Configure Your Own Cardboard Castle

We made this cardboard castle set, and it kept the girls happy and busy for a large part of this afternoon. For something as frugal as cardboard, it was a big hit!

Not only did they spend a lot of time immersed in pretend play, but they also really enjoyed getting to decorate the castle exactly the way they wanted. We did a sort of assembly-line style production. I cut the cardboard, Clara did some scribbling.....

.... then Emily took over to put on the finishing touches of flower drawings and glue on bits of colorful tissue paper!

With the help of a bit of wire, I was able to make a working drawbridge! The girls LOVED that!!

I enjoyed watching them come up with all sorts of different configurations for their castle.

The peg dolls seemed right at home here.... Hello, peg doll!

It was starting to get dark outside, and they were still having so much fun!

Finally, it was time to get dinner started, but I have a feeling we'll be enjoying a lot more play time with this castle for the next couple of days.... (or weeks)! 

I have some exciting things planned for our little bloggy-blog: Mark and I have been hard at work on a new layout that will make finding activities by theme, age, holiday, etc. SO much easier! There's even a section for "quick and easy" activities, and you can upload photos of your versions of our projects to share!!

Simple Farm Take-Along Toy

I had a bit of red and white wool felt leftover from the fold up kitchen set I made last week, which worked out perfectly to make this sweet travel farm set! It was an easy, quick and very frugal sewing project that gave the girls hours of imaginative play!

The animals are the free figurines that come with boxes of Red Rose Tea, and now they finally have a home. The girls loved this set so much, I couldn't keep them away from it!

The felt play mat folds up to fit inside the barn too. I added a handle to the barn so they can carry it with them wherever they go -- picnics, Grandma's house, the garden. The poor dog kept knocking on the barn door, but no one would let him in.

DIY: Travel Play Kitchen Set

This travel play kitchen set was super-frugal to make, and is perfect for small living spaces since the entire set folds up!

I'm thinking we'll take it with us for trips to the garden plot, visits with grandparents, or just playing outside in the backyard like we did this afternoon.

Pretend Play on a Dime -- Donut Shop

It rained all day today, so while Clara was napping, Emily and I had a nice pocket of time for some crafting. She worked on some adorable paper dolls, and I put this together -- A Mini Pretend Donut Shop!

I used tan felt to sew the donuts (and batting to stuff them), then cut out pieces of felt for the icing and even some sprinkles. I love how the shoebox lid doubles as a serving tray! 

I found an envelope to store all the icing pieces....

.... and the plain donuts also double as bagels! The girls thought the pieces of waxed paper were a nice touch.

Since all of the pieces fit so nicely into a small shoebox, I thought it would be perfect to take along on vacation just in case we have a day of rain.

Clara woke up just as I had finished putting the set together, and we played Donut Shop for hours!!! Emily and I got very specific with our orders so Clara could practice her counting, "I would like one donut with vanilla icing and 4 chocolate sprinkles, please. No more, no less!"

Oh, and she loved pretending to put sugar in my coffee. Did I mention she makes a mean mochachino?

Have fun!!

I linked this post to -- Show Us Your Best!

Pretend Play on a Dime -- Garden Center

Emily loves to pretend that she works at a garden center. She can spend hours arranging and re-arranging the flowers (as seen here), planting pretend seeds, and caring for her pretend plants. So Mark and I put together a little store front for her about a year ago, and she has been playing with it virtually every day since!

Mark put together the frame for the store front using inexpensive PVC pipe (thanks, honey!), and I sewed a banner from an old bed sheet. I painted the lettering using a freezer paper technique. 

Shop Update! Butterfly Play Set

Once upon a time, there was a little caterpillar who liked to eat lots of leaves.

When he was full, he spun a cocoon, and went inside.

He was in there for a long time!

Then, the cocoon started to move, and...... out came a beautiful butterfly!!

Emily had so much fun playing with this felt butterfly play set! If you would like one of your own, there is another set available for sale at our Etsy shop. [That was quick! Thank you, Marie!!] The proceeds from the sale go towards fundraising for the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event going on this weekend. While no one in our family is on the autism spectrum, Emily has several friends who are.

Included in the set are a butterfly, caterpillar, and a cocoon to store them in -- all made from felt and lovingly hand stitched by yours truly.

If you wish to make a donation toward the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event, please visit our team fundraising page. Thank you!!

Invisible Basketball

We had beautiful weather this afternoon, making it the perfect day for a fun game of basketball. There were just two problems:

1. We don't have a basketball, and

2. We don't have a hoop.

So while our neighbor was out running errands, we snuck over to his driveway for a quick game of INVISIBLE basketball. It was so much fun! Turns out, we are all invisible basketball super-stars! Who knew??

Mark is an expert dribbler....

.... and Emily got nothin' but net on every shot!

It was a close game!

Emily scored the game winning basket, right at the buzzer!

...and the crowd goes WILD!!

I'm thinking this has the potential to be an Olympic sport. Who's with me?

