One Fish Two Fish Bathroom, Dresser and Activities

To celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday this week, I’m sharing my One Fish Two Fish bathroom project I recently completed.
This all started with a One Fish Two Fish dresser I saw online 11 years ago when I was decorating my daughter’s baby room Dr. Seuss style. I knew I wanted to create one someday. Then I started collecting more One Fish Two Fish items and decided to decorate the kids’ bathroom with all of it.

This is a half bathroom with just a sink and toilet for our kids. The last owners did not put a shower in, but left the area as a closet. I keep linens and holiday décor in the dresser. At some point we will put a shower in here and the dresser will go to one of our kids’ rooms.

Decorating Tip: Search eBay for unique Dr. Seuss items

I got the Cat in the Hat in the tub toy (ERTL brand), the soap dispenser and fish bookends and book/bank all from eBay over the years. Check there for fun vintage items to add to your room. Search eBay for “One Fish Seuss”. I also search for sUess because many sellers spell his name wrong.

I added the words “1 Flush” and the fish image on the toilet using vinyl (see more about vinyl below).

I got the fish die cut images from Amazon.

*I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small portion of sales made from Amazon links. Click the fish below to see details.

We used blue painters tape to apply the fish to the wall. The kids like to move the fish around.  I made the white and orange jumping fish using vinyl.

I got the yellow frame from Cut it Out. It was unfinished so I painted it bright yellow to add some color. I added polka-dot scrapbook paper then taped on a yellow fish. 

TIP: Frame Calendar Art

The black poster frame holds a Dr. Seuss picture from a calendar I purchased a few years ago. 

Before and after photos of the bathroom. The vanity used to be a dark 80’s brown. I’d still like to remove the medicine cabinet mirror but it is very functional for now.  The three circle mirrors came from IKEA several years ago.  Here is a 22 inch mirror they have now.

I’ve been wanting to create this for years. My sister-in-law told me she just painted her bathroom turquoise and she hated it. It was too overwhelming for her to have the whole room painted.  I asked if I could see the paint and it was perfect for my project so I borrowed it from her. The turquoise paint color is called Acapulco Cliffs by Sherwin Williams.  The kids helped me finish this project while dad was out of town on a business trip for 3 days.  We surprised him.
How I Did It
I hand drew the waves on the wall with a pencil. Then I painted right under that line with a small brush. My kids helped roll the paint onto the larger section.  I used a black sharpie permanent marker to trace the top of the waves and added some accent lines in the water and some splashes above the water.

One Fish Two Fish Dresser



I bought this dresser from our local classified for $20 a few years ago.  I got new knobs for $5.00 total at a yard sale. Notice how I used the knobs to dot the letter i.

I won the yellow spray paint from Krylon (paint name: Sun Yellow) when I created these Lego Jars.  The color was perfect to match the cover of Dr. Seuss’ One Fish Two Fish book.
Using Printable Vinyl
The thing that I waited the longest to complete was creating the vinyl words and fish images. I finally learned how to get printable vinyl, print the fish on it, then used my Silhouette cutter to do the intricate cutting around the edges.  There are some You Tube videos that explain how to do this. I found my fish images online. I imported them into my Silhouette computer program. Then I printed them onto the printable vinyl sheet with registration marks using my ink jet printer. Next, I traced the shape (this part was tricky) to create cutting lines around the fish in the program. Then I ran the vinyl through the Silhouette cutting machine and it cut the fish out.
This is the Waterproof Vinyl I purchased from Amazon. Silhouette, Cricut and Vinyl Expressions also offer printable vinyl. Click the photo >>>>

I had contemplated hand painting the fish on, but I love how crisp the vinyl looks. And as I applied it, I could peal it up and move it around if I needed to.  I can pull all of it off easily if I ever want it to be a plain yellow dresser again.
Dr. Seuss Fonts
I used plain black and red vinyl to create the words using this free Doctor Soos Font.  This link has a few more Dr. Seuss fonts if you need them for other projects.

I hope you liked our Dr. Seuss One Fish Two Fish bathroom and dresser.
Click here to find the Free printable fish matching game I created.

Try this Free Printable Fish game to work on numbers with your younger children. There are versions with addition and subtraction inside the bowls too.

We also love the One Fish Two Fish search game from Wonder Forge.

See game on Amazon here >>>> Click photo below

 

 I’d love to see your One Fish Two Fish projects. Share your link in the comment below.

Lego Duplo House Party Ideas

This past weekend we hosted a Lego Duplo party. I’m sharing a few party ideas for those planning to host a Lego party.


Most people know who the Lego company is. Half of our entire play room is devoted to Legos. We were lucky to be chosen to try out the new Lego Duplo sets with Disney Planes and Jake and the Neverland Pirates themes.

