Slane čestitke za Novu godinu - Christmas Cards with a Pinch of Salt

Za ovo zvezdano nebo vam je potrebno:

1. Papir za crtanje vodenim bojicama
2. Plava vodena boja ili tempera
3. Nalepnice u obliku zvezde ili pahulje
4. Četkica, makaze, lepak
5. So (kuhinjska, krupna ili sitna)
6. Karton na koji ćete zalepiti čestitku

Postupak je vrlo jednostavan i zabavan i maloj deci i predškolcima. Na beli papir zalepite željene nalepnice (1), potom sve to obojite

(2), a zatim pospite solju (3). Preporučujem da bojite deo po deo čestitke i odmah ga posolite dok je još mokro, jer ako se boja prosuši, so nema efekta. Potom, kad se sve osuši, otresete višak soli i skinete nalepnice. Zalepite čestitku na karton, upišete lepe želje i pošaljete.

Izvor: artfulparent.com

What you need to create this starry night:

1. Watercolour paper
2. Blue watercolour
3. Star or snowflake shaped stickers
4. A brush, scissors and some glue
5. Salt (choose the type you want or mix more types)
6. Cardboard on which you will place the card when finished

The process is quite simple and it's interesting for both for toddlers and preschoolers. Stick the stars or showflakes on the paper (1), paint it all with watercolour paint (2) and pour some salt on it (3). I advise to paint smaller portions of the card and immediately put salt on them, then go on to the next part of the paper, because the salt works best when the paint is still very wet. When the card is finished, let it dry, then brush off the excess salt and peel away the stars. Paste the card onto a piece of cardboard, write your warmest wishes on the inside of the Christmas card and mail them :)

Source: artfulparent.com

Jelka sa dugmićima - Christmas button tree

U izradi ovih jelkica su podjednako dobro mogle da učestvuju i dvogodišnjakinja i šestoipogodišnjakinja, što se ne događa baš često. I to sa minimumom mog uplitanja :)

Dakle, potrebno vam je sledeće:

• penasta guma, filc, hamer, karton ili nešto slično
• dugmići raznih oblika i veličina (preporučujemo da pretražite bakinu zalihu)
• lepak
• trakica

Gotova jelkica može da posluži kao ukras za jelku, a možete je i zalepiti na karton i napraviti čestitku.

Both my two-year-old and my six-and-a-half-year-old equally enjoyed this activity, with minimum imput on my side, which does not happen often :)

You will need the following:

• craft foam, felt, thicker paper, cardboard or something similar
• buttons in different shapes and sizes (I recommend going through grandma's stash)
• some glue
• some string

You can use the finished tree as a Christmas tree decoration or put it on a piece of cardboard and make a Christmas card.

 

Ana kapa - Anna inspired hat

Velika sestra je dobila Elsa kapu, a mala šmizla Ana kapu. Predivo je isto (Vučjanka), mustra takođe (opet pleteno, ne heklano), jedino su pletenice drugačije upletene. A i dete je jednako zadovoljno :)

After the Elsa inspired hat for the big sister, the little one got her Anna inspired hat. The yarn is the same (Vučjanka by St. George), the pattern too (the hat is again knitted, not crocheted), only the braids are different. And the little one is just as happy :)

Kapa za viteza - A Hat Fit for a Knight

Ove dve kape sam saštrikala za Eminog drugara iz vrtića i njegovog mlađeg brata. Oni nekako često mlate mačevima i skroz su mi bili u fazonu da bi im se dopali ovi viteški šlemovi. Kako nigde nisam mogla da nađem odgovarajući „recept“, gledala sam nekoliko različitih slika sličnih kapa i sama sve složila u jednu. Bilo bi lepo i da sam pažljivije zapisivala dok sam radila, ali mene kad uhvati žar pletenja, ne prihvaćam se olovke tako lako.

