Carpentry Play

The carpentry corner at Playcentre is a very empowering corner for play indeed.

My daughter's creation, "The dolphin diving in the sea"

Full of real tools - saws, hammers, nails, screwdrivers, screws, drills, vice, wood and the complete trust in our little people that they will enjoy the tools in their play.

Our playcentre carpentry corner has had its tools refreshed and the kids know it.  With every tool working as it should the children are relishing each one.

Our role as parent at Playcentre is to provide, observe and extend when and if possible.  With carpentry that can be intimidating for a myriad of adult reasons - safety concerns, limited personal experience even frustration that screws, nails and tools are being tipped out and strewn every where by children!!!

After attending a carpentry play workshop I have had my lenz widened to so many pathways children play through when exploring with this type of play.

My kitchen cupboards and draws are often emptied of cutlery, pots, bowls and tea towels because even with all of the "play" or "toy" equipment provided - you just can't beat the real thing. And why not, it's good enough for Mum and Dad right?  Of course then carpentry tools are viewed by children in the same way.

If you imagine how your baby and toddler play and explore the home kitchen then we can draw comparisons to stages of development in carpentry play :

Experimentation Stage
In the kitchen we might see our children....
                        watching family members,
                                      grabbing for and playing with kitchen utensils
        handling and playing with spoons, bowls and pots
                                                             carting the pot around like a treasure
                          emptying cupboards

                       (sound familiar?)

With carpentry play this stage might look like
               tipping out accessories
                                               chewing on wood
        watching other children
                                                           handling or carrying tools around

Abstract Building Stage
In the kitchen we might notice our children.....
                                                use all the utensils in ways they have seen them used
                         begin to stir in a pot or bowl
                                             put plates or bowls or pots in ovens or fridges
          put their toys in the pots!

With carpentry play this stage might look like
                          hammering nails without help
         controlling saws                                        imitating adults
             using tools for their correct purpose
                                      no plan

Specific Creating Stage
In our kitchen I see this ...
                  child requesting a recipe
                                         understanding that certain types of baking requires certain ingredients

gathers ingredients from cupboards and fridge or garden
                            models Mum and Dad's methods
    insists on variations
                                       
During carpentry play you might see children in this stage...
      Pre planning construction
                               adding accessories
                                          modeling own things
completing and naming their creations
                                                      experimenting

What I love the most about these identified stages is that it begins with experimentation and upon knowing more and understanding more returns to experimentation.  That to me is what is exciting about learning through play and in my opinion what learning is.  How often do you find yourself mastering something, then experimenting once you feel you have reached a certain point?

Ideas for making carpentry more accessible at Playcentre or at home:

Provide the basics if you can - wood (untreated pine off cuts are usually free around the place), nails or screws, hammers, drills, and saws.

Be present during this play - observe, offer language (hit, screw, up, down, together...) provide ideas to enable the child to realise their plan.

Holding a nail can be hard while little hands hammer.  Try starting the nail, put clay or playdough around to hold the nail in position.  This is a much more appealing option than your fingers around the nail while the child takes aim with the hammer.

Wood can be hard.  Bars of soap are a great medium for hammering into - if  the child's goal is to hammer.  Pumice is an accessible medium to saw, drill or hammer into.

Hammering/drilling holes into shells can end in shatters.  Use a masonary bit (has a spade like tip).  Hold the shell round side down and squish into play dough or clay to hold in position.

Tree stumps make excellent hammering tables for toddlers - they are lower, a little more forgiving and provide a large and defined work space.

Once nails are hammered into wood, thread wool around to create a pattern.

With the child's imagination and exploration nurtured by the adult's support through observation, offer of language and scaffolding to make their pathway possible there are no limits - follow their lead.

Carpentry play grows problem solvers, develops fine/gross motor skills, is both scientific and mathematical amongst many other values and most importantly is fun.

Fifty Cent Sun Dress: Lessons Learnt in Sewing with Knit Fabric and a Giveaway!

Finally, I have turned a market bargain into a sweet little sun dress!

A metre square of turquoise coloured stretch terry cloth for 50 cents caught my eye in a cardboard box last spring.

