Keeping the sippies clean

I'm going with the mommy theme again today. Sometimes I don't know whether to apologize for that or embrace it. It is our life here, after all, and winter is probably better for being crafty, anyway, right?

Once the kids graduate from nursing or bottles, I know most of us move them on to sippy cups of some sort. We have gone through several varieties in the last 5 years, but I have finally decided that I prefer Playtex.
Let it be known, first of all, that, to date, I have only purchased our sippies at Target. I choose from varieties that I feel like won't break the bank, but won't be replaced often. I have never researched all options found online or in specialty retail shops. I have found, however, some great comparison articles at Z Recommends which may introduce you to other sippy styles and brands (see links below).
For me, the Playtex cups stand out for 2 major reasons. They are easy to clean and don't tend to leak. Minor reasons for choosing Playtex would be that the lids and spouts are interchangeable and they are affordable.
It took me awhile to come up with a successful cleaning method for any sippy cup. It may be that I've struggled with it because I simply don't get around to washing our dishes as promptly as I should, but I don't think that's all of it. Some cups have clearly been more prone to grow moldy or have had very awkwardly designed parts making effective cleaning difficult.
I finally settled on pipe cleaners (chenille stems), toothpicks and the bottle brush for sippy cup maintenance. Pipe cleaners work wonders when washing dishes with crevices, spouts, and straws, and I was bowled over at my ignorance when my dad introduced that simple idea to me. Pipe cleaners are now a standard item found in the little vase that holds our dish washing brushes. Why had that never occurred to me?
I found these articles at Z Recommends interesting, but am also interested in other stories of success, or lack-of, in keeping sippy cups clean. Do you have one?

2009 BPA-Free Sippy Cup Showdown: Baby and Toddler Division, Top Picks

2009 BPA-Free Sippy and Straw Cup Showdown, Toddler to Pre-K Division, Top Picks

Alphabet block magnets

I know I promised more food posts this week, and I do have some ready, but I got so distracted with this tutorial and then felt I just had to finish it and post it before doing anything else. Anything else. Like washing dishes or preparing for our blueberry-picking trip or doing laundry or eating lunch. Sometimes projects do that to you, you know?
So here is a tutorial for alphabet block fridge magnets or photo holders.

Materials:
alphabet blocks
small hand saw
small piece of sandpaper
3/4" round flat magnets
drill fitted with 3/4" spade bit
craft glue like E6000
table vise, clamp or some way to stabilize your block while drilling (I stood on the side of a 3" C-clamp)

1. I chose 5 blocks with the initials of our family.
2. I used a coping saw to create a slit in the top of the block. I made it almost halfway between the front and back of the block, but a little closer to the front. I sawed down a little more than halfway to the bottom. Make sure your letter is right side up before sawing!
3. I sanded the inside of the slit and curved the paper to sand the side edges at the cut.

4. I tightened a 3" C-clamp around my block with the front of the block facing the floor and the back of it facing up.
4. I fitted our electric drill with a 3/4" spade bit and centered it on the back of the block (while standing with my feet holding the clamp to the floor).
5. I drilled down about 1/8" and dropped a magnet in to make sure the hole was flat on the bottom and as deep as I wanted. (I wanted to mostly hide the magnet).
6. I used a toothpick to spread some glue in the hole and pressed the magnet in.

Once the glue dries, you can stick your block to the fridge and insert a photo or your appointment reminder card or library due date receipt. If your photo is not secure enough in the slit, then wedge a little piece of paper or cardstock behind it.

Now, to use the blocks as tiny standing photo displays, business card or place card holders, simply cut the slit through the top and skip the rest. Unless you want the block weighted, in which case you could drill through the bottom instead of the back and insert a magnet or something to weigh it down.
Try stacking and gluing the blocks for a little photo tower or build pyramids or what have you. These blocks make it easy to change up your display often!

