Pinspired - Dryer Lint Fire Starter for Camping

I love Pinterest and am very excited about all of our camping trips this summer, so I thought I'd share this free Pinspired craft idea.  These are campfire starters.  Basically you assemble the kindling and logs in your firepit, but you light this help start the fire.

Not excited yet?  Would it help if I said that it uses up the dryer lint collecting (more) dust in your laundry room AND it costs absolutely nothing?  Intrigued yet?  Here's what you need:

Empty toilet paper rolls, a giant pile of dryer lint, and paper of some sort - newspaper works well, but I used discarded sheets from an old coloring book.  The crayon wax is actually a good thing.  Other pins I've stumbled upon call for pouring melted wax on the dryer lint to create a sort of candle, but that just seemed messy to me.

First you stuff the lint in the toilet paper roll.  I packed it in there pretty good.

I only had enough lint to make five, so I'll be saving up my lint and rolls to make enough for all our nights of campfires this Summer.

Then roll it up.  Don't use any tape.  Just roll the paper around the roll and tuck in the ends.

This is what they'll look like when you're all done.

Your work surface will get very dusty from the lint, but I found that cleaning the table with a baby wipe makes clean up a breeze.  

Free?  Easy clean up?  Completed during a commercial break?  

This is my kind of project.

I'm storing these in a plastic lidded container.  I like the idea that these will be used during the camping trip and will leave me an empty box to store muddy/dirty/nature-ified stuff in for the drive home.

Make sure to follow me on Pinterest and check out my 

Camping board for more camping tips and tricks.

A Pinspired Super Bowl Feast

I'm sure back in the day, the Super Bowl was all about the actual game.
Then the witty commercials took over as a main focus of the day, and now with the introduction of Pinterest, the focus seems to be switching to the food that is served.

Since many of the Super Bowl recipes featured on blogs right now can be tweaked to fit any occasion, it's a great time to collect some new party perfect recipes for your pinterest boards.  I've been keeping my eyes open for football themed sweets, individually portioned dips, and new takes on presenting classic party fare.

As a nod to this year's match up, consider adding San Francisco inspired dishes like sourdough buns and pizza crust, or embracing Baltimore's Chesapeake Bay seafood with some crab cakes. Below you'll find a link to my Super Bowl Food Board. I'd love to hear what you're planning on serving for game day.


Carla TheBubblelush

Meetup Gifts

Both times we’ve had Northwest vlogger meet ups, we’ve had a gift exchange for the kids.  Something small that we give to everyone.  We don’t discuss it before hand, or set a price limit, we just come bearing gifts.

This time, with Summer almost upon us, I wanted to embrace some outdoor fun.

These sand buckets and shovels are from the dollar store.  They are available in pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, and have a slight glitter effect to them.  Once I got them home I used my Cricut, Sure Cuts A Lot software, and white vinyl to personalize each bucket. 

Wren, Hannah, Elise, Ethan, Leila, & Scarlet – AKA Wheels.

(Since Wren & Christina were a surprise, it was originally just Heels, but after a quick trip to the dollar store and 5 minutes in my craft room – Wren had a bucket all her own.)

Included in the buckets were:

Sidewalk Chalk:  The Dollar store sells a box of sidewalk chalk that contains 4 packages of 5 chalks, which breaks the cost down to 25cents per child with some left over for the host’s stash.

Bubbles: The Dollar store has three packs of bubbles in various colors and styles.  Seriously, what kid doesn’t love bubbles?

Coloring Books:  I tried to match each child’s interest/development level.  Make sure you flip through the book and ensure that any activity pages would be well suited to the recipient’s age.  For the younger girls, I tried to find books that had large scale simple outlines, and for the older kids, I focused on Sesame Street characters that they were fond of.

Crayons: While the dollar store does sell crayons, this is one area that I refuse to skimp on.  Crayola has been making crayons for years, and considering how many Hannah puts in her mouth, I feel safer choosing a product from a big brand like Crayola instead of an off brand.  This is your personal choice, I’ve just always been partial to Crayola.  Back to school sales are a great time to stock up of art supplies like this, and I keep a few boxes in my craft closet for gifts like this.

