Fabric ABC Fun!

Here are some cute sets of fabric alphabet my daughter made for her nieces and nephews.

It all started with this trial set that we have in our family room, created with black and white fabric scraps.

From there it branched out to one set for each of our "married with children" children.


Animal Print

Chevron






Bunting Love

Fish and Flowers

Puzzled
(though I didn't get a finished pic, I'm just using the scraps here)

We had fun choosing and purchasing the fabric for each of these sets - we didn't want to stop.  However, this project does require a lot of time, so for that reason we were happy to be done for awhile since there were other things in need of our attention.

These would make a cute garland in a play room or child's bedroom.  Clip them on some ribbon or twine with clothes pins so they could be played with and rearranged to make names or some fun words.

A Bloomin' Truck Load

I think this is so adorable.  I love this look.

This look comes from This Old House

 

 

 

Doesn't it make you smile?  I am almost giddy at how cute it is.

 

I have a few old toys I am waiting to use ..., somehow, somewhere, sometime.  They are a little more worse for wear, but I love them for the memories they help bring to my heart and soul.

 

 

 

I'll keep this dump truck flower pot look in mind!

 

You'll find several other fun ideas for using "junk" in the garden on that site too.

 

A Tonka Truck and Some Spray Paint

I Love Tonka Trucks!

 

 

 

Our boys pushed these big trucks around during a lot of their play time when they were younger. They don't look so great anymore, but I can't get rid of them.

 

Maybe someday I'll figure out a great place for them, but for now they wait patiently.
 

I wanted to give our granddaughter a dump truck this year, and really wanted a pink Tonka truck for her, but Tonka doesn't make a pink one.


Years ago they made this pink Tonka truck that now rests above the window in our office, having once belonged to someone in our family when he was a young child many, many years ago.  This is definitely Vintage!  ;)

 

 

I think this is a cool truck, but I wanted a big pink dump truck.
So ...,

 

I repurposed a yellow truck -

this


 

became this

 

 

pink, with a bit of purple!

 

Now hers won't get confused with her brothers.

 

The trickiest part was deciding where and how to paint it. It's pretty tricky to get around all those tight places.

 

My mind thought I could paint the bottom of the bucket purple and the inside pink.  Then I looked at the truck.

I couldn't find a good start and finish point for the two colors to meet up.

 

So ...,

 

I did the next best ..., easiest thing!

 

Spray paint worked fast and easy and this truck is ready for our little sweetie to push it around. 

 

Maybe we'll find jewels, food, or a doll getting a ride in it someday. 

Maybe my granddaughter will even get a ride in it!

 

It can happen!

It has many times before with gramma's dump truck.

Now, just as a side note - I googled pink Tonka dump trucks and found a bit of info - somebody out their might paint one for you.  


And another side note - I just saw this and had to come back and post about it  here, since this is about dump trucks -

image found on amazon

I saw this in the window of the John Deere equipment store in a nearby town (Quincy) and decided that's what I want for Christmas! (The truck I saw in the window looked less plastic than this one, and really cool.)

I didn't go into the store, but I did tell Santa when he came out of the store.  Ya, but I don't think I'm gonna get it. 
 
And it has nothing to do with whether I've been bad or good!

 

Plasma Cars 2

Did you see one of my earlier posts about one of my favorite things - Plasma Cars ?

(It was not a paid advertisement, just one of my favorite things I decided to show and tell about.)

They are really great little riders for children - haven't lost their fun yet!

 

FYI - Plasma Cars are on sale at Zulily

EXCELLENT PRICES!

(Just thought I'd share that bit of info - someone might be having a birthday soon ..., or maybe you purchase Christmas in June!?!?!?!)

 

 

 

Kids Stuff

This post got started because of some fun things I found.  You'll see that it takes a turn to share some of the kids stuff I have around. 

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Learn how to make a bracelet using craft sticks or tongue depressors here.

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Here are some cute fabric letters to play with.  As seen at Tip Junkie.  I think they would nicely double as cute content in a basket, bowl, or tray on the sofa table - ready for the children to play with.  Kinda like a bowl of Scrabble tiles would do, only these would be large enough and safe enough for any children.  I just might have to make these for a container in my family room.  And, maybe I'll make some for the kids for Christmas????  That could be fun, but very time consuming - maybe one set per family would be better than one set per child - but I'd want to be sure they had enough letters to spell out each of their names at the same time.  Oh!  Maybe I'll just do the letters in their name for each child.  Hmmm!  I'm thinking .....!

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I love having things setting out for the children. My grandchildren love the toys in the playroom, but they also love a few spots in my family room, like these:

This is mostly for the very small grandchildren - those who are just trying to hold on to things.  The beads however, are loved by all, and are a favorite toy almost every visit, by every child.

This tier of toys rests on a small table (with two chairs) that sits beside my loveseat, as an end table.  The table has a bowl of twist up crayons, a color book and children's magazines.  This is a fun spot for the kids once they get old enough to sit on a chair and scribble, and I love including a place for them with us.

This next basket of toys is a bit tricky for the tiny children, but is enjoyed by the toddlers and preschoolers.  It rests on an ottoman in front of one of the chairs in the family room.

This basket holds tiny rubber cars that fit inside those little plastic balls and roll down the tiny track.
The kids love them.

Next up is the bench of drawers I have in the family room.

The drawers are filled with misc. toys for toddlers and babies.  I love having it right out where we are, because the kids love being there with us and we love watching them.

Before we went to bed last night, after turning off all of the lights, my husband asked me if I had a candle burning.  I didn't, but upon closer inspection I found this look.   I have a little book shelf behind the sofa that is filled with children's books and puzzles.  The children love that place too.  The shelf has three drawers, one that is filled with odds and ends - kind of a junk drawer.  It houses a small flash light that our grandchildren often find.  The last couple visits have proven that our granddaughter currently loves using this flashlight, and this time she left it on inside this tin can.  It was a fun find for the evening. 

I have one more place for books - well, one more place for children's books, in the family room.  It's our old wagon beside the bench.

It too is a fun place.  One of the grandsons tried to pull it away once, but it's just too heavy and the back tire is bent so it's not very easy.  He didn't get very far, and now he knows not to pull it, so it's all good - he loves books though!

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Recipe for Rolo stuffed snickerdoodle cookies from Rachel Shultz.

Wait - maybe these aren't for kids ;),  But then, many of the things I own for my kids and my grandkids are really things for me too.  It kinda works that way.  I love what they will love, because what makes them happy makes me happy. 
Well, maybe not every thing that makes them happy makes me happy - my kids do have to turn off some of their music some of the time. ;)   But when we find something that makes us all happy ..., it's a happy thing!

Happy Day to you!

SaveSave

Riding Toy

 

One of today's Zulily specials looks so fun to me I thought I'd share the fun. 

 

This is regularly $96.00, but today is $49.99.

It looks like a great gift for grandkids.  (I guess you can tell that my children are all grown up past this stage, but I've got some awesome grandchildren that would love this.)

 

There are several other Radio Flyer products on sale today too - wagons, bikes, bounce horses, etc.

Check it out at

 

Shop Zulily

EZY Riders

It's Show and Tell Time!

This is not a paid advertisement - it's just a review of one of my favorite things.

This in one of those things that I am grateful for because it makes my children and grandchildren happy.

EZY Rollers

Image from Amazon

This is much like my last show and tell item, the plasma car,
but this is propelled by the riders back and forth motion with his legs and feet.

They include longer bars to extend the roller for a taller person.

We got a couple of these for our children the same year we got the plasma cars, and they have been great fun. 
We have not used this indoors (like the plasma car) but it works great on pavement and cement.





 

Plasma Cars

It's Show and Tell Time!

 

This is not a paid advertisement - it's just a review of one of my favorite things.

This in one of those things that I am grateful for because it makes my grandchildren happy.

Plasma Cars

Images from Amazon

So, what is a Plasma Car?

It's quite simple really - to propel it just turn the steering wheel back and forth.  Turning the steering wheel also guides it where you want to go.
It works great on hard floors or cement, but will not work on carpet or gravel (or the like).
This is one of those toys that can keep a child occupied for quite a while. It helps build muscle and develops motor skills.
Even children who are too young to understand the back and forth motion to propel it have enjoyed sitting and scooting on it, using their feet to push them forward.

We gave these to our grandchildren a couple years ago and I think they may be one of our best gifts.  They have become a favorite of mine because I see the use they get and the enjoyment they give. 

I've got to come up with a gift idea this year - any ideas?  I'd love to hear your favorites!  PLEASE!

  

 

 

 



Games

Board Games or Card Games or the like - playing games with family and friends.
Our family played Eye to Eye last night and we enjoyed our time together.
Another game we like is Turtlemania. Those two games and many other fun games, like Somethin' Fishy, Sneaks, and Walk the Dogs can be found at Simply Fun.

It's fun to watch our children play games together. A couple favorites are Settlers of Catan and Nerts.