Mind Jars and Bathtub Paints and Hair Feathers – Oh My!

When I first heard about Pinterest – a virtual pinboard where you can showcase and curate visual things that you love – I could tell right away that it would suck me in if I didn’t vacate the premises.  Here and there, however, blogs I follow have been mentioning things off their own Pinterest lists and of course I just had to check them out.  Eh, why not sign up – what harm could it do?

This definition of the website that I recently happened upon is a more accurate description:

pin-ter-est (n): A fun reminder of the clothes I will never afford/fit into, the home decor I will never afford/fit into our small home, the recipes and crafts I am too lazy to ever make, the sayings I wasn’t clever enough to think of on my own, the photos I wish I had taken but didn’t.

There is a virtual treasure trove of ideas, all sorts of “this would be nice” and “I could do that” or “someday maybe” and like I’m always telling myself “as soon as I learn how to sew! (or knit, or scrounge up a few more hours in a day)” 

I consider some of the time well-spent because it helps me organize ideas I definitely plan on utlizing - links to preschool printables and ideas or craft ideas I’ll be using during the week with the kiddos, a gift I want to make for someone, a new recipe I’m going to try.  And some of them are light-bulb-moment finds - aha, I never thought of doing it this way!  Stringing balloons looks so much easier than trying to tape them to the ceiling, zig zag streamers are such a cinch and way cooler than your average streamer, and why bother frosting the cake anyway?  Can you tell I have the kiddos’ impending party on the brain?

Suffice to say I’ve spent a lot of time “pinning” virtual items to my board, and then I have to check out the boards of those who’ve repinned my pins – ahhhh, the insanity!  I’m back to imposing a computer ban until the kiddos’ naptimes just so I can devote my undivided attention to them and get some other things done around the house.

Last week wasn’t the best for me - the kiddos were possessed by screaming, whining mosters and I didn’t have much motivation to get things done or keep them entertained.  I find that cleaning and organizing give me a feeling of control at times like that, so I’ll tend to want to vacuum a lot, pick up after the kids incessantly and get mad if they strew toys all over the house, make lists and dream about all the things I could do (hello, Pinterest).  I also made Chocolate Cake In a Mug a few times, which helps. 

Instead of just pinning and dreaming, I did in fact get around to making some of the projects.  I started off with the mind jar, hoping it might help Gwen calm down when she gets upset with Josiah and storms about the house.  She didn’t seem to get it; it’s pretty and glittery and maybe she’ll pick it up another time.

I made the bathtub paints the same night, both because I knew the kids would have fun and because I hoped it would stave off their usual bathtime whining rompous.  They had LOTS of fun, but when they decided to paint the walls I noticed some of the coloring seeping into the grout. *sigh*  It turned out to be no biggie, but I’ll have to look into some friendly food coloring.     

One evening I stayed up late browsing and bookmarking, and I came upon what seems to be this ever-growing trend for hair feathers.  Now, I don’t consider myself trendy and don’t care for fads, but I have to admit I fell in love with some of the ideas.  I pinned some favorites to my Hair board, and ended up buying Gwen and me some feather clips from a shop on Etsy – I can’t wait till they arrive!  I would love to try the “permanent” method, but I’ll have to buy some feathers for that.  In the meantime, I found a couple feathers I had around the house, made myself a fun little clip, and took it for a test drive:

Whaddya’ think? 

On my to-do list for the near future:
bottlecap flower wreath (I already have a bunch of bottlecaps!) 
coconut milk shampoo
apple tart
fall leaf mobile with the kiddos
oh, and I’m thinking about going on a dishwasher strike

Do you have a Pinterest board?  If so, what do you get out of it? 

 

Curriculum Craziness

I bet you’ve never gotten sidetracked googling something, have you?  One simple little search, and you’re in front of the computer way past your bedtime, clicking on way too many results, eyes aching from staring at the screen.  

Despite the fact that I’ve been adding to the ever-expanding list of favorite links for homeschool ideas and activities, I’ve been able to decide on a basic preschool curriculum outline for Gwen.  It feels weird to be doing this, since I never really wanted to do anything official for the kiddos, but it’s kind of exciting at the same time.  My organizing, list-making genes are going haywire!

