Monthly Archives: May 2010

5 Great Finds: Cookies, Freebies, Box Template, Eraser Stamps, Kid’s giftware

Posted on by

6

LEARN TO ICE COOKIES LIKE THE PROFESSIONALS

Watch this video at “University of Cookie” to learn how to do basic outlining and flooding to make professional looking cookies.

http://www.universityofcookie.com/2010/05/basic-outlining-flooding-for-decorating.html

While you’re at it you should stop by Bridget’s blog (who is from University of Cookie) where she shares beautiful photos and tutorials for all her gorgeously decorated cookies and mouth watering recipes!

http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2010/05/strawberry-picking.html

Check out the detailed tutorial on how to make these cookies for your children’s teacher. There is a link for the free downloadable topper as well!

http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2010/04/for-very-popular-teacher.html

AWESOME WEEKLY FREEBIES FROM AROUND THE INTERNET

I just love all the amazing things that Kellie from 74 Lime Lane seems to find from all over the web for us! It’s one of my favourite blogs at the moment.  I love her “Friday Freebies”.

http://74limelane.com.au/category/friday-freebie/

GET THIS CUTE BOX TEMPLATE!

Now that Kellie has opened my eyes to the world of downloadable stationery (I just feel excited thinking about it!) I went for a search and I was amazed at what was out there! Check out this box template by Melissa at IS•LY (also known as I Still Love You). It is so cute!

http://melissaesplin.com/home/2009/08/rainy-day-cloud-box-download-thoughts/

HAND CARVED ERASER STAMPS

Amy from Chick Chick Sewing has made some cute stamps using an eraser and her craft knife! In her post, she has included some links to some blogs that show you how to do them.

I can just imagine turning some of my children’s artwork into stamps!

http://chickchicksewing.blogspot.com/2009/11/hand-carved-eraser-stamps.html

CUTE ONLINE STORE AND FREE DELIVERY FOR NEW ZEALAND ORDERS

Have a look at all the cute children’s things 3 Wishes have to offer!

They are currently offering FREE delivery for orders within New Zealand until the end of July!

If you are overseas, they will contact you about how much freight is…but it may be worth it, as the prices are really reasonable and with the currency conversion it makes some items a bargain!

http://www.3wishes.co.nz/

Check out this awesome Spy Writing Set for only NZ$5.20! (While stocks last! I have already ordered some for my kids’ letter writing and for presents)

Disclosure: Like with everything else, I just stumbled across this website, and thought I would let you all know about it. No free goodies or payments coming my way except knowing that it may be helpful to some of you ;)

(I received my package two days after placing my order and Sandra from 3 Wishes included the pirate writing set, and the yorkie writing set as a thank you and to show me what other stock that had available. So sweet of her!!)

Lessons in Motherhood: Do Over!

Posted on by

6

Do you believe in second chances? I do.

I didn’t have the best of days on Tuesday. I now realise I was quite sleep deprived, which hindered my decision-making (that’s my story and I’m sticking with it! hehehe). Basically at the end of the night, I felt I wasn’t as attentive to the kids as I could have been (Have you ever felt like that? As soon as your children’s head hit the pillow you start thinking…ah I wish I did things differently??)

Anyway, the next day I woke up early and was much more alert, and I said to myself, “I’m going to have a “DO OVER”!

To me, a “do over” means accepting that you may have had a bad day the day before, but that today is a new day, with new choices to be made.

The biggest difference to my “do over” day was my attitude. As I kept reminding myself that it was a “do over”, I felt empowered to guide the course of the day with my positive actions.

For me it meant:

being proactive instead of reactive

being showered, changed and ready for the day

starting the day with prayer and inspirational reading

listening to my body and having a rest to recharge my batteries

practicing patience

not going on the computer till after the kids go to bed

and as I mentioned, having a good attitude

My 7 and 9 year old must have decided to have a “do over” as well, because they woke up early and did their chores of unloading the dishwasher and getting the fruit and snack portion of the lunches ready, ate breakfast and got dressed, ALL without being asked!! Heaven!

