Halloween sensory bin

I just made my first sensory bin.  Here are some pictures from when I first set it out.  I used red lentils and black beans and believe it or not I actually had all the other little things on hand. 

So I put this bin together and handed it to my 3 yr old.  He messed around with it for about 5mins and then walked away.  My 1st thought was that this was just not going to work for my little guy. 

Well the next day my mom brought me a pack of electric tea lights.  I added some of those to the bin along with some more little containers and a spoon to scoop and dump.  BINGO!  Now he can't get enough of this bin!  The lights are so fun in the evening.  I think I'll be adding those to our next bin too (well if it make sense). 

So now I can't stop thinking of other ideas for bins.  I know K would love a gardening bin (he keeps pretending this one is a garden) and a construction vehicle bin.   I have no idea what I'll do next, but it will probably depend on what sorts of materials I run into.

muffin tin lunch

Muffin tin lunch.  Ok its not a terribly creative muffin tin lunch but it was my first so I figured I'd post a picture, besides I just love this muffin tin.  I found it at a garage sale some time back.  K hasn't been eating much, but loved this idea so much he actually had a good sized meal.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a little more creative in the future.

Dinner Candle

The boys and I are taking a waldorf parent tot class together every Tuesday.  I love the little crafts we get to do together.  This week we decorated a wax candle.  Its currently sitting on the nature table, but I hope to eventually use it as our dinner candle.  

fall nature table

Fall nature table

Mushroom Napkins

Ok I know napkins are not terribly exciting but I really loved this print and wanted to share it.  :)  I've been buying material each season and making napkins to go with it.  Its especially great to wait until right after a holiday and scoop up the material on clearance.

swaps!

Here is our pack n play filled with swap stuff!  The bag has my rainbow swap stuff and pretty much everything else are packages that are arriving for the knights, dragons, and castles swap.  Very exciting!  

rainbow swap

Here is a not so great picture of the items I received from the rainbow swap.  At the top is a knitted knot ball, some colored peg people with matching pots, a rainbow apron, a rainbow wall hanging, and a sun pillow.  I'll be giving these items to the boys for Christmas most likely.

knights

Yet another swap.  This little army of knights is destined for the knights, dragons, and castles swap.  I'm actually hosting this one so I'll be back to post pictures of all the items that are currently arriving at my house.  Everything is so wonderful!  I can't wait to post and send stuff back so everyone can see everything.

Sweater balls

I entered a rainbow swap and decided to make these sweater balls.  Let me tell you how hard it is to find a  used orange sweater. :)  I ended up making a few extras so that I can give them to the boys and some friends for Christmas.  

Corn husk dolls

Here are K and my first corn dolls.  I love K's little corn baby in the 2nd picture.  He was so proud to have done it himself (he just need a little help with tying).  We first soaked the dried out corn husks before shaping them into little people.  

pounded flowers

Just a quick picture of the flowers K and I pounded out.  We placed flowers in-between sheets of paper and used hammers to pound the color out.  It was quite fun and they turned out pretty neat.  

Thanksgiving count down

Ok I know its really early for this but K and I have already started working on our Thanksgiving count down.  We first water colored many sheets of paper with yellow, red, and orange.  I then cut out 28 maple leaves.  I've spent that last few days coming up with random acts of kindness that we could do together.  It sure is hard to think of that many little acts that a three year old can do. :)
My plan is then to laminate them (so we can use them for years to come), punch holes in them, and hang them from a branch in the living room.  We will then take one down each day to do and place it at the bottom of the tree.  It will be our thanks count down to Thanksgiving.

bath tea

L broke out in a horrible rash that lasted weeks before we finally got it under control.  Anyway to help sooth him I bought organic herbs to make a bath tea for him.  For the first bath I just rubber banded the herbs in cheesecloth, but my mom and I plan on make a whole ton of them and actually sewing the bags shut.   

I got the recipe for the tea from a great herbal book.  

Felted bats

Here is one of the many felted bats I made for a Halloween swap.  I felted old wool sweaters and sewed these together.  I hear the swap items were mailed back today and I'm really excited to see what I've gotten!