All Things Grammie
"One Piece, Two Projects"
Awhile back after collecting Princess dresses and Hero Costumes for a couple of years, the dress-up area in the grandkids playroom was getting a little messy. I started looking for ideas on Pinterest for a pretty, yet functional way to store the collection we had accumulated.
One of the ideas I loved was to use an old entertainment center and turn it into a dress-up center. I found an entertainment center on an online yard sale sight for $15.00. It was super heavy and solid. We took the doors off and adjusted the shelves to the height we needed, and Dennis gave it a coat of white paint.
Not being a structural engineer, I took off the back piece because I thought it would look better with just the wall showing, and since it would be against the wall, I didn’t think it would matter. WRONG!! That piece gave the structure needed to hold it together! Without it the entire piece swayed and threatened collapse! (I think I see a whole other blog devotional post on this concept!) We had invest $15.00 more dollars in a new piece for the back. This mistake raised our cost on the project to $30.00 plus white paint and small while clothes hangers from Walmart. I already had three really cute canvas tubs that fit perfectly and looked so cute!
What we didn’t know when we bought this piece was that it had a cool bonus feature! I didn’t find out about it until months later when one of the grandkids pointed it out to me! If you press on one of the end pieces, a door opens to reveal some very narrow shelves that I guess were supposed to be for DVD storage. But I had a better plan for that space!
I saw a potential doll house! Dennis painted the inside part which of course missed the first painting because we didn’t know it was there! Do you see a pattern developing here in who does the painting? The fact is I am a very messy painter so I use Dennis’ expertise for all things involving paint!
I used scrapbook paper for the wallpaper and a glue stick for my wallpaper paste. So far, so good, it’s holding up great. I began to pull together some furniture from things I had, a few pieces I found at Dollar Tree and some I ordered a couple of sets from Amazon. We just use the various dolls we already have for now although they care not all to scale.
The girls were thrilled with it!
Pretty good, 2 projects from 1 piece!
Share the Warmth
There is something special we do with the grandkids each October. The area rescue ministry has an outreach for a couple of weeks in the Fall. They collect donations of new or gently used coats to distribute to people who need them. About three years ago we decided to make this an annual project. Sometimes we go shopping together and purchase the coats, but recently I have begun watching for winter coats to go on clearance in February and buying them then. I can make the money we have to spend on coats go further by getting them cheaper. Since we do other "kindness"projects with them at other times, the savings come in handy. I have been watching at Walmart for kids coats to go on sale and yesterday when I checked they were 50% off! We purchase a coat for each grandchild to donate, even if they can't actually be there with us, still a coat is donated for them too! So yesterday I was able to spend $44 and get $84 dollars worth of coats. The coats will be safely tucked away and hopefully on a sunny, warm October day after school we'll drive to the donation bin and let them put the coats in. We'll talk about how not everyone has a warm coat. We'll talk about our blessings, probably over an ice cream treat on the way home. I hope that in some small way we have helped nuture the thankful spirit and giving nature already planted in them by Mom and Dad, and that maybe they will carry this on with their kids and grandkids.
Grammie and Papa Leave Their Mark
In a previous post I told you I would share my special way of identifying and distinguishing to my grandkids that a letter or package is from Grammie and Papa, so here goes!
I do it with this silly little drawing you see here. As you can see, I’m no artist, and I really don’t even remember how I came up with it nine years ago, but anytime I sign anything to them and long before they can read, they know when something is from us.
I remember at my grandson’s third birthday party when they were handing him gifts to open and they handed him our gift and asked,” Who is this one from?” He immediately answered,” Grammie and Papa!” A family member sitting nearby asked if he could read already! My daughter-in-law answered, “No but they have included this on everything they send him, so he knows who it’s from.”
The drawing has remained unchanged (the same cannot be said for us!) My husband only wears glasses to read and I’ve embraced my natural white hair color, but it still works!
You could come up with your own drawing or maybe you could use a certain wrapping paper, stickers in a certain pattern or even using different colored markers for each letter in the address and return.
Any of these or your original ideas, used consistently, will become an identifying mark that this package, letter or gift is from you. They will be so excited, knowing that it is filled with fun and love that they will hardly be able to wait to open it.
Surprise Boxes
I knew from the beginning as a Long- Distance Grandma or L-D-G I would have to use the mail as one of my communication tools with my grandchildren. I like to do surprise boxes for different occasions, holidays and seasons.
Snow days are not the norm in the winter where we live or where our grands live. So once at Christmas I smuggled a special surprise Snow Day Box into the car when they were returning home. I gave mom and dad instructions to wait for a snowy day (which could be only a dusting to a couple inches) and then pull out the Snow Day Box. I included things like a Build-a-Snowman Kit, a snowman sucker, some winter window gels and a special cookie. I was rewarded with a sweet photo of him enjoying the sucker!
Other ideas could be a box for: Valentine’s Day, Easter, School’s Out Celebration, Summer Fun, Halloween, Back-to-School, and a Rainy Day Box filled with indoor things to do like puzzles, art supplies, treats etc.
You will need to plan ahead for your upcoming boxes. For example, you will have to pick up snowman items when they are available at Christmas time. Of course, now you can order most things online at any time of year. Also, heart items and stickers can be used throughout the year so stock up!
It’s really helpful to find a place to store your Grandma stash. One place I use is one shelf in my linen closet, but a storage tub or drawer would work great as well. This way when
you are ready to pack a box you will know where everything is.
Postage, of course, is a consideration. I’ve found that the flat-rate boxes are usually a more economical option, although they do limit you in the amount you can put in a box. You might also price compare the Post Office with some of the other mailing/packaging centers out there. I also sometimes order online and just have the item shipped straight to them, although the drawback to this option is that you can’t make it personal like a box you assemble yourself.
And last but definitely not least, find a way to identify and distinguish your package to your grandchild so when it arrives, they know right off that it’s from you! In an upcoming blog I’ll share my ideas for doing that with you!