Domestic Quest – Baby Sensory Play – Musical Treasure Basket

I have pinned so many sensory play ideas on Pinterest and have really only tried out a few, now he’s getting older I want to start doing more with Little Man, my aim is to do something with a sensory aspect to it every day and try at least one new sensory play activity a week. So far this week we have played with Bubbles and experimented with some simple water play (water in a baking tray with milk bottle lids, rubber ducks and coloured ice cubes)

This week I have finally finished his second treasure basket.

I have read and pinned a lot about creating Treasure Baskets for little ones, mostly on The Imagination Tree and Paint On the Ceiling and when LM started sitting well at around 4 and a half months I made him a fabric treasure basket to explore, he has it out every few weeks and has a rummage. It has fabric scraps, bits of ribbon, felt, some knitted and crocheted pieces and a silk scarf which he loves to play peek-a-boo with.

I have been meaning to make him a musical treasure basket ever since and finally finished it this week. This basket has lots of things for Little Man to shake and touch. It has some bells, a wooden maraca, a small plastic maraca, a wooden frog clacker and a shiny plastic egg filled with hama beads to add a visual element for him. This was a instant hit as he caught his reflection, anything he can see himself in is always a hit.

He had a good look at all the items, gave them a shake, a gum and chew, put them back in the basket and tipped them out again and then spent a lot of time looking at and playing with the basket. He spent a good 15mins actively playing so I’ll take that! I will keep on the look out for more things to add to it and I’m now planning his next baskets!

 

What items do you put in you little ones treasure baskets?

 

 

 

 

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Pinspiration Post No.3 – DIY Nursery Shelves

With the nursery painted and furniture built, it is finally taking shape which is great, but we still have a lot of finishing touches to put on and I’m not going to be able to completely relax until it is done and all ready for our little guy.

One thing became clear once all the furniture was in place and that was that we needed some shelves above the changer, there’s loads of storage in the drawers but the changer top is just big enough to hold a changing mat so I thought somewhere to keep the lotion etc to hand would be great, as well as providing a bit more space for stuffed toys and photo frames and bits and bobs to go. So I hit Pinterest and found this beautiful nursery and some gorgeous shelves that I wanted all for my own.

My husband has recently got into DIY and after building a beautiful coat rack, upcycling an old dresser and making an amazing Tree Bookcase for the nursery, he has got the bug and has been waiting for me to let him know what his next nursery project is, so I showed him this picture, and he got to work….very quickly…which is unlike him 🙂

We had some MDF offcuts left over from the wood cut for the big nursery project, this bookcase, so he got to work cutting that all down to size, and then assembled it using screws.

As I wanted to use the shelves for practical items along with decorative ones, I asked if he could just make it with two larger sections rather than 4 basket sized ones, a look I would love for our dining room but one that in this case wasn’t so practical. Once it was all assembled he applied a coat of MDF Primer, and then headed off for a week of work.

With not much work or things to do around the house this week, I decided that although those lovely little wooden hooks look great in the photo, maybe I could do something that will fit in with the Totoro/Forest theme of Bub’s room, and that’s when I decided to make him some toadstool hooks, all by myself, with no help from Pinterest!

We found some 25mm wooden handles in Wilkinsons for a bargain £2.99, I then sanded them down a little, before priming them and giving them a coat of the white paint that the rest of the shelves will be painted with.

Then I brought a tester pot of Red paint, and painted the tops of the handles red, I gave them a couple coats of this until the red was nice and even, then armed with a tiny paintbrush, I blobbed (technical term!) on some white dots and was done.

So that is my contribution to this project, back to my better halves…

A few coats of paint later, my hooks were screwed onto the shelves, and the shelf was attached to the wall using two wooden blocks that were first attached to the wall and painted the same colour as the walls:

Add a few changing essentials, some fluffly toys and our DIY shelves are complete!

Patchwork Pinspiration: 5 Patchwork Quilts on Pinterest that inspired me to give it a go!

So that My Neighbor Totoro Patchwork Baby Blanket post is coming! But in preparation I thought I would share 5 of the Patchwork Quilts I came across on Pinterest that inspired me to give it a go as my first big sewing machine project.

1. One of many beautiful patchwork quilts made by Gemma and featured on her blog. Amazing that the first one was completed by hand, I don’t think I have the patience for that, but some of the lovely details added to her blankets make me wish I did.

http://gemmaslittlebubble.wordpress.com/patchwork/

2. This gorgeous Yellow & Grey Elephant Blanket from LittleNecessities on Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/listing/106044772/organic-modern-patchwork-baby-blanket

3. This bright and cosy looking blanket from KBExquisites on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/151285072/modern-owls-patchwork-baby-crib-blanket?

4. More Elephants from GiggleSixBaby on Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/117016303/custom-baby-bedding-grey-and-aqua-4?

5. And finally the tutorial I followed for my patchwork quilt. The steps were nice and clear and the only thing I changed was using fleece for my backing rather than Minky Dots fabric, although seeing how cosy the blankets above look when made with Minky Dots I think I will treat Bub once I’ve gathered enough patchwork fabric for the next blanket I make for him.

http://crazylittleprojects.com/2013/01/easy-baby-blanket.html

What has Pinterest inspired you to give a go?

Pinspiration Post no.2 – Pet Hair Removal

This one is less of a craft post and more of a home keeping one, but definitely one that fits  into my current preparing for bub obsession.

This is Logan:

This is Bella:

Aren’t they cute!

But their hair gets everywhere, hoovering does nothing, lint rollers do nothing and with bubs imminent arrival I have been getting anxious about the amount of cat hair lingering in our house even after numerous hoovering sessions and attempts at removal, so imagine my delight when my better half came across a tip on Pinterest about a window squeegee being the perfect pet hair removal tool. So we picked one up today and gave it a go.

And it works a dream! One sofa down, one to go and then to make a start on the carpets, luckily downstairs is wood floors!

Pinspiration Post no.1: Cabled Baby Cocoon

This was the first thing I finished for my little man, and really the first big knitting project I’ve ever completed.

I’m sure my Nan taught me to knit when I was younger, but I never really retained any of the wisdom she had passed down to me, until a few years ago when I decided I’d quite like a new hobby and I asked her once again to show me how it is done. A few mug cosies later I was hooked and several of my family members received little jumpers for their tea cups under their Christmas trees, however like most of my new hobbies, knitting fell by the wayside as I concentrated on planning our holiday and the nights got warmer and knitting a scarf felt like less of a priority. UNTIL I found out I was pregnant and the urge to knit returned, ever the optimist I chose this cable knit cocoon as my first big baby project, alongside a blanket which I’m sure I will post pictures of once complete (in about three years time).

I searched Pinterest for a free pattern and eventually found one I liked the look of, completed on straight needles it eliminated the fear of circular knitting that I am yet to face:

http://tinkerknits.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/cabled-baby-cocoon-free-knitting.html

I used 2 and a bit skeins of Sirdar Big Softie – Fleckie (350) – 50g yarn and this was the end result:

Overall I am very happy with the cocoon as it was my first big project and also the fact that I seemed to handle the cabling reasonably well for my first time. The only issue was an error in the original pattern on the buttonhole row, which I didn’t catch first time round but once I realised I’d made a mistake and was more familiar with the pattern by the second buttonhole row, I managed to amend the second buttonhole row. This resulted in a slight error on the knit, but I’m happy that I learnt from it and could fix it, it has made me more confident reading patterns going forward. The row has now been amended in the comments section of the original post.

Can’t wait to snuggle my little guy in this cosy cocoon, will make a super cute picture too!