Fun Kids Activity: Staying connected through letters

Posted on by

13

When I was younger, my grandmother and I used to exchange letters regularly. I loved her handwriting (I can still picture it!), and the pretty paper that she would use.

Recently my children have started to exchange letters with the other children in our extended family. When they get a letter in the mail, they immediately start thinking of what to send in return. I have really enjoyed watching their excitement and enthusiasm!

Even though we may not be able to see our family members often, I love that the letter writing is making our families who live far away, seem just a little bit closer.

The older children have been writing letters, making cross words puzzles and drawing pictures.

The younger ones have been decorating paper with stickers, drawing and dictating messages.

There have been candy exchanges too, which are fun to send and to receive!

If I have any scanned pictures of the kids’ drawings, I will print them out and include some of them as well.

Come play at Childhood101 We play link up

We Play

5 Great Finds: Jewellery Organiser, Tooth Fairy Bunnies, Art Displays, Berenstain Bears and Bubble Blowers

Posted on by

3

JEWELLERY ORGANISER

Alissa from 33 Shades of Green shares a really easy tutorial to showcase your jewellery (or jewelry as the American’s spell it). I can’t help thinking that after making these lovely organisers, I would feel I would have permission to go out and buy lots of gorgeous pieces of jewellery!  (Thanks to Jane from Finding Fabulous for finding this gem of a post!)

http://33shadesofgreen.blogspot.com/2009/11/easy-jewelry-organizer.html

TOOTH FAIRY BUNNIES

Where do you put your child’s tooth after it comes out of their mouth? Ohdeedoh featured Brooke from Inchmark who made these cute and functional bunnies to house the treasures while they wait for the tooth fairy to arrive!

http://inchmark.squarespace.com/inchmark/2010/4/22/tooth-fairy-bunnies.html

DISPLAYING YOUR CHILD’S ARTWORK WITH STYLE

I LOVE these two examples of clustered artwork displays by two talented bloggers:

Diane from The Perfectly Imperfect Life has made a lovely art display in their play room. I love that she has included baby pictures in the display, and the white frames go nicely with the softer coloured art work.

http://theperfectlyimperfectlife.blogspot.com/2010/05/play-room-and-day-bed-reveal.html

Angie from Echoes of Laughter has created this gorgeous art gallery wall in her family room. I love all the bright art work, which seem to really compliment the different array of frames on display.

http://applevalleygirl.blogspot.com/2010/05/finallymy-art-gallery-wall-is-complete.html

BERENSTAIN BEARS ON TV AGAIN (FOR NZ)

You may be familiar with the Berenstain Book series that handle such issues like going to the dentist for the first time or about having a messy room (sooo  many great titles). Their TV series has returned to New Zealand television on Kidszone at every day at 9.35am, 1.35pm and 5.35pm. This is a great show to sit down with your children because it all about helping your child learn life lessons through the experiences that brother and sister bear have on the show. I remember recalling to my children one of the episodes to do with swearing when they asked me why people swear. (I think I even borrowed a few explanations that mama and papa bear used!)

http://tvnz.co.nz/content/3485071

BUBBLE BLOWER TUTORIAL

Alison from HowDoesShe features a tutorial to make your very own bubble blower by using every day supplies that you could probably find around the house – plastic bottle, a rag or sock, rubber band and dishwashing liquid. I can not wait to try making nice long bubble snakes with the kids!

http://www.howdoesshe.com/making-bubbles

GRAB A BUTTON IF YOU WERE FEATURED

5 Great finds button

Discovery Date: Doing a project on my new sewing machine!

Posted on by

5

I finally have my very OWN sewing machine! The money that I had earmarked for it finally came through yesterday. Very exciting!

In hindsight, my first sewing project should have been something simple. Instead I decided to just try out a concept I had in my head. Basically it is a mini-tote for my daughter’s lunchbox & drink bottle, which has draw strings at the top so everything stays in the bag.