Penguin Playset Tutorial

We were going through the girls out-grown clothes and deciding which ones to donate to Goodwill, when Emily spotted these old microfiber tights. She declared we could make a penguin from them, and of course I had to agree!

To make your own penguin playset, you will need: some felt, thread, old microfiber stockings, and some stuffing. First, cut off the foot of the stocking (about 7" from the toe). The toe will be the top of the penguin's head.

Stuff your penguin!

Whip stitch the body shut. Pin and sew felt pieces into place for the eyes, nose, belly, and feet. Sew on arms, and sew along the neckline with a gather stitch.

We added a small fish for our penguin to eat and used some of our snowflake ornaments to decorate his "igloo" (an empty dishwasher detergent box). Emily notified me that tomorrow is the penguin's birthday, so he's very busy sprucing up the place.

We'll be adding a mama penguin and a baby too! Both of the girls really enjoy playing with this set. Now.... off to watch March of the Penguins.........

Handmade Holidays -- Dolly & Me Lounge Pants

I had purchased one yard of pretty flannel fabric at JoAnn back when it was on sale, with the intention of sewing some cozy lounge pants for Emily. When the pants were done, I had just enough fabric leftover for a fun pair of matching pants for Dolly. Emily was so happy with these!

Dolly kept insisting that her pant legs were too long, but I told her she'll grow into them.

The pants were very quick and easy to sew up, and I used a similar method to the one in Amanda Blake Soule's book The Creative Family. I had made pants like these for Emily before from a pillowcase, but I think she loved the idea of Dolly matching!

I think I have a tiny bit of fabric leftover from this jumper, and if I do, I'll be making a matching skirt for Dolly too!

Also, a big thank you to everyone who has voted for us for the Best Thrifty Homeschooler Award from Homeschool Post! The race is a close one, and if you haven't already voted, please go vote for Frugal Family Fun Blog. Tell all your friends! We need your vote!! There is no need to login and it only takes a second. Thank YOU!!!

You can't catch me!

All four of us enjoyed some late night baking this evening. We made gingerbread cookies! This is an activity Emily has been begging me to do for ages, but I'm not much of a baker. At all. Clearly, it was time to call in reinforcements! Hey, I know my limits.

First, find the perfect cookie sheet.

Next, get a big, strong, daddy to roll out the dough.

Be sure to turn on your oven light!

Cut out the gingerbread men, and make them talk to each other.

Assign someone to keep an eye on things and make sure the cookies don't burn.

Carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

Decorate! Oh dear, we did have one casualty....... *sniff*... poor guy. He didn't even see it comin'.

These guys looked much happier!

Craft!! Super quick and easy felt gingerbread men. 1. Trace cookie cutter. 2. Cut out felt. 3. Sew two layers of cut felt together. 4. Decorate with PUFFY PAINT for icing!
I don't know about you, but I'm thinking this is probably the best use for puffy paint I've seen in a long time!

In other exciting news, I just found out we have been nominated for a Homeschool Blog Award from The Homeschool Post! Please, please, please consider voting for us (there's no need to sign in). We have been nominated for two categories: Best Thrifty Homeschooler and Best Cyber Buddy Blogger!

More good news -- Dawn, (aka UK Lass), has granted me permission to sell some fun fabric dollhouses in our etsy shop. You can look for them there early next week -- just in time for the holidays! Thank you, Dawn!

Felt Food Giveaway... and Our New Etsy Shop!

It's our one year blogiversary! To celebrate, I thought we would revisit one of our first craft posts from the archive, do a fun giveaway, and open a new Etsy shop! We have been very busy around here!

One of the first crafts I ever posted at Frugal Family Fun Blog was for a felt ravioli play set. They are so simple, and yet the girls still enjoy playing with the set I made.

This afternoon, I added a felt bow tie pasta set to their felt food collection. It was a big hit, and the girls spent many hours immersed in their own world of pretend play! In case you don't have time to sew, I listed a couple of these in our new Etsy shop. I thought they would make perfect stocking stuffers!

Now the fun part, I thought you might want one of these fun felt pasta sets for your little one too! One lucky reader will win a handmade felt bow tie and felt ravioli play set!

To enter for your chance to win, leave a comment on this post (be sure to leave your email address in the comments field). Become a follower of Frugal Family Fun Blog or subscribe to our feed, and you're in for three more entries! Just leave a comment that you subscribe/follow.

Giveaway ends Saturday, November 7th @ 6:30pm EST, and winner will be selected by random.org and contacted via email for shipping information.

Good luck!!

Hey there Little Red Riding Hood

I finished sewing Clara's Halloween costume last night because there's no sense in waiting until the last minute, right?

Fortunately, this sweet hooded poncho for Little Red Riding Hood took less than 10 minutes to put together. I used 1 yard of costume fabric from JoAnn that was just $2.49/yard. Bargain!

I love that her "basket of goodies" doubles as a treat basket for trick-or-treating! It was a thrift store find for $0.25.

What are your little ones dressing up as?