Crafting around our house

This week has been another hectic one, the lowlight of which was Ava having to spend a night in hospital. Thankfully it turned out to be just asthma (not the originally suspected pneumonia) and she is back home again in very good spirits.

With all that going on it has definitely been all about Ava lately and we have been doing fun and crafty things to keep her busy (and still, gosh does that child like to run!)

Gran bought Ava some plasticine and so we all had fun playing with that for a few hours.

Grandad (FIL) made piglet's head

Mummy (me) made a pig

Gran (MIL) made a duck and Grandad made a snowman

We let Ava play too, she made this cave/tent to go with Gran's worm

She also made her own worm, a bridge and I think the one in the middle is a backpack for the duck (it later went to the moon in a rocket ship)

Gran also bought Ava this cute little egg painting centre.

We painted paper when we ran out of eggs

One day we had to go to the transport centre to register the cars. The lady gave Ava a large stack of paper. When we got home we used to make origami and cut outs. Grandad's silhouette of Ava was the only one that I seem to have captured.

In our house (of 4 adults and one child) we all love cartoons. My parents in law used to work in animation, so they have an excuse. Ava is 2, so she has an excuse. My husband and I are just big kids at heart though! A series that we all love is Avatar. Our favourite character is Appa, the flying byson.


Unfortunately you can't seem to buy the Appa plush in Australia. No problem for my father in law though, he'll make his own for us! So far he has finished Appa's head wich you can see below.

The pattern is made just from looking at the drawings and he is made from mainly recycled soft toys.

I have also finished the pattern for my sloper, but I haven't cut or fit it yet. I bought some fabrics which will hopefully end up turning into something soon!

Frugal Fingerpaint Fun

Ava was really bored this afternoon and we hadn't really done anything fun all weekend, so I decided to make her some fingerpaint. This was a wonderfully fun craft activity for us to do together. You can tell from the photos below that it was a huge hit!

Her "art smock" is one of the thrift store pillowcases with some rudimentary holes cut in it. I got her involved in each step; Mixing the paint, putting in the colour, making the smock, laying out the papers etc. All up it kept her occupied for about 40 minutes which is impressive for an activity that doesn't involve a TV.

Now credit where credit is due, the recipe for the paint (and the title for this post) comes from this amazing website I belong to called www.cheapskates.com.au
It is well worth paying the fee to belong. I've saved so much more than what it has cost in the past year. There is also a blog. I wasn't sure about posting the recipe, but a quick Google search revealed it is no secret, so here it is:

Mix 1/2 cup cornflour with 3 tablespoons of sugar in a saucepan. Add two cups of cold water and stir over low heat constantly until it sets into a thick goop. Have a little patience. Mix in food colourings in separate containers. You can also add a detergent at this stage to prevent staining but only if you are sure your little one won't eat it.

I mentioned making a new outfit for Ava last night. Well it is almost finished, just needs neatening and hemming. But it is Sunday night and then means clearing everything away, reclaiming my work desk and getting ready for another week.