<![CDATA[MISS TEACHER DESIGNS - Design Adventures]]>Thu, 23 Oct 2025 10:35:50 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Wednesday's Weekly Wonders : Top 20 Must-Have Baby Products]]>Wed, 24 Jul 2024 07:48:56 GMThttps://www.missteacherdesigns.com/design-adventures/wednesdays-weekly-wonders-top-20-must-have-baby-productsWelcome to a new weekly segment I call Wednesday's Weekly Wonders in which I share with you all, a compilation list of my personal top recommended products in various categories. Why do you want my opinion, do you ask? ...because I am a real person, a mom of two young kids, an educated individual, and because, why not? 

This week's collection of awesomeness:
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My TOP 20 Must-Have Baby Products

This collection includes my favorite products to have on hand during that first year of life with a baby. It includes toys, breastfeeding/pumping supplies, sleep and relaxation spaces, and other care supplies. Are there more must-have items out there? Absolutely... but after having my first child and scrambling to get ALL THE THINGS, I realized with my son just how much a lot of it was unnecessary and these were all the best things I had for my daughter that I carried over and also used for my son. Let's dive in! 

If you just want to scan through the full list right inside Amazon, you can jump in here.
Sleep/Diapering
This set comes with the pack n play, a changing table, a bassinet and a basket attachment. We have used this in place of a standard, traditional crib for our babies' full time sleep space, and it has made travel so convenient since we don't have to worry about them not sleeping due to being in an unfamiliar bed - since they have their own, no matter where we are. 
​While babies can certainly sleep on the pack n play mat, I wanted to let my babies have a tad more comfort, so we got this trifold matress from hiccapop. The design looks like it may have changed a bit since we purchased it almost 3 years ago, but this mattress has been great for my littles! 
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​Many new parents opt for the Hatch brand sound machine/light combo - which are fabulous and can be controlled with your phone, but if you are looking for something a little cheaper with similar features minus the phone app, this little guy is a great alternative! I like that this one also displays the time, so if you are up in the middle of the night with baby and have lost all track of time or day, it can steer you back into reality a tad! 
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The Diaper Genie is a very popular diaper disposal option, but I didn't love that you could only use it with specialty bags. The Ubbi Diaper Pail still has excellent odor control but works with standard tall kitchen bags, which you likely already have in your homes. 
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​​Seats/Carriers/Outings
​We love the versitility of the swing/rocker! If baby is feeling like he needs mom to be in eyesight, I can take the swing seat off the frame and set him up next to me in the kitchen or where ever I may need to get something accomplished. I also love that you can twist the seat direction allowing for either forward/back motion or side to side. My babies had different preferences, so that is an awesome feature!
​This over the chair sling seat has been incredible for going over to friends' homes or traveling. No high chair? No problem, because you simply put this over a standard chair and it safely props your little human up for meals (or just a break from mom and dad's arms). I always keep this in our diaper bag and it has come in handy countless times!
I adore this wrap carrier! There is a small learning curve when you first try it out, but once you get it down, the process is really a breeze and it is a gamechanger for when your baby NEEDS to be held throughout the day but you NEED to accomplish SOMETHING! My son didn't spend quite as much time in it as my daughter did, but it still came in clutch on many occasions. This is another item I always keep in the diaper bag. You never know when the carseat just isn't gonna cut it on an outing! 
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​Now this one REALLY comes in clutch when you have a 2nd kiddo, but since we now have it, I can't imagine not having it. This wagon has a seat belt on either end so two children can ride securely with feet in the middle. It has a great amount of space, so with one child, you can easily put the baby on one end and any stuff you need for your outing on the other. Now, of course, the seat belt (only a waist belt) isn't paractical for a young baby - really ideal for a sturdy sitter and beyond - BUT I have had perfectly good success with taking baby on outings in a Bumbo seat inside the wagon or nestling our Graco Infant Carseat into it as well! 
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Clothing
Don't do it. Don't fall into the trap of getting a billion adorable outfits for your newborn baby - and for all that is good in the world, AVOID BUTTONS. I get it, they look so darling in the fancy little dresses and buttonup shirts, but it is really not worth the hassle. Baby is uncomfortable, they are a pain to take on and off, and even with the best of intentions, that adorable get-up is destined to be ruined within the hour you put it on. Just keep it simple. Snag a few 3-4 packs of simple, zip up footie jammies and you are set for the first 6-9 months (longer if you'd like!) This line of footie jammies goes up to 9 months. This is perfect because it brings you right up to the moving stage of life when baby is ready to have full access to his/her feet for standing traction. Before this, there is no need for anythng fancy! 
