Train Matching Game - Free Printable!

Andyroo loves his Toy Story Matching Game that he got for Christmas, but he's moved out of the Toy Story phase and is currently obsessed with all things Trains - especially Thomas & Friends. I thought it would be fun for him to have a new matching game, so I found some free clip art and put together my own version using images that I created for Andyroo's Thomas the Train Wall Hangings.

And, as an added bonus, I thought I would offer to all of our wonderful readers! I know my son can't be the only little boy out there obsessed with trains! C'mon, please tell me there are other mothers out there who know way too much about Thomas and the island of Sodor. Does anyone else find it really weird that the trains are the ones in charge? That the drivers and other people that work on the trains have no control over those "silly" trains? It's not just me, right?

Anyway, click here to download the PDF version. Print it on some card stock, cut them out, and let your little ones have fun. There are about 30 cards or 15 total matches. You could also make this into a file folder game. I think I'll be doing that for a new church quiet game. The printable is free, however we would love it if in return, you would become a follower of Life in the Motherhood! It's also for personal use only, please. You're welcome to share it with others, but please link them back to this post. Thanks!

Enjoy!

(The images I used were either created by me (the Thomas & Friends images) or were found through free clip art sources.)



Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays, Made By You Mondays, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Made with Love, More the Merrier


Tuesdays:
Get You Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got, Tuesday Tutorials, Too Cute Tuesdays, Craft & Tell, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday


Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent, We Can Do it Cheaper, Look What I Made, What I Whipped up Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday


Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On


Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, PityParty, Look At Me, Show & Share, Fantabulous Friday, Tickled Pink Fridays, I'm Lovin' It


Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase Party, Think Pink Sundays, Anything Goes, Whatcha Got Weekend, Free For All

Dollar Store Storage Bins

I'm in the process of redoing Andyroo's room. He never got a "proper" nursery when he was born, so I'm making up for lost time and giving him a new big boy room. Part of the new room is some cleaner, more efficient toy storage.

One of the things that drives me nuts about his room is the toys! I know I'm not the only mom out there who feels that way about their child(ren)'s toys. When he was younger and had fewer toys, I tried the shoe size (6 quart-ish) plastic bins. They worked, but he eventually got too many toys and the lids didn't fit or they were stepped on and broken. For a while, his favorite thing to do was dump out the little toy boxes. I finally gave up the insanity of separating the toys and just got him one big box.

But when he dumps that out because he's looking for his tiny green army men, I go crazy. I may be the mom, but I do NOT like cleaning up after the other people in this house!

I was considering making some canvas bins, but I'm afraid that they'll just get ruined very quickly - ripped or crushed or whatever. I wanted to do something that would be sturdy, so I was considering using cut up cereal boxes or plastic canvas as inserts in the middle of the canvas to make them stronger. But I kept thinking about how they would get destroyed so easily. So I put off making them for a few months.

Then as I was walking around the dollar store, I found the plastic bins in pink and light blue and my mind immediately went to the spray paint for plastics! So I grabbed 8 of them. There were only 10 on the shelf and while I considered taking all 10, I thought that was a little greedy. Instead I took 8. Hehe.

Krylon makes a great Plastics spray paint in quite a few colors. I found mine at Walmart for around $4, I think. It was windy, I got a little spray happy, and then towards the end the can wouldn't stop spraying. So the can only did the 3 I needed. *Phew* Even so, a total cost of less than $2.50 per bin isn't bad at all.

Only 6 would fit on Andyroo's shelf. Of the 8 I bought, 5 were a light blue and 3 were a bright pink. Since I needed 6, I was going to have to use one of the pink. I decided to use 3 light blue and 3 pink and paint the pink ones a darker shade of blue. I had pictures of the pink bins (so you could see just how pink they were), but they've disappeared somewhere into the abyss of my computer. Oh well. Use your imagination :)

The 2 shades of blue ended up matching the his Thomas the Train comforter (which I found on Clearance at Target - total score!) really well, which made me extra happy. I'm kind of pulling colors from his comforter for the rest of his room. Someday I'll get it finished and let you all see!

Much more tidy, don't you think?

Each bin is used for a different set of toy - potato head, cars, train, etc. Now everything has a place! And Andyroo doesn't have to dump out the whole bin when he wants to find Potato Head's moustache.

