Getting Ready for Baby on a Budget: Budget Nursery Ideas

When I found out Little Man was a boy, I decided to pick a nursery theme that would age well. As much as I love safari animals, pastel blues, or Winnie the Pooh, those things would only last 3-4 years at the most before he wanted a change to fit his growing personality. I am so glad I did this! It has saved me so much money over the years! His nursery was Marvel Superheroes themed, that morphed into solely Spiderman over the years. Him preferring Spiderman (his dad may have had something to do with this 😄) meant I kept the same color scheme, and most of the same decor. 

With Baby Girl I thought she would be my only girl, since we felt certain she was our last. I decided to go with what I absolutely love-Disney Princesses. My hope here was that again, it was age with her. I realized that she might not be a 'girly-girl' so I decided to make the Disney Princess theme subtle with a few decor and accent pieces, instead of over the top princessy-ness. The colors were grey and pink, that I thought could easily adopt different decor later. So, with that all being said, my first tip for a Nursery on a budget is:

Use a Theme and Color Scheme that Grows with Baby

This way you are only having to change out bedding and a few things here and there, rather than having to re-do the entire room, every couple of years. 

Think outside the Nursery Box

For us that was letting Baby Girl share our bedroom for the first couple of years. We have a large bedroom that I portioned off for her, and let that be the nursery space. If you have a smaller master bedroom, you could easily make a nursery nook. This means less decor and equipment that needs to be bought, as well as being able to keep it simple for the first little bit as you discover your baby's personality. 

We devoted a bedroom to Little Man (that he still uses, so no regrets really) but he didn't sleep in there for the first 2 years of his life. It's actually recommended to room share with a newborn, and with me nursing up until 2 with little man, and 15 months for Baby Girl (had to stop sooner due to being pregnant), it makes sense for them to sleep in our room until they are weaned. This time around I let Baby Girl stay in our room and it allowed a couple of years to save up money to redo our guest room now into a beautiful little girl's room. 

Our newest addition will still be sleeping with us for a while, but I won't be decorating a separate space for her. The bassinet, then crib will be in our room until time to transition, and the remainder of her nursery things will be with Baby Girl. This is also saving us money, as we aren't buying for a new theme. 

DIY's 

This is one of those 'no-brainers' but for a non-crafty person, it might seem daunting to create decor, paint furniture, or sew curtains. You definitely don't want to buy supplies for something you are unable to do (thus wasting money), but as you scour Pinterest, Etsy, or wherever, be thinking about ways you could recreate something on a budget! I found this mobile on Etsy and decided to recreate it. I saved about $20-$30 and it's now very special to me, since I made it. Sometimes more creative people in your life will create things as shower gifts. I have a very talented aunt who painted these canvases to go with the Disney Princess theme, and my husband's grandmother made beautiful quilts for both kids. My husband's aunt not only has created canvases, but also made beautiful clothes for my kids. I am surrounded by wonderful, talented people! 

 

I also looked up how to best paint furniture (for me it was chalk paint. I am not super talented, and it was an easy choice. Be sure to look up methods and materials for painting with chalk paint, to help it hold up. I've had no problems so far!). I was able to transform a free changing table, and an entertainment center that had been my in-law's into pieces that would hold Baby's girl's things!

The best advice I can give on DIYing things for baby, is to be honest with your creativity level (and it may surprise you how creative you actually can be!), find what it is you are aiming for and research, research, research. Pinterest and YouTube are my favorite places to learn how to do things. Be sure you look at several websites and YouTube videos before attempting, as it will help your confidence level and success!

Next week, I'll be sharing budget saving tips on a room redo! We are transforming our guest room into a little girls' room on a small budget. New paint, flooring, rugs, mattress...you name it! Be sure you follow my Instagram and Facebook page to see when that post is live!