We received a generous free party pack from House Party including: Lego Duplos (six sets), sticker sheets, crown hats and a Planes movie poster for each guest and a Jake movie DVD and napkins and plates. This was an amazing party pack.

*As an Amazon Affiliate I do receive a small portion of sales made through clicking the links on this post. Thank you!

WHAT IS HOUSE PARTY?
Anyone can sign up on the House Party website as a potential host.  They will send you emails of upcoming party opportunities. If you are interested in hosting a party (make sure you read all their requirements – like the party date, required number of guests, requirement to post a group photo from the party and share your party pack with your guests). 
If you apply for a party you will be notified if you are selected, then you have 30 minutes from the time you click on their website to send out 10+ invitations by email to your guests. This was the trickiest part – tracking down 10 emails for my son’s preschool friends, then managing the guest list and filling any empty spots. You also need to provide your own food for your guests.
This party pack was so great, it was definitely worth all the effort of hosting a House Party.  (I also hosted an American Girl Crafts party through House Party this past summer and it was worth it too.)
LEGO DECORATING
Setting up for the party we wanted some fun visuals so I pulled out the large Lego Head storage jars I made last year. I painted Red Vine containers to make them. See how here.

DRAWSTRING LEGO BAGS
I love how the kids can keep the bags and reuse them for other Legos or toys at home.

• I found bright yellow fabric at Wal-mart for less than $3 per yard. I bought one and a half yards and it made 12 bags. I cut them to be about 12 inches tall by 10 inches wide. 
• I turned them inside out and sewed straight lines down the side, bottom and other side. I curved the bottom corners while sewing.
• Then I turned it inside out and sewed the top edge under leaving 1/2 inch casing to pull ribbon through.
• I cut one small slit in the casing on the folded edged. Then I ran 2 strips of ribbon all the way through the casing (clipping a saftey pin to the end of the ribbon), one started and ended on the left slit, the other ribbon started and ended at the right slit. I tied the string ends together.

 See these drawstring bag instructions for a better idea. I should have taken step by step photos but I knew there would already be a tutorial online.  I don’t iron, do clean hems or measure as I go. These were simple bags for a beginner sewer.

Then I free-hand drew the shapes for the face.

TIP: Put a piece of card stock inside the bag so the marker & paint don’t bleed through.

I found a round pencil sharpener that was the perfect size for the eyes so I started with those circles. Then I drew in the smaller eye circle, the eyebrows and lips. I filled it all in with a black Sharpie permanent marker. Then I used white craft paint and filled in the smaller eye circle. I only painted white on one bag. It took a while to do and I didn’t have the time. I think the rest of the bags look fine just leaving the eyes empty. The kids loved their bags.

I bought 2 boxes of the Lego Duplo Animals and split up the pieces into the favor bags. (It seemed too difficult to split up the big Duplo sets so I thought it was worth $20 to get two boxes to split up as favors.) I also found Jake and the Neverland Pirate fruit snacks at our local grocery store so I put a snack in each bag to take home.

LEGO CHOCOLATE CANDY

How to make Lego Candy:

1. Use white Almond Bark (found on the baking isle at your grocery store)
2. Melt one and a half blocks in the microwave in a glass measuring cup  for about 1 and a half minutes. Watch and stir with a plastic spoon. You don’t want this to burn, it will get hard.
3. Stir in 6 drops food coloring. Liquid will make the mix harden. Use coloring paste if you have it. If not, I added about 1 tsp. of Crisco and melt it all in the microwave another 15 seconds to soften it again.
4. Now, spoon into mold. Scrape off extra to leave it level. If your chocolate is too thick it will leave more bubbles.
5. I stick mine in the freezer for 10 minutes to harden then take them out and pop out the mini figures.

I found the fun Lego mini figure candy mold at the Lego Store that opened in Salt Lake City a few months ago.   I found out you can get the Lego molds online at Amazon.


This is a mini red wagon but I filled it with Lego candies.

I bought yellow cups at my local grocer and used a sharpie to draw their faces. We ended up using juice boxes for the kids but I spread these out as decorations. You can get 24 cups for $5.15 on Amazon (+free shipping).

I also ordered yellow construction hats for the party. Only $6.00 for a dozen on Amazon.

I created and printed out Lego Builder labels and taped them on.

About half the kids wanted to wear them and half didn’t. They looked pretty cute building Legos.