I think I want to add some picture labels, but I haven't decided yet. So far Andyroo's pretty good about just looking to see what is in each box. And I still usually have to help supervise clean up anyway, so I just grab a bin and tell him to put all his cars in it.

These have been in Andyroo's room for a little over a month now and they're working really well. The paint isn't peeling or being scratched off (another of my worries) and they're just so darn cute!

I'm also thinking of painting or redoing the book shelf. Any suggestions?

What system do you have to keep the toys from taking over your house?





We're linking up with these super awesome parties:


Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednseday, What I Made Wednesday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Frugal Friday, Lovely Little Linkup, Craftastic Monday, Woot Woot Wednesday, Strut Your Stuff, Our House of Joyful Noise, Get You Craft On, Wow Me Wednesday, Weekend Wander, Turquoise Lovin', Pity Party

Felt Playhouse

Felt playhouses were all the rage in blogland a couple of years ago. Seriously, I saw a ton of playhouse ideas floating around out there. At the time I was in school and was taking a sewing class. We had to come up with our own final project. I thought about doing a diaper bag (Andyroo was about 16 months at the time) but couldn't find a pattern I liked. I wanted the bag to actually be functional, so I didn't want to wing it. It was Christmastime and I was in the mood to really make something. So instead I came up with the crazy idea to make not one, but two felt playhouses. One for Andyroo and one for his cousin that is the same age (we had their family for Christmas). Yes, I know. I should have been put in the crazy house for that. When I told my professor, she okayed the project and then quietly added, "But if you change your mind and still want to do a diaper bag, that's still okay too."

But I did it. I completed two felt playhouses. One was before the semester ended (so that I could turn it in and get it mailed out) and the other was finished December 23rd (only because we were spending Christmas Eve at my mom's).

Yes, I fully lined and decorated the inside too. Can you see the "fish tank" through the door?

I'm almost positive that the inspiration for the side pictured below (the tree and vegetables) came from Homemade by Jill. This was in 2009 though, so I don't really remember exactly where all the inspiration and patterns came from. I don't recall using a lot of patterns, just pictures for inspiration. That's just how I roll.

I'm pretty sure I used patterns for the apples and other vegetables here. If I remember right, she painstakingly sewed on individual leaves for the trees. I love Andyroo, but I was on a deadline here folks.

There's a birdhouse complete with birds and butterflies on the side opposite of the tree and garden.

And the back is pretty plain. There's a window and a "doggy door." I wasn't really sure what else to put on there because there wasn't a lot of open space. Don't judge the PVC pipes that you can see through the window. We had the guy at Lowes cut the pipe for us into all even widths, but then when we got home some of the pipe needed to be trimmed. I was taking pictures so that I could send instructions and pictures to my sister- and brother-in-law so they knew what it was supposed to look like.

And the front of the house. The flowers are pickable and plantable. The door rolls up and is held up with a piece of felt and velcro (you can see it if you look carefully).

I didn't get pictures of the inside, but along with the fish tank, there's a cabinet for food, a table, and a clear vinyl slot for a family picture. You can't have a home without a family picture. The inside is lined with a simple buttercup color cotton. I also sewed some pieces of ribbon on the inside of the 4 corners of the house to tie around the PVC pipe just to keep it in place.

Andyroo loved playing in this thing! He loves to hide when he knows someone is coming over (Grandma, daddy coming home, friends coming over, etc) and this was his go-to hiding spot. He also liked to read stories in there. He would pull me inside and bring me arm fulls of books to read to him. Or we would just sit inside and play toys. It was well worth the time, effort, and blood required to make this thing. Yes, blood. I caught my thumb in the needle once while putting all the sides together. Ouch is right.

Luckily I got on A+ on this project.

Like I said, these were huge a couple years ago. Did you attempt your own playhouse? I'd love to hear about it!

Some Fun Kids Ideas!

I've been linking up at a few blog parties and I've come across some fun kids ideas that I just had to share.

With back to school sales in full swing, I was thinking about picking up some watercolors for Andyroo. But then I came across this recipe to make Homemade Watercolors on I Can Teach My Child. Using some simple and common ingredients, you can make this...

Sweet Little Smoothie introduced me to using Mason Jars in place of your usual blender jar. Brilliant idea!!!! Andyroo loves to share my smoothies and this will be so easy to make a smaller amount!!

Polish the Stars has a tutorial/recipe for DIY Moon Sand. I think Andyroo would LOVE this stuff!!!

