Dot painting and practicing staying inside the lines!

Her birthday is just around the corner and she's been talking about it every day for months. I planned a little activity for her to get her even more excited about her birthday, not sure if that was the right way to go, but it did help her to practice staying inside the lines and making dot painting. It was so much fun that I wanted to share this idea with you guys.

Grab yourself a piece of paper (we used a proper canvas paper, but I'm sure normal would work just fine as well), a black marker to draw your picture with, Q-tips and paint. First draw a very simple picture, make sure that there's enough pictures with spaces to fill with dots. I'm sure older kids can draw the picture themselves, but for little people this is the spot where you need to do the prep work for them.

Then choose your paint and put one Q-tip in each paint so that your child doesn't try to take different colours with the same Q-tip. After that it's just time to make some spots. We actually did this together a little bit so that she was able to watch me doing it and take example from it. Then just admire your work when you're finished!

As you see, you don't have to be a very good drawer... And I tried to keep it really simple. This activity was so much fun, and I was amazed how she got the idea of keeping inside the lines, she never stays inside the lines when colouring. Recommend trying this fun!

Sand painting

Have you ever tried sand painting with your kids? It's so easy, so magical and keeps them busy for a good long hour.

Here's what you do:

Paint a picture with glue.

Sprinkle sand over your picture.

Or pour sand over the picture.

Dip your paper and get rid of all the extra sand.

Admire your creation.

Emma did this together with her cousin. They were both amazed how the picture appears visible when you pour the sand over it. It was so cool to watch them go and do this whole activity all on their own. They are getting so big, *snif*

All you need is glue, paper, paint brushes and some sand. And don't forget to clean your brushes in warm water after you're finished, that way you can use them another time as well.

And remember to take a picture of your cool sand painting!

Klara vappen everybody!

I love bringing some traditions from Finland into our Aussi life. So as 1st of May was getting closer, we decided to throw a little party with Emma. 1st of May, Vappu (what it's called in Finland), is a big celebration. People get out their barbeques and have picnics, we enjoy special food, sima (a drink with lemon, sugar and yeast), munkki (a bit like doughnut) and tippaleipä (there's nothing to explain that). There's balloons, masks and streamers, everyone is happy and festive.

So why not bring a little of that festivity in our normal boring day-to-day. We had a fun morning with friends, eating treats and decorating animal masks. It's little traditions like these that colour our everyday life. Thanks all you lovely ladies for coming over and bringing your kids for a play. Thanks for making our vappu very special!

February

Hey it is the second month of the year! Here's this months art work from Emma and a thought that somehow fits in me so well. It makes me understand me a bit better. Maybe that's why I feel so different so often, because I'm trying to make a difference. Ha!

There's a thought for you too, do you try to make a difference and in what?

Birthday balloons // HOW TO

Here's another step to keep my new years resolution. Nothing says more birthday than balloons, and even more balloons that say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! So instead of cards I'm sending balloons around! Wouldn't it be fun to get a balloon in the mail and then when you blow it up, there is a message on it for you. I also thought of putting some little presents inside some of them. That way the birthday girl/boy has to first blow it up so that they can see the message and then pop it to get the present.

If you want to make them too, here's a quick how to. Just write your messages with permanent pen and go nuts.  

New year - new start

I have never in my life made any new year's resolutions. Never! This year however I am making one. Only because I am ashamed of myself and I really really know that I can do better. I need to do better. My family and friends mean the world to me, I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for them. And last year was my lowest point as I didn't send one birthday card or present or anything to that matter. That all needs to change this year! I want my family and friends to know that I am thinking of them, that they are important to me and that they matter!

First step into keeping my resolution is this calendar that I whiped up. I let Emma paint on it and then I wrote a funny thought that I saw. I am now trying to fill it with all the birthdays that I need to remember.

 

Now it's on our fridge so I can be reminded everyday. I'll make a new one at the end of each month. Next step though is to make some cards to send. 

Have you made any resolutions? If you have, how do you make sure you keep them?

Merry Christmas to all you naughty

Oh I have been so busy that I haven't had time to post anything here, and the hectic life continues for a little while over here. But for now I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas. This is our Christmas card this year and I would have wanted to send it to all you lovely readers. I love your comments, they really do make my day!

And the Finnish version:

Merry Christmas!

Hyvää Joulua!!!