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Ok, this one is for mom! If you are planning to nurse and/or pump, this bra is a great find! I found it to be very comfortable so I wore it at all times, but it made it so much more convenient for both pumping and breastfeeding because of the access flaps for holding your pump flanges in place as well as the typical nursing bra snaps for feeding baby directly from the tap. 
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Feeding and Meal Prep
First of all, I recommend getting your pump through your insurance, if possible! I was able to get this pump almost fully paid for through my insurance via a program called Aeroflow Breastpumps. They bill your insurance directly and you just pay for overages of what your insurance won't cover, There is no available listing on Amazon, but I also highly recommend the Spectra S9 model - which I got through this same program when I had my son. It has similar suction power and uses all the same flanges and parts so I was able to use them interchangeably with minimal effort to switch devices. The S9 offers portability, which was really nice because I could do light work (with minimal bending) around the house while I pumped rather than being glued to the couch for hours a day pumping. This was a crucial change with a toddler to entertain with my second! 
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This pump was fantastic as well. I used this one in the car or out and about (with a loose sweatshirt on) or again, while doing chores around the house. I used this pump with both babies and loved it! This set is a cheaper alternative to the popular Momcozy or Elvie brands. The wearable nature of these helps bring you back to a sense of normalcy in the new nursing mom world! 
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​A lot of baby spoons have blunt tips that make it difficult to scoop every bit of baby puree out of the container. These, however, have the perfect edge for scraping the bowl clean while also having the soft feel in baby's mouth. I love these spoons. 
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​I know, this one seems out of place, but not everyone has kitchen scissors/shears in their kitchen arsenal and they come in CRUCIAL when it comes to prepping solids for baby! I use our kitchen scissors for every meal and it allows baby to eat almost everything we eat much earlier on because you have way more control over the size of the pieces of food without the effort it can sometimes take to cut things with a knife. For example - pizza? -- A THOUSAND times easier to cut into teeny tiny bits with scissors than with a knife or pizza cutter. Just try them, you will never look back. 
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This cutting tool has been great for introducing new foods in safe sizes. It also gives a little texture to the food for easier gripping if you choose to give food in stick form for baby led weaning! As a bonus, this is also safe for my toddler to use when she wants to help in the kitchen!
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​​Toys and Play Space
This toy is still just as popular with my toddler as it is for my baby! All the different features keep him busy longer than any other toy we own and it is fanastic for teething with all the silicone pullstrings with varied textures on each end. The pop-it style buttons and sliding button are awesome additions as well. 
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​My babies have both loved these textured squeaky ball toys. They are simple, but great for sensory and tactile stimulation. 
​We love this walker toy from VTech. Both my kids had great success building their walking strength using this toy. They also love all the features of the front, which can also be removed for play separately.  I highly recommend it! ​
Busy Board Book
It is never too early to get started with basic shapes, color, number, letter and fine motor skill exposure! We LOVE this fabric activity book and have had it since my daughter was under 1. There are lots of pieces to keep track of, but as long as you stay on top of it at the end of each play session, it works great! We have had this for over 2 years and it still gets played with several times a week by both kiddos. It helped my daughter learn her colors and shapes very early! 
Rainbow Panel Play Pen
This play pen set has been amazing for our family. The pieces come apart in sets of two allowing you to use as many or as few as needed for your space. You can also get the gate attachment - sold separately for easy entrance for the adults of the home. We have 2 full sets of these! 
So there you have it! My Top 20 most recommended baby/mom items for the 1st year of life with a baby! Let me know in the comments if you have any of these items or if you have any other favorites not yet on the list! I'm sure any new mamas who happen upon this page will be glad to hear from their fellow moms' real experiences! 

