Morning calendar/circle time bulletin board

I'm calling this circle time, even though the "circle" right now is just Ellie and me. She's started asking a lot about days of the week and yesterday/tomorrow. I decided she was ready for a calendar lesson! I started looking at preschool quiet time bulletin boards on Pinterest and ended up doing way more than I originally intended!

To help you out in case you want to do something similar, and don't want to spend time recreating the wheel, I included a PDF of all the (non-personalized) pieces I printed. They're at the bottom of this post.

Here is our new morning calendar/circle time bulletin board:

Here's the closeup of the pieces:

Seasons and weather

Emotions. I like how Ellie decided Sam, who is still in my tummy, was feeling happy, and Daddy, who was sleeping after work, was feeling silly! She also wanted to add our dog, all her dolls, and some other family members. Apparently this section should have been bigger :-)

Activities for the day

Calendar and verse

Everything is attached with Velcro instead of push pins. I want to leave this in her room for now, and do NOT want push pins everywhere! Plus, when Sam is born, he'll be joining our "circle," and I certainly don't want a baby swallowing sharp little pins. I picked these up from Wal-Mart:

They are perfect because both sides are the same, so instead of having pairs only (hook and loop style), each piece can be used individually to hook to any other piece -- so there was NO waste. I ended up using three packages for the whole project.

Everything is also laminated, so hopefully it will last awhile. I left a bit of space at the bottom of the board in case we wanted to add something else later! 

I wanted tags for "yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow," but all the ideas I was seeing were based on using push pins (like hanging key ring tags, etc.). I didn't find a perfect solution, but this works for now:

I bought big plastic paper clips, and then taped paper to the big section with the tags written on them. They easily clip to each day's piece. Again, not perfect, but workable!

I also debated about how to store the extra pieces. I tried envelopes (too fat with the Velcro on them) and bulldog clips (same problem), thought about hole punching and using binder rings (but I was worried they'd wear out too quickly and that Ellie couldn't do it on her own), and considered a sewing or hardware-type sorter (but wanted Ellie to be able to see everything at once). I settled on buying poster board, stapling it to the back, and putting down a spot of Velcro to store each piece. Tedious? Absolutely. But I'm really happy with the solution. It's very easy to see all the pieces and pick the appropriate ones, and everything stores in the same amount of space. 

Here's the back, unfolded:

Days of the week are across the top, then months under them. Each month has its "special" calendar days -- holidays and family birthdays -- beneath it, so when we build the calendar for the month, we can add our special dates. On the bottom flap are the emotions (four sets of angry, tired, silly, cranky, happy, excited, and sad -- one for each member of our family, in case we all feel the same way some day!), spots for unused calendar pieces, weather and seasons.

On the back of the bottom flap are the other pieces, and it folds up like so:

This has the days and years for the "Today is" part of the calendar, all our activity blocks, and an envelope that holds the verses for each month.

The best part is that after ALL this work, Ellie LOVES it. 

She loved talking about the season and why each season had a different image on it (summer was suns, fall is leaves, spring is flowers and winter is snowflakes). We talked about how hot it is, and how it can be sunny even if it's cold. She ran to the window to check the weather and declared it sunny, then grabbed the tag with no prompting and put it where I pointed out the Velcro was. 

We talked about emotions (she thought it was hilarious that Sam might feel angry right now) and why each of us felt the way we did today. Then we went through and talked about the plan for the day, and she picked corresponding activity tags. 

Then, we talked about the day of the week (she found the right green "Wednesday" tag by matching the letters to the top of the calendar!!), month, day and year, and how "yesterday," "today" and "tomorrow" work. Last, we said our verse together a few times. 

I am SO excited to continue this special circle time every morning. It only took about 10 minutes, but she talked about it ALL day and said she couldn't wait to do it again TOMORROW :-)

Here are the files (.pdf):

• The calendar itself
• All the other pieces

Quiet book

One word: DONE!