One of the things that I keep telling Phil and my mom (who homeschooled me and my sibs for a number of years), is that I can’t believe how much work and preparation is going into a simple preschool plan - which isn’t even official school!  How will I survive the coming years, when the content gets meatier?  Someone please tell me it gets easier!  Maybe this is the practice round, getting my feet wet.

Since incorporating Biblical concepts is important to me, I decided to go with the ABC Jesus Loves Me 3-year-curriculum, using the supporting concepts that appeal to me.  I’m scrapping their outline, but I got the idea for having a theme and vocab word for each week from Brightly Beaming Resources’ Letter of the Week program.  I love that I was able to find these resources and tweak them to fit my preferences. 

Each of the two curriculums has different outlines and covers different materials for a different amount of time; it took a bit of time to put it into a schedule that seems doable for us.  And who knows – I may change it as I go!  I decided to put the material into a 3-days-a-week framework so we don’t get overwhelmed, but if Gwen wants to do some school activities on “off” days that’s just gravy.  It’s not like I have a shortage of resources!    

Basically, each week will have a Bible story and verse, theme, vocabulary word, letter, number, and shape or color.  Any supporting materials – crafts, activities, stories or songs – will revolve around these elements.

Thank goodness for free resources on the internet – I’ve found a host of wonderful offerings!  Here and there I’ve been plugging in activities and ideas for each week as I come across them.  I absolutely love the idea for Montessori-inspired Tot Trays and my Mom picked up some trays at Lakeshore Learning.  The kiddos took to them right away, and I love having their projects contained.  I think they would be content to sit at them for most of the day as long as I rotate their activities and provide snacks every now and then. :)

Totally Tots and its sister site 1+1+1=1, the inspiration for Tot Trays, has proved to be an excellent stomping ground for all sorts of ideas.  I’ve linked them to the right under some of my favorite homeschooling resources.  In addition to the excellent content, I love that it was designed for and by Christian moms who choose to homeschool.  Some of my favorite ideas: Tools 4 Tots (I like the Hide n Seek Bowls, Mix & Match game – which I already made! – Ocean Waves Bottle, and Paper Clip Colors, to name a few), sensory bins, Tot Books, and alphabet memory verse cards.

Here are some of my favorite resources (so far, and in no particular order) for coloring pages, worksheets, and other printables:
Homeschool Creations
Christian Preschool Printables
Preschool Coloring Book
Twisty Noodle (customizable pages)
First-School Preschool Activities & Crafts
Coloring Castle
Activity Village
Nature Detectives
Making Learning Fun
Crayola
DLTK Kids

My mom teaches Sunday School, buys loads of things for the grandkids, and sponsors children with Compassion International, so even though she no longer has littles of her own she still gets all sorts of kid-related stuff and puts together arts and crafts.  She started putting together lapbooks for her Compassion kids, and it got me interested in the concept.  I decided to try my hand at simple file folder games first, and created a few for the kiddos.

File Folder Fun has some cute ideas, and I made a few of their games, laminating the playing pieces and glueing envelopes on the back to hold them: Beautiful Bees color matching (a 2-color combination), Dinos color matching (a simple 1-color match for Josiah), and Cupcake Counting.  I haven’t used any yet, but Bible Story Printables also has some file folder games.

I finally decided to make a couple lapbooks to go along with our first preschool lesson, starting the end of August.  You can customize them any way you want, make them as simple or as complicated as you want.  There’s the basic lapbook, pocketbook, tot book, double lapbook… arrrgh, pick one!  The theme for the week will be the four seasons, and the Bible story is about Creation.  I did a seasons lapbook first. 

 

 

Most of the materials were printed from the season unit study at Lawteedah, and I also found some mini books for each season from DLTK’s database.  I had fun putting it together with all sorts of activity pages, a puzzle, matching and sorting games, and stickers.  I decided to do one on creation as well. 

At first I just printed out a couple activity pages that I found on Lapbook Lessons, but I ended up using some of their other creation printables to fill the lapbook. 

