Ahhhh, School Holiday Craft!

I lurve school holidays. No pack up lunches, no early morning, deadlines, assignments, school runs, quick dinner fixes and scheduled bedtimes. Its Day 3 here of the two week Easter hols and my stress levels are reverting to baseline! I don't like to fill my kids holidays up with endless playdates and sleepovers, although one or two aren't bad. Instead, i like to spend time with them on the wii, watching movies, doing nature walk and window shopping. But our favourite thing by far is crafting. The kids are all old enough to participate and craft themselves now. I usually choose and set the craft, but i am happy for it to morph into something they think of themselves. Heres the 3 crafts we've squeezed in so far...

Stickmen...Based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Its about a stickman who gets carried far away from his stick family and how he gets back to them, just in the nick of time.

Autumn Leaf Clay Bowls..

These are so lovely, made from a dough mixture i used at Christmas time to make decorations, today it was made up to take some prints off fallen Autumn leaves. We then wrapped the print over an existing bowl and placed it in the sun to dry. This takes around 4 days, at which point we will paint them and seal them. Mothers Day Gift?

I-Spy Canvas.

This is where being a hoarder actually paid off. I spent half an hour combing the house, and filled a bag with little bits of things i had on hand that wouldn't be missed. My kids are huge fans of the I-Spy books, so this canvas serves to extend that interest further. I'm thinking that by the end of the holidays the kids will be bored with it and it could be a good gift for a toddler who has a birthday coming up! Two birds...One stone.

I really love the way it has come out!

Dinovember - the next two nights!

Those pesky dinosaurs have continued to make trouble at night in our house for the last three nights. We are starting to wonder when that magic sparkly dust from Santa will wear off? Heres what they did on Tuesday Night...

As you can see they reeked havoc in our bathroom. 

Coby is really starting to build a sense of anticipation for the mornings to see what those dinsosaurs have been up to next. The older kids know its me, but they love the hype and the illusion too. They too look forward to seeing what new scene will greet them in the morning.

Heres what they got up to last night.

As you can see the list of opportunites for scene set ups is endless. I'm looking forward to tonights activities. They may go fishing in the fishtank... :)

My interpretation of Dinovember

So last month, i saw a blog that was floating around the net, about a family who devoted their entire month of November to making their children believe that at night, their pet dinosaurs come alive and reek havoc in the house. They do this to encourage imagination and to just have fun. Literature suggests a rich imagination is an extremely good foundation for literacy later on. Soooo, i had to get in on this, but it took me awhile to get round to it. (Its December here)
First i had to set the scene, which was handy, because Santa had sent me this bag of magical elf dust, which he wanted us to try out. he is thinking of using it in some toys for next Christmas.

then we had to sprinkle it on the dinos and wait til everyone in the house was asleep

Once i was sure the kids were asleep, (i had to prod them a couple of times!) I set to work arranging the dino's on the kitchen counter in a mischievous fashion.

                               

As you can see, the dino's were really hungry, but they got caught out, as when the sun comes out, they turn back to toys. Im going to be constructing a new scene each night until Christmas. And if you are thinking of doing this too, it is well worth it for the screams of delight i woke up to this morning. There are many ideas for dino naughtiness on Pinterest to reconstruct. #dinovember

                   

Craft Stuff (mostly)

Hello!
I didn't want to spam my facebook page with photos of my latest craft conquests, it feels a little like fishing for compliments.
But i still wanted to share some stuff ive been making with those it might interest!
So heres some photos of the stuff ive been up;

Ive really been utilising my sewing machine lately, its been great to see my beginner skills increase with each task. Heres 2 taggy blankets i whipped up for Regan's friend who has just had a baby boy. Ezekiel. Loving his name!

I sewed this bunting for caitlins birthday. We are refurbishing an old desk for her, and this will go on the wall above it. This cost me $4 to make, and i think it looks fab. Got an idea to make one for another little girl who'se birthday is coming up soon.



