Days 76-82 of Project 365

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76-82 of project 365

76. Sensory (Having spent the day in bed, completely drained and aching from a flu bug, I managed to drag myself downstairs and set up a light play box for The Boy. I used waterbeads and small submersible lights in plastic Easter eggs and The Boy had great fun playing with them.)

77. Eggy Sticks (We started decorating the polystyrene eggs I'd bought him for Easter. I put them onto kebab skewers as it makes them easier to paint without getting paint everywhere! It's taken all week to finish them off as we both fell ill with the flu bug and recovery has been very slow.)

78. Decay (I couldn't quite bring myself to throw out my dying tulips as the colours and shapes were gorgeous!)

79. Daddy Robot (Today was Mr. TBaM's birthday and The Boy was desperate to get him a robot costume, no easy task for an adult!)

80. Tired Eyes (We had to fly solo today as nanny, who had been looking after us all week, came down with the dreaded flu bug. I'm ashamed to say The Boy spent the day being entertained with the television, iPad or laptop. Dreadful parenting!)

81. 'Ear, 'ear (We set to making our Easter Bunny mask yesterday, as we'll be away in the week leading up to Easter.)

82. Speckled Egg (We finished off our Easter decoration eggs today, far from eggs-citing but I'm panicking about packing before our holiday tomorrow!)

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How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

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I've got a whole load of Easter crafts on the go at the moment, it's a really fun time of year for creativity. When 3M Scotch set us a challenge to create some Everyday Magic at Easter with the children by working on an Easter craft challenge using the Scotch Brand products, we decided to make an Easter Bunny mask. The Boy is never that keen to wear a bonnet, but loves the idea of pretending to be the Easter Bunny and he's been practising his bunny hops for weeks now!

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

You'll need:

  • cotton wool
  • pink or white pipecleaners
  • brown foam sheets (pink would also work, as would felt or thick card)
  • white foam sheets
  • pink foam sheets
  • ribbon to tie (or elastic)
  • double-sided tape, sticky tape strips, superglue (PVA doesn't stick well on foam)
  • scissors (these are precision scissors from Scotch 3M)

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

1. From the brown foam, cut out two long ears and a face shape, just the top half of the face will do. Position this over your child's face and use a pen to make on where their eyes are, remove and cut eye holes.

2. Cut a 'snout', eye shapes out to surround the eye holes, and two buck teeth from the white foam.

3. Cut a nose from the pink foam.

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

4. Put some strips of double sided tape on the inner part of the ears, and stick fluffy cotton wool on. The double-sided tape works better on foam than PVA glue.

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

5. Use the superglue to glue the 'snout' and eye surroundings onto the main mask. This should be done by ADULTS, take care with superglue and follow the instructions carefull.

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

6. Place double-sided sticky tape over the cheeks of the bunny's face, and cover this with more fluffy cotton wool.

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

7. Place a strip of double-sided sticky tape on the centre of the white 'snout' and put the middle of the pipecleaners onto these close together, pressing them down firmly. Cover this with a strip of sticky tape.

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

8. Put a generous dollop of superlue over the centre of the whiskers and push the pink nose on top of this. Again ADULTS ONLY, The Boy is not touching that superglue, he's just pointing to the nose.

9. Make a small hole either side of the mask, about an inch in, and thread pink ribbon through and tie it. You could also use elastic for this.

How To Make An Easter Bunny Mask

For more information on 3M Scotch products, please visit their Facebook page.

This tutorial is sponsored by 3M Scotch who also sent a selection of 3M Scotch products to help complete my own project.

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Sunday Showcase

 

Hotel Chocolat: Zebra Beastie Egg (Review)

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Hotel Chocolat Zebra Milk Beastie Easter Egg

I was sent the above Hotel Chocolate Easter egg to try out. Part of the 'Beastie' range that they have introduced this year, the 'Zebra Beastie Egg' is one of the better value eggs from the collection this year. Priced at £15.00 it comes beautifully wrapped in a stand and cellophane with six mini eggs in both salted caramel and praline flavours.

Hotel Chocolat Milk Beastie egg

The salted caramel truffles are one of my favourite things from the Hotel Chocolat range, and I was really pleased to see them included in this Easter egg. There are three of these smooth chocolates, and three of the praline flavoured mini eggs, which Mr. TBaM was only too happy to taste-test and declared them delicious.

