Stocking Stuffer Ideas For Preschoolers and Toddlers

I'm on a roll, posting once a year, woo woo!  It's that time of year again, so I thought I would share some things I am thinking of using as stocking stuffers for my kids.  Once again I have a son and a daughter, so some of these things are a little gender specific.  I love these ages, it seems so easy to buy gifts for, because they are excited about EVERYTHING! I must warn you that my kids are really into art right now and we had a recent trip to IKEA, sorry!

Preschool Boy:

(Age 3 1/2)

01:  IKEA hand powered flashlight 

(These the the BEST, especially for night time potty runs!)

02:  Marvel Super Hero Figures

03:  Flossers

04:  Magic Wash Rag (I buy them at Dollar Tree)

05:  Slippers 

06:  Chalkboard Chalk

07:  Smelly Markers

08:  Sandwich cutters 

09:  Straws

10:  Card Game

Toddler Girl:

(Age 19 months)

01:  Melissa & Doug Color Flap Mirror

02:  Baby Doll Bottle

03:  Bath Books (Dollar spot at Target or Dollar Tree usually has them)

04:  Small Stuffed Animal

05:  Flashing Ball

06:  Toddler Markers

07:  Jumbo Crayons (They say they're harder to break, I hope so!)

08:  Panties (I'm hopeful!)

09:  Toothbrush

10:  Detangling Brush (My friend Livia just did a post about these, I'm excited!)

We will throw in a couple cutie oranges and a candy cane and call it good!  Some of these won't end up in the stockings and will probably just get wrapped as a gift.  What are some of your favorite stocking stuffers for these ages?

One Dollar Wednesday...mini rubber band organization.

I have three little girls. They have lots of hair...lots of hair means lots of hair accessories. I always buy the rainbow colored, mini rubber bands for my two youngest. I have always stored them in a plastic sandwich bag. Why? I have mo idea...ghetto..yes. It worked for us though. I finally decided, one chaotic morning, that i was tired of digging through the bag to find the right color of band. I knew a trip to The Dollar Tree would give some ideas to organize these little guys.




This pillbox, was just what I needed, though I didn't care for the days of the week on top. I swiped them with a cotton ball dipped in acetone fingernail polish remover, and off came the days of the week.

Before:

During:

After:

So easy, and so organized!!

One dollar Wednesday...Shamrock hair clip~ tutorial

Well, February was here and gone before I knew it! We're already a week into March, and I haven't done any St. Patrick's Day crafts. I thought I make up for that today, with my One Dollar Wednesday project.

I googled "shamrock hair clip" and found tons of examples, but this is all I needed to do my clips!



I started by covering my clip, with the polka-dot side of my ribbon not showing.



I put a tiny dot of glue on my ribbon, and pinched it together.



Then, I brought the ends together, overlapping them, and secured with a dot of hot glue. Then I trimmed the excess off the ends. I did this three times, making 3 hearts~~ or shamrock leaves.



With the two side leaves, I put a tiny bit of glue in the "v" of the leaf, and secured the center point.



I glued the "top" of my shamrock on the clip, and then "stacked" the side leaves on top of that. Then I secured the point of my top leaf with a dot of glue on the end of my clip.


I added a little "lucky" bling, and this is what I ended up with...

One Dollar Wednesday... Valentine's Day Tree

I found this fun Valentine vase at the Dollar Store a couple weeks ago...

As soon as I saw it, I knew just what to do with it!



I gathered some old branches from my yard.



and sent them out to Spray Paint Place for a quick coat of white.



I arranged them in the little vase,



and cut out oodles of scrapbook paper hearts.



I used my large hearts as "ornaments" and sandwiched a piece of ribbon (also from the dollar store)between the layers.



I added my small hearts at random spots on the branches using my glue gun to attach them.



This is what I ended up with...(CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE)



I LOVE the whimsy it adds to this corner! (CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE)

One Dollar Wednesday...framed card

This was, by far, my easiest One Dollar Wednesday project. I love it when I can find simple, inexpensive, little crafts to add to my home.

This one started with these darling Valentine's Day cards that I found at the Target Dollar Spot~~LOVE that place!


(please forgive this picture...every time I loaded it blogspot flipped it...but you get the gist)

I picked up a couple matching frames at The Dollar Tree, but knew their color had to be changed.



Out to Spray Paint place for a coat of primer....



and a couple coats of Fire Engine Red!



I framed up my cute cards, and ended up with this...




and this...



What do ya think? Easy, quick, and cute...can't ask for more than that!

One Dollar Wednesday... it's all about FAMILY

I have said it before, and I'll say it again... I have a plethora of picture frames. Yes, they are random as can be. Different colors, different shapes, and different styles. For today's project, I'm focusing on some that I picked up recently at the dollar store/thrift stores.

See~~random...



but, a quick trip out to Spray Paint Place, and they're starting to look a bit more uniform!


I selected some fun scrapbook paper (from my VAST COLLECTION), and proceeded to print out the word FAMILY. Each letter, on it's own piece of paper, and in it's own FONT.


I framed them up lickety split...


and laid them out on the floor, as I wanted them on the wall.


Here's the final product...adding a little color to this quiet corner of my kitchen!

One Dollar Wednesday... felt flower tutorial

I LOVE felt and I LOVE flowers. It was inevitable that these two loves of mine would cross paths one day. I have seen so many cute felt flowers around town, and knew that I could throw something together.

I started with my pattern pieces. In this case a drinking cup, and a medicine cup. I used a blue crayola for tracing.



Here are all my circles traced onto the felt. I have five large, four medium, and 4 small.



I cut my circles out.



Then I cut them all in half, with the exception of one large and one small.




I started layering on my large circle, using my glue gun to affix my layers.



Another layer...



and another...working from large to small.



When I finished with my layers, I put a dollop of glue in the center and finished the layers off with the small circle.



For my clip, I cut one more circle and a little strip of felt.



I glued the strip of felt around the end of my clip, then glued the clip to the bottom of my flower. I finished it off with the small circle.



I added a pretty pink vintage button, and it was good to go!

Bathtub Bookshelf

My son is a book worm, no question. He will choose a book over a toy any day and could sit on your lap for HOURS if you will read to him. He has a great attention span for a one year old and I love that he loves reading. Because he is such a book worm, we have picked up a couple bath tub books for him, my only problem is, how to store them?

I took a trip to the Dollar Tree to see what I could find. Now I am no Dollar Store guru, I wish I had some of Karen's talents and creativity when it comes to Dollar store finds, she is absolutely amazing. I guess I don't have to tell you that, you read this blog, you have seen her One Dollar Wednesdays. So, I picked up these fun green baskets that came in a 3 pack, along with some suction cups. They were PERFECT!

I love how they have the long holes in the sides, it will let the water run out of the basket and dry out completely. That is a must, so no yucky bacteria grows.
This project took me all of about 5 minutes. Stick the suction cups to the tub, poke them through the holes of the basket, and DONE.
We only have a couple books so far, but if we acquire any more I can always use the other 2 baskets. I am kind of funny with my bath toys, since I am such a germaphobe. My other bath toys have a MAX life of 90 days. I wash them once a week and try to get them completely dried out. If not, I toss them, I haven't bought any of them, we have received them as gifts. I don't plan on buying any new ones either, he likes playing with the cup better than anything else, and that I just throw in the dishwasher. The books I wash once a week with my dish soap/vinegar combo to kill any bacteria, as well as a run under hot water after each use.

I am sure my son will be super excited about his new book shelf when we take a bath tonight!