Crafting by not a very crafty mum - melted crayons

Happy (post) Easter! Time to think about new thank you cards.

Despite Little E being pretty disinterested in drawing of any kind, I can't believe how many crayons we have in the house. This appears to be an universal moan among parents. But whatever you do, don't dare throw them out or the kids will notice and complain!

I kept seeing melted crayon art things on Pinterest and, considering we don't use the crayons much, especially not the broken ones, it seemed a nice way to use them up. I was a bit concerned how you melted them, but turns out you can do it with a hairdryer. Amazing.

I thought melting crayons with a hairdryer would be good for Little E, as it didn't involve holding a pen/pencil/crayon of any kind. I thought he'd like the mess, etc. Could I get him interested? No. Oh well, I had fun instead!

I read quite a few posts about melting crayons before I tried this. I'm glad someone mentioned taping the crayons down, because even on the lowest setting, the crayon pieces would have been blown away. I just used normal sticky tape and individually taped each crayon down and then used duct tape to hold the paper down. I just used normal paper and it worked out great. I was worried it would get too wet and tear, but I layered a few sheets up and it was completely fine.

This was so fun. Watching the crayons begin to dribble and then run away from the hot air. I could have made the colours all mix more, but I was going for a rainbow effect for the thank you cards. It was easy and mostly easy to tidy up, so I will certainly see if Little E wants to have a go in future. Maybe brand new brother, Little A, will be more amenable!

Do make sure you have the table covered and wear an apron. There was more splatter than I expected there would be. The crayon 'art' dried quickly.

I added a little Thank You and then used PhotoBox to print them on postcards. They looked lovely and bright when they arrived.

Crafting by not a very crafty mum - disco box

Ahh... cardboard boxes. Where would I be without you?

The Finns stick their baby in a box, so I did too.

Saw this idea ages ago, but was mainly inspired by the children's centres in Oxford. They had home made light sensory toys at their stay and play sessions. It's such a shame many of these sessions have now gone due to funding cuts. They were amazing sources of support and inspiration.

This took a few minutes to set up and both my boys like it!

First step, is to poke holes in your box. I've been reading a book about bringing up boys and it inspired me to let Little E loose with some scissors! He likes demolition, so I thought this would be great for him.

Watching Little E stab at the box was tough for me. Instinctively I just want to keep telling him to be careful, but instead we chatted before about being safe with scissors and I let him go. My book said how much boys value being trusted and I wanted to show him I trusted him.

And we both survived intact. He loved making all the holes and he was a lot more careful than I thought he would be.

Then I stuck our LED fairy lights in the top.

Little E had wandered off, but when he came back he said "wow!". He stuck his head in the box and played around with the light settings. "I want it fast, mummy!" I also put my head in to make sure the lights weren't too bright. Little E was so proud when I told him we'd made it for Little A and gleeful when I showed him photos of him inside.

Little E won't let me turn the lights off now! Good thing Little A is enjoying it!

Crafting by not a very crafty mum - rainbow sensory bottle

I enjoyed my first glitter sensory bottle, or "disco slime" as one friend described it.

I have a large collection of buttons. I saw a "rainbow button" bottle idea. Seemed a great idea to use up some of my buttons.

I had lots of fun sorting the colours out. If you have an inclined child, I'm sure they'd enjoy searching for the colours.

I also had some rainbow beads from a broken necklace and some blue glitter.

I used baby oil the last time. It didn't mix with the water at all, which wasn't the effect I was looking for. This time I tried glycerin, which was suggested by several  Pinterest posts.

I didn't know how much to add, so I tried a little at a time. The more glycerin in the water, the more turbulent things were, so I used the whole bottle and would have liked more. However, I was still pleased with the result. The glitter swirls around beautifully, but I wish the buttons floated more. They make a delicious clicking sound as they fall, which I didn't expect.

Little E spotted these in the bathroom and sat mesmerised for several minutes, which was amazing for him. He liked the buttons best.

I'm still experimenting different methods of making sensory bottles, so I'm planning at least two more.

Crafting by not a very crafty mum - sensory bottle

Ooh...shiny

Sensory bottles or calm down bottles was something that kept appearing on my Pinterest. I wasn't sure how easy they would be, so kept pinning, but not doing.

Then, I received a lovely Christmas card from my parents. It was decorated with a bauble filled with glitter. I thought what a shame that the glitter would go in the bin, but then kept the card in case I could reuse the glitter.

When inspiration suddenly arrived - a galaxy themed sensory bottle with star glitter. Perfect!

I looked up a few tutorials and had a go.

I used a bottle of baby oil, a Voss water bottle, tap water, star glitter from the card and some leftover blue glitter I had. I tried to buy blue food colouring too, but it didn't arrive in time.

Bung them all in and hey presto. I wished the oil mixed better. Any scientists out there with suggestions? Other blogs suggest hair oil or corn syrup, so might try that in future.

Sadly, I can't seem to post any pictures to my blog. I'll keep trying!

New baby, new me?

I'm not one for new year's resolutions. If I want to make a change, I try to do it in the here and now. Why wait?

But I've been thinking of sharing my ideas and the surprise arrival of baby number 2 (our Little A came 5 weeks early) has prompted me to write.

Basically, I want to try to live more sustainably. I do all the usual things - recycle, careful with water and energy use, check out charity shops/secondhand for clothes/toys/books, etc. I get irritated with articles that tell me to only boil the water I need each time. I know! Tell me something new!

But suddenly, there is something new. Zero plastic and zero waste blogs keep crossing my way. They can be pretty intimidating lifestyle changes, but there are some good ideas.

