DIY At Home Preschool Learning and Activity Center

     Our kids are about that age to start preschool, but we've decided to just do as much as we can at home, instead of sending them to a preschool. They have quite a bit of interaction with other children and I'm not worried about their social skills at this point. Since we moved into our new house we have enough space to set up a learning area for the kids. I had this idea in my head of what I wanted it to look like and I think its coming along pretty well.

    I wanted to start off with the 2x4 Ikea Kallax unit and put it standing up. Next I wanted to get the Linnmon table attachment with legs to make a table space for the learning books and activities. Here is a breakdown of what I used:

--Ikea Kallax 2x4 System $64 (I found ours on the OfferUp app for $50)

--Linnmon Table Top $8.99 (they have several different table options, I went with the cheapest)

--Leg x2 $4 Each

--Linnmon Connecting Hardware $10

This completes the set up of the table and storage area for the learning and activity center. You can also buy the complete set HERE. However, if you can find any of the pieces on a second hand app, like OfferUp for cheaper, do it!

     Now  you can use any and all educational and learning materials and activities, and set them up on your shelf unit. They have a lot of different basket options if you want them all to be put away and stored. or you can lay them all out on the shelves, not in baskets. I went for laying them just on the shelves with no baskets. At least for now. Hah. I figure the kids will be more apt to sit up there and use the items if they don't have to get help to pull out the baskets and dig in the baskets to find things. Here is how ours has turned out so far...

Abacus found HERE

Fraction and shape learning blocks found at Goodwill

Counting Color Connecting Blocks found HERE

     The top four cubes are set up with materials for my two oldest kids, ages 4 and 2. The bottom for are filled with fun little activities for my youngest (1 year old) to play with while her brother and sister are working on their activities. These two chairs I found at goodwill brand new in box for around $40 bucks! You can find them brand new HERE from Target.

     Top two cubes are filled with educational books. Right side had the "My letter "A" book" going through the whole alphabet. I found all pictured here at Goodwill at a great price. On the Left we have some interactive monkey reader books. On the ends of the top two shelves I used the little storage containers from IKEA to put all our different flashcards and to organize them. 

Colors & Shapes, Picture/Word Matchng Activity, and Numbers & Counting Flashcards

 Spelling Activity, Alphabet Flashcards, and Sight word Flashcards

On the next two Shelves I have different puzzle sets. On the right I have other puzzles like, alphabet, rhyming, counting, and spell and learn activities. I found all of these at Ross Department stores for about $4 each. 

     On the lower four cubes I have things for my littlest to play with while her siblings are doing their activities.

We have only had it set up for a couple of days now, but the kids love it and have been constantly finding something to read or an activity to work on at their new preschool center.

 

Even little Bethany is joining in on the fun! :)

This abacus is one of my favorite learning tools right now. I got it at IKEA for $10 and its awesome! All the kids love. Its great because you can gear it towards any age. 1-2 years old fine motor skills and starting color recognition. 2-3 years old color recognition and counting skills, 3-4 counting skills and beginning preschool math skills. Plus its pretty to look at it! :) Thank you for checking out our new preschool learning and activity center! I hope you enjoyed it and got some inspiration to start your own!

--Kayla

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FREE "Today is a Good Day" Watercolor Printables

 Good morning everyone! I just have a quick post today, I wanted to give you these FREE fun watercolor motivational prints. I put the fonts together and added a watercolor background effect. The circle leaf graphic was downloaded from one of my favorite blogs We Lived Happily Ever After. I am working on making a little sewing/office area for myself and came up with this, to print out and hang up. I'm still working on more designs and prints, but was excited to share this one. I want this area to be an organized and positive space I can be inspired by. Stay tuned for more prints and a post on my completed sewing/office area!
Here are a few examples of what you could do with these PNG image files.

Below are the links to each PNG file...

 

Click HERE to download Blue Watercolor (PNG Image)

Click HERE to download Gray Watercolor (PNG Image)

Click HERE to download Plain Black (PNG Image)

If sharing these printables, please link back to our blog :)

Thanks so much for stopping by our blog. We hope you stay, take a look around, and decide to follow along with us. We would love to hear from you. Leave a comment if you'd like!

DIY Makeup Storage and Organization

I hope you're all having a great weekend so far! Today I wanted to share a project I have been working on for a while now, and I finally feel like it's complete. Here is my makeup area, which is located in mine and Daniel's room. My makeup table is from IKEA, you can find it HERE! Here are a few pictures and DIY storage solutions to keep your makeup area clean and organized.

The arrow picture is from Hobby Lobby - it was only $5.99 after 50% off the original price.

My favorite part of my new makeup area is the hanging buckets! I think it is so cute as well as functional. It frees up space on your table giving you more room for other makeup items, or more open space. I used a cheap curtain rod from joann's ($4.99) and curtain rod clips ($8.99 for 10 clips) to hang these cute chalkboard label buckets. I found the buckets at Target in the dollar section, but actually scored them for .24 cents a piece!

I got a set of these white buckets with gray hearts at Ikea, a while ago.

I used a chalkboard/barista white marker from Joann's to label all of my storage bins/buckets. Below is a breakdown of each bin/section on my makeup table.
Hanging Buckets (Target dollar section)
1. Face (foundation, BB cream, everyday bronzer)
2. Eye Shadows (the eye shadows I use daily)
3. Brows & Lashes (eyebrow pencil, eyeliner, mascara, eyelash curler)
4. Lips and Ipsy Samples (daily lip items and smaller ipsy makeup samples)
Large black divided container (Craft Warehouse)
-Eye shadow palettes and Lotions
Black boxes with blue hearts (Target dollar section)
-Extras (mostly single and duo eye shadows)
White bucket with gray heart
Makeup brushes
Smaller Black divided container (Craft Warehouse)
-Lotions, Blush/bronzer, favorite nail polishes

Hopefully this gave you a few ideas and some inspiration to organize your own makeup area! Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments section below, we love hearing from you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your wekkend :)

Goodwill & Target Clearance Haul

Happy weekend, everyone! Today I was able to get out of the house and do a little Goodwill hunting and make a target run. My little shopper (Simon) and I went to Goodwill first. I was on the hunt for some fall clothes for the kids and was hoping to find books for Adeline. Here is what I found there.

Left to Right 

(Top Row)

1. Peter Rabbit Munch! by Beatrix Potter 

2. My Colors (English/Spanish) by Rebecca Emberley

3. Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

(Bottom Row)

4. Pink Wiggly Pig, What do you Wish For? by Marianne Richmond

5. Adventures of Curioius George by Margret and H.A.Rey's

6. Tickle Time by Sandra Boynton

Adeline LOVES books and books these days can be pretty expensive. You may have to search a little harder but you can find cute, good quality books at goodwill for a great price. These were all $1.29 a piece. SCORE!

I was also able to find a few fall clothing items for Addie.

This cute sweater dress, will look so cute with some tights and boots for fall and winter! You can find a similar one HERE! This dress was $1.99

I also found a few staple items, which were these Old Navy skinny jeans with adjustable waist ($4.00) and a basic pair of black leggings pictured above for ($.99). The jeans will be great for fall and winter because you will easily be able to slip on boots over them. You can find similar jeans HERE!

As I was leaving Goodwill, Daniel called, and asked me to pick up some blue masking tape so he could paint our doors. I found this as a great excuse to stop at Target, and I am so glad I did! Currently (not sure for how long) the Target "One Spot" is on clearance for 70% off! Now this is on all items that have a triangle on them (by the barcode), which is most items. Making the dollar items $.30 and the $3.00 items $.90! They really have some cute stuff! Also, little tip--If you have the cartwheel app on your phone you can add the deal for 20% off "one stop" items. Making your dollar items only $.24!! It was pretty crazy in the section, and a lot of things were already gone, but here is what I found:

--4 Water Bottles (2 girls, 2 boys) Chevron Polka Dots, and Sharks

--4 Silver Pales with chalkboard labels

--2 White pales with blue half ovals

--2 Large file folders

--1 Medium file folder

All for $.24 cents each! I think I am going to use the silver pales to organize my makeup table and the while ones in Simon's room. Adeline LOVES drinking out of water bottles plus they're cute! And I'm hoping the file folders will help me get more organized.

