Category Archives: DIY

DIY Reindeer Ornaments

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It’s the time of year for Christmas crafts. Buddy always makes a gift for his grandparents and other family members, and I’m always looking for new inspiration. Buddy made these two years ago, but I didn’t blog about it at the time so as not to ruin the surprise for our family.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

We started by buying blank wooden ornaments similar to these. I also bought Sharpie paint pens and acrylic paint. The package of ornaments came with the wooden circles with a prepunched hole and some twine for hanging. The only thing Buddy and I had to do was paint them.

I painted the background of the ornaments white and let them dry completely before asking Buddy to help. When Buddy was ready to work, I put some brown paint in a paper plate. Buddy dipped his finger into the paint, and then he did three or four fingerprints on each circle. Then we let the ornaments dry completely. Once they were dry, Buddy wrote his name and the date on the back of each ornament. Then I used the paint pens to decorate the fingerprints to make them look like reindeer. We had two fingerprints that ended up smearing together, so I made that one to look like a full reindeer instead of the head.

The great thing about this craft is that it is very easy to do, and it doesn’t take a long time for kids to complete. Another great thing about these ornaments compared to others we’ve done in the past is they aren’t fragile. Since we usually mail our ornaments to family out of state, it’s nice to have the peace of mind knowing they won’t break. I thought they turned out well, and I love to pull mine out every Christmas.

Cinnamon Applesauce Thumbprint Ornaments

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Buddy makes ornaments to give as Christmas gifts every year, and this weekend we worked on this year’s ornaments. Because our family reads this blog, I don’t blog about the ornaments before we give them to keep them a surprise. So while I won’t go into detail about what we did this weekend, I do want to share the ones we made last Christmas.

I made cinnamon applesauce ornaments as a child, and every Christmas I pull them out and they still smell amazing! The previous two years, I made salt dough ornaments with Buddy, so I thought cinnamon applesauce ornaments would be a nice change of pace.

I used the recipe for cinnamon applesauce ornaments from Mc Cormick. Buddy and I mixed together 3/4 cup of applesauce with 5 ounces of cinnamon. I loved the look of the glittery cinnamon spice ornaments on Simply Notable’s blog, so we poured in some glitter into our mixture.

Buddy had a lot of fun pouring in the ingredients. Then we took turns stirring them together. Buddy was able to stir a little to start, but once it started to become dough, I needed to stir it. Once the dough was formed, I sprinkled more cinnamon on a piece of wax paper and on my rolling pin, and I rolled out the dough. Then I gave Buddy a small heart cookie cutter. We cut out the hearts together, and then I moved them to a cookie sheet.  After they were moved, I had Buddy stick his thumb in each one. Then I used a straw to cut a small hole at the top of each one. 

The ornaments baked in the oven at 200 degrees for 2 and 1/2 hours. Once they were cool, I used a silver paint pen to outline Buddy’s thumbprint. I finished the ornaments by tying a piece of red ribbon through the top. Everyone loved these ornaments! They were so cute and smelled great. I’m looking forward to pulling mine out again once I set up this year’s Christmas tree.

 

King of the Grill Father’s Day Gift

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Every June, I spend a lot of time figuring out a good gift for Father’s Day. I want Hubby to know how much we appreciate him. And I want Buddy to make a part of it, because really the gift is from him (and not me). Finally, I want it to be useful in some way. That’s not an easy task.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Last year, I saw some King of the Grill Father’s Day gifts with handprint lions. I liked the idea of handprints, but lions didn’t really seem like something Hubby would especially appreciate. Then I saw a picture of a grill and handprint flames, and I knew that would be a much better picture for us.

Hubby had been complaining about how bad our oven mitts were, so I decided to get some really nice ones for our project. I’ve similar handprint oven mitt gifts done with oven mitts from the dollar store. But I wanted nicer ones that would be an improvement on our current ones. I ordered these ones and we have really loved them.

To make the grill image, I painted Buddy’s hand with acrylic paint. We did a red handprint, an orange one, and then a yellow one. I tried to spread them out a little so you could see all of the colors. I painted the blue grill with acrylic paint as well. It took many layers to get the deep blue color in the picture. Then I used a paint pen to write the King of the Grill and the year on the oven mitt.

