cardboard kitten toys

I like these

http://www.moderncat.net/2011/10/19/cardboard-critters-for-kitty-by-paper-matthew/

I wanted to buy some, but as the link to buy them didn't work- I tired making some myself. They're not as easy as you might think! I cut a range of circles to size, threaded them on a ribbon, knotted the ribbon at the nose and tail ends and drew a face

cat play houses

These wee friends come to live with us in a few weeks time...

This morning T wanted to make his friend a house to play and sleep in. Dad was at Bunnings so he picked up a box for us to cover. We used a glue gun and attached pieces of felt and polar fleece. It's lined with an old piece of sheepskin. T thought it needed a chimney and windows. It's bright and cosy and he's very excited about it being used.

M saw this house on www.aliexpress.com and had to have it. I let her as it was about $8 including postage, it suspect will come after we get the kittens but they also have a little soft bed each ( the yellow polka dot in the right of the top photo) that we bought from ali for $6 each.

borax snowflakes

I bought a big bag of borax off trade me for making TMNT ooze. I have googled things I can do with it and one of the ideas was this- it happened overnight, looks cute on our tree and was a big hit for our frozen fan!

I'm happy to share the borax with local friends- just ask and I'll leave some in our letterbox for you : )

You need:

Borax ( 1 tbsp)
2 cups hot water
A wide mouthed glass jar
blue food colouring
pipe cleaners ( we used blue)
cotton
a pencil

Method

Make a snowflake shape with cut up pipe cleaner and tie it together with the cotton.
Mix the borax and the hot water so that the borax is dissolved.  Add the blue food colouring.
Tie the snowflake to the pencil and hang it in the jar ( see picture)
Overnight the crystals will form.

Ninja turtle ooze

T has a Ninja turtle themed party next month. Today we made the ooze as favours for the kids from his class. Here's the recipe:

- PVA glue- either two small 4 oz bottles, or one large 7 oz

- 1 Teaspoon of Borax - found in the laundry section ( I got my bag off trade me)
- Green Food Coloring
- 1/2 Cup Warm Water
- Large Mixing Bowl and Spoon
- Air-tight Container
- Labels

1. Squeeze the glue bottles into the large mixing bowl.  

2. Fill the empty glue bottles with water, swish it around, and pour into the bowl with the glue.

3. Stir well and add food coloring to create desired color.  In our case, of course, that color is GREEN!

4. In a different container, spoon 1 tsp of borax into 1/2 cup warm water and stir.  There will be some borax in the bottom of the water, that’s ok!

Step 5: SLOWLY start to add the water to the glue mixture-make sure none of the borax granules get into the mixture. Add a little, mix with your hands, add a little, mix with your hands. You’ll be surprised how quickly it starts to form, so don’t add a lot of water all at once. Keep mixing with your hands until it isn’t sticky anymore. 

Christmas doll

I finished the gift doll last night by sewing her face and giving her a flower headband. I like how she turned out, I'm not great at stitching neatly so I'm pleased with my efforts.

I have seen the uber talented Dee from Tiny eyes  make these baby dolls, so thought I'd try and make one ( minus the hat as knitting is just waaay to hard for me).

So mummy doll has a baby and a sling to carry them in. I'm looking forward to seeing how she's received at Christmas.

halloween

We had some local friends over for halloween tonight. I kept it simple, byo meat and salads, goody bags and lollies for the kids and then trick or treating. I didn't want to spend $ on decorations so used the ones I got last year and decorated the table with some of the kid's toy animals.

I don't have a huge problem with halloween. We walk to houses that are ok with it ( who normally have something hanging on their letterbox) and exchange treats. I ensure the kids take 1 lolly and use their manners and brush their teeth before bed!

We see it as an opportunity to get people together and get creative with costumes and treats to give away. M and T have always loved dressing up. T's costume was a sheet with a wee hole cut for his face cut out and some black and white face paint. M's Elsa costume came off www.aliexpress for $11.

I let the kids draw with liquid chalk on the windows- I love T's bats. The lollipop ghosts we made we well received- lots of fun : ).