A stick by number.

I LOVE to make gifts for others.  75% of what I make be it, food or crafty things turn out to be gifts.  One time when I lived in Hungary I made all those supporting my work magnets out of a chocolate wrapper, some cardstock and a nice pen.

I needed two containers for each boy because I'm going to be gone for 24 days.

Now as a  mother I find I don't have quite as much time on my hands to be creative, but I know if I spend a few minutes on pinterest then before you know it I've morphed my own creation into being.  That's where I got the beginnings of this idea. I had seen a mother use pill boxes as a way to leave her kids with a little something special each day while she was away from them.  I began there, finding pill boxes at Target for only a dollar.



 

First I numbered each day starting with 17 as that's the first day of the month I'll be away from them, and I labeled each box with there names.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much space each of those little squares actually had in them. 

Here's a list of what I randomly put in:
Skittles
$.25 toys (My boys love these)
Coins
A letter sticker (more on that in a minute)
Grow capsules (Those pill sized capsules that dissolve in water turning into sponge critters.)

Next I bought a small tri-fold display board and then waited for a night when Strong man was out. 
When that night came I put the boys to bed, cooked myself a Tony's pizza and went to work thinking up some message I wanted to tell the boys.

The goal was to make a stick by number board.  Each day as they peer into the pill box and find there letter sticker they will have to find the number on the board where it belongs.  By the last day they will have discovered my message.  Using scraps of paper and sticker letters I had left over from past projects I was able to come up with this. ~ Mommy loves Silas and Isaac almost as much as Jesus Loves you!!! ~ All for the grand total of 5 bucks and a relaxing night. Plus the satisfaction that my two hoolies will know everyday I'm away that I am thinking of them.

 

 

If we weren't in the process of moving I would have tons of great ideas to leave little "loves" for my Strong man.  I guess this time emailing and skyping will have to be enough.