gifts for preschool boys

A Disguise is 13 oz or less

10.20.11

This week, we decided we wanted to mail a disguise.

So we put together a few disguise pieces.
It is no good having just one disguise, you have to have options.
I stuffed everything in a clear box, but it was bulging with all those sneaky disguise options, I think I may just try using a ziplock bag next time and drop that in the mail.
We’ll be sending off this complete, master-of-disguise kit in the mail this afternoon. So someone we know can cloak herself in complete mystery.

And while I have you here, I wanted to share a couple extra notes.

I have a little interview over at Power of Moms in which I bear all about motherhood. It’s an honor to be mentioned among a lot of awesome moms on PoMs.

And speaking of amazing moms, a big giant thank you to Gabrielle of Design Mom for her kind mention. (I had a darling friend call me laughing and squealing as I was starting this post to tell me about the link. Thanks for making me look awesome, Design Mom.)

Happy mailing.

and incase you’d like to see a little more, here is my favorite fun mail inspiration from the archives (or follow my 13 oz or less Pinterest board, or see it all right here):

find postage rates for happy mail right here along with other mailing details

{ 28 comments }

School Supplies are 13 Ounces or Less

08.11.11

I have a couple things I’d like to admit.

one. I am in total denial that school is going to be starting. Is anyone else feeling this? Summer, oh summer, where did you go?

two. Despite that, when I walked into Target and and was met by all the school supplies last week, and then saw all of this back to school goodness pop up on my google reader, I couldn’t help but get just a little of that back-to-school buzz.

So, even though I am going to spend the last days of summer cramming in all the swimming, snow cones, and late night reading I can, I am kind of getting into the back-to-school thing on the side.

I thought you’d like to see something I mailed off yesterday.

Remember when my friend Sherry and I exchanged bottles of goodies via post? Well, when I came home with a bag full of school supplies, I couldn’t help myself.
I started with colored pencils.
I wrapped up a few other back-to-school goodies in tissue paper and stuffed them in too.
And of course, with all those colored pencils, there had to be something to color. So I rolled up a few coloring pages.
In it all went,
and the lid went on.
On went the stamps. (I checked USPS postage rates, and 5 first class stamps were enough to mail my 5 ounces of goodies.)
And the only thing left to do was drop it in the big blue mailbox.

and incase you’d like to see a little more, here is my favorite fun mail inspiration from the archives (or follow my 13 oz or less Pinterest board, or see it all right here):

find postage rates for happy mail right here along with other mailing details

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A Pair of Flip Flops is 13 Ounces or Less

07.14.11

Since starting my series about happy mail, I have heard a suggestion from a few of you I’ve been dying to try. And finally this week I did it. I mailed a flip flop.
Just four stamps, and in the big blue box it went.
The other flip flop goes out next week.

and incase you’d like to see a little more, here is my favorite fun mail inspiration from the archives (or follow my 13 oz or less Pinterest board, or see it all right here):

find postage rates for happy mail right here along with other mailing details

{ 53 comments }

Those Balls Your Kids Always Want to Play with at the Store are 13 Ounces or Less

05.12.11

I opened my email one day to find a note with these adorable pics in it.
You are looking at two little cousins, one who decided to mail her cousin a ball, and the other who opened her mail box to find it. Thank you, Brenda, for sending these. I do not think these sweet cousins could be any cuter.

Of course that put me over the edge and we had to try this ourselves.

Sharpies were essential so we pulled out our favorite colors. We stamped a couple balls and decided we needed extra decoration.
So we scribbled on foil with our sharpies and cut out a few stars and ran them through the sticker maker for a little extra flash.
This is my daughter and her cute friend who came along with us for icees and then to the post office to get postage.

I asked my post office worker to just give me stamps so I could take a picture for you before I mailed them. He gave me two 98-cent stamps for each. And now we have the balls all set to send out. We are waiting for a couple certain occasions and I am getting near giggly just thinking about it.

and incase you’d like to see a little more, here is my favorite fun mail inspiration from the archives (or follow my 13 oz or less Pinterest board, or see it all right here):

find postage rates for happy mail right here along with other mailing details

{ 46 comments }

Eggs in the Mail

04.07.11

It worked.
If you missed it, you can get postage details right here.

