BACK TO SCHOOL: Kidecals Review

Once your child starts preschool, school, or even camp, you will be asked to label EVERYTHING!  A few years ago, when my son started preschool, I purchased some sticky labels from another company. They were little round circles with his name and a car graphic. Although they worked great, their size and shape made teachers overlook them. They would hand me my son's jackets and tell me to please write his name on them. When I pointed out the label, they were always surprised to see it.  I don't like writing names directly on articles of clothing because I always consign outgrown clothes.  With removable tag labels, you can just peel them off when you are done!

This school year, I decided that my 1st grader had outgrown the little circles with the car graphic. It was time for something new.  Luckily, Kidecals contact me right about that time!  It was so hard to decide which labels to pick!  They have labels for everything!!!  We have a lot of school friends with food allergies so I especially appreciate their section of allergy alert labels.  I knew that I wanted waterproof labels for Noodlebug so I headed over to that page and decided on some nice rectangular labels.  (provided courtesy of Kidecals)  I couldn't stop there, though! I have been working on reorganizing my workroom and decided I needed some chalkboard labels too! (purchased by me)

The labels came very quickly and I loved how the ones for my son came in two different sizes on one sheet.  This was important to me because I need different sizes for different things!

I immediately went to work adding the labels to a few jackets. The smaller size worked perfectly on clothing labels.

The larger labels were great for labeling the inside of bags like Noodlebug's Tae Kwon Do bag!

I like how durable the labels feel and easy they are to apply. Since they are waterproof, I will be able to wash the clothes without having to remove the labels.  This would also be great when labeling reusable food containers or water bottles.  I'm going to label everything!!!

I chose the everyday set for $28 which includes 78 labels in two sizes.  (c/o Kidecals) The chalkboard labels I chose run $10 a set for 12 labels. (paid for by me)  Kidecals always offers free shipping.

For a special 15% off discount, use code ilovelabels.

The perfect item for back to school!!!

(Kidecals provided me the opportunity to try the name labels for free. I purchased the chalkboard labels in addition)

BACK TO SCHOOL: Backpack Charms

My son will be starting first grade next week. Last year, he was in a big Kindergarten class with three teachers. Now, all the kids will be split up among three classrooms. We don't know if any close friends will be in his new class.  The class lists don't go up until the night before school!  Plus, one of his closest friends is moving to another school.

Although my son is super-social and outgoing, I wanted to help him to reach out and make some new friends this year. I decided to make some quick backpack charms that he could give out to new friends.

 Materials needed:
1.5 inch wooden discs
Ball link keychains
Paint
Printed images
Mod Podge or other adhesive
Crop-a-dile II Big Bite (optional)
1.5 inch circle punch (optional)


I had some 1.5 inch wooden discs left over from another project. I bought them online at Amazon but you can find them at craft stores. 

First, I painted one side of the discs in one of the school's colors. This will be the back of the disc. While it was drying, I manipulated an image of one of my favorite children's book characters and printed out a sheet of the image repeated several times in the size I needed.  I used the circle punch to punch out the images. I ended up adding a little color with markers.  The downside of adding color and using a color ink jet printer is that the color ran a little when I mod-podged it on.  Once the paint on the wooden discs was dry, I used the Crop-a-dile to gently punch holes in the wooden discs.  I then mod-podged the paper circles onto the discs. On the colored side of the disc, I wrote the school name and the school year dates with a Sharpie.  I ended up putting the discs back through the Crop-a-dile to punch the hole through the paper. Finally, I added the ball chain keychain. I got a pack of 28 of them at Joann's.

While they aren't the most professional looking items I have ever done, I think they will be fun items for my son to trade at school. Maybe I'll make a new one each year!

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Water Fun!

We are in a serious drought here in California so we don't do a lot of wasteful water play outside. To prepare for a day of water fun, I waited until we had a playdate with several kids and we didn't water our lawn for a week.

First I made a water blob. I made one last year using duct tape. It held up well but sprung a bunch of leaks.  And it was tricky to put together.  This time, I used this tutorial and ironed the edges shut. It worked well but I found that ironing the plastic really thinned it out.  The edges held but a hole appeared in the top almost immediately. Still, it did not detract from the fun. The boys loved it and it was perfect for the 2-yr-old.  Once the fun was finished, we let it drain out in our parched lawn.

I also made some splash balls. You will find dozens of splash ball tutorials online. I cut three sponges into quarters.  (cut sponge in half, cut each half in half)  Lay the three sponges on top of one another.  Tie a length of string around the center and pull tightly.  I wrapped the string around the whole thing once more and tied a knot. Although some people use zip ties, I did not like the idea of the sharp plastic. Regular string worked perfectly!  Fluff the sponges into a ball shape and you are finished.  The kids LOVED them!

 

I got the sponges in packs of 2 from the dollar store which made them even more affordable.

Next time, maybe I will try to make one of those cool PVC pipe sprinkler structures that I have seen on Pinterest!