Christmas Crafting Time!

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It's almost Christmas!

Crazy, right?

Our tree is already up, as you can see on Instagram.

I just need a new phone for better Instagram pics :)

*wink wink wink* to hubs...hehe.

We have been spending much of our time preparing for his YAMAHA concert, 

so I did not prepare ANY Christmas trays!
So lame, I know...

Luckily for Tiger (and I), we received a My Creative BaoBei Christmas Play Bag.

With pre-packed activities, we can just grab and play :)

It comes in a lovely felt bag that you can reuse as a gift bag during Christmas.

See my son pretending to be malu-malu

"Come on, show me your giant ears"

I took out all the prepacked activities and asked him to choose one.

There were 3 products plus one free activity.

 He was immediately drawn to the glitter glue/snowflake activity.
Nothing spells FUN like messy play, you know :)

 I drew an outline with pencil since perfection is important to him.

For the designs, I referred to the pictures provided on the information leaflet.

Otherwise, they will all be round or square or diamond..hehe.

After the craft, we read The Friendly Snowflake by M. Scott Peck.

Bought this book years ago when I was still in high school! 

Pic from Amazon.com

The next activity took a two days because we had to roll up little balls of tissue paper.

This one is hard because you have to make a gazillion balls.

OK, I exaggerate, It was probably closer to 150.

Tiger was like, "You can do it."

"Don't talk so much. Work faster a bit."

What a pushy boss he'll make!

Purses lips.

In the end we had some 'boulders' left over and he was inspired to make a racecar.

Guess who is the lucky person who gets to fix up the car?
=.="

 

Last but not least, we have a Santa Clause for weaving.

He did this at snail speed over several days.

So, the activities lasted a loooong time :)

 

 

 He thinks his papa is Santa Claus because they have the same sized belly!

HO! HO! HO!

No lar...I take that back...must be nice for a new phone.

Because my kind, darling husband got them early Xmas presents.
*sweet smile*

There is also a felt sticker activity that we are saving for rainy days.

Image from CreativeBaobeiPlayBags

If you are interested in getting a bag for you little one, 

you can check out CreativeBaobeiPlayBags here.
They are only rm 28 each.
But wait!!!

Leave a comment here to win a Buy1Free1 promotion.
I have 3 vouchers for you to win!

This is perfect as Christmas goody bags or gifts for little kids :)

Winners will be selected randomly and announced on 5th DEC 2014

The voucher is valid till 31st December 2014.

You can follow CreativeBaobei on Facebook here

It's so yummilicious looking I feel like eating their page :p

Play Sand vs Kinetic Sand

I wasn't going pay a king's ransom for sand, I swear.

It's peer pressure.

Sigh...I bought 5kg for rm 200 

When hubs asked about the price, I pretended I was taking a very important call.

Smart diversion is the key to marital bliss, trust me.

Otherwise slash the price of everything by at least 50%.

When they find out..."Oh..tsk tsk tsk...luckily I bought before the price went up"

If that fails, offer some bed yoga.

Tiger is a huge fan of sand play.

 So, I know my purchases will not go to waste.

I was hoping that the Kinetic sand will add another dimension of exploration and 

creativity to his play.

The important question here is...

.Is it worth the money?

Tiger's demo on cutting sand.

Halfway, he asked, "Are you sure this is sand?"

Haha...yup, it's that cool.

It's has the consistency of soft gooey dough without the wetness and stickiness of wet sand.

Like any other messy play, it stimulates the senses and I always feel very relaxed

when I am manipulating it in my hands.

Just don't think about the clean-up process while you are at it.

My little nerd boy used it for spelling words.

Here's a list of ideas for playing with Kinetic Sand

There are tons of ideas on pinterest as well

I would love to have a sand pit but they neighbours' cats will think I was being charitable

by providing free toilets.

So, our play sand is kept in a little container and they can take it out whenever they fancy some play.

I can watch them play all day long but Dragon girl doesn't like sand on her feet :)

Just like how Tiger was at her age but she's a slightly less OCD version.

After 10 minutes, she like, "Okay, all done"

Tiger on the other hand can do this for hours.

The boy who used to hate getting sand or dirt on his feet and clothes can 

now grin happily as he gets messy.

Making mama a pot of soup!

 

So, the 3 major differences are

1. Pricing (obviously)

rm200 for 5 kg of Kinetic Sand  vs rm30 for 10 kg of ELC play sand

(I was told to scoop from nature on our next beach holiday :p)

2. Mess level

On a scale of 1 to 10, Kinetic Sand is probably a 3

Play sand is a 9

Which is why sand is never allowed indoors

3. Creativity 

For us, they are both a valuable part of our messy play.

Kinetic Sand has an edge here because you can just create anytime

without having to add water and they are less likely to crumble.

Is it worth it?

In my honest opinion, yes.

