Quick Picnic Lunch Tip!

Here's a quick little tip for you to use this summer!  This is our lunch that I packed this morning for our "family fun day" trip to the beach.   I wasn't quite prepared as I didn't have all of our ice packs frozen in time, so I used a bunch of freeze pops instead.  Works just as well as ice, if your cooler is kept cold enough the kids can snack on them, and if they melt you can simply stick them back in the freezer when you get home! (Don't forget to pack a little pair of scissors!)

Have a great weekend and keep cool...it's a hot one, at least here in MN today!

(and in case you don't have freeze pops on hand, here are some cool ice packs worth checking out, including sweat free ice packs and freeze-able containers and lunch bags!  Click on the images for Amazon links.  And if you want to try the Fla-Vor-Ice freeze pops like we did, you can also find them below....you can get a case of 200 pops for around $11 bucks!)

Spice rack turned car rack

 

Yesterday I picked up this spice rack at a garage sale for $2.  The plan was to just use it for the 18 nice glass spice jars, which I want to use for my own dried herbs and to give away my herbs and dry mixes as gifts.  Spice jars can really add up so it was a great deal!

I was going to toss the empty rack back into my thrift store donation bag but then got an idea...

 ...the spice rack makes for a perfect little car garage for my 2 year old's car room!

 

I hung it down  at his height, just above his wooden car garage that he got for Christmas.  :-)

 

I also LOVE this idea to use a magnetic knife or tool holder to display metal cars on the boys' walls:

I may do something like that in my 4 year old's room since most of my 2-yr-old's cars are wood.  Here are a few links if you'd like to do some shopping yourself!  Happy organizing! :-)

My Front Door is a Chalkboard!

The other night I was having some trouble falling asleep as I just had too many ideas buzzing around in my head.  What keeps me up at night?  Well, this one crazy idea stuck enough for me to remember it in the morning...why not paint the front door with sidewalk chalk?! What?  You mean nutty ideas like this don't keep you up at night?  Well, I am more than happy to share my craziness with you so you can sleep soundly and still wake up with fun ideas!!

Last week I picked up a can of chalkboard paint and went to town.  [I must mention here how thankful I am to have a husband who willingly goes along with any and all of my design decisions] We had to wait a few days before using it, but today I was finally able to write on it and I love it!  I wasn't sure if it would hold up to the elements, but after doing some web research I found out that it's okay to use outdoors as long as it is protected from the elements.  Our front door is under an eave, and behind a storm door.  So, hopefully it will last.  (I'll come back and comment after we've braved another Minnesota winter for an update!)

There are a few things I know I'll be using this door for now...

- "Come on in" signs for when we host parties
- Seasonal/Holiday related greetings
- "Sleeping toddlers: You wake 'em, you take 'em! Please don't ring the bell!"
- Our house number?
- "No solicitors!"
- "Hey kids, stop fighting and go color on the front door!!"

hmmm...there are so many possibilities!

I used the Rustoleum paint but after doing some web searching I found that you can actually get colored chalkboard paint too!  Here are some links...

Don't forget to stock up on chalk! I have a lot of sidewalk chalk on hand for the kids, but some normal sized chalk is better for smaller messages.  I totally want to make some sort of holder for some chalk and an eraser too, so friends can leave messages! (or delivery guys we missed?) Our door is actually metal so I'm thinking some kind of magnetic pen/pencil holder would work for now!

Pimp My Cozy Coupe!

 

Leave it to the kids to come up with a great and creative way to entertain themselves!  Last week I caught them giving their little Cozy Coupe a custom paint job with sidewalk chalk.  Brilliant!

 

 

And the best part is...they can wash it off and do it all again. :-)

Low-Tech Throwback iPhone Cases for we 30-something Moms!

iPhone haters love to comment on how unoriginal people are for wanting an iPhone, when everybody else has one.  Well, I say, everybody has one for a reason...but you can still express your own original style with the enormous selection of cases out there!  I have found that there are so many really unique cases out there that are so cheap, you can even afford to have a few and swap them out to fit your mood.