Weekend organizing

I thought I'd share a few organizational projects today since that's how I've been spending my time recently.
I always take the opportunity while my mom is in town to tackle one or more long-been-a-pain-in-the-rear projects around the house. Projects that I either need physical, mental, financial, or parental help with. Wow, that includes so many things, it's a wonder I get anything done on my own.
This time, since we just moved our 3rd child in with the older two, I needed to do some bedroom rearranging. I've decided to sell the vintage dresser I've been using as changing table and clothes storage for my daughters. The drawers are difficult for little hands to maneuver and that's becoming more important as the kids learn to choose their clothes and dress themselves. Plus, three beds, 2 dressers, books and random toys are a lot in a medium-sized bedroom with multiple walls interrupted by doors, windows, and a potentially scalding hot radiator.
Anyway, my mom treated me to these great collapsible fabric boxes from The Container Store (they are having a nice summer sale) and I filled them with my daughters' clothes and slid them under the crib. Perfect fit. And easy for the kids to pull out and open themselves. My oldest "organized" her clothes box herself which has helped make her excited about the new system.
Oh yes, we used to have nice crib clothes on the bed including a lovely bed skirt, but it was removed after an unfortunate incident last year (mentioned at the end of this list). I imagine this wouldn't work quite as well if it was still in place.

I also chose to rearrange their book collection. We've had them shelved in one of those hideous stackable plastic cube things you get in college (which I did get in college) which is a safety hazard (they try to climb it) and awkward for sliding books in and out.
I was recently reminded that there's a very reasonable explanation for young children emptying out their bookshelves. They choose books by looking at the covers, not by reading the spines. After having one of those, "Ohhh, right" moments, I decided to place their books in bins so they can reach them without climbing, return them easily, and make their selections without carpeting the floor with books. It's nice to be able to conveniently cart a load of books to the other room, too.
These are plastic collapsible bins from The Container Store.

While at The Container Store, we couldn't pass up these crunch bags (which I have found very handy and sturdy enough for kids, also on sale) for storing some items in the living room.
I wanted them to have access to all of their own games and be able to put them away. That has been key in much or our reorganizing. These bags now house some of their games (the others still reside on a low shelf), and their train collection. The vintage basket is housing random baby toys.

Last, but by no means least, we finished organizing the outgrown clothes that have been nagging me for years. This was a huge project (though due largely in part to my not being organized from the beginning) and I felt a massive sense of relief when we finished.
We've been saving all decent outgrown children's clothing to pass on down the line, big sister to little sister (and to my husband's chagrin, sometimes to little brother). Every time the season changes, we have to hit the storage. For one reason, we can't store a year's worth of clothing in the dressers, and also the kids outgrow and need new sizes practically every season.
We finally sorted every item by gender, season, and size, labeled them all, and shoved them in the closet. I used small clear garment zip bags for storing small chunks of clothes-like Girls, 0-6 months, Summer-and then put 4 of these small garment bags into a larger one, labeled something like Girls, 0-6 months-2T, Summer. Making sure all labels and zippers were facing the same direction and easy to read and access, no zippers hiding on the bottom of the bag, but all right at the top where the large bag opens in case I just need to just stick my hand in and grab a few items.
Now when I need to pull out or put away clothes, I can see exactly which bag I need instead of dragging out the seemingly thousands of bags, big and small, and rifling through to find exactly what I'm looking for and then likely missing articles that could have been worn.
This summer, I was so happy to find that my baby didn't need any new clothes (thanks to hand-me-downs) and my older 2 needed very little (thank goodness they grow a little more slowly now).
I'm interested. How do you store your hand-me-downs? Or do you? If you have an idea that is far more outstanding and efficient than mine, tell me at your own risk. I may find out where you live. Or perhaps I'll just be grown-up about it and decide to pass it on to some other plagued parent.