A few other clearance items found at Target:

Aden + Anais Crib Sheet similar found HERE! I got this one on sale for $.9.98

Storage bins for Adeline's coloring supplies. You can get %15 off all circo storage containers with your cartwheel app.

I was pretty excited with all of my finds today so I thought I would share them with you! I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend and enjoy the rest of it!

What's in My Diaper Bag?

Hello everyone :) I hope you guys are having a great weekend so far. I decided to do a post on what I've been keeping in my diaper bag. I received a perfect diaper bag for my birthday, and have been using it ever since. Hope you enjoy! Keep in mind that Ben is only 3 weeks old, so I don't need to keep very many things with me. I'm also using this bag like a purse.

First off, here's what I keep in the outside pockets for easy grabbing. From left to right:
1. Wristlet wallet from Walmart (they have them in a bunch of colors for $5!) I love this little thing. It unzips and keeps all of your cards and cash. There is a slot that fits my phone perfectly. I usually just grab this out of the diaper bag when I'm running into a store.
2. Sunglasses.
3. Keys.
4. Planner (from Target) and pen.

This is what I keep in the inside smaller pockets.
1. Headband.
2. Lotion.
3. Mirror with bobby pins and hair ties inside.
4. Bottle of medicine I like to keep handy. Has pain relievers and allergy meds.
5. Binkies.
6. Chapstick.
7. Nursing pads and regular pad.

Here's what's in the main compartment.
1. DIY Burpcloth.
2. A little diaper clutch I made (I show the contents below)
3. Nasal aspirator.
4. Receiving blanket.
5. Another diaper clutch.
6. Wet bag for soiled clothing.

This is what's in the little diaper clutches.
1. Diapers, wipes (I really like these Water Wipes!), changing pad.
2. Onesie, pants, hat, socks, mittens.

And that's it! So far I haven't found that I need anything else. He usually has another lighter swaddling blanket in his carseat, as well. I also tend to stick a water bottle in here when I'm out and about.

Is there anything you think I should add? I hope you all have an awesome Saturday. Enjoy some sunshine if you can! Talk to you soon.

Eight Tests For Decision Making | Free Printable

Good evening guys! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Ours is coming to an end and we're just relaxing at home this evening. Last week I saw these "8 Tests for Decision Making" on pinterest. I couldn't find the source for the image so I decided to create my own and turn it in to a printable for all of you. I just love these eight questions to consider when making a decision. I think I am going to print it out and hang it on our fridge. A few other places to put it would be in your Bible, or include it in your Bible study materials. I think it is a great resource to look to when making any decision, big or small! Click the link below the image to download this FREE Printable. Or  hover of the image to "Pin it" for later use :)

Click here to download this FREE "Eight Tests for Decision Making"!

Let us know if you're going to print this out, we'd love to hear from you. If you're looking for more FREE Printable be sure to check out all our other printables HERE!

Enjoy your day!

Linking to these parties HERE!

Benjamin's Nursery Reveal

I am so excited to share today's post! This little room has been such a labor of love. It has kept me quite occupied the last several months, and I think I can finally say that it's done! I absolutely love it and wish that I could move in there, too!

This will be a picture heavy post, but I will be linking several posts for individual projects I've done. All of those links will be at the end.

I would describe the theme of this room as rustic/woodsy/whimsy. I've incorporated several different themes, because I don't really like sticking to just one. I pretty much just used what I liked!

Also, you can see that I have revealed our baby boy's first name! I figured it was time, as there are some items in his room that have his name on them. :)

I'm sorry that I couldn't get more full pictures of the room. This room is tiny! Hopefully you get the idea of the layout.

Links to projects I've done:

-DIY Crib Skirt

-Woodland Baby Mobile

-Baby Fox Soother/Blankie

-Wooden Frames Hung with Burlap

-Burlap Woodland Bunting

-Walmart Scarf Curtains

-Wood Blocks

Other nursery posts:

-Thrifty Nursery Finds

-Dollar Store/Thrift Store Nursery Organization

-Nursery Moodboards

If you would like to know where something is from, just ask. I will reply as quickly as possible. I'd list everything in the room, but that seems like it might be a waste of time unless there is something specific someone is looking for!

I hope you all enjoyed and that you're having a great Friday! Have an awesome weekend :)

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