Ta Dah!!! Baby Blanket No 2

As promised, Baby Blanket No 2 is now finished!!! Here she is …..

What do you think? Doesn’t she look wonderful hanging on my washing line? I think so.

And what about from the back with the sun peeping through….

A little bit of close-up hooky? You got it.

I really hope you like it.

Til soon.

xxx

Baby Blanket 2....The Perfect Day

Oh my. I think I had my absolute perfect day yesterday. We awoke to grey skies and a very noticeable drop in temperature but being a Saturday it was Library Day for me and Little D. We were there as the doors opened and we came away with 3 videos, 2 books and an audiobook for me. Yay! Little D found a book full of exciting super cars and motorbikes which is his bestest topic at the moment so I knew I was in for a day of endless 'look at this Mum...' and 'Mum, did you know .....'

Late morning the grey skies cleared a little and the sun came out. I'd finished all the squares for Baby Blanket 2 during the week so I knew the time had come for the Big Sew Up!!!!

I gathered together all the squares. Found a space on the living room carpet not taken up by playstation games, legions of toy soldiers or one of my four dogs and set to work laying out the design.....81 squares in total.

I have to say, I was pretty entranced by the sheer beauty of it all - the colours, the mix of brights and pastels, the white borders.....

After playing around for about half an hour (I LOVE this part) I settled on a layout, dug out my little green bag from my sewing box in which I keep all things necessary for sewing up blankets and sweaters, and began....

I sat on my bed with the sun streaming in through the window and lost myself completely in the rhythm of my needle and Little D's gentle murmurings about the wonders of his book.... 

As I worked, I noticed how the light played through the holes in the squares that lay strewn across my bed.

Quite enchanting.

And as the afternoon went by, my Baby Blanket No 2 went from this little mountain of gorgeous granny squares......

to these exquisite ribbons of granny goodness.....

I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few more days for the Ta Dah post.... Whilst I've finished The Big Sew Up, I've now embarked on The Great Border!!!!

Til soon.

x

Kids Zone - Playdough.....

At the preschool where I work, we've just done our first term parent/teacher interviews. These are very informative sessions for both parents and teachers but I noticed this time that many of the parents asked me for my recipe for playdough (we make our own for our classes as we find it lasts much longer than the shop bought stuff). It got me thinking that maybe I should do a Kids Zone post about playdough, including my foolproof recipe!

So, what is it? In a nutshell, it's a mixture of flour, oil and water which forms a rubbery type of  goo that kids just LOVE to play with. It can be moulded into almost any shape and when the kids are done playing, you push it into an airtight container, snap the lid on and it's all ready for next time! Genius!

There are many many recipes out there and I think I've tried almost all of them. Many are complicated, many are time-consuming but the recipe that I use is simple and quick. Here it is:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 sachet cream tartar (14g)
1 teaspoon (15ml) oil (I use vegetable oil)
1 cup boiling water
a few drops of food colouring and / or glitter

Add the food colouring to the boiling water.
Pour all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Add the oil and then add the water/food colouring.
Mix thoroughly until a dryish dough forms. (The dough should leave the sides of the bowl clean.)
If too wet/sticky, add a little more flour and knead well.

As you can see, it's almost too easy but I can promise you that it works like a dream! It lasts 3-4 weeks in an airtight container which is a bonus and if you make two batches of two different colours you can alternate them each time the children play. For something different, you can add glitter to make it sparkly, rice or lentils for texture, or a few drops of scented oil to give it a sensory twist. Just be careful not to make it smell too yummy as then the little darlings are very prone to eating it!!!!!!

To me, the most important reason to make playdough for your children is that it's FUN!!!! Most kids love getting sticky, mucky and yucky and whilst playdough is not quite the same as mud-pie making in the garden, it does come pretty close! There are, however, other benefits which include, strengthening the muscles in fingers and wrists, encouraging the imagination (playdough can become almost anything), and being a great stress reliever (try it yourself next time you feel stressed)!

Once it's cooled and ready to use try and think 'out of the box' with regards to tools for your kids to use with it. Obviously the bulk standard cookie cutters are great as are rolling pins and plastic knives but sometimes it's great to give them things like matchsticks (without the heads) so they can make porcupines and hedgehogs, marbles (which they love to press into the playdo so the marbles disappear), kiddie scissors (let them make a sausage and cut it up) and even kitchen utensils (my kids love using the potato masher and the garlic crusher)! Tea sets are also good as are plastic plates, bowls and containers. I try to keep all the plastic packaging that food comes in so that way I'm recycling as well!

As a teacher and as a parent I think playdough is one of life's joys. It's cheap, it's easy to make and it will keep your little ones amused for hours. For long car journeys you can take some in a container with a kitchen tray - just be prepared for some to get mushed into the upholstery....!

So, if you want a little ''mummy time" make some as soon as you can. You won't regret it, I promise.
Til next time.
xxx

A Bit of This and That...

Hello dear friends!!

Thank you all so much for your responses to my Kids Zone idea. I'm VERY excited about it as I have an absolute stash of crafts and ideas to share and it will be so good to get them out of the dusty cupboard and into the bright light of day!!!

A bit of a mixed bag today as I haven't got a new finished bits to show you but I have got lots of 'this and that' to share....

Firstly, you HAVE to go and have a look at this.

Is it not the most exquisite blanket ever? When I first saw it I actually gasped! That edging is so delicate and gorgeous and antique...... Please pop over to Coco Rose Diaries and see for yourself. I defy you not to fall in love.....

Secondly, I was wandering through Matt and Dennis' blog and I saw this ripple blanket that Dennis made.

I've seen so many ripples in so many colour variations that I thought I'd seen it all but this REALLY appeals to me. Single colour but worked through the backloops so the ripples stand out. And that grey...gorgeous!

And finally for those gardeners and foodies among you, please pop over to Mark's Veg Plot if you have a moment. His blog is FULL of all things growing and cooking and his photos are AMAZING! His latest post is entitled Goulash and has this pic -

- it made me so hungry that I'm off to get a piece of chocolate cake from a nearby coffee shop.......

Til soon.

xxx

Launch of Kidszone - Quick & Easy Easter Egg Hunt Bag!!!

Having been a preschool teacher for many years, I've accumulated masses of files, books and interesting articles all about children! I was wading my way through it all the other day when I suddenly realised that my blog would be the perfect place to share it all!!!  Whilst most of these posts will be aimed at children aged 3-5, I'm sure that many of them can be 'adjusted' for children either older or younger.

Good idea? Bad idea? Waste of time? What do YOU think????  Please let me know your thoughts......

I thought for my first Kidszone post I would do something crafty (and by that I mean something to make, not something sneaky or sly...) and something Eastery (is there such a word?).  But what to post? As usual in times of dilemma the children in my class came to my rescue. This week we've been discussing all things Easter and today we made Easter Egg Hunt Bags for the very exciting Easter Egg Hunt we're holding tomorrow morning!! Needless to say, as far as the children are concerned this is the MOST thrilling thing since Christmas and there was much discussion in my classroom as to whether the Easter Bunny comes down the chimney like Santa or whether  he/she (the sex was never identified) pops out of the ground like a normal bunny.....!

Whilst this terribly important and animated discussion took place, we made the bags as follows......

First they coloured in bunny faces. This bunny face is in fact on white paper (not grey)....I'm not too sure what my camera was thinking of but I'm sure you get the idea......

Then I cut out the faces and the children stuck them onto smallish brown paper bags -

Then they added cardboard handles -

And there you have it, a gorgeous Easter Egg Hunt Bag absolutely and totally ready to be filled with masses and masses of lovely chocolate........

I really hope you liked my first Kidszone post. Do you think I should do some more or should I quit whilst I'm ahead.....

Til soon.

x

Baby Blanket No 1......

Hello!!!! Thanks for stopping by. Firstly, I want to say a HUGE thank you for all your heartwarming comments about our recent loss..... It really made it much easier to get through knowing that other people were with us in spirit and thinking of us..... Thank you again.....

It's been a bit of a mad week for me. I took my class of 12 three year olds to a local dairy this week for a school trip. We saw how yoghurt is made and how milk is put into bottles and cartons. Lots of big machines, lots of noise and then lots of yoghurt afterwards!!! They had a ball and thought the funniest thing was that we all had to wear hair nets inside the factory! I must have looked very comical as every time one of them looked at me, they broke out into riotous giggles!!! I aim to please......

I had both sets of parent/teacher interviews for my boys this week too as well as having parent/teacher interviews with the parents of the children in my class. It's very strange to have one meeting where I'm the teacher closely followed by another meeting where I'm the parent. I kept forgetting who I was, where I was and why I was there!!!!

On other subject all together, there is obviously "something in the water" in this area at the moment. Three friends have recently told me they are expecting and another two friends are due pretty soon (one this week and one in July)!

One of them asked me to make her a baby blanket which I've done. She loves all things vintage so it was either going to be granny squares or granny clusters. I opted for the clusters. What do you think?

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. She wanted something she could keep in the car, either to put over baby in the car seat or to use on the grass to put baby on when she's out and about! As you can see, I haven't yet blocked it but hopefully it will even out a bit when I do....!

I'll wash and block it this week and then post a few more pictures to see the difference! I'm always amazed at how much better things look when they've been blocked. I did, however, hang it on my washing line just for some eye candy......

Doesn't it look fab??? There's nothing like a bit of colourful crochet to make me smile... I hung it on the line yesterday morning and went inside to make the boys lunch and when I came back out and saw it hanging there, it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach...do you know the one I mean???

As you can see, I did the centre part in simple rows of granny clusters. Once I reached the length I wanted I bound off then rejoined the yarn to the sides and worked around the rectangle. I finished off with two rows of trebles and then Lucy's border found here. I love blankets with borders. It really does finish them off so well.

So, at least one project is finished. Have 3 WIPs waiting to be completed but we break school on Friday for 3 weeks and I intend spending my holiday time crocheting and gardening.... YAY!  I love the holidays.....

Til soon...

xxx

Not My Greatest Week....

Hi there....
This is very short and sweet today as I've had a really horrid week. My Grandfather passed away very suddenly and I've travelled to Johannesburg and back this week for the funeral. Very sad and very emotional. As a result I haven't managed to put together a post so huge apologies......
Please be patient - normal service will resume shortly.
xxx