Here are previous ideas I’ve posted. Click on the photo or links for more details:
Lego Builder FREE printable hat label.
Lego Baby Food Jar Party Favor or Toy Display
Lego Storage Head out of a Red Vine or Cheese Ball container

LEGO GAMES

The kids loved playing with the new sets of Legos. It was hard pulling them away to have some snacks. I pulled out our large bin of Duplos we’ve collected over the past eight years and dumped them on the floor. I asked the kids to sort them into colors then, as teams of 2 or 3 they worked together to build the tallest tower.  I was going to have them play Button Button with a Lego, but we ran out of time.
So Many Ways to Play
The kids used their creativity and built some amazing lego structures. One kid got frustrated with the Planes set because he thought he needed to make it look like the picture on the box. Once I realized that, we reminded all the kids they can build whatever they want and then everyone was happy.

Disclosure: Thanks again to Lego Duplo and House Party for providing the free party pack to host this party.

PBS "Cat in the Hat" Show Starts Sept. 6

Our family is so excited about the new show on PBS Kids, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! I found out about the show this summer at the EVO'10 Social Media Conference and have been eagerly anticipating its start next Monday (check your local listings for times). This new series is inspired by the books and illustrations by Dr. Seuss but is based on the Beginner Book collection of Science themed books using the Cat in the Hat as the main character.  The show uses Dr. Seuss' style of rhyming to help kids learn about science.  There are episodes like "Is a Camel a Mammal?," "There's No Place Like Space," and "There's a Map on my Lap!" 

My kids have seen the commercials and can't wait for it to start so we got on the PBS website, my favorite website to let my kids learn while playing games. They already have videos, games, printables and parent/teacher tips for the Cat in the Hat episodes.

 (*A side note I learned from Mommy Niri "PBS is the most trusted institution in America followed by “courts of law” [Brigid Sullivan, SVP Interactive and Children’s Media, WGBH Boston].)

My 4 year old, "Conrad" loved the hidden object game "Now you see me, now you don't" and mouse clickable game "Thing 1 and Thing 2's Weather Transformer". He could easily navigate these games without my help.  The Migration Adventure was another game that was a little slow paced. He had a hard time clicking on the rest stops and struggled to make it to the end. Older kids may have more patience for it.  We printed out the color by number worksheet and he did great.

I was surprised to hear my 6-year-old daughter say "I have a hypothesis" during our car trip to Yellowstone this summer.  She kept telling us her hypothesis for how waterfalls were made to how Old Faithfull worked.  Her mind was thinking. She told me she learned the word 'hypothesis' from the PBS show Dinosaur Train. She loves to measure things by the length of her arm using "Non-standard measurement" that she learned from Sid the Science Kid.  I'm surprised by what I learn from these shows too while watching with them and I can't wait to learn more from The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot About That!

1 Fish 2 Fish Interactive Printable Placemat

If you found this activity on Pinterest, welcome! 

I'm a little obSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss. I love to share projects inspired by his books and other children's book activities. 

Print it on turquoise or blue paper to look like water.

I created these One Fish Two Fish printable snack mats for my son's preschool.  I printed one for each child and placed it in a clear plastic sheet protector so they can reuse it. The kids loved using  Goldfish crackers as counting pieces and once they were finished they ate them all up. Now you can pull out this place mat anytime your preschool children are ready for a game of 1 Fish 2 Fish. 

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Optional way to play: Roll a die to see how many fish to add to your fishbowl. Continue taking turns rolling the die until each bowl is full of fish.

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Read the Dr. Seuss book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, with your child and have them pay attention to the rhyming words.  Read the first part of the sentence and leave off the last rhyming word to see if they can fill in the missing word. 

Rhyming is a great pre-reading skill.

A great pre-school snack activity. We use these for snack time at home and now I've printed off a stack and sent them with a bag of goldfish crackers to school for snack time.

* FREE PRINTABLES for non-commercial use only. Thanks!
The PDF is below.  Click the arrow in the top right corner.
If you have problems pulling up the pdf, please email me (obseussed(at)live(dot)com).

I also made this one with some basic math for ages K-2 grades. There is also a page of blank fish bowls and one with color words to use with rainbow colored fish crackers.

If you're looking for some additional fun ways to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, check out 20 of my favorite obSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss activities, crafts, snacks and party ideas here.

Plus I’ve collected more than 1,500 Dr. Seuss ideas on several Pinterest boards.  Follow these boards for Dr. Seuss parties, classrooms, crafts, Grinchmas, activities and more.


Shared this project at:

Hooking up with House of Hepworth, 

Thursday Pony Tails and Fish Scales

Tatertos and Jello Weekend Wrapup Party

Somewhat Simple's, Strut Yourself Thursday

Red Ted Art’s Blog, Kid’s Get Crafty Hookin’ Up with House of Hepworth’s, Thursdays

Polly Want A Crafter, Monday Craft Linky Too Cute Tuesday