Costume Closet for Playroom

Most kids love playing dress-up, and my son is no exception. We have a couple of pairs of jammies that look like superhero costumes, and Dutch loves wearing them. We got him a Spiderman costume and mask for Halloween, and it certainly got a lot of use outside the holiday! After Halloween, we went to one of the seasonal stores to see if we could get some decorations on the cheap. While we were there, we realized that their costumes were deeply discounted. We figured this would be a good time to build up a costume wardrobe for Dutch, since he certainly doesn't need a special occasion to wear one. I was also grocery shopping at Kroger right after Halloween and saw a Minions costume on clearance for $7. Score!

Once we had purchased a decent amount of costumes and accessories, I started thinking about the best place to store them. I didn't want them strewn about the playroom, or thrown into a bin. My first thought was buying a cheap bookcase, removing the shelves, and placing a shower rod inside for the costumes to be hung on. I went to Ikea and found a bookcase that I thought would work perfectly. Unfortunately, it was out of stock. I thought about going to another store, but decided to walk by the more substantial storage solutions first. I'm so glad I did. I saw this wardrobe and fell in love!

All the costumes can be hung up neatly and the related hats, masks, and accessories fit nicely underneath the shelf. I love that it can be closed off so the items are out of sight when not in use. Makes for a much cleaner playroom!  I also know it can be put to good use when the boys grow out of the costume stage, because it's an attractive design and offers good storage.

Family Photo Memory Game

This year, for our new years resolutions, Meezy and I decided to take a different approach.  We didn't want to set lofty goals for the entire year and then have our motivation fizzle out after a couple of months.  We figured it would make more sense to set monthly, achievable, goals.  We are picking a couple of different things to do each month.  For January, we decided to give up sodas and do more crafty, fun activities with/for Dutch.  So far, we're doing great with not drinking sodas, and we have completed one crafty task for Dutch.  (We bought the supplies for the next project, but haven't started it yet).

So, what did we create?  A family photo memory game!  The supplies used were a store-bought matching game (any kind will do, just make sure there are plenty of game pieces if you have a large extended family!), a glue stick, 4" x 6" photo paper, and digital photos. 

 Curious George will be our base

I measured the game pieces and found them to be 2" x 2".  I then manipulated photos of family members using the free software, GIMP.  I cropped each photo to just be the head of each person, then scaled them to the correct size.  (GIMP lets you do this in inches, instead of just pixels, like some other programs).  I then positioned them at the top of the printing area so that after printing one photo out, I could flip the photo paper around and print another one on the same piece.  I printed out two photos of each person (duh, it's a matching game). 

 Tons of family members!

After that, I cut out each photo and glued it to a game piece.  At this age, Dutch isn't ready to actually play a matching game, but he is ready to start associating names with faces.  Since a lot of his extended family members are out of town, I think this is a neat way to keep them fresh in his mind.  We'll show him a picture and tell him the person's name, and eventually it'll start to click for him.  When he gets a little older, he'll actually be able to play the matching game with these familiar faces!  I love this idea, and I think it turned out really well.