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.

fairy business

I'm super excited about helping out with the fairy grotto at school fair this year and can't wait to help put it all together. An idea our 'creative director' came up with is to sell little painted stones ( with proceeds to the school). So I've been painting and glittering stones : ).

pop and grandma presents

My dad and his wife live in Perth. We don't see them as much as we'd like to but the kids have always known them as being part of our family. Family that lives closer get handmade presents from the kids alot so I thought it was time Pop and Grandma got some.

Pop is getting a little noughts and crosses board, it was painted and packed up before I could get a photo of it. Grandma's getting a doily printed jewellery plate, you know the kind that goes by the kitchen sink to put your rings in before doing dishes etc : )

We made them using :

This is the best stuff for kids, it's easy to work with and can be painted after being left to dry for a few days.

making a little cross

T was finished started making a couch for the firemen in his wooden firehouse

we sat this cut out circle in a bowl to give it shape as it dried

The finished bowl.

for a new mum and baby

A dear friend is having her first baby soon. I wanted to make her something that could help her document and celebrate her baby's growth in a fun way. I saw this on Etsy, it's gorgeous but a little outside my budget...probably because of the amount of work it would be to cut out and sew each little letter.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85641846/baby-chronicle-kit-stuffed-felt-letters

Here's my version. I ordered two sets of wooden magnetic alphabets and a set of numerals from aliexpress. I took out I AM MONTHS from the alphabets and combined them with the numerals in a drawstring bag.

I did consider the magnets and the painted surface but since the letters are just props for the photos ( and obviously baby will be being watched) I didn't think it would be an issue.

I like the silly faces on the letters. When baby is old enough I'll give her the rest of the letters and they they can use them on the fridge or a magnetic board.

a fun present idea for 4- 5 year olds

We're still working through the kids fun craft type birthday and Christmas presents from last year (we have Christmas and the kids birthdays in the space of a week so I stash crafty type things away for the 'inside' months later in the year). 

Anyway, this one both kids loved. It all comes as a pack and all you need is an iron.

There's a piece of special paper and crayons inside that you use to draw the image. I cut this down a bit as although it was M's present she wanted T involved and asked him to draw an image for the back of her tee shirt- she drew one for the front.

These can be bought from The Warehouse for $10.99 each. There's the Glitter one we got, a regular one and I think there's also a glow in the dark one available, a neat gift at a good price I feel : )

oops, I didn't take a pic of the design T made for the back- a wee pirate boat

butterflies and flowers- a bit if a theme for her- apologies for our leafy kitchen floor!

a birthday card from magazine pages

I have lots of old magazines. I find it especially difficult to put my copies of Your Home and Garden in the recycling. I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be a good way for the kids to make a birthday card and to use up one of my older mags......I have to let them go sometime or I'll end up in that hoarders tv show lol.

It's a very simple idea but lots of learning and discussion of letters and their sounds went on around it. As I cut each of the letters out we talked about that sound and the letter name as we glued them on, it was gorgeous hearing our big school girl teaching her little brother too.

a watercolour gift

This year with our closest group of friends we did a 'secret santa' which turned out to be not that secret but anyway, over the years my friend has appreciated handmade pressies so I thought she'd like this. She has two gorgeous boys who are so loved. She's such a fabulous mum to them that I wanted to make her something special with them as the subject.

The idea came from one of my all time favourite pinterest finds. Everything you need to know to make your own is here- and it really is as easy as it looks: http://growcreative.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/easy-watercolor-portrait-tutorial.html?m=1

Here's my effort, I framed it with a white frame when it gave it to her but didn't get a photo of that.

I've missed painting so this will not be the last time I make one of these. Another blogger who tried this diy erinellenberger used words that also describe how I feel when I paint  "... but when I paint, it is all I think about.  My mind easily slips into a silence I rarely know and serenity comes."

that's the altered photo on the left

Joining in with 3xsunshine's show and tell linky

nana's christmas painting

The kid's nana requested a painting by them for Christmas- their first commission : ). One of the  things mum loves to do is walk with her partner and their dog Sadie- so that's what they drew and painted. The canvas was only $5 at Warehouse stationary, we used a black permanent marker for the outline, acyrlic paints and small brushes.

The only input I had in this was to talk them through it when they asked for help and go over the pencil lines with the marker before they painted.

That's my mum on the left in her red hat. We think it will make her smile.

a cloud mobile for baby

There's a new baby coming into our family early next year. My brother and sister in law's third child. I wanted to include my future nephew or niece in my Christmas pressie giving so made a mobile from what I had at home. I thought I'd try and wrote a how to in case you also wanted to make one.

You'll need:

- red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple ribbon cut in the following lengths: red 45cm, orange 40cm, yellow 35cm, green 30cm, blue 25cm and purple 20cm.
- white fabric and cotton
- stuffing
- fishing line string
- 2 buttons with matching embroidery thread
- red or pink embroidery thread
-an embroidery needle
-pins
-a sewing machine ( but you could easily hand sew it)

1. With right sides together- draw a cloud shape on the fabric allowing for a 1.5cm hem.
2. Cut the cloud shape out
3. On the right side of one piece sew on the button eyes and stitch a mouth

4. Pin right sides facing each other
 

5. Along the bottom of the cloud remove a pin at at time and insert the ribbons so that they're inside the cut out cloud pieces ( see the picture). Start on the left with red and finish on the right with purple.

I've moved the fabric a bit so you can see that the ribbon is inside

6. Sew around the cloud leaving a gap at the top of the cloud for putting the stuffing in
7. Remove the pins and turn the cloud inside out so that the right side is out.
8. Stuff it
9. Sew the opening shut
10. Use a needle to thread a piece of fishing wire at the top of the cloud towards the left of the centre point,  and carry this thread over to the right side of the cloud- thread through and knot.
11. Find the centre balance point on this string and tie a second longer piece of fishing wire in the middle point- experiement a bit to find where it hangs best.

Whew! Tutorials are not very easy to write!

The fabric I used was an off white piece of crushed silk my best friend gave me- it was left over from making her wedding dress : ) I like the bumpiness of it - I think white felt would also look good.

Here's the finished product- I hope baby T likes it.

Joining in with Sunshine x3's show & Tell http://3xsunshine.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/show-tell-post-christmas.html