Flannel Friday: Fun Finds Galore!

It's Friday and I am off work! Whoo hoo!

Since I have the day off, I am not sure how detailed this post will be. It might be short and sweet because my guys want to go somewhere ~ or it might be a little longer and more detailed because they decided to hang out at home. We'll see as we go along. ;-)

A while back, a Flannel Friday-er, Cate at Storytiming.com came up with the idea of doing a Post-Easter-Sale Story Prop Extravaganza where we share any storytime ideas for props or flannels that are inspired by things we found on sale after Easter. (At least, that is the way I understood it. LOL!)

Since one of my favorite things to do is to shop AFTER a holiday, I was definitely looking forward to the challenge for this week's Flannel Friday post. I LOVE those after-holiday sales where you can find 50% discounts ~ 70% discounts ~ 80% discounts ~ Heck! sometimes even 90% discounts! In fact, I LOVE those huge discounts so much that I usually am inspired to think more creatively than usual. 

During one of my heightened creativity levels ;-), I decided to add a regular feature to my blog. It is the Fun Finds feature. In these posts, I will share a cool, inexpensive item that I found on sale (or just at a good price) and I will show you how to create a craft, a learning game, or even a storytime prop with the item.


Check out my first Fun Finds post here. It features a learning game made with these cute cupcake candyholders that I found the day after Easter for only $2.25 a box ~ more than 50% off!

Aren't they adorable?

And now, I have soooo many other things to show you! I will quickly share a few cool things I've picked up since Easter. Some will be featured in upcoming Fun Finds posts because I have more than one idea for them. Others will just be mentioned here with a quick description of what I plan to use them for.

First, here is a picture of ALL my post-Easter finds ~ well, almost ALL of my post-Easter finds. I probably bought more and have them in a bag or two at the library. :-}

My discounts ranged from 50% to 80% off ~ no 90% ~ yet!  

All these finds were from WalMart, Target, and Michael's. Some were just found this morning so there are still some good post-Easter deals out there!

***By the way, if I don't share an item from the picture that you are curious about then just leave me a question in the comments. I'll share the information there because I have a feeling I am not going to get through all of the items in this post. LOL!

Let me start with a non-Eastery item. (You'll understand why I chose to share this item first when I share another item later.) The item is felt stickers! There are 10 frogs and 6 monkeys in the package. I bought a package of these about a month ago. At the time, I got 10% off so they cost me $1.79 for the package.

The price was not bad when you figure that you can get at least 2 to 3 sets of glove puppets or 2 to 3 sets of flannels out of the one package. I chose to make mine into glove puppets. (For those of you who don't know about glove puppets, I will share a little more about that in an upcoming Fun Finds post. I'll be back to link it here when it is shared.) 

In the meantime, here is a picture of the Monkey Glove Puppets:

While at Michael's today, I was able to pick up another package (on sale!) so that I can make a glove puppet set or two for a friend and for a future giveaway ~ with a different glove included!

The other day, I was also able to pick up a craft kit to make some different glove puppets. They will be little chick puppets for my Farm Storytimes in May. All I have to do is glue them together ~ minus the bunny ears ~ and add some velcro. So easy! And inexpensive! 

They were only .44 per package. Since I needed 5, I decided to buy two packages. But wait! Why not make a giveaway of Chick Glove Puppets, too? So... I bought another package. AND I still didn't spend the amount I would have spent on 1 package had I bought them before Easter. I love it!

Super cute chicks! I adore their little cheeks!

Be sure to check back for a more detailed post on how to make different kinds of Glove Puppets and for the fun giveaways, too!

My next two Fun Finds will be combined to make a craft for a future storytime so I won't get into too much detail right now. I will be back to post the Story Craft here when it is ready. I just have to say that it is going to a very fun craft to make and to play with!

These are both made from fun foam. The small package is foam stickers.

These two items were found at Michael's about a week after Easter on their 70% off clearance rack. The box is a Foam Activity Kit that makes two egg wreaths. However, that is not what I will be using it for. ;-) Each wreath is made from 14 eggs. That means I can make 28 of my Story Crafts because I only need one egg per craft! This box cost me about $2.00 so each egg was less than 8 cents. Talk about a cheap craft! Lol! 


The smaller package contains foam stickers. There are bunnies, chicks, and small glittery eggs. I bought several packages at about .75 a piece. I only need the chicks so I will have the bunnies and small eggs for another craft next Easter. Yay! Multiple uses!

***Quick note: If you have looked around my blog lately, you have most likely have seen my Frog ABC'S Blog Hop. 

I have gotten a wonderful response about this resource-building post so I have decided to add another one this weekend. It is an Egg and Chick ABC's Blog Hop! 
I will have it up and "hopping" tomorrow afternoon. It is now up and "hopping" ~ well, almost! It has a Blog Hop Button! But I still need to write the actual post. LOL! I'll be back to do that after my lunch. :-)

In the meantime, here's the button:

If you are a fellow librarian looking for storytime ideas like book suggestions or flannels or if you are a teacher, parent, caregiver, or homeschooler looking for learning activities or craft ideas about frogs or chicks and eggs, I hope you will take a minute to check out the Blog Hops. I think you will enjoy them!

And if you have a blog post about frogs or eggs and chicks, I hope you will consider linking up to the appropriate Blog Hop and sharing your ideas with everyone. It is very simple to link up but, if you have any questions, you can email me at storytimeabcs(at)gmail(dot)com


Okay, one more find:

These "eggs" are so fun! I have quite a few ideas for how to use them.

The last find I am going to share is a couple of sets of "Easter eggs" shaped like farm animals. I had never seen any of these before this year but I can't wait to share them with my storytime friends! The "eggs" are refillable and they are shaped like chicks, rabbits, cows, and pigs. Adorable!

I was able to purchase these at Target a few days after Easter for about $2.25 a set. 

These will also be featured in an upcoming Fun Finds post along with several ideas for how to use them with your child/ren. I am thinking a Library Search is in order for my own storytime friends at our Farm Storytime in May. :-) 

"What is a Library Search?" you might be asking yourself. Well, it is another topic for a future post here on my blog. :-} Sorry! I just never have the time or space to cover everything in one post! So many ideas!

I hope you enjoyed my Fun Finds for this Flannel Friday Post-Easter-Sale Extravaganza! I also hope it gave you the itch to search out your own Fun Finds. But watch out! It can be addicting! Ha! Ha!

Enjoy your Friday evening! And as always, 

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

For anyone interested in the awesome Flannel Friday group, here is this week's information:

Our host is at Cate at her Storytiming blog. A huge "Thanks!" to Cate for doing the round-up this week!

And guess what! I will be hosting Flannel Friday next week! It will be my very first time to host. I am extremely excited to get the opportunity! Please be sure to stop by next Friday. I'll need the support! LOL! 

Round up archives and host schedule is at So Tomorrow.

Visually scan all the Flannel Friday posts at Pinterest.

Talk about storytime and flannelboards at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.

Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the #flannelfriday hashtag. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to check this out.)

And, last but not least, if you’re a contributor, there is an awesome blog button from Melissa and you can grab it from the right hand menu at Mel’s Desk!