egg box flowers

Lucy popped by for a quick playdate with Erin and Ari recently.  Usually one would just chuck the kids in the pool and be done with it.  But this day was a bit chilly and Cath had to come up with something pronto...  so here it is: a quick and easy idea for a rainy day.

 

 

The girls needed a little help with cutting out the flower shapes from the egg tray but then got busy painting the petals all sorts of colours.  Cath made little holes at the base with a pair of scissors and  the girls then threaded colourful pipe cleaners to make the stems of the flowers.

raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes

 

Erin was given this wonderful recipe book for her 4th birthday – bursting full of delicious cupcake and cookie ideas. Here is one of the recipes we tried out... The recipe calls for strawberries but we decided to use raspberries instead and felt that it balanced the sweet white chocolate very nicely.

And yes, that is a cake mould on her head...

YOU WILL NEED

3 medium eggs

150g (1 1/3 cups) self-raising flour

150g  butter

150g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

-we used a whole chocolate which we chopped up...

1 cup raspberries or strawberries

preheat the oven to 180ºC

 

1. whisk the eggs

2. beat the butter and sugar for 2 minutes until creamy

3.  sift in the flour

4. stir in the chocolate chips and berries

  - try not to over-mix at this point... although try explaining that to the girls!  

5. spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, then bake for about 15min until golden brown

 

...and for the best part!

table mountain picnic spot

There is this desolate tennis court nestled on the foot of table mountain.  It is one of those secret spots you only know about if you are from around here. {*psst* it's just over the rise at the first parking lot as you turn towards table mountain.}  And on this specific day the wind was blowing everywhere in the city.  except here. a tennis court lost in time and wind.

THE BIKER CHICKS

The  view, looking over camps bay is inspiring with the wind whipping up the ocean into a mist traveling along the water.  And the majestic Table Mountain looming over us.

We live in a city with so many secrets and surprises.  Just a little drive over the hill and you can take yourselves and your children on a sunset mountain picnic adventure.   And just a bit of  graffiti to remind you that you are still in an urban metropolis.

There are many joggers and Liv took over a personal training session that was in progress that evening, so if you are concerned about safety there are people around in the early evening to put your fears to rest.  But you can never be too careful, and I would suggest going in a group.

stained glass

 YOU WILL NEED

• clear plastic book covering wrap  (yes that finickity stuff you used to cover your school books with)

• as many colours of cellophane as you can find

• embroidery rings (to be found at your nearest haberdashery)

• glue

• scissors

 

Before we started, we did a bit of prepping:

1.  stretch the plastic wrap in the embroidery ring and trim the edges.

2.  the cellophane is rather slippery so we thought we would cut the shapes out.

Of course, if your kids are all older, I am sure they can muster up the strength to do these first steps themselves.

Let the kids go wild.  Glueing and sticking.  Make sure they overlap the different colours of cellophane, so they can discover the new colours that appear when you mix colours.

This was a pretty successful and uncomplicated craft... trust me, some go really pear shaped!

The girls loved it and the end product hanging in the window brought on delighted screeching.

 

milk and cookies

In today's society, where a new treat is being developed and marketed every minute of every day, you can rest assured in the simple delight of a glass of fresh milk and a crumbly cookie nurturing that warm, happy memory of childhood shared through generations.

These are your simple everyday choc-chip cookie: 

Recipe from  Two Peas and their Pod

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.

2. In medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until creamy and smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla extract.

4. Slowly mix in the flour, until combined. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

5. Roll dough into tiny balls, about 2 teaspoons of dough. Place on baking sheet and slightly flatten with the palm of your hand. Bake for 8 minutes or until cookies are golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Tuesdays with Martin

The bug has bitten, and Martin (Megan's hubby) decided at a whim to dabble in a little crafting for Tuesdays... with a little help from Mr Maker. 

 

These are super-easy and quick to make.

 

STEP ONE:

Twist your colourful pipecleaners around the top of the aliceband.

STEP TWO:

Flatten your cupcake holder, and squiggle a small circle in the centre of the cupcake holder for an eye.  We also used little round colourful stickers.

STEP THREE:

And then with a teeny bit of sticky tape: stick the back of monster eye to pipecleaner.

 

and voila!! You have alien children.

 

toilet roll crafting

We have gone and fallen in love with toilet roll crafting after our owl creations of last week.

Thought we would share a collection of our favourite tutorials available online.

Will we ever have enough toilet rolls?

ENJOY!

1. Family    2. Minions   3. Animals    4. Creatures   5. Monsters    6. Elephant   7. Dragon

8. Forest creatures   9. Gift boxes 

And because Christmas is just around the corner, we may just tackle some of these.

1.   Advent Calender  2.   Bethlehem   3.   Wreath  4. Christmas Trees  5.   Toilet Roll Garland

6.   Nativity scene    7.   Twig Reindeer   8.   Snowmen   9.   Christmas Lights     10. Reindeer  (header)

And because our homes are filled with the screeching and giggling of little girls.....

1.  Crowns  2.  Kazoo   3.  Flowers  4.  Flower pots  5.  Bracelets  6. Bunny  7. Butterfly  

8. Birds house  9. Beaded crowns