I find them labor-intensive since I’m putting them together myself, but as Gwen gets older she’ll be able to do more of it herself.  And I hope when she does the coloring and activities that it will have the stamp of her personality on it.  It might be neat to do a lapbook on the letters we learn each week, too.

Trying not to get too far ahead of myself, especially if Gwen doesn’t take to the idea – I don’t want to push it.  I tend to get ambitious then get disappointed when my ideas don’t go over well. *sigh*  At least I can be sure that the creation snack (a healthier version, anyway) will be a bit hit. 

Paper Coterie – a review

It’s here, it’s here!  The album that I ordered from Paper Coterie arrived yesterday, and I excitedly tore open the box… 

I love pictures – taking them (although I am by no means a professional, usually taking lots of pictures and narrowing them down to a few favorites), organizing them, putting them into albums.  I decided that instead of developing the marjority of my digital pictures and later deciding how to organize them, I would start making a digital album for each of the kiddos every year. 

I currently upload my pictures to Shutterfly, where I arrange them into files, share them with friends and family members through one of their Share Sites, and use them for a variety of projects (mainly albums and cards, but there are other offerings).

When I heard about the Paper Coterie Beta discount, during which you can get any of their products at 50% off with free shipping during their trial period, I decided I had to make something.  

Browsing their book section, I immediately took to the idea of their alphabet books.  Gwendolyn is a pro at her ABCs (singing them, anyway), and is beginning to recognize letters everywhere.  What a great way to incorporate favorite pictures and familiar words to help her recognize letters!  I liked the look of their Book of ABC, but didn’t like that I couldn’t change the predetermined words for each letter of the alphabet.  Instead, I went with About a Boy, which basically has a more neutral color scheme than the girl version.

The process of uploading pictures and creating pages is easy enough, though I found myself comparing it to Shutterfly’s interface, since that’s what I’m used to.  Initially, I thought I had to stick to one of a few different page layouts, though I soon discovered I could drag a picture or text box and drop it wherever I pleased.  This is where I was able to get most creative.  Editing the photos and changing the text was a breeze, but I soon realized I would have to make sure I had a good idea how I wanted to lay the pictures out on the pages because there is no way to rearrange the pages (other than to add or delete a set).  I rarely know how I want every single page to look, sometimes moving pages around until I’m happy with the result; this is definitely something that would influence my making another album.  I contacted customer service about this but haven’t received a reply.

The selection for backgrounds and graphics is limited to the specific product you’re personalizing, unlike the variety of backgrounds you see on Shutterfly - but I like this, it’s more focused and removes a lot of the guesswork.  I hit one snag when, while trying to add one of the letter graphics, I found it had somehow disappeared from the list of options and I had to start fresh with a new album. 

It took a while picking photos from my extensive database, trying to match elements to all the letters of the alphabet.  There doesn’t seem to be a way to delete photos once you’ve uploaded them, so even if you don’t end up using them, they just take up space.  The program seems slower the more pictures you load, which is problematic when there’s no way to get rid of the unused ones.  

When I was finally happy with the result, and had proofed it a hundred times, I ordered it.  Woo-hoo!  Then came the option to share the album – a different kind of preview, during which I noticed a piece of text stuck at the bottom of one of the pages that wasn’t visible during any of the other previews.  Arrrgh!  I always have at least one trademark mistake.

I immediately e-mailed customer service about the error, and they were quick to respond, and very gracious – assuring me it would be taken care of.  I was relieved that the mistake wouldn’t be in the final product.  Other than a couple of my questions remaining unanswered, I’ve been very happy with the level of customer service. 

And the packaging… what a beautiful presentation!  This little vellum envelope lay atop the box’s contents, welcoming me as a new member.  What a thoughtful, whimsical extra!  Wonder what the guys get…

  

Simple, clean, elegant, crisp.  And I love the color combination.  Warm and cool. 

