DIY Baby Beach Boxes!!

I have been itching to get at some Christmas craft, however life seems to have different plans and this week cuddling a sick baby is on the agenda. Poor little Peanut has been very sick since her birthday. So there has been a whole lot of cuddling and very little of anything else being done in our house.

I thought I would post a little something I did a few weeks ago.
In early October we took a family trip to Melbourne to catch up with friends and do a bit of sightseeing.
It has always been on my bucket-list to go down to Brighton and see the Beach Boxes so when we had a spare half day I persuaded my little family to jump on the train with me and head down.

I was so glad we did. They were so cute and we spent ages going from box to box checking out the colours, picking out our favourites, taking photos and chatting to locals.
If you are ever in Melbourne and have a few hours to spare I can recommend packing some sandwiches and taking the kids down.

When we got back I was doing a bit of cleaning and was about to throw some cardboard boxes in the recycling bin when Peanut started climbing in them. So when she went down for a nap I decided to turn them into her own set of cubby houses inspired by the beach boxes.

You can get some great coloured Duct tape these days. It makes them look fun but you certainly don't need to do that step.

I cut out some holes in the sides. Her favourite thing to do at the moment is post things!!!

Dodgy Duct tape job. Eeek!! Don't look too closely.

They certainly are not fancy and took about an hour to make (most of this time was spent with the duct tape). But they are quite cute and she loves them.

I deliberately didn't make them too flash because I knew they would get trashed pretty quickly but we are 3 or 4 weeks later and they are still going strong.

I put different toys in them every day to keep things fun and they are so easy to move around so we have them both indoors and outdoors.

If you have some spare boxes at home think twice before throwing them out. Kids LOVE playing with them. Older kids can create just about anything, Castles, Submarines, shops. There is no stopping their imagination!!!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

I have been a little MIA on the blog lately. Hopefully this will explain why.
I apologise in advance, this is a long and photo heavy post.

I dont want to step on any cultural or religious toes with this. Birthdays are a very personal thing and whether you choose to celebrate them or not is completely up to you as a family. There is no right or wrong. This is just our way!

With that being said we celebrate BIG!!!!!!!!

A lot of this stems from my own upbringing. As a child we didn't have a lot of money. My parents worked very hard for what we had but there was not a huge amount of disposable cash around, my parents ALWAYS made a big deal of birthdays. It always felt special to have my parents celebrate the day we came into their lives and now I have children of my own I realise the kind of emotions and memories their birthdays bring.

It was Peanut's first birthday this weekend and I knew I wanted a Very Hungry Caterpillar party almost as soon as she was born!! I loved the book as a child and with all of the wriggling and eating that she did it seemed the perfect fit for our own little caterpillar.

I have this habit of having all of these ideas but leaving it till the day before to get them done, and this party was no different. Which meant that the quiet, 'just us' evening I had planned for party eve, turned into finding jobs for family members who were very calm in the wake of my crazy requests!!!! I am grateful.

The day was perfect. Just as I imagined. Perfect weather, my favourite people, gorgeous kids running around, (insert content sigh here). Yep I was one happy mumma!!!

I like parties with a theme. It makes the process a lot easier to organise and I have a lot of fun scouring the internet for inspiration. There are some amazing Hungry Caterpillar sites and plenty of party ideas, you just have to google and it's all at your fingertips.

This was the food table. I wanted to have the cake as the focal point, so I made sure the rest of the table wasn't too busy.  We had cake pops, chocolate mousse, popcorn, lollies and of course, Fairy Bread. It is the only thing my husband insists on having. Sprinkles on bread! Such a manly treat!!!!

I fell in love with these little baskets but they were so tiny I didn't know what to put in them. Lolly raspberries were the perfect size.

These choc dipped strawberries were a hit!!! Not the prettiest but very popular.
We also had party pies and sausage rolls supplied by my fabulous father-in-law. Another party must-have!!!

Cute chocolate wrappers from Party Mommas Check them out on ebay if you are planning a themed party. I found them great to order through and they were really speedy too.

 

The Cake!!!!!!!!!

The cake was INCREDIBLE!!                                                             

I wish I could tell you I whipped this up myself but alas I am quite kitchen challenged. A few months ago I saw a cake on facebook that had been made for a 30th. I clicked on the photo and was taken to the Covered Cakes page. As I scrolled through the photos I knew I wanted Libby to make Peanuts birthday cake.
I just sent her a pic of what I wanted and she created something better than I could have imagined.
It perfectly suited the table and decorations and was the talking point of the party.
Please check out her facebook page if you need a cake made. She is very talented but also very busy so make sure you book in advance.

 As far as decorations went I had a beautiful felt banner made for her high-chair and a line of bunting with all of the food the hungry caterpillar ate for above the food table. Both of which were made by Sweet Tashie. Also found on facebook. I asked her for something Hungry Caterpillar-ish, and she came up with the ideas. I really like supporting creative people doing what they love. She also made the most adorable party hat for the birthday girl. So cute!!!!

This was just a little wreath I made to go on one of the bare walls. I added one of Peanut's toy caterpillars and it filled the space perfectly.

I ordered all of my balloons from Hullabaloo in Launceston. (I couldn't find a web link for this one)
They created the cute caterpillar balloon and filled a few plain ones for her high chair.

The wishing tree was my favourite part of the decor. I collected some old twigs and put them in a jug. Guests then wrote a wish for the birthday girls future. I had a few tears as I read them later in the evening. Something very special to keep forever.

We didn't play any games just mingled and watched the kids entertain themselves and each other.
My Dad borrowed a jumping castle from a work colleague, and the littlies had a great time on that.

The party bags. So easy to make!

The smash cake was not smashed but the strawberries were delicately picked off.

It was such a happy day resulting in one very tired little one year old.

Now time to start planning Big Sisters party!!!!

No mess painting!

I get a little frustrated with people who tell me that creative experiences for babies are a waste of time. From a personal perspective, my Peanut has loved each of the activities I have done with her. Does she NEED them for her development? Nope. She would develop quite beautifully without them. Does she enjoy them? Yes. 
That's good enough for me!

Here are two different mess free painting activities to do with very little littles.

Our first activity was another way to re-use those plastic drinking bottles. 

To set up you need some plastic bottles, paint and a few marbles.
I didn't have marbles on hand so used rocks instead. Not a great substitute but we went with what we had. 
You need to put a small amount of paint in the bottom of the bottle along with your marble/s and then screw the lid on tightly. If you are concerned about your little one being able to undo the lid you could glue it to the bottle. We didn't do this and didn't need to.

Just give the bottles to your littlies and let them shake away. 
As they shake them the paint covers the bottle.
If your paint is a little thick add a few drops of water. 

For our next activity I cut a few sheets of paper small enough to fit inside a couple of snap-lock bags and popped a few blobs of paint on them.

Zipped them up and handed them to Peanut. She could poke at them, squish them, splat them and not make a bit of mess. Yay! 

Fun, easy, mess free painting!!