Cub Scout Neckerchief Slide

 I've been busy getting ready for Pinewood Derby and trying to come up with small activities for kids to do while the derby is going on. We have a lot of lions and tigers this year and their attention span just won't allow them to sit and cheer on their friends the whole entire time. 

I wanted to Cub Scouts to make a neckerchief slide but avoid gluing during the race. I scoured the internet and found this: 

https://www.channelingwhittlinjim.com/2011/06/pinewood-derby-racer.html

I thought this was super cute and would be easy to prep ahead of time for the boys. Today I got out my cordless glue gun (one of the best purchases I've ever made) and a bag of clothes pins and got to work. 

First I took apart the clothes pins. 

Then using my cordless glue gun, I glued them together, like this: 

I picked up some 1/2 inch plastic tube strap at the hardware store. They were about  7 cents each. 

Using my amazing hot glue gun, I glued the tube strap to the back o the clothes pins. 

Next I had to figure out the tries. I didn't want to use buttons since they can be expensive. I found some black foam sheets in my art stuff. A paper hole punch was the exact size needed for tires. I punched out tires for each car and then hot glued two to each car. 

Here they are! So cute! At the derby the boys will decorate with markers for paint pens. 

Here's the best glue gun ever. Cordless and small. I take it to Cub Scouts all the time. It's so easy to use. Here's the link: Cordless Glue Gun

Turkey Wreath

I had a straw wreath that I got at the senior center for $1 and orange and brown yarn so I decided to make a Thanksgiving wreath. I saw a yarn wrap wreath at Hobby Lobby and it looked so simple I went ahead and tried it. 

First I wrapped the straw wreath in Saran Wrap because the yarn was catching the straw. 

Then I tied the yarn around the wreath to start. I continued wrapping the orange yarn around the wreath until the whole ing was covered. 

Next I took some newspaper and made it into a ball for the turkey body and used a second piece of newspaper and made a smaller ball for the turkey head. Using the brown yarn I wrapped each newspaper ball and squeezed and shaped it until it looked like a turkey body (at least I think it does). Then I used some felt to make the feathers around the turkey and a small beak. I hot glued it all together. 

I hot glued the turkey to the wreath. i decided the wreath needed something more than just the turkey. 

I decided to make some felt flowers to go around the turkey. They were super easy to make. I had made the rosette flowers before and used this website to learn how to make the other flowers: http://www.papernstitchblog.com/2011/12/14/diy-felt-flowers-five-ways/

Here they are:

Instead of sewing the bottoms of the flowers, I just hot glued them. Can you tell I like my hot glue gun? Then I glued the flowers around my turkey and added some leaves. Ta-da! I think it will look pretty cute for turkey day! 

While I worked on my wreath the doggies were doing this: 

I think maybe they like each other. 

Candy corn centerpiece

Today I wanted to make a few more decorations for the house but didn't want to spend money. I went to Walmart and got two bags of candy corn and two candles for fifty cents. I also got the crow and the spiders at the dollar store. I had the jars at home.   

First I got some branches from the yard and spray painted them back with the leftover paint from making the fence tombstones. 

Next I filled the jars with the candy corn and put in the candles. I tied some twine around the top for a little decoration. After the branches were dry I put them into the third mason jar and poured in the candy corn around it. Last I added the spiders, web, crow and put the little scarecrow girl next to it, Here it is: 

Monkey Sign and tree

I also made a monkey banner to go above his closet. It's the same as the spring banner I made last spring.

Here's the Grow Love Tree my second grade students made for baby boy last spring! 

Sock Monkey Mobile

My friend Sam gave us a plain, white mobile with a music box to decorate and turn into a sock monkey mobile.

First I cut out a large rectangle and folded the corners around the mobile. I used heat and bond to make the corners stay. I added ribbon to the edges. 

Next I sewed a skinny sleeve to go over the plastic arm holding the mobile. Last I added the 4 cute sock monkeys.

Changing table

Originally we were going to have a dresser in baby boy's room, but our room is much too small. I looked on Craigslist and we picked up a changing table for $25! It didn't quiet match the finish on our crib so I painted it to match the contrasting wall in his room.

After it was sanded

Painting the table. I used a sample size container.

All finished! 

Sock monkey tree

Our friend Carolynn gave us the idea to make a sock monkey tree by the crib. She had cut down two large branches for us to use. We went to Home Goods and purchased a large vase. We put the branches into the vase and then decorated with all different sock monkeys!