Before FIAR Story Map & Story Discs

If you’re interested in using a Story Map for Before Five in a Row and Story Discs, you've come to the right place! 

I can't wait to do this once we start volume 1, but since we aren't there yet I knew I wanted some kind of soft start to geography, map reading, and even determining the setting of a story. Using the clues in the text and pictures you and your child can determine the best place to put your story discs on the Story Map. 

There are a few options in going about printing your map: 

1. Print it as an engineering print. You can print color or black and white, HOWEVER, Staples may or may not do it in color (I was denied at 2 different ones, but others I know had no problem at all - it’s worth a try if they will as it’s only about $3 for a 18”x24”). 

2. Print as a poster print for about $15 at Staples or another office store in matte or semi-gloss. 

3. The cheapest option is to print yourself spread over 6-8 sheets of paper, cut and tape it together, then just get it laminated for $1-2 depending on size. This is what I did and you can barely see the lines! (Instructions to do it this way will be below the link for the PDF file you will need to use. Use the Jpeg image for sending off to get a print from a printing company or poster sized prints from Staples.) 

Dropbox links to download each file for FREE!! - - 

 
Before FIAR Story MAP (jpeg):  https://www.dropbox.com/s/als8f0ekk9f91tq/Before%20FIAR%20Map%20for%20Story%20Discs%203.jpg?dl=0

Before FIAR Story Map (PDF): https://www.dropbox.com/s/i95lmxtdsml0vdz/Story%20Map%20PDF%201.pdf?dl=0

**To print this on several sheets of paper and cut and tape together you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader updated. These instructions are for that (I’m sure there are other ways, this is the only one that I’m familiar with though): Open the PDF file, go to file and then down to print. Click poster, change the title scale to 225% and keep the overlap at 0.005 in. Check off the box that says ‘cut marks’ just to update and see the changes, and then uncheck the cut marks box (you will need to do this if you make any other additional changes). Make sure the orientation is in portrait mode and then print! These ratios are for about 18 x 23.5” and a really great sized map that fits all the story discs nicely! You can of course play around with the title scale ratio to see different sizes as well. Then just laminate! Cheap option and works great! 

 
Before FIAR COLOR story Discs: https://www.dropbox.com/s/aqwrgy5gx76b70x/Story%20Discs%20Color.pdf?dl=0

 
Before FIAR BW Story Discs: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sok8vf8ddlup7hy/Story%20Discs%20Black%20%26%20White.pdf?dl=0

 Once you have all this printed, consider laminating the discs and map. Then you can use either sticky putty or velcro dots to adhere to your map.

 

Enjoy!!

DIY Touch and Feel Photo Book for Baby

 My son loves touch and feel books, almost as much as he loves photo books of his family. I knew I had to create a touch and feel photo book especially tailored just for him, and there had to be DIY instructions out there. Well I found a bunch, and probably by way of mish-mash, just kind of fashioned one up. 

So let me tell you how YOU can make one for your little one! 

First you need to gather your materials:

*Photos

*Cardstock (computer paper or construction paper may work fine too)

*Scissors

*scotch tape

*exacto knife and an old magazine to cut on

*duct tape (don't use metal tape like I did above! I had to redo one of my books because the pages eventually tore and then cut my son! I thought it was just shiny tape and he would love it...but not, it was metal tape. Sheesh. So yes, use duct tape, it works best and is the strongest for the job. Plus you can get real creative with all the different colors and designs out there.)

*Touch and feel materials - use whatever you have laying around your house: old sock, plastic bag, tin foil, saran wrap, wrapping paper, curling ribbon, sandpaper, felt, fabric, old stocking, ribbon, cotton balls....etc.

Steps:

1. Cut your cardstock paper. You will need to cut these slightly larger than the photo size that you have. I had 4x6" photos printed at the one-hour photo and just cut the paper maybe 3/4" larger on each side (roughly pieces that were 5.5"x7.5")

2. Cut the photos. Take your exacto knife and start cutting on your photos where you want to put your different materials. Cut out little blocks, squares, whatever, making sure to cut on top of an old magazine.

