Daily Craft - Sensory toys, overload!

Yet another thank you to Pinterest for introducing me to the world of sensory toys.  After perusing a variety of pins and written down ideas for those that I liked, I decided that this was going to be a weekend of making sensory toys for Owen.  I settled on the idea of some bottles and some bags, and set off to the local dollar stores for supplies.  I may have gone a little overboard, and I think Husband was surprised/amused by the variety of things I brought home.  He was quickly swayed though because these sensory toys are just as much fun for us adults as they are for the little ones.  (In fact, I think it's fair to say that these could totally work as office items for those moments when you want to drop kick your computer and need to put yourself in a quick time-out.)

Step one is to gather materials.  Not pictured here are the bottles and the freezer ziploc bags.  That being said, everything can be purchased at a dollar store, which makes these really inexpensive to do.  I think the cost of each was in the range of $0.50 to $1.  The "recipes" I used are below each picture, but there really is no limit to what you could put together.  I still have a ton of other materials, but I'll be putting those together at a later time.

First up, the sensory bags!  For each of these, I used a quart sized freezer bag and colored duct tape to reinforce the edges/closures.  It is recommended to use freezer bags as they're more durable against little teeth but, if you don't have any on hand, doubling up regular bags should work.  I used enough hair gel that the bags felt suitably squishy but wanted to make sure that it was still possible to manipulate the items inside.
 

CLEAR HAIR GEL WITH FOAM LETTERS

BLUE HAIR GEL WITH GOOGLY EYES

CLEAR HAIR GEL WITH ERASERS

For the sensory bottles, the hardest part might have been finding the right bottles.  I've seen people use Voss bottles, which are the perfect shape, but not super easy to come by.  I ended up finding small Vitamin Water bottles, which were 2 for $1 at the dollar store.  To remove the sticky residue from under the labels, I ran the empty bottles under warm water for a minute, then used some vegetable oil on a paper towel to gently rub away the residue.  Then, I gave the bottle a good washing.  I preferred that method of removal over others because at least oil isn't toxic should Owen lick some (based on the assumption the bottle is going to end up in his mouth at some point!)  Also, to ensure that little hands don't take the top off the bottle and ingest what's inside, you'll want to super glue the lid on once you've filled them. 

- FILL BOTTLE 2/3 WITH WATER. 
- ADD BLUE & GREEN FOOD COLORING.
- ADD BLUE GLITTER
- FILL TO TOP WITH BABY OIL

This one is like an ocean wave and the glitter stays in the oil, which makes for a fantastic effect when the occasional oil bubble breaks off into the water!

- FILL BOTTLE 3/4 FULL WITH WARM WATER
- ADD DROPS OF RED & BLUE FOOD COLORING
- ADD ONE SMALL BOTTLE OF GLITTER GLUE
- ADD GLITTER IN DIFFERENT COLORS (RED, PINK, GOLD)
- TOP OFF WITH WATER

It took a little bit of shaking for the glitter glue to properly absorb into the water so use that an excuse to play with this one for a bit!  What I love about this is that it's like lava.  The glitter will start to separate and swirl both upward and downward.  The more glue you add, the longer it will take for the glitter to settle.  I also like that the glitter in the glue is finer than the other glitter that I added, which gives the appearance of multiple textures.

- FILL BOTTLE WITH SMALL BAG OF PONY BEADS
- ADD A SMALL AMOUNT OF GLITTER (OPTIONAL)
- FILL TO TOP WITH WATER

This one is definitely the easiest, but still has a ton of appeal because the beads also make noise while you swirl them around, plus there are lots of different colors to look at. 

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without an action shot, so here's Owen enjoying his new toys.  I enjoy the guilty look he's got in that picture on the right!

Have you heard of, or made, these sensory toys before?  When he's older he can help me make them but, until then, I think all of us in the house will have the opportunity to enjoy these!

Daily Tip - Binders are your friend!