Again, if you want to check out the full list directly on Amazon - Check it out HERE! 
]]><![CDATA[Been awhile... Let's Talk about the Potty!]]>Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:41:42 GMThttps://www.missteacherdesigns.com/design-adventures/potty-partyI have not kept this page up to date so well... for about 3 years now. So I thought we'd dive back in with the important things first. 

My sweet baby girl is now 2 1/2 years old and is making some awesome progress with daytime potty training, but we are just not quite there yet. She does an incredible job staying dry if we are giving her hourly(ish) reminders to go try, but her body is just not telling her the cues independently yet. While we have not quite hit the ball out of the park yet, I wanted to share the tools we have found success with so far in our journey. 

First of all, we use a whole lot of stickers! We started with just a basic chart to earn 100 stickers and get a big prize. We used big stickers and a Skittle for poos and little stickers for pee. We only gave stickers for successful eliminations and had her try every 30 minutes with lots of verbal reminders to "tell us if you need to go potty!". She did an amazing job with this stage. Within 2 days, she was successfully eliminating almost every time she sat down. 
​We use this potty seat and it made it exciting for her to be up on the big potty and fostered a sense of independence as she figured out how to climb up herself. We still put her in pullups for nap and night sleep, but she was doing an incredible job keeping dry big girl undies during her waking hours. 

Rylin filled her first chart in about 10 days. She got a set of Mickey and Minnie Mouse stuffies as her big prize and just left her sticker chart up on the wall with the option of continuing to put her stickers on it. 
This continued to work well for a couple weeks, but as our reminder periods grew longer, the motivation started dwindling. Eventually, we realized she needed another visual to keep her on track. So I created a new printable chart with a focus on accident-free days! I print this out each week in the color of her choice. We make tally marks for any accidents that do happen, but we offer a big sticker as her "hip hip hooray" sticker to place in that box on a day with 0 accidents! In addition to the fun sticker, we also offer some sort of treat or prize for non accidents - a homemade fruit popcicle after dinner, a treat (if we have any sweet treats on hand) a game before bed, and extra book at bedtime, etc.
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While we do still have the occasional accident, her steaks of days with 0 accidents have been gradually growing (current record is 10 days in a row) I know as we continue to stick to her routine it will cick soon. 

If you are potty training or have had previous experience, I want to hear, How is it going?
​What has worked well for your kiddo? 

I hope this ​blog post finds you well! I plan to post more regularly from here on out, so see ya in less than another 3 years :P

<3 Misty

*This post contains affliate links. I may earn comissions from subsequent purchases.
]]><![CDATA[tis the season... for a long overdue blog update!]]>Sun, 28 Nov 2021 04:35:35 GMThttps://www.missteacherdesigns.com/design-adventures/tis-the-season-for-a-long-overdue-blog-updateSome big changes have happened since my last post. I am going to be making an effort to update this blog at least monthly moving forward. 

Since my last update, I finished up a school year teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade all at once, online! I also welcomed our baby girl into the world on August 14th. Rylin Elise Schneider is now 3 months old and such a joy. She is also a fabulous craft fair assistant, which is convenient, since we have attended 3 of them over the past 3 weekends in a row and have one more Holiday Bazaar next weekend!

I have stepped away from my teaching position to stay home full time and have been working to ramp up my business here. With that has come more ideas for expanding my reach. I sincerely love creating unique things for others, so I am really looking forward to expanding the number of people I get to work with! Craft Bazaars have been such a great outlet to get more exposure and get more opportunities to share my craft. Stay tuned for some more ideas I will be rolling out at the beginning of the new year! 