3. Tape the material to the back of the photo. Make sure the material is facing the correct way, and then tape the material using scotch tape (or duct tape if it's difficult to do with scotch) just to keep the piece in place. 

4. Place a couple piece of scotch tape to the back of the photo and put in the center of your cardstock. The scotch just keeps it in place until you can duct tape it.

5. Flip the cardstock over and do the same with another picture on the other side.

6. Duct Tape the edges. Your duct tape is likely around 2" in width. You want to cut off a strip (doesn't need to be exact measurement) and start taping around one edge of the photo, then wrapping the excess duct tape around to the other side taping the edge of the 2nd photo on the other side. One piece of tape should be taping TWO edges of TWO different photos to each side of the cardstock. You will need to repeat this step around the other 3 edges. 

7. Repeat steps 2-6 for all of your pages.

8. Assemble your book. Once you have all of your pages, put them in the order that you want. Then open to the first 2 pages side by side, leaving a tiny gap between them, and put a strip of duct tape holding those two pages together - allowing that little gap to be there (this will make it possible for the book to close. If the pages are touching when you tape them together, you may have difficulty opening and closing the book). Do this to all the pages. Once you have each page taped to the next, close the book and place one last piece of duct tape along the edge to provide as the binding for the book. 

And that's it - you're all done!! 

You can adapt these steps however you need to! Don't worry about making it perfect, mine certainly isn't. My book is nowhere near perfect or pretty, but my son ADORES this book and lights up every time he sees and plays with it. Kids love to see pictures of themselves, other babies, animals, and the family that they know. 

So tell me, what unique ideas have you seen or created for your kids that they enjoy?

Rustic Nautical Corner Cabinet Re-Do

You should have seen this corner cabinet when I got it. Y.U.C.K.Y! But of course you can't see it because once again I forgot to take the before picture. *sigh* 

But alas, you can imagine it! 

Think...knotty orange pine, broken decorative top, gross dirt build-up everywhere...and get this....BIRD POOP. Yes, bird poop was so nicely laden all over this cabinet. How that happens? Beyond me...I have no clue. But after a nice tough cleaning and scrubbing and a coat of shellac to seal it, we were on our way to achieve my vision for it.

I wanted this rustic corner cabinet to have a nautical theme - all centered around these amazing knobs. Though I knew white sells better, I really wanted to mix my Annie Sloan paints to get this awesome navy blue to match the compass rose painted knobs. In fact those knobs were the biggest investment of the whole project! 

After a few coats of the navy and white were in place, I clear waxed and followed it with the dark wax - which came out much better than I expected. 

I really love the outcome of this one! The picture doesn't do it justice, but I'm really excited to see if she sells! (If not...I would be ok keeping her too!!)

So...what are you working on this week?

(This post is linked up on www.craftsalamode.com and missmustardseed.com)

DIY Sensory Board for Baby

My 10 month old son is such a boy. He's obsessed with hardware, shiny things, buttons he can push, toys he can spin, remotes, and cell phones. Basically if he can't have it, he wants it. And if he gets it, without fail it will make its way into his mouth.

Cue: Sensory Boards. All about discovery!

Except, I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for someone to make me a sensory board that is likely to be both small, and not personalized to my son's tastes. And... well, if you have a handy husband like I do, then all you have to do is oversee the operation and it's a win win! Hubby gets to play with tools, you design, and your child LOVES their new toy!! But if someone in your family isn't all that handy, rest easy because this is so easy YOU can do it! You just may be using hot glue or a stapler instead of nails! :)

So first things first. You have to gather your materials. Best place to do this is the DOLLAR STORE and a hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot. Or, just look around your house - you'd be surprised the kinds of things you can gather and put on the board that would be fun for your child! Think of things that the child can move, spin, push, pull, or play with. Then add some texture pieces such as: fur, sandpaper, leather, fabric, tin foil...etc. The only limit to materials is your own mind! For the board, we found that an MDF board works best for us. I liked that I didn't have to worry about splinters or having to paint a wooden board. But basically, whatever you have on hand will likely work. Just make sure to cut holes in the board for anything that may require batteries so that you can easily replace them if you need to.

Now arrange them on your board, making sure to think through where each piece should go that makes sense for your child. Meaning, don't put a mirror on the bottom of your board! Use nails, a staple gun, hot glue, or crazy glue to adhere all of the objects. Then clean all the objects to ensure safety for when (and yes I mean when) your child decides to taste the mirror or door hinge. Check to ensure all is safe, no loose or small pieces that could come apart - and you are good to go! Make sure that wherever you place the board is a safe place. Nail it to a wall, secure it to a wall somehow, or lay it on the ground. You don't want that thing to topple on your child!

And lastly - HAVE FUN!

The expression on my son's face was absolutely priceless. I have NEVER seen him so excited since he's been born!!

(Shared on the following linky parties: www.craftsalamode.com)

DIY Healthy & Simple Fruit Roll-Ups

Who doesn't love fruit roll-ups?

 

They are good for just about anyone, any age. Great for school lunches, or lunches for your spouse. Not only are they delicious, satisfying that sweet tooth, but they are also HEALTHY! 

Recently I decided to attempt my hand at creating these fruit roll-ups. My son, as well as a friend of mine, her son, have many food allergies and she recently had to go on the Total Elimination Diet where the only fruit she could eat were pears. So, in hopes of finding some different and creative ways to give her another snack, I decided to make pear fruit roll-ups. But I can't wait to try other fruits and veggie combinations! So for the sake of this tutorial - this is based on the pear Fruit Roll-ups, but feel free to sub any fruit you would like. 

So without further Ado...

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 170 degrees (the lowest it will likely go)

 

Step 2: Gather your fruit and/or veggies, whatever you choose - canned, fresh, frozen, whatever. Puree in either food processor or blender until you get it to a sort of applesauce, or even chunky applesauce (depending on your preference) consistency.

Step 3: Add sweetener (optional!). I like to use organic sugar, but you can use regular sugar, honey, stevia, agave nectar, pretty much anything, and use as much as you would like. For the large can of pears, I added about 1 Tbsp of sugar (I like sweet!). I have also read that using the sweetener helps the roll-up to be the most pliable, but I'm really not sure about that. If you can go without the sugar, by all means, give it a whirl and come back and tell us how it went. Some people also like to use a little lemon juice, but again, I have not tried that to say whether it makes a difference in color, taste, or pliability. 

Step 4: Spread a thin layer on a piece of parchment paper placed on a baking sheet, or you can use silicone baking mats. If you have silicone mats - great! If not, parchment paper works just fine, but be prepared to have wrinkles due to the moisture in the mixture. Try to make the layer as even as possible, but maybe making the edges just a little thicker than the center as they tend to cook fastest.

See how thin this layer is?

 Step 5: Place your baking sheets into the oven - but load them up and get as many as you can in there! 

They may cook differently depending on the baking sheet and where they are in the oven.

 Step 6: Set your timer to check on them every hour. I found that mine took anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours depending on how thin my layer was and where the baking sheet was in the oven. You will want to take it out when it is more tacky or 'bouncy', but not sticky.

These were in the oven for the same amount of time. See how different they look?

 Tip: See the photo above? I have a dilemma now because the one on the right is overcooked and will be crispy and break off making it not roll-able. But don't worry! It can be fixed, and actually, I like the 'fixed' version better than the one on the left!! Lightly brush water over all the darkened parts, or over the whole thing, and place back in the oven for another minute or two until it is no longer wet. When you take it out it will be the perfect pliability for rolling! You may have to do this for the lighter colored ones as well - usually the edges get a bit crispy.

 

 Step 7: After removing from the oven, flip the parchment paper over onto another piece of parchment paper and begin rubbing the back so that it loosens the roll-up, making sure to really focus on the edges. Start to peel the backing away leaving the roll-up.

The roll-up after the backing has been peeled away.

 Step 8: Cut the roll-up into strips. I also like to trim all of the edges so that I get nice, neat, clean lines.