The egg itself is made of thick milk chocolate , thicker than conventional Easter eggs, and this certainly helps to justify the pricetag of £15.00. I would like to point out that the 'Beastie Eggs' are aimed at children, and I do honestly feel that it's at least double the amount I would consider spending on a young child's egg. However, it would be an idea teenager's egg, especially with the zebra print made with an all-natural cocoa butter transfer, and I feel that £15.00 on a luxury egg for an appreciative teenager is a justifiable cost.

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Sponsored Post: Do Tablet PCs Make Life Easier?

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It was around this time last year, when I had confirmed that I'd be attending Britmums blogging conference, that we finally decided to buy a tablet PC. My persuasive argument to Mr. TBaM at the time was that it would be an incredibly useful thing to have for the blogging conference because I could blog and tweet the information gained at the event, use it to take photos and edit them instantly. It would also be useful for the train journey with The Boy as we could upload his favourite films to it, and he could use it to play games on. An all round entertainment package in a ten inch long metal box, what more could we ask for?!

To be honest, he didn't need convincing.

However, one year on I find myself wondering about the influence of the tablet PC in our home, and therefore in other families. Does having a tablet pc make life easier?

We use our tablet PC daily, and more so, frequently and naturally throughout the day; it has become a way of life for us. 30% of those who own a tablet PC use it daily, so we are definitely within that statistic.

But how do we use it?

I use it to blog, tweet, access Facebook and Instagram, all the usual social media actions. However, more than that I also use it to take photographs, choosing it over my dSLR in some situtions, because it is more responsive to indoor lighting than my phone or my dSLR. I can also edit the photo straight away and upload it to wherever I need it. I use it to read news websites and books, play music through, set the Sky+ box, watch catch-up television (we have one television in our house), and for accessing recipes online when cooking. In the Summer, it's a radio or easy way of using the Internet outside in the garden, without having to lug the laptop outside. It's not just a source of communication and entertainment, it's a reference device for me. And it's convenient.

When it comes to The Boy, 80% of the apps on our tablet PC are his; all with an educational slant to them. He practises letter formation and recognition on it, counts and performs simple sums, and is a real whizz at problem-solving games like Cut The Rope or Angry Birds. His understanding is innate and natural. For Mr. TBaM, like 54% of other tablet PC users, he downloads or livestreams the latest film while conquering the ironing pile. Ok, the ironing pile may not be true for them.

Several months ago I wrote about the Xperia™ Tablet and all the amazing functions that it had; the ability to be used a remote control for the television, Sky box and a home entertainment system has got to be a serious draw for any tablet user. And it's not about being lazy and not wanting to get out of your seat, more about minimilisation; why have three remote controls and a tablet PC when you can just have a tablet PC which does all of that.

 

Bearing in mind that there is the Xperia™ Tablet which can interact with other household appliances, where do developers see the tablet PC's direction going?

Personally I already use the supermarket app to order my food shopping, easily done while standing in front of the fridge and the cupboards. However, I'd love to see technology develop that there's a way of the fridge automatically knowing which foods it has run out of and sending that to the app on the tablet to order when needed.

Tablet PCs can do so much already, what would you like them to do to make your life easier?

Tablet Sony - Infographic

Xperia™ Tablet

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Sensory Play: Lights & Waterbeads

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Waterbeads are an excellent play resource to aid sensory stimulation and promote scientific exploration with preschoolers. They're also really good fun!

Waterbeads are tiny hard beads which when immersed in several litres of water, swell and absorb the water. They grow from 1mm across to the size of a pea, are soft and squidgy when touched, bouncy when dropped on the floor. Really bouncy! More commonly used in flower arrangements by florists, they are also a great resource for play, and are non-toxic (just make sure they don't taste-test them!).

I'd seen a few ideas on Pinterest involving lights and waterbeads; several used lightboxes and waterbeads, others used fairy lights. I'd also seen several ideas involving the plastic resuable eggs which are popular at Easter time for egg hunts and available from pound shops.

I bought some small submersible lights and soaked up a kaleidoscope of waterbeads. Into each plastic egg I placed a light and a handful of mixed colour beads, then put them with other beads and some loose water into a plastic tray for The Boy to explore, then turned the lights off and invited him in to play!

waterbead play

He was enthralled with the light shining through the waterbeads, the different colours that could be seen and the way the rainbow effect could be altered. As he's not one for messy play, this is a gentle nudge in the right direction for him with the beads feeling wet but not gloopy.

