CRAFTS AND DIY
Ava's mouse house! A super fun (and super creative!) craft project.
Ava has been working for weeks on her 'mouse house' -- a collection of old shoe, cereal etc boxes with all sorts of different functions inside. It's really becoming such an extensive project! Sara, Pim and Casper have joined the fun as well -- they each have houses too now, but also business. For example ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Embroidered Name Shirts -- a great DIY craft and gift too!
This may be my new favourite gift to make -- personalised and hand embroidered shirts! I have now created shirts with both monograms and full first names, and they are always so well received! And I often do pairs of them so siblings can each wear one. Embroidery is really very simple, and you do ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
The Deceptively Simple Joy of a Cardboard Box
I love how interesting the simplest of things can be. And few things have more endless possibilities than that of a cardboard box! It is deceptively simple. And it can elicit a lot of joy for a long time, just depending on how you look at it. Big, small, square, rectangular, all these boxes ...
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VALENTINE'S DAY CRAFTS
Rose & Lavender Bath Soak -- great for mama time!
Bring colour into your grey winter days, wake up your senses, and treat yourself to this very simple homemade bath soak. Then turn on the water and... relax! This pretty, and very simple soak consists of a few ingredients, and can be made in a few quick minutes, with or without children. We made ...
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CHRISTMAS CRAFTS
Festive & Fragrant Pomanders -- a great tradition and an easy craft too!
Orange and clove pomanders are so very simple to make, oh so very beautiful, and exactly the festive touch every home needs too. The colour instantly brightens a room, but the very very best feature is their delightful scent! The smell is incredible! Fresh, yet warm, these oranges studded with cloves are the essence of ...
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CHRISTMAS CRAFTS
Bright & Merry -- Holiday Cards which only take seconds to make!
Cute Christmas cards that take seconds to make and seconds to dry: that is surely a crafting win! After all, factory assembly line crafting is rarely fun for kiddos! So mass-producing handmade cards has to be super simple, and super quick. And don't you love the bright colours in our string of Christmas lights? They ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
An easy Christmas craft: clay ornaments and decorations
This is honestly the easiest Christmas craft, something the kids can do almost entirely on their own, and it has the prettiest result! Last weekend I handed the kids a package of Sculpey clay and some cookie cutters. I gave them each a glass bottle (to use as a rolling pin), and together they made ...
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SKIN CARE AND MAKE UP
Homemade natural lip balm with beeswax and shea butter
'Tis the season! Of chapped lips and dry cheeks. All of my children have been complaining about dry lips and have been asking for lip balm. I've been reading some negative things about over-the-counter chapstick though, like the use of ingredients such as petroleum jelly / petrolatum (vaseline) and parabens. Things I don't want my kids ...
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AUTUMN CRAFTS
Pressed paper clay leaves -- a little fall craft project
Leaves are changing colours and falling in Amsterdam and the colours of the trees are so pretty. When we're going for little walks in our neighbourhood, we can't help but come back with some colourful leaves in our hands. Little treasures!! The colourful autumnal leaves were the inspiration behind this little craft project: beautiful, pressed ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
DIY Yarn Wrapped Letters
How fun and cheery are these yarn wrapped wall letters! We're so pleased with how they turned out that I thought I'd share this simple DIY. The method is quite self explanatory but here are some tips to help you on your way, you'll need medium weight card, tracing paper, scissors and a selection of ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Rainbow scratch painting
Do you remember having invisible pens? I was completely obsessed with them as a child. The markers that changed color when the "magic" marker drew over them were just that in my mind: magic! My parents would splurge on the books that came with a magic pen to discover secret answers and hidden messages when ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Last-minute (paper) Valentine Flowers!
Can you believe it that it’s Valentine’s already? What kind of treats are you preparing for your loved ones? I’m so so bad with this, or any other holiday as a matter of fact. But one of my new year's resolutions is to start acknowledging and celebrating them more. Another one is to learn ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
A DIY wooden warrior friend from Conscious Craft
Over the summer my children received this cool wooden ninja construction kit, available from one of my favourite toys & crafts shops, Conscious Craft. It was a curious little package -- a box full of wooden construction pieces, steel bolts, and allen keys. Thankfully a clear instruction leaflet was included, or otherwise we would have been lost. Because DIY kits ...
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BIRTHDAY PARTIES
A stick-themed 9th birthday party
Pim turned 9 in February, but something very sad happened in our close surroundings around that time, which made it difficult for me to get myself in the mood for organising a party back then. I kept postponing it, until suddenly I realised the end of the school year was near. Oops! So on the last day ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Tissue Paper Flowers
The flowers in California are absolutely stunning. Never before have I lived somewhere that has such an amazing variety of plants and flowers - all of which feel very exotic to a city dweller like myself. Every time we take a walk, we come across new blooms and it's all I can do to keep the ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Splotch animal Pop-up Cards
Ella recently celebrated her birthday which means this week her thank you cards are on our family to-do list (don't for a second think that I actually get around to mailing out thank yous a week after a gift is given, but the best of intentions is always there immediately!). Nathan's mom gave us a ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Symmetry sculptures
While I'm not a control freak, I have grown accustomed to having a lot of kids under my control at one time. And, I think I'm good at it. I run a fairly tight ship in terms of schedules and expectations, but am pretty relaxed when it comes to general raucousness and chaos. There are always ...
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BIRTHDAY PARTIES
Cute mini party crafts from Cotton Twist
I have recently made a fun new discovery: Cotton Twist mini craft kits. These cleverly designed, all-prepared mini craft projects are such fun entertainment! Making things easy for busy parents, Cotton Twist has put everything that's needed for one cute craft project into one little kit. There are cool superhero masks, dinosaurs, princess crowns, pirate catapults, ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Sweet and easy snowmen on our window
Our children don't have school on Wednesday afternoons, so I had all four of them at home last week. It was rainy and stormy outside, so we lit a fire and engaged ourselves with a little craft project. While my children were cutting out snowflakes, I took a quick look at Pinterest for inspiration and thought it would be fun to make ...
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AUTUMN CRAFTS
The Little Things: Making Fall Leaf Lanterns
It's autumn and the streets are lined with the most beautiful leaves. They're just too pretty not to be picked up! So for this The Little Things post, we decided to make use of what is so readily available in nature: we're making beautiful leaf lanterns with Casper and his friend Mees. Look how excited ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Design your own butterfly wings
Ivy received this Design Your Own Butterfly Wings Kit for her birthday a couple months ago, and in my haste to tidy up after her party I stuck it in our craft cupboard, hidden away until we found it last week! She spent an afternoon carefully colouring and glittering her wings, and then spent the entire weekend fluttering ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
The Little Things... making pompoms for a spring branches bouquet
For this The Little Things post, we've been making pompoms for an Easter Tree-inspired, spring branches bouquet. The great thing about making pompoms, is that it appeals to different ages, and both boys and girls absolutely love making them. Isn't there a magical attraction to wool? The moment I pull my suitcase with yarn leftovers ...
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AUTUMN CRAFTS
Simple leaf print-splash art
Did you ever splash drops of ink on paper using a toothbrush? My mum taught me this technique when I was a child and suddenly, when Ava and I were picking up pretty leaves the other day, I remembered how fun it was. All you need is an old toothbrush and some coloured ink. Dip ...
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