Wednesday, December 18, 2013

veselé vánoce.....merry christmas!

 
m e r r y   c h r i s t m a s  !
 
 
p.s. did you know that you can draw with colored pencils on
frosted glass?(...and ALSO! erase with eraser and/or soapy water!)

Sunday, September 15, 2013

cheerios box dragon wings

our favorite movie at the moment is "how to train a dragon"
..........so we had to make some dragon wings!


take apart a cereal box and...
we made St's tail using the side flap, but Ji wanted the bottom part of the tail(top part on the photo)  wider than the flap was, and he wanted the crease, so we made it on the crease. 
...we left the outside plain(cheerios cover), since the wings stay pretty much open and the boys didn't mind, but you could also glue some construction paper on to hide the cover.
to attach:
wings: make 2 holes on each side of the middle piece(...first photo) and thread some string or ribbon through the holes, or you can cut short incisions on the ends of the creases and just latch the string/ribbon in place. then tie around the arms.
tail: i just folded the tail into the waistband of their pants and that way it stands out a bit instead of laying flat. you can secure it with masking tape, or you could also tape it to the bottom of the wings.

little dragons in action :)

update - here is a link to a fancier pair of wings we made ;)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

tiny lego gift

 when Ji's friend was visiting, he was admiring Ji's hanging legos, so i sent him a little gift :)
 
 
just:
 drill a hole in the center of the lego using a tiny drill bit,
string it and tie a knot at the end,
hang - individually or tie 2 onto a wooden dowel to make a mobile
 
just one piece of lego and some string
.....and it makes a lego kid so happy! :)

Sunday, August 4, 2013

store some fruit for 'grandmother's baked tea'

i have gotten a couple of jars from friends and it is soooo good i had to make my own :)


the idea is to gather and store fruit (in the freezer) all summer long and at the end of the summer you mix everything together along with some sugar and spices, bake in the oven, fill into jars and enjoy drinking on cold fall and winter days!

ingredients:
2kg of fruit - at least 4 different kinds
1kg sugar
2 cloves
1 tbsp cinnamon
125 ml czech rum - optional ;)

directions:
1. mix all of the ingredients and bake on a thick pan at 175°C for 30-40 min.
2. fill jars immediately(be careful not to burn yourself) and turn up-side-down to let the tops latch on
3. to make tea: pour hot water over 2-3 tblsps of in a cup. and be sure to eat the fruit too!

this first batch i made i used: red currents, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, plums(sliced), tart cherries and one apple(sliced)! it's sooo yummy....it won't last until the fall :)!

p.s. i already made a batch because i started storing fruit too late last summer and missed out on red currents(gives the tea great flavor), so as soon as the currents were ripe (this week) i made a betch using the rest of my stored fruit! ;)

Monday, July 1, 2013

Sunday, April 28, 2013

kcw.....mending

i joined the spring kids clothes week challenge as soon as i found about it. i was very excited, hoping to get some cute clothes made for the boys, but unfortunately this week - the week of the challenge, turned out to be the busiest i've had in a while. so by the evening i was always too tired to even clean my desk for some sewing.....BUT by saturday/yesterday, everything settled down a little and first on my list was something i truely hate! to do - mending....my motivation was to have a "clean slate" before i started something new.

 
...so i mended 9 pairs of play-pants with knee holes using fleece fabric scraps. the only creative part was choosing the colors, but at least the boys have a bunch of almost new pants that can be worn to preschool again! :)


p.s. i used my cup-press method to make the marks for the circles for cutting...easier than tracing!

now off to sew some striped seersucker shorts - yay!....i hope the sewing goes well!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

spring planter-animals

we glued a piece of felt onto the same size piece of paper,
drew the outline on the paper side and then cut it out,
then glued on the paper eye and beak(to the back).
tip: felt/fabric is so much easier for kids to cut out when glued to paper!!!


glued some wooden veneer crafting shapes together,
then glued on some cutout paper features - eyes, nose, cheeks. 
.....cardstock is great for this too! :)

p.s. instead of popsicle sticks we used coffee/tea stirring sticks

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

paper egg silhouttes tut

we're in the process of making some.....
as decorations, maybe make a mobile or even some cards
 
 
                                 directions:                                                                          
                                 1. draw an egg, fold in half and use as template               
                                 2. trace onto paper rectangles folded in half, then cut out
                                 3. glue on strips of paper to bottom paper                        
                                 4. glue on top paper                                                          
                                 5. leave as a rectangle or cut out egg outline
                                 p.s. you can use the cutout eggs to make a harmonica egg decoration!
              
use all kinds of paper strips(and/or tissue paper) :
 
p.p.s. great for all kinds of shapes!
...xmas trees for next xmas? :)


Monday, March 25, 2013

cheerios box horses :)

just turned the cheerios box inside out, altered one corner, reglued and decorated.....
 
 

Thursday, February 28, 2013

lego travel box

we had already been using these boxes for legos while traveling or keeping Ji busy at restaurants (or other places that involved waiting), but usually the lego creations were all over the place, so i came up with this lego board insert to help contain the legos in or near the container :) and for more fun!

the board was originally intended to attach 3d creations, but as soon as i had it flipped open, i realized it would be great for 2d also - letters/shapes, pictures, designs, games, etc!
 


what you need:
- lego board
- xacto or utility knife
- cutting mat of some sort
- metal ruler/cutting edge
 
 
tips:
- before you start cutting, make a layout so you can make the maximum amount lego board inserts!
- it's best to cut the bottom side....it's easier to cut through holes than over bumps ;)
- the more precise you cut the boards the better the fit! ...it's up to you if you want to glue the board onto the lid or not...if the kids get used to holding the board while taking the legos off, you don't need the glue - this way you can have it as a detachable board as well, but for smaller children it might be better to glue it on...
- the board is hard, so be really carefull while cutting! 
- after cutting the length and witdth, don't forget to cut the corners
- after finished, try it out yourself!.....i did ;)
 
 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

my little bears

it's carneval season again....
i knew i needed to keep the costumes simple. Ji usualy runs around with his friends the whole time and ends up taking off obstructive parts of his costumes, and little St doesn't enjoy any type of getting dressed too much...
 
the boys were watching the czech cartoon "the bears from kolin" the other day, and the bears look just like them - tall and slim and small and plump :), so i got the idea of having them dress as the bears. Ji liked it too, so that was that! :)
 
 
i ordered the fabric and picked out some nice fitting t-shirts that the boys had and Ji's baseball cap as patterns and used some helpful tips i found here and here... 
i was pretty pleased with the outcome, since this was only my second(and third) time sewing a
t-shirt, but i was also VERY reluctant to be finished, phew!
p.s. the cap is made from felt fabric :)
 
 
here are the boys trying their costumes on.....St took off his ears after about 10 seconds (lol!),
 

Thursday, January 24, 2013

a wintery ray of rainbow

 
sorry for the smudges in the window(...this is from the boys' room),
but see the little ray of rainbow in the left corner? :)