DIY: Stuffed Animal Zoo

My son's stuffed animal collection is already getting out-of-control, and he's only two. Rather than have them take up valuable toy storage in his closets and chests, I decided to make a Stuffed Animal Zoo. This way, he can still see all his friends with easy access in and out.

First step was to get a bookshelf. I opted for a $16 model from my local box store. This would be best as a yard sale or thrift store item, but my luck: couldn't find one today.

Second step was to buy some bungie cords. I purchased eight 30" strands for this 31.5" tall case. I cut off one of the ends and slipped off both hooks.

The third step is to drill holes evenly across the top and bottom shelves. I used a 3/8" drill bit for the bungies I bought.

Fourth step is to run the bungies through the holes. Since I only cut one end of the bungies to get the hooks off, I used the "pre-fabricated" end for the exposed top shelf. I thought it looked cleaner.

On the bottom of the bookshelf, I pulled the bungies through and tied them. 

**NOTE**

Particle board is cheap. Incredibly cheap. At first, I pulled the bungies very taut. Just the tension of the bungies caused the bottom shelf to rip from it's screws, showering me with pieces of particle board. I had to reattch the bottom shelf and reinforce it with four screws on each side. When I put the bungies through again, I didn't tie them as taut. Live and learn.

And there you have it. A cage that can wrangle all those stuffed animals that tend to overrun bedrooms.

I love that the bungies can keep the animals in, but they're stretchy enough to pull them in and out.

These zoos can be made in any size for any room. I know that when I was a child, I could have used a floor to ceiling 4'x4' cage.

I really hope we don't need to go there...

Yankee Doodle Dandy,

–TYG

DIY: Geo Board

MonkeyBoy has been doing super fantastic with shapes. I thought it was time to create a geo-board so he can create his own. 

All the items I needed to purchase were from my local dollar store and the rest of the items I had on hand in my craft stash and garage.

ITEMS:

• Piece of wood (on hand)
• Paint (on hand)
• Push Pins (2 packs of 120ct - $2.00)
• Eye hooks (on hand)
• Picture hanging wire (on hand)
• Trouser socks ($1+ depending on how many you buy)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Sandpaper
• Scissor

I started by sanding the scrap piece of plywood I found in the garage. I then gave it a couple coats of white paint.

The board was approx. 16" x 16". I measured out a grid in 1" increments for a 14" x 14" board (196 square inches).

With a nail the same size as the push pins, I nailed a starter hole in each of the intersections (196). This is crucial. I started to just hammer the push pins straight into the wood, but this just broke a lot of push pins.

Once the starter holes were in place, I washed the penciled grid off. Then, I went to hammering 196 push pins. That's a lot of push pins. In retrospect, I may have done a grid every two inches rather than one.

In order to hang it up, I used two eye hooks and some picture-hanging wire. 

For loops, I bought 2-paks of trouser socks and cut them into 1.5" strips. I thought I could just dye the white socks to offer some color options to MonkeyBoy later. Colors were limited by selection at the store.

For smaller loops, hair ties would work well, too, as well as good ol' fashioned elastics. I just figured for my little guy's toddler-hands, we'll start with large, soft loops that have a bit of Lycra stretch, but not a lot of "smack-back" to the face.

And voila! I ended up putting the board up next to MonkeyBoy's felt board.

Hopefully he'll have some fun. 

Well, at least I'll be able to get a free 15 minutes tomorrow if nothing else.



















Yankee Doodle Dandy,
– TYG

What? My Two Year Old has a Mind of his Own?!?

My son has a new behavior that started in the middle of January:  he does not want to get out of the car.

Now, this doesn't happen all the time. It just happens when we pull into our driveway. I can't get him to tell me why he doesn't want to get out of the car. He just keeps crying that he wants to "keep buckles on" and to "go that way." Which way "that way" is, I still can't figure out. It looks like he's pointing back down the road.

When we get back home, I always unpack the car first. The crying and whining has usually already commenced, so I just leave him in his carseat and unload. Once that's done, I go and get him unbuckled, all the while trying to reassure him. Again, I try to ascertain why he doesn't want to go in, but to no avail. It always turns into a kick and scream fest with him going limp. I have to drag him into the house then lay him down on the floor.

