Travel Keepsake Boxes - Part 2

Oh hey there- remember me? It’s been a few months but I’m back with a new post. Not sure why I took the hiatus. I guess I've just been busy enjoying the summer. As Grace mentioned in her last post, we took a week long trip to Duck, North Carolina. There were 17 of us in one house (14 adults & 3 kids) – I’m surprised we all made it out alive!

This post is a revisit to the Travel Keepsake Boxes I made a few months ago. I had linked up the original post to the Pinterest Challenge hosted by YHL & BowerPower.

I finally got around to fixing up the stencils. I tried a new approach at the suggestion of a comment from Julia.  She suggested using a pencil or pen to outline the stencil and then fill it in with a fine brush.

I did something similar. I found this item at AC Moore that had a pen on one side and a brush on the other.

Using the blank side of the boxes - I tapped the stencils down and used the pen side to draw the outlines.

Then I took the stencils off and used the brush side to fill them in.

Much better right? I think so.

I wish I had thought of this option the first time around! Thanks Julia for the tip!

I did have one snafu. After I finished up the three boxes, I had the genius idea to paint over the original, messed up back side. I wasn't paying attention and on the “Greece” box, I painted over new side with the still wet ink. Whomp Whomp.

Oh well. Now that I know the easy way to stencil it, I can just purchase a new box and make another one. 

Roadtripping with a Toddler

It seems Shannon and I have been MIA for a couple of weeks. And no, its not because our family trip to North Carolina was disasterous, I think we've just both been busy catching up on life since we got back. Actually, I was only home in NJ for 20 hours before I had to hitch a ride with Shannon back to Boston to attend a work-related conference. 

Anyway, I have a bunch of stuff to post about, but I am going to start with the actual travel to North Carolina. I was really nervous about how JJ was going to be strapped in the car seat for 7-8 hours. He is usually pretty good in the car, but he's almost two so he has been known to throw a tantrum here or there. I started pinning all sort of tips and tricks months ago in hopes that I could be well prepared. The two I found most helpful were this one from The Fun, Cheap, or Free Queen and this slideshow from Joslyn Gray at Babble. The biggest overall themes were to have his comfort items (lovie, blanket), plenty of snacks, and new toys/distractions. When all else fails, load up the iPad with some videos.

The weekend before we left, I hit the local Dollar Tree and Target to pick up some things to keep him busy. I got a little basket from the dollar store to hold everything. It was the perfect size to sit next to him on the arm rest but set back far enough that he couldn't see or reach it. 

Tools to keep a toddler busy during the 7 11 hour car ride

I was hoping he would sleep for half the ride (we did leave at 4am), but he was wired and knew something was up so he didn't go back to sleep until about 6. He was content with his lovie and blanket though so it was an easy couple of hours. Once he woke up (after only an hour and half, maybe) a sippie of milk and some cereal filled him up and killed some time. After that, though, he started to get a little whiney so I broke into my arsenal. First up were a couple new books (all from the dollar store):

The "first words" one in particular was loaded with a bunch of pictures on each page so he spent awhile looking through each page, pointed at the photos and starting over. 

After that was a mini magna doodle from Target. It helped that it was "Cars" themed, but this kept him busy for awhile. And as a bonus, it was really easy to bring along in my bag when we went out to dinner during the trip just in case the restaurant didn't have crayons. 

Mini Magna Doodle, so much cleaner than dealing with crayons.

JJ is into transportation right now. Anything that moves - planes, buses, trucks, fire engines, and most of all trains. I found these adorable little wooden cars in the dollar spot at Target and knew he would love them. 

One of the last things I broke out, and was the biggest hit of all, were magnets. I picked up a magnetic wipe off board (meant for college dorm rooms I guess?) from the dollar store and brought along a new set of Melissa and Doug animal magnets. He loved moving them around, taking them on and off, and making all kinds of sounds.

A magnetic wipe-off board from the dollar store and some new animal magnets kept JJ busy for a long time.

I also brought crayons and printed out blank coloring pages of his favorite things (Lightening McQueen, Thomas the Train, etc) but I never wound up using them in the car. I put the crayons in an old travel wipes case and tucked the coloring sheets in there as well. Also handy to throw in my bag and bring with us to keep him busy if we stopped somewhere to eat.

