Fun in the snow

Crazy weather these days! After 70 centimeters of snow last week, now we have warm weather, yesterday the temperature was 10 Celsius degrees above zero, as it is April, not January.

Yet, such a huge amount of snow can't melt overnight, so we'll enjoy it while it lasts. As a true optimist, I see winter as an idyllic time - watching the snow from a warm room, with a cup of tea or mulled wine (as long as I do not have to drive in snowy conditions!). And when we go outside, besides making snowmen  and ice-skating or snowball fights, we can have fun on the snow in many other ways. Here are some of them.

  Snow painting

Who says you can't paint on the snow? Bottle with a narrow opening, some water and food coloring and here's a cheerful, colorful rainbow. I'd like to thank the blogging colleague for this great idea .

Children will definitely love this sort of activity, but you should be careful they don't get wet.

Feeding birds in a creative way

Let's not forget the birds. It is necessary to leave them some food, because in these conditions, they hardly find any food so many birds die of hunger. Besides classic birdhouses, which you can create even out of milk cartoon , food can be left in the snow. If you make a cheerful drawing, kids will be thrilled. We made ​​them a heart, in honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day, and be sure to take a look at this great bird mosaic .

See here for more information about feeding birds. Birds will be grateful and will come back to your garden in the summer, when they will gladly exterminate insects that are bugging you, it will be a real treat to them. Sparrows, blackbirds and titmice are regular and dear guests in our garden.

Need more ideas for fun in the snow? Look here .   
 
And how do you have fun in the snow?

P. S.: This is the blog hop I participate in: 

Patches as a way of decorating your clothes

We all know the frustrating feeling when tiny holes suddenly appear on your favorite garment, and you are not ready to throw it away yet, but the classic stitches do not give the desired result, they only make the garment look even more worn out. My secret is in the patches, which can really do wonders even out of seemingly ordinary garments and transform them into glamorous evening pieces. For example,look at these two ordinary T-shirts which have been given a whole new look with shiny patches in the shape of a flower and butterfly. And just a few minutes ago, they looked like old rags.

And I think most of you know the feeling when your child likes a cartoon character, but you can't find anything with this character in local shops (it often happens to me). That's the same situation in which patches help. For example, it is impossible to find girls' clothing with the characters from The Cars cartoon (even on e bay-o'mighty). As you already know, we had The Cars birthday party, so I added The Lightning McQueen iron-on at her dress:

Do I have to mention how the birthday girl was thrilled? It is also a much cheaper way to get clothes with the popular cartoon characters.

Patches are available in all major supermarkets, drug stores, grocery stores, or on ebay.  Majority of them are iron-on patches, but I always add a few stitches, just in case. You can sew by hand or by sewing machine, but of course it's better by sewing machine.

And that's it!

Blogging tip - liking Facebook pages with your personal profile or as your page?

We, The Bloggers, like Facebook for many reasons. One of them are our followers with all of their comments, likes, ideas and all the other things we share which make our blogs better. Of course, you have to be honest and also admit it's the thing that counts when you negotiate with a potential sponsor.

Facebook has been changing the rules for Pages very often in the past few months, sometimes it's very hard to keep the track with all the changes.

However, one thing I've learned even as a blogging newbie, is the fact that the likes count. But not in the way you would've expected. For some reason, Facebook only recognizes likes made from personal profiles. I suppose it's set that way in order to avoid false likes. It's their right to set the rules, but there is a thing we can do to boost each others' page and in that way to help each other (since blogging is all about community) - we can like the Pages with both, our personal profile, as well as with our FB pages. The procedure is very simple, and I'll show it to you in a few easy steps (the page I'm liking in the example is my own FB Page).

Don't be confused, I use FB in my mother tongue (and you'll notice some options are still in English), but the buttons are in the exact same place when you use it in English.

Find the page you wish to like, then first like it from your personal profile. Then click on the little button for options and choose "like as your Page". This even works if you have more than one Page (I do myself), because you'll be able to choose between the Pages. For example, I blog in my mother tongue and in English as well, so therefore I have separate Facebook pages.

And that's it! You will notice the number of likes has changed when you liked it from your personal profile, but not when you liked it as a Page.

Personally, I prefer commenting as a Page (meaning you'll notice me as The Stepford Wife). It is my way of protecting privacy on Facebook and I've noticed many other bloggers do the same.

However, I like sharing some blogging suport and I believe this definitely is one of the best ways. And of course, to get outside as a blogger. (Did I mention I am a newbie?)

What are your experiences? Do you prefer using your personal account on FB or do you use it as a Page?
What about the number of likes you are getting? Pages or personal profiles - which of the two is more like to like you?

