Glow Tub

Somewhere along the way I saw the idea to put glow sticks in the bathtub and we finally tried it out the other night.  Turned off the lights and tossed the sticks in the water....the kids LOVED it!  The tub just glowed...it was pretty cool and we will do this again!

 Tossing them in the air is pretty cool too.

 Glow sticks = Joy!

Treasure Hunt with Treasure Rocks

We had Aaron's cousin's kids stay with us for a sleep over on Saturday night and we had loads of fun!  The key to keeping some form of order was to have free play, outside time, organized activity and repeat.  It really worked well keeping 5 little people happily entertained.

So, for one of the organized activities I planned a Treasure Hunt.  I made it up the night before so it's nothing amazing, but it was sure a hit with the kids!

The night before they came over, I made some fake rocks to hold the clues for the treasure.  There are a few different "recipes" for it online, but I used the one at the bottom of this post.  I don't know what is wrong with me as I totally forgot to take a pix of the "rocks', but here is Dot finding the first rock "clue".  I set it along the driveway and just waited for someone to notice it while we were out playing.  I wrapped some twine around the rock with the attached note.  Here Dot is looking at the rock and the boys are now interested....

This is what the note said:

                                     

S was the first one to figure out we needed to break open the rock to find the first clue.  Oh my goodness!  They thought that was SO cool and they were good about sharing turns to smash open the rock to reveal the next clue.  The clues were printed out on paper and I stained them brown to make them look aged with wet coffee grounds....since I had them out for the rock dough anyway.

Here they are getting the first clue out of the rock.

E reading the clue out loud to the group.

I found these little canisters at the Dollar Store and that's what the clues were in inside the rock.  I'm sure I could have just put the paper in the rock like a fortune cookie...but this seemed sort of "message in a bottle" kind of feel...and since I hadn't done this before I wasn't positive how the paper would hold up inside the rock.

Here they are trying to find the clue:

Climb up a rock wall mountain, but look out for alligators at the bottom.

The rock was hidden down in a corner of the swing set and this was probably the toughest find.

They also had some trouble with:

Sitting up on a wall, but unlike Humpty Dumpty, I did not fall.

That one was sitting on the retaining wall in the front yard.

 Finally they get the last clue and Dot finds the Red Ribbon Tree in the woods and that's where the treasure was buried.

 They took the canister up to the clubhouse where they opened it to find Ring Pops, super balls and "real" gold.

 Ahhh, the magic of metallic gold spray paint and some landscaping rock.

 The kids had a blast doing this and it was so fun to watch them run from front to back yard over and over as each would shout "I know where it is!" and they all take off running.  It was hilarious and kept them busy for quite some time.

Treasure Rock Recipe:

1 cup used coffee grounds (damp or dry is fine)
1/4 cup sand
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
3/4 cup water
Just mix it all together so it sets up like thick dough.  Shape it into rock shape balls and insert toy and wrap "dough" around it.  You can leave them out to let them air dry for at least a couple days.  Or, if you are a last minute kind of planner like me, you can bake them in your over at 150 for 30-40 minutes or so.

I added a touch of gold spray paint to our rocks to get them to stand out just a bit more.  I mean really, metallic gold is just so fun and since I already had it out for the "treasure gold"....why not?  A fun activity that the kids have already asked if we could do again.

Bath Tub

I did it.  I created my own bathroom toy storage that I originally found here on Pinterest.  When I first saw this, my first thought was: DUH!  IT's BRILLIANT!  And you know what....it truly is.  For 7 years I have dealt with plastic bins, suction cup holders, buckets, etc and it's always a mess. 

Isn't this beautiful?!

 

The one I originally saw had wire baskets and hooks over the shower curtain bar and it looked really nice, but I was trying to use what I had on hand.  Instead of spending money on the baskets, I just used some of the plastic containers that deli meat comes in....we have a ton of them.  I got out the power drill and drilled in two holes at the back, and three at the bottom toward the slant so the water will drain out.  I almost bought some hooks until I remembered we had some zip ties that would do the job just as well.   

 Here they are in action with the little guy.  Another great thing is there is by far less water on the floor outside of the tub as they kids aren't leaning over the side to grab new toys from the bin.  I'm beyond thrilled with this latest little project!