Thankfully it turned out the way I wanted. I learned a lot (thanks youtube & blog tutorials!) I just have a greater appreciation for patterns, because it probably means a lot less unpicking! ;)

PS Everyone is back at school/Playcentre, and I am feeling much better thanks!

Down for the count

Posted on by

6

Maybe you all saw it coming. I mean it makes total sense…I was home with 4 sick kids with symptoms ranging from ear aches to coughs to runny noses. I have been sick in bed all day.

Hubby went out to drop off dvds, and I asked him to pretty please pick me up a dvd and the book I had on reserve at the library (I *heart* my hubby!).  He even set me up with an internet connection in our bedroom . Yes, I am totally spoiled, but I would much rather be healthy!

So I am going to start taking my vitamins again, drink plenty of water, exercise more, get plenty of sleep and eat loads more fruit and veges!

Let’s hope for a quick recovery!

Good reads:

eHow: How to avoid getting sick

Fun Kids Activity: Car Adventures

Posted on by

11

Things go grey by Imeus Design @ http://www.laffichemoderne.com

To combat cabin fever I like to take the kids out for a drive. I recently posted about our drive around the bays and included some links for ideas to do when you are stuck indoors.

The 3 school kids are home sick from school at the mo. Yesterday, after we dropped hubby off at work, my son asked if we could go on an ADVENTURE?!

I knew exactly what he meant.

We sometimes go on “adventures” in the car. It is where I let the kids tell me where to go. They will shout out, “Let’s go down that street!” or I will ask, “Shall we go left or right?” when we get to an intersection.

We look at road signs and I ask the kids what they think it means.

Source: canterburytrails.co.nz

Once it is time to go home, I tell the kids to keep a look out for the road signs with our suburb on it. I get them to tell me the direction the signs are telling us to go. Once they were familiar with where we are, they just rattle off which streets I need to go down to get home.

It’s a great activity to talk about all sorts of things. The seasons, pointing out road works, places we used to visit etc etc.

My son must have enjoyed it because the first thing he told his dad when he got home was, “Daddy! We went on an adventure!!”

Come play at Childhood101 We play link up

We Play

Happy Birthday JUGGLING MOTHERHOOD.COM! And a Yummy Giveaway

Posted on by

20

Guess what?!? I just realised that I started this blog a year ago TODAY!

When my friend suggested I give blogging ago, I was tempted to delay it. I had no idea what to call my blog, or what I wanted to write about. With gentle prodding, I did end up jumping in and giving it ago. I can’t believe it has been a year! It’s been a fun journey!

I feel quite passionate about supporting mothers. To let them know they are doing a great job. We are sometimes so hard on ourselves, and think we are the only ones feeling like this. This is probably the reason I wrote my first post called “Releasing the “if onlys”:

“…The moment has gone, the decision has already been made, and we are left with the consequences to that action.
Yes you can recognise that perhaps a better decision could have been made, but don’t dwell on it, move on, and find the good in it and let gratitude fill your heart.”

Once I realised how big the blogsphere was, I couldn’t wait to share all the amazing finds with others!! What started out as “My 5 links for the week”, has evolved into “5 Great Finds“. I love finding new things to share with you all!

I also love posting about the fun things I get up to with my 4 children.

I also think that as mothers, we should allow ourselves some time each week to do something that makes us smile. A few years ago, I found myself in a position where I didn’t know what “I liked” anymore. So to discover what inspired me, and what made me light up inside, I started discovery dates.  I used to do these in the weekend or evening, but with my youngest at Playcentre twice a week now, I force myself to leave the chores at home, and venture out to do something just for me.

Through this blog, I have been able to practice my photography…

…but more importantly, I have become better at taking notice of beautiful moments and capturing them on camera.

To celebrate my first anniversary, I am giving away a box of Lindt Lindor “Irresistibly Smooth Stracciatella” – White Chocolate with Cocoa Pieces and a Delectably Smooth Centre (tastes like cookies and cream…mmmmm). I tried this at The Food Show, and it was SOOO GOOD that I bought a couple of boxes…one box for me and one box, filled with 13 pieces of Lindor Chocolates for YOU!