Generalno sam zadovoljna kako je sve ispalo, mada je bilo dosta teško pogoditi veličinu i širinu dela koji ide preko usta bez modela ispred sebe. Isto tako je teško naći ravnotežu između finoće i čvrstine prediva. Predivo mora da bude dovoljno čvrsto da bi sve stajalo kako treba, a opet dovoljno meko da ne grebe dečju glavicu. Nadam se da sam uspela sve dobro da uklopim i da će nosioci dugo biti zadovoljni :)

I have made these two hats for my daughter's friend from daycare and his younger brother. They are always playing with swords and seemed just right for these helmets. Since I couldn't find a pattern that suited me, I had to combine a few photos of different knight helmet hats. It would have been nice if I made better notes while I knitted, but once I start knitting, I don't put down my needles for any reason.

I am generally happy with how they turned out, though it was difficult to get the sizing right with the the model out of reach. Also, it was hard to find the right yarn, since it had to be sturdy enough for the helmet to keep its shape, but also soft enough for the little heads to be able to wear it. I hope I got everything right and that the boys will be able to enjoy it all winter.

Elsa kapa - Elsa inspired hat

Juče nam pao prvi sneg - taman na vreme da isprobamo novu kapu. Pošto su moje cure veliki obožavatelji crtanog filma Frozen, E. je dobila Elsa kapu.

Kapa je rađena po ideji sa ovog sajta. U originalu je trebalo da bude heklana, ali kako meni pletenje ipak bolje ide od ruke, isplela sam najobičniju plavu kapu i dodala Elsinu kosu. Ideja je veoma jednostavna, a opet vrlo efektna. Ana kapa sledi uskoro.

We had our first snow yesterday - just in time to try out the new hat. Since my girls are big fans of Frozen, E. got an Elsa hat.

The hat was made according to this idea. It is supposed to be crocheted, but since I am a knitter at heart, I knitted a simple beanie and added Elsa's hair. The idea for the hat is so simple, but still so amazing. Anna inspired hat will be coming along really soon.

Jesen na našem prozoru - Autumn leaf luminaries

Jesen je uveliko stigla i ove godine zaista imamo sreće sa vremenom. Sunce sija, toplo je, naš kraj je pun suvog i šarenog lišća - samo treba da se zajurite niz livadu i protrčite kroz gomile lišća koje su komšije uredno prikupile :)

A onda je jesen ušla i u našu trpezariju. Cure su skupile lišće koje im se dopalo i napravile ove jesenje ukrase za sto i prozor.

Potrebno vam je:

1. samolepljiva folija
2. tegle raznih veličina ili prozorsko staklo
3. šareno lišće
4. makaze
5. LED lampice

Odlična zabava ako imate malo vremena i ako ne želite da se ubrljate lepkom i bojama.
Izvor: kidscraftroom

Autumn has long arrived and this year we are really lucky with the weather. The days are sunny and warm, our neighbourhood is filled with colourful leaves - all you have to do is run down the lawns and rush through the piles of leaves the neighbours have nicely gathered ;)

Then autumn decided to visit our dining room, as well. The girls went leaf-hunting and made these great ornaments.

You will need the following:

1. contact paper
2. glass containers in different shapes and sizes or a window
3. colourful leaves
4. scissors
5. no flame tea lights

This is great fun, especially if you are short on time and don't want a no-mess and no-glue craft.
Source: kidscraftroom

U borbi protiv dosade br. 4 - Boredom buster No. 4

I opet nas savladali virusi i opet provodimo mnogo vremena zatvoreni u stanu. I opet su nam potrebne aktivnosti koje su brze za pripremu i ne zahtevaju specijalne sastojke.

Sve što vam je potrebno je cetka i špagete. Igra je odlična za razvijanje fine motorike.

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Once again we are overwhelmed by viruses and once again we are forced to spend a lot of time indoors. And, once again we needed activities that are easy and quick to prepare and do not require specific ingredients.

All you need is a sieve and some spaghetti. This is a great way of developing fine motor skills.

