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All posts in category activities

Date Night Style

Our family is busy.

I know what you are thinking. We’re all busy. And that is totally true.

But we are really busy. Like, can’t-book-a-playdate-until-mid-July busy.

Needless to say, that makes it tough to schedule time for J. and I to be out on our own. We love doing things as a family, especially since we both work full-time and leave A. at an amazing daycare for 8+ hours most days. For a while, family activities were the closest we got to dates.

With that in mind, I planned a super awesome gift for J. this Christmas: one pre-planned-and-babysitter-booked date night each month for the year.

This weekend marks the six consecutive month of our official date nights. It’s been fun: we’ve had dinner at our favorite spots, cheered on a local college basketball team, knocked back a couple of fancy cocktails and more. This Saturday, we’ll be heading out for a cheap dinner and then using a Groupon to a movie and drinks at a full-service, newly renovated vintage theater in a neighborhood just north of ours.

I always like trying to pull together a nice look for our dates. I had some comp time at work and spent a while at the thrift store this afternoon really hunting the racks.

Today I found enough great pieces to pull together a casual summery outfit:

Collage of details from my date night outfit

Here’s the breakdown of my date night look.( You’ll see why I’m addicted!)

Dress: $3.90
Scarf: $2.90
Sandals: $2.90
Total Cost: $9.70 (plus tax)!

I love these finds for a few reasons. The scarf has an ikat inspired print that is super popular right now, in a great color scheme. The dress matches the reddish-brown tones perfectly. It is a comfy and cool stretch jersey, but with some nice details that give it a bit of character. The shimmery sandals give it some pop and will work with some many looks this summer. I already have a skinny belt that will match them perfectly that I might add at the waist for more interest.

As if one great outfit for under $10 isn’t enough, I also picked up a few gently used dresses and a few other items to finish out A.’s summer wardrobe. I just recently started hitting up some local thrift store on the advice of a friend, and am totally hooked. I’ve found amazing stuff for A. and I, always for just a few dollar. Sure, there is stuff in bad shape, with stains or tears or stretched out beyond belief, but most stuff is decent. You can find the best things when you have some time.

What do you think? Any thrift store tips for a beginner?

Linked up here:

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by Tiny Leaf Studio on June 8, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in activities

Posted by Tiny Leaf Studio on June 8, 2012

http://tinyleafstudio.com/2012/06/08/date-night-style/

2 Spring Toddler Discovery Bottles

Though she’s not yet two, our toddler got sent home from school with homework this week.

Every family in A’s room at school got two empty water bottles in their cubby and marching orders to make a pair of discovery bottles. The new bottles made by families would replace the worn out ones the kids were currently playing with.

I browsed around for some ideas and saw lots of cool bottles out there: shampoo and marbles, water and oil, liquid soap and water, corn syrup and glitter. These look cool, but we ended up going in another direction. First, I wouldn’t want to clean up a broken bottle filled with any of those things and I’m just watching one kid, and, second, this is obviously a competition for most creative parent and anyone can make what they find on the internet.

I used some supplies on hand and spent about $4 at the dollar store for the other items I needed, like the ornaments I used in the garden bottle. Both took less than ten minutes, including A. “helping” me with one.

Here’s what we came up with:

1. Mice in the Grass

Green shredded paper or Easter grass
Three small mouse catnip toys

Stuff the Easter grass and mice into the bottle, adding a few handfuls of grass between each mouse so they are distributed. Sear the cap with glue.

2. Garden I-Spy Bottle

White rice
Vinegar
Green Food Coloring
Small ornaments or erasers

Dye rice using your preferred method. (Need a tutorial? Try this one. Couldn’t find my usual “recipe”, so I found this via Google. It was the first time I used the oven dry the rice and it worked really well and helped me finish super-quick. I always use vinegar to make it as baby-safe as possible in case anything is ingested.) Layer the rice in the bottle, spreading out your ornaments between scoops of rice. I used carrot ornaments, but originally thought I had flower erasers on hand. Either would work! Leave about 1.5 inches empty at the top of the bottle so there is room for the rice to move around. Seal the cap with glue.

A. is super excited to share them at school on Monday. I like the bright, Spring green colors! What do you think?

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We’ll be linked up here:

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by Tiny Leaf Studio on March 4, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tiny Leaf Studio on March 4, 2012

http://tinyleafstudio.com/2012/03/04/2-spring-toddler-discovery-bottles/

Six Easy, No Mess Art Ideas

A. LOVES to paint. I hate to clean up paint. This is a pretty unfortunate dynamic, since one of us always get the short end of the stick. We still manage to do lots of art, but I’ve been looking for ideas to keep things as mess-free as possible.

I found these guys during a recent trips to the dollar store:

Bingo dabbers, in lots of colors. It’s a marker, it’s paint, it’s perfect!

These things are not just for old ladies looking to win big! They are amazing; the don’t really drip or bleed through paper, come in several colors and wash out pretty easily.