The car is parked:

Where you least expect it. So don't go down 3 flights of stairs with your 20 pounds of baby, 20 pounds of stuff, 2 whining kids, and then wander aimlessly around the neighborhood searching for it. By the time you find it, you'll be too angry to go wherever it is you're supposed to be going.
Maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it makes me crazy.
Years ago, my husband and I would joke about doing this so that on the weekends, when we finally drove our car, we would remember where to find it. Now I'm not joking, but am doing it to help preserve a little bit of sanity. (I'll take what I can get).
I've made a little laminated magnet with a picture of our very own car and placed it conveniently upon a wipe-off board where we can document the location of our parked car, be it right in front of our eyes...

several blocks away...

or in the dreaded "No parking from 8am to 4pm" zone which, if we were to forget, would cost us another (yes, it's happened before) $60.

Here's to being slightly more organized!

Peanut butter jars, revised edition

I noticed on Crafty Crow, today, another example of the peanut butter jar storage I had posted about here a few months ago. That reminded me to show you our updated version: peanut butter jars with lose-proof lids. I drilled a small hole through the side of the jar, near the top, and a hole in the center of the lid. I threaded a piece of an old shoelace (loss-prevention laces, I'm calling them) through each hole and knotted it on the inside. Ta da!
(Note: You could use any kind of lace, string or ribbon, keeping it short to avoid dangerous situations for babies.)

Update: For more detailed instructions and photos of the process, see my post at Blissful Kids.

Hooray for baby-sitting swaps!

How does this depict a baby-sitting swap, you ask? Come on, moms. When else are you able to singly experience the joy of turning a corner of nasty neglected piles into a shining (that's stretching it a bit), pile-free zone, but when your kids are out of the house?
I was overjoyed to turn over my 2 oldest children to a friend while my baby slept so I could do a bit of corner-cleaning. All I have to do in return is have her 2 kids over to play with mine for a couple hours. Which may be even easier than taking care of mine alone. Now, if you total the number of corners in my apartment that need attention and assume that by the time I finish them all I'll have to start here again, I could be doing corner-clean-up for the rest of my baby-sit-swapping days. I'd rather go out for a cup of tea, really. I guess that's why so many of my corners need work.
Do your corners and surfaces accumulate like ours do? What do you like to do with your time alone? Do you get any time alone?
In addition to tackling some of the scary corners of our home, I'm also in the process of reorganizing our stored baby and kids' clothes. What an ordeal. I plan to post a picture on that, eventually.

Recycled toy storage and creepy masks

My initial goal this morning was to make these milk jug toy holders. Talk about fast! It takes like two minutes to cut one of these open, string a fabric scrap through the handle, fill with toys and hang on the shelf. I love this storage solution compared to purchasing buckets or such. I'm sure you could decorate these to make them more attractive, but I was so pleased with the initial outcome that I haven't bothered.
So, while I was cutting these, I realized the leftover part was sort of mask-shaped. I did a little cutting and came up with these really creepy Phantom-meets-pigman masks. (Well, one is a little more raccoonish). The model is a friend of ours since my kids don't like anything (with the occasional exception of face paint, but even that's iffy) touching their faces.
I was glad to find a use for the entire milk carton. Very fast and satisfying! But, really, what do you think about the gas-, I mean, dress-up masks...cool or creepy?

P.S. Pay no attention to the thick layer of dust on the shelf. Unless it's encouraging to you as a mom, in which case, pay close attention.

My new favorite storage boxes

Peanut butter jars. Plastic ones. Not much to say about that, really. I'm sure it's easy enough to figure out. They're such a good size for small toys and art supplies. And the kids can maneuver the lids pretty well by themselves.

See the updated version here.

Garland, bunting, banner, car lot flags....

Whichever name you prefer, here are two I've made. I made these a year and a half ago and never decided what to do with them. Keep, give away, sell....Anyway, just thought I'd let them out for air.
The top one is a mixture of vintage-looking kid's prints, coordinating fun patterns and solids. The flags are small (about 3" long), double-sided and top-stitched.
The second garland is underwater-themed (mermaids, frogs and fish), with coordinating patterns and solids. The flags are about 7" long, double-sided but not top-stitched.
I made the bias tape for both of these myself before I knew there was such a thing as bias-tape maker. Now I know.
I finished each end with two long grosgrain ribbons that could be tied in a bow instead of extending the single strip of bias-tape. Seemed easier for hanging and looked cute.
I considered making other garlands for holidays, which I still think is a good idea, but have not gotten around to it.

