Sweet Shop Party

The idea of a child’s birthday party fills me with dread! However, I think turning 5 is pretty special, and with my second daughter in her first year at school with some lovely new friends it seemed like a good idea to organise a celebration for her.

My daughter absolutely loves chocolate and is a big fan of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – so the thought crossed my mind – how amazing would it be to have a chocolate factory themed party for her?...  Now, if I were Heston, this would not be a problem but I couldn’t envisage how to get a chocolate river into the local scout hut!  So I went off at a slight tangent and hit upon the idea of ‘a kid in a sweet shop’.  I am one of those mean mums who doesn’t let her children eat sweets very often, so this would be a real treat indeed!

So to set the tone, I made edible invitations to a ‘Sweet Shop Party’.  Using edible ink I hand stamped about 30 sheets of rice paper and sent them off for her to give to her friends.  I then sat down to plan how to bring this idea into reality.

As we weren’t going to have a birthday tea in the more traditional sense, I wondered about how to lay out the hall.  I purchased a bright pink gazebo with zip-up doors to form the basis of the shop.  This meant that I had some control of when the shop was ‘opened’ at the party.  We effectively split the hall into quarters and had 4 different areas for use during the party – the sweet shop, a bouncy castle, some balloon modelling and a badge making area.

In the sweet shop, we had a giant box of popcorn, a ‘gumball’ machine filled with clementines, a lollypop ‘tree’, a marshmallow ‘tree’ and a table covered with jars of sweets and dried fruit.

So at 2pm the party started and 25 of my daughter’s friends joined us.  They had great fun on the bouncy castle and making a badge each before we opened the sweet shop.   Some of them didn’t reappear from the sweet shop for a good long while!  It soon became clear that my visions of sending them home with a bag of ‘leftover’ sweets was not going to happen.  The giant homemade jelly babies were probably the first to go and one little boy was totally fascinated by the gumball machine!

I do think that most children love the idea of sweets more than the actual sweets.  One of my daughter’s was seen sitting on the little table demolishing a jar of dried cranberries with a look on her face that suggested she couldn’t believe her luck!

By the time the birthday girl had blown out the candles on her special princess cake and I had been brave enough to make everyone a balloon animal, the two hours had flown by and it was time to go.  The birthday girl and her friends seemed to have a fantastic time and I dare say (albeit very quietly) I quite enjoyed it.

We sell a range of party items at MOMD.  This party bunting is made to order so can have any message you want.  A really fabulous special touch: http://www.madeonmydoorstep.co.uk/category-42/001023.html

Quiet Book

My youngest is 18 months old this Christmas.  The transformation from adorable baby to total monkey is complete!

I wanted to make her a gift, so she receives something that she hasn't inherited and something she would actually play with.  I have planned to make a Quiet Book in the past but haven't found the time -or the good ideas - to do so.  With the help of Pinterest (as usual) I have come across some great ideas.  Sorry I don't have links to the ideas I found. Some of them I have just made up myself.

In my mind, a Quiet Book is something that I can fling in my bag and have to hand to keep her entertained and possibly, but not probably, quiet!

I wanted the Quiet Book to be quite quiet - so no velcro - and also no bits to get lost.  Many of the lovely ideas on Pinterest seemed to have lots of pieces, but I can't be doing with that as they would be behind the sofa / left in the car before I knew it!

I also wanted to be able to throw it in the washing machine and am not worried about the scruffy, unfinished edges.  The simplicity appeals to me (and as I am not great on my sewing machine that is a bonus!).  Also I want to be able to separate the 'pages' or have it as a book so there are loops on the side to attach to a ring.

Most of the fabric I used is 'upcycled' denim from old jeans.  I had to buy a few of the bits to add on, but really didn't spend much on this at all.  Each page has two extra pieces of material in the middle just to make it feel thick and soft.

The front cover.  This page has her name on one side and this pretty fabric on the reverse.  I also added loops of ribbon to turn it into a 'taggy'.

Number beads.  A simple string of coloured beads to count next to the corresponding number.

Marble maze.  This is a great idea (alas, not mine).  There is a marble inside the fabric.  The idea is to squeeze the marble along the path to the other end.

Glove.  A simple glove to pop a little hand in and out of.

Ladybird zip.  A sweet way of adding a zip to fiddle with.

Shape matching.  Using poppers to match the shapes and colours.  Top shapes are attached with ribbon so they don't get lost.

Sewing.  I wanted to make holes in the fabric to thread in and out of, but I failed to achieve what I wanted.  So I simply attached little plastic rings on the top and a shoelace is also attached to be passed though the rings.

Buckle and Button. I think the buckle might be a bit tricky as it is quite soft.  The button is nice and big and the pocket will flap down when open which is quite fun.

Clip and Slider.  I like this one.  The slider is like one you use on elastic show laces.  The idea is to squeeze the clip and it will slide up and down the ribbon.  The buckle simply snaps into place. I am a bit worried about her catching her little fingers in this one, so I will keep an eye on she how she manages.

I am hoping she enjoys this gift as much as I have enjoyed making it for her.

It will be taken out in my bag ready to use for entertainment emergencies, along with her little travel chalkboard which we do sell at MOMD -
http://www.madeonmydoorstep.co.uk/category-34/005013.html

Go on, give it a whirl.  It is cheap and easy and can be quite personal too.  But, obviously, please be careful about what you give your baby to play with!