Preschool Alphabet (which is one of my favorite sites, btw) shows us how to make your own musical instruments!!!! Andyroo will love these too!

I see lots of fun in the near summer future (what few weeks we have left, anyway).

Quiet Book Page #6 - Notebook & Pencil Pocket

Remember the Quite Book Overview I did a while back? I'm going through the book page by page and explaining in more detail how I did everything and linking to any patterns that I used. Be sure to check out the other quiet book pages and the Quiet Book FAQ!

Quiet Book Page #1 - Train Tracks
Quiet Book Page #2 - Shapes and Colors
Quiet Book Page #3 - Barn & Finger Puppets
Quiet Book Page #4 - Letters
Quiet Book Page #5 - Counting

I don't remember where the idea for this page came from. I think it might have been from Homemade by Jill - but I honestly don't remember. I made this book way before I started this blog, so yeah.

I didn't use a template or pattern though. I just cut out a rectangle of felt that would fit on my page. I think it's I 6.5"x5"? I also cut out a smaller rectangle for the top flap. I think mine is about 6.5" wide (make it the same as the width on the other rectangle) x 1.5-2" tall. I sewed around the two sides and the bottom of the big rectangle. Make sure to leave the top open so that the notebook and pen/penciI l have a place to slide in. I also sewed all the way up the rectangle about 1.5" inches in from the left side (you can do right or left) to make separate pockets for the pencil and notebook.

Attach the smaller rectangle about an inch or so above the larger rectangle (make them overlap, but don't put the top of the flap directly above where the pencil/notebook are. See how I left a space? This just makes it easier to get in and out of the pockets

The original pencil and notebook have been lost, but I just used a small pocket notebook in here. It was small enough to not be bulky but still big enough for Andyroo to easily handle.

Quiet Book Page #5 - Counting

Remember the Quite Book Overview I did a while back? I'm going through the book page by page and explaining in more detail how I did everything and linking to any patterns that I used. Be sure to check out the other quiet book pages and the Quiet Book FAQ!

Quiet Book Page #1 - Train Tracks
Quiet Book Page #2 - Shapes and Colors
Quiet Book Page #3 - Barn & Finger Puppets
Quiet Book Page #4 - Letters

To help Andyroo's counting skills, I made this counting page for his quiet book.

You could do more or less than 10, but I stuck with 10. You'll need to cut 20 squares from felt - I think mine were around 2 or 2.5" squares.

You'll also need to decide on what you want to be under the flaps.

I had a bunch of buttons leftover from Andyroo's I-Spy Bag, so I used those for numbers 1-5. They were on the bigger side, so 5 was the max that I could fit onto these squares. For 6-10, I used some decorative brads. I just poked a small hole into the felt and stuck the brad through. It might be obvious, but I don't want anyone to be confused. So just to be sure, you need to have as many things under the flap as the number says on the top. So for the picture above, there are 5 moving things and the number on the flap says 5. For the picture below, there are 9 stars so the number 9 is on the top flap.

So once you've decided what you want to put under the flaps, You need to put them onto one of the squares. This square will become the botton flap that is sewn down to the page. After the items are attached to the squares, sew the bottom square to the page. After it's sewn down, then match up the top square and sew it to the bottom square and to the page. You only want to sew along the top this time so that the flap can lift up.

After the top flaps are sewn on, go ahead and put your number on. I used some glitter fabric paint leftover from putting the names on our stockings. However, if you were going to applique a number or do something fancier than fabric paint, you'll probably want to put that on before you attach the top flap to the book.

Andyroo's favorite flap is number 5 because it has a train (and other transportation-themed items).

Quiet Book Page #4 - Letters

Remember the Quite Book Overview I did a while back? I'm going through the book page by page and explaining in more detail how I did everything and linking to any patterns that I used. Be sure to check out the other quiet book pages and the Quiet Book FAQ!

Quiet Book Page #1 - Train Tracks
Quiet Book Page #2 - Shapes and Colors
Quiet Book Page #3 - Barn & Finger Puppets

I'm going to be posting the rest of Andyroo's quiet book pages next week, so be sure to check them out! 

This is the Alphabet Page in Andyroo's Quiet Book.

For this page, I drew then cut out 2 letters from some light blue felt. I (hand sewed) some small pieces of velcro onto the back of one of the sets of each letter. Then I put the matching letter on top and whip stitched them together.

