Winter (SNOW!) Sensory Bin

Tomorrow is the last day of November, and we still do not have snow on the ground!

 

Zahra is so eager to make a snowman! She draws and talks about them all the time.

 

I decided since I can't control the weather, I would find a way to make my own snow. I googled my way to some wonderful recipes, but decided to go with this one.

It is cold to the touch!

It powders like real snow!

It compacts like real snow!

 

 

What is it!?

 

It is so simple!!

 

Are you ready for it?

 

6 cups of baking soda

1 cup of hair conditioner

 

Yep, that's it!

 

Our bin is pretty large, so we tripled this recipe.

The cost? $7

 

 

Chances are, you live in a less remote place as we do, and will have better luck finding 'winter' animals, like penguins and polar bears!

 

My kids laughed at me when I brought home the donkey, sheep and turkey. But hey, these are animals that do live in our snowy climate!

 

Tips for this craft: We purchased a large $2 bottle of conditioner from Walmart that had a very strong floral scent. The scent is rather overpowering really. I highly suggest purchasing a non scented conditioner if you have the option! I would have loved to do a non scented with some peppermint essential oil! (Unless you are able to find cheap peppermint conditioner!)

 

My older kids LOVE this just as much as Z does!

 

(Not safe for consumption - so watch the little ones!)

 

Foto Friday - Another Bday

I must say, I'm finding this graphic design stuff quite fun!

3rd Birthday in Pink Princess Party Style!

We missed the 1st and 2nd birthdays, so we wanted to go big with her 3rd. Pinterest to the rescue, although a broken front axle on our ailing van held us up in Calgary, so it cut my preparation efforts down to a day and half... never the less, we think it was pretty pinktastic!

I had started with an over sized 3d collage. I wanted the collage to be her first 3 years. Unfortunately, I don't have many photos of her before we met her, but the few we had were certainly enjoyed by everyone.

Luckily, I had started this weeks ago. Let me tell you, it was not an easy project. If you are interested in making one, I have posted some shots below that will show how I made it. After the structure is complete, you cut and paste photos with Mod Podge.

 

 

 

 

I hung pink plastic table clothes from the dollar store, to look like curtains, tied back with tiaras.

 

I made tissue paper pom poms, and suspended them from the ceiling with fishing line. Tutorial Here. I did cut mine in various shapes and sizes for variety, and hung them at different heights.





 

 

Sparkly pink tulle from Walmart adorned our chairs.

 



 

Water bottle labels that I created on PicMonkey.

 

 

'Morning Dew' made from pink lemonade and lemon/lime soda, garnished with strawberries.

 

 

Cute little Tea Sandwiches, cut out with cookie cutters. We had 2 flavors, strawberry cream cheese/banana and marshmallow puff/strawberries. Yumm!

 

 

'Royal Gem' fruit salad, which I provided wooden skewers so the kids could make their own kabobs.

 

 

Pink Popcorn was a hit! Recipe Here.

 

 

 

Pink Strawberry cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese icing.



 

 

The refreshment table, if I would have had more time, I would have added the pink plastic table cloth curtains the back dining room wall.

For activities, we had a few different stations.

'The Royal Closet' which provided dress up fun!

 

 

 Princess Spa

 

We also had a couple other stations that I didn't get a chance to get photos of. We had the Royal Crowns, which was tiara and crown making. Tiaras were made out of hair bands, pipe cleaner and beads and the crowns were foam crowns purchased from the dollar store which we provided glitter etc for decorating. We also have the Palace Painting station, where the kids painted wooden masks, also purchased from the dollar store.

 

Zahra actually was actually catching up on her beauty sleep when the guests started to arrive. When she woke up, she was excited that 'her party' was finally here.

 

 

 

 

She was a little shy being the centre of attention, so she asked if her sister could help her blow out her candles.

 

 

 

 

 

Because I'm always behind the camera, this is the only photo I have of me on her birthday. You can see my pink highlight. Yes, I dyed my hair pink for her party!

 

When it came time to open presents, she once again felt a little shy with all eyes on her, so she asked her sister and friends for a little help.

 

 

It didn't take long though before she got into the swing of things.

 

 

After the children went to bed, this is how the parents ended the evening... with Pink Champagne.

 

 



Waldorf doll... my latest obsession.

You may know that I love homemade, and natural things. Seriously then, what is not to love about this?

With sweet little options like 'freckles'...

Hair that is made from natural yarns, often hand dyed and spun...

'Dread yarn'

'Curly' Yarn

Fluffy

'Nubby' Yarn

Wefted Fur

Most all these photos are from Dragon's Fly Hollow. Look for them on Facebook, as most of their activity takes place there.

These dolls are not cheap however. The patterns are made, natural cloth cut and sewn, stuffed with wool, shaped, faces sewn on, cheeks colored and hair that is sewn or crocheted on. That's a lot of work... and of course they wouldn't be complete without homemade underwear and an outfit! These dolls are all over $200, and they are very hard to get. Only limited amounts are made, and the demand is very large.

Dragon's Fly Hollow has developed the Mama Made. The body of the doll that you can purchase for $85, and then you can sew your own face and hair on.

So... I took the plunge and ordered a brown skin body, and am currently having some yarn dyed and spun for me! So exciting!!

Sneak Peak..

Miss Monet and Mr. Picasso

3 Wise Men by Muffin

Poppies by Mister



And my personal favorite... "Elle" by Mister

Christmas Wreath - another great kids craft for gifting!

In the spirit of giving more homemade gifts, I thought I would share another craft that my kids have been making for some family members. This really is a beautiful wreath... I had to keep one.

What you need:

60+ - 2" Christmas ornaments

Wire Coat Hanger

Glue gun

Ribbon

First you need to check the tops of all of your ornaments. (They make them plastic now, which is perfect for this craft, otherwise I am sure you will be breaking a lot!) If the tops are not on really tight, you need to pop the top off and give it a shot with the glue gun.

Prepare your coat hanger like this.



Then thread the ornaments on to the wire (wire goes through the hole in the cap on top of the ornament). Pattern or no pattern... do what appeals to you. We went with a pattern, but found it made no difference in the end anyway. Other than to ensure equal colors were remaining at the end.

When your wire is full of ornaments... turn and arrange them the way you want, and then twist the wire ends back together. The hook on the end will be used to hang your wreath. Add ribbon to hide the end of the coat hanger.. and you are done! Voila!

Each of these cost me $20 in Christmas balls alone. I am hoping to find some on sale after Christmas, so it is more economical next year!

Christmas Crystals (great gifts for the kids to make!)

My kids have been very busy at making these for Christmas gifts. They are so easy to make!!

What you need...

Borax
Pipecleaner

The recipe is simple - 3 tbsp of Borax to 1 cup of boiling water.
First - prepare your pipecleaner design. Let your imagination run wild... The shape should fit well in a jar or container, without touching the sides or the bottom.
Wrap a pencil around the ornament - to hold it in the borax solution.

Stir the borax until dissolved.
Plop your pipecleaner in... and let it sit over night (12 hours approx.)

We have played around with the amount and length of time a bit. The more borax, and the longer you leave it - the larger the crystals will be. I prefer the look of the smaller crystals... and they weigh less as well. The snowflake below was made with 4 tbsp/cup and was left about 18 hours... giving it a chunkier look.

Different colored pipecleaner will result in different looks. Below, we used light blue, white and silver. I prefer the white and light blue. You can also add a bit of food colouring to colour your crystals!

The photos don't show, but the crystals really sparkle... and should look great on the tree with all the lights!