Yard Sale Steals & Deals [7]

Here ya go!

For Little Bear:
Tonka Wheel Pals triple track tower
Thomas wooden Sodor Fire Department
Golden Books Seek N Sound
Magnetic chalk/dry erase board
Tonka memory grame
Baby Einstein flashcards
Big facts flash cards
Sesame Street alphabet and number flashcards
Mickey colors and shapes flashcards
Wooden bear dress up box
Steel tec work center
2 Little People and a car
Books:
- Bob's Birthday
- The Truck Book
- Let's Go (magnetic book)
- Click Clack Quackity Quack
- McDuff and the Baby
- If I Were a Moose
- Picture That!  Bible Stories

For me:
3 garden flags
50 piece animal cookie cutters
Fresh keeper storage container for vegetables
American Eagle long sleeved shirt
American Eagle sweater
Fossil purse

For Guard:
Stack and store food storage bin
Woolrich dog bed cover

Grand Total: $22.35

Glycerin Soap - My First Attempt

I wanted to add something small to the gift that I was giving my mom for Mother's day (I know, Mother's day was several weeks ago, but I thought that you still might be interested) and I thought that some home-made soap would be perfect!  I have never tried making any soap before, so I figured that I would start with something easy.  I've seen a lot of posts on making glycerin soap and it looked pretty and easy, so I gave it a try.

Now it wasn't a total fail, but it wasn't a total success either.  Thus, I have titled this my first attempt!

The actual making of the soap was easy (just my type of craft!).  All it required was melting the glycerin in the microwave, adding any extras, stirring, pouring and chilling.  I was thrilled with the way that the scent turned out - I used a combination of orange zest and mint essential oil that resulted in a wonderful fresh scent.  I also liked the orange color that was created from the zest.  Unfortunately (even after all of my stirring) most of the zest ended up clumping together and floating to the top, rather than distributing throughout the soap (giving it a dirty look in my opinion).

Regardless, since it was a gift for my mother, made by me, she loved it.  I guess that love of homemade gifts from your kids never dies!

Fortunately I did only make one batch.  Hopefully next time, it will turn out a little better and I can give her some pretty soap next year!

Wordless Wednesday - The many faces of Little Bear {1}

Yard Sale Steals & Deals [6]

Check out this weeks loot!  :o)
This was a big weekend!  May is a huge yard sale month in our area and this weekend there were multiple community sales.  I ended up going on my usual Friday but then my mom came to visit so we went Saturday as well.  More sales mean more deals!

For Little Bear:
Carter's chenille knit blanket
2 pair OshKosh shorts
OshKosh fleece sweat suit
Carter's swimming trunks and matching t-shirt
Carter's zip up hoodie
Gap sweatshirt
Gap baseball cap
4 Carter's one pice short outfit
Carter's short sleeved one piece pant outfit
Carter's long sleeved one piece pant outfit
Carter's short overalls
Gymboree overalls
Gap shorts
2 Carter's sweatpants
3 pair of Carter's pajama sets
2 Carter's t-shirts
Carter's long sleeved t-shirt
Children's Place sweater
Gymboree rain coat
Gap pajama set
Children's Place t-shirt
Children's Place short overalls
Children's Place collared button down shirt
2 Gymboree flannel shirts
Gymboree sweater vest
Robeez treadz
Megablocks wagon filled with megablocks
Books:
- Are You My Mother?
- Baby's First Colors
- Baby's First Animals
- Bob's Busy Screwdriver
- Meet Scoop
- Meet Lofty
- My Big Train Book
- Digger Man
2 Tonka wheel pals
4 mini Tonka trucks
Stack n Surprise stacking cars
Playskool keys
John Deere tractor with sounds
Playskool wheel pals helicopter
Playskool large wheel pals firetruck with sounds
Leap Frog Fridge vehicle set
Playskool ball popper
Neurosmith jumbo music ball
Fisher Price Little People ramps around garage
2 Real Wheels VHS - There goes a Bulldozer and There goes a Dump Truck
The Toddler's Busy Book
The Baby Bible Storybook and carrying case
Leap Frog My First LeapPad
See N Say Story Maker
Aquadoodle Travel N Doodle
Tub foam shapes
Leap Frog Learning drum
Stuffed Barbie puppy with sounds
Aquadoodle mat
Cloud B sleep sheep
Amy Coe chenille knit blanket