This is a total win-win. A. can do what she loves almost any time, since clean up is a breeze. For us, that can mean an easier time getting dinner finished or laundry folded while she gets her art on. More importantly, we can spend more time enabling her to do the things she enjoys without banishing art projects to weekends only. Even though we picked up several of these, which have quickly landed at the top of our list of  go-to activities, our easy art supply organization system helps us keep control over the growing collection of art supplies.

Five more no-mess ideas to try, courtesy of Pinterest:

spill proof paint cups

1. No-Spill Paint Cups by Melissa & Doug: If you still want to try traditional paint with less mess, try picking up some of these guys. Because I love everything they make, I just ordered some for A.’s birthday (which is less than two months away…eeek)!

 

Paint bags

via Let's Explore

2. Plastic Bag Painting: Pour some paint into a plastic freezer bag, seal well, spread the paint around and let your kiddo doodle on the bag with their fingers. Could be a fun way to learn about combining colors by using two primary colors.

 

 

paper towel painting pages

via Fun & Engaging Activities for Toddlers

3. Paper Towel Painting Pages: Make your own no-mess watercolor paintings by tracing designs onto paper towels with washable markers. Let the kiddos ‘paint’ over your lines with water for an instant water color effect.

 

 

painting with water

via Teach Preschool

4. Painting with Water: This one is super simple and great for summer. All you need is a bucket of water and a paint brushes. Let your kids create incredible disappearing works of art by painting with water on the driveway or sidewalk.

 

 

bubble bath paint

via Meet the Dubiens

5. Bubble Bath Paint: It doesn’t get easier to clean up kids art than when they create it right in the bath. Try bath crayons or bubble bath ‘paint’ (thickened with corn starch and dyed with food coloring) and lets the kids get creative in the tub. Just rinse and you’re done!

 

Do you have any tips to make sure art time stays good, clean fun!

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by Tiny Leaf Studio on January 29, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in activities, kids, tips and time savers
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Posted by Tiny Leaf Studio on January 29, 2012

http://tinyleafstudio.com/2012/01/29/six-easy-no-mess-art-ideas/

Starry Night Sky Sensory Bin

We’ve been playing with A.’s snow-themed sensory bin for a few weeks now. It’s been a crazy winter, so for a while, her pretend snow was all we had seen for the season!

Of course, now that the snow finally hit the ground, she’s over it. That sent me back to the drawing board for a new theme.

I’ve noticed that A. still enjoys the basic “scoopers” – rice and beans – the most, so I built her newest bin against a backdrop of black beans. I noticed some yellow gemstone-shaped beads at the dollar store during a recent excursion and my wheels really started turning. I spotted a set of glow-in-the-dark stars (the kind you stick on the ceiling in a kids room) and my idea came together: a starry night sky sensory bin!

Starry Night Sensory Bin

A. really loves this one. She asked to play with it several times today and it kept her busy for longer than almost any other theme we’ve tried. I like the contrast of the beans, the see-through gems and the bright stars. My favorite thing about this is that it took relatively few items but is still super interesting.

A. scooping stars

Stars are one of the shapes she can consistently name right now and she’s working on counting and colors, so I love that we can reinforce all of those things through this theme.

I think we’ll work on some more seasonal themes next, like Valentine’s Day (more shape recognition) and Spring. These are just as much an exercise in my creativity as they are play and learning for A.!

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by Tiny Leaf Studio on January 17, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tiny Leaf Studio on January 17, 2012

http://tinyleafstudio.com/2012/01/17/starry-night-sky-sensory-bin/

Sunday morning with our fishy friends

We were up and out early this morning to head over to the Shedd Aquarium.

This was A.’s first trip, and we were all pretty excited. We were reluctant to pay the museum’s steep admission prices and parking fees, so we’d been trying to snag a museum pass from our local library branch for months with no luck.

I was thrilled when I learned that our Alderman was hosting a special day for residents in our ward that included half price adult admissions. We got there early and grabbed a prime spot at the least expensive museum campus lot. All told, we paid less than half what we would any other day.

It was a truly wonderful morning. The aquarium was really pretty quiet, leaving us time and space to wander freely, linger in the children’s area and scope out the awesome Jellies exhibit we’d been excited to see.

A. loved it. She was totally absorbed watching the fish, whales and dolphins. She liked the play area and had fun looking for frogs and turtles in the exhibits.

watching dolphins
The grownups had fun too, and both of us found the Jellies exhibit to be pretty cool. It made for some cool photos, too! The aquarium doesn’t allow flash photography and my low-light photo skills are basic at the most, but I still grabbed some cool shots, thanks in part to the cool, colorful displays.

jellies 1
jellies 2
jellies 3

We all had a blast! It was one of those days that reminds us why we love Chicago so much.

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by Tiny Leaf Studio on January 8, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Tiny Leaf Studio on January 8, 2012

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