My favourite colour of course and the fabric reminded me of the dresses my mum used to where in the seventies.  I had to have it.

With Dana's Warhol Dress pattern and tutorial I have sewn my first dress for my little girl.  It is the perfect just been on the beach dress, or poolside dress.

 And, have I learned sew, sew much about sewing with knit fabric in just one dress!

Janome - my temporarily adopted sewing machine is much cleverer than me.  She knows more than me and harbours much wisdom of which I am yet to understand.    I have discovered a stitch called "overcasting", which seems to be very close to overlocking.  This is the stitch I used making this dress, it looks more professional that zig zag.

I also learned that when sewing knit fabric it is much better to have a longer stitch.  I seemed to go no where fast when sewing with short stitches and knit fabric.

Apparently, there is also a ball point needle which is better to use when sewing knit as it does not break a hole.  It is also possible to use a twin or double needle to hem knit fabric creating that professional double hem with over locking stitch on the reverse.

I am very excited about sewing with more knit.  However I have decided that I really must have an overlocker, despite finding the overcast stitch on Janome.  I think a second hand overlocker would be perfect.  And I have been given many cones of thread.....

Sadly I can't use them, and I have no idea how to go about finding a good overlocker.  So, I would love to give away the following bundles to homes who will appreciate them.

Pack one - Citrus Zing (lime is a woven thread)

Pack two - Summer Sea Blues (turquoise is a woven thread)

There are two bundles, each include a roll of woven thread.  To enter please join my facebook page and leave me a tip on how to find and buy a second hand overlocker, or a tip on sewing or overlocking with knit fabrics. Oh and let me know which trio you might prefer.  

I will draw winners on April 2, 2012     x

Show and Share: Heart Soaps in a Coat (Felted Soap)

I would like to introduce you to my big girl Kaea.  She is a talker.  Started talking quite early, has a fast growing vocabulary and talks about everything!  Inspired by Meagan at This Whole Family we chose to celebrate Valentines Day by creating felted soaps together.  Such a wonderful hands on and useful craft to complete with our children.

Together we've made her first "Show and Share" tutorial, thinking it would be a great way for her to do what she loves best - talk and share, and may be experience an audience wider than her family.  You will hear her refer to "Tazza and Daddy" as these are who I framed as her audience.  The concept of a blogging community as an audience was a little hard to explain!

Following this "Show and Share" are some supporting notes and comments from her Mumma.

Perhaps, your little people could enjoy this "Show and Share" with you.

Heart Soaps in a Coat (Felted Soap)

The movie could do with polishing, however the focus is showing and sharing in her two year old way.  We would love to hear what your little people think.

Mumma's Supporting Notes

The timing of Meagan's tutorial on Felted Soap could not have been better for me.  We are almost a year into toilet training and my pet peeve at the moment is liquid soap.  The liquid soap dispensers are not kind or encouraging to little people who want to grow in independence.  I am not a fan of soap bars left wet and slippery at the basin either.  Felted soap is a great solution.  Wool is self sanitising, it creates a lovely lather of soap, acts as a cloth to wipe off extra dirt and allows the soap to dry in a contained space.  And it looks beautiful!

I have also read that once the soap has disappeared, you can cut open the felt, insert another bar and close the opening with more felting.


You will need:

• a mould for your chosen soap shape
• gratings of soap - I chose to grate a quarter of a cup from a bar of soap
• a double boiler - I used a heat proof bowl over a pot of boiling water
• a few drops of essential oil - optional, I used sweet orange
• tbsp of coconut oil - optional, I found that it helped to melt the soap
• wool roving, suited for wet felting - I found more than enough in a bag for less than $NZ5 from Spotlight
• an old stocking
• a bowl of warm water

 Add grated or pieces of soap, along with coconut oil if using into a double boiler.  When the soap has softened (timing will depend on the amount of grated soap) add essential oil if you wish.   Softened soap can then be spooned into your moulds.  Take care it can be hot.  Level the soap and leave to harden overnight.

Pop the harden soap out of the mould and cover with the wool roving. 