A couple boxes of dollar store crayons fit nicely into a travel wipe case. Throw in a couple small sheets of paper and you have a super easy portable coloring case.

A couple other things I learned along the way:

• I have read that snacks, especially new and fun ones would keep kids happy. Unfortunately, JJ isn't adventurous when it comes to food. He likes what he likes. He had no interest in the fruit snacks I bought, just stuck with cereal, goldfish, and cheese. 
• "Pencil pouches" from the dollar store are great for storing the little things. I kept the animal magnet set in one, some foam puzzle pieces (see the top row, middle pic at the top of the post) in another, and some first aid supplies in a third.
• In the first aid pouch, which I kept in the glove compartment, I had pain reliever for JJ, all kinds of pain relievers, antacids, and migraine pills for Joe and I, some alcohol swabs, bandaids, mini sun screen, and anything else I might need along the way. I had more of everything packed away in our suitcases, but I wanted to have this stuff handy in case we needed it and I wouldn't need to dig around to find anything. 
• I saved a couple books and bought a few more things than shown above and tucked them away under a seat. This way, I was sure I had something new and exciting for the way home. 
• I really didn't need to spend a lot of money. I think I spent less than $15 for this stuff (with the exception of maybe the magnets) and it all came from the dollar store or Target. The Dollar Tree was a gold mine of little treats/treasures and there are even more possibilities if your toddler is a little older and you're not as worried about choking risks. A lot of the items worked well in the rental house as well. All the kids had fun playing with the magnets, moving them back and forth between the board, the fridge, and the 2 (!) dishwashers. 

Overall, JJ did great. He didn't sleep as much as I would have liked on the way down, but he was 50 times better than I expected. We didn't even turn on a movie until about hour 9. So had we not hit any traffic, I don't think he would have needed it at all. The vacation must have worn him out though, he slept a lot more on the way home!

So we survived our first big family trip as parents. It was a lot of fun, but more exhausting than the last time we went 2 years ago. I have another vacation related post to share, but right now I am onto researching tips for flying with a toddler. Its a whole new ballgame for us and both Joe and I are nervous. Anyone have any tips for us? We leave in a little over a month!!

Disney Dreaming

This week, our extended family is (hopefully) enjoying some beach days and seafood nights in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. By the time you are reading this, Joe and I will have already braved the 8 hour car trip with our 20 month old. I have been doing a lot of googling and prep work for some tips on traveling with toddlers (using mainly this post and this one as inspiration) so I will be sure to do a post on how well (or disastrously) it went once we get back. 

Anyway, although I am on vacation right now, that doesn't stop me from dreaming about and planning my next one! I love to travel and we sort of took a hiatus when JJ came so I am so excited over the idea of taking two vacations in one year. Even more so that the next one will be to the Happiest Place on Earth! This October we will be taking JJ on his first visit to Walt Disney World in Florida. It will be his first time on a plane and our first time going to "the world" with a kid. 

Getting back to the point of my post. Joe has a tendency to leave his pocket change all over the house. Usually it ends up on his nightstand or the kitchen counter, but it pops up in the laundry and sometimes on the bathroom sink as well. It drives me crazy, so a long time ago we designated an old pretzel bin as our change collector:

Definitely not cute, but we tucked it away in a closet so it didn't really bother me:

Once we decided (meaning I finally conned Joe into being on board with) taking JJ in October, I was inspired by this pin to jazz up the jar:

source: Wilbur Road

Of course none of the cabinets or closets in my house are that neat or organized, but I thought the "Disney Fund" jar was adorable and could definitely help my tired looking pretzel jug look a little nicer. I took some Disney scrapbook paper I already had and cut a band to fit around that ugly half-removed label. Then I downloaded the waltograph font and printed out the label. I thought Jay's mouse-ears were cute, so I just cut out a couple from construction paper and backed them with some cardstock to give them some stability. 

Much cuter, right? Before we leave, will bring the bucket to the bank and cash it in and have some extra money for food, snacks, and souvenirs. I am considering getting tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party so I might use the cash towards that. 

Anyone have any tips for travelling to Disney with toddlers? I realize its going to be a much different trip than we were used to (no more drinking around the world in Epcot or multiple trips on the Tower of Terror), but I  know being able to see it all through my son's eyes gives it new meaning.