Melbourne cup // with kids

Last year when someone told me Melbourne cup was on, I thought they were speaking a different language as none of that made any sense to me. This year I'm smarter, I know it's got something to do with horses and fancy dressing. FANCY DRESSING! Yes, I'm all over that. Any reason to have a party is a good reason for me.

My awesome friend organized a lunch (and why did I not take a photo of the amazing cake she made, it had horses on it, dang it.). She invited bunch of us stay-at-home mums over and had a great idea that the kids could do some crafting. Melbourne cup is all about fancy hats and hair pieces, though yes mainly it's about the horses. But I'm more into the hair things. So kids did their own hair accessories. This one is Emma's creation.

And check out the mess they were able to make:

Thanks again Linda for having us over! It was so worth vacuuming the night before, wasn't it. :)

Our COW party!

This year, Emma's birthday party's theme was COW! Yes, cows! Oh I had so many ideas, but only few of them came true. But I didn't stress. I had so much fun crafting and creating. There is lots to share so let's get going shall we.

 

Invites were cows, of course! The nose of the cow was felt which added that extra specialness in them. It was hubby's idea and I totally want to give him the credit as I thought it was awesome! Not many people have had cow themed birthday parties so as I was thinking of the text I searched a lot of cowboy parties and took some ideas from them.

Because of all last years presents were noisy and flashing plastic toys I had to step in somehow this year. Hense the text at the bottom. I absolutely hate all those type of toys and don't really want them at our house. But how do you tell that to your family and friends? Any ideas?

I admit that I did slip up a bit with her outfit. She looks more like a Grease girl than a cow girl. It's the skirt.. I thought it was very cowgirly when I got the material, but somehow it just doesn't work. I still love the material and the way it turned out, just a bit wrong theme. Oh well, I'm sure we can get many more uses out of it this summer. And it was so easy to make! Yes, easy was the way I went this year.

Couldn't find any boots, but her aunty did her hair which was so pretty and fitting for the occasion. Thank goodness for awesome aunties!

As the guests arrived they were greeted by a line of cowboy scarfs. Everyone got their own. I got 5 different patterns so that they didn't all have the same. All the kids looked so cute with them on and I think my own cowboy was pretty darn handsome too. I made a few bigger ones for us parents.

I also made some buntig to hang around the place. All made from old things like sheets, mens shirts, table cloths and so forth. So very well recycled and it didn't cost me much more than time used for sewing and cutting.

I didn't make it in time to get good shots of our food. That's ok, at least it means that people were enjoying it. I think the coolest thing we did this year, concerning food, was our milkshake bottles. And of course that's the one thing I didn't get any pictures of, so I'll explain. We had a white metal bucket (you can see it in the furtherest corner of the table) filled with ice and full of glass bottles that had milkshakes in them. Flavours were chocolate, strawberry and spearmint. Oh it looked so cool and tasted even cooler! It was a massive hit.

My favorite food was the frozen banana pops, so yummy! We are going to make them all summer long. I also made little custard jars for everyone, and instead of a one big cake we had lots of cupcakes. On top of Emma's cupcake there was a cow with two candles on it. One of those silly ideas of mine according to husband, but yet he kindly did what I asked and I think it was groovy.

Loved the food! I put the most effort in it and it was gooood. Three different types of vegetarian pizzas, quishes, coctail sticks, home made dips, milkshakes...

We didn't have many games since all the kids were aged 3months to 3 years, but I did want some sort of activity. Photo wall was the answer! It was a massive hit, so much fun and guess what, so easy to make! We just got a big cardboard box (this one used to have a washing mashine in it), I drew some cows on it and then painted over. Then hubby cut the holes for the heads and ta da!

Notice the chicken who wanted to be a cow. Or then it was just trying to get away from the dog. I kept the heads that were cut off so that when there were three or two people getting in the photo, the extra cows were made to look like cows. I love this picture of the three little cousins, all doing their own thing.

For a party favour, all the kids got this little bag that had a small chocolate milk and a set of farm animal stickers in it. I didn't want to give any candy to the little children so that's all I could come up with. And hey, they got their scarfs too!

Oh what a happy day it was! I felt so blessed that we have so many wonderful people in our lives who care about Emma. Many came from over 2 hours away just to celebrate with her and that means so much to us. She was the happiest little girl I have ever seen and she fell asleep in my arms at 5.30pm. It really took all her energy. I think it was a perfect day!