I will keep this short and sweet, but I have included a gallery below with some pictures of the aforementioned events as well as some of my most recent creations! 
]]><![CDATA[New Year, Back In Action!]]>Wed, 17 Feb 2021 19:29:47 GMThttps://www.missteacherdesigns.com/design-adventures/new-year-back-in-actionThe time between this post and my last was due to a very busy time of filling orders before the holidays and some exciting news for my family. Just before Christmas, I learned I am expecting a baby! 
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Our bundle of joy is set to join us mid August 2021! We are so excited for this new adventure!

That being said, the first trimester took me down! I extended my break from taking orders until February, and now I am back up and running! 

I wanted to take a moment to show you all what I worked on between my last post and now! I am so excited to share what I have been creating and hope I can spark interest for you as well! I would love to make you something special!

Halloween Fun

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The Sanderson sisters are here to let you know trick-or-treaters are welcome! 

Custom Signs

Holiday Ornaments

Here is a selection of customizable ornaments I made this year! 

Name Puzzles

Name puzzles can be made to order with choice of characters and color variations. Pricing based on level of detail and character choice. 

Single Puzzle with 3"x10" base, simple (non-commercial) image or character, and one name hand painted in colors of choice -$20

Add-ons:
+$5 - High Detail/Commercial Character
+$5-$10 for additional characters or images
+$5 - Custom Engraving
+$5-$10 - Larger base size - to fit more characters or letters

Send message directly through my business page to customize your puzzle today!

More Puzzles

Bear and Mountain Scene Name Puzzle - $35
Alphabet Puzzle - Upper and Lower Case: $60
Single Case (Upper OR Lower) - $45
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Recent Projects

Wooden Marble Run with Wood Marbles (Name Label Optional) - $45
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Family Birthday Wall Decoration - Starting at $60
​(Up to 20 name tiles - more available at additional cost)
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Custom Wood Coasters with Cork Backing - Starting at $15 per pair
Customizable Slide Top Pencil Box
Plain Box - $35
Custom Designs - Starting at $40
Woodland Creatures Banner (Unmounted)- 13 Wood Pieces
Painted - $35
Unpainted - $25
+$3-$5 - Twine or Ribbon to Mount 
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Gravity Bird Feeder - Wood and Acrylic
Stained - $55
​Natural Birch - $45
Build It Yourself Kit - $40
​+$5 Fly and Birds Decal
]]><![CDATA[Update time!!]]>Thu, 29 Oct 2020 07:26:15 GMThttps://www.missteacherdesigns.com/design-adventures/update-timeHello! Man, I cannot express my excitement. I have just finished my 6th commissioned name puzzle in just 3 days! I am having so much fun designing and creating these puzzles and I can't wait to see what other things I will get to create! I wanted to make this post to display my most recent YouTube update video and archive some of my most recent projects. I hope to make this space a continuous gallery of my creations. If you see anything that sparks inspiration for a design, feel free to reach out! I'd love to help bring your ideas to life! 

So first off, here is my most recent YouTube video talking about some of my most recent projects. I will also be including the images from the video below along with some which didn't make it into the video. Check it out!

Resin Chess Set With Wood Storage Box

This is a customized chess set. The board can be made of resin only, wood only, or a resin and wood combo. Set comes with resin chess pieces of your color choice and a slide-top storage box which can also be customized. This example set has a UW Huskies theme! A custom set with storage box starts at $65

100 Chart Number Puzzle

This puzzle comes with 100 double sided number tiles and a double sided board with lipped edges surrounding the 100 number slots. One side is blank while the other side is numbered making this an excellent scaffolded learning activity! These boards are $45 and can be left natural wood as shown or the base board frame can be painted or stained. 