Domaći Play Doh - Homemade Play Doh

Konačno smo i mi isprobali domaći Play Doh i mogu vam reći da je odličan! Cure se već najmanje nedelju dana svakodnevno igraju s njim. Dodatno mi se dopada to što obe mogu da se igraju zajedno, jer je obema podjednako zanimljivo. Recept je vrlo jednostavan, sve od sastojaka imate kod kuće (osim možda boje za hranu), lako i brzo se pravi (što znači da po potrebi možete da im napravite još kad god požele), ne farba ruke ni odeću, kad se osuši lako se pokupi sa poda i tepiha, nije toksično i može dugo da stoji (u frižideru kažu i do mesec dana, samo mora da bude hermetički zatvoren, da se ne suši).

 

Dakle, potrebno vam je:

• 2 šolje brašna
• 1 šolja soli
• 2 šolje vode
• 1 kafena kašičica limuntusa
• 1 kašika ulja
• prehrambene boje (ja sam koristila gel boje za bojenje fondana)

  

Uputstvo u reči i slici možete da vidite ovde. Iako je potrebno da se smesa zagreva, čim se zgusne i skinete je sa ringle, možete odmah i da je umesite, jer nije vruća.

* * *

 

We finally tried out the recipe for homemade Play Doh and we love it! The girls have been playing with it for a week now. I am also very happy with this activity because both my girls can play together, because it is equally interesting for both of them. The recipe is very simple, I'm sure you have all the ingredients already in your kitchen (perhaps not the food colouring), it is very quick and easy to make (which means that you can make a new batch whenever the kids want it), it doesn't stain your hands or your clothing, it is easy to clean from the floor or carpet once it dries, it is not toxic and can be used for a long time (provided that you keep it in the fridge and hermetically sealed, so it doesn't dry).

 

So, you will need:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 spoon of oil
• food colouring (I used gel colours for colouring fondant)

The video instruction is here, though it is in Serbian (you will most likely easily find one in English as well). Mind you, the dough is supposed to be heated, but you can knead it as soon as you take it off the stove, because it is not really hot.

 

Flanelski pokrivač za bebu - Flannel baby blanket

Nešto me krenulo sa pokrivačima za bebe :) Evo još jednog. Ovakav pokrivač je moja mlađa ćerka dobila na poklon od divne wild kitten i pokazalo se kao pun pogodak! Koristimo ga gotovo neprekidno - i leti i zimi i u kolicima i u krevetiću i na moru :)

Sve što vam je potrebno je lep komad flanela (kod nas izbor baš i nije prevelik), malo prediva (u ovom slučaju St. George pamuk) i ovo uputstvo za opheklavanje.

Savet: Kada porubljujete flanel, gledajte da preklop bude što manji (najviše 5 mm), jer tako opheklana ivica izgleda lepše. Ja sam ovaj pokrivač porubljivala sama, a kako nisam naročito vešta za mašinom, nije baš ispalo savršeno.

I am really getting a hang of these baby blankets. Here comes another one. My younger daughter got such a blanket when she was born from my good friend wild kitten and it turned out to be soooo useful! We use it all the time, no matter the time of year or the place. We even took it to the seaside with us.

All you need is a nice piece of flannel, some yarn (I used St. George cotton) and this pattern.

Note: the seam around the blanket should not be wider than 5 mm - this makes the edges look much neater. Since I did the sewing myself, it didn't turn out so great.

Talasasto ćebence - Wavy Baby Blanket

Ova godina je puna prinova - mnogo naših prijatelja je dobilo bebe. Ovo talasasto heklano ćebence je namenjeno Tari. Rađeno je po ovom upustvu od St. George pamuka i potom postavljeno pamučnim krepom. Iskustvo je pokazalo da je bolje kada ovakvi prekrivači imaju postavu, jer onda krajevi prediva mogu da ostanu duži (ovaj pamuk je dosta žilav i često krajevi izađu na prednju stranu rada).

This has been a great year for babies - many of our friends have new members in the family. This wavy blanket is intended for baby girl Tara. It has been made according to this pattern, using St. George cotton. In my experiece, these kinds of blankets should be lined, because this cotton is too wiry and the ends keep finding their way to the front of the work.

