Autumn Activity Shelves

I've mentioned before that we have a bookshelf in our kitchen full of novel toys and seasonal activities to keep our kids engaged while we're cooking dinner or otherwise occupied on the main floor of our house.

For autumn, it's stocked with:

Art Supplies

glue, feathers, leaf stickers, autumn foam stickers, Halloween cookie cutters to trace, foam leaves, colored card stock and white art paper, and a jack-o-lantern sticker book

The supplies are tucked away in a felt Halloween basket purchased on clearance last year.

Fine Motor Activity

tiny jack-o-lantern erasers, pumpkin ice cube tray, and tongs

Story Props and Book

Seasonal Picture Books

and our autumn sensory bin and last year's autumn treasure basket.

The art supplies, books, and fine motor activity fit neatly inside a basket.

Autumn Sensory Bin

Our autumn sensory bin contains black beans, white beans, orange-dyed rice*, plastic leaf table scatter from Target's Dollar Spot (purchased last year after-Halloween clearance, but I believe they have it again this year), painted acorns, bowls, a scoop, and tongs.

We collected some acorns at the park recently, washed them, baked them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes (to kill off any insects/larvae), painted the nuts with soy paint, hot glued the caps on, then polished them up with some beeswax to protect the paint. They make a fun sensory bin addition.

*To color the rice, I just dumped some vinegar and a few drops of red and yellow food coloring onto the rice, stirred thoroughly, then spread it flat to dry for a few hours.

Five Little Pumpkins Child-Made Story Props

One of Meg's favorite autumn books is 5 Little Pumpkins. When I was at Michael's craft store recently and saw some little wooden pumpkin cutouts, I had a feeling she'd love using them to make her own story props.

I offered her orange tempera on a plastic palette, a paintbrush, a black Sharpie, and the cutouts. She chose to prop the book in front of her as she worked.

She put approximately 112 coats of paint on the pumpkins then left them to dry while she napped.

When she awoke, she carefully drew each pumpkin face with the Sharpie. She really studied each pumpkin and tried to replicate its unique features. This is something fairly new for her, copying an image. She's usually adamant that she wants to do things her own way.

She was so proud of how they turned out.

Citrus Lane Subscription Box Review

This is not a sponsored post, I just like reading reviews of subscription box experiences, so I thought I'd share mine.

Background, Citrus Lane is one of the many subscription services for baby, child, and family products - toys, books, food items, and accessories - currently popping up all over the internet. You sign up for your preferred subscription period (monthly, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months - all auto-renewing until you cancel) fill in your child's name, age, and whether you prefer girl/boy/gender neutral items, and once a month a box of surprise items tailored to your child's age and gender is mailed to you. You can also buy gift subscriptions for friends and family. You can see some of the past boxes on their website, but I recommend Googling for reviews, because they give you a broader picture of what you might expect. I loved that I saw a lot of brands I know and trust - Melissa and Doug, Skip Hop, Plum Organics, etc.

I had a promo code and spent a good deal of time reading others' reviews online before deciding to go for it and give the service a try. I signed up for an 18 month gender-neutral box, hoping there might be some things to interest both of my kids included.

We received:

• 1 Melissa and Doug counting puzzle - This is one of the only M&D wooden puzzles we didn't yet own - score!
• 3 Zo-li stacking snack cups - I've been looking at different ones online for a while. I wanted a set that was large enough for picnic snacks and that hooked together for ease of carrying. I'm glad I waited to buy one, because this ticked all my boxes. And the set is BPA and phthalate free, which is important to me.
• 1 GoGo Squeez flavored applesauce pouch - My 4 year old loves these, so it went straight into my purse.
• 2 instant disposable ice packs - Meh, disposable things make me nervous. I feel like I need to save them for a "special occasion." I'll toss these in the car, but who knows if I'll ever need one.
• voucher for 10 free digital postcards - Whatever. I have no use for them, and I really don't know many people who would pay for something like this. I think this was a bonus item, though. (If you can manage to read the code on my photo above, go for it and use it. I won't be.)