To enter:

  • Leave a comment
  • I will send this box of chocolates anywhere in the world!
  • Entries will close on the last day of May 2010.
  • If you blog, tweet or facebook about the giveaway, please leave the url to your post or your twitter or facebook name in separate comments, so I can give you one extra entry per extra “shout out” you do.

And lastly, thank you to all of you who visit my blog!!

5 Great Finds: Barretts, Pillows, Invites, Motherhood, Cards

Posted on by

2

Guess what?! I gave “My 5 links for the week” a face lift!!

It is now called “5 Great Finds”, and if you love reading them, you can grab this button for your blog:

5 Great finds button

GORGEOUS BARRETTS YOU CAN MAKE FOR YOUR DAUGHTER.

Molly from The Purl Bee provides a step by step tutorial for making these super cute barretts. (Cheri from I am Momma – Hear my Roar! put me on to these lovely barretts)

http://www.purlbee.com/rose-barrettes/2010/1/23/mollys-sketchbook-rose-barrettes.html

PERSONALISE YOUR PILLOWS

Tiffany from Lemon Tree Creations has used iron-on transfers to create some fabulous pillows for her family. I luv!

http://lemontreecreations.blogspot.com/2010/04/pillow-ideas.html

How about scanning a page from your favourite children’s book?

Or a scanned page from your favourite page in the Bible?

How about your own family pillow? Love it!

The possibilities are endless!

FREE KIDS PARTY INVITATIONS

The talented Simone from Greatfun4kids has set up a separate blog where you can print off some wonderful children’s birthday invitations that she designed for FREE!

http://kidspartyinvites.blogspot.com/

YOU’RE A FABULOUS MOTHER – INSPIRATIONAL POST

Alicia from A Magical Childhood writes a beautiful post about motherhood that is a must read! Here  is an excerpt:

“I keep hearing from mothers this week about how stressed they are and what terrible mothers they think they are.

What?  Oh pah.

I’m  here to tell you to stop it.

You rock.  You’re a fabulous mother”

http://magicalchildhood.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/youre-a-fabulous-mother/

LOLLY FILLED CARD TUTORIAL

Megan from Simple Pleasures is so creative! Check out this neat lolly filled birthday card that she made!


http://domesticblissnz.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-creative-space-lolly-filled-birthday.html

GRAB A BUTTON IF YOU WERE FEATURED

5 Great finds button

Discovery Date: Wellington Food Show

Posted on by

5

Discovery Dates are all about doing things you love right?? Well, by now, you may have figured out I just love food….so you can understand why I was in heaven at The Food Show in Wellington today.

What is there not to love about strolling around sampling different foods, sitting in on cooking demonstration, and nabbing some great food deals for the WHOLE day!

This is my second year attending the Food Show, and it was fantasitic! I went with my fellow foodie (aka my sister-in-law Erika. You can check out her older sister, Angela’s  blog, and her younger sister, Mariah’s blog if you have time.)

Best Deal: Verkers Kransky Sausages which are selling at Woolworths for $21 a kilo, but at the food show they are $20 for 2kg!! (Apparently Verkers are not exhibiting on Sunday) The $2 Feta was also a pretty good deal!

Favourite Freebie: Chocolate from the Lindt Stand..hmmmm…chocolate!

Surprisingly yummy: The Rejuva’s Aloe drink and the Relax’s Cactus Drink!

Most outrageous (and funny) person: Annabelle White

Pleasant surprise: I bumped into someone from High School, who I haven’t seen in about 15 years!

Great bit of info: If you shop at commonsense organics they will donate 5% of the purchased amount to a designated school or preschool to go towards their organic garden! (We have a edible garden at Playcentre) I’m also liking the Bokashi Compost-Zing System.

Pretty impressive: The amazing cakes that were on show for the cake decorating competition

Look at this amazing Alice in Wonderland cake:

Look at the detail around the base of the cake!!

