Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Isaac's Snack Shop

Remember the awesome puppet theater I made with tender loving care for Isaac? Do you remember the amazing puppet I made for him? Yah...he is over it..done, kaput, no more, adios, goodbye to puppets! I finally conceded his puppet phase was over. Sniff sniff!

I think I have bought Isaac maybe three toys in his three years of existence from a retail store. He gets all his toys from birthday or Christmas gifts, hand-me-downs or yard sale treasures. His little buddy Garrett had the Melissa and Doug Food sets and Isaac was obsessed. He talked about them incessantly and wanted to go to Garrett's house to play food constantly. So using some of his birthday money and cracking the cobwebs out of my wallet we bought him four sets on Amazon.com and it cost us $65!!! That is a lot of money but I justified the expense saying #1 half of the money was his birthday loot #2 They are high quality toys #3 We will get years of use out of it because Kayla will play with it too.

Let me tell you for a mere $65 I have probably gotten 40 hours of Isaac playing unassisted. So that is worth $1.62 an hour right? HAHA!

Using my handy dandy Chalk-Inks (have you ordered these yet? The code CIW is still valid for 10% off, ship them to a business address.. it is cheaper) I made Isaac's Puppet Theater into Isaac's Snack Shop.

Then we store all the food sets on the shelves behind the shop. Perfect!

We also have been making food during "craps time" (he can't say his "f's" real well). Using a salt dough recipe I had from my teaching days (1 1/8 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup water) we have been sculpting food and then painting them with acrylic paints. He loves it.


So I am broke because I keep going to his snack shop. I don't have any more spare change. He told me the other day that if I work in his snack shop he would give me my money back. Seriously, is he hilarious or what? It is also a great learning tool since he is learning how to add and count money.

54 comments:

  1. Heidi PocketbookSeptember 30, 2009 at 12:09 PM

    This is such a great idea--repurpusing the repurposed item and turning it into the snack shoppe. The clay food items are so cool, too! You'd better check your sofa cushions for loose change, lol!

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  2. Amy JoSeptember 30, 2009 at 12:49 PM

    Welcome back home! My kids love the wooden food too. I'm going to try some salt food this week; I think that would be a hit. Have you tried making any felt food? I made one cookie, but it's not nearly as popular as the wooden food so I didn't make any more.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2009 at 12:51 PM

    That is absolutely adorable! How fun for him.
    pk @ room remix

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  4. UnknownSeptember 30, 2009 at 1:06 PM

    how fun and cute. Love when the kiddos are entertaining themsleves or others too. Love that he is being creative as well.

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  5. techcatSeptember 30, 2009 at 1:36 PM

    remind me to tell Iaac that puppets need snacks too. Maybe you can get the puppets to work the food shack too. :)

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  6. Heather - Dollarstorecrafts.comSeptember 30, 2009 at 2:02 PM

    How cute. I bet my 3yo would love a snack shop. He LOVES the Sesame Street/Grover "waiter!" skits and would spend hours serving me food if he could. We made salt dough yesterday and have some left over. I bet he'd love to make some into food! Great idea!

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  7. CarmelSeptember 30, 2009 at 2:29 PM

    Hey, you're still using your puppet theater, huh? Just in a different way. Gotta love toys that are multi-tasking. : )

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  8. tinahead81September 30, 2009 at 2:47 PM

    i loove that!! can't wait till my kiddies are old enough for this stuff!!

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  9. BeckSeptember 30, 2009 at 2:54 PM

    Very Fun!, but Beckie, why are the cookies only 5 cents and the veggies are 10?!!!??? Yeah, I buy cheap junk food! Not the good for you veggies! LOL

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  10. EricaSeptember 30, 2009 at 3:38 PM

    I noticed the veggies were 10 cents too! ;) Eating healthy always seems to cost more! :)

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  11. Lisa BSeptember 30, 2009 at 3:41 PM

    LOVE it!! Can't wait to come place my order...

