We have started to have some fun with paints recently and the boy is really beginning to enjoy himself now that he has realised he doesn't HAVE to get his hands really messy. So far we have had fun painting with empty toilet rolls and pom poms, and this week we had some fun with potatoes too. I had a few new potatoes in the vegetable basket that had started to go a bit sprouty so, using a small sharp kitchen knife, I cut these in half and carved out shapes into the surface to use as stamps. I managed a square, a triangle, a rectangle, an oval and a crescent. I'm afraid my attempt ...
Pom Pom Painting!
I have been trying to help the boy to get over his fear of painting and we had some success last week using toilet rolls to do some printing. After posting this I received a lovely comment from Shaunna on Google Plus who has the most wonderful blog, Fantastic Fun and Learning. Her site is full of fantastic ideas for children ranging in age from babies right through to kindergarten kids. If you are ever stuck for inspiration I highly recommend that you pop over and have a look. She suggested, since W does not like to get his hands dirty, to try painting with clothes pegs and pom poms as ...
Toilet Roll Craft: Printing Fun!
W is not a fan of messy play. I fear this may be my fault, perhaps being a little over zealous with the hand-wiping when he was smaller, as now he really does not like to get his hands dirty. Because of this he has not been a huge fan of painting at home as at nursery finger-painting is very much encouraged and he hates it. I am trying to get him over this gradually so this week we had some fun with paints but used empty toilet rolls instead of fingers or brushes. It actually worked really well. We just took an empty roll, squished it a bit, dipped in a tray of paints and stamped ...
Simple Summer Sun-Catchers
Hooray, it appears that spring may have finally sprung. At last we have some sunshine. In celebration of this the boy and I decided to make some sun-catchers. This came about from an amalgamation of ideas combining simple collage techniques inspired by A Mummy Too and some beautiful milk container sun-catchers made by My Little 3 and Me. For this however we used shapes cut from those thin plastic sheets that you find separating slices of some cheese, ours was Bavarian smoked applewood slices from Aldi, but any clear plastic would do. You will also need: Scissors Mod Podge ...
How To Make a Simple Drawstring Bag in Minutes!
I have only really started to sew in the last few months so am enjoying learning all the basics. I recently made a set of alphabet rocks for my son and wanted a small bag to keep them all together so decided to have a go at making one myself with some fabric scraps. I know it is very simple but I have really never tried stuff like this before and was delighted at how simple and effective it was, and how little time it took. Here is how to do it. First cut out your fabric scraps. For this bag you will need one 14"x14" square for the back and three 5" x 14" strips for the ...
How to Make a Cotbed Quilt for Beginners, Step 9: Binding Your Quilt
With all the quilting completed it is time for the final step, binding your quilt. Before we tackle our binding fabric it is time to tidy up the quilt. Using your ruler, cutting mat and rotary cutter carefully remove all the excess batting and backing fabric from your quilt. Next cut your binding strips. You will need four strips measuring 2.5" wide and the length will be approximately 42", or whatever the width of the fabric you ordered. Trim the selvage edges of each strip. Now take two of your strips, place right sides together and align one edge. Pin and then bring this to your ...
The Alphabet Rocks!
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 ...
Toilet Roll Craft: Pinchy Parrots
We have gone toilet roll crazy here at Casa B the last few weeks. We have made Easter bunnies and farmyard animals and we felt it was time for something a little more...exotic. One of W's favourite C-Beebbies shows is I Can Cook and he loves it when Katy turns her fingers into a 'pinchy parrot'...so we decided to make a couple ourselves. This one couldn't be simpler and they are so bright and colourful they can't fail to cheer you up. To make them you will need: A small sheet of coloured tissue paper Sticky-tape Glue-stick Small piece of coloured card Googley ...
Toilet Roll Craft: Farm Animals
W and I love to visit our local city farm and in spring and summer we head there usually at least once a week. With all the cold and wet weather recently though we have not been able to visit for a while. To keep ourselves amused whilst stuck indoors we decided to have a go at making some of the animals that we visit from old toilet paper roll tubes. Our first attempt was a pig. Here is how we did it. Toilet Roll Pig: First we painted a toilet roll tube with Mod Podge glue and then stuck on small scraps of pink tissue paper until fully covered, painting down any rough edges with more ...
How to Make a Cotbed Quilt for Beginners, Step 8: Quilting!
So, we have basted our quilts and FINALLY made it to the most exciting part, the quilting! My apologies for the delay in getting this post up but we were struck down with a rather nasty case of Norovirus here at Casa B and energy levels are only just returning. Tonight though I have managed to crack on with the next step. Quilting basically means just sewing all three of your quilt layers together. How you do it is entirely up to you. Some quilters like to quilt along the edges of their squares, known as 'quilting in the ditch', some can manage that super pretty free-form quilting with ...