Science Box - Blowing Up a Balloon with Gas

What you need:

Bicarbonate of Soda
Vinegar
Plastic Bottle (just a small one)
Balloon
Funnel (ideally have 2)

Step 1

Using a funnel (or just a steady hand) fill the bottle to 1/3 with vinegar.

Step 2

Using a dry funnel, half fill the balloon with bicarb of soda, so this is only about a teaspoon. 

Step 3

Pop the end of the balloon over the neck of the bottle with the balloon hanging down. Be careful not to tip the bicarb in quite yet.

Step 4

Lift the balloon and release the bicarb of soda into the bottle.  Now I struggled here and had to hold the balloon onto the bottle to  stop gas escaping.

Step 5

Watch as the mixtures fizzes and the balloon fills with gas.

What is happening?

Well this is an acid base reaction.  The mixture creates carbon dioxide and the gas needs space thereby inflating the balloon

This was fun and easy (apart from holding the balloon in place).  The inflated balloon felt a little heavier than a normal balloon because it contained carbon dioxide. 

Here is the link when I found this one: http://blogs.babble.com/family-style/2012/04/30/8-recipes-for-disaster/?pid=19534#blow-it-up

Science Box - Spy Girl Writing

Sorry, but I can't find where I got this one from originally.  Also please forgive the annoying purple mark that has made its way into all my pics!

What you need:

A lemon
An earbud
Iodine
Spray bottle
Paper

I bought 'iodine tincture' from a high street chemist.  A word of warning, this iodine stained my hands so be careful not to stain anything with it.

Step 1

Cut the end of the earbud to make a writing nib.

Step 2

Dip the nib into the lemon and writing a message on the paper.  You will be able to see what you have written but once it has dried it will be hard to read, although not completely invisible.

Step 3

Add a couple of drops of iodine into some water.  Be careful not to stain anything with the iodine.  I made mine up into a little spray bottle.  You could 'paint' the solution but you risk drenching the paper.

Step 4

Lightly spray the paper with the solution.  Hey presto!  The secret message is now revealed.

I am sure my daughter will love this and will be able to send secret messages time and again.  It is simple but fun.

Science Box - The Naked Egg

Here is the link to the original experiment I found online: http://www.imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/2011/04/how-to-make-a-naked-egg/

What you need:
An egg - just a normal raw egg
A cup/bowl/jug
Vinegar
Water
Golden syrup

Step 1

Pop the egg into a cup or similar.   Preferably one that you can see through.  Then cover the egg with vinegar.  Set to one side.

Step 2

After a few hours you ill see a sort of fizzy/scummy layer floating at the top.  However, leave the egg along for approx 24 hours.

Step 3

After leaving it for a day or so.  Tip the egg carefully into your hand over the sink. You may choose to replace the vinegar and leave it for another day.

Step 4

Pour the egg gently into your hand again.  You will notice that the shell has been broken down by the vinegar and the egg feel like a bouncy ball.  You will also be able to see the yolk floating around inside.  Be careful whilst you play with it.....Or see how many times you can bounce it before making a mess!

Step 5

If you put the egg back into the cup and fill it with water, you will see that the egg absorbs some of the water and gets even bigger.

Step 6

Drain the water, and this time cover the egg with golden syrup.  After a few hours you will see that the water has started moving back through the membrane.  If you tilt the cup, you can pour the water at the top away so the egg is still surrounded by the syrup.  Leave it for another day and drain the egg, you will see that it is all saggy! It is much easier to see the yolk now too.

Step 7

Now if you put the saggy egg back into water, it will return to its bouncy state again.

Step 8

You could repeat the above steps as many times as you want, but eventually the temptation to break the egg is too much!  I squeezed the egg over a bowl until it popped!

I really enjoyed this one!  I found it fascinating.  I just wonder how long the egg will last in the hands of my six year old. 

A little bit about how it all began....

Like many other parents, I gave up my first career when I started a family. I want to be at home whilst my children are young and so I now work for myself from home.

I have always been quite crafty and like to give arty things a go, but often with limited success.  I also dabbled in some development work and picked up some good digital art experience.  This is the basis for many of my products that are available today. I bought myself a big wide format print that allows me to produce excellent quality print work with ink that is guaranteed to last.

Here is a photo of a mixed media owl that I painted for one of my children's bedrooms a few years ago.

As you can see, this was the inspiration for my first personalised canvas which is available to buy:

I think this is still my favourite canvas as I love the depth of colour!  It is available to purchase at

http://www.madeonmydoorstep.co.uk/category-17/001003.html

Science Box - Hovercraft

First things first - here is where I found the instructions for this experiment:

http://scribbit.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/summer-kid-crafts-make-hovercraft.html




What you need:

An old CD/DVD
A sports cap from a plastic bottle
A balloon
Superglue

Step 1

Stick the bottle cap over the hole in the CD.  The instructions I read suggested that you use a 'pull up' cap, but I didn't have one of those. You want to seal around the base of the lid to the CD.

Step 2

Once the glue has set, blow up the balloon and place it over the cap.  This is where it might be easier if you did have a 'pull up' cap, as you could have the cap closed until you were ready.

I just pinched the base of the balloon to stop air escaping until I was ready to let go.


Step 3

Place the hovercraft onto a flat, solid surface - this isn't go to work on carpet.   Let go of the balloon, or open the cap.

Step 4

Watch as the escaping air pushes the CD around the floor.  

It is all over pretty quickly as you would expect and whilst amusing, the results may be a little disappointing.  My 6 year old will expect it to really fly around.  Perhaps I should buy a bigger balloon if this is going to make it into the Christmas Science Box - it will be on the 'maybe' list for now.