At this stage we placed the soap in an old stocking.  Using a stocking makes it easier for hands, big or little to matt/felt the wool.  You may go without a stocking, it will require rubbing the wool for a little longer.

Dip the stocking wrapped soap into warm water and begin to rub all over.

It soon begins to lather.  We took turns to rub the soap for almost ten minutes.  For a larger bar of soap you may need to rub for 20 minutes.

Finally, unwrap the stocking to reveal your felted soap - or soap in coat!  Leave the soap to dry completely before using.

Thanks Meagan for sharing your tutorial and I hope you and your little people enjoy Kaea's "Show and Share" x

Strawberries and Dreams

Happy 2012 Everyone!  I love this time of year - I love the opportunity to begin again, to set goals, to refresh.  I also love strawberries, dreams and the fact that I have managed to sew pyjamas for our girls.

Check out these sweet little legs complete with strawberry nappy covers!  E's pjs have been teamed with a white onesie.

KB's pj pants have been modeled on a pair of shorts from her wardrobe and teamed with a "rhubarb" singlet.  I just cannot believe I actually made these and they actually fit!!

Dana and her inspirational blog motivated me to believe I could actually sew these.  She is one outstanding Mama.  I found her tutorial on creating ones own patterns to sew very helpful for these pj pants.  

Dana's diaper cover pattern and tutorial were used to create these cutie pies for baby pjs.  The delicious fabric was an on sale discovery from Spot light and I feel like it just sums up what we love about summer here in Aotearoa.

Now my two little strawberries are (finally) snuggled in bed, sleeping in their new "jammas" and their very excited and proud Mama awaits the morning to see if these pretty things can function as they are meant to and hold it together for a night!!

Thanks for stopping by I would love you to make my new year by joining me on my Facebook page if you can.  If you have not already, please visit Dana's newly refreshed and very motivational blog.

Have a happy week.

On a roll...a crayon roll roll

Have you visited Skip to My Lou?  For crafting, creating and celebrating this blog is full of fun and fancy and worth a visit.

I have been creating crayon rolls for gifts for Kaea to give to her little friends as birthday presents.

In version one I followed the tutorial almost to the tee.  I made the crayon roll before buying the crayons and then discovered that I could not find a pack of sixteen crayons, so coloured pencils it was!

In version two I modified the design to fit twelve coloured pencils and created my first fabric yo yo on which to fasten the roll.  I found this tutorial on fabric yo yos to be very helpful for a beginner like me.

I know I would love to see my girls receive a gift like this, so I hope Eve and Emma enjoy them.

Our Bumble Bee and her Fluffy Bunny

Our little bumble bee Elidi is just over three months old.  Every day we are enjoying her gorgeous personality unfold just a little more.  She is loved very dearly by her sister, who cannot wait for her to grow big enough to play with - KB is ever so patient regarding the importance of Es sleep "Babies are like bread Mum, they need to rest to grow".  In the meantime, KB gives her lots of cuddles, joins her into her imaginary play and reads and sings to her.  E loves every minute of this.  I do so love watching the love they already have for each other.  After KB's day out with her grandparents they both love seeing one another again.  E searches with her eyes and head for her sister upon hearing her, and KB always greets her with a big kiss and cuddle before Mummy these days!

It is a real pleasure to watch a special relationship grow.

On the note of resting.... it seems I have rested a lot from posting...it's not that I don't have a lot to post about...quite the opposite really as I have a lot.  What I don't have so much of is hands free time!!

I have been busy getting back on track with preparing wholesome food for our family therefore doing much less of the "just add" stuff as we did to get by with the arrival of E.  This has involved using the great meal planning idea from Madeline at ecoMILF, as well as recipes from her blog and Emma at My Darling Lemon Thyme.

And I am on target to reach my goal of at least 80% of our Christmas gifts being handmade.  So we have been using natural dyes, making solar infusions, quilting and sewing up a storm.  I cannot wait to share these and our family advent calendar.  Here's a peek...

My man has been working longer hours too, and these will increase as the school term comes to an end.  This means I really need to pace my self and rest too.  So here I am resting and so I shall leave you to rest more with my next goal of posting at least twice a week from now on xx

With all the strawberries about.... you really must give this delish tart a go.  I did in the weekend and we all loved it to pieces.

