DIY Advent Calendar

There are many household stuff lying around that can be re purposed as decorative items.  I for one, believe in buying less.  It also teaches the kids to be more resourceful, creative and to use things responsibly.

Our craft today is to make an advent calendar out of muffin pan and used Christmas decor. 


Things needed are :

Muffin pan
Wrapping papers
Permanent marker
Double sided tape
Old / used Christmas decorative items
Treats

Muffin pan filled with little treats

Decorated with used Christmas decorative items

The end result is quite nice, don't you think?  

Homemade Cream for Eczema

Little X has mild eczema since young. I call it mild as it is not as severe as other cases that I have seen and that it doesnt attack that often. But nevertheless, I can see that the itchiness drives X crazy everytime it flares up.

I have read that a combination of shea butter, coconut  oil and essential oil does help. Since I have the ingredients in hand, there is no harm in whipping some cream for a trial.

So here goes the recipe :

1/2 cup shea butter (~90g)
1/2 cup liquid coconut oil (~90g)
1/4 cup beeswax
20 drops lavendar essential oil
15 drops tea tree essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil



Method :

Heat the shea butter and beeswax till melted. Add in coconut oil. Mix well. Let cool. Add in the essential oils. As the mixture cools and thickens, but still liquid, give it a good whip every 5 mins. You can put the mixture in fridge to let it cool faster. Continue whipping every 5mins until soft white peaks are formed and the mixture thickens. Pour into sterilised containers and let set.

The cream is ready to used once it has set.

It is important to note that beeswax is needed when liquid coconut oil is used. If using solid coconut oil, beeswax can be omitted.  The beeswax hardens the cream but be careful to not add too much as it results in a balm that is hard to apply. The amount of beeswax in this recipe is just nice for a soft, and yet not too soft cream.

After using for 2 weeks, I am happy to report that little X did not have any eczema flares at all.

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.

 

 

Kids Craft : Felt Bag

A lazy Sunday afternoon is filled with coaching the girls on making a felt bag. 

 

This is the first time they do some sewing and to start with, I felt that it is best to let them handle a blunt needle.  They can work using the usual, sharp needles when they have some experience in sewing and able to handle a needle better later.  The DIY kits were obtained from Mr. DIY for RM2.50 each.  There is a variety of kids crafts available in Mr. DIY for very reasonable prices.  These felt sewing kits is one of them.  Also available are EVA foam crafts in the form of crown, spectacles, pencil holders, etc.  Each of the girls worked on a bag on their own.

 

 

 

DIY Kit from Mr. DIY

 

 

 

 

Sewing in progress


 

Sewing in progress

 

 

 

 

It took some time for the girls to grasp the idea of the kind of stitches that are able to hold 2 pieces together.  Nevertheless, it was a breeze after they have worked it out.  The girls were excited once the bags are done and couldn't wait to show it to their daddy and grandmother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished products

DIY Children's Belts

My daughters' swimming class is cancelled today due to the rain.  So I decided to stay at home and do some sewing. 

Got some webbings and rings from the local Daiso yesterday and decided to make some belts for the children.  Btw, isn't Daiso a magical place?  You can find almost anything there.

First, measure how long do you want the belt to be.  The webbing is enough to make 2 belts, just perfect for my 2 girls, so I cut it into two. As easy as that.  Then run through both ends of the webbings through fire to seal the ends, preventing them from fraying.



Next, take 2 rings and insert them into one end of the webbing. 

 

 

 

 

Fold over and sew across it.  Sew through the webbings at least twice to secure them.  As the webbings are thick, I used needle number 14 for this purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

And voila!  The belts are done!  Easy isn't it? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showing off the belt

There are many beautiful webbings available in Daiso.  A packet of the rings can be made into seven such belts.  Nice, easy and cheap. 

Happy sewing!

DIY Queen Elsa's Coronation Dress

When we were watching the movie 'Frozen' together, my brother in law casually said that it wouldn't be long before I come out with all the costumes in the movie.  I told him that it is impossible.  The dresses are too complicated and have too many details that I couldn't reproduce.  However, as time goes by, I thought, 'why not?'  It has since, become my challenge.  

So far, I have sewn the Elsa's blue dress as well as the folk dress that Anna wore in the latter part of the movie.   And now, I am proud to present the dress that Queen Elsa wore at her coronation.  Elsa looked regal in the dress, which came complete with a cape.  The details at the bodice and the hem of the dress made it a classy piece.


Doesn't my girl look as regal a queen as Elsa? 

Details at the hem