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1. Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy– This fun little toy is sure to get any baby bee-bopping in no time!

2. V-Tech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker– Anyone who knows babies knows they love to push things around! I’m pretty sure it’s one of their favorite pastimes. This little walker will be a hit with any baby learning to walk and push!

3. ITYYT Giraffe Baby Teether– How cute is this teether?! Not only does it relieve some teething pain by letting Baby chew on it, but it makes an awesome toy to play with!

4. Skip Hop Bandana Buddies Activity Fox– Your baby will never get bored with this fun activity fox! So much to explore on one little toy!

5. Gund Baby Animated Flappy the Elephant Plush Toy– Flappy is the perfect companion for any baby. Flappy sings and plays peek-a-boo with those cute ears!

6. Hape Wooden Toy Vehicles– My now 2-year old has always been obsessed with wheels and anything that goes. If you have a baby with similar interests, these wooden vehicles are the perfect toy!

7. Nat and Jules Giraffe Rattle Blankie– This cute giraffe is great for Baby to snuggle with during quiet moments.

8. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Activity Play House– For the busy baby, this house will keep him or her engaged and happy!

9. Manhattan Toy Wimmer-Ferguson Nursery Novel Soft Cloth Book– This book is great for encouraging exploration and can even double as a tummy-time mat!

10 Best Choice Products Musical Educational Rocking Horse – What kid doesn’t dream of having a pony? Well, a baby might be a little to young for that just now, but they will still love playing with this toy version of one!

11. Bearington Baby Lil’ Sprout Ring Rattle– Soft and easy to hold onto, your baby is sure to love this elephant!

12. Scholastic for baby, Baby’s First Teether, Panda– This teether is made out of natural rubber, perfect for a teething baby! Plus, it’s a panda. Who doesn’t love pandas?

13. Dazzling Toys Toddler Alphabets and Numbers Building Joy Cups– These cups are a great way to teach letters and numbers!

14. Vidatoy Stacking Puzzle Plastic Building Block Stacker toy Eggs– A simple and easy puzzle to engage your baby.

15. Haba Sakrada– I cannot get over the fairy-tale-like quality of this block set. Isn’t it beautiful? It is sure to build the imagination of your baby and give him or her plenty to explore.

16. Friction Powered Cars Educational Toys for Toddlers Push and Go Car Set– Wheels + Bright colors = Awesome toy . These little cars will keep Baby playing for hours (or at least longer than 3 minutes!)! 

17. Nuby Octopus Hoopla Bathtime Fun Toys– If you’re looking to jazz up bath time, try this cute octopus!

18. Manhattan Toy Winkel Rattle and Sensory Teether Activity Toy– This thing confounds me. Which means, it is going to be a great exploration toy for babies who are teething!

19. Personalized Little Princess Doll– I think this is such a beautiful gift that Baby will cherish long past babyhood. It also comes in different hair colors.

20. Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Rock-a-Stack– This is a classic that I’m sure we all know is great for babies!

21. Melissa & Doug Deluxe Pounding Bench– This is such a fun toy! My little one is obsessed with hammering those little fellas in. When one goes down, another pops up! It’s an endless game of fun!

22. Fisher-Price Go Baby Go Poppity-Pop Musical Dino– I want to get this one just to watch my baby chase those little balls across the floor. It sounds entertaining for both Baby and me!

The post No-Fail Best Baby Toys appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

Hello! I’m Katie from Clarks Condensed, and I’m so thrilled to be a contributor for Made from Pinterest! This is my first of (hopefully) many posts, so let’s get to know each other.

If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love being a mom. Love it. When I was in elementary school, I was always the girl who would say she wanted to be a mom when she grew up – and I’m lucky enough to have had that come true! I have the world’s cutest little boys (and of course I’m not biased, their grandma thinks so too), and they are the center of my world.

Something else you should know about me is that as much as I love watching my babies grow, I really like the baby stage. There’s nothing better than snuggling a new baby.

Unfortunately for me, babies don’t stay babies. No matter how many people told me that kids grow faster than you can imagine, I never realized it until I experienced it myself.

So even though I can’t convince my boys to stay small, (especially my four-year-old, he is convinced he needs to learn how to drive, get a job, and go to college) I love looking back on memories of when they were tiny. On Pinterest, I’ve seen baby shadow boxes floating around, and I loved the idea. Basically, you gather some of your most “prized” items related to your child’s time as an infant and preserve them in a shadow box.

I saw some 11×14 Shadowboxes on sale on Michael’s awhile back for buy one get one free (each package had two). I figured it was the perfect time to buy them – because shadowboxes are expensive! I gathered somethings from each of my boys to put into the boxes, such as their coming home from the hospital outfits (so teeny tiny).

I also included the  little cards that were on their bassinets in the hospital. . . .

I had some newborn diapers, my oldest son’s beloved monkey Wubbanub, and their birth announcements that I put in.

I think they turned out really cute. My oldest son, Jack, thought it was so fun and could hardly believe he was so small once! This is the perfect way to try and capture a small moment in your child’s life that goes by too quickly.

So here’s how you make it!

Materials:

11×14″ shadow box
Glue dots
Tacky glue
Scrapbook paper
Various items from baby’s life – outfit they came home from the hospital in, hospital bracelet, hat, birth announcement, etc.

Instructions:

1. Take apart the shadowbox.

2. Adhere your scrapbook paper to the backing of the shadowbox. I couldn’t find 11×14 sized scrapbook paper, so mine was a little bit short. However, I had a few things to cover it at the bottom, so it didn’t matter as much. You can use wrapping paper if you have trouble finding paper that fits/you like.

3. Arrange your items on the backing.

4. Attach the items using tacky glue or glue dots. I found that using the tacky glue was best for the paper items, such as the baby announcement.

5. I used the glue dots to attached the hat, the letters, the baby outfits, and the diapers. I actually just put the dots directly on the paper and pressed the item into it. It worked really well! I ended up just putting the Wubbanub into the shirt with no adhesion, and it’s stayed in place.

6. Place the glass and frame back over and hang wherever you want.

I hope you’ll enjoy this project as much as I did. It sure made me miss my newborn babies, though! Be sure to hop on over to Clarks Condensed for more fun projects, easy recipes, pregnancy and parenting advice, and really, a little bit of everything. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. I’d love to get to know you better – be sure to tag me if you end up making this project.

In case you aren’t convince that you want to be friends, here are a few more posts to hopefully convince you.

DIY Toy or Lego Bag and Playmat

Easy Meat Lasagna Recipe

Helping Your Child Sleep Better

The post DIY Baby Shadow Box appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.