Train PVC storage

So I was tired of the bucket of trains being dumped all over the floor so I found this great storage idea on Pinterest (of course!).
Link where I got the idea! (Scroll down to number 9)

Supplies:
3- 5ft tubes of PVC cut into 3" pieces. We used the 2 inch diameter. It gave us about 60 pieces. We used this size since the majority of the Take n' go Thomas trains are 1 to 1½ inches tall.
1 Tube of Plumbers PVC superglue.
2 Cans of spray paint. My little one picked green.
4 Caps and 4 screws for mounting.

They were pretty messy after we cut them so some sanding fixed them up.

I did a quick coat of paint before we glued them together just to make sure the middle pieces were completely covered. 

I glued them altogether with a super messy but nice and strong PVC plumbers super glue. I left some odd spaced gaps on purpose so that some of his trains that were bigger than the pipes could have a spot too. We glued on the caps and drilled holes for the screws. We made sure that at least 2 of the 4 screws went into studs just because it is fairly heavy and the metal dye cut trains make it even more so.  

It has been a great addition to our play area. He loves putting his trains away now, and can pick out which trains he wants easily without having to dump them all out. 

Buzz and Alien Pumpkins

We were very Toy Story themed this year for Halloween so I painted our pumpkins to go along with that. We like to paint our pumpkins down here since the weather is so hot if we cut them they tend to melt and mold very quickly. So the alien was pretty easy, I used lots of neon green. For both these pumpkins I used the little bottles of acrylic paint, makes for an inexpensive craft. The aliens' antenna was a pipe cleaner covered with green felt and some thread.

Buzz took several hours to do but he turned out pretty darn awesome. The black is a sparkly black which gave it a great outer space look to it.

And here is my tiny little buzz lightyear. Costume, themed bucket and matching pumpkins. We had another great Halloween. 

Deployment Box #8 - Happy Birthday

This is our last box for this deployment! My husband will of course be gone again for his this year so I put together a birthday box. It won't be the same as a party with cake and presents home with us, but hopefully some extra fun goodies will brighten his day. I had my son help do hand prints for a heart, and I did a happy birthday banner across the top. The tissue paper is green with sparkles, I was going to do wrapping paper but I found we were all out so I had to work with what we had in the wrapping bin. 

Included in this box was:

• Birthday cake M&Ms (Not pictured, and I've never tired them so hopefully they are yummy)
• Lays chips (I liked that these were a in plastic "pringles-like" container which hopefully will help them survive the journey)
• Capn' crunch snack mix (.99 store treasure, ha)
• Cashews
• Banana chips
• Jolly rancher green apple drink mix
• Gatorade energy chews
• Dried pineapple and papaya
• Redvines
• Protein powder (not pictured)
• Razors (not pictured)

Deployment Box #7 - Vitamin Me!

I thought I'd have some fun with this box. No neat designs, just lettering, but its a fun one that hopefully will get a smile out of my husband. Only one more box after this since it will take longer for boxes to get to him and he is almost home!

Included in this box:

• Dried fruit (again I know, but if you are eating MRE's any fruit is better than none)
• Oatmeal
• Peanut butter
• Tuna pouches
• Protein bars
• Razors
• Pistachios
• Funions (not pictured)
• Life Cereal (no pictured)

Deployment Box #6 - Goodnight and Goodmorning

Another fun deployment box. Since my husband is on the other side of the world we definitely have to deal with time differences and one of us being asleep while the other is awake. This one is just filled with normal goodies that he likes. 

Includes:

• Dried fruit
• Crunch munch
• Cookies
• Butterfinger bites
• Oatmeal
• Tuna (canned and salad kits)
• Razors

Deployment Box #5 - Viking

Viking Theme!

This box wasn't super detailed, but I'm sure my husband would say it was his favorite theme so far. He loves Norse mythology and so I did a Viking themed box. Also since I couldn't think of many treats (or any) that were Viking themed, the goodies I added were just a good selection of what I had on hand.

In this box I filled it with:

• Crunch 'n munch
• Redvines
• Jolly rancher flavored drink packets
• Cup of noodles
• Tuna salad kits
• Campbells soup pouch
• Yakisoba noodles

Deployment Box #4 - 4th of July

It is almost independence day so I put together this red, white, and blue themed box. Using my Silhouette I cut out lots of fireworks and stars. I also filled the box all red, white, and blue colored goodies. 

Included in this box is:

• Tuna salad kits and canned tuna
• Cookies
• Peanut butter
• Rice cups
• Flavored water drops
• Corn nuts
• Poptarts
• Oatmeal cups

All these items are not necessarily that red,white and blue, but their packaging worked. Hopefully he enjoys it as much as the others.