Fairies in the Vegetable box

Finally a few nice days of weather and the spring has arrived. So me and Scarlett decided to make a vegetable box to grow our own.

We went to the garden centre a few weeks back and Scarlett choose what vegetables she'd like to grow. We came away with carrots, peas, pumpkins, courgettes, parsley and sunflowers. We potted them around the house in loo rolls we'd been saving up and once they were ready to go out we made our vegetable box.

Using a few left over planks from decking I made a very simple 1m x 1m box. We made bunting to decorate and an old bucket to store some tools in.

Scarlett's Veg Box

We filled it with compost and made a few mud pies along the way. Then we put in our plants. Unfortunately a week later we had an odd hard frost and it killed off most of the tender plants. Thankfully we kept some plug plants in the house and I sneaked back out into the garden and replaced the dead plants without Scarlett realising.

Now the peas are starting to grow we made a fairy house / pea wigwam to grow the peas up. Using a few bamboo canes we tied them together and I left Scarlett with a few lolly sticks, feathers, stickers and glitter glue to go to town on them.

This is what she came up with.

Fairy Pea Wigwam

Looking forward to picking plenty of fresh veg in the weeks to come.

Fun Lunches - Robots

We've had a bit of a robot themed week at home thanks to little Grays 1st birthday. So I thought I'd have fun with it and took some inspiration to create something a bit different for Scarlett's preschool lunches.

You always have the odd spare party box and rather than chuck them, I like to try and reuse them later on. So with some good old googly eyes and a marker pen, these are now lunches fit for any little robot.

Robot Bunting

Just a quick craft.

Some scraps of robot material bought online super cheap, some neon green cord and a sewing machine.

Cutting the material.I used the patern of the material to dictate the size of the bunting, as I had just bought the cheap scraps I wanted to get the best possible use out of them I could.

Once I'd sewn them on this is the finished result...quite effective on the day.

Robot Party Fancy Dress Costume Ideas

This Sunday we attended Gray's 1st birthday party.

So during the week me and Scarlett had lots of fun digging around our recycling bin and creating a fancy dress costume for her and Millie.

Initially I had the idea of sending the kids as Wall-e and Eve but after spending quite a bit of time making Scarlett's Eve costume, she decided it wasn't girlie enough and refused to wear it. I was a bit pissed off to be honest but you can't force them to wear something they really don't want to without them being bloody miserable, and you're not supposed to be miserable at a birthday party. So I caved in and we made a new costume, together this time.

 Eve costume:

To make the Eve costume I bought a cheap bullet bin, 60l to fit Scarlett in and used a knife to cut out the bottom and arm holes. I then used coloured paper and double sided tape to add the details. The arms were cut out from cardboard and stuck on with clear tape. 

I also then lined the arm holes and leg holes with some scrap fabric filled with wadding and glued in place, this was to cover any sharp edges.

I stuck with the idea of putting Millie in a Wall-e costume and this is the result. 

Wall-e Costume

To make the Wall-e costume:

• 1  large box
• foil lid from take away box
• 6 egg box
• brown paper (this was actually from a parcel I'd received the day before)
• 2 party cups
• ribbon for the head band
• yellow paint
• black marker
• piece of card
• Sticky tape

Once you have found a large enough box, cut out a head, leg and arm holes. This one was to fit over my baby so I did leg holes at the front too so she could sit down comfortably.

Cover the box in brown paper. Paint yellow. 

Whilst the paint is drying cut diagonally across your egg pot so you have two triangle shapes for teh wheels. Wrap a strip of brown paper around the wheel to make tracks. Tape to the side of the dry box. Onto a foil take away box lid I used a black marker to add Wall-e details. I then added track marks, panel marks, dents and detail to the dry painted box which really bought it to life. 

For the eyes I cut out two circles of card and stuck them on the inside of the cups. I also added two strips of card to the top of the eyes to give the distinctive Wall-e brow. I finally glued the eyes to a length of ribbon so I could tie the eyes on Millie's head like a head band. See below photo.

Headband

Pink Robot Costume

(Scarlett's costume take 2)

This was a proper rummage in the recycling job. We used baby milk powder boxes for legs with some bubble wrap, a toy box with the clear window for the tummy, party cups and an old toy spring for the robot ears and lots of bottle tops ect for decoration. Lastly pink paint, lots of pink paint!

We had a great time at the party and Scarlett enjoyed posing for lots of photos with the birthday space boy. 

Happy Birthday Gray!!!

New baby on the horizon - Baby box present idea.

One of my very close friends is due to have her 3rd...yes 3rd baby...I thought this completely crazy but if anyone can pull it off it's her. 

So with my other very close friend Anya we decided to put together something a little bit special. As I know baby no 2 onwards tend to get forgotten about by friends and family. I think they wonder why you're putting yourself through it all again when you moaned so much the first time around (just me?).

Anyway with this (probably) being her last child we felt we needed to make a fuss. So whilst on Facebook I noticed an article about the Finland baby box and decided this would be great. Perfect to put in the must haves for a new born and a few extra treats. With the added bonus of a storage box. 

Here is our version:  

• Nappies
• Wipes
• Breast Pads (we know she's bfeeding)
• Burts Bees baby kit (love their stuff)
• Newborn Vests, bibs, baby grows
• Scratch Mits
• Socks
• Knitted Blanket
• Rattle
• Lamb comforter
• Baby book (guess how much I love you)
• Baby Towel and Wash cloth

 Presents wrapped in brown paper and I cut a couple of old baby grows into ribbons for a cute decoration. Finished with a luggage tag eluding to what might be inside. 

Bottom layer with the essentials

Top Layer with the nicer bits and a hand knitted blanket I originally made for Millie, but I went on a bit of a knitting spree and made far too many, so I put a few aside for friends who I knew were having babies shortly after myself. 

All presented in this lovely box.

The best thing about this present is how inexpensive it's been. All the wrapping paper and ribbons cost £1.50, the presents were bought over a few months so we managed to get some good deals. The box was less than half price too at only £9 which is brilliant considering it's huge, pretty and practical. Perfect for an "on maternity leave budget"

We're giving this to Adele tomorrow as baby is due next week. I hope she likes it. 

My welcome to the world of blogging

My first blog and I'm not sure where to begin.

A bit about me, I'm 28 years old mama of two beautiful little monsters. Scarlett 3 and Millie 7 months old. I'm married to Andy (5 years this May) and we all live together in rural England. Pretty standard I guess, so why blog?

I love to craft, cook and the general craziness of my home and I thought you might like an insight too. So I'm sharing my thoughts, ideas and experiences with you. 

I'm a list maker, planner and one of those people who get asked all the time "How do you find the time to make those costumes/ bake bread/ cook cakes/ garden and still have time to look after two children under 5?" and honestly I don't know how I do it, but I do. Maybe keeping a blog like this will help explain it to myself and others. 

I cook every day, bake bread and most days I do crafts and I'm happy to share my recipes, crafty thoughts and the occasional disaster with others, and hopefully get some feedback on what you might think. 

Our little unit

P.S would like to add more but Millie has just woken up from her nap. Let the fun begin!