Last minute Christmas decorations

Here are a few last Christmas decorations we made at our home. We made a garland with cookie cutter critters made from glittery saltdough.

For the saltdough you need:

1 cup fine table salt
2 cups cornstarch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon oil

Mix all the ingredients and knead well. You can add some glitter if you like. Then roll out and cut cookies out of it. Let them dry for a day or two (or dry in the oven at 50 degrees for 1-2 hours).


Another project involved Origami cranes. We used this tutorial to make them:

Origami crane tutorial

We put five cranes on a string and hung them from a lampshade.

The last project is very popular with the kids. It's Christmas trees made from popsicle sticks. Cut the sticks into several sizes and glue them onto one stick that serves as the foot. Then let the kids decorate the trees with paint, glitter, pom poms etc.

DIY IKEA hack: Upcycle kids' chairs with felt stickers

 All you need for this little DIY project is a kid's chair and a large felt sticker. Mine were actually too large for the back rest so that I was a bit disappointed at first. But then I just came up with the idea to cut them and use them on the front and back of the chair. Voila you can see the result on the pictures. The chairs look so cute now and in addition the felt makes them more comfy.

DIY: Toilet paper tube crowns

Here comes another little DIY project for the kids. Collect a couple of toilet tubes and then paint them or stick nice paper on them. Then take a pair of cissors and cut about 1/3 away. Then do some more cutting to bring it into a crown shape. Punch a hole into each side and thread elastic string through them. That's all you have to do for your little crown hat. You could also decorate them with glitter glue and false gemstones, or stickers, or washi tape etc. 

Back from Down Under

Hello there, we just came back from a trip to Australia. And like always it was great but also a bit stressful at times. But even if you get stressed you take home so many nice moments and ideas that it's still worth it. I wouldn't want to miss any of the trips we have done with the lot.

This time we went to feed kangaroos and pat koala bears. But the highlight was the whale watching trip on a relatively small boat (smaller than the whales that is). Our daughter was fearless and always the first to spot them. We have taken home this amazing memory and many more smaller.
We did a lot of family time but we also had date nights out when the kids were sleeping and enjoyed spending time together far from work and internet.

DIY: Make your own koinobori fish

Have you ever seen the colourful Japanese carp called KOINOBORI? They are like little kites floating in the wind:

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koinobori

We have made our own little carps from coloured paper and toilet tubes. Just add twinkling eyes and a string and hang it from a pole.

DIY: Bandana dresses

Last month I made these little bandana dresses. I was strolling over the market and came back with a heap of these colourful and cheap bandana scarves. We played dress-up with some but there were still some left over. So came the idea of making little dresses for my little girl (who is no longer that little to be correct). I copied one of her simple sun dresses for the pattern and used bias tape for the neckline, the arm holes and the straps. You can find a similar pattern here.
I made one simple black one with smocking and a green and yellow patchwork dress (which needed a tiny bit of smocking in the middle, too because it was too wide). Those dresses are made in no time and can be worn over a tee or if the weather allows just like that.

DIY: Fabric doll / Rag doll

This is Linda the new best friend of my daughter. I made Linda from a linen fabric that was still lying around from another project. You don't need much fabric to make such a little rag doll. The hair is probably the worst part. I tried to sew it onto the head with my sewing machine before I put the doll together. But then you have all the hair inside the body while you are closing the seams and it makes the sewing a bit difficult. So maybe it's better to stitch the hair onto the doll by hand. Or you can use a nice fabric that looks like hair...

Here is a free pattern if you want to make your own:

Source: http://www.pinterest.com

Egg carton owl craft

This is a little craft project for a rainy day (or a boring morning). All you need is an empty egg carton some paint and maybe a feather or two.

Here is a very good instruction on how to make your own:

Source: http://repurposedplayground.blogspot.hk

We had a lot of fun making our little owl and it turned out really cool I think!

DIY Teatime

We just made this cute little teaset craft. The inspiration came from a picture I had seen on Pinterest. Bonpoint - the French fashion label - had one for sale. Here is what it looks like:

Source: http://pinterest.com/

First I thought we could do this from paper mache but then I came up with the idea to use party cups and plates. I found small cups for nuts that I used for the cups and to match the plates I just cut circles out of bigger ones. Then we sticked small origami paper circles inside the cups and in the middle of the plates. We also made little spoons from cardboard paper. We just lay spoons on the paper and draw along the outline and then cut them. It was a nice little craft and my daughter is playing a lot with the tea set now.

DIY: Washing machine

We have been busy with crafting lately. Here is another summer fun project. A washing machine made of a cardboard box. First I taped the open side of the box. Then I painted it white with wall paint. Next I used a plate to draw the door and then cut it open with a carpet knife. I also cut a rectangular hole for the washing powder loader which is made of a rectangular tin. I also added a program wheel made of a jar lid. I just punched a hole in the middle and used a brad to fix it to the box. Then came decorations with stickers, tape and colour pens. My daughter was watching every step and took hold of the new toy as soon as I put the last sticker on it. Since then we had quite a few wash days in our living room...

DIY Needlefelting: Make a Bambi

Hello! I am Bambi. I am made of 100 % wool. The other ingredients you'll need are a felting needle and a sponge. Shape the body with the wool (roll it in your hands to form woolen balls for the body and the head, make sausages for the legs) and then start punching the felting needle into the wool (put the sponge underneath so that you won't punch holes into your desk). Now see how the felt starts to form. You'll have to punch for quite a while though... You'll need a good amount of felting (sheep) wool to make a nice dense structure so that the bambi can stand on it's own feet. Once the bambi is more or less ready you can use hot water and soap to continue the felting process. Rub the soap into the body and start rolling and squeezing the bambi. The felt will get more dense like that. Once you are satisfied with the result use warm water to rinse thoroughly. Embroider eyes, nose and mouth and have a contented look at your work!