Once the paint was dry, I covered it with a light towel and pressed it with a hot iron to set the paint. It should remain if we ever decide to wash it.

Hubby loved it, and we both use it a lot. I wish I had done it on both oven mitts though so if one got ruined, we would have a back up. (I almost ruined it last week… hopefully I won’t do anything else to it!) It also would make a nice set to have two of the same oven mitts.

If you are looking for a handmade Father’s Day card, check out our template here. And if you have any other great ideas for Father’s Day, please share in the comments.

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Wooden Puzzle Storage from the Dollar Store

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Did your child get wooden puzzles this holiday season, and you’re wondering how to store them? If so, you are in the right place.

Buddy got some wooden puzzles for his first birthday, and I wasn’t sure how to store them. The puzzle racks are kind of expensive and take up a lot of space. They also didn’t fit the Melissa and Doug Chunky Puzzles, which we have. So I went looking for alternative puzzle storage solutions. I saw the idea for using plastic envelopes from the dollar store on Ally’s Helpful Hints for Mommies’ Blog. These large envelopes are packaged three for a dollar, and they are the perfect for wooden puzzles!

The regular peg puzzles fit perfectly into these envelopes without any adjustments needed. 

The chunky puzzles fit in the envelopes, but they were too big to close with the snap provided. I used two Velcro dots to fasten the envelope at the right place. I store these puzzles on their edges lined up like books in Buddy’s closet. They take up little space when placed vertically, and all of the pieces stay together in the envelope. I can’t take the credit for coming up with this idea, but I hope my sharing it has been helpful for you.

DIY Salt Dough Ornaments

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Salt dough ornaments have always had a soft spot in my heart. When my parents were first married, they couldn’t afford to buy ornaments, so they made a bunch out of salt dough. As a result, our tree always had a ton of salt dough ornaments. If preserved well, they can last forever. I still have the one they made for me the year I was born.

When Buddy was born, I knew that salt dough ornaments would be a good gift to make for family members. We have made them for his first two Christmases. The first year, we did Christmas tree fingerprint ones and a couple Santa handprint ones. Last year, we did Santa handprint ones for everyone.

The recipe for salt dough is very easy: 2 parts salt, 2 parts flour, 1 part water. I think both years I did 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, and 1/2 cup water.

When you roll it out, you will either need to flour the surface or put it on wax paper. I usually flour the surface and my rolling pin as well. Once you have a flat surface, you are ready to start cutting out the ornaments. After the ornaments are made, they bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours (or until they look completely dry). They will need to cool before painting.

Fingerprint Christmas Trees

For the trees, I used a cookie cutter to form the outline. I put them onto a cookie sheet, and I used a straw to cut out a small hole at the top for the ribbon. Then, I had Buddy put his fingers all over them to form the lights.

Once the ornaments were baked, I painted the green background first with a glittery paint. Then I did different colors for the lights. Once that was dried, I used a silver paint pen to connect the lights. After everything was dry, I sealed it with two coats of Mod Podge. I finished by writing Buddy’s name and the year on the back. Then I added ribbon to the top.

Handprint Santas

For the Santas, I rolled out the dough, and then had Buddy stick his hand in it. It was tough to get it in enough to leave a print, but not too much so that it would break the dough. Whenever I got a good one, I used a butter knife to outline the handprint, and then used a spatula to put it on the cookie sheet. I used a straw again to make a hole for the string.

Once the Santas were baked, I used a black paint pen to outline the edges of the beard and the bottom of the hat. Then I filled in the beard and hat with the red and white paint. At the end, I added the eyes and nose. I used two coats of Mod Podge to seal the ornaments after they were finished.  Once again, I wrote Buddy’s name and the year on the back of the ornaments. Then I added ribbon to the top.

I always make extras, because sometimes salt dough ornaments break. Also, sometimes the painting or finish of the dough doesn’t look the best every time you do it. (Although if you are very artistic, maybe you don’t have that same problem that I do.)

Salt dough ornaments are a fun and easy way to decorate your tree. I was amazed at the difference in Buddy’s handprints between his first and second Christmas, and I’m so glad I have them to keep forever. My dad cherishes these homemade ornaments so much he leaves them out year round.

I hope you enjoy your salt dough ornaments as much as I have. If you have any other great ornament ideas for kids, please share. I still haven’t finalized our plans for this year yet!

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DIY Puppy Costume

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I have always been a fan of homemade costumes. No one else has a costume just like yours, and you can make it to look exactly like you wanted it to. My mom always made our Halloween costumes every year. She loved to sew, and she put a lot of effort into our costumes. My favorite was a Snow White costume with puffed sleeves. And my sister’s homemade Glinda costume won her the best costume contest in 8th grade.

Me at age 5 in my Snow White costume.

While I don’t have the same high level of sewing skills as my mom, I do still enjoy using my sewing machine. Buddy really wanted to be a puppy, so I wanted to make an easy DIY puppy costume for him. I started by buying a sweat pant suit and some white fake fur. Buddy and I went fabric shopping together, and we both fell in love with the fake fur. I thought it would make the costume extra special and fun. It was a huge mess though, so if I were to do it over, I would use fleece or felt instead.

I used printer paper to sketch out a pattern for the ears and belly circle. I used the same pattern for both sides to make it symmetrical. To make sure it didn’t slip, I pinned the paper to the fabric before I cut it. Hubby thought my original ears were too short, so I used one folded over to make the tail.

I used my sewing machine to sew the ears, belly, and tail onto the hoodie. Since I want Buddy to use the pants again, I left them plain. (I did have to hem them though!)  It wasn’t too hard to sew through the fake fur, but it dulled and eventually broke my needle. I sewed the ear on the underside, and the belly and tail through the furry side.

The final costume, and the only picture where you can see the tail.

Aside from the huge, furry mess, I was pretty happy with the costume. Then, we went to a Halloween party and everyone thought he was a bunny. Buddy was happy with that, but I wasn’t.

Buddy in his costume for the first time.

I trimmed the ears a bit to make them look a little less like bunny ears. Also, I made a collar by sewing a circle of felt onto ribbon. I attached it in the back with Velcro. Those two details made a huge difference, and at our next Halloween event, everyone knew he was a puppy.

I had originally hoped that Buddy would be able to keep his hoodie for dress up, but there’s no way that will happen with the fake fur. I plan to take the fur off, and redo the hoodie as a dinosaur. In my ideal world, I will be able to do that in time to make it a Christmas gift, but we’ll see if that actually happens. Whenever it does, I’ll make sure to blog about it.

I’m looking forward to trick or treating with Buddy tomorrow. I hope you and your family have a very happy Halloween!

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Toddler Quiet Book Pages

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Last year, I created a quiet book for our family trip to Utah and California. (Read more about it here.) I was really happy with how it turned out. Since then, I’ve brought the quiet book with us to sporting events, plane trips, and road trips. It’s a great way to keep Buddy entertained on the go.

This summer, I decided I wanted to make a couple more pages for the quiet book. Now that Buddy is two, he can do more challenging quiet book activities. I chose two different designs to create.

For this shapes page, I used some large buttons that I had lying around the house. I traced them with chalk and then outlined them with puffy paint. I used hot glue to attach velcro and ribbon to the buttons. Then, I cut out the pocket for the buttons and sewed it to the other end of the strings. Buddy is very into shapes and colors, and he enjoyed solving this puzzle.

Recently, Buddy has been interested in helping me buckle his car seat. I looked at a lot of different buckle quiet pages, and I came across this dog design that I loved. Buddy loves dogs, and I knew the buckle would be extra fun. I found a picture I liked online and used freezer paper to trace it and make a pattern. I sewed together the parts of the dog and used fabric glue to put down the ears. (The fake fur is a mess, but Buddy really liked it.) Then, I sewed the ribbon onto the buckle and the leash clasp. I also added velcro to a dog bone and the dog’s tongue. Buddy was really excited about the dog, but the buckle and leash were a little hard for him. I’m sure this will be a page he grows into and will entertain him as he gets older.

I’m really pleased with how these pages turned out! It was a lot of work to make them, but a lot of fun too. I hope Buddy continues to enjoy them for a long time.

DIY Rock Box

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I am always looking for new, fun play spaces for Buddy. After seeing many great outdoor play areas on Pinterest, I wanted to make something similar. There is a small, unused garden bed next to our deck that seemed perfect. Originally, I wanted to make a sand box. However, I couldn’t find a way to cover it that seemed appealing. I didn’t want to look at a tarp, and a custom wood lid is too much work. Then I came across the idea of a rock box on Two Twenty One’s blog. I knew a rock box would be perfect. 

