ADM – Keeping Them Occupied

Homemade Seed packets

The kids cousins have recently put in a vege garden. So we thought we would send them some seeds to plant in it. Most of the seeds we have collected from our own garden, and we also shared some seeds that we recently bought commercial packets of. Things you will need: Seeds (we had dwarfContinue reading “Homemade Seed packets”

Herb Bread Experiment – Mint Basil Swirl Bread and Bee Balm Bread

As you may know I have a bit of a penchant for obscure herbs. I have been looking for a herb bread recipe and tried these two recipes today, which I modified from these recipes: herb swirl bread and bee balm bread. We used Mint Basil (a mint variety that that has a basil likeContinue reading “Herb Bread Experiment – Mint Basil Swirl Bread and Bee Balm Bread”

Homemade Soap and Bathbombs

We like to make homemade gifts for the holidays. We wanted to try our hand at making bath bombs and soap but were not sure where to start. We bought a Bath Bomb Making Kit and a Lavender (Glycerine) Soap Making Kit from Calico Crafts, these are also available on Trademe. Things you will need:Continue reading “Homemade Soap and Bathbombs”

Tie Dye T-shirts

Tie dye is apparently back in again. So we thought we would make some of our own. Things you will need: Plastic table clothAssorted white t-shirts, pre-washedRubber bandsGlovesVarious dye colours – we bought both of these kits from K-mart which gave us 10 coloursZip lock bags or plastic wrapWhite vinegarBucket Instructions: We followed the instructionsContinue reading “Tie Dye T-shirts”

Fabric Decoupage Letters

I wanted to make something for our not yet fully renovated laundry. I bought some 30cm MDF letters reading “WASH & DRY” and we decided to cover it with fabric. I found some fabric at Spotlight with some NZ native birds (kererū, tūī and pīwakawaka) in the pattern, in colours that will go with ourContinue reading “Fabric Decoupage Letters”

Citizen Science with Monarch Butterflies

We have a whole bunch of swan plants (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) in our garden in order to attract monarch butterflies into the neighbourhood. This year we participated in Professor Phil Lester‘s (Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka) citizen science project Tracking Disease in New Zealand’s Monarch Butterflies. Professor Lester is investigating the infection of monarchContinue reading “Citizen Science with Monarch Butterflies”

Owl Birthday Cake

This year, Miss just turned 6 requested an owl themed birthday party, along with an owl themed birthday cake. Miss 6 picked the owl cake design out on Pinterest. She also drew me a picture to go by (see below). We made an extra large banana cake based on the Edmond’s recipe, covered it withContinue reading “Owl Birthday Cake”

Animal Silhouettes

Mr 16 months will be moving into his own room shortly so we thought we should make some art for his walls. Things you will need: Masking tapePrintouts of silhouettes of your favourite animals4x 15cm square canvassesAcrylic paints in your favourite coloursPaint brushes Instructions: On a flat surface, take strips of masking tape and overlapContinue reading “Animal Silhouettes”

Gingerbread House

Miss 5 attended a birthday party a few weeks ago. She won the pass the parcel and the prize inside was a gingerbread house kit. So we put it together before christmas (though I am posting it after). Things you will need: 1 ‘Nice’ do it yourself gingerbread house kit (see below) It contains theContinue reading “Gingerbread House”

Painted Onesie

We are doing a bunch of home made Christmas gifts this year. I thought it might be nice for Miss 5 to make something special for Mr 1. I bought a pack of plain white onesies, and we got out some fabric paint… Things you will need: Plain white onesies or T shirts for biggerContinue reading “Painted Onesie”