I'm not the most creative person. Or the artsiest. Or the best sewer. Or the craftiest. And I am not, it turns out, a perfectionist on everything. But gosh darn it, given enough time and Pinterest help and grace on imperfections, I made this sucker! 

Ellie won't get it until after Sam is born, but I'm really excited to see how she likes it. She's watched me work on it some and wants to play -- but I told her it's a special thing for when she's a big sister :-)

I'm not a tutorial person, but I'll link back to my original inspiration for each page...

These are just sticky felt letters from Hobby Lobby I sewed over two layers of felt.

Left: Mailbox (flag goes up and down, front flap opens to reveal "letters" inside. Inspiration

Right: Road. Mail truck can "drive" on the road and visit the houses. Inspiration

Left: Dress up doll. The doll is sewn in; all the clothes are separate. Inspiration

Right: Clothesline with clothespins; "washing machine" that can store clothes. Inspiration

Left: Noah's Ark. Animals store inside the ark (it zips) and snap in pairs on the boat or water. Inspiration

Right: Rainbow sequencing. The cloud is a pocket to store the pieces. Inspiration

Left: Tent flaps open to reveal a picture of Ellie camping. The marshmallow sticks are loose so she can "roast" them. Inspiration

Right: Picnic food stores in the basket. Inspiration

Left: Barn doors open to reveal pig, chicken and cow finger puppets. Inspiration

Right: Garden. The beets and carrots can be "planted" and "harvested." One of my favorite pages! Inspiration (I just cut slits in the felt instead of button holing and it works fine).

Left: Petal number matching. Inspiration (I used a paint pen for the outlines and the numbers, and didn't use Velcro. Ellie isn't ready for number sequencing yet but is getting good at identifying numbers, so I wanted this page to be a little easier for her).

Right: Butterfly building. Two sets of top wings and bottom wings, and lots of pieces to decorate. Good for practicing symmetry! Another favorite of mine. Inspiration

Left: Shape matching. Inspiration

Right: Puzzles. There's the flower (four squares), an apple ("jigsaw" pieces) and a fish (strips). They store in a pocket behind the flower. Inspiration

Left: Puppy. She can hook and unhook the collar and leash. Another favorite of mine even though pup looks slightly crazed :-) Inspiration

Right: a generic pocket for any pieces that want to fall out. Let's not even talk about how not-straight this guy is.

The major thing I would have changed is learning to use my button-holer to make button holes instead of just hole punching! I may get around to it at some point, since some of the holes seem likely to tear. 

DIY water/sand tables

Ellie loves water. This is just a fact. She loves playing in sprinklers, the pool, the bath, Marah's water dish, the bird bath, puddles, the sink...anything with water, the child loves.

Clearly we need a water table.

Clearly I am not spending $40+ on a plastic table, much less $100+ for a wooden one.

I found this lovely tutorial via Pinterest. I pretty much followed it to a T, but here is a recap with some clarifications.

Supplies:

• Sterlite 41-quart underbed box ($9 at Wal-Mart)
• 1x3 lumber 
• I got the cheapest stuff. I'd recommend going a step up or getting a slightly larger cut. My wood was soft and I had to be very careful not to split it -- even if I drilled pilot holes.
• You'll need 3 8' pieces (mine were about $4 each at Lowe's)
• Screws (I used 6x1.5" wood screws for most of the pieces, but shorter 1" screws for where the legs attach to the long side pieces)

Step 1. Ask one of the nice Lowe's employees to cut your wood for you. Yes, you can do it yourself, but they will do it for free or very cheap. It is way worth it. You need:

• 3 pieces that are 33 3/4" (long sides and bottom brace)
• 4 pieces that are 16 5/8" (short sides and braces)
• 4 pieces that are 22" (legs -- can adjust if you want taller or shorter)

This of course is only applicable if you use the same box I did.

Step 2. Build your frame. Make sure the short pieces are on the outside of the long pieces.

Step 3. Add legs to the outside, overlapping the two pieces.