DIY: Car playmat to go

I made this car playmat from two no longer used fabric napkins and a few other fabric scraps. First step was to sew the two napkins together. Therefore I cut the seam on one side of both napkins and sew the two napkins together. The new seam is covered with black ribbon (or bias tape). Then I cut decorations from the fabric scraps. Flowers, birds, dragon flies, clouds and little houses. I spread them over the playmat and appliqued them with a zig-zag stitch. Then I added a little 'garage' for the toy cars and some wooden play signs. It was made from a rectangular piece of fabric. The open side has a bias tape hem. I fixed the rectangle on the sides and divided it with seams to form four little pockets. Last came the streets. I painted them with fabric paint and fabric markers. And afterwards I stitched the outlines with black thread. Add three cars and a few signs for playing and then roll and fold the mat and put it in a small drawstring bag. Now you are ready to go and play!

DIY: Tassel necklace

I made this little tassel necklace for my daughter. You will need a bit of cotton yarn and thread for the tassel. Just wind the yarn around two fingers and then cut one end open. Fix the other end with the yarn. That's your tassel. Put a nice string through the hole, add some beads and buttons or other deco objects and close the string with simple knots on each end. Like this you can make it wider and tighter as you like.

DIY: Simple leather tote

Here comes my new yellow leather tote. I made it for my birthday. A gift to myself so to say... It's very simple. Just eight rectangles (20 cm x 23 cm) that are put together to make the front and the back. Then you need two more rectangles (10 cm  x height of the bag) for the sides plus one rectangle (10 cm x width of the bag) for the bottom. The handles are made of another two rectangles (8 cm x 80 cm).
You start with the front and the back. Start sewing two pieces together and repeat this until all pieces are used up. Then put two of the new pieces together for the front and the same for the back. The seams show to the outside. Then sew the sides to the bottom piece (seams go inside this time). Now sew the new sides to the front (seams on the inside). Do the same with the back. Now you need to work on the handles. Fold them over and sew along the edge leaving 10 cm open on both sides. Open the ends of the handles and put them flat against the inside of the bag. Fix the handles with a horizontal seam. Voila that's it. Enjoy your new masterpiece!

DIY: Personalized drawstring bags

Do you also have a couple of plain white bags that need some decoration? I got these drawstring bags from my favourite COS shop. All accessoiries like tights, socks, belts etc. come in these. They are perfect for toys. So I got my fabric markers out and decorated them with forest themes. The one with the Marimekko flower is made with a plastic bag I got from that same shop. I just cut out the flower and then ironed it on the bag putting a sheet of baking paper between the plastic and the iron. You need to experiment a bit with the heat. Start low and then increase slowly until the plastic is nicely stuck on the fabric.

Birthday girl

Last week was my birthday. We had a relaxed day with tiramisu cupcakes which my daughter helped to prepare. Later on we went to the Hong Kong Museum of Arts and had a look at a modern art exhibition. The boys stayed at home so I had a really nice day just with my little princess. And in the evening she told me the best thing of the day (a bedtime routine) was the art work. I was really surprised. It was a nice rainy day as you can see from the last picture. It didn't rain that much and at least it was not as hot as usually at this time of the year. At the moment it's a seven weeks summer break for the kindergarten. So I spend a lot of time with the kids. It's fun, stressful at times but I think it does a lot to bring us together as a family. Especially the kids are enjoying each other's company a lot. Instead of fighting there are a lot more hugs and smiles and giggles. And it occured to me that it's quite cool to have three kids. Well, at least sometimes...

DIY: From placemat to toy storage

I found these placemats in my cabinet and wanted to throw them out but then I had this fine idea. Just a few seams and voila you have turned them into a box. Just close the side and the bottom and then make a seam along the corners of the bottom seam so give them the box shape. Roll half of it down and that's it. You can use them just like that or sew a few together like I did and hang them somewhere. Very quick and easy!

We are back!

We are back from our trip to Germany. And slowly slowly we are getting back on track. Jet-lag... with three little monsters, no fun! Well, our daughter was fine, no complaints here (somehow girls are always fine...). But the boys were awake from 2-4 am the first night, then 12 pm -2 am the second night and the third night was a bit mixed. And all the sleep training we had done before is completely forgotten. In addition to the jet-lag trouble one of them is teething and is waking up every 1.5 h for three nights in a row now. I am exhausted and I have sworn not to go on a trip again if the boys are not finally sleeping through the night!
But now to the trip itself. It was lots of fun with nice fresh air, warm weather and lots of nature. The grandparents really enjoyed the time with the kids, too. The flight itself was also really OK, not much trouble. And my mom cooked almost all the meals and the kids really liked it. We found out that the boys love meatballs (our daughter hates the texture of minced meat, funny isn't it?). The bread was yum, the supermarkets great and I had a few too many glasses of wine with my parents...

DIY: Cloud t-shirt

You might have noticed that I am in love with clouds when it comes to kids' stuff. So here is another quick t-shirt upcycling idea. I just cut a cloud out of an old t-shirt and sew it onto a new one. I simply used straight stitches for that. It's made within no time and looks great!

Happy Birthday Ragna!

Our little bunny turned three last week. She is a big fan of the little white rabbit 'Miffy'. So we had a Miffy party at our place on Saturday. But somehow we forgot to take photos of the deco. So I can only show you the Miffy birthday cake.
We also have started a birthday tradition. We take a pretty photo of the birthday child and then we add the name, the age and what they love at that particular age. So later on that will be a cute memory of those years.