We discussed why the lights could shine through the waterbeads and I introduced the term 'translucent' to him, we then investigated what else the light could shine through and if coloured items altered the light. It's also a great activity for developing fine motor skills through opening and closing the eggs, twisting the lights on and picking up the water beads.

I bought both the waterbeads and the lights from eBay, both are reusable as the batteries in the lights can be replaced and the waterbeads can be dried out and reused.

Safety note: Waterbeads swell up in water or equivalent liquid and they can grow quite large. This makes them incredibly bouncy, and easy to roll into corners to be discovered at a later date by a curious child. Please take care to prevent these being swallowed as they can be harmful (even though they are non-toxic).

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Sunday Showcase

How Not To Make A Birthday Cake (Or The Biggest Cake Fail Ever!)

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2

Look alright, doesn't it?

However, it looks vastly different to what it was meant to look like. It was meant to look a little like these crafted by my talented friend Jenny from Mummy Mishaps…

mummy mishaps cakes

I gathered my ingredients, two sandwich baking tins, two packets of chocolate fingers (white chocolate and milk chocolate) and the packet of red, white, and blue peanut M&Ms to top the cake, and got mixing.

All was going well! The two cakes went in the oven at the lower temperature of 170°C (as instructed by Jenny who told me off for baking them at 200°C), and I set the timer for 25 minutes.

And then I adjusted it for another 15 minutes as the middle was wiggly still.

But opening the door to check it, made it sink in the middle so I ended up with two very concave sponges.

Which fell apart when I tried to get them out of the baking tins.

Literally broke in to five pieces.

And that's five per cake.

Out came the two tubs of chocolate Philadelphia which I was going to use as the filling and frosting, and I started to use them as glue.

Only the cake fell apart as I prodded the 'glue' on it with a knife.

So I bunged the top on quickly, and set to surrounding the outside with chocolate fingers, again using the chocolate Philadelphia as glue.

I ignored the fact that it was lopsided.

Or that the edges were falling off.

Or that the middle was 2 cm lower than the outside.

The chocolate fingers fell off halfway around.

By which time I was quite pissed off, to be blunt. I hacked the bloody thing in half, grabbed the orange ribbon from my last bunch of flowers from Mr. TBaM, wrapped it around the cake and then couldn't fathom out how to hold it in place.

Dressmaking pins, that'll work!

Then the M&Ms were out of date.

BY FIVE MONTHS!

1

This is why I make cupcakes.

Happy birthday Mr. TBaM!

Our Easter Holiday Destination!

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easter breaks

When the above guide plopped through our letterbox a few weeks ago, I actually squealed with delight.

More ridiculously excited than is decent for a grown woman to be, I've been looking forward to our forthcoming holiday for a very long time now. We booked it back in September, shortly after discovering that we'd been chosen to be Butlin's Ambassadors, and after a very long and extremely cold Winter, a week's break on the south coast is just what the doctor ordered! It helps that we'll be going with another Ambassador family (and very good friends) with whom we can enjoy what Butlin's has to offer.

I'm the type of person who works best in short bursts and with something to look forward to; I need to know that in a few months time I'm going to have this reward for our hard work, or that weekend break to look forward to. As The Boy is getting older, and therefore more physically capable, there were many options for Easter breaks this year, however we decided to book an Easter Butlin's stay for various reasons. One of which was the weather (Easter has been beautifully sunny for the past few years, and I'm still hopeful of a fair weather stay), and the other was the range of activities available, both indoors and outdoors.

New this Spring is the outdoor traditional funfair with a helter-skelter, carousel and flying chairs (there is an indoor funfair for younger children); The Boy is going to be in his element! It's just as well these are included in the price because I know we're going to be spending a great deal of time up in the air if he has anything to do with it. Other outdoor activities that we're looking forward to are children's play area, driving school, and adventure golf, and as the resort is right on the beach we can't wait to go and 'plop' some stones in the waves! Indoor fun is going to include bowling,  indoor funfair rides and softplay centre, and the numerous shows (I Can Cook and Mike The Knight live shows, puppets in the Castle Courtyard, shows on the Skyline Stage, etc).

One of the reasons that I'm really looking forward to next week though is because I do want to show Butlin's off to people. Before I went to Bognor Regis for the first time in December 2011 I was under a misguided memory from my ten year old self of my year six trip to Pwllheli where we stayed in stereotypical terrached chalets. But that was in 1988 and times have changed (as much as I might not want them to have), Butlin's with it. The Bognor Regis resort now has three hotels alongside the traditional apartment or chalet accommodation, and offers a wide range of family weekend breaks which cater for all.

