Organized Again!

Sophie's lunch for tomorrow contains mostly leftover dinner from tonight. Tricolour spiral pasta, cherry tomatoes and cheese, strawberries and some crazy yellow flesh watermelon. Oh, and a squeezie yoghurt pack.

It's a little bit vegetarian, but also a little bit delicious.

Cardboard House Upgrade

A long time ago, I made some cardboard houses, which have been used in various places and functions. Some of them now live at the local church where we go to play group on a Tuesday. Some of them still live at home with us. One of them has been drawn on my many people, and with lots of colours.

Last week, when I was getting back to feeling fabulous, I looked at the one that was still under the house and decided it was time for an upgrade. So I pulled it into the house and got to work. I reinforced the roof, and painted some tiles. I wall papered the inside with some $2 wrapping paper from Target. (This, I feel, made the biggest difference to the house. Suddenly it was so cool, just because of that wrapping paper.)

I used my sisters old paints (from her high-school art days (man these paints are old...)) and did a quick coat of blue on the outside and did spend some money getting coloured gaff tape from Spotlight for the trims. This, by the way, is the internet-go-to of how to make your cardboard house look cool and last longer. I don't know what the internet people who have done this in the past are on, but that tape was super hard to get on looking good. I doubt I'll be doing tape again.

Anyway, now these amazing specimens of cardboard houses live in the house and are used daily by lots of small children. I know it's only cardboard and will one day die, but I love these houses. I almost can't wait for them to die so I can justify making another one. Or two.

Getting My Act Together

Haven't posted a post like this for a while mostly because I haven't made one of these for a while. I'm busy and lazy you know? In any case, my act is together today, and here is Sophie's lunch for tomorrow. Yummy pork chipolata and sauce, avocado dip, tomato wedges, cheese sticks, slice of cucumber and home made potato gems. 

Delicious and nutritious. Though, knowing the little girl who is going to eat this the way I do, I know in all likelihood, the tomato sauce and the avocado dip will be eaten straight before anything else is touched. That's ok. Everything else (except the cucumber, of course) will be eaten eventually.

Potential Realised

Someone forgot to tell me that using baby powder on babies is actually a thing of the past and people don't really do it any more. Somehow on the weekend, I came to the realisation that I'm the only one I know that uses baby powder. What are these other people doing? I wonder. Probably having to deal with nappy rash. But apparently, powder is considered a bit dangerous now days because you can inhale it accidentally, or something.

Meh. While I've been diligently doing an extra step during nappy changing time, those other people have been missing out on all the potential that comes from hoarding, I mean saving, the empty powder bottles. And now people, I'm excited to share to you that that potential has been realised! Hooray!

I give you, the Bowling Mat in a Bag!

So when I looked at the collection of baby powder bottles, the first thing that sprang to my mind was in fact a bowling set. Pretty uncreative really. I did, however, spend a long time pondering just how to make a bowling set that was easy to set up, and understand by a two year old.

See, I know lots of other kids who have bowling sets, but as far as I can tell they spend most of their time in their cases. Because bowling sets are hard to set up. You kind of need to be there for every minute of it. Helping kids to set up the pins, showing them where to go, making sure they stand back far enough, ensuring they don't overarm the ball at the pins excreta. It's not really a thing that kids can do on their own, (or none of the kids that have sets do it on their own that I know of).

So I spent lots of time thinking about how to make this accessible to kids. Easy for them to understand where the pins would go. Where they would need to stand. Where the ball would have to go in order to knock the pins down.

I knew I would make a bag for the pins to go in, and the obvious solution to many of the aforementioned questions about usability seemed to be able to be combated by an accompanying mat. Put dots at one end for the pins, put feet at the other. Pretty simple. But what if the mat got lost? How would I make this even easier for kids to use?

Enter the idea of sewing the mat into the bag. That's right people. I've now got a bag that is part of the game. Heck yes! Multifunctional! I know you are probably sharing my excitement right now and are on the edge of your seat waiting to see if I was actually able to achieve this fabulous vision. I'm more than delighted to tell you that indeed I did.

The mat part has scrap material spots on it to show kids where the pins go. The other end of the mat sews into the bottom of the bag. This means, that when the kids are emptying the pins (powder bottles) out of the bag, they will naturally pull the mat out too, and in the process turn the bag inside out. When they do this, they will see the brown shoe outlines sewn into the inside of the bag.

Pretty self explanatory from there. Pins on the dots, feet on the shoes, and roll the ball along the big yellow strip. And at the end of the game, shove everything back into the bag, the bag naturally turns back the right way and you pull the draw strings (easy for small children (and also for easy sewing purposes)) for a neat and tidy pack away.