 

The envelope has four flaps that unfold to reveal the treasure inside…

I love it!  No need for extra wrapping if giving this as a gift.  The unexpected green inside is a nice touch.  Great quality, beautiful paper, and a vellum page with the company’s name at the back of the book.  I will note that the text seems darker in person than it did during the design process, but it’s not a big deal to me.  There were a couple spots where it looks like not all of a letter printed smoothly, but it’s very minor.  My only complaint with the album itself is that there’s a small barcode on the last photo page that covers some text - and it just so happens to read “the end,” which is very important in a book!  The design/preview process doesn’t make mention of this margin, so it’s a tad disappointing.

All in all, I’m happy with the results, and already contemplating making one of their recipe books.  Just as with Shutterfly, though, at full-price I would wait for a promotion or discount code before ordering.  Take advantage of their discount while it’s still available!  The swatchbooks are adorable – think, Mother’s Day gift. 

Here’s a peek at Gwendolyn and Josiah’s ABC Picture Book.

May 5, 2011 EDIT: Now that Paper Coterie has officially launched their website, I find the prices a bit, well… pricey.  Yesterday, they had a little “launch party,” including a code for $40 off an order, shipping not included.  I thought, for the measly price of shipping, I could get a couple lovely gifts.  After putting the items in my cart, I was shocked that shipping was over 20 dollars!  At the very least, they could do flat rate for less.  It bugs me when companies over-charge for shipping, especially when it looks like they’re trying to give you a discount.

Simplifying

I have never thought of myself as materialistic, but then I see how much stuff we accumulate.  Just thumbing through magazines, I pine for all the lovely things I could buy if we had the money.  If we had the money.  Why can’t I just be content, rather than looking at that greener grass next door?  And besides, who says it’s actually greener?   

Recently I wrote about my love of organizing, weeding and pruning those rooms in our homes that are overgrown with excess stuff, putting things in their places.  When I find it hard to cope, when I struggle with life and motherhood, having things in order gives me peace of mind and helps me feel more in control.

I find solace in simplifying, as if I’m clearing my head at the same time.  Simplifying is… freeing.  Simplifying my eating habits, simplifying hygiene, simplifying my hair.  Simplifying my routine has remained a challenge.  I keep wanting to start each day with prayer and devotions, something that only seems attainable on my kid-less Thursdays when I have most of the day to myself.  In the past I’ve made a rule for myself – no computer until naptime so I can devote my attention to Gwendolyn and Josiah.  This lasts for a while until something comes up, I need to check e-mail, we have a rainy day and the kiddos are on my nerves and I just want to do something else other than read and chase them around the house. 

However – I did simplify internet!  A while back I said farewell to Facebook, apparently a growing trend.  I was wasting time on trying to keep up with superficial relationships.  The change has been refreshing, and just like fast food, I won’t be going back.  Now when I’m on the computer I use the time to catch up on e-mail, share family pictures, shop for gifts or necessities, and jot down whatever musings my be rolling around in my brain.    

How about simplifying possessions?  At first blush, this may not seem all that difficult.  We all have a pair of skinny jeans lying around, some old books unread on the shelves, dusty knick-knacks we remain ambiguous about but still display on a bureau somewhere.  But what about all that other stuff, the stuff we think we need?  I felt the need to simplify these very things in my life, and when I read about one wife and mother’s approach to downsizing I was intrigued. 

I had already begun to amass a pile of things to purge – books and toys borrowed from Meme and Pepe’s, duplicate kids’ books and toys, clothes that don’t fit and some that will hopefully never fit again.  I’ve tried to approach our possessions with these questions:

Do I/we love it? 
Do I/we use it?
Will I/we use it in the near future?      
In the case of clothing, Have I worn it in the past year?
If something is torn/broken, Do I want to repair it?

Even if I’m not using something right now, I tend to think, You never know – we might need it later!  I used to have a mental list of things I needed for the kids, before they even needed them - Winter clothes!  Shoes!  Activity books!  But wouldn’t you know it, they get hand-me-downs, gifts from the grandparents, and somehow they are provided for.  I have an ongoing Amazon wish list, adding to it every now and then to keep track of things I’d like for the family.  I’ve been able to pare this down by swapping media, checking things out of the library for free, borrowing from friends.  