Tips for surviving a Food Show!

- Wear comfortable shoes.
- Set money aside in your budget so you can take advantage of the many items they are selling less than retail value!


- Bring a BIG bag for the free goodies, and the great bargains. Or you can buy a nifty Food Show Bag with slots for bottles inside (great for kids drink bottles) for $3! I also bought with me foldable chiller bag (that I got from Essentially Foods last year at the Food Show) to store my meats and cheese that I bought.
- If you do go with someone, it is more enjoyable if you both attend the food show for the same reason. You may both love taking your time sampling food and talking to the passionate vendors (like Erika and I), or both of you may love rushing through, seeing everything and zipping back home.
- Grab a drink before you sit down for a chef demonstration. We grabbed a free hot chocolate from Caffe L’affare, found a seat and rested and chatted while we waited for the demonstration to start. (Below are some photos I took at Lauraine Jacobs’ demonstration….Lauraine has a blog too!)

Pork Fillet on a Warm Salad of Roasted Chickpeas, Beetroot and Spinach with Horseradish Cream (recipe)

“Just a tart” (recipe)

You can find loads of delicious recipes from the celebrity chefs on the Food Show’s website!

Here’s a video that I found on youtube that was taken at the Food Show 2008. It’s quite similar to what we experienced today…

Fun Kids Activity: Simple Water Dye Fun

Posted on by

1

Materials:

  • Empty ice cream & yoghurt containers
  • Plastic sipper bottles filled with water and a few drops of food colouring

My daughter is a pourer. If she happens to get her hands on two cups, she will spend the next while pouring water from one cup to another. So to extend this, I decided to fill some bottles with the primary colours and let her pour to her heart’s content.

We talked about “what would happen if we mixed yellow and red” or “what would happen if we mixed blue and red”. She loved experimenting and finding the answer herself…”PURPLE!!”

My 5 links for the week

Posted on by

5

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day! I felt very pampered from morning till evening. (Now, if I could just work out how to get that kind of treatment for the other 364 days of the year I will be set!)

EXCELLENT video tutorial on DIY Stenciling.

Cheri from I Am Momma Hear Me Roar! has provided this easy to follow video tutorial on how to do your very own stenciling using freezer paper. (I *heart* video tutorials!)

http://iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com/search/label/freezer%20paper%20stenciling

You have to check out this awesome born to ride t-shirt she made her son:

http://iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com/2010/03/born-to-ride.html

She has got some serious talent!

A HUGE collection of flower tutorials!!!

Alison from Oopsey Daisy has provided a massive collection of flower tutorials. Felt, paper, fabric…you name it, she probably has included it.

http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2010/04/wednesdays-wowzers-3-dozen-flower.html

Check out this flower topiary that by Julia Sandvoss that was featured.

http://buzybunny.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-paper-flower-topiary.html

FREE Birthday Printables.

When you join up to HowDoesShe‘s newsletter, you get these free birthday printables as well some other free printable goodies. Awesome!

http://www.howdoesshe.com/free-birthday-printables

A BIG batch of cookies to suit the whole family.

Nicole from Planning with Kids and Kate from Picklebums swear by this recipe. Not only does this recipe make a huge batch of 100+ cookies…but you can separate the batch out so each child can add their own extras like chocolate chips, 100s & 1000s, raisins etc. You will be able to keep all the punters happy with different cookies made from the same batch.

http://picklebums.com/2008/05/31/so-many-biscuits/

http://planningwithkids.com/2008/07/02/school-holiday-activity-baking-biscuits/

A GREAT reading list for children.

