Category: diy

Easy Easter crafts {2018}
2018 · activities · craft · diy · easter · Uncategorized

Easy Easter crafts {2018}

JustBindy2 Comments

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Hello friends!
It has been a long time between arts and crafts posts, so I thought since we are so close to the Easter Bunny/Bilby’s arrival that an Easter craft would be a wonderful idea.
These 4 crafts are super simple and LuLu absolutely loved them… I really encourage you to take the time to do some craft with your little loves, it’s a wonderful way to connect with them and you can really build up their confidence. Also remember craft is more than just painting and making something cute, it is full of so many wonderful skill developing tasks. It can improve fine motor skills, decision making, cognitive thinking, problem solving and so much more. And remember crafts don’t have to be pinterest perfect – ours most certainly aren’t but we think they are beautiful and enjoyed spending time together.

Easter basket cards…
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For this craft you will need;
– Brown paper (or paper coloured in brown/basket colour)
– glue
– brown crayon
– a plain piece of paper folded in half to be a card
– a toilet roll
– paint

  1. Cut brown paper into small strips.
  2. Glue pieces of paper into shape of basket
  3. Pinch toilet roll at the top of one side to create an egg shape, this is your stamp.
  4. Dip egg stamp in paint and press onto basket where eggs would be. Voila, eggs are in your basket. Continue adding your desired amount of eggs.
  5. Draw a handle on your basket.
  6. You are done.
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Some bunny loves you card… 

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For this craft you will need;
– Paint
– A card or white paper folded in half to be a card
– Hands to make hand prints
– Your choice of paint
– Pens

  1. Decide where you want your little hands to go.
  2. Paint little hands (only the 4 fingers and palm – not the thumb) with a paint brush (I find this the best way so you aren’t dipping hands in too much paint)
  3. Place hands on card, keeping fingers in a Spock like hand gesture, and lift off. (Spock like hand will give you bunny ears!)
  4. Repeat with however many little hands you have.
  5. Let dry.
  6. Draw details on bunny.
  7. Inside card write, “some bunny/bunnies love you, Happy Easter”.
  8. Now you have a sweet card to send to loved ones or surprise Dad with on Easter!

Spotty eggs…
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For this craft you will need;
– Paper or card
– Scissors
– Paint
– Cotton wool balls
– Pegs

  1. Cut out egg shape of the paper/card.
  2. Lay out paints.
  3. Pinch cotton wool balls with pegs – these are your stamps/brushes.
  4. Dip wool into paint and splodge on paper = spots.
  5. Decorate your egg how you wish.
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Our final craft was painting some plaster shapes from Kmart, we buy these every Christmas and Easter, they are perfect for little hands and LuLu just really enjoys them. Big W also has fun sticker crafts and the grocery stores usually have colouring in books and sticker books out for Easter, LuLu loves all of those! We often have a never ending supply of holiday crafts!

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If you would like more craft ideas for Easter please check out this post HERE! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you make any of these crafts we would love to see them! So connect with me on social media and tag me in your master pieces!

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2017 · cleaning · diy · domestic engineering · housewife · housework · how to · recipe

Homemade Laundry Powder recipe. {Video}

JustBindy6 Comments

Hi friends,
One of my most highly requested blog posts & videos is to do a “how I make my washing powder”…
So here it is…washing powder1.jpgThe video can be found HERE. 

The recipe I use is by Sister Mixin and you can find it HERE. (I change the recipe slightly by adding in 1 bar of sard soap…)

The reason I make my own laundry powder is simply because –
A) I can. I have the time & desire to do so, you may not & that is fine.
B) I feel it saves us money. 
C) I also believe it is more gentle & more effective product than standard washing powders.
Laundry powder is so expensive & often full of extra fillers & chemicals, so by making my own I know what is in it and it is very cheap. All these ingredients are easily available at Coles or Woolworths & are very affordable, I always have them in my cupboard, as I use them for other uses as well.
I make mine in my Thermomix – you don’t need one to make this recipe, but I feel it would be easiest… If you don’t have a Thermomix, I would suggest you either grate the soap bars or blitz them in a food processor and then combine all the ingredients in a large clear container (a clear container so you can check that all the products are thoroughly mixed together)

I have been making this recipe for over 2 years now and I find it removes stains very well & all of our clothing is clean & soft. I do use white vinegar as a fabric softener occasionally (always with towels) & if I am washing our bedding I often add in some lavender essential oil (or even eucalyptus if we aren’t feeling well)

As mentioned in the video, I do occasionally buy washing powder. I bought one box of OMO sensitive to wash Tommy’s clothes before he was born, but I  have been washing his clothing with this powder for months and he has never had a reaction to it – none of us have. The other product I occasionally buy is Bosisto’s Laundry Powder – I only buy it maybe once a year, if it is on sale… And it is the product I like to have as my “back up” in case I run out of this mixture or I use it if we are all very sick.

