Toddler Gifts Under $20

My daughter is turning 2 years old in less than two months from now.  I can't believe it!  I've been doing a lot of searching for gift ideas for family and friends (so we don't end up with Super Annoying and Loud Plastic Electric Guitar 3000!).  A frugal person myself, I don't like seeing others spend more than necessary, so I thought I'd share some great toddler gift ideas that are $20 or less.  

  "Animal Baby" Magazine Subscription from National Wildlife Federation - $19.95 for 10 issues. 

I just ordered this for my daughter today.  I came across these awesome little magazines while shopping at my local Depot for Creative Reuse.  I bought 6 used copies of the magazine (from 2004) for $0.25 each!  I didn't realize until I got home that they are actually a subscription magazine!  They have colors, shapes, vocabulary, counting, and nature-centered stories inside and they are wonderful.

 Finger Puppets from Ikea - $4.99 for pack of 10.  

Honestly, Ikea has a TON of awesome toddler/kid things that are under $20 - check out their website for more fun things!  I bought the people finger puppets awhile back for Olive.  I recently saw they were carrying the animal puppets and I had to scoop them up!  We keep them all in a container in her toy area and use them daily.  They are great for inspiring imagination in little ones and are just so darn cute!  And yes, they fit on adult fingers, too.

Red Plastic Rocker from Ikea - $9.99.    

Okay, I could be here all day listing fun things I've purchased from Ikea - this is the last one, I promise!  Sturdy, cheap, looks like a delicious slice of watermelon.  Need I say more?

Magic Towels - $1.00 each.  

If you don't know, magic towels are washcloths that have been compressed into a tiny little square, circle or other shape.  When you put them in water, they expand to normal washcloth size.  I remember getting these as a kid and LOVED them!  It was always so fun to be surprised by the picture on the washcloth (which is usually some kind of bright cartoon).  I have found this recently for $1 at stores like The Dollar Tree and the 99cent Store.  For that price, you could buy 20 of them and make some kid's day!

Book & Animal Combo from The Dollar Tree - $2.00-$7.00.  

It can be The Dollar Tree, The Dollar Store, The 99Cent Store - any store that sells things for $1.00 and under.  Check out their children's book section and the toy section to find a book and toys that go together.  For example, I purchased all of the items below from The Dollar Tree, for a total of $6.00.  All of the animals appear in the book.  You might not have these specific ones at your local dollar shop, but I'm sure you can find some kind of book/toy match!

Any of the wonderful Putumayo CDs - Average of about $13.00.  

Putumayo are compilation CDs that work with many different artists and span a wide range of cultures.  There are dozens of the CDs that are labeled as "Putumayo Presents: Kids", but honestly, I love listening to them as an adult.  They truly do provide music that the whole family can enjoy!  (Listen to a sample on Amazon or iTunes!)

Puzzles - The one below is $12.95 and can be found at Discount School Supply.  

You can find countless puzzles out there for under $20 and some that are really educational, too.  Discount School Supply has a number of great wooden puzzles as do Melissa and Doug.  Personally, I prefer wooden puzzles because they have a sort of nostalgic feel and they are much sturdier than cardboard puzzle pieces.  

  

Do you have any favorite toddler gift ideas under $20 that we could add to the list?

Gift for a New Mom

My best friend is 3 weeks away from having her first child, a little girl!  Unfortunately, she moved out of state a few months ago so I can't physically be there for her.  Now that I'm an "experienced" mom (yeah right!), I know what she can expect and I really want to help her out during her first few weeks of motherhood.  Since I can't be there in there in person, I wanted to send her something that would be helpful.

I thought back to the first few days and weeks of my journey into motherhood.  One of the things I often forgot to do was to eat.  I either was too busy, couldn't get up because I was breastfeeding, or just plain forgot.  If I had had a bunch of pre-made "snacks", I probably would have eaten more and had more energy.  So, that's what I decided to make for my friend.  I made her 20 little baggies filled with non-perishable snacks.  She can keep a few in her diaper bag, some in the car, and some more next to where she'll be feeding her new baby.  That way, if she gets hungry or thirsty, she won't have to worry about searching for a snack (at least for a few weeks!).  In each bag, I included: a granola bar, fruit leather/strip, small bag of fruit snacks, small box of 100% juice, piece of gum, and a small piece of chocolate.  I also put a little note in each bag for some encouragement.  Some of the notes include nice quotes I found or they are my own personal notes of encouragement.

In addition to the snack bags, I got her a couple of "quick" meals: a bowl of instant oatmeal, a bowl of instant macaroni & cheese, and a "just add water" pancake mix.  That way, if her husband isn't around to fix her a healthy meal or if she doesn't have time, she has a couple of things to fill her belly until she can actually make a meal.  (I know they aren't super healthy, but I know they needed to be non-perishable.)  Finally, I included a notebook for recording those first few weeks of baby's life:  poop diapers, wet diapers, feeding times, feeding lengths, etc.  I found that really helpful as a new mom because I often found myself wondering, "When did I feed Olive last?  Was it 2 hours ago?  Has she pooped in the last 6 hours?".  You know how fun that "Mommy Brain" can be! :)

I really wish I could be there with my friend to give her my love and help, so I'm hoping that she will feel some of my love in this box of goodies I'm sending her way.

