Briella's Boutique - Savoy, IL

If any of you local readers are looking for a great resale shop, this is it! Briella's Boutique is a fairly new cosignment shop, with some great deals. They have a variety of items, from kids clothing to dog clothing! :)

We happened to stop in this morning (my two boys and I), and low and behold, it was storytime! They have a story hour the 2nd Saturday of each month at 10:30, so we came at just the right time! They read a story to the kids, then have a craft, and then get to take home a snack. Wait, there's more! If you bring your kids in, then you get 10% off your purchase! (I'm not sure if that's everyday, or if it was just today). I was blown away by their attitude towards kids, it was a great feeling knowing that my kids were not a nuisance in their store.

So, if you're in the area, by the Walmart in Savoy, stop by to see their shop. I highly recommend it! I got a new pair of shoes for $24, and a new top for $5. And I love the fact that it's a form of recycling. I'm going to have to start co-signing my boys clothes there, because for us, All Things Kids, is further away from us than Briella's.

Briella's Boutique

503 S Dunlap Ave.

Savoy, IL 61874

M-F 10-6

Sat. 10-4

So, if you get a chance and are in the area...check it out!

I.D.E.A. Store in Champaign

Last night was the first night that I entered the I.D.E.A. Store here in Champaign. My husband has always told me that I need to go there, and so last night, my husband, the boys and I ventured out. It is kinda in an odd location, and the door is on the side of the building, facing away from Springfield, but it's very earth-friendly inside! It's kinda like you're walking into a garage sale (in a good way!). There are so many random items that people donate, that you never know what you'll find in there.

Last night I found 8 red, glass bottles to go on my bottle tree in my garden. They were priced at $0.25/piece! Very reasonable!

I've accumulated 18 bottles now for my bottle tree that I will be making in the Spring. The volunteers at the I.D.E.A. Store were very helpful in giving me ideas and resources to make my bottle tree. They even said they'd like to see pictures whenever I finish my project!

This is what I'd like my bottle tree to look like eventually:

I got 4 (nearly new!) spools of thread for $1. I also got a garden book for $2, and a mesh bag to put my homemade suet in for the birds outside (post to come on that project as well). I also grabbed some used felt to make a pizza game for the boys to play.

So, if you have time, and are in the area, I highly recommend that you check out the I.D.E.A. Store to help you be creative!

Homemade Valentines

Every time I step foot into a store, whether it's a grocery store or a chain store, I see boxed Valentines that you can buy now. It's rather tempting as a mom, to just pick up a box and be done with one more activity on the "to-do" list.

I want to encourage you, if you're a mom and have Valentines to write up for your toddlers, to step outside the box and make your own! We had a few snow days here, and one of those days I just dug through our craft drawer and Z-Man and I had a blast just making our own Valentines.

We used a bag of suckers that we got from Halloween on clearance, and will attach them to our homemade Valentines.

Here's Z-man, having a great time trying to make the best Valentine he could with glue and random sequins we had.

Then I had Z-man tell me one thing that he liked about his classmate, or something the classmate does that makes him laugh. It was fun to hear what he had to say about some of them, and then I wrote those comments on the Valentine! It is a fun, personal note the parents can laugh at.

So, I encourage to be creative and pull out some random craft items that your kids can put together, and see what they come up with!

Thanks, Mom, for taking these photos!

How to Build a Snowman

I know it may sound ridiculous, but I have googled how to build a snowman before. Out of all the snow (14 inches for Champaign, IL!) that we've gotten this winter, I have finally mastered how to make huge snowmen! I can't remember the last time that I had accomplished this feat, so I was bound and determined to make at least one snowman this winter. And not only did I make one snowman, I made 5 the other day! I know, I'm awesome!

The weather was a warm 34 degrees out. The sun was shining and my husband was kind enough to let me play in the snow, without my two toddlers running around to keep track of. So the land was all mine! I had a ton of snow to work with, and I made 2 huge snowmen, and 2 small ones, to represent my family. (okay, maybe not huge, but adult!)

This was the first snowman I built with the boys around, this was on Sunday. Then in the afternoon, I cooked up 4 more snowmen!

I've figured out that in order to make a snowman, the weather needs to be warm enough so that you can pack the snow.

Make sure that the middle section of your snowman is not too heavy, so that you can lift it up onto the bottom section.

Find the items you want to embellish your snowman before you are full of snow, so that you don't have to track snow inside your house.

Build your snowman on a level ground, so that they don't fall and cause a domino effect on the surrounding snowmen! (lesson learned!)