Repurposing

One decorating practice I tend to use frequently in my home (honestly, before I ever read it as an actual piece of decorating advice!), is to "repurpose" vintage objects....Take old objects and use them for a new purpose. These are just a few simple examples. Casserole dish for book display, magazine rack for aprons/linens storage, truck for book display, vase for flatware, and refrigerator crispers for sewing supplies. We also use a breadbox for office supplies, metal vegetable bin for entryway shelving, egg basket for produce, and I was once working on turning a red metal baby crib into couch seating. That one hasn't panned out yet, but someday.

Well, my baby book says I was born....

Please tell me I'm not the only mom burdened with guilt for not recording those precious baby moments in a sweet little book that my children can read and enjoy years down the road. You know, I did alright with my first daughter up until she was 18 months old and we had a son. According to her book, her life stopped at that point. According to his book, we gave him a name, but couldn't even remember how much he weighed or where he was born. Another daughter and another name later and the guilt keeps growing.
My mom knows my pain and sent me an article from Wondertime magazine with a suggestion on how to keep track of your children's special moments without having to haul out the books, your glue stick and your best handwriting.
The article suggests keeping a box handy for dropping in your scribbled notes on milestones and funny moments in order that one day you may pull them all out to include in your "archival masterpiece" or to simply read through, smile, and enjoy. It lists several examples of happenings you may wish to record and instructions on decoratively covering your box. My thoughts on that, though, are if a mom can't handle writing her son's first word in the baby book, how can she manage to sit down, measure a box, measure paper and contact paper, cut and glue it all? So...I intended to use a plain shoebox, no decoration whatsoever (and was fine with that), but my kids saw me cutting the hole in the top and wanted to help. I wrapped the bottom (no measuring and no glue) and let them put stickers on. Obviously, they got bored and so did I, so it ended as you see above. I'm still fine with that.
Maybe someday I'll gather my notes and my favorite pen and record it all in my 3 baby books or maybe I'll just pull out the box and enjoy a nice trip down memory lane.

Plants getting bored?

Winter goes on forever here and I figure maybe the plants are over it like everyone else (or, more likely, they're just upset because I forget to water them). So, how about a pick-me-up by way of a home-makeover for them? Here are some thoughts on how to spruce up your plants' homes:

• Paint your pots with happy designs that coordinate with your room. (Reminds me I have a half-painted pot waiting to be finished!)
  
• Paint your pots with chalkboard paint and then draw new designs as often as you wish. (See Martha Stewart and Apartment Therapy for making your own chalkboard paint).
  
• Drop your pots onto or into vintage cannisters, toy truck beds, bowls, bread boxes (the kind with the removable top), loaf pans, old metal lunch boxes, cake stands, etc.
• Purchase a new home for your plant like this vintage fish or handmade herb planter from Etsy.
• Try something crazy like this MacPlanter.
  

Hooray for Woodworking Dads

Thanks to my dad, this is now how I store most of my ribbon. I'm so pleased with these little stands that I thought they deserved some recognition. I've never had the perfect ribbon organizer until I designed something specifically for my cabinet and gave my little drawings, accompanied by a big smile, to my dad (well, he wasn't actually here, but I had one of those big do-me-a-favor smiles on over the phone and then sent the drawings home with my mom).
In case you're interested, these stands measure 14"x3 1/2"x3/4" on the base and hold four 1/4" dowels that stand 9" tall and are spaced 3 1/2" apart. This fits pretty much all the decorative ribbon I have, including spools that are extra wide (line them up next to the smaller spools) and some that are extra tall (like the one on the right with 5 bands of color). Besides accommodating what I have and looking nice in my cabinet, these are great for pulling out one at a time instead of having to haul and store a giant bin.
Lucky for me, my parents just happened to have some red paint at home. My favorite.