Tiny Trinkets and Mini Toys Needed!

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I am looking for tiny trinkets and minature toys to put into "Eye Spy" bottles I am making for my elderly parents.

Dad resides in a nursing home and is w/c and bed bound. He cannot read for long and does not watch TV. His mind is sharp. Mom has age related dementia, a 30 second memory and misses Dad terribly even though I take her to see him every other day.

I will be using clear 1 liter bottles filled with bird seed or dry rice with the lids firmly glued in place. Inside the bottles I will put small, tiny items for them to search for while turning the bottles. A typed, laminated list of items will be attached to each bottle.

So far I have mini bowling pins, colorful erasers, colored dice, plastic bugs, little green aliens, bright buttons and paper clips.

Any other suggestions?

I would really like to find items that used to come in a Cracker Jack box and a couple pair of Barbie doll shoes.

Any other sugestions, sources, resources or even if you are willing to get rid of some items would be most appreciated.

Thank you,
MKO6219
newport6219@hotmail.com

Check out doll house items. When I was really into that hobby I even attended a doll house show. They have EVERYTHING in miniature. I know many craft stores and art stores have doll house sections. There are even doll house stores as well (since I remember about 15 years ago going through the yellow pages and driving all over the place).

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Check out "Polly Pocket" toys in the toy aisle. There are usually about 12 "extras" like teeny pocketbooks, phone, accessories, boots, crowns, etc.

What a neat idea you have!

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"The errors of faith are better than the best thoughts of unbelief." - Thomas Russell

Thank you for the information. Where I live there are no doll stores. The only craft stores are Michael's and Joann's and neither one carry doll house or minature items. MKO6219

I agree with Devinmom about the Polly Pocket stuff. My DD's stuff gets sucked up into the vaccume everytime I clean.

What about taking smaller sized pictures of you or someone else close to them and gluing a duplicate picture to the back of it and then laminating it? You could do a few of them for each of their kids or pets.

What about the little plastic charms that come on the cheapie charm bracelets from walmart? DD had a few of them that came from birthday parties, they had hearts and other little things.

OH! Micro machines or mini cars!

You've got me started now. Will post more when I think of something.

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Kristee
Kritter0114@aol.com

"Hold on, let me check....YES! I do have a coupon for that!"

What about things you may already have around the house...a nail, toothpick, pushpin, sewing needle, magnet, a coin, ponytail holder, barrette, bobbypin, etc.

You can find Polly Pocket items at Walmart, Target, Meijer, etc. There are also several lots of Polly accessories on Ebay.

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Michelle
*Mom to McKenna and Tanyn ~ Nov. 2000 Twins*

i will keep my eyes peeled at the yardsales for you
I think thats a neat idea

I did two pillows just like you are talking about for our kids for traveling and filled them with coins, different shaped glass gems ex:// heart, marble.., I also put in a thimble, penny, dime, quarter, plastic flower, little plastic baby from the baby shower favor aisle, a superball, a safety pin, a paper clip, a jingle bell, buttons, in craft wood sections of craft stores you can buy tiny little wood items- like a painted frog etc..If you go to the party section in stores they have junky plastic vasriety toys for pinatas- you might find smaller items in there. I like the polly pocket idea!!! Go to garage sales! Have fun

bottle cap
tab from a soda can
sea shells
tiny toys or rings from "gum ball" machines
wooden matchstick
an earring (if you have 1 that you lost the mate to)
tiny x-mas ornament or x-mas light bulb
pom-pom
a cork
Q-tip (maybe glue the cotton down first)
refrigerator magnet

You could probably find lots of inexpensive little toys and things at a yard sale.

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No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser

theres Puppy in my pocket toys that are pupies, kittens, horses and I think some other animals too

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Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

Others have given you some wonderful suggestions. I just wanted to tell you what a neat idea this is! I can imagine kids in classrooms enjoying this. I'm thinking about using the 20 oz. bottles and making some for my dd's classmates.

I have made a few of these myself. Craft stores are good for this. I like the shaped buttons. What a nice idea for the nursing home!

Glad I found this post again, my MIL mentioned wanting to keep her mind sharp and doing alot of the eye spy games on the internet. So since I'm visiting today while FIL has surgery since she cant be down with him because she has so many health problems as well I think I'll make them a few while I'm here. Thank you for the idea

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Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

Go to WISH UPON A HERO.COM
You should be able to get some help there.

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Square dancing is friendship set to music!

We have one of these that we bought at the gift shop at Arkansas Children's Hospital (one of my kids is seen there ALOT).

Here's the link to the brand we bought:
Find it Games - Find It is not just a game, It's a contained adventure!

We have the one in the purple box with a red cap. The Kid's Version
It's so cool and so addictive! We take it each time we have to be admitted.
Our tube has a full size Penny, and mini of all the following Balloon, Baseball, Block, Butterfly, Candy Cane, Car, Eraser, Top Hat, marble, Pom Pom puffy, Rubber band, Pony bead, Wiggle Eye, Safety Pin, Alphabet beads a-z (26 in all),
Smiley face ball, flag, Fish, Star, Ring, Snowflake.
It is filled with little plastic pellets, like the tiniest kind you could string a necklace string through. Those items above are hidden throughout.

Hope that helps!
X

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A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains,
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in Your grace

I love those Find It Games. I have made a few myself.
You can get some of those small packs of shaped and decorated buttons (they have them at Michaels) to use. They are usually packaged by theme. I just cut off the attachment for sewing on the button so they were flat but you probably wouldn't have to. With Christmas coming you might be able to find lots of tiny stuff to put in there. Maybe you can make a Christmas themed one for the holidays. They make all those tiny mini ornaments, etc... Have fun!

You could make a day of going to town and scouting thrift shops and stores like Fred Meyer and Target and TJ Maxx/Marshall's and toy stores for stuff like that. I bet there are stores within a couple of hours of you. And you can look online. Google miniature toys.

And look at Party Supply stores and websites for bags of small party favors.

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Faith + Love = Happy

How full do you fill it with rice or birdseed? Just wondering if something's hidden in the middle how it gets to the edge to find it. Want to make some for car trips!

You could also put letter cubes in there. Like the ones strung on bracelets to spell out words. They could try to search letters to spell some words out.

Google that Find It website and you can see what they look like. You have to leave some room in the canister, tube or whatever you use, so it can move around when you shake it, turn it, etc... They are pretty fun.