Five ways to make a snowman

My part of the world has been covered with almost 70 centimeters of snow, which hasn't happened in the last 150 years. Since there's nothing worse than a winter without snow, go out and enjoy it, make  children happy before the snow turns into slush! Hats, scarves and waterproof gloves are all you need!

Of course, if kids are sick you can't go out. However, snowmen can be made out of other materials, and not just the snow.

1. Snowmen made of plastic bottles

All you need are markers (preferably waterproof), some cute ribbons and white empty plastic bottles, 

Just look at them, aren't they stylish?

2. A snowman made of a glass jar

Paste cotton pads on a glass jar and add paper eyes, nose and mouth. In less than 20 minutes you'll have a nice holder for different school supplies. 

3. A cotton pads snowman

 

The same pads from the previous idea, can be pasted to the carton and become a beautiful, hand-made greeting card. We used crayons for drawing a hat, a broom and the snowman's face.

4. A snowman made of plastic cups

 

Arrange the cups in the desired shape, paste them together (we used a hot glue gun) and painted his hat and face with temperas.

  

5. A cherry on the top - a snowman made of real snow

 

Hopefully the kids got better by now, so go out and do the real one! 

 Be careful with its "styling."

Need more ideas for winter activities? See here. 

How about joining a linky party?

 

DIY carnival fairy costume

The Older was very sad when we undecorated our Christams tree so I explained to her how soon there'll be a carnival and Valentine's Day and how at any time of the year we can look forward to something and make something, because decorating a Christams tree is not the only cheerful event of the year.

Of course, she wanted to make a costume immediately, just after we undecorated the tree. She has not yet decided whether she wants to be a fairy, a princess or an angel, but lucky for me, these three roles can be attributed with almost identical accessories.

And so we made the wings first, following these instructions. We bended the metal hangers from the dry cleaner's into the desired shape and connected the two wings (good tongs were very helpful by this step) and "stitch" was wrapped with some masking tape.

 

After that, we wrapped the wings with a pair of transparent stockings 

and I sprayed them with some 

gold spray:

As you can guess from the background of the last picture, spraying was performed outdoors, because the scent is quite suffocating in a closed space, and it's easier to avoid potential stains on the furniture. In the end, we decorated the wings by using textile colors. After the colors had dried, I fastened an elastic rubber band to the wings, which will serve as shoulder straps. We also made a pair for The Younger as well:

Since it was much fun to us, we made another pair. Honestly, this one reminds me more of an airplane propeller, however, its owner had no objections.

All together, it looks something like this:

 

I agree with those who say that it is not a matched color scheme, but since this is the costume for my girl, I let her to choose the colors.

I bought a skirt at this season's sales, and you probably recognize the top of the heart shaped stick, from one of my previous posts where it was an ornament for the tree. I made the wands ​​inspired by this idea .

The crown was simply made according to the template from the site Spoonful.com.

Here I have more close photos:

Now, I hope the costume will survive till Carnival, because the Older does not want to take the wings off, she's running around the house stumbling into furniture. Or should I say flying?  

At the moment as I write this, the crown has already been damaged. 

What will be your mask in a carnival? See here if you need an idea. 

 


P.S. I also recommend you to visit these great linky parties.

Beccis Domestic Bliss

Why is it cool to represent maternity as something negative?

I accidentally ran into this video, which is actually a commercial for the Fiat 500L. I suggest you first look at the video, then read on.

I have to agree that there are plenty of elements which are really funny (I especially like the part about three months in pajamas, I guess, because I too had spent my first three months of motherhood dressed in that way). But what I do not like is a trend of representing motherhood in a negative way. As if it's cool to name the kids as brats, they are a pain in the ass or a disturbance in a restaurant or at the beach, motherhood is just another obligation, you have children because it's "proper to do so" blablablabla .....

Like life itself, motherhood is both bitter and sweet at the same time the, a worry and a joy, but a good organization is the key issue. A lot depends on whether a person is mature before he/she has children, which, unfortunately, many are not, and then starts the whole story with the children as a disturbance.

Yeah, it's not easy to put yourself in another place, it is not easy to accept that you don't have much free time as you had before, but with little effort and some good will (if not by pure instinct), everything is possible. Because a bad parent and child relationship can not be repaired even by a lawsuit, as it is done in China .

P. S. I don't understand how this car is large enough for three children. But, who am I to judge about this, since I'm "a conservative who drives a VW," as I was once etiquetted by my former colleagues.



P.S. Check the linky parties I'm participating in:

Parents in China can sue their children if they don't visit them

Since the world began, there have been unwanted children. And it is the mere (and a sad) fact that is not affected either by the awareness of modern contraceptive methods, and I doubt that anything will change by introducing health education on which there's so much controversy these days in my country.