Overall, pretty good. 3 things I would have eventually purchased, 1 I wouldn't purchase but will probably use, and 1 dud, but the dud wasn't one of the paid-for items, so I'm not bothered by it. I am, however, bummed we didn't get a book, as they usually include one. I'll keep the service for another few months before renewing or cancelling, because I got a really good deal on it and, you know, for the sake of science. ;)

If you'd like to sign up, you can get $10 off your first box by using my Citrus Lane referral link. Has anyone else used this service or one like it? Like I said, I'm a subscription box enthusiast, so I'd love to hear your experiences.

Margaret's Colorful, Whimsical, Happy Space

Early in the spring I got the itch to finally decorate Meggie's room. She moved into it and out of the nursery in the winter of 2011, but we never got around to doing much with the space. Eh, enough words, here's her lovely room.

When deciding which direction to take Meg's room, I knew I had to incorporate some of Trafalgar's Square's beautiful art. I hung it with hidden Command strips for stability and added washi tape frames for interest. Meg's only request was for one of the cowgirl prints. Jessie is her best imaginary friend, and it charms me to think of her laying in bed looking at this picture. My favorite is the Adventure Girl print, because it reminds me so much of my vibrant girl.

The KidKraft retro red kitchen was a Christmas present from her Nan, as was the Target Love n Nature lamp. The rug was purchased at Ross. Meg is quite insistent that the Easter tree needs to live in her room year-round.

The white furniture was a handmedown from a family member. It's actually meant to be bathroom storage. The diminutive size is perfect for a preschooler. The pieces hold books, doll clothes and accessories, tea sets, jewelry, and memorabilia.

The buntings were originally made for our playroom. When we turned the playroom into a TV room and the family room into a playroom, there was no space for them anymore. Happy chance, because they go perfectly in Meg's new bedroom. The large one is simple pennants cut from cotton prints with pinking shears and sewn to a ribbon. The small one is miniature felt pennants sewn to the same ribbon. The other is needle felted balls strung on yarn.

The frames and jewelry tree were purchased at 70% off from Target at an end of season closeout. The crocheted doll purse/bassinet was a gift from Nan and the hedgehog plush is from Ikea. The bunny card is a Trafalgar's Square business card that was included in our order.

The glass case holds some of Meg's treasures - dolls Nana brought back from Jamaica and Mexico, special art projects, her flower girl basket from Auntie's wedding, and books she receives every year on her birthday - each has a main character named Margaret or Meg. Her hair styling basket lives on top. On the wall is a cork board holding Disney trading pins from our last trip. The doll is Haba's Lotta.

I make no effort to beautify her bookshelves, since they're hidden behind a door. Meg is in and out of there so many times a day, it would be exhausting to try to keep them neat.

The hair bow hanger is hidden behind her bedroom door.

I decorated the wall above her bed with fabric circles attached to the wall with fusible interfacing. I ironed them straight to the wall (with a pressing cloth between the iron and the wall). They've been up for months and still are holding strong. I've experimented with removing them, and they peel off cleanly. The flower table was purchased from Target is 2002 for my own bedroom. The very ugly piggy was mine as a child, and Meg loves it just as much as I did. The mushroom night light is from Target. I love that you can plug it in to charge, then unplug and carry it around. Great for night time bathroom trips. The fan pulls are from Thimbletowne on Etsy, a fabulous shop for lightswitch/outlet covers, fan pulls, night lights, picture frames, etc. The shop owner is really fun to work with for custom orders.

The gorgeous doll bunk bed was a handmedown from a friend, and Nan sewed bedding for it to match Meg's. The backpack is Skip Hop.

The three toss pillows were purchased at the same Target closeout sale as the frames above. I sewed the owl pillow for Meg before she was born. It's a little dated now, but sentimentality compels us to hold onto it. The duvet set is from Target.

Here is the Pinterest board I made for inspiration during the process. There are still some small details I'd like to add to the room in time (pom pom pillow trim, a sweet mobile, a favorite quote up on the wall), but for now, Meg's very happy with her space, and that's all I need.