Kids Travel Car Mat

This Felt Car Mat is the simplest project I think I have done yet. 

You just need about ten minutes plus some:

Felt, Scissors, & Hot Glue.

Using a sheet of green felt as the mat.  I cut out some simple road, parking lot, dirt, and water pieces and hot glued them on. It was embarrassingly easy.  And no it is not the fanciest car track, but it has hands down been my son's favorite of all the projects I have made. 

So I got the basic idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.  But I made mine so it rolls or folds up easily.

I tuck it and a few cars in a small ziploc baggie or just in my purse for appointments and restaurants

and he loves it.

And I highly suggest looking over at Serving Pink Lemonade, the car mats she shows are so cute and sturdy.

keywords: Felt Car Mat, Travel Car Mat, Kids Car Mat, Simple Kids Car Mat, Tutorial

Free Wall Art: Spring Birds

French Bird Wall Art. 

Made to fit 5x7 frames.

Free Download or Printable found: here

 Free Download or Printable found: here

Free Download or Printable found: here

 

Free Download or Printable found: here

Thanks to The Graphics Fairy, I found a ton of cute graphics, added some text and turned them into Pictures for my walls.

keywords: Free Graphics, Vintage Bird Art, Free Wall Art, Free Printables, French Bird Art, Birds Nest Art, Egg Printable

DealNews.com

Dealnews.com has to be one of my, actually my husband's, favorite sites. 

And in many ways it is addicting.  It is a website that posts all the great deals all over the nation, online, in stores, restaurants, anything.  It is simple to use.  And they have this great feature, where you can submit what you are looking for and they email you when deals for that product come up.

Some of the amazing deals we have used it for:
- 2 boxes of printer paper (10 reams per box) for $8 with free shipping and delivered in 2 days!
- Men's tungsten wedding ring for $12.
- Drywall Hooks (As Seen on TV) 40 for $3.50. 
                    (these are amazing by the way.)
-$100 putter for free with any purchase.  So we bought a bag of tees. With shipping & tees it totalled $9.

I can't even think of all the things we've got, from free meals at restaurants, coupons, Las Vegas trips, camping equipment, diapers, cereal, computer equipment...and so much more!

Boys Tool Box

I loved this cute idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.

It was really simple to make, mine has a few minor changes...just out of convenience.

It is quiet and fun.  But also supper thin that you can take it along anywhere.

I am always looking for quiet activities for kids and things we can take along with us to keep them busy.

This little felt tool box works perfect.

And when my son tries "fixing" things I don't have to worry about the paint on my walls being chipped

nor my furniture scratched.

Creamy Fruit Dip

My all time favorite fruit dip.  And extremely simple.

Ingredients:

8oz. package of cream cheese

7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream

Directions:

Whip together.

Simple Burp Rags

Kid's Hot & Cold Pack

So I loved the Kids Cold Pack Idea from Just Another Hang Up. It is filled with rice, so it can be kept in the freezer until needed.  Or heat it in the microwave and it can be a little warming pad.

I just know, my son wont use an ice pack when he gets hurt.  They are too cold and hard.

So this was the perfect solution.

Although the chick cold packs @ Just Another Hang Up are much cuter in my opinion.  I just simplified it.  And used the scraps from our Halloween Monkey Costumes.  So it was basically free to make.

Below is the pattern I made. 

You can enlarge or shrink it to make any size.

And I suggest using flannel...soft on the skin.

Free Template Printable & Download found here:

Monkey Template 1

Monkey Template 2

Newspaper Easter Carrots

 Simple Easter Decorations. Super inexpensive to make and very easy!

Supplies Needed:

Newspaper

Newspaper Strips

Tape (masking or really any kind will work)

Mod Podge

Green Paper Easter Grass

Acrylic Paint

Water

Sponge Paint Brush

Newspaper Easter Eggs

Simple Easter Decorations.  Inexpensive and Easy to make.

Supplies:

Plastic Easter Eggs

Thin cut Newspaper Strips

Mod Podge

Sponge

Acrylic Paint

Water

Directions:

Sponge a thin layer of Mod Podge on newspaper strip.  Both front and back.

Layer strips onto plastic egg. Cover egg completely.  Let dry.  Water down Acrylic Paint and sponge a light layer of paint on egg.

Privelege Jar

Just a simple little jar.  But the excitement from picking a rock out of it works for my toddler. 

Each stone has a "privilege" written on it. 

Its just another way to reward good behavior without always relying on treats.

Below is a printable for the stone slips.  Just cut out and glue on.

Free Printable Download: click here

Busy Book

When it comes to busy books, I've always had mixed feelings.  The pages don't all seem age appropriate at the same time. The activities range from simple flip book pages to difficult activities like tying bows.  And they are very time consuming to make.  But, I really like the idea behind them.

So I tried to simplify the idea.  I made a busy book with a twist.  It is a felt book, where the covers can double as felt boards. And the pages are Ziploc bags.  So they can be filled and exchanged.
Then I made some simple activities. To fill the pages. 

The activities don't have to be hand made, you can fill the book with anything your child likes.  But, I did include some simplistic templates I made. And there will be more to come.

Free Printables and Downloads:

Busy Book Bag Instructions

Bugs Template

Faces Template

Faces Template 2

Pizza Template

First Aid Template

Easter Egg Template

Lunch Sack Template

Ocean Template

Serving Pink Lemonade also has some cute ideas you can adapt into these books. 

I adapted her frosted cookies template: found here

And her sandwich template: found here
I also suggest looking around her site. Its full of cute ideas.

 

Baby Tie & Toddler Tie

I wanted cute ties for my boys for Easter, but shopping around and there wasn't a great selection.  Baby ties particularly were hard to find.  So I looked around and found a perfect tutorial for a little kid or toddler tie at: Equal Opportunity Crafter. I used this to make the bigger tie.

But I wanted a simple clip on for my baby.  Trying to tie an actual tie was asking a bit much. 

 I looked and didn't find any great tutorials.  So I made a simple tutorial below.

It can be used for a baby or toddler and the size is easy to adjust. 

Just cut any extra length off of top of tie.

 

Baby or Toddler Tie Template and Patter. Free Printable and Download: click here and here

Supplies Needed for Baby Tie:

15 in x 15 in piece of fabric (I used the scraps left over from the Toddler tie)

Interfacing (optional: I didn't bother)

Hinged Pin

Baby Tie Directions:

Cut out material to match pattern. (Does not need to be cut on bias.)

Cut twice for tie material and cut one of interfacing.

Main Tie:

Match fronts of fabric face to face. Place interfacing  on top and pin all three layers together.

Sew as dotted lines on pattern show.

Turn right side out.

Fold outer corners of tie in and tack with a few small stitches.  As seen in picture.

Decide on length of tie then: gather top of tie and stitch.

Knot of Tie:

Cut one. No interface needed for knot.

Fold in half, so fronts of fabric are facing. Stitch up the one side as shown in diagram.

Turn right side out, creating long tube.

Fold into knot as shown in pictures.

Put all together. 

Tuck the top of main tie into the knot. 

Covering the gathered area. Stitch to secure.

Add pin for securing to child's shirt.