When my grandmother passed away last year, we went through the process of going through her things, cleaning out her house.  I ended up with her dining room hutch, which meant I was able to clear my cupboards of the fancy glasses, extra dishes and serving pieces. 

I chose only those things I wanted to keep and display, use on occasion, and the rest is being given away.  It’s so nice to be able to see those beautiful things every day, rather than have them stuffed away in the back of a cabinet; I used to have to kneel on the floor and crawl inside the cupboard when I was looking for something! 

As I read what others have to say in their journey, in their mothering adventures, I’m hearing more and more about Minimalist Parenting.  In a world of so much stuff, the idea of getting back to basics excites me.  I love how my kids can spend hours outside on a nice day, just playing with bits of nature in the yard.  Sure, it’s not always fun doing their laundry afterwards, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay.  *grin*  Think of the simple things that catch their interest: cardboard boxes (How much fun are they, seriously?  My babies always preferred the wrapping as opposed to what was inside the box!), a bathtub or sinkful of water and some plastic cups, a baby doll for their nurturing side, some cars or trucks to go vroom! vroom! with.

Yeah, I have a bunch of toys that we’ve received over the years, but these don’t come out all the time.  It’s interesting to see what they choose to play on their own.  I’d rather cultivate their natural curiosity, let them learn and think for themselves, rather than have them be entertained with all the bells and whistles of technology.   I do, however, rely on the occasional Praise Baby DVD or kids’ movie when I need to get something done; we might not watch television, but we love movies!

This year we hope to start a vegetable garden, and in the near future raise chickens for eggs.  Teaching our children and imparting our values, being self-sufficient, eating healthily, simplifying our grocery shopping… these are all good things.  There is always room for improvement, and though I’m not ready to be car free, I’m working on all that other stuff.     

What in your life could use some simplifying?  Is there excess stuff that you need to purge?  What do you find hardest to part with?  How does it make you feel when you let go of these things?

Unexpected Organization

If my house is a chaotic and messy, I feel out-of-control.  Putting things in their place, having things in order, gives me a sense of calm.  I don’t mind a little clutter here and there, but when books and toys and socks and who-knows-what-else are strewn all over the floor and trickling throughout the house, under cabinets, inside cabinets, underneath the beds quite possibly never to be found again, I can feel myself getting impatient and edgy.  Nevermind that I pick up the same things a thousand times a day.  But I digress!

I. love. organizing.  Especially when I get something new.  I’ll walk around the house, putting it here and there, trying to find The Perfect Place for it.  My husband looks at me and grins at Christmas-time, because he knows I won’t rest until all my gifts are safely tucked away in their new locations. 

It amazes me how much time one can spend just moving crap from one place to another, and when the job is a mandatory one (like cleaning out the attic or basement – UGH), I don’t always find pleasure in it.  But for the most part, I get happy fuzzy feelings when things are In Their Place. 

I’ve always found it refreshing to go through and sort things according to what we no longer need, what we can get rid of and/or donate.  After reading about a downsizing challenge, I got more strict with our posessions.  Fewer things to trip over!  Fewer things for the kiddos to fight over!  Less laundry!  I didn’t limit our wardrobe to ten pieces or keep two toys apiece for each child, but I have been a tad more merciless regarding what stays and what goes.  And when Gwendolyn sees me getting rid of toys (both old and new), it becomes an excellent teaching tool – we don’t need so much stuff, other children can’t afford all these nice things, we should be thankful for what we have.  She got so excited when she spotted some of “her” things on a recent trip to the consignment store where I dropped off some things; luckily she didn’t ask to take any of them home. *grin*

Home Made Simple sends out e-mails every now and then with some great tips, recipes, crafts, and so forth.  The last one showed some new uses for ice cube trays, and while I’ve seen similar things in the past, I actually decided to try it this time. 

Gwendolyn’s hair clips looks so cute and… well… organized!

While cleaning out my grandmother’s home, I found some snazzy vintage trim in her box of sewing notions.  We’ve already covered the fact that I can’t sew, but I took it anyway, just in case.  

