Granola: The most original Hostess Gift

A couple of weeks ago we had some friends over for a visit.  It was nothing special just a weekend with friends we hadn't seen in a few months.   We were not expecting our guest to bring anything, but both couples actually did.  One of them brought a swing for the two kids, and the other a very interesting homemade granola. 

That morning when we called one of them to ask at what time they expected to arrive (they had a 2 hour journey), they told us that they were about to leave but they hadn't yet because they were waiting for our gift to "cool down".  We didn't think much of it except that maybe they were bringing some sort of cake or dessert.

Well, you can imagine our surprise when our hostess gift was giftwrapped and still a little warm.  It was also heavy and obviously inside some sort of jar.  I was so curious, and when I opened it, to my surprise, I saw granola on a simple but beautifully looking airtight canister that had a decorative tulip napkin on top.  Wow! that was a totally different, original, unexpected, and as we later realized, delicious hostess gift. 

So my homemade granola is about to be finished off as we have it for breakfast all the time but I can't go back to store bought granola anymore.  The homemade version was just too good, besides I really want to give it a go in trying to make my own.  I still have to search a few recipes, give it a few trials and adapted it to suit me and my family, but once I have it all figured out I'll post the recipe here.  I can't wait!

PS:  It will definetely be oatmeal based

Paint Car Tracks on Paper Roads

Keeping my little boys entertained and motivated to try different things is one of my top priorities these days.  I have made a commitment to myself to expose them to creative play by introducing different materials and ideas that encourage them to imagine, dream, and play together.  I know they are still a little young to do all the above but my idea is to slowly build it up.

On Monday after searching for toddler play ideas I came across some different ways to play with paint....with cars!  Well I don't how that never occurred to me but once I saw it I thought to take it a step further and make a road out scrap paper to let the cars drive around.  This was really easy to do and it kept my boys entertained for about 30 minutes (which is a long time for a soon to be 3 year old and a 15 month old).

To make the road I took about 20 sheets of scrap paper.  I put them together with tape on the back. and then took it outside and, on the blank side, I drew lines with a black marker to make two lanes.  I then took 3 or 4 different paint colors in paper plates and placed them (with tape underneath) on different spots along the road.  I told the kids that the paint was gas and that the cars could stop at any of the gas stations to fill up while continuing on their way.  They loved it.

The best  part for me was that cleanup was so easy.  For the road and gas stations it was just a matter of picking it up and throwing it into the recycle bin.  For the cars cleanup I decided that the best was to take them to the car wash...basically I fill out my sink with soap and water and the kids and I gave the cars a good scrub.  Which preschooler doesn't enjoy playing with soap, bubbles and water? My oldest really enjoyed it, the little one felt like  doing something else.

Children's Cool Cardboard Car Wash

My son loves to go through the car wash and thinks this is something everyone does every weekend.  He likes it so much that sometimes when we ask him what he wants to do for the day he will say:  "wash car".  For him the car wash is as good as going to the park.  That is why a few months ago we decided to build him an outside car wash for his toy cars.  Searching different options I found a really cool one on the Disney Family Fun website, but we never got around getting all the materials...and as it is already September we decided to wait until next spring and then give it another try.

Then last week Monday I set myself to let Nicholas enjoy the last week of school vacation as much as possible.  I had a few activities planned but still had some free space in the calendar so I thought probably the best ways to fill those gaps was to give him a new toy, but instead of buying one I would make him one.  I found this website, http://www.filthwizardry.com/2009/01/home-made-toy-carwash.html and use it as inspiration to make a cardboard car wash.  I used only things I had around the house and it took me about two hours to complete.

I started making it on the spot so there wasn't much planning ahead, the only thing I knew was that I wanted it to be interactive and only with materials I had in the house.    I decided to have 3 interactive stations to make it easy, manageable and playable (my son is not yet 3).  First station had two top spin wheels, the second station had two side spin wheels and the third station was the dryer.   For materials I was lucky enough to find a box on my recycling bin that had transparent sides and top which were perfect for the visibility of  the different stations and for the entrance and exit doors.  For the top spin wheels I used red cardboard and rolled it onto wood skewers, for the side spin wheels I used felt scraps and also rolled it onto wood skewers.  For the dryer I used colored serpentine and punched a few wholes on the box to blow air through and create serpentine movement.  I also decided to cover the box with serpentine to create a car wash feel on the box.  This last step was the longest. 

Needless to say, as soon as my son woke up from his nap, he started playing with the car wash giving his cars a good scrub ;0).  He loved it! and I was also really happy with the results.

