Home made change mat cover

The baby-sewing has begun!

I'm not into pastels, or pink.  I couldn't find a nice, bright change mat cover in a colour I liked, so I decided to sew my own.  I had planned to use minky, but it was $23 a meter! This gorgeous purple crushed velvet was only $4 a meter, though it was very slippery and difficult to sew with.

I used 1 meter of material and 1 meter of elastic ($1/m) per mat.  So they cost $5 each!  I made two as I know they'll need to be washed pretty often, so a spare will be handy.

I followed this tutorial, but rather than folding the material and cutting one corner out, I lay my material flat on the loungeroom floor, traced my change mat, then cut away the corners.  From there it went pretty well as per the tutorial.

Here's the finished product - I love the colour, the lustre and its sooooo soft that I wish I had something like this under my bare bum regularly!

I might make more in future as baby shower gifts, but will definitely use a different fabric that is easier to work with!

Aromatherapy shower discs for colds & flu

First off, apologies for neglecting this blog.  I contracted Ross River Fever at the end of February and its been a long fight but I'm finally coming good now.

I came across this post for home made aromatherapy shower discs on Pinterest and it reminded me that here in the Southern hemisphere cold and flu season is about to start.  I was thrilled to note that I have all the ingredients for these, though we often buy a blended oil here called "Breathe Easier" because hubby has so many allergies and Geekling is athsmatic, and it smells very much like Vicks so I might use 45 (!!) drops of it instead of the blend, even though I have those oils. I had to stop myself whipping a batch up right now - only I think that they'd be best made fresh.  Rest assured at the first sniffle or sneeze, I'll turn out a set and give them a try.

I think they'd make a great get well gift too!

Geekling's bedroom - 2 years old

Now that Geekling is toilet trained, we've sold his nappy change table (for almost double what we'd bought it for! $45 second hand off ebay 2 years ago, sold for $80 on ebay recently).  We moved his chest of drawers to where his change table had been, moved his bookshelf to where his drawers had been and put up the play tent I made him for his birthday.  We've also now got an easel his Grandma gave him, and we blew up balloons for his birthday!

The playtent is just a hula hoop ($5), a queen bed sheet donated by Geekling's Grandma and a bunting donated by Lumpy's Mum.  The tutorial I followed is here.

Geekling LOVES the tent, loves his new Very Hungry Caterpillar bedsheets and pillow and his easel!

I love comparing photos and seeing how his bedroom has evolved.

Previous posts about Geekling's room:
Geekling's newborn nursery
Geekling's new bed

52 Uses for Coconut Oil

I came across this post recently on 52 uses for coconut oil.  I'd never realised Coconut Oil was so useful!  I love that you can use it as a base for so many home made cosmetics and medicinal balms - some of which would make lovely home made gifts.

(Image from the http://www.deliciousobsessions.com article linked above)

For those who haven't used it before, coconut oil isn't a liquid like most oils we're used to, its a thick balm like substance.

IKEA Finger Puppet Mobile

How cute is this idea??

It is a baby mobile made from IKEA fish finger puppets, a couple of sticks and some string/line.  IKEA also have a range of other animal finger puppets, or you can buy finger puppets very cheap on ebay.

I wish I'd thought of this when Geekling was tiny, I never got around to finishing the mobile I was making him - I was still sewing it up while in labour and it got forgotten in the haze of feeding, changing and new-parent narcolepsy.

Taggie Owl Rattles

I made these taggie owl rattles for my two new nephews and our friend's new baby for Christmas using the pattern from  Dolls and Daydreams.  Each has is made from scraps of fabric I had at home, and features double seams and two bells in the head which jingle well even though surrounded by polyfill.  My hand stitching at the bottom leaves a lot to be desired, but overall I am happy with them.

 Hoot hoot!

Upcycled Hula Hoop floor rug

I know - this many posts in one day is unheard of around here but I had to share this also, I found this awesome Hula Hoop Rug using old t-shirts via The Crafty Crow.

Hardware stores around here sell huge bags of old clothing and other fabric to use as rags for $1 or $2 which might also be useful if you don't have that many old shirts and other clothes hanging around.

Paint Chip Bead Toy

I came across this gorgeous home made toy (via The Crafty Crow), where the beads have been made from paint chips (the colour matching slips you can pick up from the hardware store).

