https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Custom-T-shirts-and-Onesies/331612770259942
Or email gorgeous (dot) tshirts (at) gmail (dot) com
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Custom T-shirts and Onesies
Sooo beautiful!!
How to order:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Custom-T-shirts-and-Onesies/331612770259942
Or email gorgeous (dot) tshirts (at) gmail (dot) com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Custom-T-shirts-and-Onesies/331612770259942
Or email gorgeous (dot) tshirts (at) gmail (dot) com
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Crafty Ways
I LOVE making old things new again. And right now, while C is asleep, I actually have the time! So here are two projects that I am working on. I should warn you, I am neither talented nor willing to spend much money on these 'upcycles'. I also become extremely enthused about a project or craft, think it through for days, gather materials and begin, full-heartedly, then promptly become either bored, or tired. It frustrates my husband...AND me! So I cannot promise that these projects will actually be completed in full, but so far so good!
The first project is two T.V. trays that we have owned for about 7 years. They have moved with us from our first 400 sq ft apartment (where they took the place of a dining room table) to our first home (where they served as bedside tables in the very tiny spare bedroom) to our current home, where they have spent the last few years on the back porch. Needless to say, they are not in great condition, but I knew with a little TLC they could be useful, and even pretty, again.
Here are the before and afters:
Sorry, I take terrible pictures, obviously. And I thought I had a picture of the whole table before, but obviously not, hence the lame 'legs only' pic.
How did I do it? Contact paper and black paint. Seriously. It looks fab. You cannot even tell that it's contact paper. The whole project INCLUDING the next one, will, in the end, cost about $8.00. Amazing, and totally easy.
The next project is a very exciting one for me. I LOVE the end result of the chairs. We have about 25 chairs in the basement inherited from our university years and family members and old dining room sets over the years, and I think my new summer project will be painting and redoing all of them. Yay!
Again, contact paper and black paint.
Aren't they SOOOO pretty? And totally easy, again. Because they are no works of art obviously but a little bit of work makes such a difference. And the black and white looks spectacular in my backyard beside all the greenery.
The first project is two T.V. trays that we have owned for about 7 years. They have moved with us from our first 400 sq ft apartment (where they took the place of a dining room table) to our first home (where they served as bedside tables in the very tiny spare bedroom) to our current home, where they have spent the last few years on the back porch. Needless to say, they are not in great condition, but I knew with a little TLC they could be useful, and even pretty, again.
Here are the before and afters:
Sorry, I take terrible pictures, obviously. And I thought I had a picture of the whole table before, but obviously not, hence the lame 'legs only' pic.
How did I do it? Contact paper and black paint. Seriously. It looks fab. You cannot even tell that it's contact paper. The whole project INCLUDING the next one, will, in the end, cost about $8.00. Amazing, and totally easy.
The next project is a very exciting one for me. I LOVE the end result of the chairs. We have about 25 chairs in the basement inherited from our university years and family members and old dining room sets over the years, and I think my new summer project will be painting and redoing all of them. Yay!
Again, contact paper and black paint.
Aren't they SOOOO pretty? And totally easy, again. Because they are no works of art obviously but a little bit of work makes such a difference. And the black and white looks spectacular in my backyard beside all the greenery.
Monday, 16 April 2012
Floor bed contest
Bedstart is an online community for parents who use or are interested in floor bed for their children. Check it out - lots of beautiful and inspiring rooms to see. They are having a contest right now!
http://www.bedstart.com/contests/website-launch-contest/
http://www.bedstart.com/contests/website-launch-contest/
Thursday, 22 March 2012
More Art
We have had the best, most unexpected sunny and warm weather this week!
Since we are hosting Easter this year, I decided C would make the placemats, giving us something fun and arty to do outside. I hauled his high chair and another chair out to the front yard, a bunch of white paper, and his snack (grapes and freshly 'juiced' pineapple juice -he has a cold and pineapple has a lot of vit c).
To make the paint, I took (nearly expired) sour cream and mixed it with a bit of vanilla yogurt (just to increase the amount a bit, the sc on its own would have been fine) and since I only had blue food colouring, I microwaved two bowls - one containing frozen black and blueberries, and the other with strawberries - for about 3 minutes. The resulting juice was poured into the sour cream (which was in three separate bowls) - the strawberries made pink 'paint' and the blue and blackberries made purple. I used the blue food colouring to do the third baby blue colour.
