tell you I had it all put together less than 20 minutes later. And bonus: it cost me $0 (new) dollars to make as I had everything (an old wipes container and some fabric) on hand already.

The verdict?

Kid approved!! I have about 25 different pieces of fabric inside of the container and she, Ms. Tenacious, reached in and pulled out each and every piece, one by one. She also kept closing the lid just so she could push the button that pops it back open again. :)

Funny thing about this Huggies wipes container, I got it a few months ago when I was in a pinch for wipes. Ordinarily, I buy an unscented off brand (Kirkland - LOVE these wipes) because I'm just not a fan of the thick, perfumey-ness of other brands. But I digress. It's the pattern on the container that sold me - it's so colorful! Which is why I saved it, too. I just *knew* there was a craft or project awaiting that box!

As for the fabric scraps, I simply rummaged through my stash and found as many colors, patterns, and textures as possible. I know Juliet is a big young for this now, but I did gather fabrics with some matching themes in mind: fruit, colors, and "softies" (aka the minky fabric -- it's oh so soft!).

Just a few details: I used pinking shears to help reduce fraying. Where the fabric was already seared, I left it. Even if - or especially if - it meant some selvage (I kinda have a thing with selvage... I love those colorful number circles!). I did not cut the pieces with any size in mind and they are in no way shape or form equal or perfectly cut. (I know, that's so rebel of OCD me!) And again, the wipes package came with that fun design - I did NOT adhere anything to the sides (though you could, but then that takes away from the easy-peasy-ness of it all). Oh, and I just tossed the fabric inside - I did not bother to fold them all one into the other as is done with real wipes. The nice thing about this container is that the center part - the part that hold the wipes at the ready - is made of soft rubber, so it's safe for little hands to reach inside.

Now go on and make one too! They'd make great baby gifts, don't you think?

~Thank you for your comments!~

DIY Montessori Color Tablets

The thrifty teacher's version of Montessori color tablets. :)

These have been in the late stages of completion for well over a year now and am I ever glad they're finally done!

Paint samples are great and free - there are SO many things you can do with them! To make these color tablets, I simply cut the paint samples so they were all of equal size, then I laminated them, and cut out each.and.every.one. (That step was the hold up in completion.)

What I like about these is that they stay true to the Montessori style in that each one is uniform and that the child's fingers do not actually touch the color portion of the tablet. To accomplish that I left an extra quarter inch on either side of the tablet. Easy peasy!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Lots of Baby Knits

Rather than create a post for each of these knits, I thought I'd just toss 'em all into one! Most of these are cozy things I've made since Juliet was born in August, and some are pics of her wearing knits I made when I was preggo with her. :)

This is another Milo vest (LOVE Milos) for my friend, Terri. The colorway, which I think is sooo dreamy, is "Betty Draper Blues" by Madeleine Tosh Vintage. Would knit with Madeleine Tosh exclusively if I had easy access to it (and could afford it!!).

These legwarmers were an easy knit. They came together quickly, but I realized I'm not a fan of repeat projects, meaning I kind of groaned when after finishing the first legwarmer I had to cast on for the second and, seemingly, start all over again. :/ They look pretty cute on Juliet's wonderfully chubby thighs!

Juliet modeling the Small Things Bonnet I made for her. She wore - nay, she ROCKED it - during our month long stay in Minnesota in December. I received lots of comments on it (it's the pixie aspect that people can't resist!), and when I lost it in the Mall of America, I was on the verge of tears. Thankfully, after a couple of frantic phone calls, I found it!

Another Small Things Bonnet, this one knit in the "Mulled Wine" colorway by Madeleine Tosh. This is the next size up from the one in the above photo. I wasn't sure what size she'd fit into by the time December rolled around. As it turned out, this one was far too big and will likely fit her next winter.

This cute little vest (missing the buttons - was searching for just the right ones at the time of the photo), was made for my friend, Dana. I really liked this pattern, it's a shame it comes in only one (tiny!) size.

I knit this basic scarf for James using some cheapy acrylic yarn. Never again will I use acrylic yarn for this kind of project! Despite my many attempts and varied ways of blocking it, the sides stubbornly curled and curled until the scarf was basically one long, ugly tube. Grrr. But, I knit it for our Minnesota trip and it served its purpose.

Juliet in the Boheme I made for her. This was knit in the 6 month size and so I've been saving it for a while. She's 5 months old in the above photo and the other day I pulled it out just to see if it fit yet (I've been anxious about having her wear it - it's my favorite knit!). Guess what... it's nearly too small! Boo! The length is great, but it's a bit tight around the chest and in the armholes. Ah well, guess I'd better just cast on another one. : )

These longies weren't my favorite knit. I struggled with the gusset portion and in the end I made up my own design to get them to look right. Such a pain.