I'm not going zero waste! Many of these people are devoting all their time to this  challenge. One blogger spends 4 hours a day writing about her experiences. 4 hours a day! I now have two kids and a job! Ain't nobody got time for that!

Of course many of these bloggers are doing it as a job - writing books, getting advertising, etc. They devote a whole year to it and make huge personal sacrifices.

I much prefer incremental changes and the idea of "minimal gains" - slowly change enough small things and they add up to big wins. I hope the changes I make can be maintained much more easily. I can also then keep stepping it up as I gain in confidence and try new things.

So, some of my changes:

Less plastic
I actually began looking at this when Little E was born. We had a lovely book called "Your baby week by week" and it mentioned the environmental impact of having a baby. I never got my head around reusable nappies (so many types!), but our book suggested they were other things we could do, like look out for biodegradable nappy bags. I didn't realise there was such a thing. We started using Ocado when Little E was born and amazingly they stocked all sorts of products that were just what I was looking for.

Nappy bags by Naty - biodegradable nappy bags. Used them since Little E born. They are amazing. No difference in performance from plastic ones that I can tell.

Naty also do sanitary towels, which again I have used and don't notice any dip in quality. However, they only seem to do quite light towels. For maternity pads I found Natracare. Soft, absorbent, biodegradable.

Less waste

1) Reduce your wet wipes. Cutting back on baby wipes is something I did with Little E. I use muslins for everything - as a bib, mopping hands/faces, etc. I dunk in some water if necessary, then take home for a wash. It amazes me how so many people keep using wet wipes for wiping little hands, etc, long after nappies are out the window or they are old enough to wash their hands in the bathroom.

2) Washable breast pads. With a lot of support I breastfed Little E until he was about 19 months and things are going well with Little A. I'd heard ladies might leak a bit while breastfeeding, so bought some disposable pads to get me through the early stages. Word up people... With Little E I leaked until I finished feeding. Not a little, a lot! I've seen fertility statues where rivers of milk are depicted flowing from their breasts. I know what that feels like! It got better, but I ended up wearing disposable pads for over a year. I'd heard of washable ones, but was so tired I never got round to investigating.

This time I have bamboo washable breast pads from Cheeky Wipes. Absolutely chuffed! Really comfortable, absorbent, stick them in the wash and dry quickly on a radiator. Fab.

Might think about their washable sanitary pads...

I'm sure there are other things, but those are my marginal gains. Hope it gives people ideas and feel free to share your ideas with me.

Staying sane - "gratitude diaries"

When Little E started nursery, they asked us to keep a little journal of his day. He was only 10 months old, so it was to help maintain a routine that worked at home and nursery. They filled in what he got up to at their end - when he slept, what he ate, what activities he enjoyed - and we did the same when he was home.

It was really useful and more than 2 years on, we all still fill in "his book" every day.

I've kept it up, because it makes me happy and I wondered if others would like to share in the idea.

Why do I like it?

1) It's a lovely memento. I just got back his old journal from nursery. They keep his old ones to help fill in his progress reports. The first entry is from 4/11/15, so over a year ago. Little E was obviously beginning to become confident with his colours and counting 1,2,3. It names the children he played with most at nursery. Our entries over the next few days talk about puddle hunting and his first nasal flu vaccine! It's all the little details there on every page. I can flick through and it triggers lots of happy memories.

2) It helps me to reflect on my day in a positive light. This is of course something that I started for nursery. I didn't want them to think I was a bad mummy, so I documented the "good stuff". However, it also meant that I began to see all the good stuff I did. Big E would come home from work and I would feel defeated   - Little E hadn't eaten, he'd watched too much CBeebies, he'd had a tantrum, etc. But then, while they had bath time, I would write in Little E's book and I'd remember we'd  had a cuddle on the sofa, that he'd sung me a song, that we'd done some water play at the sink, that I had handled the tantrum and that he'd at least eaten an apple. Big E often writes in the journal at weekends and he finds the same thing - you suddenly realise how much you have done for this little person and we're not doing too badly after all.

I think it works like a mindfulness and a gratitude diary all in one. I take time to reflect on my day and try to focus on the positive things. I'm intending to start one when no. 2 comes along.

We think we plan to keep this up until Little E starts school. We just won't be as lucky to have staff who have time to write such a detailed description of our child's life. We shall see.

Crafting by not a very crafty mum - Quality Street wrappers

If you are anything like my family at Christmas, you're about to get through a lot of Quality Street (other sweets are available).

I got a large tin free with my shopping this November. We could have saved them for Christmas, but me and Big E couldn't resist them and have started tucking in.

As always, there is then a huge pile of colourful cellophane left over. I thought there must be something we could do with these.

So me and Little E made "stained glass" sun-catchers. They worked out so much better than I thought they would.

First step: eat chocolate! Collect wrappers

Second step: Get out your sticky backed plastic. The blog that inspired me to do this suggested decorating half a piece and then you fold the undecorated half over the top at the end. This worked well for us. Little E liked chopping up the wrappers best.

Third step: fold over the plastic to seal your creation in. I then used a biscuit cutter to draw around and cut out star shapes. I was sure they would fall apart or curl up, but they stuck togetherness brilliantly. I used a hole punch to make a hole and threaded some ribbon through. Little E said "wow" when I showed him the result.

Even on a dreary, rainy day, they look nice in the window. I've got all sorts of ideas now of what's we could make. Definitely think we need to make a few for the tree. Plus, we might just HAVE to buy more chocolates. Win.