mini art kit

A recent car trip highlighted the need to have various distractions for the kiddo in my bag at all times. I wanted a stash of compact little things to fit in there that won't add too much extra bulk, but will keep him entertained in a restaurant, in the back seat, or in a yurt during an overly rainy overnight trip to the beach. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.

An empty mint tin is a great way to organize a few art supplies, including a couple of those crayons that restaurants sometimes give out.

I also added a couple of short colored pencils, some neon posterboard cut to size, and a sheet of stickers sent to me as part of an advertisement. (Kids magazines sometimes send them out to tempt us to subscribe.)

When cutting the posterboard, I made sure to leave an inch of space at the end and a textured edge to make it easier to remove from the box.

And there is is! A mini art kit perfect for stashing in your bag, next to a Hot Wheels car and a travel-sized packet of Play Doh.

I know it's really the Boy Scout motto, but I think I'm going to adopt "Be Prepared" as my own.

Thanks for reading!

cleaning hand-me-down bath toys

My nephew and niece are a few years older than my kiddo, and so we sometimes get hand-me-downs that my sister-in-law passes along to us. We also visit a kids' consignment store every so often. Between the two sources, we ended up with a nifty little collection of Fisher Price Little People and animals.

Back in the day, these were solid plastic, so if we played with them in the tub they didn't collect water inside. But the new ones (from the last 10+ years) are hollow, soft plastic. And as a local news report pointed out awhile back, hollow bath toys collect water inside, and grow bacteria and mold. Ew. Double ew.

So when I bring this kind of toy into the house, I give them a pretty good cleaning with the only thing I know will kill mold: Bleach. I dilute it in water according to the directions on the bottle, and I pour the solution in a plugged bathroom sink. It's best to do this during nap time when kiddos aren't around, and then keep the bathroom door closed and locked, anyway.

I squeeze as much air out as I can, then dunk and fill with the water. I shake, then soak.

The real problem is getting the bleach water out afterward. Squeezing releases most of it, but not all.

For this, you'll need an awl. You can find one in most hardware stores or in an art supply store (with the bookbinding supplies). It's basically a sharp spike with a handle.

Turn over each toy, and identify what would be the lowest point (where all the water would settle) were the toy upright. Poke a nice hole with the awl. Be careful of hands! In fact, don't follow my example in the photographs; work on a solid surface.

When you turn the toy upright again, give it a second for the water to drain to the awl hole, then squeeze gently to get all the water out.

Repeat the process with clean water to rinse all of the bleach solution out. Voila! Clean toys, ready for playing in the bath tub without spreading germs.

Because of the nature of the plastic, the holes disguise themselves so you won't even notice them . . . until it's time to clean the toys again!

Thanks for reading!

stitched puppets from the lane county historical museum

Tonight, for your consideration, an assortment of puppets from the children's puppet stage at the Lane County Historical Museum. From flappers to hippies, settlers to bar maids, there are probably close to two dozen of these carefully stitched and costumed puppets spread out on a black shelf, out of sight for anyone but those who peek behind the curtain. Waiting to be discovered like starfish in a tide pool.

I'm not sure who pieced the puppets; I didn't notice any markings, but it must have been someone very dedicated.

Patterns for individual dolls (including costumes) are available in the gift shop for under $6.00.


(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)

nostalgia

FOUND: vintage 1960s Fisher-Price chime ball, just like the hand-me-down one we had as kids. The chimes, when it's floating in the tub during the kiddo's bath time, sound softly, reminding me of the chimes on our old front porch in hot, hot southern Oregon summer, barely moving in the hint of a breeze.

Purchased for $5 at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago; it still had the $2 garage sale tag on it too, a good reminder to hit more yard sales this spring.


(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)


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cozy coupe gas to electric conversion (free dash sticker download)

There's nothing quite like an early morning garage sale to get you going! The bebe and I ended up going across town to this one because the Craig's List ad promised lots of kids yard toys. I had my eye on a Radio Flyer wagon (which turned out to be a different model, and more money, than I'd been dreaming of). Instead of the wagon, we hauled home this sweet ride, a turquoise and orange Cozy Coupe with a $5 price tag. One of these was on my wish list as well, and my little guy LOVES it!




Ooh, I had a ton of fun cramming it into the front seat of the car.

It had been outside a bit, so the dash stickers and warning tag on the back were peeling and flaking. Not something I wanted the kiddo putting in his mouth (and you know he would).






It was the perfect opportunity for a Cozy Coupe gas-to-electric conversion! I did a bit of research to see what the dash of an electric or hybrid vehicle looks like, and then put these new dashboard displays together.








And of course, because there was a half sheet of sticker label paper left after designing the dashboard displays, the kiddo also got this "I'm Great!" Oregon license plate!






I added a line on the bottom edge of the plate sticker that has some of the safety warnings of the original sticker, just so that we remember the weight limit and the ban on steep hills and whatnot.

Download your own sticker label sheet here:
Cozy Coupe Dashboard Stickers


For best results from home, print on 8.5 x 11 inch, full-sheet label paper, using a laser printer. Or have a print shop print these for you on vinyl for truly weather-safe labels!

Have another idea in mind for dashboard stickers, or need a different license plate? Contact me for details.