Woolly Buzzing Bees

These Woolly Buzzing Bees kept the kids nice and entertained while the weather was woolly outside over the weekend. Going along with our "insect" theme, these were perfect.

All you need is;

A toilet roll

Yellow Wool

Black Wool

Googly eyes

Baking paper

Craft glue

All you need it do is;

Run a small line of glue along the roll and secure the end of your Yellow wool.

Wrap it around and around to your hearts content.

Then wrap some black wool around a few times to create some black bee stripes.

Glue the pre cut Baking Paper wings onto the top and then the googly eyes.

Bzzz bzzz bzzz

* This craft was quite quick to complete and all the equipment we had on hand, however Stella was the only child that had enough co- ordination to complete the wrapping by herself and she is 4.
This activity may be for older children, or ones with more co ordination!! haha

Choc Bit Slice

This weekend, the weather here has been so wild and woolly, a lot of inside activities were had. One of them being some baking!
Today I whipped up this super easy slice, and yesterday it was yummy Vanilla slice, with passion fruit icing!! Not good for the figure, but good for the soul, and for the visitors that have been popping in for a cuppa!

This slice , has become a staple in our home over the years. The recipe was given to me , in the hand written cookbook ,my sister gave to us as a Wedding present. Its full of family and favourite recipes and gets used almost daily!

Each time I make it, its that little bit different, as its so easy to adapt with whatever you have in the pantry or to try something new.

No Bowl Choc Bit Slice

90g butter, melted
1 1/2 cups choc bits
1 cup mixed nuts , chopped ( I just used chopped peanuts)
1 cup sweet biscuit crumbs ( I use Milk Arrowroot's)
1 cup Shredded Coconut ( I used desiccated)
400g can Sweet Condensed Milk

*That is the basic recipe but today I have added Glace Cherries, Sultanas and slithered almonds for the top.
Other ingredients you can try are; Mixed dried fruit, oats, sunflower seeds, lollies (eeek), dried apricots

Method
Prepare your slice tray with grease paper and grease.
Pour butter into prepared pan and sprinkle evenly with biscuit crumbs
Sprinkle choc bits, coconut and nuts (and whatever else you choose to add) onto the biscuit base.
Drizzle the can of Condensed Milk over the top , covering the whole slice.
Bake in a moderate oven for about 30 mins, or until slightly browned.
Cool in the pan before cutting and refrigerate.
Enjoy

This really is so easy, and I love that it can be adapted to a healthier slice (as it can be ) or full of naughty stuff. I have given this in my Christmas gift bags  for the past few years and tend to make it for anything we go to.
I also love having a recipe that I have most of the ingredients for in the pantry, and that doesn't contain an egg, its always the times you need one, that they have run out!

I hope you enjoy it!

Paper Plate Lady Bugs

You may have noticed we have been crafting a lot lately? Boredom busters for crazy 2 year olds!!

We put to use the paper plates we painted the other day, and set to creating a few lady bugs.

You will need equipment as follows;

Painted plates

Black card stock

Some circles cut out of black card

A few antenna cut out of black card

A stapler

Craft glue

A few boggley eyes!

Firstly cut out a semi circle shape from the black card. I traced around a bowl and then cut them out.

Staple to the top of the plate, and staple the antennae to the black card. This is the lady bugs head

Glue the black circles wherever you please. Then glue the boggley eyes to the black head at the top.

Ta-da!!!

An alternative to the black circles could also be,  a pack of black dot stickers, painted black spots or even a potato stamped spot.

This craft session seriously only took 15 minutes , including the clean up, as I had everything prepared and ready to go!

We are going to make a few more 'insect' related crafts, as that is our theme at the moment , then we are moving on to an "Ocean" theme as Stella has just completed this at kindy last term.

Happy crafting!

Cotton Tip Flowers

So... I like to craft alot with my kids.

But I don't like to spend alot of money on it, or go to much effort!

Sounds bad huh?

But at least I do it yeah?

This little crafty session was quite impomptu,as I had seen the picture on Pinterest this morning and knew it was super easy.And I had everything on hand.