You may be thinking that I'm spending a lot of words telling you about something rather simple, but I'm dam proud of what I've done. It took a lot of thinking. And I mean a lot of thinking to come up with the construction of the bag. If I hadn't thought as much as I did about it, I could easily have sewn the wrong thing first and had to do more unpicking than is ever desirable. (For the record, the amount of unpicking that is desirable is none. So any more than none is not a good thing.)

I was so proud of what I'd come up with in my head, that when I actually sewed the thing together last night, I went out of my way to do top stitching along the mat, to make it look even more amazing. There are also no exposed seams, and everything is lined. Steve thinks I could sell these. Or the pattern at least. But then I'd have to think even more about how to explain what went through my head to others. And be able to put all of that into words. Probably won't.

Life Goal Achievement Unlocked

Made Baklava.

Yep, that's one to cross off the to do list. It was delicious. 

The Tupperware Cupboard

I was catching up with a friend a few weeks ago and she mentioned that she had been reading my blog. Hooray! It's always exciting when you find that real people are reading along at home. It's like dreams coming true. Or having all the pegs matching on the line when you hang up the clothes.

Anyway, my friend suggested I do a post on my Tupperware cupboard, because I'm apparently really creative and organised so I must have an amazing creative way of organising my Tupperware cupboard that really should be shared with the world. I'm not sure this is true, but I have been giving this post a bit of thought. I also figure, I don't get requests on what to post often, so when I do get them, I'd probably actually consider giving the people what they want, right?

So my Tupperware cupboard. It's the top shelf of a corner cupboard in the kitchen and is actually often organised. I wouldn't consider the organisation very creative or special though. I put all of the same sized containers together and put the lids underneath. The squarish containers go in one bigger box, the round containers together in another. And so on and so forth. The ones I use frequently sit at the easiest to access corners, while the ones used less often are farther back.

As you can see, it's not really anything to write home about. The more I thought about this post, the more I thought: "Isn't this common sense? Doesn't everyone organise their Tupperware the same kind of way?" And I suppose they do. I mean, people generally know what they are supposed to do to keep things in order. Throw or give away stuff you are not or will never use for example. Easy in theory, but not really in practice because we get all clingy and needy about stuff that really doesn't matter. So just like me, the Tupperware cupboard does not always stay as organised as it should.

I know there are factors like small children (who are actually allowed to play in the cupboard (shake your heads at me people, but I'd rather them play in the safe plastic cupboard in the kitchen while I cook than in the completely unsupervised living room where anything could happen)). But there are also factors like general lazyness. And complete disregard for order. Or the simple fact that it's just easier to open the door and throw the stuff in, rather than crouch down (cue the strange ache in my knees that must mean I'm getting old) and put it away properly.

My Tupperware cupboard suffers from all of these things at one time or another. Just the same way that my spiritual life does. I know that for things to function the way they are supposed to, I should be doing things like actually spending time with God. Reading my bible. Praying. It's common sense right? But in the same way that when I'm putting things away and I like to open the door and just throw the plastic stuff in to land where ever it may, I often just give God a quick glance and then move on. It's just easier to say "Thanks God," for something small and feel that I've said a prayer, rather than actually getting on my knees and talking to him properly.

I'm lazy. I'm busy. I'm letting small children run me over without stopping to teach them to put things back where they came from. I need discipline to actually get things going right. I feel it's not a popular thing to talk about, but having the discipline to actually do what we should do, rather than what is quick or easy, is actually really important. We don't like to admit it, but discipline is good for us. God disciplines us when we need it (check out Hebrews 12 (especially verses 4-13)), and we need to discipline ourselves for his work (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (there are so many more verses too BTW)).

So what do we need to keep our spiritual lives in order? Probably the same kind of discipline we need to keep our Tupperware cupboards in order. Maybe the next time you are going to put something away, you can remind yourself of the discipline God wants you to exercise in your spiritual walk as well.

Duplo Bag

As Sophie has increased in age, her collection of duplo has also increased such that it finally exceeded the box we had it in. Thankfully, the internet is full of wonderful ideas about what to do in such a situation, and I had stumbled on this idea recently, so I looked through the stash and did it.

The outer fabric was left over from the back of Rachel's Quilt. The inside is from who knows where. I did buy the cord at 90 cents a metre from Spotlight. All up, a $3.00 play bag. I call that winning.

It's only about a metre around, but it fits all of the duplo very comfortably and there is room for growth too, so it will do suitably for now. Hooray!