Husband and I have a lot of kitchen appliances.  If I'm looking for somebody to blame, it's either my brother (who has admitted to poking around in the kitchen to find out what we don't have in preparation for holiday gifts), or my step-mother-in-law (who loves to pass along new kitchen gadgets that she has found).  We have a drawer that was dedicated to all the various manuals and warranty information for said appliances.  Then, once the baby arrived, it started to fill with all the various manuals for his toys.  Upon opening the drawer the other day to add a few more bits of paper, I realized that it was at capacity.  Thus, time to find a solution. I think there is currently a little section of my brain that is dedicated to "things I've seen on Pinterest."  I haven't necessarily pinned all of those things, but I've spotted them while poking about.  This falls into that category.

I took one 3-ring binder, and one pack of heavy weight sheet protectors.  I gathered all of the manuals for the kitchen, baby items, and other household things.  Each one went into a sheet protector pocket with the corresponding warranty info, receipts, or any other related documents.  I didn't go so far as to alphabetize, but I did try to organize by type.  The binder filled really quickly, so I'm pretty sure I'll already have to start a new one shortly and will probably separate by type into different binders.  It's nice that I'll know where to find everything...for once.  Next up, the closet of doom (which is where boxes of random stuff go to die)?  Perhaps.

What you're favorite household organization tip?  I'm all ears!

Daily Dish - Stuffed Peppers

We eat a lot of bell peppers in our house.  Apart from the fact they come in so many pretty colors, they're really versatile in terms of how you can eat them - I love them raw as well as cooked in anything from pasta sauce to curry!  I actually looked up the nutritional value recently because I feel like leafy greens or cruciferous veggies (i.e. broccoli) get a lot of attention, but what about bell peppers as one of my favorite vegetables?  I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I found - they are full of the good stuff!  They're super high in Vitamins A & C, have a good amount of Vitamin B6 and fiber, plus contain anti-oxidants.  All that while being low in calories (1 pepper = 30-40 cals).

With that in mind, time to share another Pinterest win as far as recipes go!  I came across the most beautiful bell peppers the other day - which means they were meant to be filled with all kinds of yummy goodness. I'd pinned a stuffed pepper recipe a while back.  It had caught my eye because it wasn't in a tomato sauce that I seem to associate with stuffed peppers!  We added a little left over brown rice and used ground beef instead of turkey, but this was delicious.  Even better, as we used 4 good sized peppers to make it, we have left overs sitting in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.  I do love a meal with leftovers!

If you want to keep track of my tried and tested recipes, follow my Eat It Again board and don't forget to check the comments on each pin for any modifications and ideas.  

Daily Dish - Recipes Worth Sharing

In the wee morning hours, after Owen's arrival, I mentioned that I had many hours to scour Pinterest. There are SO many recipes on there that it can be overwhelming to find ones that are a success, and we've definitely had some "meh" dinners; however, there's some great recipes too.  My favorite thing about recipes on Pinterest is that I can look at the picture and remember what the dish is.  Husband was a lifesaver during my leave and if I could find a recipe, he'd help cook it.  I'd just pull up the pin on my tablet and he'd do the rest.  In fact, he's still my hero in the kitchen as he does a lot of the cooking while I wash a never-ending amount of bottles, sippy cups and pump parts.  (Yes, this is a public thank you!)

In that we did find some winning dishes, I'm sharing them.  I'm also moving them into a separate board on Pinterest so the tried and tested tasted are easy to find.  Follow if you like!