I am now sending more little eggs on their way.

and incase you’d like to see a little more, here is my favorite fun mail inspiration from the archives (or follow my 13 oz or less Pinterest board, or see it all right here):

find postage rates for happy mail right here along with other mailing details

{ 46 comments }

Plastic Eggs are 13 Ounces or Less

03.31.11

There is something I love about bright plastic Easter eggs. I picked up a row of jumbos at the grocery store last weekend.

I got thinking about the fun of discovering eggs during an egg hunt, and thought it might be fun to discover one or two in a mail box.
So I packed a few up with goodies,
stuck on a label and a few stamps,
and am dropping them in a big blue mailbox today. For all the happy mail I’ve sent up to now, I’ve had postage added at the counter. Mostly because I like to walk up and nonchalantly drop a shovel or something else on the counter, like mailing plastic shovels is just something I do. Also because I love the workers at my post office and because I always meet the nicest people in line. But today I’m trying stamps. We’ll see if they go.

If they do, I will be filling a few eggs for grown ups too. Because when else do you get to be surprised by a plastic egg after the age of 12? I’m just needing a few good things to tuck inside? Sudoku? Hmmm. Any ideas?

<<UPDATE >>
It worked!! I ended up having to change postage, here’s what I used:
I mailed 1-ounce eggs using a 98-cent teton stamp + a postcard stamp
I mailed 2-ounce eggs using a 98-cent teton stamp + a forever stamp
You can see US postage rates for first-class mail right here (scroll down to “packages”).

and incase you’d like to see a little more, here is my favorite fun mail inspiration from the archives (or follow my 13 oz or less Pinterest board, or see it all right here):

find postage rates for happy mail right here along with other mailing details

{ 100 comments }

Silly Putty is 13 Ounces or Less (+ Printable Label)

03.03.11

It has been a while since I’ve done a post about happy mail. I am brimming with all kinds of new ideas, so I think you’ll be seeing more happy mail around here. (If you’re new here, you can see more happy mail ideas at the end of this post.)

Did you ever do this with silly putty as a kid? It was my favorite. I also liked to make bubbles in the putty and pop em.
This week I put together a package to mail that was nice and simple. I used an empty plastic spice canister, tucked in a roll of newspaper and couple eggs of silly putty, and mailed it off.

One little canister, hours of fun.

I’m including the label, incase you’d like to use it. I originally made this to send out with my Christmas cards this year, but now I use it for everything. Do you like it?
(I like to print on this full-sheet label paper,which is a complete steal, 100 sheets for ten bucks.)

Either Download from DropBox by clicking here: Mailing Label
or download here: Printable Fold-over Labels (3917)

and incase you’d like to see a little more, here is my favorite fun mail inspiration from the archives (or see it all right here):

find postage rates for happy mail right here along with other mailing details

{ 17 comments }

Doodleable Shadow Puppets

02.15.11

We made a new discovery over here that I am excited to share. We discovered how to doodle our own shadow puppets. How fun is that?

I always like to keep a few wet erase overhead markers on hand at our house. They are perfect for writing love notes on mirrors or drawing targets on windows for nerf gun shooting practice (yes, I have little boys). We discovered that with our markers and a few overhead projector sheets, we could create a new cast for any shadow performance we could dream up. You can also print right on the transparency paper if you’d like to use an image you already have, or create silhouettes of your own kiddos.

If you’ve been around for a while, you’ve probably seen my shadow puppet theater tutorials (I made a big elaborate version here, and a simple pretty version here). Several of you have written in with beautiful versions you’ve made yourselves.

All you need is a few simple supplies.
transparency sheets (I bought three individual sheets from the photocopy desk at an office supply store)
wooden craft sticks
super glue
wet erase markers

I cut the sheets in half, then folded them in half and creased them well. I inserted the craft stick between the layers, squeezed some superglue on both sides, then set a book on top to keep it in place until it dried, and that was it. A few moments of prep followed by hours of three-act plays in our family room about princesses, Mario, and a host of other characters, real and made up. It was great.

p.s. I have a friend who teaches and talked about making a life sized theatre for her classroom. How cool would that be?

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DIY Shadow Puppet Theatre

12.13.10

I’m not sure if you’ve been around long enough to remember the last shadow puppet theater I made for my kids? We love that thing. Just last week we turned down the lights, lit up our Christmas tree, and used our theatre to dramatize our version of the Grinch (the Grinch was played by a green T-Rex toy. Very apropos).

