My son loves binoculars. He carries around a huge, heavy set, and finally we decided we needed to make some a little more his size. I like to use craft supplies we have on hand whenever possible, so here's what we did to make some fun binoculars:
What you'll need:
2 toilet paper rolls
1 sheet of foam paper (we used blue)
Crayons
Glue
Stapler
Hole punch
A string of yarn
How to make them:
The first thing we did was create a hand print camo on the foam paper. This will be the outside of the binoculars. My guy loves hand printing!
*we used crayons because we didn't have any markers on hand (har har). Markers would probably work even better, especially if your little one wants to color theirs, instead of hand printing.
Next, cut the foam paper in half and cut it down on the height to be about the same as the toilet paper roll
Probably his favorite part, the next step is to glue the foam paper and roll it around the toilet paper roll.
To be sure it stays put, I stapled the inside, far enough in that his fingers won't reach the staples.
Using a hole punch, put one hole on the outside of each roll and tie on a long piece of yarn to make the strap.
Guess what? You're done! Let the adventuring begin.
This spring, Atticus and I had dreams of a big garden. We started our seeds early, got excited as they grew and then planted them outside in our garden area. Then, my fear was realized and the weeds took over, much like they did last year, and soon our poor plants were drowning in unwanted neighbors. My husband urged me to give up on the big garden, and convinced us to dig the little plants up and re-plant them in pots. We did, and boy am I happy we listened to him (you were right, Hubs. There, I said it).
Every day, my little man goes out to greet his plants. He looks at them, feels them, smells them, waters and blows bubbles for them. I'm thrilled he's having so much fun and is getting excited for the veggies to grow so he can eat them.
Let's face it, its fun to get dirty! This is a simple craft any toddler will love. A bit messy, yes, but super fun. What's best is that they can hang their artwork creation on their bedroom wall, or make a bunch and give them to grandma and grandpa.
What you'll need:
A canvas (any size, we used a pretty big one so he could paint more-he's obsessed)
Washable Paints (Crayola's Washable Paints are fantastic and clean up quick and easily)
Newspaper or something to put the canvas on
It's been super rainy and my guy has been going stir-crazy in the house so we've been doing a little crafting around here. Together, we looked at some Pinterest boards of toddler crafts and he was super excited. We decided to go with the cork tree painting.
What you need:
Piece of paper (we used a large one)
Paints (we had the small dollar store ones on hand, so we went with those, but I think any would work)
Used wine corks (I save these, for some reason, and they sure came in handy today)
Paint brushes (unless you have paint you can pour onto a paper plate and dip the corks into; we didn't have those so we just painted the cork bottoms)
Paper bag for a tree stump (if you're child is older, they could probably just paint the stump, but we are in the tape/glue stage right now)
When my husband and I began planning our wedding, the first concern was
money. We have large families, and most of them had to travel to attend
the wedding. But, being the budget-er and do-it-yourself-er that I am,
we made it happen. Our wedding, which had about 130 guests and was
held in Saratoga Springs, NY was made a reality for about $8,000 total,
including our stay-cation honeymoon and an open bar. Here's some things
we did to cut down on costs:
The Dress
I went into dress shopping with no real idea of what I wanted, so off I
went with most of my bridesmaids, my 3-month old son, my mom and
mother-in-law. I tried on a bunch, but (probably because I had just had
a baby) a lot of them looked maternity and I didn't like any of them.
Except one, which when I walked out of the dressing room and in front of
my clan, it was an overwhelming SAY YES TO THAT DRESS! I was lucky
enough to find my dress on the first stab at dress shopping; a
one-of-kind dress, no less. There weren't even any photos of it
anywhere. Best part: to my utter shock and surprise the price tag read
$99.
Bridesmaids
I wanted to be sure my bridesmaids didn't need to spend a fortune for
our wedding, so I gave them a color, and let them choose what they
wanted to wear. Because we had a fall wedding, it was perfect, because
the dresses reminded me of leaves changing in the fall. For their
gifts, I wanted them to personal, so I made each one a crocheted
clutch. Even if you don't crochet, there are so many awesome options on
Etsy. (if you want some just like these, visit my shop Crooked By Design and just send me a message!)
Date and Location
When it came time to set a date, my husband immediately told me he
wanted a fall wedding, specifically on 11.11.11. To our surprise, the
venue was available and we booked right away. Our reception was at the Saratoga Elks Lodge,
and the menu was a Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings. Of all
the things at our wedding, the delicious food was the most talked about
part. It was amazing.
Though we were on a tight budget, we wanted to treat our guests to
an open bar, since most of them were traveling and had the added cost of
hotels. I didn't think it was going to be budget-friendly, but it was
only $8 per person the entire reception. This did include even
children, who could get sodas, but still, it was an amazing deal.
Invitations
We went with Vistaprint
for both save the dates and formal invitations. They were a great
deal, and once we purchased the dates, we received a coupon 20% our next
order, which was used on our invitations.
Center Pieces
Center pieces are a very DIY friendly part of the wedding. We made ours
from mason jars, filled them with frozen cranberries (which were in
season and super cheap) and then added a plain white candle in them.
Around we put some leave printed ribbon (about a dollar for a roll) and
created a wreath like bed for the jar sit on. They were easy and quick
to assemble and looked great. To add a little to it, we put ceramic
pumpkins on each table too.
One of my favorite parts were the table numbers. We had my brother take
photos of us holding up a chalk board sign and made a different one for
each table. We loved the idea of our guests seeing personal photos of
us together and we had fun with the editing, making some very saturated
and some black and white. To assemble them, all we did was cut a slit
on a wine bottle cork and placed it on the table.
Flowers
Arguably one of the most expensive parts of a wedding, I was determined
not to spend a fortune on them. One of my bridesmaids gave the idea to
make a brooch bouquet and it came out wonderful. Ok, truth be told, I
had absolutely nothing to do with it since my husband surprised me by
staying up one night and assembling it for me.
You're probably wondering where we got all the brooches, and that's the
best part! For my bridal shower, the invitations asked each guest to
bring a brooch and we made it from all the ones we received. At the
reception we set it in a vase and it made for a great talking piece for
our guests. One of my favorite parts about it was that I will always
have it.
For the bridesmaids bouquets, we went to the grocery store the day
before the wedding and got a bunch of bouquets (I believe we spent $40
total for six bridesmaids and both moms) and had them assemble their own
using all different flowers while they waited to get their hair done.
Add some ribbon and ka-bam! Bouquets on a budget.
The Cake
I'm gluten free so we were unsure what to do about the cake situation.
We opted to do a cupcake tower for our guests and a small gluten free
one for us. This cut way down on cost and people loved them! The
cupcakes were $90 total and the gluten free cake was about $40 and made
by the amazing Cake.
Photography
Another huge cost is a photographer. We were so lucky to have an
amazing photographer friend who helped us out and saved us tons, but
there are other ways to save too. A lot of new photographers are
looking for experience and are fabulous, so look into college students
studying photography or friends who are great with a camera. Having
someone who knows you take the photos makes them that much more
personal.
The Stay-cation
We had a one year old to think about when planning our honeymoon and I
wasn't ready to leave him for a prolonged period of time. Also, we had
recently moved to Saratoga and were still getting to know the amazing
town, so we decided a staycation was just what we needed. We had the
grandparents stay with Atticus and we stayed at the amazing Gideon Putnam Resort.
Because we didn't have to pay for airfare or travel, we explored our new
city and went to all the restaurants we otherwise wouldn't have been
able to go to and indulged in a couples massage at the spa. We went
bowling and saw a movie. It was a great few days away!
In case you're dying for a sappy love story video, I have prepared this one about how we met:
Hello! I'm so glad you're here. I'm Amanda, a gluten free mom of three running my Etsy shop and diy-ing the heck out of everything, all during naptime!
