- Freezie pop molds (silicone) - I love these things! My children clamor for the cheap freezie pops that come in neon colors in long plastic tubes and are mostly water, high fructose corn syrup, food dye and fake flavoring. I understand. I loved them as a kid, too, and I don't mind my kiddoes indulging in such a treat occasionally, but I only want it to be occasionally, and since they tend to get them other places, I'd rather not have them at home. But now we can make our own with whatever ingredients we want! The molds work with just juice or more complicated smoothie recipes, and the kiddoes love them just as much as the neon kind. Makes me happy.
- Art Box - My Boy is going to a birthday party for a little girl from his class next week. I don't know this little girl or her family very well, so I wasn't sure what to get for her other than the typical Disney Barbie-type present. And while we have certainly given our share of Disney Barbies (and own a few), I just wanted to do something different. So I made this Art Box, full of kid-friendly art supplies. It's a gift I would love :), but I don't know about this little girl. Maybe she and her family will think this is a weird gift, but I figure even if they don't really use the art supplies, the stackable plastic storage box (which I found at ACMoore) would be great for organizing other things. And you can never have too many organizers! I thought about painting the little girl's name on it but decided instead to use stickers. It's not ideal, as they'll come off, but then they can easily repurpose the container if they want.
- LOTS of Wood Craft Pieces - A couple months ago we started running out of craft paper. The Horror! The kiddoes were down to using those paper pads you get for free from businesses with their logo and info across the top. While they didn't seem too worried by this, I did finally decide it was time to re-stock the supply, and the best place to get craft paper of many kinds is Discount School Supply. But DSS is the best place to get all kinds of craft items, and if you spend $80, you get free shipping, so how could I pass that up? I ask you, HOW?!? So, much to My Man's surprise, I easily spent the necessary minimum for free shipping, partly because I ordered 2 awesome boxes of wood craft bits. One box is 5 lbs of finished pieces - just a random assortment, so you don't know what you'll get, but what we got was a box full of fun! The kiddoes loved going through it and immediately started building and imagining with our assortment (spools, disks, blocks, spindles, knobs, shapes, etc.). The other box is 10 lbs of pine scraps. These need to be sanded before they're used, but they're a great base for building projects, and I can imagine using them for all kinds of imaginative craftiness. Yesterday, we started painting some of the pieces with liquid watercolor (also from DSS), and they're beautiful! The watercolor acts kind of like a stain, so you can still see the grain of the wood, but the colors are very vibrant. Some of our pieces will continue to be used for play, some for making permanent structures and gifts.
- Carport Porch - As seen in the above picture, we've started using our carport as a side porch sometimes. We have a large back patio, but it doesn't have shade, and there's no door with direct access to it (why the builders didn't put a door in the dining room, I'll never understand). The lack of a back door has bugged me since we first moved in, but it turns out that the carport is great for playing, eating, and crafting since it's large and shaded. Why did we not think of this before?? Ah well, it's turned into a lovely multipurpose space where we can enjoy being outside without being baked. Love it!
So what small things have you enjoyed recently?
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