Since we are hosting Easter this year, I decided C would make the placemats, giving us something fun and arty to do outside. I hauled his high chair and another chair out to the front yard, a bunch of white paper, and his snack (grapes and freshly 'juiced' pineapple juice -he has a cold and pineapple has a lot of vit c).
To make the paint, I took (nearly expired) sour cream and mixed it with a bit of vanilla yogurt (just to increase the amount a bit, the sc on its own would have been fine) and since I only had blue food colouring, I microwaved two bowls - one containing frozen black and blueberries, and the other with strawberries - for about 3 minutes. The resulting juice was poured into the sour cream (which was in three separate bowls) - the strawberries made pink 'paint' and the blue and blackberries made purple. I used the blue food colouring to do the third baby blue colour.
I added a little bit of flour to the purple and pink bowls since the juice watered it down quite a bit. The flour allowed me to add as much juice as needed to get the colour correct. It worked really well. I was very pleased with the results.
Because C had to paint 12 of the 'placemats', I put the bowls of paint beside his chair and dabbed a spoonful of each paint colour on the paper for him. He would smoosh it around, rub it off the paper sometimes, and occasionally lift the paper up to crumple the crap out if it. Sometimes I did all three colours, and sometimes only one or two. Near the end though, all the placemats were blue. He was quite verbal about the blue bowl of paint, and so it was used a lot.
When they had dried completely (this took a while, so I just left them overnight) I gave each one a blue border with regular blue computer paper, and laminated them (I am a kindergarten teacher. Laminating is one of my very favourite things, ever). They are beautiful!
Success, and a happy baby.
(Note: He stuck his fingers in his mouth once, to try the paint - was obviously not inpressed with the taste, and did not do it again.)
Friday, 16 March 2012
Art and Crafts for Baby
My little guy loves doing art and crafts. I SCOUR the internet on a regular basis trying to find new ideas. Since he is so young and most everything ends up in his mouth at some point during the activity, one must choose these activities wisely. Here is a list of the things we have done so far:
1. Mixing colours
This can be done a few ways. You can probably come up with a few more based on the items in your home. We have done it twice so far -- once with bottles of water and food colouring, and once with condiments.
Water: We found 6 empty water bottles (500 ml) and filled them half full of water. I added (with C watching, intently) a few drops of food colouring (red) to one bottle, put the lid back on, and handed it to C. First he pointed at it, and watched the swirls, then he shook and played with it for a minute. Then, of course, he eventually bit it. We moved on to the next bottle (blue) and followed the same procedure, and finally yellow (we used a lot of food colouring for this one). When he exhausted all the good times with the three bottles, I took a fourth bottle, poured in half of the red water, then slowly added half of the yellow water and made orange. (If I were to do this again, I would add the red to the yellow instead, much more visual!!) Then yellow and blue to another bottle to make green, and finally blue and red to a sixth to make purple. He loved it. He absolutely LOVES the bottles, and plays with them often. He has always been a fan of empty plastic bottles, maybe because we do not usually have them at our home, so he only sees them occasionally, and they do make lovely noises.
Condiments: I took a large ziploc bag, and squirted some yellow mustard into one corner of it. Then, into the other side of the bag I poured red catalina salad dressing. (The contrast is nice. You can use anything you like.) Sealed it well, and handed it to C. Well, he thought it was the best thing ever. Of course he inspected it with the tip of his index finger first, but was soon squishing and squeezing the goop inside. I think the cold of the condiments made it even more interesting. He played with the bag until the colours were thoroughly mixed (and a horrible, awful brownish orange, perhaps next time we'll use ketchup) or about 15 minutes, when he promptly threw the bag on the floor. Right. Moving on...
Yogurt: I gave C a bit of vanilla yogurt, a piece of paper and a small paint brush. MOST of it went in his mouth. The stuff that ended up on the paper mostly got there from his fingers. Because we do BLW and he recently learned how to use dippers, I think he was a little mislead with the whole exercise. Poor kid. This would probably work well with a child who has not yet had the chance to feed him or herself.
Finger painting: I mixed some plain yogurt with a bit of food colouring, and put it in a very serious looking pot, so C might not be confused by the whole eating thing again. I attached a plate to these amazing plate-suckers-on-to-tables that I got online sometime ago (http://www.lildiner.com), suctioned it to his high chair tray, and drew a picture of a butterfly on the plate with the red yogurt with my finger. C watched me nicely, then promptly and quite aggressively erased my butterfly. I exchanged my plate for a fresh one, and he dabbled nicely with it all for quite some time. Eventually I got bored with the serious pot and dumped the remainder of the paint on his tray.
