5/03/2012

A Recycled Playmate - Slithering Mitten :)

kutti "r"s new born mittens and socks are a sweet reminder...But how many of them do I save?
So I found a new playmate for him...
This is an easy to do craft.
Take an old sock or a mitten.
Stick a pair of googly eyes (It its a monster - go crazy with the eyes :)
Cut a small hole at the closed end of the sock.
Insert the pipe cleaner to resemble the tongue. Roll it...Bend it...Twist it...
Now play push and pull :)

You have a cute little playmate ready in a jiffy!

Artsy Craftsy Mom- One more please....



Googly eyes - Easy to make bookmarks

I simply love making bookmarks and I find every chance to do some.
Here are a few samples that are kid friendly!
 The deer bookmark is also a playmate for kutti "r" and me. We do a little memory game, a guessing game and a hide and seek game...kutti "r" calls them 'maan' and 'pulli maan' (Tamizh for deer and spotted deer)
These colourful monsters can get dressed up in different colours and can take up different moods...Just dont throw your ice-cream sticks away!

Artsy Craftsy Mom - We have got a whole load of googly eyes craft and we got it coming your way :)

The Birthday Party - Invitation (Last but not the least)

Looks like I am doing the reverse loop in documenting kutti "r" s birthday party. One consolation is that I am finally doing it and as long as the blogger lives, this post will live :)
The seed for the birthday theme started with this book...
We had got kutti "r" this book when he was 6 months young! He seemed to like it right from the time we picked the book at the Landmark store. We were surprised to see his baby face lit up when we said the word "Alien" and from then on until he turned 13 months old, our room, the doors, the toys, the books carried aliens in different forms, shapes and colours :)

The creative horses ran wild and I went alien crazy and made sure that when kutti "r" looks back at his first birthday pictures he would remember the love he had for aliens and the love mumma had for him :)

Artsy Craftsy Mom - We have another one of the googly eyes for you :)


5/02/2012

The Birthday Post - just for Artsy Craftsy April 2012

It's almost 6 months since kutti "r"s 1st birthday and I still haven't found the time to document it completely.
With the AC Challenge for this month being "googly eyes", I couldn't help but quickly add all that I did for the birthday theme.
kutti "r"s fascination for aliens can be seen here and here and here and here and HERE!


Artsy Craftsy April - Here I come! A lilttle late but hope it entertains your right brain :)

4/25/2012

L.O.V.E

It was yet another morning in our workday lives.
Me in the kitchen with MIL, V in the living room with his morning paper and coffee and kutti "r" on the bed sleeping after his morning milk was the scene.
Like always, our hands at what we were doing, our thoughts planning out the day, and our ears in the direction of the room - V and me dashed to the room as we heard kutti "r" woke up. He woke up with a big smile and a sparkle in his eyes.
Sitting on the bed, he stretched out his arms as if reaching out to us. Responding to him, V and me got closer to him without knowing what was in store for us. kutti "r" pulled us even closer and smacked(v) his lips in want of a kiss. It took us a second to realise that he was asking us to plant a kiss on his chubby cheeks. We moved closer and kissed our little prince at the same time and moved back. kutti "r" signalled for another one and another...
As giggles, smiles and laughter filled the room, kutti "r" stretched out his arm, this time reaching out only to his dad. V moved closer and kutti "r" drew V's head near him and said "amma".
I was standing there unaware of the next scene.
kutti "r" smacked his lips again and with V's head resting on his little palm, he said "amma"...
V smiled at me and said, "he wants daddy to kiss mummy"...hahaha...
Unbelievable!
Daddy kissed Mummy
Daddy and mummy smiled at baby
Baby smiled. The day began :)

Welcome to the generation which acknowledges the expression of L.O.V.E


3/12/2012

Origami @ the pot - yes the pot's still cooking

I have a few posts due but I think this holds priority.
I better be early to enter the Artsy Craftsy for this month at Mindful Meanderings :)

