Tot Tin

Ta da! This is the tot tin (at least that's what I've decided to call it) that I finished this morning just in time to ship to my college roommate's two-year-old son.  Her son, like the Moose, just turned two.

It all began a few weeks ago when I discovered the Tot School blog and Totally Tots (and others linked up).  I loved the idea of dot pages and realized that if I laminated them, the boys could play with puff ball magnets with them and color with them.  While pondering a cute way to present all the pieces, it dawned on me that if I put everything together in a tin, it would also provide a built-in surface for play and make it a grab-and-go learning toy!

I started with these alphabet dot pages from Homeschool Creations and laminated at Lakeshore Learning:

I scored the puff balls at the dollar store and the magnets at Michaels.  I used good ole' Elmer's Glue, although it appears that most moms use a glue gun.  I decided to work on a cookie sheet to keep the magnets from sliding around when I was pressing on them to stick the puff ball; I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper to catch any splatter.

I made 11 of each color and they barely fit in this little round tin I found at Jo-Ann:

Thanks to a crafty friend, I decided to Mod Podge for the first time ever to personalize the the lid of the tin with some scrapbooking stickers without running the risk of toddler fingers peeling the stickers up (rectangular tin also from Jo-Ann):

After all the pieces were dry this morning, I wanted to give them a test run on the inside of the lid.  The Moose helped (which is why the green puff balls are piled up in this picture):

(Mommy Moose straightened them out for a more picture-perfect finish):

I'm making one for the Moose, too.  I plan to restock the tin weekly with the letter of the week, and other items for the theme/color/shape of the week as appropriate.  Stay tuned!