Step Stool

I am all about an organized home and making life a little bit easier. So when I came across this folding step stool at Hobby Lobby a few months back I was thrilled. It opens and closes easily (even my three year old daughter has mastered it) and has a handle for easy carrying from room to room. We like to have one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen so my daughter can easily reach the sink. I love that it folds up flat for easy storage! I would not recommend it for adults but it is perfect for little kids who are not tall enough to reach the sink. Here is the link to the Hobby Lobby page where you can find out more about it. I also love that it only cost me $5.99! Super deal!

Happy 3rd Birthday! Dora Theme Birthday Party!

I love throwing themed parties and birthday parties are no exception! My daughter turned three in January and requested a Dora the Explorer themed party. I give her a few suggestions of things I know she is currently interested in and let her make the final decision. That is how we wound up with a Dora themed party.

The first thing I did was search the internet for ideas. This took place over the next few weeks...yes I start planning birthday parties about eight weeks in advance.

Next I made the guest list.

Then I "booked" the place for the party. Since it is January in Nebraska I could rule out anywhere outside! I went to my resources and asked my grand-mother-in-law if she could reserve the reception/cafeteria at the retirement community where she lives. It is a perfect place to have a party! You may also consider an apartment club house, a church reception area, a Masonic hall, an enclosed park shelter...use your imagination and your resources! 

Now it was time to get started on the invitations. I dislike store bought invitations...they just aren't for me. I'd rather make and add some personal touches to our invitations.

Invitations:

 Front of the envelope (made to look like Dora's backpack)

 Back of envelope 

Invitation (I made at home on my computer and printed on a white card stock paper)

Next it was time to start on the decorations and brain storm food ideas. Here is what I came up with!

Decorations:

The sign I made for the front door! 

(Materials used: computer, printer, computer paper, scrapbook paper, thin card board, painters tape to hang it up)

Homemade binoculars placed in a basket from the Dollar Tree on the guestbook table for the kids to use on their scavenger hunt and to take home afterwards.

(Materials used: toilet paper rolls, colored card stock paper, Dora stickers, yarn, a hole punch, and a stapler)

Dora, Diego (and Boots...not pictured) masks placed on the tables for guests to play with. I made 15 total for each child (and some adults) to take home. 

(Materials used: computer, printer, white card stock paper, scissors, hot glue/glue gun, and tongue depressors).  

You can find the masks here along with several other character masks!

Homemade Dora and characters wands placed in clear glass vases with colored tissue paper in the middle of the tables. Each child got to take one home with them! 

(Materials used: long dowel sticks from Michael's Craft Store cut into thirds by my husband, hot glue/glue gun, colored card stock paper...I used my cricut to cut the circles, colored ribbon, computer/printer, printer paper) 

Here are the decorated tables....purple table cloths (purchased from the Dollar Tree), streamer/crepe paper in pink down the middle of the tables, crayons, large Dora coloring pages (purchased from Walmart), Dora and character table toppers (homemade), Dora candy (purchased from Party America), the Dora wands in the glass vases, and the character paper masks.

Another view of the table decorations!

Here is a close up!

A close up of the wands in the glass vases with colored tissue paper!

Here is a close up of the Dora and characters table toppers. 

(Materials used: colored card stock, white card stock, computer/printer, hot glue/glue gun, tooth picks, styrofoam, scissors) 

A close up of the gift bags used during the party as part of the table decorations. They are decorated to look like Dora's backpack. Inside I included 2 small coloring pages (rolled and taped), a small pack of crayons, candy in pink, purple and orange, bubbles, and Dora stickers!

Food:

A homemade Dora and Boots cake. I used boxed white cake mix that we colored the batter pink, orange and purple (see picture below). We frosted it with white frosting, used these Dora and Boots cake toppers (from a Dora game), and put on colored sprinkles! It was yummy! 

 Some of the items on the serving table! We had nachos with cheese sauce (warming nearby in a crock pot), salsa, nacho trays and jalapenos. We labeled this area "Dora's Nacho's". All the food (except the jalapeno's and the homemade hot salsa) came from Sam's Club!