Fall Wreath

Ok...so this new black door seemed to be screaming at me for a fall wreath.  Hmmm....a wreath.  That sounds like fuddy-duddy kind of stuff.  I've never put anything on our door except for the Christmas wreaths that I buy from the Boy Scouts each year...and those I don't really even like.  Anyway, I suddenly have this crazy urge to decorate our door with season appropriate bling.  So, here is one idea...I made it using a bunch of strips of upholstery fabric all tied together.  

Still not sure how I feel about wreaths on doors....I think I'm afraid it will turn into all the ugly flower decor from the 80's and 90's.  But Ava and I brainstormed some ideas for a Halloween wreath....uh-oh...see, this is how it all gets started.

Baby Blanket

I made this baby blanket for a very special little person-to-be and got to give 

it to her mom today.  

The pattern is the Elven Pixie Blanket and it was a great knit....not terribly difficult, yet interesting enough that it didn't get boring.  It had two options for the border and I chose to do the more delicate picot edge which means a bit of crocheting too....something I haven't had much experience with, but it was fun and turned out just fine.

 I used Amy Butler's Belle Organic dk in the color Chocolate - 50% Cotton and 50% Wool.  

Soft, squishy and cozy...just the way a baby blanket should be.  

Donuts and Dough

The other week I tried out my mini-donut pan for the first time!  The are baked, not fried and very yummy.  I will be trying some pumpkin spice ones soon, but you can check out the regular recipe I used here.  I used a simple cinnamon and sugar mix for the coating - yum!

 Today we made Cloud Dough - to play in, not eat.  We used about 8 cups of flour and 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil.  You can use baby oil as I have done in the past but with Nikkels I thought the veggie oil would be better.

 It was such a lovely day we decided to do this outside on the driveway so we wouldn't have to be worried about making a mess.

 And that's a good thing since my tarp I put down under the kids turned out to be pointless, the navy blue shorts Nikkels was wearing eventually looked gray....

 And this is what the dog looks like after licking/snorting loads of flour - I think he's in the middle of a sneeze here.

They had loads of fun...they made tire tracks, snow mounds, hand/foot prints.  We got out the little toy kitchen and they had fun pretending to make food at their restaurant...the possibilities are endless.  If you aren't afraid of a little mess...this is a must with little people.

Black and White

See that front door?  Pretty white and blah, don't you think?

 There, that's better....a nice, dark midnight black.  Love it!

Here's what it looks like from the inside.  We also changed out the door hardware...we kind of got the impression that our sellers had given out a house key or two to friends and family over the years.  But, I suppose we didn't really need to since we have this ferocious watch dog....uh-huh...right.  Change the locks.

 Yesterday when we were painting the garage cabinets we brought up my old art table from college to paint also.  It's a great table made from 2x4's and the top is made from a solid wood door.  I wish I had taken a "before" picture...but it was all plain old lumber, so I'm sure you can imagine.  Somehow it made it's way to my in-laws basement years ago and I had no idea it was there until this summer.  Fast forward to moving in and we realized it would fit PERFECTLY in the nook for my art area. 

 I mean REALLY!  Is that perfect, or what?  It's like it was made for that table!

 I'm so happy with how my art area turned out.  For years I've had my stuff jammed into closets and bins and stashed throughout the house.  Now, it's finally all in one space.  The shelves are the Expedit shelves from Ikea.  They aren't organized the way I want them yet, and I have some other ideas for finishing the space, but you get the idea.

 And here are some of my favorites....this is a picture (that needs a much better frame) of my Great Grandmother knitting.  I love this picture.  And if you look at the picture above, that's my Grandpa's easel. It's very old and covered in paint splashes.  I put one of his paintings that is waiting for a new frame on it.  Just makes me happy and inspired.

 And if you are wondering..... that's a shower curtain behind the shelves!  It was an extra fabric one we didn't need anymore and it turns out it fits perfectly....we just duct taped it to the top and didn't need to trim anything. It's not exactly the pattern I had in mind, but it will do the trick until I find my dream fabric...or shower curtain.  ;-)

Garage cabinets

These three lovely cabinets were in the garage when we moved in.

 However, they originally were up there on the wall above the pegboard...forgot to take the "before" picture. They are great cabinets, but they were horribly placed as they were WAY too high.

 So, we asked around for some help and this little guy volunteered to help prep the wall.

Once we got them up on the other side of the garage we threw on some primer and paint and now we have a stack of cabinets that are MUCH easier to reach.  Since we don't have a ton of closet space coming in off the garage, we are thinking this will be a good way to have a cubbie system...good for storing hats, mittens, extra winter wear, etc.  Room below for boots and such.  VERY exciting!

And just because....