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Who is actually a Mum of two, and didn't think her blog name through.

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The Alphabet Rocks!

April 8, 2013 By jbmumofone 41 Comments

This was a project inspired by yet another delightful post I discovered over on Pinterest.  I am beginning to wonder how I ever lived without it.

This crafty lady made a beautiful set of alphabet rocks using embossing powder and a heat tool and they look just gorgeous.

I really wanted to make some for the boy, without having to spend a fortune on kit, so I decided to make some myself using plain old acrylics.

First a local landscapers very kindly let me raid their pebble selection for free but if you live near the coast you could just head on down to the beach to collect some.

Once I had washed them and allowed them to dry it was time to start painting.

First I painted an upper case letter using acrylic paints on one side of each pebble for each letter of the alphabet.  I also did a few spares so that when W is a bit bigger we can practice spelling his name and simple words like mum and dad.

Once these had dried I then used a thinner brush to outline them so that they stood out a bit more.  My brush however was a bit tatty and as such these are a bit scruffy.  The lady in our local craft shop has since told me about some wonderful pens you could use for this instead so I may have to investigate this.  Failing that, just use a decent/new thin brush.

 

alphabet rocks/pebbles for children

I left these to dry overnight.  The following day I added a lower case letter to the opposite side, again outlining when dry enough and again allowed them to dry over night.

I was feeling pretty pleased by now but was not sure how long this paint would last so finally decided to coat them with varnish as well.  This took four sessions in total, coating each side and allowing to dry in-between, before applying a second coat to each side, again allowing to dry in-between.

alphabet rocks/alphabet pebbles

The boy loves them.  We are not quite at the learning letters stage yet but I love that he enjoys playing with them and is becoming more familiar with them.  I really think they will come in useful over the coming year.

Finally I made a little, colourful bag to keep them all in and it would appear the best fun to be had is by tipping them all out and putting them back in again repeatedly!

alphabet rocks/alphabet pebbles

I will post instructions on how to make the bag later this week.  It honestly only took a few minutes.

So there you have it…the alphabet rocks with alphabet rocks!

Alphabet rocks/alphabet pebbles

This set was a little scruffy but I am planning to make some more sets soon which will be available for purchase via my Etsy store in the coming months.  I think they would make a lovely gift for little ones, nephews and nieces etc.  Stay tuned and I will post the link here as soon as they are available.

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Related

Filed Under: Craft, Education Tagged With: ABC, Alphabet pebbles, Alphabet rocks, Craft, Play to Learn

« Silent Sunday: 07/04/2013
How to Make a Cotbed Quilt for Beginners, Step 9: Binding Your Quilt »

Comments

  1. Sam @ Thrive 360 Living says

    April 8, 2013 at 15:30

    Your alphabet rocks turned out adorable! Love the colors you picked. And that bag you made is amazing. Wish I could make something like that. I feel so honored that my project inspired you. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      April 8, 2013 at 19:25

      Oh thank you, and thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. The bag is super easy and will be posting instructions later this week if you wanted to make one 🙂

      Reply
  2. Mammasaurus says

    April 9, 2013 at 23:46

    These are so cute!!! I’ve made rock animal before for the kids but never anything like this – really cool !

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      April 10, 2013 at 17:30

      Thank you. He has had a lot of fun with them so far. I think they will come in handy 🙂

      Reply
  3. thejennyevolution says

    April 15, 2013 at 21:59

    Visiting from Tuesday Tots. My Family-Focused Monday hop is live now and I would love to see one of your awesome posts linked up @ http://www.mondaykidcorner.blogspot.com.

    Have a wonderful week.

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      April 18, 2013 at 08:51

      Thank you. I have linked up but was unable to comment as there was no name/URL option. I would love to join your pinterest board. ID is jbmumofone 🙂

      Reply
  4. Elena Ferdinand says

    May 15, 2013 at 01:16

    Love the idea of these! How creative! I pinned to my Crafts board; thanks for sharing :o) Have an awesome night!

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 1, 2013 at 12:20

      Thanks ever so much!

      Reply
  5. kristascookin says

    May 15, 2013 at 14:49

    This is such a fun idea! I love it and I know my boys will too 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this idea you found with us 🙂 Krista @ A Handful of Everything

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      May 15, 2013 at 19:08

      Am glad that you like it Krista and thanks so much for popping by 🙂

      Reply
  6. Nicolette Roux @ Powerful Mothering says

    May 15, 2013 at 15:36

    These are gorgeous! I’m having such a obsession painted rocks lately!

    Thank You for stopping by Pin It Tuesday!
    Remember to sign up for a reminder for next week and check back to see if you were featured!
    powerfulmothering.com

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      May 15, 2013 at 19:27

      I have just seen some lovely number ones. May have to make these too!

      Reply
  7. Ness @ One Perfect Day says

    June 5, 2013 at 14:09

    I LOVE this! Thanks so much for linking up to Tuesday Tots last week. I’m featuring this post on my round up of diy family games. http://www.oneperfectdayblog.net/2013/06/04/fun-and-simple-diy-games-for-kids/

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      June 5, 2013 at 19:01

      Thanks ever so much! Am delighted 🙂

      Reply
  8. Coombe Mill (Fiona) (@coombemill) says

    July 1, 2013 at 09:53

    I love these pebbles, does any sort of paint work?