 Step 9: Cut a piece of parchment around the roll-up and begin to roll! You can fasten it with a twist tie or tape around the parchment to keep it together (tape won't stick, so you will have to create a 'tab', or tape around itself).

 Step 10: Enjoy!

 So to summarize:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees, puree fruit and/or veggies, add sweetener or lemon juice, spread thin on parchment or silicone baking mats, take out of oven between 2 and 4 hours, flip parchment and rub to release roll-up, cut into strips and roll! 

There are ENDLESS combinations that you can make! I'm most excited to try a strawberry combination of some kind. And, I'm interested to see what some of them would taste like if I threw carrot in there, or even some avocado (yum!). Get creative! This is a fantastic way to keep things healthy by getting some of those fruit and veggie servings to your family. They should store in an air-tight container in a cool, dark place, or in the refrigerator for several weeks.

What combination do you want to try?

Accent Table Re-do - Distressing with a Wet Cloth

 I am IN LOVE with this table! Of course, I was so excited that I forgot to take the before picture (again...*cough*), but that's ok! If you look at the top of the table, that was the entire table - but also with 2 broken legs. Thankfully my handy dandy hubby fixed the legs, and I set to work!

I used Annie Sloan Antibes Green Chalk Paint and mixed it with the Graphite Chalk Paint until I got this awesome deep green color. 

 After slathering on 2 coats of the green, right away, I began distressing the paint using a wet rag. I've heard of this method but didn't have much luck in the past. I found that the paint has to be really fresh, and preferably right after the last coat is applied. I distressed in the areas I wanted and was able to touch some if it back up if I took off too much paint. I couldn't believe how easy it was! You just wet the reg and start rubbing in the areas you want to distress. You have a lot of control this way, and the bonus - you don't ruin the furniture finish underneath. That is partially why I hate sand distressing. Sometimes the furniture is in excellent condition and I hate having to rough it up! This avoids that! 

Me, knowing Jack about wood - thought the top was real wood. Apparently it's a laminate of some kind over-top some kind of board. The base is solid wood though - and either way, it's still beautiful. Something about Green and brown...I just love the two mixed together. I finished this piece by waxing with clear wax, waiting overnight, and then waxing with the dark and clear wax mixed and added a little mineral spirits to make it more workable. I'm still trying to figure out this whole wax thing, but I think I put enough that I was happy with on it. 

What's your favorite way to distress?

Currently linked at: http://www.craftsalamode.com/, http://missmustardseed.com, http://www.myturnforus.com/ and http://www.remodelaholic.com

My First Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Project!

Before...

I am in LOVE with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint! I tried so hard to make the DIY stuff work (with issues of grit and waxing), but I finally had a little money and some birthday money saved to splurge on a few cans of the AS paint, and boy am I glad I did! Not only is it fabulous...but it's so beautiful and the finish is amazing! 

So without further ado...here is my first piece:

Vintage Country Cottage Style End Table/Accent table painted in French Linen and a mix of Pure White and Old White. I began by covering the entire piece in the french linen, and doing the drawer in the white mix. I then covered the table in the areas that I wanted with the white, and the drawer in the french linen. 

I distressed (I'm getting better I think in being able to do it without having a mini heart attack. Though taking the sandpaper to the surface at first is very frightening!)...

And Distressed some more...

AJ put these awesome knobs I bought off Etsy for about a $1 a piece (steal of a deal!!). The details in the knobs are almost a deep purple/maroon shade - but they match so nicely with colors of the table. 

I love the detail in the drawer - the way it's made to look like 4 small drawers, but only one. 

Distressing the top was the hardest part...but I did it! 

I finally finished by waxing - and that was NOT fun! The first coat of wax I did ended up blotchy and uneven in areas, no matter how hard I tried to get it to work out. I then sanded the top down lightly to get the wax to distribute more evenly, which helped. After that dried I added a second coat of wax which evened it out much better. The silky smoothness of this paint - whew! Just can't beat it! 

I'm in love with this piece and so excited to start my next one! 

Currently joined linky parties (for the first time - eek!) on http://www.craftsalamode.com/, http://missmustardseed.com, http://www.myturnforus.com/ and http://www.remodelaholic.com