Finger painting 2: I made some edible paint using this recipe:
http://thewhoot.com.au/whoot-news/crafty-corner/fern%E2%80%99s-fabulous-recipe-for-toddler-safe-paint#.T1lc6lwmkDY.facebook
This time I decided to use paper, and taped a 1/2 piece of white computer paper to the highchair tray. I gave C a small plate (attached to the plate-sucker-on-to-table thingy again) with three splotches of paint on it (red, yellow, blue). He had a blast, and it's very safe to say that the art he created is gift worthy.
So far so good!!
M
1. Mixing colours
This can be done a few ways. You can probably come up with a few more based on the items in your home. We have done it twice so far -- once with bottles of water and food colouring, and once with condiments.
Water: We found 6 empty water bottles (500 ml) and filled them half full of water. I added (with C watching, intently) a few drops of food colouring (red) to one bottle, put the lid back on, and handed it to C. First he pointed at it, and watched the swirls, then he shook and played with it for a minute. Then, of course, he eventually bit it. We moved on to the next bottle (blue) and followed the same procedure, and finally yellow (we used a lot of food colouring for this one). When he exhausted all the good times with the three bottles, I took a fourth bottle, poured in half of the red water, then slowly added half of the yellow water and made orange. (If I were to do this again, I would add the red to the yellow instead, much more visual!!) Then yellow and blue to another bottle to make green, and finally blue and red to a sixth to make purple. He loved it. He absolutely LOVES the bottles, and plays with them often. He has always been a fan of empty plastic bottles, maybe because we do not usually have them at our home, so he only sees them occasionally, and they do make lovely noises.
Condiments: I took a large ziploc bag, and squirted some yellow mustard into one corner of it. Then, into the other side of the bag I poured red catalina salad dressing. (The contrast is nice. You can use anything you like.) Sealed it well, and handed it to C. Well, he thought it was the best thing ever. Of course he inspected it with the tip of his index finger first, but was soon squishing and squeezing the goop inside. I think the cold of the condiments made it even more interesting. He played with the bag until the colours were thoroughly mixed (and a horrible, awful brownish orange, perhaps next time we'll use ketchup) or about 15 minutes, when he promptly threw the bag on the floor. Right. Moving on...
Painting
Painting is the MOST fun. Finger painting especially. Do it sometime. If I were in charge of the world, I would make everyone spend at least ten minutes a day colouring and finger painting. Both are therapeutic and finger painting is honestly one of the best crafts ever.
We use homemade food-based paint since everything goes in his mouth. But actually, he does not eat it. It is really just a precaution in case he sucks his fingers etc, while he is painting.
For cleanliness, I cover his high chair tray with a plastic grocery bag. (We have few of these. So when he is finished, I wash the bag and let it dry for use again.) Garbage bags work well too. I either tie or tape the bag to the tray. For baby, in the warm weather he can do this outside, naked. Until then, I use old clothes that are big and comfy and can get painted on. It's great to have a few of these outfits. We use them everytime he does a messy art project, and actually, they are starting to look pretty cool themselves! Another idea is an old t-shirt of dad's or mom's -- you can either cut out the sleeves and up the seam on either side and use it smock-style, or you can leave it as is and, to make it fit nicely, gather the extra material at the baby's back and hold with a ponytail elastic. (Note: for smock-style, I suggest cutting the sleeves into a few strips and tying them together end to end to make a sort of loose belt for holding the smock nicely around baby's waist.)
Yogurt: I gave C a bit of vanilla yogurt, a piece of paper and a small paint brush. MOST of it went in his mouth. The stuff that ended up on the paper mostly got there from his fingers. Because we do BLW and he recently learned how to use dippers, I think he was a little mislead with the whole exercise. Poor kid. This would probably work well with a child who has not yet had the chance to feed him or herself.
Finger painting: I mixed some plain yogurt with a bit of food colouring, and put it in a very serious looking pot, so C might not be confused by the whole eating thing again. I attached a plate to these amazing plate-suckers-on-to-tables that I got online sometime ago (http://www.lildiner.com), suctioned it to his high chair tray, and drew a picture of a butterfly on the plate with the red yogurt with my finger. C watched me nicely, then promptly and quite aggressively erased my butterfly. I exchanged my plate for a fresh one, and he dabbled nicely with it all for quite some time. Eventually I got bored with the serious pot and dumped the remainder of the paint on his tray.