	Jen's Incredible Baked Meatballs These meatballs were delicious! I ended up making them with baby strapped to my chest in the Ergo carrier, which worked out pretty well because my hands were "meaty" and I didn't want to have to keep washing them. We froze them in small batches and they are super easy to defrost and heat up with a quick pasta sauce. There's lots of other tasty looking things on this blog so check it out!
	Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes I am really wishing I'd come across this one earlier. A tasty filling inside a Grands biscuit, put into a muffin tin. The biggest problem with this one? Not eating them all at once. I'd venture to say that the same concept could be applied with a different filling - perhaps we'll try steak and mushroom next time around.
	Chili Verde Pork In A Crock Pot Crock pots are a savior in terms of being able to walk away to let things cook, and have the added benefit of making the entire house smell delicious. This was super simple to prepare, as well as being pretty tasty. We ended up freezing the left overs for another meal (so it was a twofer?) Super simple on top of some brown rice, or could always be made into a burrito or tacos.
	Honey Spice Glazed Pork Chops We actually pre-packaged these (searing the chops and freezing them in the marinade), then dropped them into the crock pot for 6 hours on low. I removed some of the juices from the bottom and reduced them in a saucepan until they were a glaze. We did roasted asparagus and mushroom on the side (see below), which turned out to be a pretty healthy meal overall.
	Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom This is a great go-to recipe when looking for a super quick and ridiculously easy way to make veggies. I hadn’t thought of roasting mushrooms before, but I’m now wondering what took me so long! Highly recommended!
	Coconut Shrimp Curry I got a great deal on some shrimp a little while back and was looking for something different to cook with it. Shrimp and coconut go hand in hand anyway, plus I love a good curry, so this recipe seemed perfect. I added peas and carrots (frozen) and next time around would consider adding a little spice too. The hardest part about this was peeling and de-veining the shrimp. I always forget how much of a pain in the ass that is.

Daily Tip - Swatch this!

While wasting time on Pinterest, I happened across this pretty handy site - Design Seeds.  It is essentially an online palette book, which highlights different color combinations while showing the photographic inspiration for each collection of swatches.

Source: design-seeds.com via Natalie on Pinterest

In the never-ending world of home renovation, painting the walls is something we haven't actually gotten around to since moving in.  Yes, we're living in a world of rather boring off white right now - which I do plan on changing soon.  The palette to the left actually has the tones that I plan on using in our guest bathroom.  The paler green will be for the walls, the brown we will probably incorporate with coppery fixtures and framed artwork, the other colors shown in the counter tops and towels.

I love that I found this site for the obvious benefits with home decor, but it's also very inspiring from a crafter's perspective as well - whether making jewelry, quilting, knitting, or anything else with a strong design element and need for color.  I think that I can draw a lot of inspiration from the images that are presented, which I'm very excited about.  There are definitely some color combinations shown which I may not have come up with on my own.

There are literally hundreds of palettes on this website.  You can browse by theme (such as Spring, Nature, Vintage), or search by an individual color value, which then brings up corresponding themes.  I personally rather enjoy the "crafted" theme, which brings up all kinds of palettes inspired by crafty goodness...and will hopefully inspire some craftiness in return!  I highly recommend.

Daily Review - That Pinterest thing

Pinterest was a thing I'd heard of but had no idea what it was about.  I was feeling a little late to the game on that one.  However, my sister-in-law sent me an invite earlier this week and, now that I've had a couple of days to play around with it, well...let's just say I dig it.  :)

As you can see - I'm just starting out!

Over the years, I have amounted a huge number of browser bookmarks with things that I think were interesting or cool.  I've also let a lot of information slide, and now I wish I could remember where those things were - tutorials, recipes, tips, patterns.  Even worse was looking down the extensive list of bookmarks and trying to remember based on the name of the website, or the little title I gave it, why I bookmarked it in the first place. This is why Pinterest is my new love.

Now I can categorize, save a nice little description, but also include a picture - all using the little "pin it" button on my browser toolbar.  I can share the "pins" with my friends (and other random Pinterest members who happen across them).  I can see what other people are interested in, plus I feel like it's another venue to share my own recipes or tutorials that I may have created.  Seriously, it's not like I need another social networking venue to spend my time, but it's pretty fun, and may actually be useful (unless that's just my way of validating time spent on it!)