random bits and pieces of summer 2013

well hey there all!

the last half of this summer really flashed by.  there's been lots i've wanted to share here, but didn't have time.

  

so here's some random moments from our life the last month. =)

i can't find this version anymore, but they love this road tape!  they play on this for hours.  there are similar ones on amazon.

who knew throwing some googly eyes and chenille stems in the mix makes playdo even more fun ;)

i LOVE this picture.  they were waiting for a wave.  on this particular day the waves were huge, and a ton of fun.

so i love all holiday decor, but did anyone else notice that stores were full of fall decor in the middle of the summer?!  secretly, i don't mind...it's fun to look :)  on this day while browsing Michael's, the little lady tells my little guy, "you know those pumpkins they sell here?  well they grow in all these leaves, and then they take them out to sell."  of course, he had to check in there for growing pumpkins.  my little sillies.

mmm...zucchini bread.  i will have to share the recipe in a post soon.

the little lady had a sweet shop birthday party with family.  we used my chalkboard labels on the candy jars.

  

there was tons of serious furry bonding going on this summer.

the hubs had just gotten back from a weekend camping trip with guys.  so the little guy decided to play pretend camping by taking as much stuff as he could carry from his room, to the couch.  "what are you doing, Nate?"  "i'm camping on the couch."  oh, of course you are.  

it was sooooo exciting to watch them break ground on our new house.  

School for the little lady started mid August, while the little guy just began this week.

to celebrate going back to school we made edible chalkboard dessert.  delicious and crazy cute!  i found the idea in  Family Fun magazine.

this was a glimpse of our last month this summer.  tomorrow i'm posting something sweet that i'll be adding to my shop.  

happy creating ♥

sharing here:

free pretty things for you

sew much ado

Organizing School Papers

i am always fighting the paper clutter around here.  school papers come home everyday, and now i have two wee ones bringing home precious hand written work.  i needed a quick and easy way to store the "keepers".  

i had this wood file cabinet that my parents had gifted me a long time ago.  i once used it to file important documents, but now have another system for those papers, so the cabinet was sitting all lonely in the basement.
i used a little gray paint to give it a fresh new life.  (i'm not telling my dad...he has this thing against painting wood furniture.)  i tried to sand it a bit before painting, but i wasn't too concerned about it (mostly because i was in a hurry :).  

the little frame plates on the front i painted white, and added some new pretty drawer pulls i found on Etsy.  i love the way it turned out♥ 

one drawer for each kiddo, and the files inside are labeled with grade levels.  

the front of each folder will have school year info & their picture.  in the upcoming years i'll also include a sample of their handwriting & a short list of their current favorites.

right now we will keep it in our little make shift office for easy filing during the school year.  around Christmas time we will be in a new home (yay) where i'll have a craft room to keep the cabinet for easy access.

this system is going to help me control that urge to save every paper they bring home.  i'll only have so much room in the drawer so we will have to choose what we keep carefully. 

conquering one paper battle at a time :)



linking up here: Tickled Pink @ 504 Main Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest Simply Create @ Simply Designing Hookin Up with HOH weekend wrap-up party @ tatertots and jello





 

Homework Station - in progress {Back to School}

With school starting, I wanted to have a space set aside for homework (and crafting). A place where any supply can be found.  Including a pretty painted cork board for holding tools or papers.

After seeing this lovely painted cork board at the happy home blog, I remembered that I had an unused bulletin board in the basement.  Last summer I used it for our summer bucket list, but now it was just sitting empty waiting for an inspired project.  

I didn't have any painters tape on hand, so I used some washi tape I had.  Which worked well anyway! I started off measuring where to place the tape...got impatient...and started estimating distances.  

I think the white paint on the cork looks great.  Eventually I'd like to add a couple more boards around it in varying color shades.

Once the whole craft "room" is complete I'll share pictures of the whole space.  For now, this is just our homework station.  Set up with pencils, erasers, scissors, crayons, and this handy reference...

This first grade helper is from Fabulous in First.

I love that framed printable on the far right. It was a freebie from Blue Cricket Design.  It's a great reminder :)

Those papers that look like they're just hanging in the air are actually clipped up on this burlap covered board we made to display the kids art.

All these little elements are starting to make our space more functional. 

More to come :)

Linking with:
.fingerprints on the fridge
at the picket fence
504 main tickled-pink
shabby nest
simply designing
naptime crafters
debbie does creations
man up link up

Teacher Gift {Back to School}

We went to meet the little lady's new teacher today, and brought her a set of personalized pencils in pretty packaging.

I ordered pencils with her teacher's name on them.  I get these for the little lady each school year, too.  She'll always know which pencils are hers :)

I used a free printable from Tip Junkie to complete the package.

I don't remember where I got the notebook bags, but I found some at a shop on Etsy if you're looking for some.

Last year we gave her teacher a candy treat to start the year.  

How do you start off the year with a new teacher?

Sharing here:
yesterdayontuesday
beyondthepicketfence
theshabbycreekcottage

Teaching How to Tell Time {Back to School}

It's back to school week around here! Telling time falls right in with that theme.

Our little lady is learning to read a clock.  I loved this idea from The Thrifty Turtle for helping learn to read an analog clock.  

 I found a super cheap, and small, analog clock on Amazon for this project.  The card stock I had in my paper stash, so the grand total for this was only around $9.  Not a bad price tag for something that will {hopefully} make learning to tell time easier.

I hot glued the petals to the back of the clock.

We hung it on the wall with 3M picture hangers.  Do you use those?  I use them for everything!  I think they are the best thing since sliced bread!  No holes in the wall :) 

{Coming up next...a teacher gift idea.}

Preschool Alphabet Books

One of my favorite things I've done with my kids is their preschool alphabet books.  The little lady looks back through hers all the time.  It's a learning tool turned keepsake.  

                   

The little guy's we're doing a little differently than hers.  He will start 3 year old preschool this Fall, so we are only in the process of making his book now.  We love our Do-A-Dot Markers, so when I came across these printable letters from Tot School we were set.  I printed each letter and bound it into a spiral with my Cinch.

           

On the opposite blank page we will make some sort of handprint animal that begins with the letter.  That's what I think makes it such a sweet keepsake for when they are older...looking back at those sweet little hands.

Which brings me to the little lady's book..

Hers we did on carstock or construction paper (whatever was handy).  The idea for each page came from Moments of Mommyhood.  She has awesome ideas for each letter!  We used a lot of hers, but some we came up with ourselves.  We needed the word we used had to be relevant, something she can identify with in her real life, for the book to serve it's purpose...becoming familiar with letter sounds. 

I'm only posting the pictures of the letters we did differently, for the rest of them check out her blog.

B for Butterfly, Bunny, Bee

C for Circles

   

M for Monkey 

F for Family

V for Vacation

W for Worms (twine )

Q for Queen

Z for Zhu Zhu Pets
(seriously, this one is my favorite!  She loved these things!)

Sharing here:

It's Overflowing

I Heart Nap Time

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