Materials:
-rectangular box
-4 wood skewers
-serpentine
-colored cardboard paper
-felt scraps
-white glue

How to:
1. Start by cutting out the sides of the box to make entrance and exit areas for the cars

2. Cut 8 small 1x2 inch rectangles of cardboard paper
3. Cut fringes in each piece of cardboard paper and then roll 4 pieces onto one skewer one behind the other starting on the center and moving out.  Do the same with another skewer and fill it up with the remaining pieces of paper

4.  Wrap the felt scrap pieces onto the remaining two skewers.







5.  Cut serpentine in the size of the internal length and width of the box (taking into consideration that part of the serpentine will be pasted onto the top of the box).  The serpentine is supposed to be the hanging loose clothes used for drying the cars .  Paste this section onto the top end side of the box close to the exit side.




6.  Close to the Entrance side of the box, make two parallel holes going from top to bottom to fit the felt skewers.
7.  On the center of the box make two set of holes crossing the upper side of the box going from one side to the other.  This will be where the upper spin wheels will be located.





8.  Install all wheels in place.
9.  Cover the box with pretty paper, serpentine(in my case) or just add the words car wash to it. 

Family Crossword Puzzle Wall Art

The house we currently live in has a large Master bedroom with so many walls to fill.  I have managed to hang up quite a few things but there was one  large empty wall and one small space that I had been trying to decorate forever (almost 2 years).  My main goal was to make the walls look good but without breaking the bank.  Well in my search I came up with quite a few different ideas but I decided to settle on two.  In this post I will show you what I came up with for the large empty wall on my room.  Like the title says I settled on a family crossword puzzle.  

I came up with this idea after stumbling upon a Scrabble like crossword puzzles Posh Tots with the words "Imagine, Dream, Believe" on it.  The crossword puzzle looked beautiful, made in wood but to me the cost was just way to high at $500.  Based on that idea I started looking at a few other examples on Pinterest and I found one I liked using white canvas and painted black letters.  With these two inspiring ideas in mind I put myself to work in designing something of my own.  The basic idea was clear:  Crossword puzzle.  The additional requirements were to make it personal, make it colorful, and not spend more that 50  Euro (about $60) on it. 

When thinking about personalizing something the quickest thing that comes to mind is names.  So I decided to use our names instead of other words.  I thought it was also a clever way to show the family link we share.  To make the wall art colorful, I decided on choosing different matching colors for each member to keep some consistency.   With these ideas I went to Ikea to see what I could come up with.  I was really lucky to find picture frames for 1 Euro each.  I selected white frames for me and my husband and green and blue frames for each of the kids.  For the letters I used old magazines cutouts and for the background I used different color cardboard paper. 

I think the outcome really worked and it could not been any cheaper.  I spent less than 40 Euro ($50) in total and my wall is filled up with a personalized wall art.

Materials:

-colored picture frames. (I used Ikea's but an alternative is to get plain frames and paint them)
-old magazines/children's book, etc
-scissors
-color cardboard paper
-photo adhesive squares or double sided tape
-ruler

How to:

-First try a few different crossword name options on paper. 
Make sure you match the best crossword option to the size of the wall you want to use.  In my case, both my kids have long names (13 letters each) while me and my hubby have short names (4 letters each).  So for us it worked best to have my pre-schooler's name going down and my toddler's name going across, that guaranteed that the full wall was used. 

-Based on the crossword option selected, count how many frames you need (1 for each letter) and select the color theme for each name.

-Go through different magazines or children's book and cut out the biggest letters you can find making sure they fit in the frame.   I you can't find the right letters just print some and cut them out.

-Measure the inside of the frame to make cardboard cutouts that will serve as backgrounds to the letters. 

-Try matching the cardboard and the frame colors for more appealing results.

-Arrange all frames, cardboard paper cutouts and letters on a large table to make sure you like what you see (color coordination, letter arrangement, not missing any letters, etc)

-Once you are happy with what you see start pasting the letters on the cardboard paper with the use of the photo adhesive squares.

-Add any additional decoration onto the cardboard (polka dots, framing lines, etc.) and fit the cardboard paper (with the letter) into the picture frame

-Hang onto wall

Lovely Thistles?

Last weekend, my mother in law came to visit and she brought with her a beautiful bouquet made out of white roses, cresentias and thistles!  Yep, I never expected to see thistles in a bouquet and believe me, it has been one of the most beautiful flower arrangements I've ever received.  Not only do the white and lila color combination look lovely, but the bouquet has a great sense of space.  What I mean by this is that every thistle, every rose, every cresentia has its owns space, it is not crowded, and I think it is all thanks to the very different dimensions and sizes of these three flowers.   It just feels as this combination was always meant to be together, yet it is the first time I see it.

It has been one of those simple  little things that has brought a smile to my face everyday when I see it.  Hope the picture sort of does the same thing to you too!