Christmas Wreath

It is December. We have got back from a lovely trip to Japan and kids are starting to be bored.  Since it is Christmas soon and we have plenty used cardboards at home, I taught them to make Christmas wreaths out of the cardboard boxes and recycled ornaments.

Truth be told, I got the idea from Pinterest but the result is still stunning.  The kids learnt a lot through the process too.

DIY Robot Coin Bank

Today is a day for my little boy.  He must have felt left out with all the girly things that we made all these while.

Recycled a used mouth rinse bottle into a little robot coin bank.  This is a fairly easy craft to do.  

First, cut an opening at the back of a clean and dried bottle to insert the coins.  Then, glue strips of felt,  both at the front and back of the bottle.  Since it is a robot, decorate it with metal stuff such as jump ring, grommet or aluminium foil.

The final product sure put a smile on my little boy's face.  

 

Crafts from Used Eggs Carton

Eggs is a must in my house, and I believe, every household.  We buy eggs by the cartons.  Sometimes feel that it is a waste to throw those used cartons away.


There are many uses for the egg cartons actually.  I read somewhere that it can be used to plant small plants or herbs.  We can turn them into crafts too, which was exactly what we did.  We made lobsters, pirate ship as well as little chickens with the used egg cartons.  The cartons were not exactly that easy to paint on due to their 'lumpy' texture but the kids did them alright although far from perfect.  

Little chickens

Pirate Ships

Lobsters

DIY Christmas Door Hanger

Another long overdue post.

The kids have been invited to play at their friends' house quite often during the school holidays.  Good for them to spend time together as much as they can now as they will be attending different schools when school reopens.  There was this one particular evening where I had to pull them back home earlier.  Needless to say, they were disappointed with the 'short' stay at their friend's house. Taught them to make this door hanger in order to 'pacify' them.

 

Materials needed :

Cardboard (cut into round shape)

Ribbons 

Paper cups

Bells

Yarn / string

I like making things from recycled items.   It teaches the kids to turn waste into something nice / useful as well as saving cost on materials.

DIY Christmas Cards

Christmas is long over and only now I have the time to put this up.

Taught the kids to handmade some Christmas cards for sale.  Initially, the idea was just to teach the kids to make greeting cards.  Saw that the outcome was good and thus sparked the idea of making handmade cards for sale. 

It was fun making the cards.  So much fun that we invited the girls' friends over to join in the cards making 'workshop'.  We made a snowman advent calendar too!  All the kids had fun and I was told that some of them sold their cards too. 

All in, we made 60 cards of different designs.  The girls went around shopping malls to sell their wares.  Each card were priced at RM3.  Was told that the selling price was too low.  In actual, they were.  The material cost was already more than that.  But it is ok. Our intention was not to make profit, but to let the kids to learn speaking up, buying / selling as well as change.  

People were generally very responsive and supportive.  Perhaps they just couldn't say no to two cute little girls who timidly approach them.  Some took out their wallets even before the girls reached their tables.  Others were confused when being approached by two girls who looked alike (twins).  All 60 cards were sold in less than an hour.  All money from the sale was donated to Trinity Children Home in Petaling Jaya.   Mommy got to fork out the money for the materials though.  Anyway, it was good that the kids get to do something for the less fortunate even though it was just a small contribution.

We will be doing this again in the years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy Sun Catcher

It is Easter today.

The kids have been asking to decorate Easter eggs but upon checking, there were only two eggs left in the fridge.  Since I wouldn't be going to the grocery store anytime soon, I will just have to think of something else.  Remembered that there are some leftover transparent plastic sheets from another project that I made sometime ago, thus, decided to let the kids to make a sun catcher instead.

This is a really easy project.  Materials needed :

Transparent plastic sheet

Sharpie

Hole puncher

String / ribbons

Duct tape

First, draw some lines on the transparent plastic sheet and then let the kids color the shapes within using Sharpies.  The sharper the color, the more beautiful the effect would be.  Then, tape the borders of the sheet using duct tape.  Punch a hole (or two) at the top, thread the ribbon over and that's it!

Wear Your Creation

Was browsing in the stationery shop and came across the Fabric Crayons.  An idea suddenly struck :  let the kids doodle on cloth and make a dress out of it.  Or rather, sew the dress first before letting the kids doodle.  It would be a pity if I will have to cut off some of their drawings when cutting the dress pattern.

Made a very simple skirt out of the grey bridal satin that I bought some time ago.  Beats me why I bought the satin in the first place.  But the skirts turned out nice as the satin gave it a 'pom pom' feel.  

The girls doodled on the plain skirts excitedly and before long, they get to wear their own creations.  Just remember to follow the instructions of the fabric crayons, that is, to wash the fabric beforehand and to fix the crayons by heat setting.

 

 

Grapefruit Marmalade Jam

A tried and tested grapefruit marmalade recipe that a friend gave me and which I have tweaked a bit.


Ingredients :

3 grapefruits (~800g)
850g sugar
juices from 2 lemons


Method :

1)  Put the grapefruits in a pot, add in enough water so that the grapefruits are able to float freely.   Bring to a boil till for 2 hours. 
 Note : Water need to be replenished every now and then.

2) Remove the grapefruits from the pot and let cool.
3) Chop the grapefruits thinly, remove the pith and put the chopped grapefruits back into a clean pot.
4) Add in the lemon juice and sugar.
5) Let the sugar dissolve and stir constantly.
6) Bring the mixture to a boil till it reaches the setting point of 110 deg C.

Note :  If you do not have any thermometer, drop a little of the mixture onto a plate that has been put in the freezer beforehand.  Let chill for 1 - 2 mins. Push the mixture with your finger.  If the surface wrinkles, it means the setting point has been reached. Otherwise keep heating and repeat the testing procedure.


7) Ladle into mason jars, cover and leave to cool completely.


The jam sets perfectly.  It is not too sweet and leave a little bitter after taste, which is not unpleasant.