Step 4. Add an extra short piece between the legs on each side as a brace. I used a piece of the same wood as a spacer. 

Step 5. Place the last long piece on the bottom, screwing it into the side braces you just added. 

Step 6. Put your Sterlite box inside! Plus, you can still use the lid.

  

I liked it so much, I made two! One is for water and one for sand (but one will go to our friends who are staying with us this summer, and I'll just eventually store the other bin underneath).

EDIT: Here's the first go of the water table. We ended up filling them both up. The kids loved it (big surprise, right? It's hot and water is just awesome.)

Reading fort

My amazing momma came into town this week to watch Ellie and help me get some unpacking and projects done around the house since Ryan was working 60+ hours this week.

I really, really wanted to build Ellie a reading fort in her room after seeing this pin. We tackled it blind (no pattern, no solid plan) and ended up with something I LOVE. It took until Plan G or so, but I love it. Here's our final solution:

We first tried a hula hoop, and that was pretty much a disaster. We couldn't get it to hang right -- it would fall one way or the other, and looked really messy.

So we ditched that plan (sorry, Pinterest!) and tried something totally different. I like how this one is more tailored and more open, since she's only 18 months old!

The curtains are hung from a rod going diagonally across the corner of the room. We draped her crib skirt over the rod in the front, then secured it all the way around. As she gets older, if she wants it more enclosed, I can add more curtain rods to the sides with more curtains.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how she'd react. She loves making forts right now, but this was something kind of different for her room! But when she got back (Ryan took Ellie to Ballwin Days for a daddy-daughter date), she immediately ran to the little chair and started playing hide-and-seek with the curtains. She LOVES this reading fort (thank goodness, after all that work)!

Rotating bookshelves

Yesterday was awful. Like, everything that could have gone wrong pretty much did. So I was in the mood for a GOOD day.

Here was the highlight:

Planting succulents together

I also really wanted to make progress on moving in to our new place, and on some Pinterest projects. So, I (mostly) finished building her rotating bookcase. This was a highlight in the personal productivity department.

Here was my inspiration (from here, found via Pinterest):

Needless to say, I was not going to spend $600 on this. I liked the spinning aspect so that all four sides could be used. But it didn't quite fit my needs. My version is Ellie-sized, extra-wide on the sides (I added chalkboard vinyl to one side; I am going to add cork, felt, mirrors and/or magnetic boards to the other side -- I haven't decided yet), and moves as well as spins. 

Materials:

• Two 3-shelf Closetmaid organizers (I got mine for $20 each at Lowe's)
• 6 6-hole metal plates (about $3 for a pack of 6)
• 3 9-hole metal plates (about $4 for a pack of 6)
• 4 casters. I wanted mine to rotate, roll and lock, so I got 2" swivel casters with locks (about $3 each)
• Screws. I used 36 screws -- 8x7/16" pan-head sheet metal screws (about $1 per bag of 16)

Total cost: $42

How to make it:

1. Assemble Closetmaid shelves per packaged instructions. 
2. Flip both units over (take shelves out first). Line up cardboard backs so both shelf sides face out. 
3. Center a 9-hole plate in the middle of the units, to connect them. I used 4 screws for this plate. FYI, I have an aversion to drilling pilot holes for some reason, so I used Ryan's Makita, because it is freaking amazing and you don't have to predrill.
4. Repeat with two more plates, one on each side, so there are three plates spread across the bottoms of the units to connect them. 
5. Repeat, using two 6-hole plates to connect on each side. I used two screws in each of these plates (so this step is a total of four plates and eight screws).
6. Attach your casters to the corners of the entire unit.
7. Flip the whole thing over. Use two more 6-hole plate on the top. 

The whole thing took around an hour. I was expecting it to take much longer, but it went quite quickly with the Makita. Here's a view of the top. The bottom (which I forgot to get a picture of before I loaded up the shelves) has one additional plate in the middle, and they are the 9-hole plates.

I think I may add molding to finish it a bit, like the inspiration shelf. Otherwise, done and DONE!