Snacks:  This can be tailored to the child as well.  I filled 1 snack sized Ziploc bag with goldfish crackers on one side and Trader Joe’s version of animal crackers on the other.   I separated the two with a clothes pin that made the bag look like a butterfly.  I was inspired by this Pinterest Pin.

Each bucket was about $5, so it was very budget friendly.  The items were useful, as well as season and age appropriate, and the customized bucket was a nice crafty touch. 

I considered adding filler to the bottom of the bucket (like Easter grass or crinkle cut paper) but decided that (a) it wasn’t useful to the child and (b) it would just make a mess, especially once the crayons were taken out of the box.  Sometimes simpler is better.

My Current Mantra

For those that are focusing on weight loss in their journey to conceive, I thought I'd share my little mantra that I use when dealing with food cravings.

I hope it helps.

Nothing tastes as good

as being pregnant feels.

Play Kitchen Series: Green Options

Other Posts from this Series:

• Wooden Kitchen Sets
• Melissa & Doug
• Wooden Accessories

This is not a sponsored post, but I'm in love with Green Toys.

"Green Toys Inc. makes an awesome line of classic children’s toys constructed from recycled plastic and other environmentally friendly materials. This helps reduce fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving the overall health and happiness of the planet."

Hannah got some Green Toy Cars for her 1st Birthday, and I'm excited to buy her a set for her new kitchen.

Here are their options:

__________________________________

Chef Set

__________________________________

Dish Set

__________________________________

Cookware Set

__________________________________

Pizza Parlor

__________________________________

Sandwich Shop

__________________________________

Tea Set

__________________________________

If you'd prefer FELT toys over recycled plastic, Ikea has some great options in their Duktig series, and at $8 each, you can't beat the price.

__________________________________

15 Piece Breakfast Set

__________________________________

9 Piece Fruit Basket

__________________________________

14 Piece Vegetable Set

__________________________________

18 Piece Dessert Set

__________________________________

If you have a non-wooden play food or kitchen accessory that you'd like to add to the pinterest board, feel free to suggest them in the comments or you can try to PIN it to the board.  All ideas are welcome and the board is public.

Play Kitchen Series: Wooden Accessories

Other Posts from this Series:

• Wooden Kitchen Sets
• Melissa & Doug
• Green Options

Yesterday I featured Melissa & Doug wooden food sets, but today I want to acknowledge other companies that offer wooden food and kitchen accessories.

Three companies whose toys I'm impressed with are Plan Toys, Educo, and KidKraft.   HABA also has some great options.

Each company has a different range to their product line, but one way to compare them is to look at them side by side:

Toasters

Educo

_______________________

Kidkraft

_______________________

Plan Toys

_______________________

Coffee & Tea Sets

Educo

_______________________

Kidkraft

_______________________

Plan Toys

_______________________

I love the little honey bear by Educo, 

the natural wood grain tea set by Plan, 

and the pretty pink Kidkraft toaster.  

(The Kidkraft mixer is pretty cute too!)

_______________________

There are also mixers, plates, and food from these four companies on the pinterest board.

I'm sure I've overlooked some great companies, so I want to invite you to pin any sets that I've overlooked onto the public board linked below:

Play Kitchen Series: Melissa & Doug Toys

Other Posts from this Series:

• Wooden Kitchen Sets
• Wooden Accessories
• Green Options

Melissa and Doug have a lot of great play food and accessory options and are some of the cutest sets on the market.  Below are some that you might consider adding to the play kitchens we discussed yesterday.

Melissa & Doug's Safety Statement

___________________________________

Accessories:

{link}

Melissa & Doug Kids Toy Shopping Cart - $70

Hannah loves rolling her {vintage from my childhood} shopping cart up and down the hallway.  Even better - I've taught her to 'clean up' her toys by putting them in the shopping cart and pushing the toys back to her room.  Best Trick Ever.  For that reason alone, the M&D shopping cart might just be worth it's weight in gold.   Unless you like picking up toys all day long...