Name Signs

Here are a couple examples of name signs. One being a monogram style typically used for family names and the second is typically found in a children's room. Of course, either of these can be customized to fit whatever purpose you may imagine! :)  These are 9" rounds and start at $25.
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Name Puzzles

Here are some of the name puzzles I've created this week. Name puzzles start at a $20 base price which includes pieces for each letter and the animal/character and a base that measures approximately 10" x 3" and about 1/4" thick. The Pooh bear puzzle had some add-ons which raised the price a bit. 
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Ornaments

Here are a couple examples of ornaments I've made for my Christmas Tree this year! I have some other designs in the works as well. Interested in some custom ornaments this year? Let me know! These start at $5 individually or 5 for $20.
If anything above sparks your interest, feel free to reach out! I would love to make you something special! :) 
]]><![CDATA[First impressions]]>Sat, 17 Oct 2020 04:49:49 GMThttps://www.missteacherdesigns.com/design-adventures/first-impressions​​Well, it's here! I received my Glowforge in the mail and it has been busy working through my first few creations! 
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Upon arrival, I unboxed my new baby and got her all set up. The trickiest part for me was getting it connected to my wifi. It requires a 2.4Ghz connection and my provider generally uses both connection levels interchangeably, which caused the Glowforge app not to see my wifi on the system at all. It really only came down to creating separate networks for my two different speeds on the Xfinity account website. It wasn't all that difficult, but I imaging it would be a big hurdle if I wasn't already comfortable navigating these types of tech issues. I recorded and posted a video of my unboxing and initial projects.
Once I got the Glowforge setup, I began with the first recommended project, the Gift of Good Measure. This is a little ruler keychain. As I ran this first project, I noticed some smoke coming out from under the lid. I was so worried that I had made a mistake putting this thing in my house. Then I realized my newbie error... when I set up my ventilation out the window. I used a connector with a sliding door. Silly me, I forgot to open the dang door before I started the print! Lesson learned!! The second run went smooth as butter and I was in love. I featured my second project in my video. It was a small snap-together box with a lid. It turned out great and was my first attempt at adding my own personal logo to a design. Here, I learned how a gray-scale can effect the depth of an engraving - super cool feature as it can help create gradients!
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The last project of the night was for a custom order. I will save the details for after the gift is delivered, but I was really excited about it - and I look forward to sharing it soon. ​

​My next creation was completely my own design of a 100 Chart Number puzzle. I have had something similar before, but my design worked out the kinks I have found in other models. The puzzle includes a double-sided board with numbers engraved on one side and blank spaces on the other. The 100 numbered pieces fit onto either side of the puzzle and the board's divided sections allow for accidental bumps or tilts without losing progress. Many similar boards are made or plastics or do not have the section dividers allowing pieces to slip and move around. This puzzle is an excellent tool for building number sense and fine motor skills. I am really pleased with this design and I know you will be too, if you choose to order one of these for a little one in your life! Check out my video showing off the new design:
​Today I updated my ventilation setup with a slide-fitted window insert which houses the ventilation hoses for both my Glowforge and AC unit using my own laser for a custom fit! So cool to be able to create my own solutions for household needs! 
I will be working on some other custom designs over the weekend including some customizable holiday ornaments, home decor items, and some other puzzle activities. If you are interested in any of the designs I have already created, or have ides of your own, feel free to reach out or place an order on my Etsy shop! 

I am sincerely so thrilled with my investment. I know I have only dusted the surface of what I can do with the Glowforge and I am so excited for the future of it all. Remember, if you have any interest in getting your own Glowforge, you can save up to $500 on your own with my referral link. ​
]]><![CDATA[Let's Get Started...]]>Thu, 01 Oct 2020 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.missteacherdesigns.com/design-adventures/lets-get-started
I am doing a thing! I recently made the decision to truly dive into my maker business. I have always enjoyed making things, but now I am ready to dive in full force to make things for my friends, family, community, ...heck, maybe the world. I just made the big jump to purchase my very own Glowforge Pro. I am so excited about this amazing tool and I look forward to sharing my maker journey with you! If you are interested in getting one of these bad boys yourself, you can get up to $500 off your purchase with my referral code! https://glowforge.us/r/MQSKKGAW
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