We'll be staying in the Ocean Hotel, which has a boutique hotel feel to it, in a Neptune room.

Ocean hotel, Butlins

As you can see the 'room' (feel more like a mini-suite) had a main bedroom with a seating area, and this leads around to the twin bedroom, neither have doors but they do have enough privacy to watch television in an evening and not disturb The Boy while he is sleeping. The Ocean also overlooks the coastline (and therefore resort) and is a wonderful hotel to stay in.

There'll be plenty more detailed information from me in the next few weeks about the resort. I'm so excited!

Butlin's-logo-1

365 #11

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This linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo) and show some comment love to everyone else in the community. We've got a Facebook group, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

  1. Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
  2. Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
  3. If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!
365



I am a finalist in the MAD Blog Awards 2013, in both the Photography and Family Fun category. If you'd like to vote for either me or another blogger, please click the badge below to take you to the voting page.

Days 69-75 of Project 365

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69-75 of 365

69: Which will win? (We went to Techniquest in Cardiff Bay for Mother's Day and had great fun exploring scientific concepts. Here The Boy is racing the bubbles through the thick gloop)

70: Going up! (When we were at Techniquestwe discovered a lovely little park in Cardiff Bay which seemed to be hardly used. We popped back on Monday to explore all the equipment and I was really impressed to see The Boy climb across a cargo net from one eight foot high tower to the other with minimal interaction. No photos of that because I was too busy watching him!)

71: Bump! (After a foul morning we went down to the local country parks for some outdoor play and to tick a few more things of our 50 Things list. We discovered that The Boy's outdoor play suit makes him zoom down the slide really fast!)

72: Special Delivery Service! (The Jenny Craig boxes are excellent for making cars!)

73: Mountaineer (Another day, another park, what can I say? Last Summer he wouldn't try this climbing wall at all)

74: Doing something funny (All dressed up in odd clothes for nursery, not too odd though or mummy's OCD can't handle it!)

75: What's your name? (We had to go into Cardiff to take my dead Samsung Galaxy S3 into the T-Mobile shop to be sent away for repair. While we were in there we wandered over to the Museum and looked at the sculptures in the nearby gardens.)

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50 Things: #1, #4 & #34 (Country Kids)

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Children in the UK are the unhappiest kids in the western world.

Really?! Here in the UK?

Sadly, I'm not surprised. As a teacher I'm privy to a great deal of information about the interventions which have to be put into place for vulnerable or depressed children. Depression in children is on the increase, and I think as parent we need to ask ourselves why? Personally I believe that it's because they are more aware of the world around them, they're told of too many problems that exist before they're emotionally capable of dealing with them, and because society is too busy for their needs.

When was the last time you went screen-free for any substantial amount of time and simply played?

Tuesday of this week saw the day going pear-shaped before it had even really started. I was groggy and grumpy, the drone of the fridge, washing machine, dehumidifier and even the turned-off Sky box was getting to me. I stood on one side of the stairgate looking at my screaming and sobbing child stood on the other side, wondering where my rational brain had gone and why I was having an argument with him.

Fifty Things - Tree Climbing

Twenty minutes later.

We had pulled into the car park of the country park with my head still buzzing from the electricity. Having donned our wellies and grabbed our bag of bread for the swans and ducks, we set off in search of the important stuff; fun and happiness. Encircled by hungry swans trying to take bread directly from the bag, I shared the provisions out while The Boy fed the white ducks directly from his hand.

He was cycling around the edge of the lake and towards the park when we found some tracks in the mud.

fifty things - track an animal

This is how we ended up in the woods above, practising our tree climbing. We tracked the horse into the woods, where the ground turned harder and the leaves covered the tracks, however there was a magnificent sweeping bough begging to be straddled! And yes, I climbed the trees to, and it was liberating.

Despite not being able to find any spruce branches, we still managed to build a cracking den, putting into practise the wonderful advice from Rob Cowen of the Natural Childhood campaign. I'm not sure that The Boy understands the concept of twigs though.

Fifty Things - Building a Den

I can't have my child ending up as one of the unhappiest, I just can't. This is why we've signed the pledge to spend as much time outdoors as we do in front of the screen with Project Wild Thing.

Fifty Things To Do Before You're 11 & ¾

  • #1 – Climb a tree
  • #4 – Build a den
  • #34 – Track an animal

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coombe mill

Learning for Life
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