Popsicle Sidewalk Chalk

     Today I am going to share with you the perfect outdoor summer activity.

     After  looking at this, from Brittany, at Buttons, Birds, and BS it inspired me to create Sidewalk Popsicle Chalk Paint.  In the past we have painted with chalk paint  and the kids loved it!  I knew they would love this as well and they did!

Sidewalk Popsicle Chalk Paint
You will need:

• ice cube tray
• bowls for mixing
• water
•  cornstarch
• stirring utensils
• food coloring
• popsicle sticks (Britney also used straws)
• Liquid measuring cup (or something to pour liquid easily in ice cube tray)

Add 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch in a bowl

Then add 2 Tablespoons of water and stir.

Add a few drops of food coloring and stir.

Pour mixture into liquid measuring cup

Pour liquid into ice cube tray

 Add popsicle sticks.

I froze for 3 hours and then transferred to plate to play outside and have a blast!!

C had fun painting this brick.  I loved that the paint disappeared when I dumped water on it!

C ran and threw a tantrum when we were out of paint.  She was not happy!  

    The popsicle sidewalk chalk cleaned up easy with the garden hose.   I  sprayed water on the concrete to wash the paint off when I watered the garden that night.

    We had a blast painting with Popsicle Sidewalk chalk!  I hope you try it with your kids.  They will love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Shawna

I'm linking: I heart Nap Time, It's Overflowing, nifty thrifty Things, Growing a Jeweled Rose-Kid's Co-Op, Growing a Jeweled Rose, skip to my lou, Keeping it Simple, C.R.A.F.T, The Southern Institute, Under the Table and Dreaming, CraftOManiac, sumo's sweet stuff, Mad in Crafts, a bowl full of lemons, Clean and Scentisible, Savvy Southern Style, A Diamond in the Stuff, Organize and Decorate Everything, Today's Creative Blog, My Girlish Whims, The 36th Avenue, Southern Lovely, Polkadots on Parade, Mom on Timeout, Growing a Jeweled Rose, Lil' Luna, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, House of Hepworths, Made in a day, No Time for Flashcards, I Can Teach My Child, ABC and 123, Gluesticks, At The Picket Fence, Tidymom

Kids Activity Closet Overhaul

    Wow!  This closet has definitely seen better days.  I organized this closet about 6 months ago and it looked okay for a while but I decided that the $1 open baskets  from Dollar Tree were just not working.  They do not stack nicely.  They will work for some areas in my house possibly my closet but not this place. 

      Now, the good thing is I have kept most of the stuff together.  For example, all the play dough is with all the play dough.  All the stickers are mostly all together.  The paper is all together.  But nothing stacks and everything is different sizes so it looks awful.  Some of the containers are too small for what I had in them so items are overflowing.  Every time I open this closet I get frustrated. 

    
    So I took everything out of the closet and got to work.  Because this door is in a hallway and can be opened by children, I need to put things that are okay (well not okay, but won't harm them or be annoying to pick up) if they get it out on the lower shelves. 

      I already store items such as colors, glue, drawing paper, and paint in a kitchen cabinet because those are items we use 1-3 times a day.  But other items, sensory activities, play dough, art materials, construction paper, puzzles, stickers and much more are stored in the hallway closet. 

  I plan on moving my books and folders into the office shelves.  I do not use them very often.  They are taking up valuable space storage space.
   I  plan on keeping a bin that stores our projects.  That way a year from now I can see what we made.  And re use the idea in a few years or with a new set of kids.  

Here are the before and after pictures

Top shelf before

 After

    
     Although, I still have items stacked on top of each other.  They stack nicely.  These are activities that we use occasionally maybe 1-2 times a week.  I am a taller person so I can easily reach this shelf without using a step ladder.

Second from top shelf before

After

I moved the paints into a cabinet in the kitchen because we use them daily right now. 

Third shelf before

After

Wow! So much better. 

Bottom shelf before

Because this is the bottom items got shoved easily into this place. I have put empty containers that we use for exploring and a clothing container for each of my Childcare kids.  

After

   I love the new organized closet.  After organizing the closet again I realized it looked much worse than it was.  The main problem was the containers were open and were all different sizes.  But I am so happy I did re-organize it because I smile when I open the closet instead of frown.

Trucks and slides Oh my!

    Today my friends I have a fun and easy activity that your kids will love doing outside!  It is easy.  It takes no prep work just a slide and trucks or cars. 

   
     C and K loved racing the trucks down the slide.  They spent 30 minutes dropping the truck, watching it go down the slide, sliding down to the truck, and then climbing back up to do it all over again.  It was a good activity for taking turns.  They had to wait for the other to climb before they could use the ladder. 
  
     Modifications:   If you have preschoolers or older children you could use a variety of sizes of trucks and make observations based on their size and distance they travel.  Does a smaller car go farther or a bigger car?  What would happen if the slide was carpet?  Would it go slower or faster?  The possibilities are endless. 
  
    I hope you do this at home with your children!  They will love it! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Shawna

Cork board frame-Easy 5 minute project

   Today I am going to share with you an easy and fast project to help you deal with this.

     Besides the chick, that artwork was all 2-3 days work (probably less) and that's after getting rid of a few pages. C loves painting, coloring, playing with stickers, and crafting.

     A couple months ago, I purchased two frames from Target that open easily and display artwork.  The problems are one of them is still not hung and I don't find it as easy access to change out when it's on the wall. I have to take it off the wall and open it up and then adjust the new piece of art to look nice. It's great for something special that your child made that you want hung up for awhile, but not for something that you want to change out on a daily or weekly basis in my opinion.

     I have looked around for other ideas of displaying art. I created a large frame of artwork (here), it is more of a permanent piece. I want something in the kitchen that can be changed frequently and with about the same effort as hanging art on the fridge.  Kids love seeing their art they created displayed.

     I love the look of having artwork in a frame, but not the amount of effort it takes to change it out on a daily basis so I decided to create a cork board frame that looks nice and is easy to display artwork. 

So simple!

Materials you will need

• Frame
• Mat
• artwork
• corkboard

1. Gather your materials

2. Remove the back of the frame and the glass

3. Lay the mat on the back of the frame

4. Lay the cork on top of the frame

5. Lay the backing over the cork board and seal shut

Step back and admire your work! That's it!

I love how quick and it easy it was do!

   I am so happy with the way it turned out!  It was so easy to make.  I love that I can prop the frame on an easel or hang it on a wall. I hope you make one! I gotta go...off to make another one!

*You can see how we made the flower art here.


Thanks for stopping by!

Shawna

I'm linking to
Mom on Timeout
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
happy hour projects
At the Picket Fence
Someday Crafts
Tatertots and Jello
Christina's Adventures
Liz Marie Blog
Two Sasters