Make It Don't Buy It: Vegetable add in's

I have to say, some days the idea of chopping vegetables for a dinner turns me off entirely to making the dinner. I even have a handy chopping tool! To speed things up on these low motivation days, I try to keep bags of ready chopped veggies on hand. So, pick a day to chop, shred and freeze. Squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, carrots...all these freeze nicely for soups, stews, and sauces.

Christmas Prep: gifts to make

Obviously, I've got this energy for getting Christmas ready to go super early. This includes gifts for my kids. I've already got a small stack of items on the top shelf on my closet that I picked up at garage sales, or on clearance throughout the year. This year, most gifts are going to be handmade. (And I'll be making most of these gifts during Fall TV viewing so I don't feel so lazy for watching 2 hours of 3-4 nights a week.)

Afton will be getting a felt cake set. I love the original idea from Twinkle Cakes. But I just can't spend $70 on one gift. So make my own I will. I already started this project when I was recovering from knee surgery and am so excited to give it to her!

I'm making pirate dress ups for both my son and daughter. And will be updating our play kitchen with a stash of felt food.

Here are some great hand made gift idea tutorials:

Mini I Spy Quilt from Make and Takes
Fabric Book Marks
Quiet Book (from us!)
Felt Food from One Crafty Mumma

Care to share your hand made gifts plans? We'd love to hear them!

Travel Games: felt face

I'm trying to avoid the dollar store stock up for my approaching road trip. Last night I made these felt face boards for my kiddos. Here's what I like about this car friendly activity:

• Fast to make. I made two in under and hour.
• Cheap cheap cheap. Cardboard from a leftover box and felt from my stash.
• Quiet. Need I say more?
• Multiple uses. The circle becomes a small felt board for other felt activities.
• Easy to change. Afton informed me we need ears and earrings!

I found the idea for this in my Toddler Busy Book.