Art inspiration

Hey, I'm back! We're finally more or less settled and I'm getting to do the fun stuff like Pinterest projects I've had pinned forever.

Here's one I just finished and ordered. I wanted some kind of fine art in Ellie's playroom by her own art space. I'm big on creativity, but also on appreciating the classics of art, literature, music, etc. I want her playroom to reflect that -- open-ended and creative play, and also being inspired by great works.

A friend pinned a great quote from Henri Matisse: "Creativity takes courage." This was my inspiration. I found five pieces of art from different styles and eras, and quotes from the artists. I ordered the prints today and should have them framed and up this week!

"Every day I discover more and more beautiful things."

(The Artist’s Garden at Vetheuil, 1880 by Claude Monet)

"Creativity takes courage"

(Icarus by Henri Matisse)

"Art seems to me to be a state of the soul more than anything else"
(Creation by Marc Chagall)

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
(The Dance of Youth by Pablo Picasso)

"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.”

(The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, c.1888 by Vincent Van Gogh)

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!

Tin foil river

This was an idea we had found on Pinterest. Verdict: eh. We tried with six kids, ages 15 months, 16 months, 2 years, 4 years and two 5 year olds. It kept them entertained for about 20 minutes, much of which was playing with the hose. I'm not sure it was any better than general water play. It would probably work better with something sturdier -- any little bump in the ground pushed the foil up and kept the boats and toys from floating. Maybe I'll try pool noodles cut in half later this summer.

Here are some photos of the fun:

Trying to get the boats to float

All the kids playing in the river

This is what really ended up happening

Much more fun than the river!

April sensory bin

Ellie is 16 months old

This has been a slower month projects and activity-wise because we're getting ready to move! This is great news but means I've had less time to plan things for Ellie.

March's bin may have been Ellie's favorite yet. The pasta was perfect for all the in-and-out in the different containers. 

Here's April's bin:

It contains: dried beans, wooden truck, six bouncy balls (two each with an airplane, car and train), two plastic submarines (these are from Dollar Tree and with baking soda in them, bubble and float), two cars (also from Dollar Tree -- you blow up the balloons and it propels the car), a set of tongs, one of the orange silicone cups (like an orange traffic cone maybe?), a small plastic box with a red lid, and some assorted scoopers.

Busy bag swap

So my good friend Shayna beat me to the punch on this one :-)

Anyone who is on Pinterest and has a child has probably seen pins about busy bags. I became kinda obsessed with the concept -- creative and fun activities, easily transportable, reusable...yes please! But, anyone who has seen these also knows that putting together a lot of them is pretty unrealistic financially and time-wise.

Solution: busy bag swap! We hosted our first one last week. Eleven of us attended, so we each made 10 of the same bag (plus one for our own kid), then swapped, so we took home 10 different activities.

I'm introducing them to Ellie slowly over the next few weeks, but I'll post a sneak peek. Here are the 10 busy bags we ended up with.

I Spy bottle. This is the one Ellie has already played with, and both of us love it. I love that she can play with it in the car and there aren't little pieces that go everywhere. Ellie loves shaking it, crinkling the bottle and, as you can see, unraveling the yarn. She also loves pointing to the pictures of the duck and frog. So far, I don't think she realizes that there are those same things inside the bottle.

Felt pizza. Shayna spent somewhere around a billion hours cutting out felt pizza pieces. This one is super fun (I totally played with it for this picture). It came with a pizza box, cardboard tray, crust, sauce, cheese, peppers, sausage, pepperoni, olives and mushrooms. I love all the options with this one -- counting, patterning, following directions (placing "orders"), and just fun creativity. Shayna made a menu for her 5-year-old, who's reading, so this is one that a huge range of ages can enjoy.

Magnetic pom-poms. Another one that probably took forever. Magnetic strips hot glued to the back of pom poms = awesomeness. On a cookie sheet or fridge, these can be used with printables (this gumball color matching one was included; there are a ton of others online) or open-ended play. This is another one that I think will last a long time. I think this will be Ellie's next one I introduce -- for the kitchen when I'm making dinner.

Popsicle sticks color-coded to make shapes. I'm going to add Velcro dots so there are more ways she can play with it.

Color matching. Paint chips on a ring that can be used to identify colors in nature or around the house. 

Pipe cleaner color matching. First of all, how cute is this mod podged puffs container? This has colored rings around holes in the lid and pipe cleaners that match. Ellie will DEFINITELY love this now, and we'll start doing colors later.

Pom-pom stuff it in. These are tea boxes (coffee boxes?) with a hole in the lid for pom poms. Another one that will keep Ellie busy for awhile because of the in-and-out game.

Felt shape snake. This includes a button sewn onto a ribbon with a felt piece on the other end, and lots of felt shapes with slits that can go over the button. I think Ellie will like this if she can figure it out.

This was mine -- a marble maze. This is a little fabric pocket with a marble sewn in, and a maze pattern sewn into it. There's two different patterns.

Lacing cards from foam. There were six of these I think, in different shapes. I think the duck will be Ellie's favorite once she can manage the fine motor skills necessary to actually do it.

Stay tuned...

This will one day be a play kitchen!

(I hope)

Montessori red rods (ish)

Ellie is 15 months old

I had seen Montessori red rods on some blogs. I thought they would be a good activity for Ellie soon, as she's started getting into sorting and stacking. But when I went to look to buy a set, they were $40. Other places were upwards of $50. This seemed silly for a home (not a classroom) and for what essentially amounted to painted dowel rods.

So I made my own. From dowel rods.

Total cost: $2. I bought two 3/8" dowel rods and cut them into segments of 2", 3", 4", etc., up to 11" (10 rods total). Then I cut a 12" piece of scrap wood (actually, it's oak from a project I did in 5th grade that was in my mom's garage). I used my grandpa's drill press (on the one year anniversary of his death, which was somehow beautiful and appropriate) to drill 10 holes.

Ellie liked it immediately and was really diligent on trying to get the dowel rods in the holes. We're obviously not working on the size sequencing yet.

"Hey look, I got one!"

Then she discovered that banging on the metal bowl was WAY more fun for now! Hooray for creative play!