Actually I do believe everyone would have the stuff on hand.

source

Cotton Tip Flowers

You will need;

A handful of cotton tips per child

A button for the centre

A cotton ball for the centre

Pipe cleaner in a green colour

A piece of cardstock

Craft glue

Optional; glitter

Now here is where I say I changed my mind. Today I used the glue, I had two 2 year olds, having them in charge of the glue is like tempting fate and I was not that brave today. Anyhoo.... I tried to glue the pipe cleaner down and it wouldn't stay. I knew it was going to take too long to dry so I decided to cut some green card for a stem and flowers instead. Just as effective and probably even better for storing in their craft folders.

I glued on the stem, leaf and then put little rows of glue around a centre blob and let the kids go for it and stick the cotton tips on.

Do not be afraid if it doesn't look too good, it is a kids craft activity after all, and I have to keep reminding myself , they are only just 2!! But that is also the beauty of glue, it dries clear!! Win!!
All that unsightly mess, vanishes with a bit of drying time!

Once all the cotton tips were stuck around the edge and the cotton ball was glued to the centre, we then put a little dob of glue on the top of it.

I let them sprinkle some fine glitter to the top and put there button on for a flower centre.

They look super gorgeous up on their art display canvas, and actually match perfectly with the toilet roll craft we did the other day too!!

I love how proud Max and Lacey get of their finished artworks, showing so much joy when they get hung up for all to see!

Such a quick and clean craft session, but with super cute results!!

This would also look fantastic in a smaller version , with the cotton tips cut up, on a card or small canvas as a gift.

To see more cotton tip craft, remember we painted Boomerangs for Australia Day ? POST HERE

The next craft session I will be posting about, we finished today. We used those paper plates we painted red the other day! If you want to craft with us, it would be a good idea to paint your plates soon too, so they are dry for the fun creating to happen! 

Big Girl Routines

With Stella starting Kindy this year, it has brought quite a few more jobs to be done for me in the morning and afternoons. To encourage independence (and to help me out a little) we have assigned a few chores to Stella. I was finding that some days she would do them, other days she would forget, get to caught up in playing with Max and Lacey or would just get bitten by the lazy bug!

So.... I created these charts, to be placed in a good position for her, so that she had something to inspire her , and look to when she didn't know what to do next.

I really wanted wording and pictures, as she is not up to the reading stage yet and couldn't find anything on the WWW or even Pinterest. The ones I did find, did not have the chores in the right order and often called the toilet "The Potty" which is obviouly American , but it just doesn't feel right to be using it.

I also found that alot of the charts had the children getting dressed first, in the morning, and then eating breakfast!! Gee, if we did it this way, Stella would be heading to school with Jam smeared all over her top or Milk dropped on her pants from her cereal!

They are very jobs, and ones that she does day in and day out, with a few exceptions of a school bag and lunch box but its nice to have it formalised in some way!

We placed it here, on the end of the kitchen bench as it is at Stella's height, wasn't going to ruin any walls or fall off the fridge etc and is a thorough fare for everyone! Plus her main jobs are bringing her cooler bag to the kitchen to be emptied, etc so it made sense.

So far, so good, but its only early days. The charts in themselves are proving to be quite popular, with Max and Lacey standing there and saying what they think each picture is! SO cute, and great for speech practice (not that they need any, they don't stop talking all day!)
Do you use a chart or flashcards for your morning and evening rituals? Do you do your chores in the same order as we do? I am always curious about that!


If you are interested in using these charts for yourself and your kiddies,  I have made these Charts available as a free printable. They are nothing fancy , but are just what we needed and may be right for you too!

MORNING ROUTINE

AFTERNOON/NIGHT ROUTINE

I hope you like them, and if you do end up using them, I would love to see where you have put them!

Roll Painting

If there is one thing that most kids love to do, is paint!! And in my experience (and a daily occurrence in our house) they also seem to be interested in Toilet Paper and toilet rolls!! Hmmm nice

Whilst Stella was at Kindy the other day, and my DH was sick in bed, I decided we needed to do something rather fun and a bit special. I usually like to reserve our craft and painting time to when Stella is at home, but as Max and Lacey are getting growing up, and Stella is bringing home lots of beautiful artwork from school, I figure its OK to do a few activities without her.

I saw this cool idea on Pinterest and seeing as though the kids enjoyed when we did it for a Valentines Day activity, I knew they would like doing it again.