I cannot wait for our next beach getaway :)

WIN A MONTESSORI WORLD MAP!!

 

As an early Christmas gift, we are giving away a gorgeous Montessori World Map. 

It is made from high quality wood with beautiful finishing.

 I actually wanted it for myself but Winnie said NO!

Could you be the lucky one? 

To win, enter with any of the following methods:

Facebook:
1. Share the picture on your Facebook page with 'Public' setting (first entry)
2. Leave a comment and tag 3 of your friends. (second entry)

Instagram:
Follow us on Instagram and leave a comment in the contest picture. (3rd entry)
Link here

Blog:
Just leave a comment at the end of this post. (4th entry)

*Saying you love me is considered bribery and strictly forbidden.
*Winner will be announced at 12 noon@12th December 2014.
*You MUST be residing in Malaysia or Singapore.

Painting areas for the kids

I used to love art until I attended art lessons...haha...the irony :)
I just didn't enjoy being told what and how to draw 'correctly'.
So, no art lessons for my children until they are ready to learn some techniques.
And only if they are invested in the idea wholeheartedly.
Honestly, I would prefer to pay for golf lessons.

I am so, so grateful to have the Internet at my fingertips because it helps me understand my children so much more. Who needs a diploma when I have eyes to observe my own children?
I love this article that explains the stages of painting.
Dragon girl is at stage 2, drawing circles and Tiger is at Stage 4, drawing creepy people.

Currently, this is how her atelier looks like. I am so inspired by Meri Cherry's blog
Our space changes all the time, depending on her needs and interest.
I leave everything out in the open for her except glitter. God forbid they should blind each other with those stuff.
We display her art on a string and as you can see, she uses different materials and papers.
On the IKEA easel is her current work. I'll only change the paper after she tells me it's done.
Otherwise, she will layer her painting like real artists :)

Sometimes, she prefers these foldable tables to the easel.

I am so trilled that she finger paints!

You know, like a normal child, unlike Tiger :)

Finger painting is a sensory experience on top of artistic expression.

Love it!

Besides paint, she loves these disgusting black whiteboard markers...sigh.

The good news is, she rarely stains her clothes nowadays.

So, I just close one eye la.

After about a year of  "Don't paint the walls!!!!"

I actually get some poster moments like these.

Oh, speaking of walls...Dragon hasn't been redecorating for some time now :) 

They also have another art area outside.

It's their outdoor learning area but they mostly paint, play bubbles

or make a mess at the water table.

The toy kitchen doubles as storage for my bags of organic soil and fertilizer.

 The old wine rack is perfect for displaying their stuff.

Some balls, art material, sand, explorer's basket, etc

In the drawers: Uppermost 2 drawers are laundry stuff and rags

Lower levels are their bubbles sand/water play stuff  

PS:

You see the little green pots?

They are environmental-friendly biodegradable plastic pots.

I have quite a few because ermm, I kept killing the herb plants for some reason. 

Upcycled into art containers! 

 I loved the old wine rack because the back doubles as a blackboard!

So glad I didn't toss it out.  I am such a thrifty mom.

My husband is a very lucky chap...sigh..

  

The most important part? Painting to promote peace and teamwork!

Most of the time, they fight like cat and dog because the girl is so ferocious.

See Tiger's unhappy disgruntled face? Hehe.

Learning to share is good.

 

 Tips for sanity:

1. Start with a small number of items on display. Some crayons, papers, stickers.

Then you can gradually introduce paint, clay or playdough.

We are at expert level with sand, scissors, loose parts and wires for their use.

When I add glitter, you will know I've totally lost my sanity :)

2. Buy washable paint

I buy Crayola because it really is very washable.

We no longer wear smocks because the kids dislike having their movements restricted.

The paint is still cheaper than their bajus.

When they are older, I am buying tempera and ugly aprons.

3. Soak the used art stuff in a large container overnight

 I dump all the palettes and brushes into a water filled container and wash the next day.

Minimal scrubbing and water saving.

4. Stock up during sales

Occasionally, I can get 30%-70% off Crayolas during Toyrus Warehuse sales

Otherwise I'll just have to hold my breath and buy them from Art Friend for 10% disc.

5. Minimizing wastage

"Mama, I need help please. I poured too much paint. Sorry"

That will be my son, Tiger.

"Muahahahahahhaha"

That will be my daughter. =.="

 

In cases like the above, I will scoop whatever I can back into the bottle or tube.

If there are some leftover on the palette, I will wait for the kids to fall asleep, 

make myself a cuppa green tea, sit at the easel and paint.

When was the last time you painted?

No Brainer Light Table

Since I cannot stop organizing, I found that I have an extra side table 

after relocating the printer.

I created a 'spaceship'  in the new found space for my little nerd. 

Promise to blog about that later :) 

I stared at that side table and it just screamed light table!

The pink stain on the leg came from the old CISS printer.