Once we're in the house, I'm not allowed to take his coat off. He screams for me to pick him up; I do, but he only freaks out more and won't calm down, so I just lay him back down and let him have his tantrum with his most-trusty blanket.

After about five minutes, he finally calms down enough that he has to look for me. He lets me hold him, and we cuddle. All is right again.

What I find hilarious about this situation is that I have to pull teeth to get him to go out with me in the first place. He doesn't go into full-on tantrum mode, but he does "whine" how he doesn't want to go out and wants to "stay home."  Then once we're home, he doesn't want to be there, either.

I thought that these outbursts were associated with his nap or snack times, but that isn't always the case.

I'm so used to doing what I want to do all the time, I do forget that I now have a little human with wants, needs, and opinions of his own. He's started to rebel against the decisions that I've made for him, like the shirt he's going to wear today, the playgroup we're going to, which slice of identical pieces of bread he wants.

It's a small gesture, and it really doesn't add that much time to my day, but asking "which one" has started to go a long way with me and MonkeyBoy.

Which shirt?
Which pants?
Which cereal?
Which drink?
Which truck?
Do we leave for storytime now, or in five minutes? (Some things are still non-negotiable, but I can sneak a "pick-one" in there somehow)

Right now, my son has fallen asleep on a pile of blankets he dragged into the hallway, with his coat still on. Apparently, leaving all the fun we were having at the supermarket this morning was just too much to bear.

Yankee Doodle Dandy,
– TYG

Tractor Birthday

I can't believe it, but my MonkeyBoy turned two years old this November. Where does the time go?

This year, although still a huge fan of monster trucks, he opted for tractors. I scoured the web, and here's what I came up with for a John Deere-esque Birthday Party:

1. Tractor Cake

Thanks to this fabulous idea, this bad boy was one of my easier cakes to make since it was basically all props. I purchased an Ertl John Deere tractor with hay baler "hook up", as my son calls them. I also found the miniature animals, fencing, and trees at my local crafts store's hobby section.

What's great was the prop became one of MonkeyBoy's gifts!

2.  Party Favors

Following the John Deere theme, I found some green and yellow gift bags at my local dollar store (above pic with the cake). Luckily they had two packs in assorted colors, and I was able to find eight two-packs of green/yellow combos.

For inside the bags, I found a four-pack of toy push/pull tractors at Walmart in the party supply section, green and yellow hankerchiefs, and tiny board books that came in two-packs from the dollar store. Since we were also having the party run until five in the evening, I stuck in some glow sticks for the kids to have fun with outside.

3. Chocolate dipped French crullers

I found these coolest and yummiest tractor wheels you'll ever eat! Dunkin' Donuts even had them covered in chocolate already, so one less thing to do. 

4.  Tractor Wheels and Cheese

I forgot to take a picture of this, but this one's fairly easy. I purchased rotelle pasta and just melted Velveeta all over it. Super yummy and a toddler winner every time.

5.  Hay Stacks
I thought this idea was so cute, and super easy. Take vanilla wafers and cut them into smaller rectangles to resemble stacks of hay. Who doesn't like vanilla wafers?!?

6.  Cardboard Tractor Box

I took all my son's birthday gifts and gave them to him in a big tractor made from a cardboard box. I used brass prong paper fasteners to attach the wheels so they could spin.

7.  Tractor No-Sew Fleece Blanket
MonkeyBoy is obsessed with anything that is fleece. Fleece blankets, fleece clothes, fleece pillows, ANYTHING FLEECE. How could I possibly go wrong with a Tractor Fleece Throw?  It only took about 20-30 minutes to make. He immediately laid down on it when he opened it.

8. Farm Felt Board

For more toddler entertainment, I created this fun board hung at baby level. I'm excited to start creating other scenes to change up for different seasons and holidays.

9. Tractor Bean Bag Toss

I was so proud of this, and yet all the kids wanted to play with was MonkeyBoy's new toy (see #8).

10. John Deere Pedal Tractor

The pièce de résistance. This is a fabulous little riding toy with a chain and pedals to work those little muscles. It also came with a "hook up", one of my son's favorite things. He loves stuff hooking up.
















All in all, the party was a huge success. And for not having a nap that day, we were shocked that he was still going at 8:30 PM that night without any "toddler incidents."

