Look What Came in the Mail!

A few days ago, I signed Emily up for a letter/artwork exchange with a 3 1/2 year old girl named Lu from 4 Crazy Kings. Mama King has a fabulous blog over there, and it is definitely worth checking out. Emily was so excited to receive her letter, and quickly went to work on a special project to mail back to Lu! Hint - it involved paper marbling, one of Emily's favorite activities.

I thought this was such a terrific, inexpensive, and interactive way to teach children about culture and geography. We quickly pulled out a map so I could show Emily where Lu lives and some other neat facts about their state. It was so much fun! Thank you, Mama King and Lu, for such a fun afternoon!

Homemade Hockey Table

This is how we spent our morning -- designing our own hockey table, and it was so easy! Emily had a blast, and is still planning to devote the rest of the afternoon to table hockey. A few years ago, one of our neighbors had a moving sale and sold this fabulous coffee table to us for just $5. 

 
We used leftover wrapping paper (print side down) and attached it to the table with masking tape. I helped Emily measure the table and we used a marker to draw the hockey lines. We covered the table with a layer of wax paper to make it extra slippery.

For the seam in the wax paper, I used scotch tape. We made a puck out of a frozen juice concentrate lid and covered the bottom of it with felt. For hockey sticks, we used stampers that came from an Aqua Doodle set. They were the perfect size, and already had a felt bottom. 

We used colored popsicle sticks for the goals, and I attached them with scotch tape. Emily was thrilled and declared, "This is so much fun!!".

Guess we will be playing lots of table hockey for the next couple of days!

Frugal Fun with Music

This afternoon we made musical instruments from recyclables. This was a big hit and Emily is still making lots of new sounds with her drum, guitar, and shaker. We made the drum with an empty oatmeal canister. If you saw this post, you would understand why we have a lot of these!

This version of a guitar was made with an empty plastic chocolate container and some rubber bands. Emily liked the sound this made, and it was so easy!

This one was probably her favorite -- a shaker made from an empty paper towel roll, some wax paper, rubber bands, and filled with some dry beans.

Have an idea for a recycled musical instrument that I forgot to add? I would love to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

Indoor Sandbox

One of the things Emily misses the most about Spring and Summer is playing outside in her sandbox. I created an indoor version that was a big hit for both of my girls. You might already have an inflatable pool (most likely it is hanging out in the garage for the winter). We brought ours inside and Mark used the air compressor to blow it up quickly....

Instead of sand, we used oatmeal. Lots and LOTS of oatmeal! I love using the oatmeal instead of sand because I did not have to worry about Clara eating it, and it is much easier to clean up. You can find large containers of oatmeal at the dollar store or places like Big Lots. This pool used about $14 worth of oatmeal to fill it up.

The girls played in here for several hours, and we will use the empty containers for future projects. When they were finished we dumped all the play oatmeal into a large plastic bin (to use for more projects) and deflated the pool.

It was great to see them enjoying this so much! Just a few shovels, funnels, and cups kept them very entertained.

What Valentine's Day Is Really About...

This afternoon I took the girls to a retirement community to give the residents there some much needed company this time of year. In return, Emily and Clara received TONS of attention. Emily made a Valentine placemat with some construction paper and stickers, and then proudly showed it off to the residents while they were enjoying their dinner.

It took her about two minutes to warm up to everyone, and then she did not want to leave. There were several things I love about doing this type of activity with the girls. As an at-home mom, it can be challenging to find volunteer opportunities where I can get the girls involved. Many times there are age requirements, etc. and this is an activity that can be done with kids of any age. Also, I loved watching Emily's reaction to making the residents smile and laugh. At one point, she turned to me and said, "I don't need you, Mommy. Go check on Clara." I think she did just fine on her own.

Clara was not so sure about all the attention at first, but then slowly warmed up to people and gave lots of big smiles.

Emily loved pointing out some of the finer details of her work to everyone.

The retirement community even had a little goody bag for her with some Valentine's Day treats. When we left, I asked her if she had fun, and she answered with a big "YES!". 

The Money Garden

Who says money doesn't grow on trees? This $10 seed investment boasts that it can yield over $650 worth of vegetables on just one tenth of an acre! For more gardening tips, see my recent post Garden Planning.

Frugal Fun Outdoors - Snow Painting

This afternoon, Emily and I took some spray bottles filled with a few drops of food coloring and some water to do snow painting. This was a big hit! I had to bribe her with some hot cocoa to get her to come back inside. 

I helped her spell her name out in the snow...

Do you plan to try snow painting with your family? I would love to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your stories with us!

Frugal Way to Occupy Kids During Football

Trying to watch the football game on TV and looking for a frugal way to keep the kids entertained?  I thought this would be a fun topic, since the Super Bowl is coming up! Thanks to ThriftyCraftMama for posting about this fabulous frugal activity that will keep kids occupied all through the game.  (Worked well for Emily, anyway!) 

It turned out to be a great activity for the whole family. Prior to the game, I made up the cards and felt board, while Mark diligently cut out all of the shapes from felt. Have I mentioned how awesome my husband is? You can find free printables for this activity here. 

I glued the print-out snowflakes onto cereal boxes, cut them out and used clear contact paper to laminate them. An empty egg carton worked well to keep the shapes sorted so Emily could quickly find whichever one she needed.

Emily builds her snowflake from the cut out felt shapes.

Here is what Clara was up to... She is starting to crawl!

How do you keep the kids occupied during football?  I would love to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

Thrift Store Finds -- Woo Hoo!

I have been on the look-out for next year's holiday dresses for the girls, and at the thrift store today I found these gorgeous dresses (in next year's sizes)!  Aren't they beautiful? Emily's cost just $4.99!  Clara's was $3.99, but they had a sale for 50% off all blue tagged merchandize, making this cute dress just $1.99!! I have found that this is the best time of the year for thrift store finds, since there are tons of un-wanted Christmas gifts (which could turn out to be your treasures).

Did you find something fabulous at a thrift store recently?  I would love to hear about it! Leave us a comment and share your story with us!

The Invention Kit

Several of the crafts Emily and I create are products of the Invention Kit.  We love recycling materials and finding new uses for things, so we set aside a separate box with things that might be useful for future projects.  

Here are some of the things we keep in the Invention Kit:

1. Egg Cartons -- Great for holding paints, and we have several ideas for future craft projects using these.
2. Plastic Bottles -- We have made bird feeders from these.
3. Empty Cereal Boxes -- We never buy cardboard.  Instead, we use up cereal boxes. Click here and here for some inspiration.
4. Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Rolls --  Click here for instructions to make your own bird watching kit using paper rolls.  This was one of Emily's favorite projects!
5. Frozen Juice Concentrate Lids -- We recently made a matching game with these.  They can also be made into magnets, or other ornaments.
6. Empty Margarine Containers --  We use these for holding water during painting projects.
7. Paper Bags --  I will cut these up and Emily loves to draw and paint on the non-printed side for free craft paper.
8. Junk Mail/Catalogs --  See Emily's recent collage project using flower catalogs. We have also used a hole puncher on different colored junk mail and made terrific confetti with it.  

Does your family keep an Invention Kit?  I would love to hear about it!  Leave us a comment and share your ideas with us!

Family Drawing Time -- Portraits

Wow!  This is my 100th post already!!

Want to know how your kids really see you?  Try a family portrait day!  Each member of the family takes turns drawing everyone else.  This makes for some interesting artwork, especially from the little ones.  

Here are some of Emily's drawings:

From Left to Right:  Me (what is up with the hair??? And why am I so huge??), Mark holding Clara, and Emily (again, the hair thing...)

Mark at work (with his computer).  I am particularly fond of the keyboard detail.

My personal favorite -- Emily holding Clara.

Does your family enjoy drawing together?  If so I would love to hear about it!  Leave us a comment and share your ideas with us!

Audacity -- Create Your Own Audio Books on CD

This past Christmas, my mother-in-law made a fabulous set of audio book recordings on CD for Emily.  I consider these priceless heirloom gifts.  Emily calls the CDs "Grandma Music".  Char choose three or four bedtime story books and recorded herself reading them using a program called Audacity. You can download Audacity for free by clicking here. Using a headset or microphone, you can record yourself reading books (or singing, or whatever)  and save it as an .mp3 which can later be burned to CD.  What I love the most about these very personal audio books is that Grandma left little messages for Emily such as "Goodnight, Emily, I love you."  Very sweet!  Since Christmas, Grandma has even emailed another .mp3 file which Mark burned onto CD.

Family Painting Time

Looking for some good quality time spent together as a family?  Try scheduling family painting time! All of us look forward to this when Mark comes home from work. After dinner, we clear off the kitchen table and spread out the paints, brushes, and paper. Altogether it was about an hour's worth of creative time and a lot of fun.  We plan to schedule family painting time at least once a week. Here are some of my favorite photos from last night:

I painted a couple of tree prints.

Even Clara was enjoying the fun!

Mark concentrates on his artwork.

Emily paints with some bright watercolors.

Afterwards, try to find a prominent place in your home to display your child's artwork. This can be a great source of pride.  

Does your family regularly schedule activity time together?  If so, I want to hear about it!  Leave a comment and share your idea with us!

Fun with Felt -- Ravioli

Emily spent a good deal of time this afternoon feeding her dolls these fabulous felt ravioli!  If you have never sewn before, this is a terrific starting project because the felt is very forgiving.  Since it is ravioli, the seams do not need to be perfectly straight.  

To make your own felt ravioli, you will need: 

1 sheet ivory felt

clear or white thread

sewing needle

fabric scissors

pinking shears

One small sheet of ivory felt should yield about 8 ravioli.  Fold the sheet in half horizontally and cut along the fold.  Repeat 4 more times until you have 16 equal pieces of felt, about 2 inches square each.  Take two squares and sew with clear or light-colored thread leaving about 1/4" inseam.  Sew three sides and stuff the ravioli with a cotton ball.  Sew up the fourth side.  Repeat until all 8 ravioli are sewn and stuffed with cotton balls.  Finally, use pinking shears to trim up the edges of each ravioli with a zig-zag edge, and you are done!

Reminder -- Free Coffee Mondays At McDonald's

Just a reminder, if you are heading out to work Monday morning, you might want to give yourself enough extra time to make a quick run to McDonald's.

For a limited time, McDonald's is offering a free premium roast coffee on Mondays.  I am not sure if this is nation-wide or not, but the last few times they offered it, it was.  Leave us a comment, and let it know if it is in your area, or not.  Yeah, free coffee!

Fun with Felt -- Pizza Set

The inspiration for this project came from a box used to deliver Omaha Steaks burgers. Back in October, I got a great deal on beef for 36 cents a pound!  You can read more about how I did that here, but the box was about the size of a personal pan pizza box.  We decorated the outside, and looked for felt to make a felt pizza set.

This time of year, you might be able to find red and green felt at deeply discounted prices.  We look for eco-felt that is made from recycled soda bottles.  Here's an easy felt no-sew project that Emily enjoyed.  She loves her felt pizza set!

To make the felt pizza set, you will need:

1 sheet red felt

1 sheet green felt

1 sheet tan felt

1 sheet ivory felt

1 sheet black felt

wax paper

cardboard box (Note: I've learned many pizza places will give you small boxes for free, so ask!)

markers

Cut out one large circle of tan for the crust, a slightly smaller circle of red for the sauce, and an even slightly smaller circle of ivory for the cheese.  If desired, use marker to draw "slices" of pizza on the ivory.  Cut up small squares of red and green for peppers, and some black circles for olives.  Use wax paper to line the box (just like real pizza)!  You can decorate your pizza box, if desired.

Tip -- This is a fabulous tool for teaching beginning fractions.  Ask your child to prepare a pizza with half green peppers and half red peppers, for instance.  Or try 1/4 plain, 1/4 black olives, 1/4 red peppers, 1/4 green peppers, etc. 

Lights in the Woods - An Update

A few days ago, I posted about Flint Hill Farm's Lights in the Woods event.  Last night, Mark and I bundled the kids up in layers and layers of clothes, packed everyone into the car, and drove 25 minutes to Coopersburg, PA to check it out.  For $5 per adult and $3 for children 3 and over, it seemed like it would be a good deal and a fun time enjoying a wagon ride, hot cocoa, a bonfire, etc.  And it was.  But just about everyone in the Lehigh Valley and their mother had the same good idea, which was fantastic for the farm.... but not so great for us.  Altogether, we spent over 2 hours in line for the wagon ride.  

Apparently, this was not a usual occurrence by any means, and we were told that previous nights enjoyed no lines and no waiting.  So I am very curious to hear from others who were there last night and other nights to compare experiences.  If you were there, please leave a comment and tell us about it, or send me an email.  (vdeneen (at) gmail (dot) com)  

In retrospect, it really was about $5 worth of fun.  But not quite $5 plus 2 hours of waiting + 25 minutes of driving worth of fun.  However, the girls were extremely patient and good the entire time, and Emily was super happy to be there.  We had lots of fun visiting the other animals on the farm, and spending some good quality time as a family.  It was also so fantastic to see such fabulous support for the farm, so overall I would say it was a success.  I would love to go back again next year, but I am hoping and praying that they consider investing in a second wagon!

Frugal New Year's Craft Idea -- Sparkly 2009 Banner

Emily had a great time making this sparkly 2009 banner!  You can add glitter glue or further decorate it, if desired.  To make this frugal 2009 New Year's Banner, you will need:

1. Two empty cereal boxes
2. Aluminum foil
3. Pencil
4. Glitter Glue (optional)
5. Yarn
6. Hole Puncher

Cut out the largest sides of the cereal boxes.  Draw the numbers on the back of the cereal box cardboard, one number for each piece of cardboard.  Cut pieces of aluminum foil into 4 inch squares.  Have your child wrap the foil pieces around each number.  Using a hole puncher, punch two holes in the top of each number and thread yarn through the holes to hang on a wall.

Frugal Family Fun -- Lehigh Valley

If you are in the Lehigh Valley, you might want to check out Lights in the Woods at the Flint Hill Farm Educational Center in Coopersburg, PA. Conditions were too muddy to go tonight, but they will have another run Tuesday night, December 30th from 5:30 to 8:30pm.  

Lights in the Woods includes horse-drawn wagon rides, strings of white lights throughout the woods, a bonfire, hot cocoa and other goodies.  The kids can visit with the farm animals, and the farm store will be open as well.  

Tickets are just $5 per adult, $3 per child, children 2 and under are free!   Reservations are recommended for groups of 10 or more.  

For more information, visit the Flint Hill Farm Educational Center's website, or click here for the event flyer.

Fabulous Frugal New Year's Eve Bash

New Year's Eve parties can easily get expensive, but with a little help from the Frugal Family Fun Blog, you will be able to start 2009 off with a Fabulous Frugal New Year's Eve Bash -- and be able to celebrate without the worry of extra holiday bills!    

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Guest List --  To help save money, consider limiting your guest list to the people who are the most important to you.  You don't need to invite the entire neighborhood.  Two or three other couples is just fine.
2. Free Babysitters -- When possible, take advantage of free babysitting help from grandparents or other relatives.  You could also take turns babysitting with another couple.  In exchange, you could offer to run some errands or cook for them.  This is a huge help, so be sure to thank your babysitters for all their hard work! 
3. Invites --  Sometimes the party's budget can be blown before the party even starts just because of expensive invitations!  Instead, try Evite.com and you will be able to send online invitations, track RSVP's, ask guests to bring an item, or send party updates quickly and easily.  Evite.com is free!
4. Lighting --  Use lighting and decorations that you already have on hand.  You could take down the Christmas tree (to free up some space), and use the lights around the party area.  Silver garland works well.  
5. Food --  Since your party will probably start late in the evening and go all night, you can easily skip a full holiday dinner.  Instead, offer lots of tasty homemade appetizers!  Click here for recipe ideas.  One of my favorites is Bacon-Wrapped Artichoke Hearts.  Here is the recipe:  

   Bacon Wrapped Artichoke Hearts:

   Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.  Cut bacon slices in half horizontally.  Wrap each artichoke heart in the 1/2 slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Serve immediately.  You can prepare large trays of these ahead of time and pop them in the oven when the party is about to begin!

6. Drinks --  Instead of loading up a full service bar, try serving one signature drink for the party.  Pomegranate Martinis make for a  festive drink everyone is sure to enjoy.  Click here for the recipe.  Be sure to include at least one non-alcoholic beverage.
7. Music --  Hiring a band can be very expensive, so instead try hooking up some speakers to your computer or iPod.  Set up a playlist in iTunes and you have a very inexpensive music solution.  You could also borrow music CDs from your local public library for free.  
8. Entertainment --  If one of your friends has a Wii, you could borrow it to set it up with some fun party games such as Wii Sports, Super Monkey Ball, or Mario Party 8.  Also, you could try some other fun games including CatchPhrase, Cranium, Taboo, and Apples to Apples.  Ask around if any of your friends have these games to see if you could borrow them.

Have any other ideas for a Fabulous Frugal New Year's Eve Bash?  I would love to hear about it.  Leave a comment and tell us about it!