I love how her orange walls seem to coordinate with everything!

Why buy a barette holder? Just hang some ribbon & you’re golden.

Gwendolyn’s room seems to have some of the most organizing potential; she has all these little-girl things that need a place of their own.  I love hand-me-downs, especially from family members.  The iron bed reflected in the mirror above was her Meme’s childhood bed that we painted white, and the mirror/dresser belonged to my grandmother.  A couple other recycled treasures:

 Dress-up jewelry in one of her great-grandma’s jewelry boxes.

 Great-Grandma’s trunk stores her dress-up clothes. Another trunk serves as our coffee table – great for game storage!

Josiah gets kinda jipped – his room houses his crib and clothing, but it’s more of a common playroom for the kiddos.  Here we see some more traditional, yet ever-so-handy, organizing components: bins and baskets.

Tupperware bins store toys – especially those you don’t want readily accessible to the kiddos (e.g. playdough).

Have I mentioned how much I love baskets? I have some in every room of the house.  They’re just so handy, and come in many shapes and sizes.

Small basket of toys in Josiah’s crib. I keep hoping these will keep him occupied when he wakes up at 6 in the morning. *sigh*

I get this immense satisfaction when I find just the right container for something. These lullaby CDs fit perfectly.

I am forever finding new places for their hygiene accessories, like wipes, lotion, powder, and so forth. Sometimes I keep ‘em on the changing table, then I move them to the bathroom, then I need them in the kitchen. I have gotten spares for each room… but sometimes I want that specific brand or scent.

Currently the baby powder & related paraphernalia are stored in a little metal bucket on the back of the toilet.

In the upstairs bathroom, I have a couple baskets being put to work. However, one of my favorite little pieces that I often move from room to room is this twig plant holder that I repurposed:

The container with 3 spots houses deodorant, lotion, makeup brushes, & a decorative bottle.

I wish I could fix up furniture, upcycle odds and ends and make something totally new, but my craftiness extends only so far. However, I do like using pieces for things other than that for which they were originally intended. Think Outside the Box. Or, er, vase:

Purple vase from Homegoods holds toothpaste & toothbrushes.

I love form and function!  These old picnic baskets stacked on top of one another are great for stashing things:

Often used as a catchall since they hide stuff quite nicely; you’d never know it.

There are all different kinds of baskets, and I love the hanging plant baskets that I use for storing fruit in my kitchen:

Josiah is always pointing to these, asking for bananas. He thinks because he can see them, they’re fair game.

I didn’t take pictures of all my baskets, thank goodness, but I love the ones that are bin-shaped.  We have three on the stairs that we use as a sort of baby gate, since we’re not big on baby-proofing.  These hold legos, blocks, and other toys.  And this fabric-covered bin holds all of my knitting stuff – I love the splash of color!

Keeps my knitting stash handy dandy! And upstairs, away from the kiddos.

Another one of my favorite ways to combine decoration and organization is using bottles and jars for collections.  One of my gradmother’s old blue Ball jars serves as a bookend for some of my cookbooks:

Others store pennies, marbles, and a collection of feathers:

This Christmas, I used a big ol’ pickle jar, piled ornaments inside, and roiled some twine around the mouth:

In keeping with the holiday theme, you could try balling up a string of lights inside a jar. 

I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve been wanting to make a time capsule jar – put in a favorite photo, and any other mementos or little treasures that tickle your fancy.  Kind of like a scrapbook-in-a-jar.  You could give it as a gift, or keep it yourself and change it with the seasons.

We love cheese and buy a couple blocks of it every two weeks or so.  We do not, however, have much use for a cheese cloche.  Since it looks so pretty, I decided to showcase some of our shells on the bookshelf:

Yes, we do have your average bins for clothes storage, reusable grocery bags that are strewn around the house for wrangling odds and ends, some laundry baskets for the ubiquitous piles of clothing, but these aren’t the things that make me happy.  I do like getting them organized and put away.  Out of sight.  

I’d love to hear some of your organizing ideas, especially the pretty ones.