The Instant Candy Dispenser

Candy is such a wonderful treat  and even sweeter when given as a gift. I was so lucky to receive this unique candy dispenser for Teacher Appreciation from one of my students. They knew I love Duke so my little K student painted it himself (with the help of his wonderful mom) and was very proud to give it to me. My husband seem to claim it as soon as I walked in the door with it by stating he had the perfect spot...... right on his desk. The boys and I still eat the candy so I just let him think he found the perfect spot.  I figured as long as I had access to it and I could see it...... I would let it be.

The boys fell in love with it too. They were intrigued that it was made from a glass bowl, wooden knob, flower pot and saucer (yes - that is it besides the paint and some glue). Thinking that everyone should have their own candy dispenser, we decided to spend a day making some. The old fashion gumball machine was the choice for the boys. Each one of them painted it red, then added the details before putting on the clear coat to make it really shine.  They were equally fascinated that I actually had purchased candy from the 5 cent gumball machine when I was a kid.
"Wow mom, I bet you bought lots of candy!" . Unfortunately I had to break the news to them that I usually only had a nickel when I went to the store.

Everyone agreed that chocolate m&m's should go in them. They are so lucky because their MeMe and Pa had gave them each a bag recently. It filled their dispensers right up. Now we just have the constant accusation of "someone has been in my candy jar mom!!!!". Believe me, if that is the worst I have to deal with, we are doing good. Speaking of Pa, we made one for him too.

He is a Tennessee fan so it called for a coat of white and orange. Pa was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of years ago.  We chose to fill his with sugar free hard candy. He use to eat fireballs all the time. I searched everywhere (in a store, guess I should look on the internet too) for them in sugar free form but it was a no go. Overall he was happy with it. Of course you know how grandparents are, they think everything their grandchildren do for them is special. That is why grandparents are the best! I know mine were. I had the most wonderful grandparents and lots of warm loving memories of how special they made me feel!

:-)

The love of books

Before you say anything, I know that I am addicted to freezer paper stenciling but I have to share how cute these Sk8r shirts turned out for the boys. I have an entire journal devoted just to tshirts designs now. I am trying to draw them out and paint a couple a week so as I do I will be sharing them with you. You have been warned ,*LOL*.

The boys have actually put in request for some designs from their favorite books. I am sure some find that funny. I am absolutely  lucky that my boys LOVE to read. My children get excited about going to the library and the bookstore the way most children react to visiting the toy store. I get so many questions of how I managed to raise readers. It is an excellent question but one that is easily answered. My husband and I love to read. We have books, magazines and newspapers everywhere in the house. Our day usually starts with everyone reading something and always ends with reading. It is always the last thing we do before lights are turned out. My children think it is just very common that you read the newspaper in the morning. They do not know any other way of life. I think the thing that is amazing is that I actually have a son who is dyslexic. Reading did not come easily to him but we dug in and found what worked for him. He never gave up and has a genuine love for books. When the boys were little I read to each of them every night. Once they were able to start reading, they would read to me. Now that they are all older we pick books to read and discuss. It is one of my favorite things to do with my boys. I love to hear their perspective on the stories. I have also been delightfully surprised by some of the stories they have chosen to read together.

Which is why I must wrap this post up. We have got to go to the library and the bookstores today for them to sign up for the summer reading programs. They keep giving me the look...you know the one....  MOM come on, lets go look! 

New spin on old attire!

I love this shirt so much I bought the boys 4 of them last year in different colors.

Now they have grown and the shirts are too short on them.

The boys love these comfy jeans. They are just now that soft jean texture but they are too short for them, they hit mid ankle now. All of us were sad to see these favorites depart but then I decided we could transform them into these:

Did you catch what we did? First , we cut the jeans off into shorts and added the emblem from the shirt to the shorts over the biggest hole in the jeans. Next we cut the bottom of the shirt off  and added it to the bottom of each leg of the shorts.

 Because I am so addicted to freezer stenciling now, we took the design of the emblem and made tshirts to match it. Everybody is happy because some much loved clothing is hanging around a little longer. Oh yeah, it also helps stretch the clothing budget, lol!

 I think that is what DH loved the most!

These are the other emblems I cut off some old shirts that we are planning on reusing

soon. Maybe I can finish them up this weekend.........

I am linking up to these cool parties.

 

Got skill!

With 3 boys, we really have lots of marbles (seriously we have them everywhere, in jars, bags, and boxes!) rolling around our house. So I went bonkers when I saw a rug in a toy catalogue. I knew my boys would enjoy it. Unfortunately the frugal side of me just could not justify spending $60+ on it.  I kept thinking I would make a floorcloth out of canvas but time marched on and I did not get around to it because I knew the floorcloth was not the same as the rug. Last year I ran in the dollar store (Family Dollar, I think) to pick up containers for the classroom  and guess what??? I found this for $5!!!!! I instantly knew I could work with this.... a little paint and it would be gametime!

We laid out the lines and circles where we wanted them. Next we added color by taping the sections off and we spray painted the sections in. We just used whatever colors of spray paint we had hanging out in the garage from left over projects.  I added the words and numbers with a sharpie. I would suggest using a new one not a dull one. I did have to switch to a brand new Sharpie to get it as dark as I wanted it.

Here is what we ended up with.....

Now the boys have a rainy day activity and can work on their skills unplugged.

It definately does not get any better than that!

On a side note we have decided to make the back of the rug into a putting game.Stay tuned for that update.

I am linking this game rug up to these great links .Check them out if you would like more cool ideas to do with your family.

 

Target on a little transformation!

I needed to come up with something quick for my niece. I had let her birthday slip up on us. How this happened, well I am not quite sure. I think a great deal has to do with the time of the year. I also have the same issue with the twins birthday. They all fall during extremely busy months for us. Anyhow I came across this swing style shirt at Target hanging on the clearance rack. It was so cute  and how could I resist the price but the more I looked at it.... hmmm... I really thought I could do more to it. Ya know, just take it up a notch. Before long I decided to stencil her name on it and a crown because she is a princess in our eyes. I had seen freezer paper stenciling on http://iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com/ . Let me just say, it is EASY and ADDICTING!!!!!! Please check her out, I am positive you will enjoy her blog as much as I do.  She has a wonderful tutorial on how to do freezer paper stenciling. OK...back to the princess shirt. I drew a crown and printed her name in a font I like , got busy cutting the stencil and adhered it to the shirt. I chose white paint but looking back I think I would have chosen pink. Overall I was pleased with it but it still lacked something so I pulled out the bedazzler (Doesn't everyone have a bedazzler? LOL) and attached some bling to the crown. Now I am really happy with it.  We are hoping the princess will like it as well.

I am linking this little transformation to the following :

Activity Boxes to the Rescue

The other day I read a post by one of my dear friends who has 3 children. She was so stressed from spending the afternoon in the examination room waiting for the Dr. with her little ones. Oh the memories came flooding back of the hospital and doctor visits we have had over the years that were so excruciating because of the ordeal of trying to keep three boys quiet while we waited so patiently. I immediately thought of the activity boxes we have used to entertain the boys during car trips, dr. visits and other boring scenarios for a child. They are awesome due to the fact they are made out of cereal boxes (recycle, reuse and reduce) and can be tailored to what your child is interested in. The twins immediately agreed that we needed a new one. First we grabbed an empty cereal box and marked the spot we felt the handles should go. You may need to adjust this to your childs hands.

After we cut the handles out, the box looks like this.

Next I creased the boxes on the sides so they are easier to tote for a child.

We decided to cover this box with old road maps but we have used old gift wrap, comics and scrapbook paper before. It is best to wrap the box like you would a present with the folds on the side. To minimize the bulkiness, you will need to cut the overlapping down to a tight fit. Elmers spray adhesive is wonderful to secure the paper in place for a nice wrap.

We like to use Mod Podge to seal the paper on the box with two coats. Now we wrap the edges with colored duct tape (LOVE this stuff, so many colors, so many possibilities). I find this adds more stability and a polished appearance to the tote. 

Oo0ops! Forgot to tell you to cut a section out to fold down before you Mod Podge. We are going to use this panel to make a road for some cars. Ok time to get back on track...... I found a big colorful button to sew on the box with some bright red ribbon I had in the craft closet. I have used velcro before. It works ok but you will need to secure it well or it will easily rip off over a period of time. I have found the button to be a better choice.

You will need to tie some ribbon to the section that folds down. Leave enough of the ribbon to wrap around the button to close the panel. Almost done, I promise but we need to embellish a bit!

I really lucked out and found a thin magnetic sign at The Dollar Tree. It was so thin that I was able to cut it with my paper trimmer to the size I needed for the tote. We sprayed it with some Chalkboard paint we had bought at Lowes (we keep it on hand all the time now).  I used the hole puncher to add holes to all four corners of the chalkboard. Fortunately I had some primary colored brads to secure the chalkboard to the tote on the opposite side.

We painted a road on the panel that folds down.

Well, it is done! Look at how much fun your kiddo can have with this!

They can use the chalkboard as a magnet play center or to write on, drive cars on the road,  and you can pack all kinds of cool things in the tote. Just grab it and go or store it in your car to have on hand for all those times you need to keep your child busy so you keep your cool.

The boys usually keep cars in a gift card box that I repurposed, the chalk is stored in an empty mini M&M container, colored pencils and notepad are handy for drawing. This is just one of many designs we have made over the years. I wonder what can you come up with for your child?

I am linking up with these great parties, please go check them out for

MORE great ideas from some very creative ladies!