 

 

 

U borbi protiv dosade br. 3 sa olovkom i papirom - Boredom buster No. 3 with pen and paper

Bili smo na moru, u apartmanu vile u kojoj je bilo smešteno još pet-šest porodica sa decom različitih uzrasta. Čovek bi pomislio da nikako ne može da im bude dosadno. Imali smo ogromno dvorište sa fino pokošenom travom, hladovinu, malo igralište i velike kamene stolove sa stolicama. Recept za sjajan provod. Međutim, imali smo i dnevni red po kojem nismo smeli da pisnemo od 14h do 17h (gazdarica nas je vrlo energično, onako pravo grčki, opominjala i rasterivala decu iz dvorišta). Kako nama mlađa ćerka u to vreme spava, nismo mogli na plažu, pa su deca bila primorana da se igraju tiho.

Da ne bi sve vreme imali telefone i tablete u rukama, na brzinu smo organizovali par drugačijih aktivnosti sa materijalom koji smo imali kod sebe.

1. Crtanje uz podstrek - na list papira nacrtate oči, a dete treba da nacrta sve ostalo, po svojoj želji. Kasnije smo u prodavnici pronašli nalepnice, pa smo to koristili za ideju (voće, povrće i slično).

2. Spoji tačkice na ubrusu - uzmete ubrus i bojice (najbolje flomastere) i igrate se „spoji tačkice“. Nisam imala pojma da ubrusi (i toalet papiri) imaju tako zanimljiv dizajn. A ima ga u neograničenim količinama.

We spent some time at the seaside this year in an apartment. Five or six more families were there with children of different ages. You would think that kids could not get bored with a huge back yard with finely cut grass, lots of shade, a small playground and large stone tables with chairs around them. It was a recipe for a great time. However, we were also bound with a mandatory quiet time from 2 to 5 pm (the landlady was quite energetic when it came to rushing the kids off from the back yard). Since it was our younger daughter's nap time at that time, we couldn't go to the beach, so the kids had to play quietly.

We didn't want them to have tablets and cell phones in their hands all the time, so we had to come up with some quiet activities with materials we had at hand.

1. Prompted drawing - I drew a pair of eyes on a sheet of paper and the kids were to draw around them, however they wanted. Later we found some stickers in a store, so we used them as prompts (vegetables, fruit, etc.)

2. Connect the dots on kitchen towels - all you need is a kitchen towel and some crayons (markers work best) and you can start connecting the dots. I had no idea that kitchen towels (and toilet paper for that matter) have such interesting design. And they are not hard to come by.

 

Šumsko carstvo - Forest fairy tales

Ema me već dugo podseća na činjenicu da nikako njoj da izvezem posteljinu. Kada je prelistala knjigu Doodle Stitching, odluka je pala na šumske vile. Kada se nakon nedelju dana vratila od bake iz Sombora, dočekalo ju je iznenađenje :)

Ema had been reminding me of the fact that I had been promising to embroider a bedset for her, too. After browsing through the book Doodle Stitching, she chose the Forest fairies. When she came back from a week's holiday at grandma's, she was in for a surprise :)

 

More po porudžbini - Custom-made sea life

Ovo je moj prvi rad rađen po porudžbini. Putem FB-a me je kontaktirala Iva i predložila da izvezem jedan komplet sa motivima morskih životinja koji bi ona odnela jednom malom Mirku kao poklon za babine. Moram da priznam da sam imala tremu, naročito pošto su se dogovori i pregovori vodili putem fb-a, a ne lično. Dugo smo razmišljale o tome kakav bi poklon bio najpraktičniji i na kraju smo se odlučile za vez na posteljini. To je nešto što beba skoro neće prerasti i što će se moći uvek iznova koristiti. Zahvaljujem se Ivi na poverenju i strpljenju da prebolimo sve gripe i upale pluća, kao i na odličnoj saradnji :) Bilo mi je pravo zadovoljstvo. Paket se sastoji od portikle, peškirčeta i kompleta posteljine (čaršav, jastučnica i navlaka za jorgan). Motivi su rađeni na osnovu knjige Doodle Stitching, a slova na osnovu knjige Cross Stitch Alphabets.