Our tot club -the pot has weekend craft activities for the little kids within our apartment. We do it under the shade of our water tank in the terrace once every fortnight...Depending on the age group of kids, I have different levels of craft activities structured for the busy bodies...
We made a couple of things this week
1. An old sock was upcycled into a wristband
2. Origami wristband
3. Origami ornaments - I planned on making a wristlet...but the kids had other plans going within their creative mind...So we did a bracelet, a crown, a necklace and a wasitband..:)

The link to do the origami wristbands can be picked from here - The one for older kids and The one for younger kids




Artsy Craftsy - We hope we are on time :)


2/14/2012

A Valentine fun - an edible game of X's & O's

It was 2007, 3 days after Valentine's day - hold on...I am going to save this story for an upcoming post, so let's jump to the Valentine fun I made for V and me this evening :)
Thanks to the choco-nut cookies and Milky choco-choo that came to my rescue this evening to make a quick and edible game of LOVE!
Milky choco-choo is my new found medium to make amazing edible shapes :)
The variations are endless. You can skip the cookie and stick to using only choco choos. You can choose between the strawberry/chocolate/regular to make colorful coins for your edible game of x's and o's.
As always, I'll let the pictures talk.
What's a February 14th without X's and O's :)


and of course, we devoured a couple of them after playing with them!
I am one of those who simply loves the spirit of the day and I am sleeping tonight with a bigger smile on my face :)




2/12/2012

A slow weekend!

A slow weekend...
Dad & Mom at Thirupathi, V at work, Paati, me & kutti "r" left for ourselves...
Sunday morning - a trip to the HAL museum to see the "plane" and "helicoptee" and "wow" at everything big :)
("" as kutti "r" says it)
Sunday evening - We are off to a birthday party and we just made a tag for the present we bought with the remains from Phineas and Ferb hair and face :)
All you would need is some magazine sheet, glue, pen, tape and cut the figures as you desire. Decided to make the character talk and hence the talking cloud shape...


2/10/2012

Introducing our tot club - "the pot"

I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I actually took the courage to talk to the moms in our little apartment to get the kids together to do some fun activity...
I'm enthused by the fact that it did happen and the kids want it again...
We went with the Phineas and Ferb character - who doesn't love those little inventors and their geometric faces that made it easier for us to remember and reproduce :)
I'll let the pictures do the talking...







2/09/2012

Cut the trash and make things last!

Cut, glue, stick
Make a tag trick
Elmo, Oscar, Grover
Not to miss out our Cookie Monster
Cut the trash
And make things last
Else...we'll help Earth meet its end fast :(


Snip, Stitch, Stuff - A "Jeanie" holds the toys

  • a really really really unusable old jean (V's 10 year old jean beyond use was used here)
  • a pair of scissors
  • needle and thread (ok...sewing machine)
  • unused toys - We received a dozen of finger puppets and hand puppets from my best friend "U"
While it waits to be hung over the door, kutti "r" and me play pull and stuff, find the mom and baby, and a whole lot of guessing games with the fur families :)


2/03/2012

If you don't have a smile, I'll give you one of mine and its green :)

:)
Smile - it costs nothing and so does the little recycled craft...
I am a kind of person who loves McD for its toys! 
As much as unhealthy the food can be, my love for McD toys keeps getting bigger and bigger...So we (me and V) restrict ourselves to McD kids meal every time we make a trip out of Bangalore.V loves whatever he can get from the kids meal while I cherish watching kutti "r" play with the toy (okay...bang and drop = play).
:)
This time when we went on a short trip to Channapatna - the toy town and Kokkarebellur, we stopped at McD for lunch...And this was the first time I noticed the smile on the kids meal box and it struck me that I should carry that piece of cardboard home with me.
We had a birthday to attend and I didn't have the time to go out to buy a birthday card for the little girl...But I had lots of glue, googly eyes and this smiling cardboard smiling at me 
:)
Here it is....the quick and easy craft!
And now, remember not to throw those precious smiles away...Creativity has no limit and the smiles could be put to a much better use....
I always like to write a message by sticking a small piece of paper inside a greeting card. People who choose to save the card can keep it or people who like to regift the card just because they think its beautiful and they would like someone dear to have it instead of them...I think they are doing a great favor to mother earth....