Hubby, Buddy, and I went to Home Depot together to buy rocks. I had planned to buy pea gravel and large river rocks. However, Hubby pointed out that it would be hard to pick the pea gravel out of the grass. When he mows the lawn, he needs to know it’s rock free. We ended up buying white marble chips and Mexican beach stones. Both of these are easy to see in the grass.

I scooped out the mulch and relocated it to another flower bed. Then, I got rid of the weeds. After I did that, it looked like this. I had a pretty butterfly that stopped to visit my flower bed. 

Next, I dug down a bit to get rid of the last mulch shards. It also gave me more space for the rocks. I laid down some landscaping fabric on the bed to block weeds. Then I poured the rocks on top. I sprayed the rocks with the hose to get rid of the dust.  I’m really happy with how the rock box turned out. To make it extra fun, I set out some construction trucks and sand toys in the rocks. Buddy was so excited when he saw it. After spending a week playing with his construction site sensory bin, he could finally play with real rocks! We’ve played with it several times since I made it, and it’s so much fun!

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DIY Felt Road Mat

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When I bought a train set for Buddy’s 2nd birthday, I knew I wanted keep it set up. If we had to set it up every time we wanted to play, it wouldn’t be played with often. We don’t have the space for a train table, so we decided to use our coffee table. We hardly ever use our living room, so it wasn’t hard for us to dedicate it to the trains.

*Disclaimer- This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Originally, we had cardboard under the train tracks to keep them from scratching the table. It wasn’t the most attractive solution, but it worked fine for us. The end of the school year was really busy, so upgrading the cardboard had to wait until summer break.

I bought green felt for the background and gray felt for some roads. I also used blue felt scraps from my quiet book. (Read about my quiet book here.) My original plan was to just have the green felt, but I eventually decided to add roads as well. Buddy’s train set came with many cars. When the cars and the trains are on the tracks, they are really full. It’s hard to push everything around. I hoped that roads would give the cars more places to drive and spread out. Plus, our set has a road crossing that would be much more fun with a road to drive on.

I put the felt on the table and traced the edge of the table with tailor’s chalk. Then I cut out the felt and ironed it.

After that, I put it on the table and put the tracks on top of it. I cut some gray and blue felt scraps and put them where I wanted them on the table. Then I used the chalk to sketch outlines of the road and water. Since we have a little bridge, it made sense to me to have that go over water. I also did some water on another part of the mat to add a little color. When I did the road, I made it the same width as the one on the road crossing.

Once everything was cut out, I used fabric glue to glue it to the green felt. Then I used puffy fabric paint to make the dashed line in the road. The hardest part of the whole process was keeping Buddy away from it while it dried! I’m really happy with the final product. Buddy loves his train table more than ever, and he plays with it every day.

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DIY Portable Road Strips

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Buddy and I started our summer break with a road trip to see my family. Before our trip, I looked for new toys to keep Buddy occupied at his Granddad’s house. I wanted to find or make things that were small enough to travel with us. Since Buddy loves cars and trains, I decided to make portable road strips.

*Disclaimer- This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

To make the road strips, I cut strips of black felt that were 2.5 inches wide. I decided to make them this width in order to be wide enough for Buddy’s Smart Wheels Cars. Some of them are straight, and some have corners. I wanted a variety of road strips so Buddy could set up the road in many different ways. I used white puffy fabric paint to make a dashed line in the middle of each road strip. 

We played with the portable road strips several times on our trip. Every time, Buddy was really excited to see the road and help set it up. He figured out quickly how to fix it by patting it flat when it got scrunched up a little. 

Buddy also really enjoyed mixing up the layout of the road. He needed a little help to get everything put together, but he could do a lot of it himself. Buddy tried his road strips on both the floor and the couch. 

After awhile, Buddy wanted to put other things on the road besides his cars. He walked his stuffed bunny up and down the road. He also put some of his Melissa and Doug Alphabet Train Lacing Beads (affiliate link) on the road. 

This was such an easy DIY project. It took me less than 20 minutes to put together, and it kept Buddy entertained for a long time. I will definitely bring these road strips with us on future trips. I’m sure we’ll also play with them often at home.