After I had all my letters done, I laid them out on the two pages making sure they all had a spot. You'll want to do this before you sew your book pages together. Trace the outline of each letter with a pen or marker.

I left a small space below the letters on the second page so that Andyroo could practice spelling when he gets older. Next you need to add velcro to the pages so the letters have something to stick to. Try to match up with where you sewed the velcro onto the individual letters. In the picture above, you can see where the white velcro is on the page. I used 2 small pieces of velcro on each letter to give the page a little more hold. In the picture below, you can see a close-up of the space below the letters. I drew a line to show where he could spell words.

After your velcro is sewn onto the pages, you can sew your pages together, put the letters on, and then go to town.

Andyroo loves to take all the letters off and then match them back up. He's only 2 (3 in less than a month - yikes!) so we haven't really gotten into spelling.

R2-D2 Cake

Hubs turned the big 3-0 in March. I LOVE making caking, so of course I had to do something special for his 30th. He loves Star Wars, so this is what I came up with...

R2D2!!!

Want to see how I made it? I thought so :) Lucky for you I took pictures of the process so I could post this on my family blog. I thought you all might enjoy seeing it too!

You'll want to have all your cakes frosted and all your fondant made. I just stick with white buttercream frosting and blue and white fondant. I also made his arms from rice krispie treats. In total I used 4 layers of round cake (put together on cake circles in sets of 2) along with the rounded tops (that were trimmed off prior to frosting the cakes), about 2 lbs of white fondant and maybe a half pound of blue fondant, 2 pans of rice krispie treats, and somewhere around 3 recipes of buttercream frosting (approx 3lbs).

Writing all that out and thinking about all that sugar makes me kind of sick. What about you?

I started with an ice cream bucket, a couple of nails, and my large wooden cutting board.

I took the handle off the bucket and hammered in the nails.

The bucket was just to add some height without having to bake so much stinking cake. We had PLENTY of cake as it was! The bucket also added some strength to the so it didn't tip so much (though if you look at the final product you can see a little tippage anyway) and the nails helped hold it all in place.

Now you need to frost the bucket. Never mind the weird looks your husband is giving you.

Then start adding cake.

As you put the layers on, leave the cake on the cake circles. I used just some round pans I had - around the 7 inch size, I believe. I did have to trim a little bit though. Also, you'll need to add a few dowels into the middle of the cake for support.

You'll want to add dowels for each set of cakes you add. Simply put the dowel in (to measure it), pull it out, cut it down, and reinsert.

Add the next layer(s) of cake.

And the rounded layers. To do this step, I just piled and frosted the domed tops of the cakes that I trimmed off earlier. I think I used 3 of them, but I can't be sure. Put these on a cake circle too (for more stability).

You'll also want to smooth out all the frosting and fill in any gaps between layers.

Next comes the fondant. I didn't get any pictures of the process, mainly because I was using big pieces of fondant and it took both myself and my husband to get the pieces on smoothly and without them falling off.

Putting the big pieces of fondant on was...not easy. If I had been smart, I would have done skinny long strips instead of trying to put the fondant on in just two pieces.

So here's the cake partway into the fondant process.

You can see it's already started to lean. I think my problem was a little too much buttercream frosting. But at this point, it was late, I was tired, and I was NOT going to start all over.

Here are the arms - no pics of that process either. My rice kripies didn't turn out the best and I didn't want his arms falling apart before we actually had the party. That's why they're laying next to him instead of propped up.

Also, I was going to paint the whole thing silver, but I forgot the dust stuff while I was at the store, it was too late to go back to Michaels to get some, and I just wanted to be done.

What do you think? I LOVE baking and making cakes and this was my 3rd attempt at a big, fondant covered cake. I've also done a Lightning McQueen replica (for Andyroo) and a Dora cake (for my neice). Maybe I'll have to post about those sometime too.

I'm also preparing to do a Thomas the Train cake next month for Andyroo's 3rd birthday. Be sure to come back and check out all the fun Thomas stuff I'll be doing for his party.

And if you ever make your own R2D2, I'd love to see it!!!



We're linking up with these super awesome parties:


Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednseday, What I Made Wednesday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Lovely Little Linkup, Craftastic Monday, Woot Woot Wednesday, Our House of Joyful Noise, Strut Your Stuff, Get Your Craft On

Thomas the Train - Redone

Remember the Train Canvases I made a while back? Yeah. I've discovered that the Silhouette Vinyl just is not meant to be used on the textured canvas. Not that I added any texture to it, but the regular old canvas is just too textured to get a good stick. The light blue vinyl was the worst. It started peeling off first and then basically it just all fell off. I eventually just took it off and Andyroo only had James and Percy in his room.