Toilet Roll Paint Stamping

All you need is;

 a few toilet rolls

 ( Weird to say but I try and buy the ones that when empty, leave a clean roll , not with some paper still stuck to the glue!! ewwww!!)

Water based paints in a few colours of your choice

Plain paper or card stock

Art Smocks

Optional- Wipes or a flannel on hand for the little messes!! Ohh they will happen alright!

Simply cut the ends of the toilet roll in a pattern or design of your choice and even bend a few in a shape (like the love heart) . As above

I even left one just as a plain circle.

I put a few different colours on a paper plain for each child. I like using plates as they make for an easy paint clean up when you just chuck them!

And let them stamp away

And our Finished artworks;

When they were finished, I also let them stamp a large piece of brown paper each, off a roll I have in the cupboard. To use as pretty wrapping paper in the near future.

Why not put your paintings to good use and share the love?!

Once they had completed their stamping paintings, the area was quite clean and not much mess had been made, until.....................

I thought it was a good idea to paint a few plates red, for an activity we will be doing next week.

There was red paint for miles!! Thankfully its water based paint!

Sheesh

Shopping for Bargains...

After the post on our Wardrobe tidy up, I had a request for a post on some of my favourite online shopping haunts!!

Well the reason we have a 94L storage tub at the top of our wardrobe that is nearly full, ready and organised for Christmas and birthdays next year, is because I like to purchase things when they are on sale.
Let it be known I am a scrooge. I hardly ever buy something full price, and like to wait until something comes on special or super sale before I buy it! Call it money savvy , call it tight, either way, it has meant that we have been able to cloth our kids in name brand clothes we probably wouldn't have been able to afford normally, have bought some bargains for around the home and all from the comfort of my lounge or bed!! Can't argue with that!

Now I mentioned in the wardrobe post , that I buy a bit from Ozsale!! I really LOVE Ozsale! I love it so much, I don't know whether I should be telling you all about it!
Ozsale is an online, members online shopping site. When you sign up as a member, you are signing up to receive emails everyday , alerting you of new brands and products that have commenced sale that day. The sales quite a few days or so , and over this time, you purchase straight from Ozsale. You can save up to 80% off the RRP of Designer labels. Anything and everything goes, baby and kids clothing, shoes, home wares, linen, Manchester, furniture, electrical goods. You name it.
I have pretty much clothed Angus is all Pure Baby or Max and Tilly for his short little 7 month life, all for a fraction of the cost, off Ozsale and the other subscription sites.
These are Buy Invite, Brands Exclusive, Catch of the Day .

Some other sites I use are Deals Direct- for absolutely everything and anything.
Ezi Buy- for Homewares, Manchester and clothing.

There are also the obvious ones like Ebay, Made it , Etsy etc.

But my biggest advice if you are in for a bargain, and have a love of the good quality, yet high priced brands? Sign up to their mailing lists.
Receive their emails. It might be another few emails in your Inbox (that make you feel totally loved) but if it means you are going to be notified of a sale ahead of everyone else, or given a codeword to use at the check out to redeem your discount, isn't it worth it?

Just lately I have been lucky enough to purchase for myself ( to be put away as a Christmas present of course) a new Oroton leather handbag. This bag is usually $700!! But I scored it for $200!!! Yes, that's still A LOT (or alot depending on how picky you are!) of money. But for a designer leather handbag?! So cheap, and all because I am signed up to their newsletter and was alerted of the sale, if I had not have got the email, perhaps I wouldn't have known about it!

Or I was able to buy a few things from Bambini Pronto because they had a massive sale too!! 40% off!! Whats not to like about buying something at nearly cost price?

I hope I have helped, other than the places I have listed, I just purchase off the websites and baby/kids boutiques that I am subscribed to , and only during a sale.
The thing about living in the country, even though where I live is actually a city, we still don't have much choice in the way of shopping. We have one department store, which is Target and that's it. This means that when we do get a break and head south to Perth, we shop til we drop, and nab some bargains then at Harbour Town etc, but we don't have the liberty to do this all the time, in fact about twice a year!! But sometimes that is just enough to satisfy the shopping bug, yet keep the finances under control!!

Speaking of sales and finances, Kikki K is having 25% off their Blue products until Sunday, using a codeword!! So why wouldn't you want to subscribe?!

If anyone would like invitations to the above companies, please email me or leave a message and I will send one out!!