The printer we're using now is Canon E510, the ink-saving model.

For this project, I used things I already had:

• the above side table or you can use any transparent container
• Fairy/LED lights
• Insulation sheets

That's all.

Our side table from IKEA is made from transparent corrugated cardboard on a wooden frame.

I do not know it's IKEA name but if you know, please do tell.

To make the sides opaque, I used some insulation sheets from Daiso.

Matte on one side, reflective on the other.

Just perfect!

The lights:

I just bought another strand of white LED lights from F&C the other day.
so that the reading area is better lit.
While I was there, I also grabbed these little paper lanterns for only rm 1.60 each.
Shopaholic problems, I know...
 

 For the light table, I used the second strand of lights and tadaa!!!

That's Dragon girl stacking away!

I know you are going to ask about the blocks.

I bought them from a shopaholic Facebook group.

These are wooden blocks with different inserts: acrylic, sand, beads and coloured water.

I cannot tell you how much they cost because I conveniently told hubs I forgot :p 

But the important thing is Dragon loves them.

Considered early Christmas present la.

For some weird reason, Dragon girl aka princess do not like to play on the floor.

Therefore, she didn't really like the homemade Antonius LightBox.

You can read about the Antonius box version here.

 Sigh....I love upcycling useless things :)

Tiger's Papa

 I don't know about your husband, but mine nags whenever I buy something for the kids.

1. Stop buying books
2. The house is already full of toys
3. AGAIN? How many blocks they need?
4. What did you buy again? Why must you buy all the time?

He's making pointless claims.

Let me break it down for you

1. You can never have enough books. Reading is the path to enlightenment, right?
2. The house is NOT full of toys. I've passed the baby ones to my sister.
3. Pffftt...it's so obvious he never read any parenting books.  We all know blocks are the best.
4. Stupid question. Refer to point number 2. 

But he has some redeeming points.

Like when he helped Tiger paint last night.

Tiger almost NEVER paint.

Seeing hubs laughing and holding Tiger's hand, I felt so complete and loved.

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?"

Hubs gave me one of his sheepish smile which I love.

I was going to be mushy and tell him,   

Baby, you are the best and I am so lucky to be with you...

when he suddenly asked, "Who is cleaning up this mess?"

His Mini-me answered immediately, "Mama laaaaaaa"

"Okay, then we can continue to paint"

@.@

.

.

.

.

And they were serious about leaving a mess behind

Looking at this painting, hubs clearly has no artistic talent whatsoever.

Look at those crows! And the people are creepy. I hope that's not me in pink.

Dragon definitely got her artistic flair from me.

Her cuteness too, I presume...hehe

This baby girl will always be papa's favorite.

The other day, someone asked me..

"How do you know if you have married the right man?"

I don't think there is answer to that.

Marriage is a journey.

Sometimes he is charming and nice.

Sometimes I just want to kick his balls.

One thng for sure, there will be good AND bad times.

 The blissfully married ones are the ones who worked on their marriage,

so that they collect moments and memories that make it all worthwhile.

I want to be that old couple who still hold hands for a walk.

I know ours will work out because exactly one week ago, 

he took me to watch Harith Iskandar's show in Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil.

He doesn't particularly enjoy stand-up comedies but I LOVE them.

So, he was doing this for me.

A journey there would have normally taken 40 minutes.. took us 3 freaking hours.

We got lost on the way to Sg Long to pick up a friend.

As if that wasn't bad enough, we then took a wrong turn and went to

.

.

.

.

Putajaya.

=.="

That Putrajaya part was solely my fault. I'll admit it.

Everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

Low batt, no signal, stupid Google map, no signal again, wrong turn, no petrol.

I was already in a foul mood but hubby was as cool as a cucumber.

The only thing he said to me was, "You just sit quietly. We will listen to Waze now."

Whatever la.

We were almost an hour late but because we are Malaysians, we didn't miss much!

Still got to watch Jason Leong make fun of his mom's ass.

He was only the first act!

So proud to be Malaysian, one hour late is roughly about 15 minutes in Hong Kong time :)

Anyway, my point is....only the good man can turn a series of bad luck into a happy occasion.

He is just too cool ^.^
On top of that,
He is kind and considerate.
He is unforgivably hardworking.
He is smart and funny. 

And he's off the market, guys.

I told him on the way home that he has really great EQ.
Something else to add to his 'good' list.

If it was me driving, I would have thrown a massive tantrum and driven home.

Here's a graph representing us.

I believe in looking at my husband's strong points rather than picking at his faults.

Nobody's perfect. So, I'll just let him nag as much as he wants and shop secretly.

Yup, the secret to my blissful marriage is by being a sleuth shopper.

Hehe..

Jokes aside, I hope I have inspired a few of you lovely ladies

 to put more effort into your marriage.

Here's a quote I love

I also love this article especially #9.

Just read it, you can thank me later!