Off the Topic: Pinterest Savvy Book Review

A new book by Melissa from Imagination Soup came out this week! Pinterest Savvy: How I Got 1 Million+ Followers goes through the process of signing up for Pinterest, creating a profile, what to pin and how to pin it, tips for making your profile appealing, and ideas for using Pinterest as a free marketing tool for your business.

Much of the information in this book is very basic and can be gleaned elsewhere. She even says this in the beginning of her book. She has compiled everything you need to know into one great resource book.

The book is fairly short. I was reading the Kindle version and whipped through it quickly in one evening. I have been on Pinterest for over a year now so I feel like I knew quite a bit of the information already. But I think even if you are an addicted Pinterest user like me, you can still pick up some productive tips and advice. Some of my favorites....

1) Make sure you fill out your profile COMPLETELY. I had simply put my name at the top of my profile. I hadn't linked to my blog directly in my profile description or said anything about it. (DUH!--I should have done this before!) The only issue I had is getting my website verified, but that is just because I'm not tech savvy when it comes to the webmaster level of having a website.

2) The second thing that really stood out to me is making sure to click through to the people who repin your pins. Find great pinners and repin their material. And make comments/likes on other people's pins to hopefully interest them enough to come to your page and start following you too! I definitely could do more of this.

3) Make your photos attractive. This I already do. As a part-time photographer I try to only post my own photos that I feel are interesting or grab people's attention. I think this is a great tip for beginner Pinterest users.

4) Organize your boards in an attractive manner. I have my boards arranged with the art boards first, any kid-related boards second and all my random (just for me) boards are at the bottom. I also choose a cover photo for each board that is eye-catching and appealing.

Those are just a few of the great tips and ideas she offers. If you're a beginner when it comes to Pinterest or just interested in using the website to its fullest potential Melissa's book is definitely worth checking out! Click HERE to read more about her book!

And if you don't already follow me on Pinterest. CLICK ON OVER AND FOLLOW ALL MY PINS HERE! ;-)

(Source disclosure: I received a copy of this e-book through a free 24 hour promotion the day the book came out. I receive no compensation for writing this review.)

Sensory Activity: Valentine Sensory Bin

I was first introduced to the idea of sensory bins last year around this time. The very first one I ever put together was a Valentine themed one. Here's a photo of last year's bin:

This year, I just did a variation of the same bin. I added more Epsom salt and a cardboard tube to pour into or drop hearts/gems in. Kellan has taken to bringing his cars and trains to the bin and running them through the salt as well.

The cloud dough last month was a big hit for my 9 year old, but I think a little TOO MUCH sensory experience for Kellan. He played with it a bit, but did not come back to it over and over again. So I wanted to make sure to use a filler this month that I knew he would like. He has come back to this bin every day for the last week. 

So cute, Kellan started looking through the cardboard tube like a telescope. Looking at the various pieces in the bin (that's my hand in the photo though). ;-)

 And then at me! Peek a boo!

LOVE just watching him play and how his mind works. Yep, pick up that translucent heart and look at the world in red!

 Happy Valentine's to everyone!!

Craft Project: DIY Valentines

We had some time to do a project yesterday morning. I figured it would be nice to get the girls' valentines out of the way. Pinterest is AWESOME for DIY valentines! There are so many options and with FREE printables. Makes making your own valentines soooo easy!

I pinned several options for the girls to pick from. And thankfully they each picked a super simple one. Ella picked this arrow valentine from Sweet Muffin Suite (free printable in the link). Lily picked this super cute bubble valentine from Simply Modern Mom (free printable in the link).

Lily picked this super cute bubble valentine from Simply Modern Mom (free printable in the link).

I used a large needle to poke holes and thread the string through to tie around the bubbles. I had bought pencils at the Dollar store (12 for $1!!) before the girls decided on their valentines. So Lily just taped them to the back of hers.

And there they are! All done 13 days ahead of schedule!

And just for fun, here's a link to our photo valentines from last year. :-) Happy creating!!

Toddler/Preschool Activity: Mr. Playdoh Head

My son and I had fun with the Mr. Potato Head craft I put together for him. So when I came across this post from Four Little Piglets, I knew we had to try it!

Here's the invitation to create:

I made an example to show him:

He seemed to really enjoy this activity. I think we'll definitely be doing it again. We used DIY Koolaid playdoh made out of orange Koolaid. It smells really great!

 The Aftermath:

Sensory Activity: Playing with DIY Flubber

My son LOVED the slime we made together so I thought it would be fun to try something else similar. I had pinned this post from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds. The flubber post shows a lot of great ways to play with flubber, including coloring it with markers! I love that creativity and color can mixed in with sensory play. This is a very well-rounded activity as you can also practice cooking skills by letting your child help you mix up the flubber.

What you need to make Flubber (goop, gak, etc):
--Borax
--Water
--Elmer's Glue

Mix 2 cups Elmer's white glue with 1 1/2 cups cold water in a bowl. In a measuring cup, mix 1 1/2 cups cold water with 3 teaspoons Borax. Mix two solutions together until your flubber(goop) is mixed well. Store in an air tight container.

My son really enjoyed playing with this. The gems and plastic circles easily came out of the flubber when he was done playing with it.

This stored really well. We didn't play with it again for several weeks. My kids had Martin Luther King Day off of school. We got to the point in the morning where we needed to turn the tv off and do some sort of activity. My oldest daughter asked me if I had any fun sensory stuff for her to do. I thought of the flubber and brought it out along with the markers. My son joined in right away.

Even my middle daughter who usually doesn't join in on our sensory play for very long (she doesn't "need" it as much as the other two) had a great time with this activity. They really liked using the markers with it.

 

 Ella decided to try blowing into the flubber with a straw. It took a bit of experimenting to get it to work. She found she had to really wrap the flubber around the straw so no air could escape.

 Here it is at the end all mixed back together.

Honestly, this activity has a TON of applications. All sensory, part cooking, part science experiment, part art/creative project. LOVE IT!