Sophie's Tent

My dear Sophie turned two a few weeks ago, which was celebrated with much gusto. 2nd birthdays are considerably more fun, in my opinion, because the child can actually participate and understand the situation. Perhaps not fully yet, but certainly a great deal more than a one year old. Sophie was quick to understand that "birthday" meant cake and friends. She also had much fun opening presents. Maybe she's yet to grasp the fact that an entire year of her life has passed and thus is the reason for this celebration, but that's small potatoes compared to the other stuff right?

The birthday present for this year was a tent. I've made these before (one for Sophie's cousin Cooper (here and here) and also for her friends Sam and Jimmy (here)) so it was an easy and quick thing to make this one. They really are fun. Sophie likes to put her stuffed toys in hers. And also play peek a boo. One day I'm hoping that she also likes to just lie down and read in there too (which is what my tent activity of choice would be).

The outer fabric was from my mum (a Spotlight bargain apparently) and I lined it with some sheer material that had a silver star print on it (also from mum funnily enough, but a hand-me-down one). So glad I did actually, because Sophie is all about stars at the moment. Here is Rachel completing a structural check before allowing tent entry. 

I again, drilled all of those holes myself and varnished the wood. Steve stapled some ribbon onto the top of the tent poles to stop them from slipping outwards on the wooden floors (good work Steve! Sorry I don't have a photo of your good work.) The top has a few rubber bands on the dowels to stop things slipping off (another good call Steve). 

Different to the previous two tents, I actually bought two extra pieces of dowel and put them down the bottoms to help things stay straight. It helped immensely with keeping the tent fabric from sagging in on people's heads. I feel a little bad for not having done that with the other two, but in my defence, I didn't know how it would all work as an inside tent (and outside it's not really a problem because the grass keeps the legs stable). 

I strung some battery powered star lights along the top beam of the tent, which Sophie loves. Hooray! What a great handmade birthday present. :D

Car Roll Procrastination

In the lead up to Sophie's Birthday party, I was supposed to be making Teddy Bear headbands for all of the kids to wear at the party. When things started to look a little bleak though, I found that sewing those was the last thing I wanted to do. Thus procrastination began.

Luckily, Sophie is currently in the process of learning how to do her business the "grown up way" and we are giving her little cars as rewards for her success in this venture. So I decided she needed a place to keep her cars. Again, something I've made before. This time, I just used up some scrap fabric (some of which you may recognise from a tent, or a quilt ;)).

There is nothing like a good hour at the sewing machine to make you feel like life is not as bad as you thought after all.

Less than Fabulous

Less than fabulous really sums up for me the last few months of my life. Many wonderful things have happened, a few sad things too, but thought it all, I've just been feeling less than fabulous. While the rest of the world is getting on just fine, I'm struggling to be positive and get through each day. There is no way of pinpointing a start to all this, or way of saying exactly when it all began. It crept up on me like Simba learning to pounce.

Though I struggle with a bit of depression every now and then, what I'm currently going through is much more extended, and so far, much harder to come out of. I don't want to be quoting Joyce Meyer,  but I'm really feeling like my mind is the battle field that I'm fighting on every day. The smallest thing can make me think it's all over and there is no point to going on. I know this is not true, and try to counter strike, but it's a tough fight.

This is probably the reason I've been posting with much less frequency of late; come 7:00 when the kids are finally in bed, I'm not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally exhausted. For the record, I'm not trying to hide how I'm feeling for the sake of "putting on a good face". I know I'm supported and prayed for by many of the stellar people in my life. I know that God is good.

This is where I am though; at less than fabulous.

So if you're still with me, oh people of the internet, hang in there. One day, fabulous will be back. It's jut not here right now.

Picnic Activity Mat

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I can show you some of the things I had been working on earlier in the year but couldn't show you because they were going to be presents. Hooray! The biggest thing has been this. I've called it a Picnic Activity Mat, but actually it's more like a Toddler to Preschool Outdoor/Camping Trip/Picnic/Indoor Activity Mat.

Pretty much, I took a great idea (from here on Sew Mama Sew) and then jammed it with as much teaching, skills building, thought provoking, game providing, hours wasting, activities as I could. Of course, I did think I would just make one for my own girls, but after all the planning and how excited I was, I figured it would also make great Christmas presents for two other families who both have young boys. Then, I just made three of every square at a time. Sometimes mass production is a really good thing.

I wasn't sure how in depth to go with this post and telling you all about it, but to be perfectly honest, I'm really proud of my work and I feel it would be pretty sad if it didn't get a show. I've taken plenty of photos though, so hopefully the visual literacy will keep you interested.

So you've already seen the Bee and the Flowers, and know what it's supposed to be about. I suppose this is a good a time as any to mention that I worked very hard to just use fabric I had in my stash rather than go out for more. It's good to realise that I've got a lot of fabric and that I can actually use it up! These squares were perfect for using up little and big scraps. It also meant that each finished mat ended up with it's own personality, or quirky difference based on what I had on had. Win!

This square is pretty basic, I just stitched the words on the different colours. The idea is to send the kids off to find some nature thing that matches each colour. Also, you can talk about what colours things are in the natural world around us. And why. So good.

Another kind of colours based one is this rainbow ribbons square. Pretty self explanatory. I would have liked to have three strands of each colour for better braiding purposes, but I figure the kids can work something out anyway. Also, there is a hidden surprise on this square that I'll talk about later.

 These two squares really show off the scrap usage. The first one is all about shapes (duh) and the second is an eye spy. I'm not sure how much depth I need to go into to talking about what the squares can do. I mean, is it obvious that you can do shape recognition and then talk about what shapes you can see in nature? That you can play eye spy on the square and then talk about animals in nature? I don't know. These things are pretty obvious to me, but I'm a weird teacher who sees learning in everything...

These leaves are for kids to go out and find ones that match the shapes. Pretty fun, though that middle leaf is actually an Oak leaf, so I'm not sure they'll find one in Australia, but it will keep them amused for some time trying to find one right? He he he. So evil.

This square is pretty sensory. All of the different fabrics have a different texture and feel to them. It's not so much for the older kids, but the younger ones will probably like it. Though the extension activity could easily be talking about different textures in actual nature. Also using imagination to talk about what the sun or the clouds might feel like. Then having a lesson on the solar system, or the water cycle. Oh the endless possibilities.

These trees are a simple puzzle/fine motor skill activity in having to pull the leaves off and snap them back on. They are scraps of fabric stitched to felt for strength. I blanket stitched like crazy on these just for fun.

This dog face is another snaps one (actually, thanks to Jenny J of Sweet Sweet Bird for lending me her snaps to make these possible. Snaps yo!) but it's also more of a puzzle in getting the features in the right places. I'll take this chance to let you know if you were worried about those pieces getting lost, I also installed a handy velcro pocket on the back of the dog (and the tree) so that the pieces could be stored for travel or washing or whatever. Hopefully this will prevent them getting lost too soon.

The same velcro pocket is on the rainbow ribbons square and opens to reveal a little pouch with coloured beads inside.

Now the kids can practice some more fine motor skills by threading the beads onto the right colours of the rainbow! Is it more than you could have ever imagined? Probably.

Finally, I backed the boys mats with some car material (that yes, I did buy (but in my defence, I needed a large piece of fabric that was preferably at least a little water resistant)) that I picked up from Spotlight on the cheep. The basic quilting I did makes the back look good for car races.

The girls mat is backed in some boring calico and once I was done with it, I thought about making noughts and crosses pieces as another extension activity, but maybe later. Neither of my girls have the mental capacity for that kind of intense gaming just yet. 

Sophie was pretty excited to have a mat that she could actually play with this morning (after having already given the other two to their recipients she was happy to know this one was not leaving the house). 

Rachel was excited about eating things.

The adventure of these Activity Mats began back here in June and were posted about in irregular and illusive detail here, here (The Bee and the Flowers), here and here. Just in case you're interested.

Bags from Santa?

After much deliberation, Steve and I finally decided we will do the "Santa thing" with our girls. Setting out cookies and milk and carrots (for the reindeer of course!) and them actually getting a gift from Santa on Christmas Day. Once we decided that, it was suddenly obvious that we would need to actually have a gift to give the girls from Santa. So out came Sally one night and I whipped out these little bags.

I had been thinking about making something like these (since I had seen them at a craft show in Malney) so it was a good excuse to make them, though I would have preferred it to be without the Christmas deadline. 

I made the bags with some guidance from this bag tutorial from ikat bag (not sure I could recommend this blog highly enough. If you like sewing it's simply amazing. Also, she's an ex-teacher so she appeals to my over developed sense of learning in all things). There are a whole set of tutorials on bag making if you are intrested. These are made using scraps from the stash and I think they turned out rather nicely. 

Despite the effort to get these bags ready to be the girls gifts from Santa, we got home too late from church on Christmas Eve to set out cookies and milk and carrots, so Santa did not get a snack and there were no crumbs for the girls to find on Christmas morning. Also, as we were unwrapping presents, I realised that I'd forgotten to wrap them so they weren't even under the tree waiting and I had to do a quick dash to the bedroom and wrap them in some already discarded wrapping paper. Oh well. Maybe Santa will be more prepared next year.