Next to "Dora's Nachos" we had candy coated chocolate balls (from Incredible Bulk). Laffy Taffy, bubble gum, and flavored tootsie rolls in pink, purple and orange (from the bulk area at Super Saver). And "Map's String Cheese" which we drew Map's face on using sharpie markers (bought on sale in a large bag at Super Saver). 

 Here is a close up of "Map's String Cheese"

 We also made "Map's Rice Krispie Treats". I got these in a big box of assorted kinds at Sam's Club. We printed off map's face onto regular white printer paper and taped it around the Rice Krispie Bars!

Dora's sidekick is Boots....he's a blue monkey! So we decided to make "Boot's frozen chocolate covered bananas". We bought bananas a few days before the party, dipped them in chocolate almond bark, put some colored sprinkles on them and popped them in the freezer. They were yummy! 

 

 My husband and I also made these yummy chocolate cake balls! We used colored chocolate and colored sprinkles on these!

Oh so yummy punch. Ingredients: 2 liter sprite, 1 frozen raspberry lemonade from concentrate, 2 oranges sliced, and frozen red grapes! 

 Here is the inside of our tie-dye cake!

 And a close up of the punch!

Monster Repellent Spray

A few months back while doing one of my late-night-I-can't-sleep-yet-I'm-so-tired searches on Pinterest I came across this adorable and very clever monster repellent spray idea! I pinned it "just-in-case" even though my daughter (and son) had not shown any fears toward monsters hiding out in their closets or under the bed....that was until a few nights ago.

I was so glad I pinned the post as it came in handy! I quickly pulled up the post, downloaded the label, and hit print! I grabbed a air freshener from my stock pile and some tape and within seconds it was ready to go!

My daughter (with the help of my husband) armed with the monster repellent spray went on a hunt that evening to rid the house of all things monster related! It was really cute to watch and my daughter was satisfied the monsters were gone! And as a plus the house smelled nice afterwards!

Note: We keep the spray (along with all our other cleaners) in a locked closet in the hallway which my daughter and son cannot get into without help from us. You can read more about toddler and infant proofing your house soon (the post is a work in progress right now!) In the mean time, go make yourself some monster spray!

Potty Training Must Have!

Is it strange to say I'm in love with our new toilet seat? If you have ever had to potty train using a portable potty chair, you know how much of a pain it is to empty into the toilet and clean the thing...every single time!

My daughter also decided to be "helpful" a few times... she would go on her own and dispose of it on her own making a little mess each time. Having a home daycare I have potty trained a few kids so each time I've dreaded this part. Why not make it easier? I thought there has to be something better than this!

Our new toilet seat with the potty seat down! 

Then one day as I was on pinterest I came across the solution! A built in potty seat! Within the week my husband bought it from the hardware store and installed it!

 Our new toilet seat with the toilet seat folded up! It fits right inside the lid!

It is so easy to clean. A bonus is that the lid is slow closing so no little pinched fingers! Here is a link to one online. We paid around $30 for ours! It is well worth it!

Note: I still have a portable seat that goes with us when we travel or spend the day at the grandparents.

Color Recognition

My soon-to-be sister-in-law called me up one day to share with me that the store she managed at had a bunch of cute teacher supplies on sale. She took a few pictures with her phone and messaged them to me. At the prices they were marked down to and with how cute they were (even though I did not have a plan for them yet) I was sold! I asked her to pick me up one of each item and paid her upon delivery....Yep! She's that awesome!

It took me a few months to figure out what to do with these sets of cute crayons. One day I decided to take a matching marker and write the name of each crayon on it. I then took a pen and outlined the word to really make it "pop". I then asked my daughter if she wanted to "color" things around the house with me. The game was to match the color of the crayon with the colors in the house. I had her pick a color from the pile and off we went room to room looking for the same color items. She loved it.

About once a week she will take these crayons out and go around all on her own pretending to color around the house. It was so easy to make and has provided endless hours of fun and education. Here is a website where you can print off your own crayon and color it in.

Note: After a few times of use I decided to laminate them as I started to see a little bit of wear on them.