Project: Elongating Old Toddler Coat :)

My girl has got a coat that she has been wearing for the past two years and simply refuses to say "goodbye" to it :) It was getting too short on her arms and general length.. I must have been thinking about it, because last week I had a dream of her wearing this coat with some fur attached to the bottom of it, the sleeves extended and a lovely foxy hat matching it. So following my dream I went to a haberdashery shop, got some fake fur and done exactly what I saw in the dream :) I also made a little hand warmer to go on her neck as she refuses to wear gloves and then complains about cold hands :D 

Coat before alterations :) 

Beetroot Muffins :)

Rainy days call for some different activities and last week we found a lovely beetroot muffin recipe that we thought we should try out :) 

I wouldn't say the muffins were particularly tasty, but the process of making them was great fun and it seems we have another beetroot lover in the family :) 

Rainy Evening Body-parts Craft Project :)

Another fun activity we did with my little one - body parts. I've cut body parts for a little person from various colored paper scraps and she had a task of putting them together into a picture and then customizing it with drawing :) She loved how it all came together :)

Body parts :)

Gluing in progress :D

It is coming together :)

Adding detail :)

Tree :D

Happy artist :)

Finished job :) 

"Turn Old Sweater into a Dress" project :)

I looove remaking old clothes into new things and recently I've been sorting our loft out. While doing that i came across loads of old hubby's  clothes that I was about to throw away. Then I realized  that all this is a pile of good material worth recycling! So my latest project was making an old sweater into a dress and pair of leggings for my two year old :) I used the sleeves for leggings and the middle bit for the dress. Added a collar and pockets made from old t-shirt.

 She loves her new dress and especially the pockets, where she can put a few toys :D

The starting point - daddy's old sweater :)

And here she is trying to fit a toy cow into her pocket :D

Finished dress and leggings :)

Scone and sun day :)

We love scones that were freshly baked and served with fresh clotted cream and raspberry jam :)

So here's our favorite recipe :)

Ingredients:

400g self-raising flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

80g butter

250ml milk

and some flour for dusting

Preparation:

1. Oven on 220C. Line baking tray with baking paper and dust it with flour.

2. Sieve flour to the bowl, add sugar and butter and rub it together with your fingers, 

until it looks like bread crumbs.

3. Add milk and mix everything together until you've got a nice ball ow dough.

4. Roll it to about 2cm thick and cut scones with a round biscuit cutter

 (or scone cutter if you've got one).

5. Put them on the baking tray with 1-2cm gaps between them and brush them with some milk.

6. Bake in the oven for about 15 min or until golden :) 

Serve with raspberry jam and clotted cream or butter 

Mmmmm... Looking all rustic :)

Relaxing with daddy :)

Project: Backgammon Board from Floor Tile :)

WE love playing backgammon. Last summer while we were on holiday in Preila (Lithuania), we found a perfect outdoor backgammon board near the place where we were staying. Some artists during their summer camp made it out of old plywood board and some pebbles from the beech. Since then we were thinking of making something similar our selves. We had some tiles left from flooring our kitchen. So my husband got one out and I started painting :) 

Here's how it came out :)

Painting the tile

Painting finished. We sprayed it with few coats of plastic

First game :)

Amber dice

Black and pink pebbles 

Recycling Project: Coffee Filter Butterflies :)

A friend of mine had couple of boxes of old coffee filters that she wasn't using. So I thought maybe I can somehow incorporate them in our art projects. Here's one of  them that we did.

We used coffee filters, scissors, paint and wooden clothes pegs.

(click on image to enlarge)

I've cut the rough side of the filter first, then cut the other side open.

We then painted them 

We used old wooden pegs as bodies

With a peg on

Cut antennae out of another filter, pegged them and voila!

We are using them as a dining room decoration :D

Cardboard Box Fun :)

My little one's favorite song at the moment is 'Row row row your boat' :) So inspired by her I've 'constructed' a little boat for her out of a cardboard box :) All I used was a box, some tape and scissors!

All taped and ready :) Even soft cushion inside :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7otAJa3jui8

Daddy is joining in too!

How to Keep Kids Busy on a Rainy Afternoon :)

What to do with kids on a gloomy rainy afternoon? What would you do? Maybe some beauty therapy? But we don't one little ones starting polishing their nails and slapping creams on :D So I came up with an idea. I collected few bottles of cheep nail varnish together, some paper and pens. We drew around our feet and hands, drew nails and then polished them! They loved it! And the best thing, the boys can try out the girly stuff without losing their pride :)

Home made Fruit Ice-cream :)

I saw a photo some time ago of lovely fruity ice-cream somewhere online. So when it got really hot (which doesn't happen very often in Wales) I thought I'll try and replicate it. It came out pretty good actually! The only thin I would change is probably putting cherries instead of strawberries for the red colour. Strawberries had way too much water in them and just didn't taste of anything.  The rest of fruit (banana, kiwi, blueberries) was great, because it had more body to it. I've packed the fruit into the molds and poured Pina Colada juice mix on top, which added a nice tropical twist to it :) 

Here's how it came out :)

Kid-friendly Chopsticks :)

We eat a variety of foods and often I'll cook some Chinese food. Of course the Chinese food should be only eaten with chopsticks :) And when our little one sees us using them, she wants to try as well. Only problem - her fingers are too small and trying to explain to a two year old which finger is suppose to do what is impossible :D So I made her a pair of chopsticks that are easy to use :) 

She loooved them !!!

I used a wooden peg, cheep chopsticks with flat sides and rubber band.

Testing new chopsticks on pasta :)

New Game with Floral Oasis :)

Here's little something to do on a rainy day with your toddler ;) My little one looooved it! We used a block of floral oasis foam to hammer some nails into :) Great for her motor skills too! Simple and so much fun :)