Tuesday 23 February 2010

monkey with the attention span of a fish

Found it!

I must admit, i've been trying not to make this blog about kids, but more about 'cherry rockette' the brand and the craftiness/sewing that goes with it. but let's admit, i AM a mum and i have days when i just have total brain death and can't think of how to entertain the monkey with the attention span of a fish. so i've been doing a bit of hunting around to try to find some ideas i can pin on the fridge for when i need an influx of new ideas. now there are many many bloggers out there with ideas of great things to do, so i'm not even going to try to compete with them on a regular basis by any means. but a one off post to pass on some info i've collected/thought of in the hope that someone else out there finds it helpful, well i think i can manage that! to be honest i'll admit that i'm hopeless at the link backs(very un-profesh blogger that i am), so if you see something on here that was your idea, please do let me know and i'll give you the link and the kudos.

*water play (use last night's bath water if you have restrictions)
an obvious one, but a few household items thrown in the kiddy pool to play with can keep him amused for longer. the current fave toy is a short length of garden hose with a funnel shoved in one end. a squeezy bottle, sieves, balloons, whisks etc... you can also add food colouring and clear containers for a new twist.(or beetroot juice if you want to avoid food colouring)

*painting/scribbling
for those kids(like Kingston) who still eat the crayons, try painting with food items such as beetroot or tomato/soy sauce on newspaper. or food colouring added to flour paste.

*indoor obstacle course
an especially good location is a hallway if you have it. put a quilt down on the floor first if you have hard floors, then fill with anything soft in the house (pillows, toys, blankets) and let them crawl and climb and go crazy. add a sheet over two chairs as the start/end tunnel, and anything you have that adds more fun, such as a hoola hoop to jump into, a tunnel to crawl through, a drum to hit at the end. let your imagination to wild. haf the fun is getting them to help you!

*playdough
personally i found that at 14mo, kingston was not really interested in using playdough, but i did find i could amuse him by putting blobs of it on the kitchen floor for him to step on and squish between his toes and fingers. putting bangles of dough around his wrists/biceps, ankles etc was great too, as he instantly became more aware of those parts of his body, although very briefly before ripping them off! but using it as a sensory experience for the younger toddlers is another take on it if they're not ready to create/construct yet.

Sticky stuff. give them a cheap fridge magnet and they can go around trying to see where it can stick. avoid this variation if tired though, because they can get frustrated if the magnet won't stick to something. instead you can put a bit of tape on the back of photos (usually photos of the cat) and let them walk around sticking the photos to various objects. or tape a piece of contact paper to the wall and cut out different shapes from construction paper so they can make a collage.
scoop and sort:
place bowls and cups and plates on the coffee table and sort through different kinds of pasta, different coloured pompoms, felt squares, scraps of fabric, large buttons etc. Measuring spoons and whisks make it very fun.


SENSORY BOX - take a big under bed plastic storage box and use it as a sensory box in the kitchen. Lots of possibilities - Bubble Bath and water to make a box full of bubbles; water and sponges; dry beans, rice, or pasta; ice and shaving cream; so on. feathers, sand, dirt, leaves, wool, etc... anything you would normally tell them off for touching! anything they don't normally get to feel every day. Need to provide lots of little bowls, shovels, tubes, and funnels, plastic cars, balls, boats, etc. to play with in the tub.

playing with a flashlight. either close the curtains/blinds during the day or make a tent or, in the winter when the sun goes down early, just close the door to the bedroom and shine the flashlight on things. great for the button mad stage.

box car:
let them colour in a big box as any type of vehicle they love (car, truck, unicorn) and then drag them 'round the house in it.

make an animal and make it the theme of the day. Read about it, play it, make a mask of it, dress up like it, make up a story about it, eat like it, bath like it, maybe even sleep like it.


some more great ideas here.

what's your favorite toddler activity?


xxxCherry

Monday 22 February 2010

crazy preggo style book from the 80's

just had to share the insanity of this book i found at the op shop, it had me cacking myself for ages.
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rubberized overalls? in bright yellow? aka a fisherman? um, no. not even when you're a 12 foot tall model.

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not only would i not dare wear this when pregnant, i don't think i would leave the house if i wasn't preggo.

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for those of us too fat for normal clothes, hey, 'sew up a sheet'!
actually i think i have the perfect apricot floral set for that...

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again, even if you're 12foot tall, this is NOT a good look. ever.

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oh, that's what i'm missing! shoulder pads! in everything! that'll immediately make people look away from my huge bump and keep everything in proportion.or not.

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now i admit that the right hand look seems to be back in fashion, garish as it is, but that's no excuse to wear the left hand look AT ALL. did this lady even look in the mirror?

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yeaaah, workers overalls on Kylie in the 80's are one thing, but when you're pregnant?
oh, i see, just turn them into cut offs, and that makes it ok? 'cause i'm more inclined to show my dimply thighs if i'm wearing a boiler suit. and what about trying to pee in one of those things? when you need to go 27 times an hour, a onesie that you have to completely remove whilst in a small stall that you barely fit in when pregnant? ooh, it's MY outfit of choice!

yes, i have a dry, snarky sense of humour.

xxxCherry

Sunday 21 February 2010

lovely outdoor setting

this is a not-so-new-but-not-yet-posted-about little setting from the local op-shop. i love it!

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and some other new additions to our house:
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xxxCherry

Saturday 20 February 2010

Audrey's dress - better pics!

I had to get the recipient to give me some pics as in my haste to finish it i forgot to take some myself! so here is the lovely Audrey's dress in full:
audrey-1
audrey-2

the main body is a lovely soft rayon blend woven, with a blend of brown and grey threads to give it a lovely sheen. the yoke is a vintage rayon sateen scarf, cut on the corner to keep the pattern going around the yoke. and some lovely green vintage buttons to finish it off.
thankfully the dress was well received!
xxxCherry

Friday 19 February 2010

folded sleeve dress-complete!

So after unpicking and re-cutting, fusing and re-sewing the neckband, i forgot i needed to add gape darts to the pattern to take out the excess. gah! too lazy to do it all over a third time, i just darted the band in six places and left it at that. i'll fix the pattern up so there won't be any seam lines on the final product, but damn, i'm not bothering if it's really just a trial dress for me to wear.
And i spent over an hour trying to find a spot in our house with the right lighting to take a bloody pic! so i apologise for the crappiness of them, and the fact that you can see the kitchen sink in the background, but by then i was over it! clearly i'm going to have to set up a nice corner that has some good lighting at some stage.
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and the little man lookin too cool for school:
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xxxCherry

Wednesday 17 February 2010

Folded sleeve dress on the machine

Just a little left to go till it's done. Of course I was lazy and
didn't fuse the neck facing and it stretched and so now I need to
unpick it and redo it. Damn. Oh well lesson learned.
The fabric is just sub- some stash bits and pieces but the plaid will
be nice for winter I think and the chocolate works well with either
reds or jades which are my Dave colours so I'll definately wear it
which is good. Big pics once it's done- hopefully tonight or tomorrow
if kingston lets me!

Xxx Cherry

Monday 15 February 2010

Loving the folded sleeve


Loving the folded sleeve, originally uploaded by cherry_rockette.

Just toilling up a dress and rather enamoured with the folded sleeve,
thought I had to share!

Xxx Cherry

Thursday 11 February 2010

And the back


And the back, originally uploaded by cherry_rockette.

With snaps for growing boys.

Xxx Cherry

Finished jumpsuit


Finished jumpsuit, originally uploaded by cherry_rockette.

In a lovely soft chocolate woven with a little stretch for comfort and
ease to play in.

Xxx Cherry

Friday 5 February 2010

On the sewing machine


On the sewing machine, originally uploaded by cherry_rockette.

A little romper for the Kingston.

Xxx Cherry

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