Photo borrowed from My Darling Lemon Thyme blog to tantilise your taste buds in the hope you will visit  Em and gives this a go!

Buttermilk Pancakes and Blueberry Sauce

What one does with one's buttermilk from making butter..........

Recipes can be found here:
Blueberry Sauce
Buttermilk Pancakes

Homemade Butter and Quick and Easy Bread

There was quite a bit of cream left over from our pavlova making adventure and usually it ends up going off in our fridge.  Fortunately I had just received my copy of Wendyl Nissen's "Mother's Little Helper" and I was inspired to make butter.  Such a great scientific change effect for Kaea to see, especially since it involved butter her most favourite spread.  Sometimes she even has a small piece of toast with her butter!

We chose Wendyl's suggested method of beating the cream with a little salt to the point of butter with its whey or butter milk separation. Then squeezed the butter milk from the solids, drained off the liquid and continued to squeeze under a tap of running cold water.  Hey presto - butter, real butter!!

Of course you cannot have such a high quality butter without bread.  Kaea and I used to make bread often, but have had a lapse with my second pregnancy and arrival of E.  As much as I love kneading and proving, E is not yet three months old and I feel like I don't quite have the time or energy for proper bread making.

Annabel Langbein has a very, very easy bread recipe.  No kneading required, simple list of ingredients, and the proving is done in the oven.

We loaded our bread dough with sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds.  It is delish and reminds me of vogels bread.

We gave it at least ten minutes out of the oven before slicing and lathering in our homemade butter. Yum.

Another fantastic way for the kids to make butter is with a glass jar and a marble.  With marble (sterilised) in jar, add cream and salt if you'd like (it helps with taste and preservation) and shake, shake, shake.  A good work out and lots of fun.

Thanks for the photos Ms Dunn

Here is Annabel's Easy Bread recipe sourced with thanks from "So, So Simple Food"

4 teaspoons honey
2 cups very hot water
2 cups cold water
7 teaspoons yeast

2 3/4 cups whole meal flour
2 3/4 cups strong white flour
3 teaspoons salt
2 cups sunflower seeds

Handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds to topping (Optional) 

Into a bowl add the honey and the hot water.  Dissolve the honey and add the cold water.
This should now be hand hot water, perfect for yeast to work.  If it is a bit hot, let it cool a little.
Sprinkle yeast on top and let it bloom.
Set aside 5 minutes
In another bowl place the flours and the salt and the sunflower seeds.
Add yeast and water.
Mix and pour into 2 greased loaf tins.
Sprinkle top with Pumpkin or Sunflower seeds if you choose too, I didn't.
Snip top of loaves with scissors or slash with a knife.  I missed this bit.
Into 80C oven for 20 minutes to help rising
Then turn up to 210C and cook a further 30 minutes or more until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

so true on so many levels...

Source: madamecupcake.tumblr.com via Rochelle on Pinterest

clever!

My Creative Space: A Quilted Headboard

Now that my big girl is in her bed, and we have rearranged her room she really needed a head board.  But my goodness to buy these things are expensive!  It seems even more so if you are looking for character or originality.  I still find my self being hit with a barrage of pink when looking for anything slightly girly. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong places, please redirect me if you think I am.

All of this led me to "Why don't I make it myself".  Armed with mdf, some timber, batting, foam, a few power tools, spray adhesive, buttons and sewing machine we have this... a quilted white head board with randomly sized and placed buttons.  I love spray adhesive - it has come in handy for a few things.

Luckily you cannot see the back of the head board.  The back is purely functional and hardly pretty.  Problem is that when her blinds and curtains are open you can see a corner of the poor finishing through the window.  One day, when my belly is back to normal size I shall felt the back and tidy it all up.

In the meanwhile KB adores her head board.  I could not believe how excited she was to have it up.  It has proven to become a wonderful bedtime quiet game tool too.  KB counts the buttons, we match buttons and she practices her colours.  Who knows what we might do with the buttons next!

Now KB has a  hand crafted head board to match her up cycled Dr Seuss foot stool.

