DIY Air Plant Terrariums

Have you heard of air plants?  They are such a fun and unique way to bring a little more green into your life.  With all the winter weather we've been having in central Washington State, I'm so ready for spring.  I'm teaming up with Fairfield World to bring you this project and have been compensated for this post, but all ideas, opinions, and enthusiasm are 100% my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

Air plants don't get planted in dirt. (In fact that would kill them.)  Instead they can be displayed in all sorts of fun ways...anywhere they can get enough natural light.  They get watered about once a week by dipping them in water for a few minutes, let them dry, and then place them back in their home.

You can switch out the color pebbles to match any holiday, decor, or color scheme.  I have Valentine's Day and...

...St. Patrick's Day in mind.

Here's what you'll need to make your own.

• Air plants - Available from some garden stores, or I ordered my air plants from Amazon.  (Be sure to request a heat pack if you live in a cold area.)
• 1 Bag Poly-Fil® Poly Pellets®
• Assorted Colored Glass Pepples (I got most of mine from the Dollar Store, but a few colors were only available at the craft store.)
• Assorted Glass or other containers (Mine were ones I already had on hand or from the Dollar Store.

You can find my complete instructions for these Air Plant Terrariums on the Fairfield World site here.

Connect with me on...

DIY Worry Pet - Pocket Pet - For Kids with Anxiety

If you have kiddos with anxiety about going back to school, they might like to take one of these Worry Pets with them in their pocket.  The poly-pellets inside give nervous fingers something to fiddle with and the super soft cuddle is soothing.  Once you make one, you won't be able to stop.  Your whole family will want one.

Ginny Weasley's Anxiety-Away Calming Cure - Weighted Lap Pad - Harry Potter

Weighted pads and blankets (and vests and other weighted products) are often used to help calm individuals with anxiety, ADHD, autism, and other conditions, and they're surprisingly easy to make yourself.  (And thanks to Fairfield for providing me with product, compensating me for this post, and helping me pass my geek-loves onto my kids.  All ideas are 100% mine.  This post contains affiliate links.)  So since it's Happy Harry Potter week over at Rae Gun Ramblings, I thought we'd make a Harry Potter version of a weighted lap pad.

It has been so fun to see my younger daughter fall in love with the Harry Potter series this last year.  As a first grader she made it through the first three books and she would be reading Goblet of Fire...except she keeps rereading Prizoner of Azkaban.

She'd seen a few of the movies before she started reading the books, and from the beginning she immediately connected with Ginny Weasley has her favorite character.  (Rebecca dressed as Ginny when she was 4.)

Rebecca identified right away with Ginny's shyness because she's struggled with a severe form of social anxiety for a long time.  Her selective mutism makes it really hard to speak up around people she doesn't know well...and school is especially difficult. (Imagine not talking to your teacher for the whole year...that was kindergarten for us.)

I love Ginny and I love that Rebecca loves Ginny because I know something that Rebecca doesn't know yet...that in the later books as Ginny finds herself and grows comfortable in her own skin, everyone gets to see the confident, spunky, and outgoing girl that was hidden inside Ginny the whole time.  At home we get to see the confident, spunky, and outgoing girl inside Rebecca all the time...but not many people outside our family get to see that girl...yet...

B is for Beanbag - Preschool Uppercase and Lowercase Sorting Game

This year several other moms and I have decided to do a preschool coop.  We had "B" at our house last week, so I decided to make some B Beanbags to help kids sort out their upper and lower case B's and because bean bags are so fun.  We used them during both of our B days as a sorting activity and then each child got to choose 2 to take home.  (And thanks to Fairfield for providing me with the Poly Pellets® and Oly*Fun used in this fun game and for compensating me for writing this post.  All ideas and opinions are 100% my own.

If you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know that we're kind of addicted to I-Spy, and I still have thousands of I-Sky fabric squares just waiting to be sewn into something cool.

So I sorted through them and found as many different objects that started with B as I could.  If you don't have I-Spy squares available, you could go to the fabric store and just choose one or two fabrics with B objects on it, and make lots of identical beanbags.

Ways to Play:

• Have kids toss the beanbag at the matching target.
• Name the B object on the beanbag
• Yell "bah...bah...bah..." as they throw the beanbag
• Sort colors
• Count the beanbags.

Supplies
Here's what you'll need to make your own:

• Various 4" cotton fabric squares or 2 Fat-Quarters with B pictures on them.
• Fat quarter or scraps of black or other high contrast fabric
• Poly Pellets® Weighted Stuffing Beads – 6 Ounce Bag or larger
• Paper-backed Fusible Interfacing
• B and b Template
• Oly-Fun™ Craft Sheets in Sky Blue (or any color).  You could also use construction paper.
• Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Scissors
• Pins

Instructions:  (Picture shows the steps.)