We had so much fun playing with our patriotic sensory bin, that I HAD to make some more rainbow rice.  This time I chose to make it in a bright yellow color — perfect for summer!

Not sure how to make rainbow rice?  I just put in a few drops of food coloring into 2-3 cups of rice and stir until most of the rice is colored.  Then I pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds and spread it out on a plate to finish drying.

Once I had our sunshine rice ready, I had fun finding little trinkets to go with a beach theme.  I had some paper umbrellas I picked up at the dollar store for later this summer, some shells, and then I grabbed a few of their ocean animals.  I also added a plastic pirate flag and some “treasures” for them to find.

When I called them into the kitchen to play, they had fun finding all the little treasures.

Peanut immediately started telling a story…

“Look at this beautiful coin!” cried Mrs. Crab.  “I’m going to put it over with my umbrella…”

I had fun listening to her story for quite a while.

My youngest preschooler also started a story of his own.  He felt the need to add a few (more than a few) more ocean animals and bugs, and a couple trucks for good measure.

I love that they each put their own twist on their play.

When they were finished, I just put our sunshine rice in a bag, ready to play with another day!

The post Sensory Play — Sunshine Rice first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

We had done this once before, when we made our sandy spider webs last fall.  (So much fun!) This time around I thought it would be fun (and good practice with their names) to make signs for each kid’s bedroom door.

I used a pencil to write each of their names on the colored paper they had chosen.  Then they used a paintbrush and carefully traced each letter with Elmer’s glue.  The next step was sprinkling the glue with colored sand and tilting the paper this way and that to get the sand to stick to each letter, making them “magically appear” right before our eyes.  Once they were all covered, we tapped the extra sand off and back into plastic containers.  A few stickers, and voila`!  A fun and simple way to personalize each of their doors.

Since we were still in a crafty mood and had plenty of sand left, I found a couple large pictures from one of our coloring books.  My idea was to paint the pictures with the glue and sand.  I did a test run first and found that it was impossible to cover the whole picture with the sand, leaving white areas.

So we decided to color the pictures with crayons first, and then paint with the glue and sand over the crayon, eliminating white areas.  (Doing just small segments with the sand would really make those areas stand out!)

It really doesn’t take much sand to “paint” a coloring book picture, and they had fun using this new technique.  Plus, we have some great artwork to show off in the kitchen!

Have you done any crafting with colored sand?

The post Sand Art first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Not just because it’s Friday (although sometimes that is enough reason to celebrate)…

No, today we are celebrating because my son has slept in his own bed, all night long, for 7 nights in a row.

People, this is cause for a celebration!  He has NEVER, EVER, EVER done that in all of his 3 years and 4 months.  Once, ONCE, he slept in his own room all night for 5 nights in a row.  Usually it is 2 nights, and then the next he is stumbling into our room at 2 a.m.

Yes, we tried the put him back in the room method, over and over and over…  It didn’t work for us.  Instead of more nights where no one got any sleep, we set up a spot for him next to our bed.

Earlier this week I realized it had been 3 nights in a row that he had stayed in bed.  I don’t know why, but I found myself telling him that if he slept in his own bed for 7 nights we’d have a party.

So it’s a party we’re having, complete with decorated paper table-cloth, balloons, party hats, and cupcakes!

Yes, around here everyone is celebrating, even the dog!

And my little Monkey is learning that success is sweet….

…it’s been sweet for Mommy, too, getting to sleep all those nights uninterrupted!

So, come on, grab a cupcake, put on your party hat, and do a little victory dance with me!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The post It’s Party Time! first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Then I found this mini Lalaloopsy doll in the checkout line at my dear Target store, and I started thinking about upcycling one of those Altoid tins into a little house.  I figured it would be a neat surprise  to keep in my purse for Peanut for places like restaurants, doctor’s offices, or even traveling in the car.

So, when the kids went to sleep, I searched my bead drawers, scrap material, and other little trinkets.  A piece of foam wrapped in pretty purple cloth became a bed, with another scrap of cloth as the blanket.  A Chapstick lid became a little table.  For a stove and sink I used a Lego block with a concave button hot glued to one half and filled with a little hot glue “water.”  A little permanent marker on the other half made “burners” for the stove.  I added felt carpet, wall paper made from a gift bag, and a couple small items I left loose for play value — like a little wood bottle and a magnet bear.

The result?

When I gave it to her while we were traveling to Peoria this weekend, she was ecstatic!  In fact, it has quickly become her favorite thing to play with in the hotel room.

Of course I couldn’t leave  little brother.

He is obsessed with all things vehicular, but I didn’t have any itty-bitty cars…  I did, however, have one Lego man.

I made another little foam bed, wrapped in black felt.  Added carpet and wall paper and a glue stick lid for a table.  We have foam cars in the craft stuff, so I grabbed one to stick in the tin for the Lego guy to “drive” and stuck a magnet dinosaur as a “pet.”

Little man liked his special Lego man house, too.  He is super proud he has his own Lego guy; just wait until we start getting Lego sets!

Have you done something creative with Altoids tins?

Shared on Cheerios and Lattes

The post Altoids Tin Craft first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

***

Since my husband is working nights this week, we decided to celebrate our Christmas in July a few days early – opting for Sunday so he could be there for all the festivities.

Saturday night I wrapped a few gifts to put under our little paper tree.  I even stuck a couple little candy canes to it.  (Yes,we  still had some left over!)

Our daughter was so excited when she saw the presents under the tree the next morning that she did her “happy dance.”  (Wish I had a video of that!)

Once little brother had woken up, they wasted no time opening gifts.  Seriously, it was much faster than I’d ever seen them open gifts before…See that doll in the picture?  That’s Dream Glow Barbie – from the 80’s.  Yes, she was mine…  No one said Christmas gifts have to be brand new – already gently loved toys are just as special!  And honestly, I bet Barbie is just glad to be out of the storage box she’s been in for the past 20+ years.

Little guy also got one gently used gift – a Matchbox playset that folds up for travel.  He was pretty excited with the 2 Hotwheels he got, too.

Once they opened all their gifts, and played for a bit, Daddy read them each their new books (I love giving new books for gifts) while I made our traditional Christmas breakfast – goetta!(I’ll have to post the recipe for this yummy German breakfast food when it gets a little closer to fall — traditionally it is eaten in colder months.)

The rest of the day we spent playing with the kids – no Internet, Mommy took a little break from cleaning, just good ol’ family time.  Priceless.

The post Our Christmas in July first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Not something I usually think about this time of year, especially with the hot temps we’ve been having.

But this year we have decided to celebrate Christmas in July!

And I want to share the festivities with you, my fabulous readers!

To help you prepare for your next party, There’s Just One Mommy is hosting a giveaway from The Party Works.

The Party Works has a wide variety (17 pages worth) of themes to choose from, including The Little Mermaid, The Smurfs, Diego,  John Deere Tractors, and many more!   The winner of this giveaway will be able to choose one Standard Party Pack for 8.  (Packs range from approximately $16-$29 in value.)

Want to check out all your choices?  Click here to view The Party Works Standard Party Packs for 8 that are available.

The giveaway starts Tuesday, July 17, 2012 and ends at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25, 2012.  Sorry, this giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Celebrate Christmas in July with a Party Works Giveaway! first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.