Check out more creative goodness from the Creative Space community here.

Upcycling to help "get up"

I found this foot stool at my favourite local op shop.  Just what I had been looking for to help my little girl climb up into her big bed.

Sew Pretty have some gorgeous Dr Suess FQs which I have had my eye on for sometime.  Little K adores Dr Suess and so my first efforts at upcycling were born....

She is chuffed!  And now that we have redesigned her room, we are on the hunt for the perfect head board.  The quilt hanging in her room is a source of inspiration for me.  It was a first bday gift from Aunty 'Ree of Midget Magic.  The groovy knitted blanket was a gift for K at her birth by her Nanitex.

Banana Choc chip Muffins and a Delissimo Cake!

Delissimon's Double Chocolate Mocha cake was today's inspiration for baking.  Perfect for a friends birthday and just the right type of baking for a wet and windy morning.  This will be served with a dollop of cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

You can find Monica's deliciously easy recipe here.
The tissue paper flower is a decoration I slightly modified from this pattern here found on Prudent Baby.


We followed this event with banana choc chip muffins.  Recipe courtesy of NZ's Womans Weekly.
This is a great recipe - very sweet.  We used less sugar and only a third of the choc chips recommended and they were still very rich.

Then my lovely sister arrived with loads of her 'Breastfeeding Bar' - which I just love, love, love.

Clearly all of the chocolatey baking was enough to set off the terrible twos in our house.  I am exhausted from exercising all of my patience and consequence today!!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and get the chance to make one of these scrumptious recipes x

Maeve Magazine - A Classy Online Mag you will Love, Love, Love!!

My cousin is writing for this fantastic, Melbourne based online magazine.  Great reading for Mums, crafters, food lovers and people passionate about the arts, all that is pretty and fond memories.

I love their vintage look and their appreciation for intelligent readers.  Check them out here and on Facebook!!

Check out my Aunty rocking the Ducati - she and other fabulous Mum's can be seen in the "Fabulous Mums with Style"  feature.

Jasmine Norrie her daughter is a fledgling freelance writer to watch out for!  Way to go my cousin x

Lavosh, Good Nosh, and Budget Posh

Have you visited www.pigstitsandparsleysauce.co.nz?  The story of a NZ woman who challenged herself to a weekly grocery bill of $100 for her family (dogs included) to save at least $12 000 in a year to invest in a rental property.  Long story short she exceeded her savings goal and now writes and shares about how she achieved this.  I found it all very exciting.  So I am giving it a crack.  Will let you know how it goes!



One of Lyn's tips is too shop at Bin Inn (or the like), your local butchery and produce stores. She says avoid supermarkets and if you must go there have a list and stick to it.  Well I have been doing that for the last fortnight.  Our local Bin Inn type shop is Simplifood in Mount Maunganui.  I spent quite a bit of our budget, with most of the cost going toward supplies for Wendyl's cleaning products.  I was very excited to see that they stock her range including the liquid soap she recommends - Dr Bronner's castile soap!! Wonderful!  My next cleaning product will be the peppermint paste as my bloggy friends are raving about it as a jiff equivalent.  My stove stop is hideously dirty so wanted to see if the peppermint paste can work its charm there.

I stayed mostly to our list in the supermarket managing to forget one item - K's corn thins.  This inspired me to dig to the back of my pantry and memory banks and  create Annabel Lanbein's Lavash.  Mmmmmmmm, low in salt, filled with yummy sesame seeds - I am liking this option for K's savoury snacking.  It is so easy to make.  Takes a while to roll.  I love the taste and the rustic, odd shapes.  I am looking forward to Dad and K's reviews as they took it too the park for afternoon tea.

On this particular weekend morning I was up before the family and whipped up soup for dinner and some delish home made bread - thanks to the Edmond's Cook book wholemeal bread recipe - we are really feeling like we eat well with the seasonal food focus, homemade goodness and budget attempts.

This week I will use the last of our tomatoes to make more tomato sauce, and try some pear and date chutney from my gorgeous recipe book "Ripe" pictured above.  These will hopefully become birthday gifts.

What's cooking in your seasonal kitchen?