Some of my personal favorites:

Gap sweatshirt - $.50, Gap hat - $.50

Carter's sweatshirt - $.50

OshKosh fleece sweatsuit - $2.50

Carter's swimming trunks and t-shirt - $2.00

For Papa Bear:
Docker's long sleeved collared button down
3 Stafford dress shirts
Nautica long sleeved collared button down

For me:
The Shipping News book
Boston Billows Nursing billow (well for me and Little Bear!)
Isaac Mizrahi cashmere turtleneck sweater

My mom's great find was a bag of vintage Fisher Price Little People for $.25.  Little Bear loves them more than the new ones!  He is always searching for the mail truck.

And my mother in law got Little Bear a maple wood child's table and chairs plus a toddler slide for $15 each.

My Grand Total: $66.80

Wow, that sounds like a lot (even to me!)!  But in reality, I would have spent waaay more if I bought everything new!

Wordless Wednesday - A flower for you!

Tot Tip: Too Many Toys

If your house is anything like mine, then you have tons of toys.  Often as parents, we enjoy getting our child new toys almost as much as he or she enjoys receiving new toys.  Unfortunately the newness quickly wears off and the child moves on to something new, leaving piles of unused toys in his wake.

There is a great deal of research and advice out there saying that fewer toys are actually better for your child's development.  I'm not going to get into that here, but there are some easy things that you can do to  both bring life back to the old toys and eliminate the over-stimulation brought on by too many toys.

1.  Distribute your toys.  Don't put all of your toys in one place.  Little Bear has 3 play stations around the house.  One is in his bedroom, one is in the great room and one is downstairs (we have an open floor plan so this really encompasses the living room, dining room and kitchen).

2.  Hide some toys.  Don't put out every single toy that your child owns.  Put some of the toys away for awhile.  Later bring those toys out and put some others away.  This will give your child an opportunity to rediscover his toys.

3.  Rotate toys between your multiple play stations.  Every few months, I will move Little Bear's toys around.  Often a new setting will allow your child to come up with new uses for old toys.

After I did some toy shuffling, Little Bear rediscovered this simple tractor.  He spent the entire day driving it around and making sounds.

4.  Pay attention to the types of toys that your child enjoys.  Not that you don't ever want to expose them to new things, but if your child isn't interested in stuffed animals, what are you going to do with a room full of teddy bears?

5.  Shop for toys carefully.  Don't always buy the toy with all of the bells and whistles that can do everything.  Instead search for toys that will allow your child to do a lot with them.  Dolls with minimal facial expressions encourage children to create their own emotions for the doll.  Wooden cars encourage children to create their own sound effects.

6.  If a toy breaks, don't always go buy a new one.  Teach your child to be responsible and care for their toys.

7.  Rather than buying new toys, give your child safe household items to play with.  This allows them to both use their creativity and model your behaviors (one of their favorite pastimes anyway).  Little Bear has his own cabinets in the kitchen that are unlocked and filled with things that I use on a daily basis but are child safe (mixing bowls, measuring cups, tupperware, etc.).  Often if I am in the kitchen he would rather play with those than his other toys.

8.  Play with your child!  You are the best toy that your toddler could possibly have, so instead of spending the time and money to buy another toy just have some good old fashioned fun!

Yard Sale Deals & Steals [5]

My deals ended up everywhere this week!  I'm not sure if this is a complete list, but you get the idea...  :o)