Finger painting 2: I made some edible paint using this recipe:
http://thewhoot.com.au/whoot-news/crafty-corner/fern%E2%80%99s-fabulous-recipe-for-toddler-safe-paint#.T1lc6lwmkDY.facebook
This time I decided to use paper, and taped a 1/2 piece of white computer paper to the highchair tray. I gave C a small plate (attached to the plate-sucker-on-to-table thingy again) with three splotches of paint on it (red, yellow, blue). He had a blast, and it's very safe to say that the art he created is gift worthy.
So far so good!!
M
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Top Ten Baby Toys
This is a list of my 11 month old son's current favourite 'toys'. ('Toys' being the operative word!)
10. A box of tissues
9. A tiny soccer ball
8. A green ball
7. My BlackBerry
6. A small wooden chair
5. A little plastic man
4. A wooden mallet, from his xylophone (like the one on the floor in this pic)
3. A wrench
2. A wooden meter stick
1. A hard cardboard roll (from aluminum foil)
10. Crinkly wrappers
8. The remote control
7. Ribbon
6. A headband (plastic, with the little combs)
5. A soft rattle, in the shape of a 'C' (not the one below, but similar in fabric and colour)
4. A large, heavy glass paperweight
3. Ring stacking toy
2. A metal necklace
1. His toothbrush
The point of sharing this is that time and again I come across parents (and I know you do too!) who buy every piece of crap toy on earth for their child, and everyone knows most of the time the box is more interesting than some of the toys out there. Children love to explore and create, so I would encourage you to be mindful of the items children are given to play with. Imagination is a wonderful thing! Since infants learn through the senses, it interests us that C chooses things that feel fun -- cold metals, warm wooden toys, and soft fabrics. The plastic stuff holds very little weight in his activity choice.
(Please note: none of these photos are mine. If you are interested in who owns/took the photo please message me and I will send you the info of the rightful owners)
10. A box of tissues
9. A tiny soccer ball
8. A green ball
7. My BlackBerry
6. A small wooden chair
5. A little plastic man
4. A wooden mallet, from his xylophone (like the one on the floor in this pic)
3. A wrench
2. A wooden meter stick
1. A hard cardboard roll (from aluminum foil)
At six months, his top ten favourite 'toys' were:
10. Crinkly wrappers
9. A metal bracelet
8. The remote control
7. Ribbon
6. A headband (plastic, with the little combs)
5. A soft rattle, in the shape of a 'C' (not the one below, but similar in fabric and colour)
4. A large, heavy glass paperweight
3. Ring stacking toy
2. A metal necklace
1. His toothbrush
The point of sharing this is that time and again I come across parents (and I know you do too!) who buy every piece of crap toy on earth for their child, and everyone knows most of the time the box is more interesting than some of the toys out there. Children love to explore and create, so I would encourage you to be mindful of the items children are given to play with. Imagination is a wonderful thing! Since infants learn through the senses, it interests us that C chooses things that feel fun -- cold metals, warm wooden toys, and soft fabrics. The plastic stuff holds very little weight in his activity choice.
(Please note: none of these photos are mine. If you are interested in who owns/took the photo please message me and I will send you the info of the rightful owners)
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Montessori Books
People often ask me if I can recommend any Montessori books. Here they are:
Infant/Montessori at home:
1. How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way - Tim Seldin
2. Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three - Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen
3. The Absorbent Mind - Maria Montessori
4. Teaching Montessori in the Home - the Preschool Years
- the School Years - both by Elizabeth Hainstock
Montessori theory books:
1. The Montessori Method - Maria Montessori
2. The Discovery of the Child - Maria Montessori
3. The Secret of Childhood - Maria Montessori
Infant/Montessori at home:
1. How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way - Tim Seldin
2. Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three - Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen
3. The Absorbent Mind - Maria Montessori
4. Teaching Montessori in the Home - the Preschool Years
- the School Years - both by Elizabeth Hainstock
Montessori theory books:
1. The Montessori Method - Maria Montessori
2. The Discovery of the Child - Maria Montessori
3. The Secret of Childhood - Maria Montessori
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