As a child I was enchanted by paint chips, so this idea really thrilled me.  I'd like to make one for Geekling starting with just 3 or 4 shades each of red, yellow and blue and work up to something like this.  Just gorgeous!

I've also seen other wonderful ideas at Chasing Cheerios - Using paint chips to practice cutting with scissors as the thick white lines separating the shades of colour are a great guide for toddlers, and this home-made peg colour-matching game.

Dyeing Playsilks with Kool-Aid

I know, I know, every craft or parenting blog on the planet has a post about dying playsilks or yarn or other products with Kool-Aid.  But I did it recently, had a lot of fun doing it so am going to give you the run down :)

I ordered the 1m square silks from Dharma Trading Co, and the Kool-Aid on ebay because its not usually sold here in Australia (or if it is, its at expensive imported candy stores - although I have some other colours/flavours to collect from a Canadian online store that allows pickup from a French patisserie in the city).  I planned to dye pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and leave one white.

Clockwise from top left: Yellow silk dyed with 3 packs Lemonade and 1 pack Mango, Blue silk dyed with 4 backs Blue Berry, Pink silk dyed with 3 packs Pink Lemonade and the Orange silk was dyed with 4 packs of Orange.

 Step 1: Dump silks in hot water with a fairly good glug of vinegar.  I think there would be a cup or so in this pan with the hot water.  Soak for 15 - 30 minutes (although I am sure longer won't hurt) while you prepare the dye.

 Step 2: gather containers for the dye baths.  You can use glass or metal but not plastic as it will stain and absorb the smell and flavour a little.  Kool-aid and vinegar are foods and not toxic so you can use your every day cookware.

 Step 3: Empty the Kool-aid into the containers, then add hot water and a good splash of vinegar.  I think there is about a cup and a half of hot water in each container.

 Step 4: Add silks to the dye baths and move and squish around fast if you want the most even coverage.  Keep squishing and moving until the water left in the container looks milky or pretty clear - its actually really cool seeing how fast the dye attaches to the silk!

 Oh yeah, wear gloves if you have them.  This stuff stains!!!  If you don't have gloves and are itching to dye, washing your hands well with toothpaste afterwards will remove most the dye, except around the edges of your nails.  I hear shaving cream works too?

 My orange silk being dyed.

 Step 5: Rinse under COLD water until water is running clear.  Then hang out to dry!

 Step 6: PLAY!!!  Geekling loves kicking his legs around in them, throwing them over his head and loves to play peek-a-boo with us.

I just love how vibrant the colours turned out, I think because I was heavy handed with the vinegar?  Some I've seen online are a lot paler.  I'm looking forward to completing the set with Purple, Green and Red soon!

Easter presents - plastic eggs and finger puppets

Geekling is almost 14 months and has never had chocolate, and we weren't about to change that over Easter.  So I got a pack of plastic eggs and put some of his favourite treats inside - sultanas and dry nutrigrain cereal.  I also made a couple of felt bunny finger puppets and put them inside a couple of eggs.

Here and here are the puppets I based Geekling's on.

And here are the ones I made (still tail-less, as I haven't made it to a craft supplies store or made some pom poms yet):

Update: I am *almost* finished reading through one of my new favourite blogs from the start, and have under 12 months of posts left to read!  I just came across her post from last Easter where she'd made the same little finger puppets and thought I best link it since I copy so many other ideas from her.

Homemade Play Dough

EVERYONE knows how to make homemade play dough.  In fact, I think the hospital staff check new parents have the recipe before they let you take your new baby home.  There is a recipe on the back of most Cream of Tartar packets.  For anyone who doesn't know, my preferred recipe is here.  Its a no cook recipe and takes only a few minutes to make and is so cheap!

I whipped up a batch for Geekling last weekend, and he loved it.  We poked it with our fingers, and used alphabet cookie cutters with letters from our names, and of course Geekling tasted it a couple of times but each time he spat it right back out (which I am happy about - while its non toxic, its quite high in salt).

I've kept the batch in an airtight container, and will have to make some in other colours soon.  I came across another Montessori blog which suggested a "Play dough of the month" type idea, most inspired by American holidays and seasons, and am thinking of adapting it to Aussie seasons and holidays so keep an eye out for monthly play dough updates :)