What are some of your gift ideas for new moms?

Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments

Christmas at our house is in full swing!  And by full swing, I mean I still have half my presents to complete (I'm making most of them) and all the presents to wrap.  Nevertheless, I can cross one thing off my list of things to do: Making salt dough ornaments!  I've seen a lot of different recipes and ideas for salt dough ornaments floating around the boards on Pinterest lately and after researching a number of them, I decided on a recipe that I really like.

Salt Dough Ornaments:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
3/4 cup warm water

Mix everything in a bowl.  Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes.  Yes, 10 minutes.  You need to do this because it helps the dough to become smooth and pliable.  While you're kneading, if the dough seems too sticky add a little flour as you go.  Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut out as desired.  For the handprint ornaments, we pushed my daughter's hand into the rolled out dough and then used a bowl to cut a circle around it.  I used a straw to poke a hole for the ribbon and then used a toothpick to prick small holes for ventilation.  Place ornaments on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and cook at 200F for 4 hours.

After they were cool, I painted them with acrylic paint.  After the paint had dried, I sprayed them with clear sealant, which gave them a nice shiny look.

For something extra, I took a picture of Olive, cut it into a circle and attached it with Mod Podge to the back of each ornament.  After it was dry, I sprayed it with the clear sealant.

Stick a ribbon on it, and you have a personal, homemade gift for a friend or family member.  The ones I made are all for family members as a little something extra in addition to their main gift.  I really like the way they turned out.  Next year, of course, Olive will help with the painting and that's when they'll start looking really homemade!

Pinterest Friday

Ah, Pinterest.  We've been having a love-hate relationship lately.  I love finding all kinds of great ideas, but I hate that I don't have enough time in the day to actual bring those ideas to life!  But not today people, not today - I actually made something!  Here's the original pin:

Homemade Sugar Scrubs

I've actually pinned a number of sugar scrub ideas with the plan for making them as Christmas gifts.  The scrubs that are linked to this pin look delicious enough to eat, but unfortunately, don't come with any recipes (you can pay to buy a book of the recipes...boooo).  I thought, it can't be that hard to figure out how to make a sugar scrub so I did a little research online and after finding lots of different methods, I came up with three of my own.  I plan on gifting them to a family member. 

From left to right:  "All Day Glow" Vanilla-Honey Body Scrub, "Pie in the Sky" Pumpkin Spice Face Scrub, "Wake Up Toesies" Peppermint Foot Scrub

I love the way each of the scrubs turned out.  They smell delicious, look like they cost a lot more than they actually did, and make your skin feel silky smooth.  Plus, the tags make them look extra cute and homemade.  Here's what I wrote inside the tags, along with the recipe.  (A note about the recipes:  The measurements aren't exact.  If it's too dry, add more oil.  If it's too wet, add more sugar.  If you want to use another kind of oil, go for it.  Experiment until you find something that you like.)

"All Day Glow"

3 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 tsp vitamin E oil (natural preservative)

2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp honey

Mix well and put in a jar.

"Pie in the Sky"

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vitamin E oil

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix well and put in a jar.

"Wake Up Toesies"


3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp vitamin E oil
1 tsp peppermint extract
handful (6?) round peppermint candies

Mix everything well, except for candies.  Separate mixture into two bowl.  In a small bag, crush candies until they are finely ground.  Pour candies into one of the bowls and mix.  Pour pink and white scrub into layers into a jar.  Or....just mix it all together and call it a day.  It will still be just as good!

Happy Holidays and to hoping your skin feels extra smooth in the days to come!

Animal Bookends

I found this idea over at Mad in Crafts while searching for cheap and easy crafts.  And boy, oh, boy, was it ever - cheap AND easy!  My husband and I worked together to make these two last night for our niece and nephew.  We're planning on getting them some books for Christmas and packing these cute bookends in with them.  I had everything on hand except for the animals and frames, so each bookend set ended up costing me a total of just $3!  Pretty cool, huh?

What you need:
- 1 plastic animal or car ($1 at The Dollar Store)
- 2 acrylic frames 5"x7" ($1 at The Dollar Store)
- hacksaw
- hot glue gun, super glue, or some other kind of sturdy glue

Optional:
- Scrapbook paper
- puffy paint

How to make:
1) Cut the toy animal or car in half with the hacksaw.
2) Glue each side of the animal to a frame.
3) Done!

You could stop there or take it a few steps further, like we did.

1) The frames lean inward at a slight angle.  To help them behave more like bookends, we slowly and CAREFULLY held them over the stove flame until the plastic became warm and slightly pliable.  Then, we worked the bottom little by little until the frame sat more straight up, closer to a 90 degree angle.  Obviously, this is optional, but it helps the books to stand up a little better.
2) Insert a piece of scrapbook paper into the frame for a cute background.  Plus, the paper kind of helps to camouflage any messy gluing.
3) Add embellishments - I had some cute letter stickers and used them to spell the kids' names.
4) Add a few drops of puffy paint on the bottom of the frame, the side that it sits on, and let it dry.  We found that the frames are pretty light and adding the puffy paint helps to create a little bit of friction and keeps them from sliding.

I think these turned out so cute.  I plan on making some for Olives room.  Now, if only I can find a plastic cat...