    Reply
    • Coombe Mill (Fiona) (@coombemill) says

      July 1, 2013 at 09:55

      I have pinned to my farm crafts board to have a go with pebbles from our river.

      Reply
      • jbmumofone says

        July 1, 2013 at 10:15

        Brilliant, let me know how you get on. Have not tried other paints so not too sure but you can get acrylic pens I think which sound great.

  9. Donna @ Little Lilypad Co says

    July 1, 2013 at 10:44

    I love them, will be pinning them to the Lilypad Pinterest board!!

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 1, 2013 at 12:21

      Thanks Donna and thanks for joining in with the pin it party 🙂

      Reply
  10. Karen Bell (@karenattwinlife) says

    July 1, 2013 at 11:00

    Great idea. I have some stones, I need to do something with, I might have to have a go at this.

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 1, 2013 at 12:21

      They are very simple but a lot of fun 🙂

      Reply
  11. Emma says

    July 1, 2013 at 12:00

    They are very cute, and I love the little bag you made.

    Thanks for the pin-it party too 🙂 I am emmavanstone on Pinterest.

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 1, 2013 at 12:21

      Thanks Emma, I am now following on pinterest 🙂

      Reply
  12. OneMommy says

    July 1, 2013 at 13:13

    I think yours turned out cute!
    Stopping in to pin this from the Fairy and the Frog!

    Have a great week!

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 2, 2013 at 11:40

      Thanks One Mommy and for joining in with the Pin it Party 🙂

      Reply
  13. Jess (@JJMcGlynn) says

    July 1, 2013 at 16:40

    This is a great idea. Ideal for when littlies are just starting to learn letters. Will definitely be pinning this on to my ‘tasks to attempt at some point in the future’ board!!

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 1, 2013 at 17:26

      Thanks Jess, and thanks for joining in with the Pin It Party 🙂

      Reply
  14. sarahlashbrook says

    July 1, 2013 at 19:25

    These are so much fun!

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 2, 2013 at 11:44

      Thanks Sarah 🙂

      Reply
  15. Alice (@mumsmakelists) says

    July 2, 2013 at 00:30

    These are lovely – what fun. Have pinned – http://pinterest.com/mumsmakelists/boards/ – Alice x

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 2, 2013 at 11:52

      Thanks Alice, am following on pinterest 🙂

      Reply
  16. Eric Van Raepenbusch - Happy Birthday Author says

    July 2, 2013 at 01:49

    Great idea – I pinned!

    Reply
    • jbmumofone says

      July 2, 2013 at 11:53

      Thanks Eric, have pinned your binoculars too. Love them!

      Reply
  17. Nichole says

    July 7, 2013 at 22:39

    I found you post via the Monday Pin it party.
    I’ve made some alphabet rocks for use in my classroom but they weren’t as fancy as these ones (think black Sharpie, pile of small river stones and ten minutes). Kids still enjoyed using them though :). We used them to match with a printed alphabet both lower case (same as the rocks) and then to the upper case letters for some one to one correspondence.

    Reply
  18. Nichole says

    July 7, 2013 at 22:42

    Sorry, forgot to post my Pinterest link too

    http://pinterest.com/nicholehalliday

    Reply
  19. Otilia (@romanianmum) says

    September 23, 2013 at 11:47

    Very cool idea! i love it! i might try and do it with chestnuts!

    Reply
  20. stultsmamaof4 says

    September 23, 2013 at 19:39

    Cute idea! I really like that you put the lowercase letter on the opposite side, too. I’ll be pinning this! Visiting from the Monday Pin-it party. 🙂

    Reply
  21. Tomi says

    December 8, 2014 at 16:50

    I love travelling, as such occasionally I manage to get away from a hustle of the city by driving to my village on the weekends. For long journeys or vacation I go along with the kids, but they are small ones and sometimes the trips cause me difficulties, since they get bored and cry. Although it seems to me that I have recently found a way to occupy them. A buddy gave me an idea for an educational application for children, which is called Cartoontist and surprisingly my children which are 4 and 5 years old respectively, are playing all the time while traveling. I would recommend it to parents who have small children and the trip by by car causes them many problems.
    Let me give you the link and check it yourself what is cool about this application
    http://goo.gl/mDpWl7 http://kidsareawsome.com/?p=38

    Reply
  22. babybudgeting says

    January 26, 2015 at 11:32

    I’m loving your alphabet rocks!!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Fun and Simple DIY Games for Kids | One Perfect Day says:
    June 4, 2013 at 05:12

    […] Alphabet Rocks from Mum of […]

    Reply
  2. Summer holiday kids actvities – Painting stones - Boo Roo and Tigger Too says:
    August 30, 2014 at 12:30

    […] of One has a fabulous alphabet rocks idea, a great way to aid letter recognition, spelling but would make a lovely gift idea […]

    Reply

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