Smile - it really costs nothing :)

2/02/2012

A son lost - same day 2 years back

Neo was our first son!
And it still hurts to imagine the pain he underwent 2 years back.
Gastroenteritis is what the doctors said, a little surgery to identify where it all occurred, a coward mom who didn't want to see the inflammation of the intestine, a bold dad who wanted to find out why and believed it would help another pet parent...a 3 day struggle....it happened so fast....the most mischievous pair of marble eyes....the tail that wagged the most....the most sloppiest kisses filled with love...Thoughts race...words fail...eyes tear...the heart aches :(
Here's to MY NEO - a masterpiece!

We miss you dingy :(


1/27/2012

1/26/2012

A quick craft for a holiday afternoon

Yes! When the parents are away, the husband's out to catch up with a friend, a granny who loves to keep herself busy sewing and a 15 month old who decided to nap early, there's always time for a nice craft...I can always think reuse, recycle and use!
A cluttered kitchen and a simple image did the trick for me. The inspiration was from Ella's kitchen company.
I will let the pictures do the talking. kutti "r" might wake up any time and I dont want to postpone posting yet another entry on my blog which is edging to reach 50 :)

Here's my little kitchen caddy man which is liquid proof - yes, it doesnt matter if the oil/sauce spills and if water runs to kiss my little caddy man :)


1/20/2012

The Birthday post - part 1

This post was due long back...And I have my own excuses of why I couldnt put earlier.
kutti "r" s fascination for aliens was documented already here! and that became the theme for his FIRST birthday!!! I was obsessed and possessed with ALIENS!!! and you can see them all here...every one of them handmade....
If you have a theme in mind your little one loves, I would be absolutely glad to help you plan, design and make it happen :) Leave me a comment if you would like a sprinkle of magic :)
Let's get to the picture post!




I have a whole lot of pictures coming up, check back for invites, favors and more :) Oh! we repeated the theme at Coimbatore - V's native...YES! We had two celebrations....one in namma Bengaluru and the other one in our very own Kovai :)
Stay tuned....

1/13/2012

My first win on the blogosphere!

This was supposed to be earlier on the posting list.
I was elated as soon as Mindful Meanderings chose my entry as the winner of the December Artsy Craftsy challenge in 2011. A great way to end a year and a beautiful beginning for 2012.
Thanks to Shruti and fellow bloggers!
And here I proudly show off my newly earned first award!!!


Cheers to Artsy Craftsy :)

1/11/2012

Cricket theme party - quick and easy

V’s nephew was turning 14 the morning of December 24, 2011 and I was helping my co-sister by cooking a few dishes for her son S’s party at their place... The order for a humble 2 kg cake was given at the local Iyengar bakery…but I had to make it special for our little master who has always been fond of playing cricket…Picking up a couple of items from the neighboring grocery store, some newspaper, especially the sports section helped us put together a quick theme - CRICKET! J

If you have a little master at your home and if you wanna make it fun for him…here you go… One of the quick, cost-effective and easy to do themes...Creativity is the limit...Please share your link if you have tried anything on these lines...I would love to take a look into your grey matter.


For the cake topper - Wafer biscuit, Milky way choco choo, yam yam and a box of peanut candies.  It's all look and tell for me. The picture should help you out. 
The bat was made from milky way choco choo. The outer part for the bat base and the inner choco for the handle. The pre-ordered cake became the field and the wafer turned into the pitch. Yam yam sticks stood as the stumps on either side and the little reddish peanut candy said, I'll play ball. 

For the banner - newspaper clippings made way into the banner. Take a bunch of color paper sheets, chop chop pictures of the cricket sport and glue them on. Fill in the blank spaces with letters, punch holes in the corner and tie them up.
You may want to have a guessing game for the little fellas as long as you know who's who. Cricket is not my religion and I don't know all the Gods!

For the gift wrapper - Take an old newspaper, glue on the excess clippings post the banner use. Put a big smile, pat yourself for not wasting money on the wrapper that's going to the trash bin and say "Happy Birthday" as you give the gift!