Party in the Playroom: PLAYHOUSE!

We moved into our house about a year ago.  It's a charming little "cottage" built in the 1950's.  It has a very unique floor design and we love everything about it.  It is perfect for us right now.  
But I almost freaked out when we were signing the papers to purchase it and I realized our house doesn't have a playroom!  Hello! We have 3 kids!  No playroom?
 Then I realized that we could use the space in our sunroom as a playroom-whew!
So today is the first part of our transformation from sunroom to playroom that we've been making this summer.
I wanted to make a fun play space and we had this strange little jut in the sunroom that I knew would make the perfect playhouse.  But actually, you could use the same idea with a closet or even a bedroom door frame.
So I started with this space:


Then I hung this sheet with an expandable shower rod to get an idea for the size of the front of the house.  Yes, this playhouse is made from a sheet!

Then I added some ruffles, cut a window, and made a door in it to get it to this point:

And now we have 3 happy kids with a playhouse in their new playroom!



{This Little Project} isn't quite finished.  So be sure to check back for more.
We keep thinking of one more fun thing to add...
More fun things like:
Is our play space a house? or a restaurant? or a store? What should we name the restaurant?What kind of sign should we put up?And what (pretend) food should we serve?Where should the mailbox go?And how do we serve the food?And how to take orders?And what friends to invite to come PLAY!.......
Part of me wanted to wait until Christmas to do {this little project} for the kiddos, but honestly I'm so glad I didn't wait.  Watching them help me dream it up and anticipate each part of {this little project} has been half the fun!  We've been having quite the planning party!
This has been the perfect summer project!
  I hope your summer is flying with so much fun too!
More details coming soon...

Talking about France Today

I'm over at ABCand123learning.com today.  

Come on over. I'm writing about Music and Movement in France for kids.

Blueberry Lemonade

So, remember how we went blueberry picking last weekend?  Well we picked 11 pounds of those beauties!

Little miss Ellie is showing off our loot:

There is something so fun about picking your own fruit.  I think watching the kids gorge themselves on blueberries while they pick is definitely a highlight of picking them! Picking blueberries is something we've done as a family for 3 years now.  We also love raspberry and apple farms.  If you are wondering about farms in your area, the pickyourown website may be a good start for locating the kinds of things you like.

Seriously, look at these huge blueberries!  You can't find this goodness at the store!  Oh, and a bonus: often picking your own means it costs less than the store too.  Our 11 pounds of blueberries were about $18.

One of our favorite summer drinks is Blueberry Lemonade!

If you want to try this yummy {little project} here's the how-to:

1- Start with 3 cups of lemonade in (in your blender)

2-  Add 3 cups of ice cubes

3- Add as much fruit as you can fit in your blender (a cup or two)

Blend it well and you get the summer tastiness of Blueberry Lemonade!

It's not been even a week and that 11 pounds of blueberries is gone.  It's been so hot and we've had a lot of Blueberry lemonade-and blueberry everything else!  Oh, and the blueberries are also perfect with my favorite granola (recipe here).

I guess we're going to have to fit some more blueberry picking into hanging out at the beach this weekend...

Sprinkle Ice Cream Sandwiches!

You may remember that I have a thing for sprinkles. Well, I have a thing for ice cream too. I shouldn't admit this, but my husband and I (without any help from the kids) ate well over 100 ice cream sandwiches last summer.  Now, that was a tasty {little project]!

In celebration of National Ice Cream Day (TODAY!) I'm combining the two to make Sprinkle ice cream sandwiches.  Sprinkles make everything more fun!

To make {This Little Project}

1- cut your ice cream sandwiches into bite-sized pieces

2- pour sprinkles into a shallow dish

3- dip ice cream sandwich into sprinkles

{little project} tip: the edges that you cut are the easiest to dip because they are flat.  So you can decide if you want to just sprinkle 2 sides (the flat sides you cut) or all 4 sides.  It gets a little crunchy if you go for all 4 sides-but it's cute to look at ;)

4- eat them before they melt!  Yum!

The month of July is National Ice Cream month 

so you still have plenty of time to celebrate, lol!

Elspeth (an ice cream expert) and I have shared some ice cream projects in the past. We both have and love this ice cream maker:

Ice cream is done in just 30 minutes in this beauty!

Need some ideas for homemade ice cream flavors? Check out our list here!

Want our basic recipe, check out this post!

And you'll want to stop by this post for a fun way to make a kid's ice cream parlor.

I'm hoping to find a winning recipe for homemade ice cream using coconut or another lactose-free milk for my Jay.  It's hard to do his homemade (though I'm grateful I can buy it!)  

If you have any ice cream favorites or secrets, please share with a comment.  So many ice cream flavors to try....I can't wait!

Oh, and we're off to pick blueberries with friends today.  So of course, we'll be making homemade ice cream and a blueberry treat tonight together.  Seriously, summer doesn't get any better than this! 

A Story in a Bag

Have you ever wanted to climb inside your child's head and watch their imagination go and remember what that was like as a child?  
{This Little Project} has that kind of fun!
This is our Story Bag:

Want to play?
Each person takes a few items from the Story Bag.  
Then you take turns telling a story that uses those all your items.  
Of course, you could also take turns telling different parts of the same story and you have to add your item into the story. 
 {This Little Project} would also be great for a long car ride.
I picked up some shaped wooden pieces at the craft store, but we've also thrown in lego pieces, toy cars, dolls, etc.  You can put all kinds of things in the bag to make the Story Bag fit all kinds of ages.
Should I mention all the great language skills and thinking skills that this game strengthens...
{This Little Project} will make your imagination go wild!  And bonus: your child will tell you what is happening in hers.  Very fun and it turns out different every time!

Friday Favorites and Freebies

I hope you are having a fabulous Friday!  I have some fun things to share with you:


I like making soaps and trying different ways of doing it.  Here is a recipe for how to make your own dishwaher soap.

I think I'm going to have to get a couple of these solar power lanterns.  They are the perfect combination of cute and cool for our backyard porch!

I love the Smart Summer Challenge going on at Naturally Educational.  There is even a great calendar of activities that they've created to follow along that you can print out.

Speaking of fun things to do with your kids, I love this list from Whip Up of 80 things to do with your kids!

I have one more favorite shop to share with you: LilyGene has the cutest Map gifts!  I have been working on a map shelf for one of my {little projects} lately and she has great designs.  Check out this fun anniversary one!  I love the circle stamp!

Have a great weekend!