The only problem is, the last time I made a theater, it was an involved project. But I wanted to make another. So I came up with a slightly simpler version. I’m so pleased with how it turned out. Do you like it? I’m including the DIY here because you could totally still whip out one of these in time for Christmas.

supplies & equipment:
-panel of fabric, solid-color and thin enough so light can shine through
-contact paper
-acrylic or fabric paint
-small sponge roller (available for a dollar or two at any craft store)
-extra fabric scraps and fabric glue for embellishments
-paper or plastic to protect your work surface

method:
1. Lay your fabric flat and cut to the size you’d like your theater to be. No need to hem the edges, they won’t fray once we’re done with them (see! so easy.)

2. Lay the contact paper down and sketch the shape of your theatre. The places where you stick the contact paper will be the places where the light is able to shine through the fabric. Cut out the shape, remove the backing, and stick the contact paper onto your fabric.

3. Get out your roller and start painting. Roll paint everywhere fabric is showing. Don’t be stingy. Roll right to the edges.

4. Allow the paint to dry. Peel off and discard the contact paper. Now notice the fabric edges do not fray because they are painted? Nice.

5. Cut out fabric scraps for any special touches you’d like to add, and glue them on with fabric glue.

Stand back and admire your new theater! When you’re ready to use it, you have a few options, but the simplest is just to tie a piece of string between two chairs and clothespin your theatre to the string. All you need is a flashlight and a puppeteer or two and you’re ready for a performance.

{ 14 comments }

DIY: Growth Chart

11.04.10

Hello Readers! Crystal here with a super easy DIY growth chart.

I have been on the look-out for a really great growth chart for months. I came across Miss Natalie’s Heirloom Growth Chart and loved it immediately, but knew the paper tags would not last long in my house with two rambunctious boys, and I really wanted foot markings on the chart so it would be easy to track my children’s height. I kept searching but didn’t find anything that really fit the bill. A few weeks later, it dawned on me that I could make my own version of Miss Natalie’s! Here is my method:

Gather your supplies:

6-feet of jute webbing (can be purchased online or at craft stores. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby.)
Dowel
Fusible interfacing
Fabric (not shown)
A small amount of Tyvek (or other suitable material. I think these would be cute, as would canvas. I choose Tyvek because it is lightweight and super durable)
Safety pins

Iron the fusible interfacing onto the fabric and cut out numbers.

I started my 1-foot mark 6-inches from the bottom of the webbing, and then measured every 6-inches for the subsequent marks.

After all six feet are labeled, start adding tags. I used a green marker for Lincoln (his favorite color!) and a blue marker for Henry (who is still too young to voice a favorite color.)

I hung the growth chart with a dowel and a strip of the same fabric I used for the numbers. But how great would it look hanging from a grommet?? I wish I would have thought about that before I finished the dowel/fabric set up! I also added a dowel at the bottom to keep the chart hanging straight.

And viola! A growth chart!

Have you ever DIY’d something when you haven’t been able to find certain features on a product? What did you create? What alterations did you make?

+++

Crystal stops by GiversLog a couple times a month to share her fresh ideas. When she’s not writing for GiversLog, Crystal can be found mothering, knitting, and cooking, and is currently navigating the unknown waters of woodturning.

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Shoot-Along Gift Idea: Special Edition Book

11.03.10

Hello, and welcome to this week’s shoot-along post. I’m featuring one photo tutorial, photo gift idea, or photo challenge every Wednesday from summer through December. Scroll to the bottom of today’s post to see more from the shoot along.

One of our favorite books in the world is I Like Starsby Margaret Wise Brown. It is sweet and dreamy.

So for my one-year-old niece’s birthday, we decided to give her one copy of the original.
And one special edition.

We used pics of all the cousins, and I had my kids sticking stars all over every page.

The result was pretty great. I’m sure there are other books that would work for this. Ideas? What is your favorite children’s book?

I’m thinking it would also be cool to actually stage photos for a book and keep backgrounds. It would have to be the right book. Hmmm.

Join the Shoot-Along right here

Tutorials to date:
Tell the Story | Light pt I | How to Boss Your Camera Around (shoot in manual) | Work Your Light Meter

Challenges to date:
Sour Face | A Trick for Capturing the Ordinary | Then + Now Scavenger Hunt | Feet Portraits

Gift Ideas to date:
Portrait Buttons | Photo Games | Photo Game Markers |Photo Booth Round Up | Special Edition Book

Thank you, Carrie!

