Once upon a time, there were three little pigs...

My "big" girl really likes the story on the three little pigs, ever since she got that picture book for her second birthday . I was really impressed (yes, I'm boasting with my child, I know) when at the age of 2.5 years, she could babble on the adventures of  the three little pigs to anyone willing to listen (and made an effort to translate it, since she was just starting to talk). 

She is still into the story, even these days, so when I saw this post , I knew that it was something for us, a craft to try. Unfortunately, I could not stick pigs to toilet paper rolls, and a stapler was not a good idea because the little sister puts everything in her mouth. Then I stumbled upon this idea , and that was it, the decision was made, we'll play with the piglets!

First I've printed out the pigs , pasted them on a thin cardboard and then to the wooden sticks, the ones you get along with Chinese food (thanks to my maid of honour, who is very fond of decluttering and provides us with regular supplies).

Wooden house back

Wooden house front

The wooden house was made ​​as a combination of popsicles and already mentioned Chinese food sticks. I used a special glue for wood, which was the only glue that was able to withstand the challenges of everyday play.

Not having straw, we have used grass. Anyway, it looked like straw when it withered. You can't see it very well in this picture, but the various blocks were used as bricks.

Let the game begin!

P.S. I recommend it to be an outdoor activity, unless you do not mind grass / straw sticking out of the couch.

Cardboard boxes as a toy cupboard

We have had a little kitchen as my girl's favorite toy for some time now, and they have accumulated a remarkable collection of dishes. Therefore, our little kitchenette became too small to store it all, so when I saw this idea , I immediately knew what will be my next craft. I made my own, simpler version. I just took the boxes in which I get groceries delivered (I have already blogged about these boxes) I pasted them with some glue and washi tape. My first result looked like this:

It turned out great for storing dishes and other kitchen-related toys, but aesthetically, it was not appealing enough. When I used scraps of gift wrapping paper, it looked much better.

                                                     


And here is the final result:

I strongly recommend stiffer cardboard, because the small hands like to hang on the shelves.

Except the background, can you notice some other difference between the first and the last picture? Little hands could not wait for mom to take all her photos, so they were constantly taking dishes off shelves :)      

P.S. I was featured on "My repurposed life", I recommend you to click and take a look on some awesome projects by dear blogging colleagues. 

Organizing and storing balls

This post will be an evidence we're not just pinning, but also doing some of the stuff we pin.

Recently, I was amazed by this great photo I've seen on Pinterest and Facebook.

I've uploaded it to my Facebook page, as a great organizing idea and a friend of mine commented: "Oh, this is an awesome idea,  I can't believe I've thrown away the identical cupboard, it would have been of a great use to me!" Luckily, it turned out her husband could not throw the cupboard, but decided to keep it in the basement. What a clever decision was that!

And here's how they did it:

 

I especially like these boxes in the bottom row, which are intended as a storage of small balls.

If you are interested in other cool organizational ideas see here .