What books spring to mind from your childhood?? I remember Judy Blume books, Anne of Green Gables and who can forget “The BFG” by Roald Dahl?! Trevor from Literacy, Family and Learning has a whole bunch of posts to choose from, each containing comprehensive lists, that will keep you busy at the library for the rest of the year! (Follow Nicole aka Planning Queen on Twitter because she is great at finding fab links, like this one!)

http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/search/label/lists%20of%20books

I like the link to Chapter book for young readers

http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/2009/08/chapter-books-for-younger-children.html

and Chapter books for Young Girls aged 6-12 year olds

http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/2009/11/chapter-books-for-girls-6-12-years-old.html

(this is what my copy of anne of green gables looked like…ooo the memories!)

and tips on how to help to get boys into reading with suggested books.

http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/2009/11/getting-boys-into-reading-through.html

Fun Kids Activity: Fun with LED Finger Lights

Posted on by

11

My daughter received a packet of 4 LED Finger Lights as a prize at school. She decided to give one light each to her siblings…awwww..

That night we had dinner by candlelight and LED finger lights.

And then, armed with a finger light each, we played Hide and Seek in the dark (one of my favourite games to play with the kids…see my other favourite games at Fave Five: Fun and Easy Games)

As people were found, we all helped to find the “hiders” by using our LED lights, which acted like our own mini torches.

Today, the kids got a packet of LED lights for themselves (They can be found at a discount stores. I found these at the $2 store in Wellington. With most things in from the discount stores, don’t expect them long lasting)

We had fun taking photos of the light patterns with the LED lights, using the same techinique I used to get the streaky car lights (increasing the apperature, putting the camera on a hard surface or tripod, and setting the timer)

I can’t WAIT to play Hide and Seek again tonight…it’s already getting quite dark…Yay!!

post edit: tonight we found new ways to play with our LED lights, you can shine them on the ceiling or wall and do shadow puppets. When it gets dark outside you can shine the light towards the window and then dance around to music and all you will see is the light in the window reflection doing all sorts of crazy moves (ok…maybe I just found that one fun! *blush*)

Come play at Childhood101 We play link up

We Play

Discovery Date: Window Shopping at Iko Iko

Posted on by

3

Cuba Mall is one of those delicious places in Wellington, where you get such a wide cross section of people and shops!

One of the best things about Cuba Mall is this gem of a shop called Iko Iko. (You can call them or email them about any enquiries…their details are on their website (as well as the address to their Auckland store). They are really friendly and helpful!)

They have such GREAT original stuff, that it was hard not to drool over their selection!

I loved the gorgeous prints on the cushions and tea towels…

Such a great selection of unique bags…

Lovely craft books…

Cute notebooks…

A wide selection of children’s goods…

Can you imagine your own favourite fabric in this DIY light shade?

Or perhaps you would like a Pohutukawa print lampshade…

My favourite find for the day were these plastic replica cups of the traditional kiwi milkshakes you get from the diary (corner shop). LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!

Afterwards, I headed down to Oriental Parade for a bit of sunshine and a smoothie.

PS This isn’t an advertisement, I just wanted to share all the neat stuff I saw

You may also enjoy:

Discovery Date: Window Shopping at Small Acorn

My 5 links for the week

Posted on by

3

Great wall display using ply and coloured paper to brighten up a child’s room. I’m loving this  simple, yet effective art project by Homestyle Magazine.

http://www.homestylemagazine.co.nz/get-creative/childs-play

Friendship Bracelet to make with your kids. Crafty Crow featured scrumdilly-do! and this Fab Friendship bracelet. My daughter and I have had a lot of fun making the other type of friendship bracelets using embroidery thread, so I can’t WAIT to give this a try!!

http://scrumdillydo.blogspot.com/2010/04/knots-and-string-and-friends-and-things.html

May Day Flower Baskets

I have two wonderful versions, which look really simple to pull together.

Crafty Crow featured this Woven Basket by Joel at Made by Joel:

http://madebyjoel.blogspot.com/2010/04/may-day-flower-baskets.html

Or you could try this Free Printable May Day Basket by Cindy at Skip to My Lou:

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/04/30/may-day-basket-tutoria/

Revamp your laminate furniture. Kate aka Centsational Girl walks you through how to give your laminate furniture a face lift. I am already imagining my cheaper Stationery Warehouse shelves getting a new look!!

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/04/go-right-ahead-and-paint-that-laminate/

Before:

After: