Roll Away Sand Box Cover

I used to use a tarp stuck down with tent stakes but, well, you can see what happened.  Every time I watered the lawn I got a mosquito breeding puddle that started to grow slime and when the wind blew the tarp wouldn't stay down and blew all over.

Here is my solution:

I used a piece of shade fabric and stapled it to the sandbox on one side with a staple gun.  On the other side I sewed a pocket and slid a piece of  PVC pipe in it and put end caps on.  I bolted some tarp hooks to the side of the box and now all I have to do is slip the pipe under the hooks and it stays.  Then I can roll it up out of the way while B. is playing.  You have to make sure it's nice and snug so it stays on the hooks.

Water Oil Fireworks

 Super Quick.  Super cheap.  Super cool!

Fill a clear container with water, taller works better, I used a glass mason jar.  Put about 2 Tablespoons oil in a small bowl.  Drip a water based food coloring in the bowl with the oil.  Stir rapidly with a fork to form small bubbles.  Dump the oil in the water and watch the show.

Magic Spoons

 I loved this experiment.  It was so quick and easy to set up.  Magic spoon set up: plastic cup filled half way with vinegar.  Put one or two drops of food coloring on a spoon and scoop up some baking soda.  Let child put spoon in cup and stir.  For extra bubbles add 1 squirt of dish soap to the vinegar.  We used dish soap in our experiment.

and viola!  We noticed the color didn't start coming out until B. had stirred for a while.  The site I got the experiment from said if you are doing it with a large group you can put water in some of the cups so the kids wonder why it worked in some and not the other.  We did it with 5 different colors and when they were all done B. started spooning color from one cup into another to see what happened.

Fabric Tanagrams

Modge Podge fabric scraps to magnetic paper and cut them into shapes.  They do tend to curl though.  I would try using a different glue next time.

Bulletin Border Organization

Hang your borders on metal rings on a hook to keep them out of the way.

5 Little Monkeys Masks

Monkey masks bought for $1 at JoAnn's and colored with crayons.  I am going to use them with the 5 little monkeys songs.

Look what I did

My fridge is oddly non magnetic so I had to come up with something else to hang B.'s masterpieces.

Fourth of July Bunting

Stars and Hearts Fourth of July bunting made with cotton print, buttons and ribbon.

Fabric Jar

Add left over fabric, ribbon and iron on patches to a glass jar from Hobby Lobby and this is what you get.  The fabric and ribbons were stuck on with modge podge.  (Who knew you could iron patches on to a metal lid.)

Fruit Turkey

I made this for Thanksgiving last year.  The body was a honeydew melon.  The tail feathers were apples, grapes and orange slices.  The head was a pear with crasin eyes and a red pepper waddle.

Cardboard Doll Bed

 B. really wanted a doll bed but I didn't want to buy one so I made one out of a cardboard box and some dollar store jewels I had lying around.  The bed mattress pad was left over fleece.  The color wasn't my first choice but it's the only color I had.

Sewing Room Organizaton

 I made mini bolts so I can see all my fabric.  I also sorted the ribbons by hanging them on a dowel in a plastic basket and threaded the ends through the holes in the basket.

Most of my left over fabric was too small for mini bolts so I made mini mini bolts and put them on a CD shelf. 

















The pieces that were too small for that ended up in an over the door plastic shoe hanger.

Freezer Organization

I used plastic shoe boxes to sort all the different meats in the freezer.

Playroom organization

 I got tired of stepping on toys and finding the rest of them chewed up by the puppy so this is what I came up with.

Dollar store accordion hook mounted on the wall for the dress ups.

                             Labeled bins for all the small stuff.