{ 6 comments }

Handmade Gift Guest: Anna of Hey Bubbles

11.01.10

I have been loving our gift retreat so far. I hope you have too. And I have been feeling spoiled by all the lovely guests and your comments about what you would make if we were all spending the weekend crafting together (feel free to chime in). We have five more talented guests still to spoil us, starting with today’s.

Anna of Hey Bubbles has been one of my heros for a long time. She lives in Brisbane with her two adorable little girls, and makes a million
beautiful
things for them (how cute is this girls’ apron set she gave as a gift?) She also bakes. Yum. I’m excited to leave you in Anna’s hands, which I will do right now.

+++

One of my favourite ‘go-to’ handmade gifts for children is a handmade pencil roll.

There are a few reasons why I like this present
- Generally I try to avoid buying more plastic toys when I’m giving a gift to a child. Mainly because everyone seems to have so many, I know my children do, and as a mum I appreciate not having to find the space for even more toys amongst our clutter.
- If I’m giving a handmade gift I like to try and pair it up with something small that I have bought. So a handmade pencil roll together with a cute colouring in book and maybe some stickers works really well.
- They work for boys and girls and most little kids I know like colouring in and drawing
- They’re really handy to take with you if you’re going to a restaurant or somewhere else you need to entertain a little one quietly for awhile.

I don’t use a pattern to make mine. I just measure my pencils and go for it. But there are lots of great tutorials around in blog-land for how to make these, you just need to do a quick search for ‘pencil roll tutorial’ and you’ll find many to choose from.

Here are a couple of other ones I have made in the past.

On a different note, have a look at the absolutely beautiful knitted matryoshka dolls my youngest daughter, Polly, recently received. If I could knit, these would definitely be on my list – they can be played with now, and it’s something beautiful enough to display as she gets older!

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Maps of Your World

09.24.10

A while back, Erin from LetterSoup posted about the most adorable neighborhood map her mother made for her kids. Don’t you love it? I was, of course, completely in awe, and have been collecting inspiration for DIY maps since. Below, a few favorite bits of inspiration.

From LetterSoup
from here

from here

from here: here

available here

from here

available here

also available here, image via here: here

this is the Tokyo subway. amazing.

would love to have a version of this for a road trip, via here

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Homemade Stripey Sidewalk Chalk

09.21.10

As you may remember from once or twice before, we are all about hopscotch on this blog. And now that school is in session and tomorrow fall will be official (in the N. hemisphere anyway), there are plenty of reasons to play. A game of hopscotch, of course, requires chalk. White chalk will do, but pretty stripey chalk will do even better. So we thought we’d better make some.

By the way, all pictures are courtesy of my husband’s iPhone. My poor Canon is in the shop again. I miss it.
We developed this chalk recipe last year with the leftovers from an art project I did for my daughter’s class. The best part about this homemade chalk is that it is c-h-e-a-p. And it turns out great chalk. Go to your hardware store and pick up a five-pound tub of joint compound or drywall mud. You’ll pay five bucks at most. We had a giant leftover tub, so we went with that. For a mold, we used IKEA’s water bottle ice molds.

Other materials we used were powdered tempera (liquid tempera works too), a few baggies, and we decided to add in a few strips of our favorite colors of tissue paper, which worked great with the chalk, and adhered well too without any fuss.

Dump or squirt your tempera into your joint compound and mix well. The powdered tempera will keep the whole thing a little drier, and make it a little more like dough, while the liquid tempera often turns out a little brighter.
We added a few stripes of tissue paper, just for decoration. We found that overlapping tissue paper colors does NOT work as well as spacing out the stripes. The spaced stripes held out better when the chalk dried. Glitter is also fun to dump into the molds before adding the chalk dough.

Depending on how thick your joint compound is, clip off a corner and pipe it from your bag, or pull out a handful and press it into the mold. It’s fun letting the kiddos experiment with different pieces of tissue paper and different colors of chalk dough.

This is the hardest part. Leave it alone and let it dry. Depending on how wet it is, it will take two to three days. When the top of ours was mostly dry, I tore off the scraps of tissue paper and popped the chalk out of the mold to let the bottom dry.

Give them a couple days and you’re ready to go. Aren’t they pretty?

While my daughter was hard at work producing chalk with me, I thought you might like to see what the boys were up to. The 5-year-old found an umbrella (what is it with kids and umbrellas?)

and the baby tried his first experiments in color mixing. Very fun.

But back to the chalk. We’re planning on giving these out for my daughter’s star student week in class. We did another DIY art supply for my son’s school bday favor last year and they went over well, so we thought we’d give these a try.