Back in the game....

Yessirreeee, I am back now.  My computer is fixed (yay! 1500 malware, spyware and adware files later.....) and is working better than ever.  So, how did I celebrate?  I dragged my family to a thrift store for a spot of fun trawling of course!

This is most of my bounty.  I bought a few of those old decorative tins as my Mum collects them so I can use them as gift boxes for a double gift.  I always find it hard to pass up cane and wicker baskets (so I don't!) especially when they are all less than 90 cents.  I like to do basic embroidery with my kids so I am always on the lookout for hoops and I was thrilled to find these little packs of vintage buttons for 20 cents.  I got these hand knitted mittens for Lord A.  I am assuming that one of the volunteers knits them up to help with raising money.  I also got a cute striped runner that is the exact length of our dining table for $2.80, a couple of board games for the kids for less than $1 ea (and all the pieces are there) and a small basketball that fits Lord A's new hoop perfectly.  I did also pick up some owl ornaments that I was going to spray paint white as a gift but the kids nabbed them for their rooms.

So, I will have to show you what I do with the cane baskets and tins.  I am thinking the larger basket will be my greeting card one stop organising centre.  Anyway, I will show you what I come up with later.

Oh, and Happy Halloween everyone for this Sunday!  (by the way, what is with the adult female costumes for sale???  does every adult woman want to look like she is in a very questionable dinner theatre production at the local 'gentleman's club'??  harumph..)

Sound matching game

Woo hoo!  I am managing to do a quick post.  I still haven't had any luck getting my computer fixed and I have a bunch of comments waiting for moderation but I can't access that page right now.  I am just happy I can do this quick post.

Here is a very quick idea and one that I am surprised with the popularity of it with Lord A (he just turned 5).  I made these awhile ago but forgot to mention them.  They are the little plastic 'eggs' that Kinder Surprise toys come in.  I kept a bunch of them, thinking they could be useful, and came up with this classic sound matching game.  Lord A and I gathered a bunch of items to put inside (in pairs) and then we just sealed them up with some hardware store tape.  We have them sitting in a cleaned out ice cream container although I am keeping an eye out for a nice little wicker basket from a thrift shop.  I think that would look nicer. And that is very important of course.  ha ha.  Lord A goes back to this again and again.  They just pick up one of the eggs, shake it and then try to find the other one that sounds the same.

If you are interested in some ideas, here is a list of the items we used.  Well, the ones I can remember anyway.

- sand
- little tubular beads (from those large Ikea bead jars)
- coins
- rice
- tiny metal nuts (from nuts and bolts)

It was a little tricky with the last couple to get different enough sounds to distinguish from the others.  These would be fun to have a bunch of them just filled with the beads or sand as little maracas also.  Those items make a lovely sound.

Computer problems

I will write this quick (before the page disappears!!).  I have been trying to post for the last week and have to finally admit my computer must have a virus of some sort.  I will be sorting that out and then back with a vengeance!  I have some great projects coming up!  See you all soon.

Wha?? It is October already??

Oh my gosh, how time flies when you are busy.  Ok, well we are settling in nicely to our new home.  The house is great, the kids are happily ensconced in school and I only have my craft/sewing stuff left to unpack.  So, here is my question everybody.  I need to buy a new sewing machine and I am having a hard time deciding which one.  I mainly sew easy clothes and even easier homeware type stuff like cushions and I will be delving into the area of sewing for dolls soon (my daughter has acquired a passion for American Girl dolls).  Basically, I don't need an industrial type machine anyway.  I want to know what you all use and what you like/don't like about it.  Also, where is a good place to buy them in the US?  Do they sell them at Joann's?  Can you believe I have only visited a Michael's store twice and have never even visited a Joann's since being in the US (we arrived way back in June)??  I haven't dared go near them when I can't actually do anything yet.  What self control!  Ha ha.

Home Sweet Home.....

At last!  We are moving into a house tomorrow (southwest part of Minneapolis).  Anyone have suggestions on which shops would provide the best price/value for things like heavy curtains (blackout ones for the bedrooms)?

I am still around....

Wow, I am quite impressed I still have Followers!  Thank you for your patience everyone.  Things have been a tad hectic, a tad stressful and it isn't over quite yet.  To give you an abbreviated version of what has been happening since we left Uruguay, well, we moved to Boston and were frantically house hunting (this is a full time job in the market here right now - it is brutal!) only to have circumstances change and be told two weeks ago (I think it was then - my memory is blurring now) that we need to relocate to Minnesota instead.  Ugh.  Boston is like my dream location to live so I was pretty upset but, after having the appropriate mourning period, I don't believe in dwelling on that.  So, onwards and upwards to Minnesota!  Lucky we hadn't unpacked our boxes yet.  Anyway, we are heading over there next Tuesday and will be frantically searching for a house.  We will have to find one fast as our shipping container has finally cleared customs and is on it's way!!  Wish me luck!  Boy, do I have some projects planned once my stuff is unpacked....

Meanwhile, we managed a weekend trip to New York last weekend and that was a dream come true for me too so I will leave you with a photo of our weekend in New York.  This is my two kids on Liberty Island with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

No news is good news....

I knew this photo I took of a funny looking little piece of cereal would come in handy.....

'Familiar' book (with activities)

As you know, we are moving this week from Uruguay to the USA.  My children (ages 7 and 4) are not the super relaxed types who don't really care about such things (neither are we so surprise, surprise) so, to help ease the transition, I made each of them these little 'familiar' books.

I had this stack of plastic envelopes (they are approx. 20cm x 16cm) that we had DVD's in.  The kids have 15 sleeves each that I have connected with small rings.  I think they might be curtain rings - they open with a hinge - I can't even remember where I got them.  I designed the front cover and printed out the pattern in the middle of the page (this neatly wrapped around a thick piece of cardboard for stability).

For the first half of the book I added photos (and simple words for reading practice for Lord A) of themselves, family members and familiar items like their beds, toys, etc.  All of the toys and items pictured are things they won't see for 2 months so they love to look at them and anticipate their return.  I did the page layout in Powerpoint.

For the last half of the book, I copied images of mazes and connect the dots off the internet.  In the second photo you can see a small face washer (face cloth, face towel - whatever you call them) inside the front cover.  I had these teeny little face washer's left over from when the kids were babies.  They are much smaller than normal but are the perfect size to use as an eraser with dry erase markers.  This way the kids can do the puzzles over and over if they want.  I have a little drawstring bag full of dry erase markers in different colours for each of the kids to have with their book.

The back cover is the same as the front without the title.  I used a really nice thick cardboard for the covers so they will be sturdy enough to hold and write on if they don't have a table handy.

I am really happy with how these turned out.  Sporty Girl has seen hers and has been carrying it around already but I am waiting to surprise Lord A for a moment when he really needs it (or when I really need him to be occupied! - hello, Customs lines anyone?).  Anyway, my quick break hiding away from the packers is over so I had better get back to it!