 

 

I have never been comissioned to make a knitting/crochet/embroidery project before. A girl named Iva contacted me by FB and asked if I would be willing to make a present for her friend's newborn. We discussed different options (knitting, crochet, cross stitching) and agreed that embroidering would be the most practical option. The project consists of a towel, a bib and a bedding set (a pillow case, a cover and the bed sheet). Unlike knitting or crocheting a piece of clothing, this is something that the baby will not grow out of any time soon. The motifs are taken from Doodle Stitching and Cross Stitch Alphabets books. I must admit that I was a bit nervous, but Iva was great with her ideas and comments and it all worked out just wonderful.

Osmeh i cvetić - A smile and a flower

 
Budući da nas i ova tura gripa nije mimoišla (uz upalu pluća), ideja za ovogodišnje osmomartovske čestitke je reciklirana. Detaljna uputstva možete da pronađete na ovom linku od pre par godina, ali je na slici jedno dete više :)

 

 

Since this round of the flue didn't miss us aswell (coupled with pneumonia), this year's idea for a Mother's day card is an old one. You can find the instructions here, posted a few years ago. However, there is one kid more on the photo :)

 

 

Šarene vrećice (U borbi protiv dosade br. 2) - Squishy bags (Boredom buster No. 2)

Evo još jedne jednostavne zabave koju lako možete organizovati. Mene je podsetila na peronice koje smo imali kad smo bili deca :)

Potrebno vam je:

• vrećice sa patent zatvaračem
• gel za tuširanje ili šampon
• perlice ili šljokice
• marker za pisanje po CD-u

Cilj igre je da dete dogura šljokice do mesta označenog na vrećici. Mi smo prvo imali samo jednu vrstu šljokica, a potom smo pokušali sa dve, tako da sva srca treba da se dovedu do flomasterom iscrtanog srca, a svi cvetovi do cveta. Ema je uživala u zadatku, a Maja u gnječenju vrećica.

Izvor: BestToys4Toddlers

Here is another simple activity that is easy to organize. It reminded me of pencil cases we used to have when we were kids :)

You will need:

• ziplock bags
• shower gel or shampoo
• sequins
• a permanent marker for CDs

The aim is to push the sequins to the place marked on the bag. We tried the game with only one type of sequins, then later we moved on to two - all the hearts were to be in a heart shape and all the flowers in the flower shape. Ema really enjoyed chasing the sequins, whereas Maja enjoyed squeezing the bags.

Source: BestToys4Toddlers
 

Šarene narukvice (U borbi protiv dosade br. 1) - Colourful bracelets (Boredom buster No. 1)

Ni nas nije mimoišao grip... Ema je bila kod kuće više od nedelju dana. Čim je temperatura spala, dosada se javila. Budući da ja radim (od kuće) i ne mogu da uzmem mnogo slobodnih dana, morali smo pronaći neke aktivnosti koje ona može da radi sama. U ovom i u nekoliko narednih postova ću vam opisati kako smo sve popunili vreme.

Za ove narukvice vam je potrebno sledeće:

• rolne toalet papira
• tempere/vodene boje/voštane boje/drvene bojice
• šljokice i lepak
• podloga za radni sto

Ema je provela dobri dva-tri sata zabavljujući se. Svi članovi porodice, i bliže i šire, su dobili primerak :)

Ideja: BestToysForToddlers (FB stranica koju toplo preporučujem)

Unfortunately, the flu did not miss us this year. Ema spent more than a week at home. And as soon as the fever went down, boredom came up. Since I work from home and cannot take many days off, we had to come up with activies the child can do mostly on her/his own. In this and the next few posts I will tell you how we filled our time at home.

To make these bracelets you need the following:

• used up toilet paper rolls
• water colours/crayons
• sequins and glue
• a protective sheet for the worktop

Ema spent over two hours having fun with these bracelets. All our family members now have one :)

Source: BestToysForToddlers (a FB page that I wholeheartedly recommend)