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  12. Gail Griner Golden at Gail-Friends September 30, 2009 at 3:41 PM

    I love it! He is a true entrepeneur! My daughter used to put on shows in the neighborhood and chage 3 bucks! She has gone on to be a singer and songwriter. Nurture that little boy in what he loves. He'll probably be the next Donald Trump!

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  13. CarrieSeptember 30, 2009 at 4:45 PM

    My kids would try to eat the playdough as soon as it looked like food.

    I swear I feed them!

    But I love the idea that you are teaching him about money. He's catchin' on if he's gonna make you EARN your money back! :)

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  14. BobbiSeptember 30, 2009 at 4:56 PM

    Ha ha ha..."craps time!" That's great!! I'm still feeling puppet inspired...and then vroom you're off again! WOW!

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  15. EllsSeptember 30, 2009 at 5:20 PM

    super cute - what a fun activity for him! I bet Kayla will have tons of fun with the theater/snack shop too.

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  16. Grace @ One Craft Girl's CornerSeptember 30, 2009 at 6:19 PM

    I love it! I'm planning on transforming my kitchen hutch as soon as the twins hit 3 years!

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  17. EvaSeptember 30, 2009 at 6:37 PM

    wow what an amazing idea! I love how you transformed an old favourite into a new one!

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  18. Mama JaneSeptember 30, 2009 at 7:05 PM

    You're not giving him real money are you?

    Make some coins out of cardstock and laminate it. Have him give you your money back as change.

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  19. Amanda@Imperfectly BeautifulSeptember 30, 2009 at 9:39 PM

    What a cutie patootie! I love it when they say those kind of things. My 3 year old cracks us up constantly with the stuff she comes up with.

    I want to live in that snack shop. It's got to be THE most adorable thing on the planet!!

    ~Amanda

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  20. amberSeptember 30, 2009 at 9:58 PM

    I would have been ecstatic for that as a child! What am I saying? I would love that now! Very cool!
    ~Amber B

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  21. Kate Riley September 30, 2009 at 11:32 PM

    That is awesome. He is such a delight. Aren't little boys the best?

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  22. AmberOctober 1, 2009 at 1:28 AM

    So cute! I LOVE that he said you can work in his shop and earn back your money. Ha! What a great idea to make dough "food" during your craps time. ;)

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  23. RobinOctober 1, 2009 at 3:29 AM

    So cute and fun!
    -Robin
    www.robingillis.blogspot.com

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  24. kiwimegOctober 1, 2009 at 4:10 AM

    Cool idea - Isaac sounds like quite the entrepreneur! I hope he pays well :)

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  25. WidgeOctober 1, 2009 at 5:43 AM

    wow!!! What a fab idea!! You have given me some inspiration to try that with my kids. i used to make fake bread buns out of dough for my mum years ago and she kept them in a basket on display on her table for years :) lovely blog

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  26. Tania @ Larger Family LifeOctober 1, 2009 at 5:44 AM

    I love it! Bless him, he is right though. If you want money, you have to work, right?!

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  27. AnonymousOctober 1, 2009 at 7:40 AM

    I am visiting from SITS. Enjoy! I am on the train going to work so I am looking at all of this on my blackberry. I haven't even seen your favorites and this one is mine. Can I come over for craps time? I love it! Bravo!

    Cristina

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  28. Raising Z and Lil COctober 1, 2009 at 7:51 AM

    That is adorable! We have a bunch of the Melissa and Doug food too...Z loves it and it holds up really well. I usually find it at discount stores and such :)

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  29. Anne - Mommy Has to WorkOctober 1, 2009 at 8:19 AM

    I love it!

    Visiting from SITS

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  30. The Joynes GirlsOctober 1, 2009 at 8:28 AM

    That is amazing! I love it! Is he open on weekends and holidays too?

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  31. girl meets carpenterOctober 1, 2009 at 8:37 AM

    Great idea!! I would love to make one of those... so many uses!

