Kid Style: Two A-MAZE-ING Valentines!

Lots of love to you and yours on this Valentine's Day!

L needed Valentine cards to pass out during his preschool party so I got started by searching for fun ideas. I've already resigned myself to the inevitable reality that my child will realize very soon that he should be able to choose what he gives out to his friends. Luckily, he didn't have a strong opinion on the matter this year and was thrilled with the cards we created for his little classmates.

Theses cute cards were both quick and inexpensive to make. I created the card template in Photoshop and purchased the mazes in the party supply area at Target. They are made by the brand Spritz and I think they were $3 for $18 of them. If your Target doesn't carry them, there are tons of other cheap plastic favor maze options on Amazon, and I assume at your local Party City store. I printed the cards on cardstock and stuck the mazes to the cards using sticky dots.

I have uploaded the template I created for you to use for your little ones. It is available to download for free. I removed L's name so anyone can use it, but please link back if you decide to post it elsewhere online.

 

Once we finished with the cards for the little ones, I shifted my focus to the teachers. Being a former teacher myself, I can totally appreciate the effort that goes into running a classroom each day. Teachers are definitely deserving of a little love on Valentine's Day! What better way to show someone you care than by sending them a Starbuck's gift card?! Around here, it has been cold and gloomy and a warm cup of coffee or a hot cup of tea is like happiness in your frozen fingers. Thanks to the peeps over at skiptomylou.org I was able to simply download their fun teacher card designed by Paper and Pigtails and stick my gift cards to the front using my handy dandy glue dots. To make it even easier, my local Starbucks had adorable Valentine's Day themed gift cards, so I didn't feel like I needed to add anything extra (like the baker's twine wrap that is suggested on the skiptomylou post.) Head on over to skiptomylou for this awesome FREE download!

Playroom Tour!

Anyone who knows my child, knows he has way too many toys. This is the product of being both an only child and an only grandchild on my side of the family. I strive to keep an orderly home, but with baskets of toys spilling out into our living room, it was nearly impossible. Thankfully, we had room to grow and I was able to utilize some space in our basement to create the perfect playroom.

 

The best part about this project is that it didn't break the bank. I reused some tall bookcases that we've had forever, making sure to anchor them to the wall so they can't be pulled over by little hands. I believe I originally purchased them at a Walmart, years ago. They have adjustable shelves so I was able to modify the shelving to fit everything.

 

 

In addition to housing my little one's ever-growing toy collection, I was able to place all of our family games on the upper shelves which opened up some space in our hall closet. My mom found these utility bins by Martha Stewart on clearance at Kmart and they were the perfect color. I love when I can use baskets or bins to hide things away. I plan on making a cute tag label for each bin, but haven't gotten around to it yet. The second shelf down from the top holds bins containing painting supplies, Play-doh, and a few more games. I like that this shelf is out of reach for little hands.

 

 The bottom three shelves house toys that can be easily accessed. The bins are packed with like items. For example, one bin has Viewmaster viewers and reels, one has puzzles, one has busy books and grab and go activities for the car, one is full of Fisher Price Little People, and one is home to Mickey Mouse and Friends figures.

Next to the bookshelf, is a handy easel that I purchased at Ikea with a roll of butcher paper attached. We move it outside to finger paint, but keep it inside to use with chalk, water colors, markers and crayons. I love the little paint containers from Melissa and Doug that control how much paint can be put on brushes and they fit perfectly in the easel tray.

 Next to the easel, I placed a chunky legged table from Ikea with matching stools. I works great working on arts and crafts or playing board games. While shopping at Ikea, I also added this giant canopy leaf. I didn't have a real plan for it at the time, but the color matched and it found a place in the corner of the room. To brighten up the space and help set it off from the rest of the room, I used two colorful floor rugs also from Ikea. I had these from my days teaching elementary school and am SO glad I didn't leave them behind for my replacement. They are super durable and fun to boot. I mounted a magnetic white board on the wall at child height so we can work with magnetic letters and shapes. Later, we'll break out the dry erase markers, but he isn't quite there yet.

 Crayons, markers, chalk, colored pencils, Play-doh, and all things crafty that I don't necessarily want my little guy to have unlimited access to are stored in this handy wall-mounted storage shelf. Coloring and activity books are stored in magazine holders on to of and next to the piano. The festive Mickey Mouse and Friends "London" letters were created for my guy's second birthday and they found a home above the storage shelf and add some additional color to the room. I also keep a CD player handy in this space and lots of kid friendly music and read-aloud story book CDs in this area too.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of our Playroom!

Highlighting the Beginning of the School Year

My little guy started preschool today and while part of me yearns for the days when he was just a little cooing baby, the other part of me is having a little party, because preschool means two three hour blocks of freedom a week! I have so many plans and projects swirling through my head. The possibilities are endless.

As a token of my appreciation to the lovely ladies who will be filling up my son's preschool hours with fun, games, and learning, I made up some cute little beginning of the school year gifts.

I found this adorable idea where most all crafty ideas reside, on Pinterest. The Tomkat Studio created these fun (and free!!) little tags for an sweet and easy teacher gift that won't break the bank. A quick stop at the office supply store, a printer, a hole punch, some twine, and ta-da! I kind of love them, and even if I didn't have an unhealthy obsession with office supplies, I still think I'd appreciate the thought.