Take Out Tuesday

It's Tuesday and today I am just going to take some time out of my scheduled blog posts and just ramble on about a mish mash of things! Our co-op took a field trip to a working fire station yesterday and I have never met a more personable group of people. They were AWESOME with the kids and really put together a great trip for us. What a blessing that we get to take these trips and enjoy them as we do with friends both new and old! It was definitely a fun Monday and as most homeschoolers do, we ended the day at the library! It was funny listening to all the families as they were packing up to leave and hearing how many were headed to the library, with 12+ branches between us all, we were all headed in different directions but still with the same goal in mind...books truly do open up another world.

My craft in a minute involves upcycling containers! Many do not have labels that can be peeled off or have labels that are just too stubborn to come off. I don't have time to soak them (when is the sink empty enough to do that?) nor do I have time to peel them little by little. We make it a fun project and let the kids go wild with collage photos from old maps, magazines and travel guides. They use those and packing tape and voila! a new container is born!

A way to keep my kids helping me upcycle, I keep this cup hanging right above our recycling bin and they know to throw in pop tabs (Ronald McDonald House), Batteries (Ronald McDonald House) and caps of all kinds (upcycling). This helps me keep it all contained until we need to deliver them somewhere or use them! Rod & Cup are both from Ikea!

A sneak peak at an upcoming blog post this week! Cardboard creations are so easy to make, store flat and are great for hours of fun...oh wait and they are free too!

Yesterday was a fantastic mail day as our Disney Cruise package arrived AND the Spectrum workbooks I will be reviewing for this blog! Check out all their goodies HERE and be sure to like their Facebook page HERE! I love their workbooks and have used them in the past to prepare my children for testing and to evaluate if they are at the level where they should be, before I pay for their state testing to be done. I look forward to diving right in with these and passing along my honest opinion of them in the near future!

Remember my friends that every day is a gift and to take time to enjoy each and every minute! Good things are just around the corner!

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Summer Bucket List #6 - Lemonade Stand!

It's feeling like Summer, so it's time to get working on the awesome things that we plan on doing! Our Bucket List has 100 items on it and I am so glad to see us bumping them right off the list!

Want to print one out without the lines crossed out? GO HERE!

We started with this MARKET STAND from IKEA! This was sold flat, so it was easy to transport home and super easy to put together. My husband also added a shelf to the counter for spills and to make it sturdier. He is in the process of making a stand on casters for the bottom of the stand in order for the children to be able to push it around outdoors and to protect it from the ground.

I helped the kids make signage and decor using this awesome LEMON TEMPLATE from HERE! I altered it many times to fit my needs. Making the lemons smaller and then using different types and sizes of font. It was perfect!

We began decorating with the small lemons punched out with a Circle Punch and then glued on the sides of the stand. We used coasters with stickers to spell out the word LEMONADE. It still looked pretty plain, so we headed on to add more! We did add a working Cash Register from Learning Resources and it's absolutely perfect for this and holds real money.

As the stand will only be outdoors when it's open, we did not need a closed sign. I just taped this right to the register and it does double duty for role playing in the playroom and the lemonade stand!

If you are interested in printing any of the signage I made, please HEAD HERE!

This is the view from the back! On the bottom is a small bucket with a towel to keep the stand sticky free and clean! On the shelf are cups and straws. Beneath is a jug from TARGET (5.99) and a flower pot from IKEA with lemons and limes for slicing.

The left side of the stand has a shelf for a small container holding cut limes and lemons (IKEA), a tip jar also made from a flower pot from IKEA and a sign that I slipped into a page protector! A small jar of cookies holds a treat for the kids as they work but they also plan on selling them for .25 if someone asks!

So what do you think? I hope they do alright today, I am so nervous for them! I just don't want all their energies to be wasted on a slow day and then for them to be too disappointed.

I had absolutely nothing to worry about! The community turned out in full force and the kids sold almost 100 glasses of lemonade! Count in the tips and it was near 200! I was amazed and so proud of the people that stopped. The children had a blast and learned so much. When it started out slow, Autumn knew we needed a sign to draw in the crowd and boy was she right!

Always do more than you think is necessary and it will make a difference! Enjoy every minute my friends!

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Reading Nook...

Did you know we like to read in this house? I know, I know, I say it every post! When I went shopping at Ikea today, I went with an idea in mind. My daughter has a castle bed and we are constantly wondering what to do with the underside. It is her clubhouse that we rotate out every now and then to keep it fresh and fun. It has been a movie theatre, game room, party palace and even an extra bed, when the boys were obsessed with her new bed and didn't want to leave! With Summer here, I wanted something that would keep the learning going and a reading nook was the perfect thing! We loaded it down with 3 large and plush cushions (5.00 each) and a blue tray (1.99) that can hold whatever she is working on at the moment.  We laid down a rainbow blanket to work as a rug and the place was brightened up in no time! 

The perfect piece was this fantastic organizer (3.99) that I found in the kids area. I knew right away it would eliminate the need for a bulky book shelf and also highlight old books that I can change out and they become new again! This worked so well in our Educational Nook, that I was so excited to find this! The kids have been in here since we got back, that the blue tray has already served up a snack today too!!

Seeing the 3 of them together doing something so calm and wonderful always makes my heart soar! Yes, I'm loving Ikea and Yes, I'm loving being a mommy! Hope your day was fantastic!

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Take Off Tuesday!

Sorry for the posting delay! We are off shopping at Ikea, in search of fun things to incorporate into our Summer fun! I will be back to regular posting when I get home tonight!! Have you ever been? If not, go to the site and find where the nearest on is to you and GO GO GO! Not only do I love shopping there, but so do the kids and Daddy too! If there is any place that Daddy loves to shop it, it's golden!

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New Displays!

Decorative Tree from Ikea 4.99

I've been out and about lately and have dicovered some AWESOME finds! I wanted to share them with you. The above display tree I found at Ikea. The price was fabulous and the white color was just what I needed for my displays at craft shows! (I picked up 2 of these!) I plan on using them to display bracelets!

Storage Container from Ikea 4.99

This awesome container is one of my favorite finds! The lid lifts off and I keep it on my work table with my most often used components in it. I bought 2, but 1 sits empty still! This too, was another IKEA find!

Display Stand from Ikea 5.99

These stands I also found at Ikea! Perfect for bracelet displays too! I bought 2 in white so that I would have different levels on my table!

Red Containers from The Container Store

These fabulously awesome containers I found in all these sizes from The Container Store. These can get pricier the bigger they get, but I bought loads of the biggest size so that I can send them out with bigger orders packaged inside. They are very pretty and re-usable! Hope these have stirred up some ideas for you!!