Yankee Doodle Dandy,
– TYG

DIY: Repurposed Sweater

I found this L.L. Bean wool sweater at a local thrift shop for $8. I immediately fell in love with it, imagining cuddling with a hot cup of cocoa reading in front of the fire. So, I wore it once this winter, and basically hated the way it fit. It was just too big and bulky, and the buttons kept coming undone.

Rather than have it take up space in my already overcrowded sweater tub, I decided to cut it up and repurpose it.

STEP 1: Legwarmers

Remove the sleeves. I cut the slope-side of the sleeve to make it more tubular for leg warmers. I sewed it closed, then hemmed the top. I made the size fit my legs snug enough, so no elastic was needed at the top. I used the already cuffed bottom of the sleeve as the ankle cuff.

STEP 2:  Mittens

I traced 1/2" around my hand on a piece of paper to make a mitten pattern.

I cut out pieces at the base of the sweater. This allowed the bottom cuff of the sweater to become the bottom cuff of the mitten. 

STEP 3: Hat

I used the remaining scrap of the back of the sweater and the rim of the neck to make a hat. I used the the pattern shape below; Cut two, sewed them together. Then I cleanly cut the neck cuff off the sweater, and sewed it onto the hat around the bottom hem.

STEP 4: Add Embellishments

The buttons on the sweater were actually really pretty. Just not functional. So I removed them and added them as decorations to the leg warmers and the hat

I'm super thrilled with the results. So much so, I would love to buy more thrift shop sweaters and make more sets. 

I now need to purchase some cute skirts or skinny jeans to make these leg warmers do their adorable thing to my ensemble. Then I'll need to get some flats. I love ballet slipper flats and leg warmers.

Come to think of it, the skinny jean aspect scares me. I haven't been in skinny jeans since the inception of my son. Three years now. 

Maybe I should stick to skirts. They're a little more forgiving with a derriere that may not see a size 4 ever again.

Yankee Doodle Dandy,

– TYG

***DISCLAIMER:  Yes, sweaters were hurt in the making of the above ensemble. I am not affiliated with L.L. Bean, nor would they want me to be after they see what I did to their product.

KIDS DIY: Fire Breathing Dragon

Another great inspiration, this time from KangarooBoo Blog with ideas for the Chinese New Year. I saw this and knew we just had to make it right away!

Cast of Characters:

• Scissors
• Glue
• Paper cups
• Crepe paper
• Construction paper
• Pompoms
• Googly eyes

I actually had all these items already in my stash. I tend not to throw anything out, and I still had a ton of red streamers leftover from MonkeyBoy's first birthday, and green paper cups from his second birthday. Of course, these little guys would be so much fun in any color.

STEP 1

Cut out the bottoms of the paper cups.

MonkeyBoy promptly used the circles to make "crafts", as he calls them, for eye pizzas.

STEP 2

I found a rag-tag piece of green construction paper and cut out scale shapes and had MonkeyBoy glue them sporadically all over the cup. 

STEP 3

Cut the crepe paper into strips and glue on the inside, top lip of the cup. I used crepe paper because it is very light and will easily blow around. Tissue paper would work well, too.

STEP 4

Glue on pompoms for eyes.

STEP 5

Glue on googly eyes on top of pompoms.

STEP 6

After I finished him, he looked naked without some nostrils, so I fished out a couple of green pompoms to put on his nose.

STEP 7

When the monsoon finally blows by our house this morning, we'll go outside and get some sticks. The original blog post for this craft used large popsicle sticks or tongue depressers as a handle.

STEP 8

Blow and roar into the cup!!!

Yankee Doodle Dandy,

– TYG

KIDS DIY: Paper Tube Snake

We were up so early this morning, I felt like lunch would never arrive. To kill some time this chilly AM, I pulled out another awesome Pinterest find. 

This little guy was fun to make and even more fun to play with.

MonkeyBoy had a blast painting the tubes and sticking the eyes and tongue into place.

Mama had to cut the tubes and pipe cleaners, puncture the holes with a mini awl, and connect all the components.

What's great is that my son immediately started seeing "letters" with the snake and started making them.

For the complete directions and materials list, visit Cheap Crafty Mama.

Until the next!

Yankee Doodle Dandy,

– TYG