{Play Money: The Way to Learn}

My 7 year old has had old scraps of handwritten makeshift play money for a long time, and although it works, it could be better. When she's playing store, or paying her vet bill, or shopping at the pet store, she really should be counting out something close to real money. You know...playing and learning. It's how we roll around here, so I can't believe I haven't made these earlier. I think I printed out some generic bills a few years ago on green cardstock, but let's just say....uck. Not the ideal.

So I did some searching and found these wonderful printables at Money Instructor. You can download $1's, $5's, $10's, and $20's. They look very real, but are smaller in size than the real thing.

$1 Bills-Play Money

$5 Bills-Play Money

$10 Bills-Play Money

$20 Bills-Play Money

$50 Bills-Play Money
 I printed several copies of each on white cardstock and cut them out.
(I use Georgia-Pacific cardstock from Wal-mart for general projects.)

Then I sealed them up with clear laminate (from a roll) for durability, and cut them out again. Rolling over the laminate with a brayer (or rolling pin) really helps get the bubbles out quickly.

 They are durable and very authentic...perfect for learning while playing.

  Wouldn't it be nice if these were real?
Have fun pretend shopping (and counting) with your kiddos!

Take care,

Linking up at:

{Little Red Riding Hood Cloak}

My sweet girl and I were at Joann's this week when we came across this lovely (and sparkly - very important when you're almost 7) fabric to make a Little Red Riding Hood cloak. We recently saw the "Little Red Riding Hood" children's opera in our city, and being the little thespian and musician she is, she fell in love with it. She's been begging me to make her a cloak since then, and I was able to whip this up pretty quickly lastnight. 

I'm proud of how it turned out! 

I used the Musketeer Cape as a guide, and essentially altered it buy eliminating the velcro tabs at the top and making it longer. Then I free-handed a hood pattern and cut out 2 of them. She was in bed at the time, so I was pleased that my guess turned out just right! I made the ties and just sewed them inside. This was really an easy project and took maybe an hour and a half or so to complete. I love how it turned out! She's wanting to put on the show this weekend at home, so now she's all set. Daddy will be the wolf, and I get to play dual roles...the Grandma and the Mom!

Enjoy your weekend!

Take care,

{A Sprinkle of Pixie Dust}

My precious kiddo is in full fairy mode with her imagination lately.  We were playing 'fairies' yesterday...along the lines of pretending we were sisters that were trying to catch fairies in our backyard. :) Of course we CAUGHT one with our fairy house made of blocks, but when we brought her inside we had to make a bed for her.

As a mom and a teacher, I love it when those imaginative juices start flowin'!

If you've got a little person in your life who loves fairies, you gotta make one of these!

(Tink is our fairy of choice at the moment.)

So fun and so easy. Literally 5 minutes and you're off again...playing 'fairies'. :)

WHAT YOU NEED:

lightweight cardboard out of your recycling (a food box)

scrap square of fabric (or a leaf - mine wanted a real blanket)

scotch tape

little pom poms (or anything else you think would make a good fairy pillow!)

scoring tool (unless you can fold better than I can)

I started with a piece of a Wheat Thins box, measuring about 5 1/2" x 4". Whatever size you want and I only measured afterward to give you an idea. It was just a guess and we started cutting!

Score your square on all sides at ABOUT 1/2". Again, didn't measure. This was an on-the-fly-we're-still-playing deal, but it was around 1/2". I darkened my score lines with a pencil so you can see better.

Snip just up to where the corner score lines meet on the long sides of the square, and fold everything inward, like this:

Fold those little flaps on the ends into the long side flap and wrap scotch tape around it to secure. Now you have a bed.

Add whatever you think would work as a pillow. My kiddo chose these little poms. We used a dot of Elmer's on each just to keep them in one place. I cut out a little rectangle of scrap fleece for a blanket. You could use a leaf, too...I hear that's more like the REAL fairies. :)

There you have it! Your very own authentic fairy bed! You know they are always making furniture, etc. out of our trash, so this is perfect. ;) 

Tink seems to be very cozy in there!

Now go play fairies, and see what other cool things you can make together!

Have fun!

I'm linking up to:

Also to Tatertots & Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party...but I can't get Blogger to take any codes or links, so I apologize in advance!

{She's a Musketeer!!}

My daughter is waaaaay into being a "girl superhero", primarily a Barbie Musketeer, so last spring when I accidentally came across this great Kid's Superhero Cape project over at The Long Thread I had to try it!

I'm now addicted to her projects!!  I was new to sewing then, (I still feel like I am!) and am completely self-taught, so this was my very first time using a pattern. I was soooo cautious! You can find the tutorial here.  It's an easy project to follow and complete, so if you're new to sewing don't be afraid!! If I can do it, so can you!

My kiddo helped me pick out the fabric, and we decided to go with felt for the logo on the back of the cape.

I used felt for the mask as well. It was the trickiest, just getting the eye holes large enough for her eye but not TOO large. I also used sequence to add a flash here and there. It was very simple and she LOVES it! She is always playing in it, and even considered it for Halloween (although she ended up going with Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz).

 She decided on a butterfly for her cape logo, so I found a template online (somewhere!) for both the large butterfly and her "N". The little butterfly on the logo and on the mask I die-cut with my Cuttlebug using a Stampin' Up Sizzix die. This is a pic of it before I sewed it on. I actually used the machine for that, and I remember going VERY SLOWLY and being scared of ruining the whole thing! :)

Don't you like the lining? 

I really think anyone with a machine can make this so easily. I copied the pattern onto brown packing paper and have it in my files now. I'm not sure how other people store/keep sewing patterns, but that has worked well for me so far. I think I have it traced on muslin as well.

Take a look at the tutorial if you've never seen it. Once you make one, you'll want to make more!

Take care!

Deanna

I'm linking up over here: