Category: Crafts

Posted in recipes

Happy banana faces

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Thursdays are for smiling and what could better to make you smile than a healthy fruit dessert?

I made Hamish this happy face today as desert for after lunch.

Turning his meals into crazy creative creations is at least encouraging him to be a bit more excited about food, try new foods and eat better.

I’m also involving him in the cooking process which has him really excited about being a chef.

To make your own banana face you will need :

  • Half a banana
  • 3 jelly tots or dried fruit bites
  • Lavender sprigs
  • A quarter of an orange sliced up

To make up your face :

Cut the banana in half

Place jelly tots or dried fruit bites as nose and eyes. (I prefer to use dried fruit.)

Place a piece if fresh lavender as a mouth.

Position orange quarters as hair.

Add on a sprinkled lavender crown.

Enjoy

Posted in recipes

Ocean inspired sausage octopus

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When I first started Fun mamma SA I remember seeing this cute receipe online somewhere and excitedly tried it out.

Kerri and Ronan loved them.

It’s been many years since I last made a few and Hamish, has been really fussy lately so I decided to make a few for supper tonight

The receipe makes 4 sausage octopus.

You need :

2 Vienna sausages

16 sticks of spaghetti

Mayonnaise

Tomato sauce

To make up

Cut the sausages in half so you now have 4 pieces

Break the spaghetti sticks in have.

Into the end of 1 piece of sausage stick 8 pieces of dry spaghetti

Do this for all 4 pieces

Boil until the spaghetti is soft

Decorate with tomatoes sauces mouths and mayonnaise eyes.

Posted in recipes

Orange and lavender infused water

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One of the things I often miss about a more rural farm type life is how close we were to nature and how we relied more on the things around us for food.

It’s become normal for me to just buy a flavoured water but at one stage we were just too far from a shop.

Today I decided to get into the summer spirit and make a jar of infused water.

You can make your own with any single fruit or fruit combinations.

I like :

  • Strawberry
  • Strawberry and mint
  • Litchi
  • Lavender and lime
  • Orange and lavender
  • Cucumber and mint
  • Watermelon
  • Mixed berry
  • Blueberry
  • Apple and mint
  • Apple and mixed berry
  • Mango and melon

To make your own you need :

Jar or large jug

Fruit , sliced or diced. I usually use 1 cup of fruit per 2l of water.

Instructions

Into your jar or jug place water to the top.

Add fruit.

Leave in fridge to chill and infuse overnight.

Enjoy

Posted in Crafts, preschool, recipes

Chai seed slime

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This recipe makes a generous amount of slime and has a very grainy consistency because of the chai seeds.

YOU NEED:

1/4 cup of chia seeds
1 3/4 cup of water
Food coloring
3-4 cups of corn flour (mazina)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix the chia seeds, water and food coloring together.Cover and refrigerate overnight.Uncover and add the corn flour a little bit at a time. Mix until you achieve the desired consistency. It should feel slimy but can easily be taken off your hands.Store covered in the refrigerator. You will need to add a little bit of water each time you take it out to use it. The water will reactive the slime.

Posted in babies, Crafts, preschool, preschoolers, recipes, Toddlers

How to dye pasta

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Coloured pasta is very versatile. You can use it in sensory tubs or to do a vatiety of crafts.

Here is how to dye pasta

YOU NEED:

Dry pasta

Vinegar

Food coloring

Parchment paper / wax wrap

Baking tray

Instructions

For every cup of dry pasta in a bowl, pour 1 tbsp of vinegar.

Add a few drops of food coloring

Mix together until all the pasta pieces are fully coloured

Place a sheet of parchment paper/ wax wrap on the baking tray and pour the coloured pasta on top.

Lay out the pasta in an even layer and let out to dry for a few hours in the sun.

Tip – Try to not have any of the pasta pieces touching when you spread them out to dry.

Posted in recipes

No Bake MilkTart Recipe

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As a young girl I remember my Grandmother making milk tarts each Sunday.

The cinnamon topping would waft through the air as we impatiently waited for the melt in your mouth tarts to cool.

She always used a no bake recipe, which I must admit I have only tried to make once.

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY

2 cups flour
1 egg
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
125 g butter
pinch of salt

FILLING

4 ½ cups milk
⁠3 tablespoons cornflour/ maizena
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cake flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
15 ml butter

INSTRUCTIONS

PASTRY

Cream butter and sugar together and add in the egg mixing well.
Add all the other ingredients to make a stiff dough.
Press into round cake pie dishes.
Bake blind for 15 minutes at 180°C.

FILLING

Bring milk to a boil.
Whisk eggs well and add in the sugar, cake flour, cornflour/ maizena and salt.
Mix well.
Pour boiling milk into the mixture and stir well.
Return to stove and stir for 10-12 minutes on medium heat until the mixture thickens.
Add butter and vanilla essence and mix well. Pour milk into cooked shell.

Allow to cool and set in the fridge.
Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Happy baking

Posted in babies, Life with my bears, preschool, preschoolers, recipes, Toddlers

How to make Pirate bananas

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Each year on the 19 September we celebrate International talk like a pirate day.

To celebrate this year Hamish dressed up in his pirate mask and ran around shouting “Arrrr! Me matey!” as he pretended to be Jake from the Neverland Pirates before we settled down to a breakfast of Pirate bananas.

Pirate bananas

I hear you asking what a pirate banana is….

It is simply a banana with pirate face drawn onto it. I saw one online somewhere and it has stuck with me.

Hamish loves them.

To make your own

To make your own you will need :

Bananas

A piece of cloth or serviette as a bandana ( I used Johnson & Johnson baby wipes)

A black permanent marker

To make up

Draw your pirates face onto the top half of the banana.

Fold your material to form a triangle and tie on.

These make a really cute lunch box suprise or party favour.

Hamish, being just short of 3 years old decided of course, that I wasn’t allowed to break the face when opening the banana.

Have to love a preschooler 🤦‍♀️

Posted in babies, Crafts, Family Life, Fine motor activities, preschool, preschoolers, recipes, Toddlers

School Holiday challenge Day 2 – Homemade bath paint recipes

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Most children love messy play as it stimulates their senses and allows them the freedom to explore and play.

Today’s challenge is fabulous for bath time but you can also use any of the recipes to let your child paint on glass doors, windows, tiles or a large plastic tray.

It washes off easily with hot soapy water.

I’ve included 3 recipes to make bath paints. I use the first one as I find it has a better consistency and can be made a few hours before and stored in the fridge.

RECIPES

1.Shaving cream bath paint

To make the shaving cream bath paints you will need:

🎨 A container to mix paints into ( cake baking tins work best, but you can use anything non breakable)

🎨 Shaving cream

🎨 food colouring

🎨 paint brush

To mix your paints together spray a generous amount of shaving cream into each container, add one or two drops of food colouring and mix well.

Note: The food colouring does not stain your child or the bath because it’s used in such small drops.

2. Yoghurt bath paint

This is a great paint to use with little children whom you think may try eat the paint.

The consistancy is a lot more runny, you could add some corn flour to thicken it if you feel it is too runny.

To make the yoghurt bath paints you will need:

🎨 A container to mix paints in. (I like to use a 6 pack yoghurt and use the little pots themselves as my paint pots.)

🎨 Yoghurt

🎨 food colouring

🎨 paint brush

To mix your paint, divide your yoghurt into little containers and add one or two drops of food colouring to your yoghurt.

The colours will be more pastel looking.

3. Bath tub finger paint.

This is a nice alternative to the shaving cream paint but also more runny and better for sensitive skin, as you can use your favourite baby wash or shampoo.

To make the bath finger paint you will need:

🎨 a container to mix your paint

🎨 About 4 to 6 tablespoons of your favourite baby wash or shampoo for each colour.

🎨 food colouring

🎨 1 teaspoon of corn flour per colour

🎨 paintbrush

To make your paint into each container add 4 to 6 tablespoons of your baby wash or shampoo.

Add a drop of food colouring per container.

Mix into each colour, a teaspoon of corn flour.

Mixing colours

Here’s a handy chart to mix your colours.

Happy bubbles mammas ❤

Posted in Crafts

Painting Rocks and Hiding them, why so many people have joined this craze

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A few months back I was invited to join a group on Facebook called Cape Town Rocks.

I had posted a few pictures of the story rocks we made and someone felt I would find this group insightful ….and I did.

This group is a community of amazing people who share their love of being creative, their incredibly inspiring rock paintings and where they have hidden them. They also share useful tips on pens and paints to use and pictures when they find a rock that was hidden.


But why paint rocks and hide them?


In their own words they paint the rocks because it’s both relaxing and good for the soul.

It allows for a fun, non pressured way to express an individual’s creativity and no two stones are the same.

Hiding the stones is just as much fun and opens up opportunities to take hikes, explore new spaces and leave small messages as a random act of kindness …you never know who needs to hear your message today.

Paint a rock. Hide a rock day



Obviously, this wonderful group are not the first nor the only group to paint rocks and hide them. There are many groups worldwide.
I even came across a Paint a rock. Hide a rock day where people were encouraged to paint a blue rock to represent the world with a red heart on it.

What a wonderful way to unite people!

How do you get started?


By finding rocks or pebbles to paint.

I read an interesting debate which I must admit I somewhat agree with. People were buying their stones as these come from quarries and do not upset the environments they are moved from.

Your local builders warehouse or nursery should stock stones big enough to paint.

If you do remove stones from beaches, parks or gardens try not to take too many or remove several from the same spot.

What do you need?



Hamish and I started with just some brushes and paints.

Acrylic, oil or craft paints work best.

Kerri used nail varnish and glitter glues.

You can buy all sorts of amazing markers and pens from a craft store as you find your interest grows.

How to paint on rocks

Inspiration


Pinterest and Facebook have so many amazing ideas on what to paint onto your rocks.

Your imagination is your only boundary.

Here are a few of my favourites

Painting with Hamish


Hamish and I started painting our rocks today to hide.

For him choosing the actual rock was the most exciting part of the process. I used some cheap paint we bought from a China store hear us and let him paint how he felt his rock should look.

He was quite happy to keep adding paint and really enjoyed painting his first rock.
This was a lot of fun and really is both relaxing and not pressured at all. I dont feel the need to make it perfect and really just rushed a quick design to show Hamish an example. He did ask me when we painting more so I think we will most likely grab the family, set up a painting station and let everyone Express themselves.

Look out for our hidden rocks ❤
Posted in Brands we love, Crafts

Sand art with ideas factory

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We were recently sent a Sand Art home Kit from Idea Factory to review.

This was so much fun for us all and the perfect holiday and family bonding craft.

Not only is it easy enough for those who might be creatively challenged , it’s also stimulating for the more creative.

The kit comes with

A variety of cards, magnets and bookmarks to make.

Bottles of coloured sand

A funnel

Scraper tools to lift the sticky paper

Trays to work on

Detailed instructions

How to do Sand Art

Sand art is really easy and not messy at all.

Here’s my step by step guide to using your sand art kit cards to make a masterpiece.

1. Choose an image and place it onto a working tray supplied with the kit.

2. Start peeling the sticky paper away, a little at a time with the tool provided.

3. Pick your colour and pour some onto the part of the image you have exposed.

4. Once the section is covered in sand, lift the image allowing excess sand to fall onto the tray. Use the funnel to pour this sand back into your container.

5. Continue until you’ve completed the entire image.

The cards can be laminated or turned into greeting cards. The detailed instructions included in the box tell you how step by step as well as share ideas on how to care for the sand and the best ways to work on your sandy projects.

Our experience

Teenage holiday fun

I first introduced the kit to my teens on a particularly bored holiday. They were all moping around on their phones and I brought out the kit.

Within seconds all phones were down and creativity had begun. There were giggles and laughter and shouts about how each one needed the funnel or a colour or a new card.

Two of the girls had never done sand art before and were excited that their first attempts were so easy, not messy and beautiful.

But the girls weren’t the only ones having fun … Ronan was totally engrossed and it’s a good thing you can buy refill cards and sand because he started making cards for everyone .

The mandalas were a firm favourite amoung the teens as were the book marks.

Toddler pictures

This gorgeous dinosaur was made by Hamish, now nearly 3 years old,almost unassisted.

I helped him to remove the sticky paper but he was able to do the rest alone.

We’ve done several and with winter and a sick toddler, this has been one of my go to activities.

Mom gets creative

Not to be left out, I did my own fair share of pictures and they were both relaxing and easy to do. I especially like that you can laminate the image using the plastic that it comes in.

This kit is a great investment to encourage bonding,especially with the teens. To boost creativity in a child who may not be confident being creative. For holidays or Christmas time. To use for kids to make teacher gifts and those personalised grandparent pictures.

To order your own kit contact http://www.sandart.co.za