Sep
1
Little box
by Sofia - in DIY projects
I have told you this before but Cotton Candy is so in to making arts and crafts projects. I try to find her little projects she can finish off by herself and be proud of but not get frustrated with. Now that the ballet season is back on I found her a little heart shaped craft box ( for like 1 €) to keep her ballet bun accessories in. She loved making it so I thought I would share the project. It was simple but turned out pretty and useful. I know we have like a million little tins and old Ladurée boxes she could use for this but it´s always lovely to see when they are so proud of what they made. It´s also a useful skill to know how to do things yourself and not always buy something new. It might also be cute to make something like this as the wrapping for a friend´s birthday present if you gave something small like a wooden bracelet.
So here is what we used:
A small white cardboard box
pencils and a felt pen
stickers
glitter
Mod Podge ( a sort of glue that also gives a glossy lacquered like finish to products)
First she coloured the box with a pencil and wrote her name on top with a felt pen. You could also use crayons or watercolours. Then she glued some stickers on the box. I keep a good stash of stickers for the girls so we just found some with ballerinas on them. She also wanted to add a butterfly sequin on the lid. We finished the box with Mod Podge to give it a glossy finish and to help it last longer. I also helped her with some glitter we added on the sides of the lid. We let that dry for a while and added another layer of Mod Podge so it would not fall off and be all over her ballet clothes. All in all it was a super easy and cute project. And now she has a place to keep all her pins and hairnets.

Aug
11
Meet Teddy the Toast
by Sofia - in Cooking DIY projects Good things for kids
Nyt kun arki on taas täällä ja koulut, esikoulut ja päiväkodit alkoivat on aika jättää myöhäiset pitkät aamiaiset taas viikonlopuille ja palata näppärien ja nopeasti valmistuvien aamiaisten pariin. Jos marjasmoothien hurauttaa valmiiksi jäkaappiin jo illalla niin tässä olisi ainekset todella suloiseen, nopeaan ja herkulliseen aamupalaan. Paahda hieman täysjyväpaahtoleipää ja sivele sen keskiosaan ympyränmuotoinen alue mantelivoilla ( tai muulla pähkinävoilla josta teillä pidetään). Voit tehdä pähkinävoin itse tai ostaa sen valmiina. Meidän suosikkimme on tämä. Leikkaa nallelle banaanista korvat ja kuono ja tee silmät ja nenänpää mustikoista tai rusinoista. Suloinen nallepaahtis on valmis! Sitten lisäät vain söpön pillin smoothie lasiin ja tarjoilet ne silmiään hieroville pikkuisille jotka ovat ihan ihmeissään kun kesän rytmi on taas vaihtunut aikaisiin kouluaamuihin. Näillä jaksaa oppia ja leikkiä hyvin lounasaikaan asti…

May
6
A Mothers Day craft
by Sofia - in DIY projects Good things for kids
On Saturday mornings when mr. Espresso likes to sleep in a little we often fill the dining room table with our craft things. Glitter, scissors, glue, pretty silk paper, stickers, pencils and so much more. Cotton Candy is our craft pro and she is usually the one to come up with an idea ( she seriously made me do decoupage with her!). There is also a children´s tv show ( Neppajymykerho) where they publish ideas for crafts and she is always thrilled to try a new project. This time she wanted to make paper flowers from cup cake liners and I thought it would be the perfect craft for Mothers Day. We took it a little further and made stems for the flowers from pretty paper straws and made a whole bouquet. These are easy to make. A 5 year old can do these without help ( better than mommy in our family) but a 3 year old needs assistance with scissors and assembly. But if you only use glue and stickers like Bubble Gum did then it works well for the little ones too. But these are fun to do with kids and I like the whole idea of crafting being a project we can all do together. I think this colourful bunch of flowers was pretty and I would sure be happy to wake up on mothers day to one of these. It´s also a great craft to make for grandparents.
For the flowers you will need:
scissors, glue, cupcake liners, paper straws
optional are glitter, stickers, confetti etc.
For the flower pot you will need:
a papercup or similar
something to stick the straw stems to ( I used the “oasis sponge” used for flower arrangements)
