i spy bottle

i think you know of my love/even-more-love relationship i have with pintrest.  it's the dev-o.  there is so much there that it's hard not to feel a bit.... overwhelmed.  but if you can muddle through and organize enough, you can usually find the gems, the things that you can actually use in your real life.

one thing is the i spy bottle.

there are several versions on pintrest, and they are all flippin awesome.  and bubby is getting to the age where he likes to explore and tell you what he sees.  so it was time to make one myself.  here's a quick instructable.

first start with the following: a bottle with a cap, a funnel, a spoon, rice, and things to put in the bottle.

we of course used little star wars figures, pumpkins, and itty bitty pots and pans from a doll house.  oh and beer caps.  be sure to check the size of the objects.  Yoda didn't fit.  

spoon the rice into the bottle via the funnel,  when you've got a good layer, add in all the toys, then cover with more rice.  be sure to leave enough room at the top for the rice to be able to move around.  otherwise you just have a bottle of rice.  and that's not fun to play with.  

put the cap on the bottle and watch your little one have fun spying the different objects.  i plan on gluing the cap on after he goes to bed.  i can see rice all over the floor if i don't.

awesome, huh?

Chalkboard Table Instruct-able!! a naptime project

if you follow me on twitter, facebook, or G+ (which is awesome by the way), you know that i've had an obsession of late with chalkboard paint.  i'm not sure what it is, but i love the stuff.  i blame pinterest.  that website has sucked away more of my life than angry birds ever did.  but i love it so.  i think i even threatened to chalkboard paint my kitchen counter tops.  it's still on the 'maybe' list.

couple my chalkboard obsession with the resolve to home school bubby.....  chalkboard table!!!  here's how it's made:

first, start with a tacky 70's coffee table.  (sorry hubby, but it was)

get a good quality chalkboard paint.  this was from Lowe's ( i love lowes)

i didn't pre-sand, and had no problems.  the first coat will go on looking a little thin.

but you'll be putting another coat on, don't worry.

it actually took less time for the paint to dry than for bubby to wake up from his nap.

i think he likes it, don't you?

my budding little artist

seriously, this was by far the easiest instruct-able i've ever done.  the whole thing was finished durring nap time, start to finish about 2 hours.  and most of that was watching paint dry.  i can totally see this table being well used in the future!

Magnet Board Instructable

i got a couple of cookie sheets from work today.  they were going to be thrown out if i didn't take them home.  and you all know how much i love free stuff.  so i CRAFTED!!!

here's how you make your very own magnetic boards from old cookie sheets:


first you need a couple of old cookie sheets and some spray paint

put the pan on a surface you don't mind getting splattered, like a garbage can:

spray till you have a nice even cover

and they will look something like this:

 or this

then by the time someone is ready to get out of the pool:

(yes, he's in there with his shoes on.  yeah.  i know)

they should be dry and you'll be ready to take them inside.

now you need some sticky back velcro, and attach it to the back like thus:

take the backing off the other half of the velcro and stick it where you want it.

i decided the inside of my 'witchy' cupboard was the perfect place.

and there you have it.  a simple easy way to make your own magnet board!