Summer at Home: Outdoor Activities

In my childhood summers, we spent a lot of time outside. In fact, I feel like 90% of our day was spent outdoors playing with the neighborhood kids, cousins or friends, and somehow I didn't feel like the heat quite like I do today! ha! Knowing how important outside time is for the kids, I am trying to make sure they spend a good amount of time out, even if here in the south we have to go out at 8am to get temperatures lower than 90F! 

These 'activities' may feel like no brainers, but I wanted to share what we've been doing and enjoying outdoors. Hopefully this will be an encouragement and inspiration for your outdoor excursions. 

Water Play

My kids love anything to do with water. In the above picture we set out a bucket of water for them to fill their water guns, and they spent more time paying in the bucket than actually shooting the water guns! I've used buckets before for water play. Here are a few ideas:

Wash station-I had some dirty rocks I let the kids clean one day and they spent so much time, and had so much fun, just washing the rocks off in cold water.  You could use dirty toys, or whatever you have on hand.

 

Car Wash Station-Put a little dawn or baby soap to make it bubbly, and let the 'work' begin! My son has done this for several years and loves cleaning all his plastic toys. He can't wait to get them dirty again, so he can clean them. I set aside old rags and sponges for his budding business. Here is another waterplay idea:

DIY Splash pad- Our splash pad isn't open yet, but you can create one at home! I like this kind of splash mat- ours is a bit different, but this one seems the most like it. Ours has held up for over 4 years! Little Man is 5 and still enjoys splashing around on it. I like to set out a big tarp (we have stickers at the house), set the splashmat up, add the water table (check out here for water table ideas), and maybe other water toys or sprinklers. Let the kids splash around as long as they want and get ready for some wet lovin's when they want to get momma wet too!

Our Favorite Lawn Games

We've become big fans of lawn games over the past couple of years. My hubby introduced us to a game called Kubb and made his own set for us to play. It can have up to 6 players per side (12 total) so this can turn into a fun group game if you are having a get together at your house. I'll include links here for an about the game, and a link here for a set you can buy. 

We also enjoyed making a ladder ball set last year (Instructions to make one here), and have already gotten it out a few times to play with friends. 

Corn hole and frisbee golf are other games we enjoy playing as a family. We try to let Little Man have it easier, but also try to include him as much as possible, so we can enjoy them together as a family. I love games like this promote a lot of good conversations...and often times those 'fails' make the best memories!

Outdoor Treats

There's nothing like a cold treat on a hot summer day. Popsicles are a go to, but they can often be full of sugar and dyes. I am linking some 100% juice ones here. We've been enjoying Mott's juice pops, but this is something pretty comparable.  You could also make your own if you are less lazy than me. I'll add some fun recipes to my Pinterest summer board that you can check out here!

If you have a fire pit, you can enjoy a warm treat as well! I have so many good memories of hot dog roasts and s'mores. There are so many more fire pit recipes out there you can use these days. Unfortunately we are unable to use one due to my husband's allergies. I am seriously considering investing in a grill, since we will be so much at home. My kids love eating outdoors and grills and fire pits make it even more fun for the adults!

I will be sharing more summer treats next week! What activities have you been enjoying outdoors?

Summer at Home: Fun Learning Activities

If you follow a traditional school year and are off for the summer, then you know that summer is a great opportunity for your kids to forget absolutely everything! This is why most textbooks spend the first week or so catching your kid up on the things they forgot during the summer. Knowing this to be the case, I have tried to come up with ways to keep Little Man learning, while not overwhelming him with too much 'school'. 

My original plan was to use this book to work in a little. Someone had given it to me, and unfortunately I didn't look closely inside and see that half the pages were already worked through! This meant I needed to get creative! Here are a few things that I am doing/going to do (we are getting a slow start to our summer. We are also working on getting some house projects done before baby #3 shows up in August!) during the summer to help keep the things Little Man has learned, fresh in his mind. 

