Blog Moved!

Hi everyone please be aware that this blog is not active anymore. It has moved to my new site Little Wooden Shoe I will not be posting any more posts here so please come check my new site and get an email subscription!

Luke's B-day at the Beach!

Oh my this blog is sooo neglected! Its been pretty hard to get the time to write anything at the moment. I have started my own business!!! Yes, you heard me right. It took a lot of courage and work and its all set but it takes most of the little free time I have so hence the neglect of my personal blog! I have opened an online shop for handmade toys and gifts for children. The shop and blog are called Little Wooden Shoe. You can check the blog here. You can check the shop here. I hope you pass by and check it for yourself.

Any way, my little boy turned two last month!!! Can you believe how fast it all went, it feels like it was last month I had this little newborn in my arms. So we decided to do a nice breakfast birthday on the beach. Because of the extreme hot weather we have been having over here we had to make it early in the morning, that is why the breakfast birthday. Everyone loved the idea of having it early seeing most of the parents are all awake at dawn by there little angels. So we made a cooked breakfast in the barbecue and we had cake, popcorn and other snacks for the kids. It was really an amazing day and Luke just loved it. I made his cake as his favourite cartoon character Ponyo . Naturally I did a crap job, I am no birthday cake baker but he seemed to recognise it immediately and the kids at the party seemed to love it, so mission accomplished! See trailer of the film bellow.

Very cute film!!! So bellow are some cool pictures of the party I hope you all enjoy and I am sooo sorry for the long silence.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

What a year this has been!!! Full of challenges at every corner and delightful new experiences. My blogging has become less frequent but time for blogging has been hard to find with Luke becoming a toddler and needing more entertainment from me. I have opened an online shop in the end of November too, after so many comments from blog readers, friends and family always telling me that I should have a go in selling my craft. So I took the plunge and this is why we had no posts for two months. So you can find a link to the shop on the side bar of this blog or you can try going to Little Wooden Shoe blog. I already had 8 orders since opening the shop and with all the Christmas holidays it was a pretty full on month for me. But not to worry I will still keep this blog and will update as regularly as possible. Well, here are some photos of Luke during Christmas. The first set of photos is at our local shops, were they have organised something for the kids. The next set  of photos is at our family Christmas.  I hope all of you have a wonderful 2011!!!!

How to make a play kitchen for your kids!

Every time we go visit friends or our playgroup and there is a little play kitchen, Luke spends most of the time role playing. So I have been for the past month looking into buying a little play kitchen for him, one who won't break the bank. They can range from $130 to $400! I really loved the wooden kitchens but of course they were the most expensive of the range. Ikea has a really cute wooden kitchen on display at the moment but still our budget just doesn't allow us to buy it. After a lot of looking around I have decided to make one for Luke from an old empty packing box we had left from our move. After just one hour putting the kitchen together I was surprised by how great it looks. It was also a great activity to make together even if he is just 20months old, he was very excited by the process. So here is how you make a play kitchen for your kids for less than $10.

Supplies:
1 large empty packing box
4 roles of contact paper (any colour u like)
1 stainless steel bowl
2 felt sheets (black and red)
1 empty paper towel role tube
1 kitchen tap- optional
play food
play pots and pans
Stanley knife
ruler
pen


Instructions:

1. Find a packing box that will be a good hight for your child. A tall box could be used for a refrigerator or laid on its side for a sink and counter. I decided to use mine on its side because I wanted to use it as a sink and stove top. Tape the box shut in all its sides. 
2. Cover all the box with contact paper of your choice. 
3. For the oven, on the front side of the box, cut across the top and ½ way down on both sides, to form the oven door. Place tin foil on this pull down door to represent the window to look through.
4. Mark area beside the oven door to make a cupboard and cut so you have two doors so your child can put all their pans/pots and play food away when done playing.
5. Cut three sections of the paper towel tube to make three handles. I made one wider for the oven handle. Glue these on the top oven door and cupboard doors with craft glue.
6. Glue the black felt on the top counter area above the oven and make two red circles with your red felt. Glue the two red circles on top of the black felt to make the stove top. You can also glue some milk bottle covers on the side to make the stove top controls. 
7. For the sink get your stainless steel bowl and cut a smaller circle to insert the sink. 
8. I had an old kitchen tap which I used as a sink tap, this of course is optional.