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  32. Create in me a clean heart O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10October 1, 2009 at 8:43 AM

    LOL....I love how the veggies are more expensive than the cookies. Hehehe!

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  33. KeriOctober 1, 2009 at 8:56 AM

    OMGoodness, how cool is that? I think you're a genius! I'll take one of each to go. LOL Sweet and clever!

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  34. Betty ManousosOctober 1, 2009 at 9:15 AM

    How fun and cute.Love that is being creative, too.
    xxx

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  35. Amber@alittlemorecrazythancoolOctober 1, 2009 at 9:27 AM

    This is too cute!!!! Very creative!

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  36. Whatever Dee-Dee wantsOctober 1, 2009 at 9:56 AM

    That is too cute!

    Happy sits day!

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  37. Karen & Gerard ZemekOctober 1, 2009 at 10:04 AM

    What a great way to keep your little guy occupied--these food crafts are fantastic! I can picture him enjoying making them.

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  38. EmmyOctober 1, 2009 at 10:16 AM

    So cute!! Congrats on being featured on SITS today!

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  39. ErinOctober 1, 2009 at 10:30 AM

    OMG so freakin cute! You are my crafting hero!

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  40. Tam and JohnOctober 1, 2009 at 11:18 AM

    This rocks! My poor kid never has anything homemade, but I saved a lot of money on toys when he was little because he thought Tupperware was more fun than anything else on earth!

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  41. Savvy Sassy MomsOctober 1, 2009 at 11:42 AM

    I love this! You are so talented, I will be visiting here often to get ideas for my little ones! Awesome Blog! Visiting from SITS

    Andrea
    http://savvysassymoms.com

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  42. MichelleOctober 1, 2009 at 2:10 PM

    Seriously cute!

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  43. MeganOctober 1, 2009 at 2:31 PM

    I love the idea of making your own fake food - I'm in awe of your creativity.

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  44. UnknownOctober 1, 2009 at 4:04 PM

    I am stopping by from SITS (I'm a SITS newbie) and I have to say this is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I'm so not the crafty type and am battling some severe jealousy right about now! That snack shop/puppet theater (complete with Melissa & Doug + homemade snacks) is AMAZING! You go, girl! I'm a new follower now!

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  45. I Wonder WyeOctober 1, 2009 at 6:37 PM

    Great idea - darling boy. He has a fun momma. Stopping by from SITS, congrats!

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  46. UnknownOctober 1, 2009 at 8:15 PM

    So cute!

    Happy SITS day!

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  47. HannahOctober 1, 2009 at 8:19 PM

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog and Issac is lucky to have such a creative Mom.

    www.FunnyPhotosContest.com Submit CUTE or FUNNY photos and tell friends to vote for them. No entry fee.

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  48. Lisa in OzOctober 2, 2009 at 5:01 AM

    You are INSANELY creative and talented! I love it!

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  49. PregosaurOctober 2, 2009 at 5:19 AM

    I love your projects! I'm definitely subscribing to your blog - you have such great ideas!

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  50. GreedyGirlOctober 2, 2009 at 7:46 AM

    Hi www.greedygirlsguide.com stopping by from SITS

    Very cute idea, I love the like fake food and he looks like he's loving it too

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  51. Another day in Jessy's life..October 2, 2009 at 8:21 AM

    How adorable!!He is so cute!

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  52. Joy BeadworksOctober 2, 2009 at 8:36 AM

    You should do a whole post about how you make/mold the pretend food! That's adorable.

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  53. Chocolate LoverOctober 4, 2009 at 1:51 AM

    Thats hilarious! He's a smart one isn't he! You'll need to watch out when he's older :)

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  54. JaneOctober 4, 2009 at 6:36 PM

    So fun! I see all that beautiful felt food and think- there is no way I have the patience to hand sew that. But salt clay, I could do that and it would be fun.

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