Turning $1 at Target Into a Crafty Jungle Adventure - I Love Being Cheap!

Whatever marketing genius at Target came up with the cutesy $1 bins at the front entrance gets a tip of the hat from me. ::Tips hat:: Well done, ma'am (or sir), you've made me irresponsible for my actions and cost me, I'm sure, hundreds, in trinkets, stickers, kids socks, and seasonal cake decorations.

A couple weeks ago Otto and I came across this irresistable "find" in the good ol' dollar bins (a re-creation courtesy of my memory, but you get the idea):

I think the unique selling point that none of the animals in the package were originally meant to be sold together - the giraffe is pygmy, the gazelle even teenier, there's a North American tomcat (not pictured above) and the tree is a completely different kind of plastic with a nice fluorescent flavor - had me at hello.

During craft time Otto was getting intense with the glue sticks. I acknowledge another marketing genius: the sir (or ma'am) who decided to make kids' glue sticks purple so the kids won't care if they do or don't glue a thing with them, use them like crayons, and go through 2 sticks per craft project. ::Tips hat::

Otto was on a pretty intense collage bender. Sidenote: He is so cute; I want to chew on his chubby feet!

I used the box my beloved Samsung Moment came in to create a diorama jungle carrying case for Ot's new motley crew of beasts.



It's not much, but it suits our cast just fine and is also the home of a neon scorpion and rubbery centipede from Chuck E Cheese. Otto's finally old enough to create little scenarios for the toys, which is my favorite thing in the world to spy on. The zebra keeps getting hit by a car and sent off for a nap!

Thanks for letting me share. Kind of a fun afternoon for a buck, right?

-Lindsey