___________

{link}

Kitchen Accessory Set - $30

This 8 piece set includes a fry pan, a sauce pan and stock pot with lids, a wooden slotted spatula and wooden spoon, and an oven mitt.  Hannah is ALL about wearing oven mitts when we're cooking, and I like that the set is made of wood.  The red color might clash with some pink kitchen sets, but that might not be a big deal to you.

___________________________________

Basic Food Sets:

{link}

Food Groups - $20

WOOD  - Bread, Meat, Fruits&Veggies, and Dairy
are all featured in this 21 piece set.

___________

{link}

Dry Goods Set - $20

WOOD  - This 9-piece wooden set of dry goods includes tuna, ketchup, spaghetti, soup, sugar, crackers, salad dressing, mustard and cereal.

___________

{link}

Fridge Foods Set - $20

WOOD  - This 8-piece wooden set include orange juice, waffles, milk, ice cream, cheese, yogurt, frozen vegetables and butter.
___________

{link}

Sandwich Making Set - $20

WOOD - This 16-piece set includes all the fixin's you'd need to make a sandwich and velcro to hold the pieces together.

___________

{link}

Cutting Food Set - $20

{link}

Cutting Fruit Set - $20

WOOD - These sets feature Velcro-like closures that provide a nice 'crunch' sound when they're sliced.  These sets are a great way to introduce your child to fractions - the loaf is cut in fifths, the cantaloupe is cut in fourths, the tomato in thirds, the pear in half, etc.

___________

{link}

Play-Time Produce Farm Fresh Vegetables - $20

{link}

Play-Time Produce Farm Fresh Fruit - $20

These are molded plastic and might have some questionable contents if your child mouths the toys.  The package is clearly marked 3+, so if your child is younger, you might look into a wooden alternative.

___________________________________

Specialty Food Sets:

{link}

Stir Fry Slicing Set - $20

Although this set includes a wooden spoon, knife and a large bowl which would be great additions to your kitchen, this set isn't food heavy.  However, if your family prepares stir fries often, your child might like to mimic that.

___________

{link}

Grill Set - $20

If your child loves lacing beads, 

this set would be a great addition to your playroom. 

___________

{link}

Sushi Slicing Play Set - $20

Pickled ginger and wasabi!  Swoon. 

___________________________________

Desserts:

I never realized how many dessert sets M&D carried.    For the sake of brevity (which is laughable considering how long this post already is) I'm only going to feature three sets that I might consider buying Hannah.

{link}

Scoop & Stack Ice Cream Cone Set - $30
This set would encourage eye hand coordination, balance,
and 'Clean Up!' as we put all the pieces back in the container.  

___________

{link}

Wooden Doughnuts - $20

Six doughnuts and 12 toppings are included in this set.  I would prefer in the toppings could be used in matching games, but it appears that each topping is different.  However, there are not a many small pieces, so this might be a good set for younger children.  For these reasons, I'd rather buy the brownie or cookie sets.

___________

{link}

Wooden Bake & Serve Brownies - $20

Alternatively, I think the brownie set could be used in numerous ways.  Six brownies and 18 toppings (six each of three patterns) are included, as well as a tray, box to contain the pieces, spatula, knife, and oven mitt. This set appears to be a great deal.

___________

{link}

Slice and Bake Cookie Set - $20

12 cookies, 12 toppings, cookie sheet, spatula, knife, and oven mitt.  

Similar to the brownie set in it's usefulness and value.

___________________________________

Felt Food!

I'm a sucker for felt food.  It's cute, soft, relatively chemical free, and - perhaps most importantly - it doesn't hurt to step on when your child misses a piece during clean up.

Melissa and Doug currently carries three felt food sets:

{link}
Felt Play Food - $20
I love that it includes white and wheat bread, a pita pocket and a sub sandwich roll.
___________

{link}

Cookie Decorating Set - $20

Perfect for a pretend version of Christmas sugar cookies.

___________

{link}

Pizza Set - $20

With 42 pieces, this set might be a little much for your child to keep track of, but it would be a great set for fractions, and 'same vs different' exercises.  

___________________________________

Pinterest


All of these accessories and food sets, and MORE, 
will be included on a Pinterest board.  Just click the link below: