Magnet Board Part I

Per request I'm adding a few more of our magnet board activities to the batch.  I apologize that I don't have any links that I can send you to to make these. I kind of just made them up on my own--and this was like two years ago now so whatever pictures I got off the web I have no idea where I found them at this point.  Sorry.  Hopefully they'll inspire you to do something on your own.


There are a couple activities that I do with this one . . .

Let your child pick a bird and then say the little rhyme according to the color they picked:

Blue bird, blue bird high in a tree,
How many blue things can you see?

Then look all around you and find all the things that are that color.


Here's another one . . .
Pass out the birds to the children and then say this little rhyme together:

Little Red bird in the tree,
In the tree, in the tree,
Little Red bird in the tree
Sing a song for me.

Whatever color you put into the rhyme the child with that color bird gets to put his bird on the tree.  They can also sing a little song if they
want . . .


Stay tuned for a few more magnet board activities . . .

Highlights!

I LOVE free printables.  Who doesn't???  Here are some of the absolutely darling printables that I have run into over the last week.

Check out these ABC and 123 posters over at Sprik Space. Aren't they to die for?  I love LOVE them!  She has several different colors for each poster so be sure to check out her blog to see all the options and to get your free download.  They would be perfect for a child's room or a play room.

 Homemade by Jill is sharing these super cute ABC flash cards.  She has two cards for each letter that you can print off.  Isn't it so nice of her to share? Find them HERE.

I love these converation cards over at Sumertime Design.  Wouldn't they make a fun family game?  Summer's blog is such a little treasure.  If you're into digital scrapbooking then you will want to stop by and see all the free kits she has to share.  Such a treat.

Have fun!

Garage Sale Re-do

The other day I was heading home from the library with my kids when I saw a garage sale sign. I followed it . . . and that garage sale led me to another one and then another one. Two hours later I was heading home with this:

I still don't know why I bought it. I guess I saw some potential in it . . . and it was only $5.

This was one of those projects that I knew would never get done unless I got it done right away. So after getting it home I cleaned it up, took it apart and then later that night after the kids were in bed I primed it.

The next day I painted.

I used Pistachio green Krylon spray pain. I love spray paint! It makes painting SO easy. And all that packing paper that I saved from our move three years ago finally came in handy.

After letting the paint dry over night it was time to put this thing back together. I'm so glad I had my "before" picture to reference or else I'm afraid it would still be in pieces. I had the idea to modge-podge some green and pink fabric (it would have matched perfectly) to the seat of the chair. I debated it for a while but then decided I'd better try and keep it gender neutral.

I love how it turned out. I love that I got it done before it had a chance to get on my to-do list, and my kids LOVE having their own special work space too.

LOVE this cake!

It's black berry season.  I couldn't believe it when I was at the store the other day and they were selling for 50 cents a pack.   I loaded up my cart with plans to freeze some, use some for snacking and others for some of my favorite blackberry recipes.  

This is one of them:

Berry Bliss Cake

What you need:

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
3/4 cup cold milk
1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP whipped topping, divided
1 cup each fresh raspberries and sliced strawberries
1/4 cup Blackberries
1 pkg. pound cake
1/4 cup Orange juice


How to make it:

Beat pudding mix and milk with whisk in medium bowl 2 min.  Stir in 1 cup cool whip.
Combine berries; reserve 1/2 cup
Cut cake into three layers
Brush cake layers with juice

Stack cake layers on plate, filling each layer with half each of the remaining berries and pudding mixture.  Top with remaining cool whip and reserved berries.  Refrigerate 4 hours.

Yum!!!

HERE is another one of my favorite blackberry recipes.

Copycat Mini Car Mat

I hope you're not too tired of these car mats yet . . . because I wanted to share mine too. Aren't they so much fun?

I thought the mats Jeanine made HERE and HERE were so darling that I copied her and made my own, but changed things up slightly.

Here's my take on it:

I used shoe laces to make the pump at the gas tank. (Thanks honey for sacrificing your old shoes for my project!)

. . . And a garage for your car to pull into at night.

These are so simple to make. All you have to know how to do is cut and iron. I made this one just like I did my dinosaur mat HERE.