And yes, it's sad that things in life turn out so that people who want children often can't have them (nor the complicated administrative procedures about adoption or IVF help them), and those who do not want to, have even more than they can feed or even treat children as some kind of interference or obligation.

I am writing this post after reading an article about how parents in China can sue their children if they don't visit them regularly . All the laws of this world can't fix the parent and child relationship built on poor basis, the one without love, mutual understanding and respect. Declaration of the Rights of the Child has been in force for several decades (actually, more than 50 years), and there are still those who could not care less about it.

My point of view is definitely in the contrary to the traditional one, but I see the fourth commandment of God as a mutual and reciprocal relationship.

Being a parent is one of the most demanding roles in a person's life and it is frustrating if you didn't got into it at a mature age, after completing your schooling, employment and finding a home. But you can't blame a kid for that. I do not write this for making myself a moral authority, but only to remind you of the fact how we treat children today, so they will treat us in the future. Perhaps some believe they are doing their best, but is it really true if you do not respect their wishes? Unreasonable wishes of a toddler, like leaving the house in the middle of a winter without a jacket is not what I have in mind.

I recommend you to watch Merida the Brave and you'll probably understand what I'm talking about.

The cardboard drums

I hope you all had a good time for the New Year's Eve!

We continue having fun with recycled materials - we've celebrated the New Years Eve in this way as well.

I've mentioned in the previous post that I have prepared a surprise for our little guests on New Year's Eve celebration.

Ta-Dam, here it is: the cardboard drums!

The original idea comes from Spoonful.com but I've simplified it and adapted to the materials we already had. 

I've wrapped cardboard boxes in a nice decorative paper (this step is not necessary, but it certainly contributes to the aesthetic aspect) and pasted them one to another, in the desired shape. I also filled balloons with oatmeal flakes (really gives a great, rustling sound) and tied them with a decorative bow at small toy brooms, which I then fastened to the box by adhesive tape. And that's it! It was really not hard at all, my biggest problem was to find a piece of decorative paper large enough to wrap the entire box, as you can see from the photos.

Instead of the brooms, I originally intended to use cardboard rolls, but the girls tore them, while I was wrapping the boxes. In the meantime they began fencing with these small brooms quite near TV set, so I quickly found a replacement for the cardboard rolls.

Try it, it 's really not hard, I would like you to write in the comments how you've done it.

This year for our New Year's celebration, I also tried some new recipes and I intend to make them available as a mini e-book, so feel free to stop by again these days.

List of the parties I'm participating in:

 

 

Activities from the Advent calendar - the fourth week

Delicious food and gathering all the family and friends ... Holidays  were just as they should be, despite the Older still had a fever on Christmas Eve. Unlike last week , this week we've managed to find some time for crafts.

24th of December - decorating Christmas tree and listening to Christmas carols

We recently attended a great Christmas concert for kids where we bought a CD with Christmas carols - "Jingle Bells" turned out to be the absolute hit of the day.

25th and 26th of December - holidays ....

 

The menu was rich, despite the recession. Ever since I can remember, my family has never saved on food.... recipes coming soon!

27th of December - the exhibition of toys and funicular ride

 

Our plan was to visit the exhibition of vintage toys in the local museum, but unfortunately we had the wrong information about its working hours, so we were too late to enter it. Fortunately, the exhibition runs until May so we'll see it some other time.  

We also took the kids on their first funicular ride. After it, we went for a walk in the city center decorated with Christmas lights. It is such a magic experience - lights, candles, decorated trees .... and Gluhwein for adults ;)

28th December - recycling plastic yogurt cups

 

I finally got a glue gun and we made this cute little snowman:

So, I pasted the yoghurt cups with a glue gun (definitely a job for an adult, because the glue is heated to 200 Celsius degrees). The Older painted its hat, face and buttons. We are into snowmen these days, probably because of the immense amount of snow in December, which melted too soon.

***

These are supposed to be little Christmas trees, but we couldn't manage to put a star on top:

We piled cups one on the other, painted them in green by using temperas. After they dried completely, we decorated them with stickers. Very easy and perfect for younger children. The one on the right was made by the Older. While we were making it, I was thinking it would look much nicer if we used acrylic paints, but it is not something appropriate for children.

29th December - a failed craft

These balloons supposed to be string Christmas decorations, but something definitely went wrong. Except that the string kept untying, I think I should have diluted the glue (I used a glue similar to Mod Podge).... So you can learn from my mistakes.

We also made a nice decoration out of pine cones. It is currently drying so you can expect photos very soon .

30th December - we begin preparing for New Year's Eve

We expect a lot of little guests and preparing them with various fun activities. See here for a couple of New Year's ideas , and we will put ours in one of the next posts.