For Little Bear:
Fisher Price Boppin Bee game
Little touch Leap pad with carrier
Little Touch Leap Pad books:
- Pooh Loves You
- Let's Get Busy, Baby
- A to Z Adventure
- The Little Engine that Could
- Animal World
- Mr. Brown Can Moo!  Can You?
- Lulu The Letter Spinning Spider
- Rainbow Fish 1, 2, 3
- Animal Dance
Little Tikes Popping Dump Truck
2 Large Tonka Wheel Pals
3 Small Tonka Wheel Pals
Police and Fire cars
Sing a Long CD Player
Prince Lionheart 2 Stage Seat Saver
Airplane plate and fork
Stick Horse with sounds
6 Canvas Bin Organizer
Dirt Devil play Vacuum
Bob the Builder phone
Dog bone molds (for making soap crayons)
Gap sandals
Stride Rite sneakers
Robeez Tredz
2 pair Gap footed pajamas
Gap t-shirt
Gymboree t-shirt
Greendog t-shirt
Carter's t-shirt
Gap socks
Old navy socks
Melissa & Doug wooden bear family dress up
Infantino buckets
Fast Moving Trains VHS
Builder Bob to the Rescue VHS
Baby Songs Baby's Busy Day DVD
Thomas and the Magic Railroad VHS
Leapfrog Phonics Writing Desk
Melissa & Doug block puzzle
Fisher Price Little People Noah's Arc
Leapfrog Fridge Farm
Vtech Rhyme and Discover Book
Books:
- Go, Train, Go!
- My Own Five Senses
- Dinosaurs (reusable stickers)
- Fisher Price Little People Let's Go to the Zoo
- Read to Me, Grandma

For Papa Bear:
Werner Tool Lasso

For Me:
Limited capris
Charlotte Russe strapless top
Basket with liner (interchangable ribbons)
CD visor organizer
New Attitude heels
Mossimo dress sandals
Fossil purse

Grand Total: $54.05 

(I was a big spender this week!)

Wordless Wednesday - Mother's Day 2011

Too busy for a Mommy's day photo...

But once night night comes, Little Bear loves cuddles!
Happy Mother's Day!

Yard Sale Deals and Steals [4]

Mainly toy stuff this week...

Little Bear's loot

Something for momma this week too!

For Little Bear:
Junkyard Jalopy game (obviously for when Little Bear is much older!)
Fisher Price Little People car
Plastic Thomas train
2 wooden Thomas trains (only 1 pictured)
Disney Cars car
Bob the Builder talking Muck truck
Garanimals wooden car
Fisher Price peek a blocks giraffe with 6 peek a blocks
Pathfinder puzzle
Books:
- Baby Einstein Who Lives in the Pond?
- Polar Animals
- Runny Babbit
- I Love You Forever
- The Bernstain Bears Trick or Treat
- Get to Work Trucks!
- And Here's to You!
- Shiver Me Letters, A Pirate ABC
- Who Will Go to Kindergarten Today?
- Tooth Trouble
- Help is on It's Way! (magnetic play book)
Gymboree hat
Disney Cars pajamas
Children's Place pajamas
Children's Place tshirt
Old Navy jeans

Check out the favorites:

Gymboree hat - $.50

Talking Muck - $2.00 (This made Little Bear's week!)

For Papa Bear:
He definitely makes out better when he comes along...  So, nope, nothing this week.

For me:
2 American Eagle Outfitters bags

Total: $19.40

For Mother's Day weekend, Aunt M watched Little Bear and I hit a few more yard sales with my mother in law on Saturday.  Here were the additional deals!

Little Bear's Saturday clothes additions

Little Bear's Saturday extras

And even some more for Momma!

For Little Bear:

Gymboree long sleeved tshirt

Nike velour track suit

Old Navy long sleeved thermal

Circo long sleeved tshirt

Gap short sleeved button down shirt

Osh Kosh tshirt

Disney Cars tshirt

Carter's Overalls and long sleeved shirt set

2 pairs Osh Kosh pants

Carters jeans

Old Navy sandals

Tonka bulldozer with sounds

Books:

- Amazing Creatures

- Creepy Creatures

- What Makes Popcorn Pop?

- The Lot at the End of My Block

VHS tapes (Yes, we still have a VCR!)

- 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

- The Gallant Old Engine and other Thomas Stories

- Steamies vs. Diesels and Other Thomas Adventures

- Bob the Builder Bonus

- Bob the Builder Teamwork

Nike velour track suit - $1.00

For Me:

Aeropostale purse

Gap jeans

Gap dress pants

Mossimo jeans

Quick carry

Gift wrap cutter

Saturday Grand Total: $16.00

Plus a few of my Mother in Law's deals:

Melissa and Doug wooden play food with cutting board and knife - $1.00
Chef's hat, apron and mitts - $1.00
Step 2 Kitchen set - $5.00