Gi-Nourmous bubbles! gee these were fun to do. We did them in the second week of the school holidays. We made our own bubble blowers, and i got a recipe for mixture off Pinterest.It made a hooer of a mess, as you need cornflour which dries when the bubbles pop. Great fun though.







School Holiday Fun

I really enjoy school holidays. I stay in my PJ's until i HAVE to go out, and i don't have to prepare school lunches. (My most detested chore)
The July ones are the most challenging for me, given that it is the rainy season, so all activities have to be indoorsy ones.
The solution came to me whilst browsing Pinterest. Theres a ton of craft ideas on there suitable for kids. I made up a list of crafts that won't break my small budget, and so far we've done quite a few of them.

Here a couple of them that really captured their attention.

Wild bird feeders.

You need:
Bird Seed
Peanut butter
String
Old toilet rolls

You cover your roll in peanut butter.

Then you roll your buttered roll in a tray of bird seed

The you thread your string through the middle and tie it at the top. Hang it from a tree, when you are done.

The children have enjoyed watching the birds come and eat from it.

Rainbow Rice

Although this one is intended for toddlers/preschoolers. I knew my kids would still use it, as they are a tactile bunch, and they love to get involved.

You need:

1kg of long grain white rice

A selection of food colouring

A lidded lunchbox

You divide your rice into as many portions as you have food colouring.

You add a batch of rice to your lunchbox, and a few drops of food colouring. (A little goes a long way)

You put on the lid tightly and shake the box up.

We borrowed a trough from the toy library and filled it with our rainbow rice. The children used it for various things. The littler ones like to swish about with it, and the bigger ones liked the feel of it running through their fingers. It kept them occupied for hours, and best of all, even though the trough went back last week, i have the rainbow rice stored away to play with another time.

Fizzy Bath Bombs

These were a heap of fun to make.

You need:

2 cups of baking soda

1 cup citric acid

A few drops of fragrance (essential oil)

2 tsps water (or witch hazel)

You add the dry ingredients to a big bowl, and get out all the lumps. the you add your fragrance, then you add your water and mix it really quickly. It will fizz up a bit, but work fast until your mixture resembles wet sand. Then you put it into molds. We used chocolate molds. you leave them for a minute or two, then carefully pop them out of the molds.

The children want to give them away as gifts, they have to be left overnight to harden, so tomorrow we will make them up with cardboard and cellophane into little gifts.

















Bargain of the year!

I am a self confirmed op shop addict. I just love to mooch around them, and i adore the thrill of finding the best bargain!
Like today!
I cannot BELIEVE what i scored today.
I've seen them floating around on those mummy craft blogs. The cleverest bloggers make them, and i have coveted from afar.

They are sometimes called quiet books, but they are just fabric books, with quiet activities inside. Whoever made my one was extremely talented. Heres a sample of the inside pages.

It goes all the way to 10

I can see it becoming a much loved book in our house, definately one to keep for the grandkids.

Moon Dough

I've been wandering around the online world of other mum bloggers recently. Its neat to see what others get up to with their kids. I found one i especially liked called Happy Hooligans.
Check her out here http://happyhooligans.wordpress.com/
Have a look at those giant bubbles. They are so on my to do list!

Whilst browsing, i came across a recipe for moondough. I remember the stuff being commercially made a few years ago, and sold for a fair bit in childrens stores. I always admired from afar, but was intrigued by the concept. Re-discovering the stuff + recipe, had me pretty excited. And i made it as soon as i could.

Here's Coby getting into the stuff. Its so tactile, All the kids and myself have really been enjoying it.

It holds its shape quite well. (as above) but it isnt like playdough where you can cut figures out. It crumbles away with pressure.

A good tip, gained from a fellow blogger, was to use the Johnson & Johnson lavender stuff, as the smell is really delicious.

Apparently it lasts for ages too, which is great.

Oh and it makes your hands so lovely and soft.

Here's the recipe.

8 cups of flour

1 cup of baby oil.

Yes, it is that simple!!!