If you don't want your snowman to melt right away, check the weather forecast to make sure that the following week is in the single digits!

Have fun and stay warm!

If you're curious about snow sculpting, here's a great video clip of the snow sculpting competition in Rockford, IL.

Sensory Boxes

I've always wanted to make a sensory box for both my boys. Z-man has a HUGE one in his classroom at preschool, and I've read about them before from Pink and Green Mama's blog. So I finally went out and purchased a couple of small plastic tubs from the Dollar Store.

I filled them up with rice and oatmeal, mainly because those were the two things we had alot of in our pantry. I even colored some of the rice blue for a fun and wintery look. I found a handful of random little wintery toys, and tablespoons and cups for the kids to use in their sensory boxes.

I feel that these boxes help the kids learn responsibility, especially with cleaning up after themselves. Here's Pudge vacuuming up his mess after he realized what had happened. Yes, these boxes can be messy, but I think that's how they learn.

Overall, the kids really enjoy playing in these boxes. Z-man even said that they feel like they are playing in a sandbox! Next time I fill their boxes, it will be with something new! Have you ever made a sensory box for your kids? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Winter Fun!

Looking for something simple and frugal to do with your kids in this never-ending winter? I found an idea in my Family Fun magazine, where you fill up squirt bottles with water and food coloring, and let them "paint" the snow!

We didn't have any squirt bottles on hand, so we stopped in our local Dollar General and they had some huge bottles for (you guessed it...) only a $1 each! I'm sure if you have some bottles lying around the house, this would be an even more frugal activity for your kids.

There has been snow in Illinois for the past 2 months, so we have had many clean canvas' for our squirt bottles for quite some time! The boys love it, and as long as we have gloves and a hat on, they could spend quite awhile outside.

Try it out and let me know what your kids think of this fun idea! Or better yet, share your winter ideas here!

Learning Your Address

I've been trying really hard to think of different ways to teach my two little boys the basics of life. One of the things I've been wanting to teach them is their address and phone number. I know one day when they are lost and a police officer finds them, and asks them where they live...I want them to know their address!

So here's one of the ideas that I had to help them learn their address. I typed and printed out our address on the printer, and used a font that I could cut out and little fingers could grab easily.

After I slaved and cut out each letter and number, I had the boys put it together like a puzzle and then glue them in the right order. We started out using a glue stick, but them later used a paintbrush with a bowl of glue to put the numbers and letters on.

I think it was a successful project for a 2 and 4 year old! We hung them on our fridge, so that they can see it and know that we're proud of them. It also helps us remind them to tell us what their address is.

Snow Globes

We recently got a coupon for some free baby food. So after we ate those up, we tried thinking of some way we could reuse those jars. An idea popped into my head, that since it's almost Christmas, why not try to make snow globes. The boys love to shake those globes whenever we're in Hallmark visiting Grandma, so I figured why not give it a try.

Of course as usual, I looked up online how to make your own snow globe, just to get a better idea how to go about making one.

First I had the boys take the jars into the family room to try to find a toy that would fit inside the jar. Zechariah found a Lego man, and Silas found a small Elmo to put in their snow globes. It was perfect!

Next, we found an extra piece of something to fit in the jar that the toy could stand on. For example, we found some pop lids that we super glued to the baby food jar lid, then we super glued the toy on the lid.

Once those were dry, we filled the jar with water and dumped in about 1 tsp. of glitter and sequences.

Then I put more super glue on the lid and tightened the lid as best I could. Let that dry, and later the boys had their very own snow globes that they made! It turned out great!

The only thing that I would've changed is that Zechariah put too much glitter in his, and we could've put more water in his. Other than that it's a great way to reuse what you have and a great craft for Christmas!

Puzzle Christmas Tree Ornaments

Do you need some easy craft ideas for your kids to make? Try this craft! It's super easy and kids who enjoy using glue will get a kick out of them.

All you need for this craft project is:

-Sturdy cardboard
-Puzzle Pieces
-Glue
-Scissors
-Decorative embellishments (i.e. sequences, ribbon, stars, etc.)

We have an ornament on our Christmas tree from my mother-in-law just like these, the only thing is that she bought hers from a craft fair.

Step 1: Cut out a base from the cardboard for your tree.

Step 2: Use puzzle pieces to cover that cardboard. We used an end piece to form the trunk of the tree. We also had 3 layers of pieces so that you could no longer see the cardboard underneath the pieces.

Step 3: Embelish your tree with whatever you have available. We are going to use beads and sequences.

Step 4: Attach a ribbon at the top so that you can hang your ornament on the tree!

I'd love to hear or even see your results! :)