~Juliet at 2.5 months~

They were cute when finished though and I thought they'd work well for the chilly Bermuda winter ahead... that is, until I accidentally felted them in the washer. Oops! They are now half the size they were and I think she ended up only wearing them three times. :(

It's hard to tell, but this is the teeniest little sweater! It's a preemie cardigan knit for my friend, Clarie. Her little love is just under 5lbs. and has nearly outgrown it!

Juliet (4.5 months old) loving her new high chair and feeling warm and cozy in the baby kimono I knit for her. This sweater has been my go-to for warmth. It's bulky enough to fit over any outfit, and has fit well over the past couple of months. The sleeves are now a bit short.

This hat is one of two that I knit for the Craft Hope Project #16: The Littlest Warriors. I used bulky yarn and a fun lace pattern all of which resulted in a very quick knit!

~Juliet at 6 months, fascinated by the ocean~

Here's another Country Kiddie, but for this one I added several purl rows throughout the knit, just to make it a bit more interesting. I LOVED the yarn I used for this project - Claudia Handpainted in the Celedon Dreams colorway. SO soft and silky.

That's all for now! I have another project on needles, but I'm in a bit of a knitting funk and just not interested in doing it right now. Ah well, that's how it goes around here. My current obsession is freezer paper projects!

Oh, and I'm not very good at making detailed notes in Ravelry, but I do have each of these knits listed and linked on my projects page, so take a look if any of the patterns interest you. My handle is "rockislander".

Linking up to Ginny's Yarn Along. (Sorry, Ginny, I haven't read a book since August!)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Paperclip Bookmarks

I found the idea for these bookmarks on Pinterest (looove Pinterest). Using leftover fibers from my scrappin' days, and some jumbo paperclips I found at the local dollar store, I made some of my own. They cost all of $2.50 to make. I just love these. They are beauty, whimsy, and madness all in one! Ha!

And they make school time a bit more enjoyable for me, too. :) I made quite a few of them and use them to bookmark our workbooks, readers, read-alouds (pretty much anything I can find!).

You can see just how jumbo these puppies really are - here they are compared to a regular size paper clip. Fun, huh?!

The Fine Print: I'm going to guess you too can find these jumbo clips at a dollar store near you, but for those who can't, I'd like to gift a set of 6 jumbo clips (ribbons not included) to one of you! Just leave a comment and I'll pick someone at random on Monday (Feb. 6) morning. Holla if you love freebies!! :)

** This giveaway has ended**

~Thank you for your comments!~

Homemade Notebooks

You guys have been making me laugh lately - whenever I put out a new post, I'll undoubtedly get an email or a comment telling me to "just relax and rest!" before the baby comes. I suspect you think I'm running around like a crazed pregnant women stuck in a crafting frenzy? Well, minus the running part, I suppose that's a pretty accurate statement. But what you must realize is that 1) I LOVE crafting and 2) creating things is a very relaxing pastime to me. Laying around and watching TV makes me anxious - I need to be doing something with my hands. Since we're officially done with school for a while, I've had more time to just sit and craft, hence my recent posts. It's been wonderful and very restful!

And thanks to the plethora of ideas out on Pinterest I've been at no risk for running out of crafty projects. I ran across this idea from Simple Home Stuff and went right to my happy place in making some homemade notebooks.

These are actually a much needed supply in our classroom since pre-made store-bought notepads (the kind with blank pages for drawing) are ridiculously expensive here. And my child is one of those who likes a fresh sheet of paper for, oh say, every new line he draws. Sure I gently encourage him not to do that and sure we use scrap paper and the back of old documents, etc., but when it comes to creating I understand the need for a clean slate. Also, there's something alluring about a book of paper. At least to me and James, anyway.

I won't bother sharing a full on tutorial since these are SO easy to make. Basically I just used cardboard boxes from various food items, I cut them into a variety of sizes and folded them in half to make a book. Then I folded sheets of printer paper (fyi, here's where the cost saving lies - when looking at the paper ratio, the price of a ream of paper is FAR cheaper than a pre-made notepad), and then cut the paper down to the size of the cardboard. After that I simply stacked and then stapled the paper in middle at the fold of the book. Easy peasy.

I know James will get a kick out of the images on the cardboard, but I'm a little.... particular... when it comes to how things look in my classroom. :) So, I covered some of the books with interesting scrapbook paper (see first photo). Those will go on our shelves for various works while the others will be for everyday use outside the classroom. The great thing about these is that they fit right into my purse, so bringing them to a restaurant or doctor's office or adding them to one of our activity kits will be a cinch.

I made some mini-notebooks, too. Just because I thought they were cute. :) I added a couple to the sibling gift I made earlier this week.

Another great thing about these notebooks is that they're reusable - all you have to do is pull out the staple and add more paper!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Felt Fractions

These have been on my "must-make" list for over a year and it wasn't until I saw them on Pinterest that I moved them to the very top of the list and finally put them together.

I love tactile ways of teaching math. I've said time and again that I would probably have had better luck with math in school had I been taught with Montessori math materials and other hands on materials such as these. It's great to be able to FEEL math when you're one of those that just can't wrap your brain around it!

These were very easy to make. I used two layers of regular ol' eco-fi felt, fabric paint and a blanket stitch around the edges. I didn't use any particular template to make the circles, I just outline the bottom of a bowl and then eyeballed the segments. Easy-peasy!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Daily Food Chart

Lately, James has been wanting to take a very active part in preparing his meals and so I've been giving him the opportunity to have a little say in what he'd like to eat. As you can imagine, he often makes some not so great choices and if I were to leave it entirely up to him he'd eat nothing but Jell-O and Goldfish crackers. :)

That's when an idea started formulating in my mind. What if I were to create some type of chart that would allow him the freedom to make his own selections, help him to make good choices, and also teach him the basics of good nutrition?

Online I went and discovered this link. LOVE when I run across a like-minded mama! Megan's method is wonderful and if I had a magnetic refrigerator I may have just gone her route, but as I do not I needed to modify it in a way that works for us.

Here's what I came up with:
This is my "all-in-one" version. James can see his food choices (he's very visual like that) and make his selection. I think of this as a menu of sorts as the food images I've chosen are all things James regularly eats. (Yes, you do see a hot dog there. Here I must ask that you don't judge our food choices - I don't claim to be a nutritionist, the best cook, or the healthiest person in the world!)

Alongside each food group shown in the pyramid is an indication of how many servings he'll need per day. The same information is shown in the smaller boxes below the pyramid. Using those numbers as a guide, once James puts together his meal, he'll check off the amounts in the small boxes alongside the corresponding food group. I've added a few extra boxes for special occasions and/or for those instances where food items cross over (e.g. celery with peanut butter and raisins - a favorite of James'). Obviously we'll do the checking off part together since it does take some cross referencing to be sure he's had the proper servings size.

That's where this document comes in useful. On the reverse side of the chart is this handy-dandy reference guide. I've laminated the two back to back for convenience and so we can reuse the chart over and over.

A couple of side notes: If we don't happen to have a particular food item on hand, then James simply makes another choice. Certain graphics, like the cheese graphic, is just a symbol for whatever kind of cheese we have (i.e. slices, string, various flavors). If we go out to eat, we just make a point to fill the chart out when we get home.

As I mentioned, this chart has been specifically tailored for James, but for what it's worth I'm offering it as a free printable to you. Click here to download. You can easily create one of these yourself. I'm by no means computer savvy - I created this in Word, found the images on Google, and cut and paste it all together. Easy-peasy!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Sponge Bombs!

These are our new favorite water toy! Cheap, super easy to make and so.much.fun to play with!

You can find the tutorial on how to make these here, but I will mention that instead of dental floss (which broke very easily) we used electrical ties. I think a strong thread or string would work just as well, but if you do decide to use electrical ties please make sure you sand or file down the sharp edges left after cutting the tail off of the ties.

Hooray for summer!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Baby Knit

I just finished my first "serious" knitting project and I am super excited about it...

It's a wee little kimono for my sweet baby girl, who's due in August. I made this so it'll (hopefully) fit her in the fall/early winter.
This sweater was easier to knit than I thought it would be, but it did require me to learn no less than 8 new techniques. Before I started this project I said to myself, if I can make this - and if it actually looks like a sweater - than I can knit just about anything!

~the inside tie~

It's by no means perfect and I still need to block it, but I'm pretty proud of it. I think I may be able to call myself "advanced beginner" now! I owe a HUGE thank you to my knitting hero's online videos. With her help, I may just be able to tackle this project in the near future.

Oh and I nearly forgot! I'm linking this post up with Ginny's Yarn Along where knitters and bookworms alike come together to share their current projects and reads. I re-read You Are Your Child's First Teacher once again and loved it even more the second time around.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Ladybug Math

To go along with our Spring theme this month, I made a batch of math ladybugs for James. I saw this idea on KidsSoup.

I think they're super cute! The little dots on the wings add up to the number shown on the white spot beneath them.

They were easy enough to make, just a bit tedious because of how many there are. But, as with all the materials I take the time to create, I just think about how they'll be used not just by James, but his sibling(s), too. Plus, I'm really all about making learning fun - and what's not fun about interactive ladybugs?! :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Homemade Rainstick

In honor of our weather theme this month, James and I made a rainbow rainstick using this tutorial. It was such a fun craft and since the weather outside was warm and sunny, we took it all outside!

First we hammered lots of nails into the cardboard mailing tube. This was James' favorite part, though he got bored with hammering about halfway through. :)

Next we filled the tube with river stones and rice.

The inside of the tube looks a little scary - watch those fingers!

Testing out the sound.

Then we we decorated the tube with all sorts of colorful goodies.

The rainstick makes such a beautiful sound and will be a welcome addition to our classroom instrument basket!

~Thank you for your comments!~