Here are a few fun ones, a couple of which I already own, that I think are fun choices.  The theme for this post is low-tech....cases that disguise your high tech smartphone as low tech throwbacks from your childhood! (I apologize for the small photos...thought I'd use some Amazon links to make it easy for you to find them too!)

I have one of these above that look just like a cassette tape.  It's silicone, so not as protective as a hard case.  But, it sure turns a lot of heads!  It looks super realistic and is extremely cheap at less than $2 on Amazon! I'm thinking about taking a ballpoint pen to it and writing some sort of disc title on the title line.  ;-)

Here's another throwback to old technology...the Gameboy:












The Etch-a-Sketch and Lego cases are super fun too.  I love the idea of disguising one of the ultimate electronic toys as an old school toy that doesn't require batteries...
















I actually own the white Lego one above...it is made by Small Works, not Lego officially, but you can stick your standard Lego bricks on the back!  I have a few colorful, flat Lego bricks on mine and it looks so fun!! I just love the idea of being able to swap out the Legos to make different shapes, match your mood, or even go festive for holidays!   It does not come with any Legos, but if you have kiddo's, I'd be willing to bet you can get your hands on some.  You can get them in other colors too, I believe, including clear.

I really want to get this one below, which is silicone but has a hole pattern in it that allows you to do your own cross stitch pattern on it.  Love this idea to do a Mario Brothers scene...the pixelated graphics lend themselves perfectly to cross stitch:


Be warned, however, that some of these cases may make you feel old when your kid asks, "what's that supposed to be?!"

Feel free to post a comment if you have any you personally like!

 

Project Time that Doesn't Give Mommy Performance Anxiety!

 I love all the project ideas I've been finding on Pinterest lately!!  But, sometimes I admit I get a little overwhelmed with all the things I want to do with the boys, go looking for a project to do with them online, get creatively paralyzed by all the options, and end up doing nothing.

This is a perfect time to remind myself (and all you super moms out there) that you don't need to take a trip to the store and plan out activities days in advance for your kids to have fun creative time.  You don't need to spend a fortune on project kits either. 

 In fact, it may even be more beneficial to your own kids' creativity to just give 'em the supplies and let them decide what to do with them!  I have these little plastic drawer units in our closet and some plastic bins, all from garage sales & thrift stores.  Each one is labeled and filled with different supplies:

• Markers

• Crayons

• Colored pencils

• Scissors, Paper crimpers, and punches

• Watercolor paints

• Stickers

• Construction paper

• Glue sticks, glitter glue, glue bottles

• Collage Images (cut from magazines, etc)

• etc...

 So today the boys asked to do a project.  I got out bins above, gave them a stack of paper, and let them have at it.  Toby colored and used stamps.  Sammy is in the process right now of making paper cookies and handing them out to each of us to share.

Want to mix it up?  Get out a different selection each day.  One day may be paint day.  One day is marker and crayon day.  The next day is scissors, glue and tape day.  We also have a big bin of cardboard tubes, canisters, egg cartons, etc for 3D projects...and of course, play doh.  All are just as easy for you to plop on the table but pose different challenges for the kiddo's when you mix and match.

Sure, I have other more specific project items I've collected from garage sales like perler beads, shrinky dinks, air dry clay, wood models, etc.  But, for those days when I'm just too busy to guide them through every step of a project, I can still let their creativity run wild with a little project "free play" while I get a little laundry done!

So give yourselves a break Mommas, and let your kids decide what project to make now and then.  I personally find it to be even more fun for me to see what their little minds come up with!  Okay, gotta run...I'm making mac & cheese for lunch and Sammy just drew me some "instructions" with a pot, the food, and the fire so I know what to do! ;-)

ID Mommy Tip: Road Trip Entertainment

Here's a little tip! The other day I was tossing another cereal box into the recycle bin and had a thought...why not cut out and save all the back panels with puzzles and games on them? They'll make perfect road trip entertainment and the stuff cardboard is perfect for drawing on your lap!