So I decided to take another route. Going with something that needed to be removable (because we're renting) and movable (so we can take it with us when we eventually move), I decided I liked the idea of piecing it together in some frames.

MUCH better!!

I still used the vinyl (because I had all the colors and didn't have the color in papers - no black or gold, gasp!), but you could use paper or fabric or anything you want.

Quiet Book Page #3 - Barn & Finger Puppets

Remember the Quite Book Overview I did a while back? I'm going through the book page by page and explaining in more detail how I did everything and linking to any patterns that I used. Be sure to check out the other quiet book pages and the Quiet Book FAQ!

Quiet Book Page #1 - Train Tracks
Quiet Book Page #2 - Shapes and Colors

Up today is the Barn & Finger Puppets page! I think this might be my favorite page. So happy and cute!

I'd love to say this was my idea, but it most definitely was not. The idea and the template come from Homemade by Jill. Isn't she awesome!?

I did change a few things. Instead of ribbon for the outlining on the doors and around the barn, I just used more felt. I also added a couple of animals to the mix. She has patterns for the the cow, pig, and chicken. I also made a horse (which routinely gets called a dog but Andyroo) and a duck.

The barn doors open to reveal the animals hiding inside!

Be sure to check out the other templates over at Homemade by Jill to see if there are any others you'd like to use. As fun as it is to create your own, why go to the all the trouble if someone already has a pattern for you to use. Anything to make this process easier.

Quiet Book Page #2 - Shapes & Colors

Remember the Quite Book Overview I did a while back? I'm going through the book page by page and explaining in more detail how I did everything and linking to any patterns that I used. Be sure to check out the other quiet book pages and the Quiet Book FAQ!

Quiet Book Page #1 - Train Tracks
Quiet Book Page #3 - Barn & Finger Puppets

Today's quiet book page is the Shapes and Colors page. It's good practice for matching colors, shapes, and fine motor skills (I used snaps to keep the matches together)

I drew my own shapes on paper, then cut them out and used them as patterns for the felt shapes. You can do whatever shapes you want in whatever colors you want.

You'll need to cut 2 of each shape - one to go on the page and one to go on the match. To add some stability and strength so the snaps aren't pulled out of the felt, I sewed the shapes onto the flannel page, then sewed the snaps on through both the felt and the flannel.

After the shapes and snaps were on the page, I sewed the other side of the snaps onto the matches. I was going to leave it like this, but I wanted the pieces to be a little stronger. I also didn't like the look of the stitches showing through the backside of the loose shapes. Instead of trying to cut out a 3rd set of shapes and getting them to match up, I simply pinned them to a bigger piece of the same color felt and sewed around the shape. Then I cut out the shape! Easy peasy.

You could also just start by cutting out 3 of each shape and stitching two of them together with a whip stitch or blanket stitch.

I also think I should have used a bigger snap. Andyroo still has a little trouble getting them to snap together. He can match them easily, but he doesn't always get the snap together. I think if it were a little bit bigger, he would have an easier time. Just something for him to grow into, I guess.

Any questions?

Bitty Booties Inspiration

Have you seen the Bitty Booties created by Heather Bailey!? Holy cuteness. I saw these made on another blog quite a while ago and saved the pattern for later. I have tons of friends with new babies or about to have babies, so I'm pulling out the pattern and whipping some up.

I went looking for inspiration over at the Bitty Booties Flikr Group. I think I'm even more confused now though, lol!



Baby Moderno by Honorita



From Kukadas' Photostream - Las Kukadas De Sandra

LOVE the simpleness and the lining! From Incy Wincy Stitches Photostream

From Sweet Mammy por Fabiola Beppler's Photostream

From Gracious May's Photostream

Also from Gracious May's Photostream

From BumbleBL's Photostream



From Il Cassetto Delle Idee's Photostream



From emmmylizzzy's Photostream

From Mostly Charlie's Photostream

Red Boy Booties from sybrowskym's Photostream

Now I just have to figure out what I want to do. I'm including them in another new baby gift basket I'm doing later this week. Check back to see what I came up with!

(All photos used were found on the Bitty Booties Flikr Group. Links posted when possible).