Reading

My sister has created this adorable prize system for Little Man to get stickers for reading. Just like the library, every 10 minutes he colors or puts a sticker on a little picture, 3 pictures = a box, 3 boxes= a prize you draw from a box. She created prizes like a free sno cone from our local sno cone place, free shake from Sonic, free frosty from Wendy's etc. Unfortunately, unlike the library I have to pay for these prizes 😄 but it gives Little Man the Library summer club experience when he can't actually go to the library! 

During our reading time, I am encouraging him to pick one book to read himself, while I read for the remainder of the time. The older your kids are, the more books they can read on their own. I am hoping this helps him keep up his phonics and reading, without having to do any workbooks. I can still help him with new words and concepts, but organically while sitting down and reading with him. 

In my Amazon recommendations below, I am sharing some of my favorite books per level!

Summer baskets

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I did these last year. You can look and still find all the ones I did last year in my stories. For this I take a 'boredom basket' and fill it with themed books and activities. I normally added Science and picture books, puzzles, dry erase activity books, and any other item that would keep Little Man busy, but learning at the same time. I haven't put one together for this year yet (as I said, summer has come a little later for us this year) but I plan to for the new week. I'll share what I put together on Facebook and Instagram, so be sure and follow me there!

I am also adding some math activities, since I don't have a workbook for him to do. Activities will include adding a measuring tape for him to help us measure things in the areas we are working in the house, and perhaps even a measuring scavenger hunt to measure things around the house or outside. It can include games that promote adding and subtracting, as well as free worksheets I find online. 

In my Amazon recommendations below I am sharing my favorite books and activities to add to a boredom basket!

Journals

I haven't used these yet, but I've heard great things about these Thinking Tree journals. My siblings have used these as supplemental work or extra curricular work and have loved the inter-activeness of them. I think these would make great summer learning activities for both younger and older grades. You can get anything that fits your child's interest. It covers art, reading, thinking skills, etc.! They even make these things for Mom, so you can use it during your kids' downtime to get a little 'mother culture' learning yourself. 

Along these lines, lapbooks are a great way to make learning fun. You could pick a theme a week and make a lapbook to go along with that theme. It's one of those things that you can make as complicated or as simple as you want, and kids love exploring topics on their own. 

What will you be using to promote learning  this summer?

Home for the Summer: Routine and Schedule

This summer is looking a lot different from previous ones. Our library is doing a packet that you pick up rather than summer activities, several camps have closed, no vacation planned, and no youth conference. We are still on the fence about VBS, but needless to say, our calendar looks a lot emptier than before. After several weeks of staying at home, how do you differentiate this time and make it as 'summery' as possible? 

This month I am planning several posts on this topic. Today I am sharing my non-schedule schedule, and over the next few weeks I'll be sharing learning tips at home, fun foods to make at home, and outdoor activities. All of this will be on a budget and with the idea that things need to be mostly found at home. 

If you would like to check out my blog posts that I did last summer, you can check them out here:

9 Summer Activities

Having an Unplugged Summer

Unplugged Road Trip 

Now to get to the schedule and routine portion of the post! 

If you've scoured Pinterest any, you know there are several little summer schedules with things like Make it Monday, Thinking Tuesday, and so on. I've tried these in the past, but I've never been able to do it for more than a couple of weeks. I simply don't like having to plan things out during the summer, ha! 

While for some, well structured schedules may make for a productive and fun summer, I have found that for our family, having a loose routine brings the most enjoyment and productivity. This means I don't have a fancy schedule to share with you today. For us the routine is a simple breakfast, outside time, lunch, indoor learning and play, dinner, and I want to implement family games in the evening. There's no set activity or schedule, but I plan to have several things at the ready that we can choose from for each day. I'll be sharing the list of things I have planned for Outdoor time, Indoor learning, and Foods I would like to have prepared easy enough that my son can join in. Right now you can click on the links and find other posts I've made on these topics. I am looking forward to sharing lots of fun summer ideas this month!

Our Routine

Wake up and Breakfast

Outside time

Lunch 

Learning time (about 30 minutes)

Indoor Activities

Help mom with Supper

Games and Family time

 Bedtime

Note: Amazon links are affiliated