DIY Sensory bottles

Since I had a boatload of little shampoo bottles, I made the monster some mini sensory bottles! These are typically made with water bottles... but I thought that might be a little heavy for the monster. Plus I didn't think Husband would want a billion giant water bottles everywhere!
So all you have to do is fill them up any way you please! I tried to make them all a little different... different colours, different sounds, different viscosities (look at me using a big word haha)!! etc. I was a little limited in choice because my bottles were so small... but whatever I found around the house that fit, went into one!
Yules loves to shake them and stare at the way the different liquids mix up or listen to the different sounds they make! She's had them for a while now and they are still a big hit! I highly recommend this DIY for your little one!

 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.....

Mission: Put Santa Hat on! Keep Santa Hat on! Sit still! Don't run away! Smile! Don't drool! Take decent photo! Eeeeeeek is that even possible? Haha!

 

Kalbs and Yules wishes all of you a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of love, happiness and joy (and maybe a couple goodies in your belly and under the tree too)!

DIY Lego Table

A couple years ago I made a Lego table for a couple of my favourite little boys! I was reminded of it, when Yules discovered it at one of their houses! Husband said she seemed to like it... so of course I had to make one for my little monster too! Lego is definitely a must-have toy for any kid! The opportunity for unlimited open-ended play is what makes Lego so awesome! There is no one right way to play with it and I won't even get into all the math and fine motor development stuff! Let's just say I like me some Lego!

Ok here's how I created my Lego table! I glued a Duplo Lego plate onto an Ikea Lack side table. I like to use No More Nails Glue! I love that stuff... It can glue anything together! And then to make use of the extra table space around the Lego plate, I created a "road" with some little wall decals. I just happened to have some extra little wall decal pieces that was perfect for making the road. But in the past, I just cut up little strips from a random black wall decal I bought from the Dollar store!

Soooooooooo easy peasy to create and makes such a wonderful gift for any child!!

A tree for monster

I whipped out my mini Christmas tree for Yules! I thought it would be a great way to get her used to having a Christmas tree and the "rules" that comes along with one! I've had this tree for a while and it was actually one that I had up in the classroom! It's a great size for the little monster! The plan was to set up the tree. Get her used to it and slowly let her decorate it each day! The hope is that she learns to appreciate it rather then violently shake the tree until all the ornaments fall off! Haha

Well Yules and I took it out and put it together the other day! She was wowed by the pretty twinkling lights for about ... ummm 5 whole seconds and then went to play elsewhere! I however couldn't stop staring at it! Not because it was sooooo pretty, but rather because it looked so out of place in our house! The tree itself was fine, but it was the base that bothered me! There was nothing wrong with it except for the fact that is was so not our style! It looks a little colonial? traditional? I don't know... not ugly (Ok a little ugly) but just not us! It needed a quick and easy fix that was for sure!

Here's what I came up with!
I nicely asked Kalbs if I could borrow his pail that he keeps his goodies in. *Side note: The reason he has a metal pail is because as a puppy he chewed up all the plastic ones we bought him! Then we got smart and got him this metal one! Haha chew on that sucker! So for those of you considering a puppy, some food for thought!*

I rolled a small towel inside the pail.

And then placed the tree inside! Ta-Da that was easy!

I LOVE how simple and Scandinavian-ish it looks! A billion times better than before! I totally want to find a big wide metal bucket for our large Christmas tree! So much trendier and cooler than a traditional tree skirt! Yules likes it much better now too!

Next up: Ornaments! The little monster helped hang some ornaments on her tree. (Read: She handed me the ornaments. I placed them on the tree. She removed them from the tree. Repeat! Aiyah!!!!!!)

Abstract Artwork

A while back (like a year ago), Ikea had 50% off picture frames! I snatched up a few, with the good intention of putting something up on our bare walls! Well, needless to say... it didn't get done!! Our walls are still sad looking! Haha! This seems like a trend with me lately huh? Well I'm happy to report that I finally put up some artwork in at least ONE room!

Yules and I snatched up these custom one of a kind abstract pieces at an art gallery! They look lovely in my snazzy Ikea frames! What do you think?

Haha! Just kidding! You guys know I'm cheap and would never buy fancy schmancy artwork! Yules and I made these custom pieces of artwork ourselves!
It was super EASY too! We simply dumped paint and marbles into a box and rolled it around with a piece of paper inside! It was unfortunate that I only had 3 and a half different colors of paint, but I am pretty happy with the outcome! We will for sure be doing this again when I buy more paint colors! If a baby can make this, so can YOU!

 

 

Body Art

My little Picasso LOVES to paint! She created her first masterpiece in the.... bathtub!! Haha! She used some home made Christmas puffy paint (cornstarch, flour, food color and water)! I think more ended up on HER than on the paper!

Christmas Spaghetti!

More Sensory play....
This past week we played with spaghetti! I colored it red and green so it would be Christmassy! All you have to do is put cooked spaghetti in a ziplock and add food coloring... mix... then voila you got yourself some colored spaghetti!

 

I wasn't sure how messy this activity would be so we decided to let the monster play with it in the tub! She was a little unsure about it...

And then quickly decided that she did not like it AT ALL and wanted out of there ASAP!! FAIL!

We gave the Christmas spaghetti another go today... inside her sensory table this time. She actually had a lovely time playing with her friend... cooking and feeding spaghetti to me! YIPPEE success!! I didn't waste a whole pack of spaghetti!! Haha! We will definitely play with this everyday until it gets mucky and yucky! Or until she decides to start flinging spaghetti everywhere! Whatever comes first!!!

Mrs.Snowman Makeover

I bought this beauty off the swap page! She was a site for sore eyes but I knew she was the perfect candidate for a Kalbs&Yules make-over!

She had a little too much of a fake tan going on that just wasn't going to work for me. So she got a reverse-spray-tan!! Haha! Her accessories were also a little sad... so we updated her look so she was just a tad more trendy! Now she welcomes people to our home!

A sled and some oatmeal

Can you tell that I am on a PLAY kick lately? Haha I promise I'll post about other non-play related things soon!

The little monster got a shiny new sled this weekend! It has a nice high back and a seatbelt which is perfect for someone her size! She LOVES it! She made me pull her all around the house and she liked just sitting in it, even when it wasn't moving! She even put her little stuffie in it and pulled it around the house! The weather was decent so Husband took her outside to test it out! She was perfectly content sitting there getting pulled around and could have stayed outside forever!

 

We wanted to play with the sled again today but there's a blizzard going on outside... so it was a play-inside-kind-of-day! Yules and I added some oatmeal to her sensory table! I had every intention to fill it with sand, but never got around to buying some! So I rummaged through the pantry and found a bag of oatmeal! Nothing wrong with using oatmeal for sensory play! At least it's edible because you know the little monster is going to sample it for sure! Haha! No one says you have to just use sand, you can use anything! She made a grand ol' mess and had a grand ol' time!