Christmas tree dipping

All three kids are asleep right now... its the middle of the day and normally only littlest miss conks out. But today, the weather is gloomy but hot, and its so draining. Plus, we did heaps yesterday.. running around, finishing the last of the shopping ( which I have actually done about 5 times now) going for icecream...
So today, its quiet activities and loungey tired kids. Craft today was also a simple, quiet and really fun.


Paper towel dipping



Now this craft can be messy. But if you do it in an organised ( read anal) way, it does work really well for kids of all ages from about 3 up ( unless you are really game).
To start with, you need the best paper towel money can buy. In Australia, its VIVA. If you cant find a really absorbent paper towel, dont do this craft as its really dissapointing when it doesnt work.
So, not really listening to my own advice, I bought a generic brand of paper towel. And whilst I did manage to do this craft, it didnt work as well as I wanted it to.


You also need food colouring or waterclour ink. (food colouring is what we used)
Each colour we put into the paint tray, ready to be dipped into. I only added a little bit of water as I wanted the colours really vibrant.



As this was going to be a Christmas craft, I cut the paper towel into tree shapes before we folded it. ( See here for another version of this paper dipping craft without the christmas bit)
Then, I got Jumeirah to fold the tree as best she could into a square shape and then dip each corner into a different colour ink.





Once dipped, turn the square around so that the ink runs all over the paper. Once this is done, carefully open the paper towel up. ( this is probably an adult part, especially if you didnt listen and bought cheap paper towel :). This is where you need to be strong)

And there you have a gorgeous tree!
Lay it on some old paper, ( newspaper will do) to dry completely. Then, you can hang them, use them as wrapping paper decorations.. whatever you like :)

the beginnings of christmas craft

CRAZY! This week has had so many twists and turns Im feeling rather giddy.... coupled with the fact that Big Miss is having a birthday this week and yesterday told me she would LOVE something handmade ( a cat, no less) Im racing against absolutely everything to keep my head above water...
so instead of just ignoring you for another day, Im reposting the beginnings of Christmas craft :)


Paper towel dipping



Now this craft can be messy. But if you do it in an organised ( read anal) way, it does work really well for kids of all ages from about 3 up ( unless you are really game).
To start with, you need the best paper towel money can buy. In Australia, its VIVA. If you cant find a really absorbent paper towel, dont do this craft as its really dissapointing when it doesnt work.
So, not really listening to my own advice, I bought a generic brand of paper towel. And whilst I did manage to do this craft, it didnt work as well as I wanted it to.


You also need food colouring or waterclour ink. (food colouring is what we used)
Each colour we put into the paint tray, ready to be dipped into. I only added a little bit of water as I wanted the colours really vibrant.



As this was going to be a Christmas craft, I cut the paper towel into tree shapes before we folded it. ( See here for another version of this paper dipping craft without the christmas bit)
Then, I got Jumeirah to fold the tree as best she could into a square shape and then dip each corner into a different colour ink.





Once dipped, turn the square around so that the ink runs all over the paper. Once this is done, carefully open the paper towel up. ( this is probably an adult part, especially if you didnt listen and bought cheap paper towel :). This is where you need to be strong)

And there you have a gorgeous tree!
Lay it on some old paper, ( newspaper will do) to dry completely. Then, you can hang them, use them as wrapping paper decorations.. whatever you like :)

paper dipping...again

Ummm WHAT!?! How did it get to November?? And how the heck did I miss my bloggy birthday almost two months ago!! :( happy birthday, blog. :)

Yesterday, as I was quietly contemplating the day, Jared came and almost literally knocked me off my chair. He wanted to do dipping painting and he wanted to do it now! ( he came barrelling around the corner which is why I fell off my chair figuratively but also literally).

So I jumped to action and got out some absorbent paper and food colouring. Now we have done this craft ALOT but I was keen to do it again considering he was so keen.

He knew exactly what to do and we soon had a table full of amazing colours, shapes and designs.

Take a piece of absorbent paper, fold it into quarters.

Carefull, dip each corner in ink or food colouring. Dip it quickly or the whole square will soak up too much colour.

Once dipped, turn the square around and watch the colour run..

Then carefully open it ( making sure you dont rip it!)

And....TA DA!!

We even had painty fingers!! And he didnt care!!!!!

The addictive thing about this craft is that you never know quite how your pattern will turn out.
He totally loves doing this. I think its the surprise element at the end. By the time he had finished, we had nearly 40 pieces of gorgeous absorbent paper... now trying to work out what to do with it! I think I will try and turn it into a banner... stay tuned :)

More flowers :) Paper dipping style

I had Jumeirah home yesterday and so I needed to take the crafting up a notch for the day.. Jared didnt really care, but Amahli was well thrilled at the prospect of " big girls craft".

We decided on some paper dipping. Now this we have done before but she wanted to turn the finished products into something for her teacher.

And so we got out the food colouring and paper towel and got to work.

I gave Jumeirah hers to fold, getting her to fold it evenly into half and half again. Amahli I folded for her ( much to her annoyance) and helped her to "dip dip dip". We carefully unfolded it and she gave a great gasp and cried "MORE!".

The colours are beautiful and vibrant. I didnt add much water to them so they were pretty intense.

Jumeirah made about 6 of them and left them to dry.

Once dried, we turned them into flowers in these easy steps.

1. Take one square of paper and make sure its an exact square ( ours needed trimming)

2. Fold in half and and half again to find the centre. Unfold.

3. Take each corner and fold it into the centre.

4. Fold each new corner into centre.



5. Turn over and fold each corner into the centre again.

6. Holding the folded square in the centre, unfold a triangle on the back of each corner. ( look at the photo, its hard to explain) flatten to create a petal shape.

7. Glue centre corners down and add a button in the centre if you like.


8. Attach a bamboo skewer to the back.

Done! Arent they beautiful.

Think I might make some for myself :)

food ideas for the fussys

Amahli is a fussy eater.. but randomly so. She doesnt eat fruit unless she decides to. She'll eat only apples for a week then tell me shes never eaten them. She'll beg for berries, only to tell me they are terrible. And dairy is a no go unless its a milkshake at the shops.....drives me insane.

I have been trying every trick in the book to get dairy into her, she hates cheese unless I make cheesy toast ( shes an odd one I tell ya), she eats her cereal dry, and wont touch yoghurt...

I had the mindset the other day to change the yoghurt idea though... which is rare but I seemed to be up for a challenge!!

When we go to the markets, we always end up with dippin dots. Little tiny balls of icecream that are totally delish and my kids love em. I thought that I would have a try at making some from yoghurt and then she might just eat it!

I started making them by using a medicine syringe and drawing the yoghurt into it, then squeezing it onto a baking tray covered with baking paper. Jared came to see what I was up to, closely followed by Amahli.

I thought this might be my downfall, but she was pretty fascinated at what I was doing. Once Id finished piping out the dots, we put it in the freezer. I told Amahli we were making our own dipping dots, and we would have to wait for them to freeze.

All afternoon she paced the freezer, waiting.

Once they were finally ready, I pulled them off the paper and put them in her bowl. She was up at the table in a flash, the dots were inhaled so fast.

We made some more and she helped, knowing full well it was yoghurt we were making them out of.
It seems that Amahli's food pain can be changed with a simple rethink and a touch of creativity :)

Wonder what else I can get her to eat ;)

Anyone else got odd kids??