I like making my own cleaning products, I currently make my own basic disinfectant spray, occasionally dish washer powder & stone bench cleaner. I have trialled making a few glass cleaners, but I’m struggling to find one I love – so for now I use the Method glass cleaner & also their timber cleaner/polish, I find both of those products to be really good. But if you have a great recipe for either of those I would love to try it out!
Please let me know in the comments below or on my social media any cleaner recipe recommendations you may have, or if you make your own laundry powder – do you use a similar recipe to this? I would love to have a read of yours!
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Have a great weekend!
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#motheringwithheartandjoy · craft · diy · st patricks day · toddler

4 fun & easy St. Patrick’s Day Crafts.

JustBindyLeave a comment
May your troubles be less and blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door. – Irish Blessing.

Hello friends!
St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow! (To be honest, for some reason I thought it was on the 21st!)
So this week I am bringing you 4 very fun & easy St. Patrick’s Day crafts, I know they are almost a bit too late – but they use very basic craft supplies & are a lot of fun.
We did these yesterday as just a bit of fun & to do a craft as LuLu loves craft time, they turned out so sweet I thought I would share them with you all.


Pot of gold under the rainbow.
We made this craft unique by changing the way we did the rainbow, I was missing a few paint colours for the rainbow, so I had a stack of paint cards in the craft box so I cut them up and we made our rainbow a collage. I think it turned out lovely. 
You will need;

  • A paper plate.
  • Scissors.
  • Paint.
  • Glue
  • A way to decorate the rainbow, paint, colour pencils, texta, crayons, coloured paper – the choice is yours.
  • Cotton wool balls.
  • Gold Glitter.
How to;
  1. Cut out one half of the plate, leave a “handle” up top. It should look like this. 

  2. Paint the base of the paper plate “the pot” black. 

  3. Decorate the rainbow how you wish. 

  4. Attach cotton wool balls as little clouds/overflowing gold out of the pot. 

  5. Add gold glitter. We added it over the cotton wool balls and painted some craft glue onto the top of the pot for the “over flowing gold” look. 

  6. Admire your work. 

3 Leaf Clover.
We made this a 3 leaf clover, I did try a lucky 4 leaf clover – but it looked a bit awkward. The 3 leaves, look much better. This craft is so easy!
You will need;
  • 3 small paper plates.
  • A stapler (or a way to attach the plates together)
  • Green paint (or green colour pencils, crayons or pens)
  • 1 green pipe cleaner. 
How to;
  1. Attach 3 small paper plates together. 

  2. Paint the plates green. 
  3. Attach pipe cleaner as stem.
  4. Admire your 3 leaf clover!

      

Leprechaun. 
You will need;
  • 1 large paper plate.
  • A sheet of white paper or card.
  • Scissors.
  • Glue
  • Orange paint (or crayons, pencils, textas)
  • Green paint (or crayons, pencils, textas)
  • Black paint. 
  • Gold pen or paint.
How to;
  1. Cut out the centre of the paper plate. 
  2. Cut out the shape of a hat & also one strip of paper to be the hat band. 

  3. Paint your pieces. Hat band – black.

  4. Hat green. 
      
     
    Trent helping LuLu before he left for work.
  5. Paint the circle orange (like a beard & hair, you could also use cotton wool balls or another craft supply that you think looks like hair!) 
  6. Attach the hat to the beard & the hat band to the hat. I just glued them all together.
  7. Draw on a little gold buckle with a gold pen or paint. I used gold puffy paint.
  8. Say hello to your little leprechaun! Your child can even use this as a little mask, take a photo of their face through the cut out hole! 

Handprint 4 leaf clover.
This is so simple and only takes minutes to do and makes for a very sweet keepsake.

You will need;
  • 1 sheet of paper or cardboard.
  • Green paint.
  • A small set of hands. 

How to;

  1.  Paint your little ones hand. 

  2. Press hands onto paper. 
  3. Repeat 4 times, to make 4 leaves. 

  4. Draw/paint on a stem.
  5. Admire your sweet little lucky 4 leaf clover! 

I hope you enjoyed these very simple but very sweet crafts.
If you are wanting more festive crafts to do, last week I did a blog post on 4 Easter Crafts please click HERE to check that out! 
I hope you all have a lovely St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow & the luck of the Irish is with you!

If you recreate these projects with your little love I would love to see it! 

Happy St. Patrick’s day! 
Posted by Modern Wife Life 31 on Monday, March 16, 2015

#motheringwithheartandjoy · 2016 · craft · diy · easter · toddler

4 Simple & fun Easter Crafts.

JustBindy2 Comments

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Hello!
It is that time of year, the Easter bunny is so close to hopping by.
We have been reading Easter books, singing songs, talking about why we celebrate Easter and doing LOTS of crafts.
I have documented the 4 crafts we loved the most and thought we would share them with you all today!
The 4 of these are very simple and 3 of them use very basic everyday items you probably have in your house & LuLu had a really good time with them.
There were parts that I helped her with, but for most of it she did everything and picked all the embellishments!
Now for the tutorials…

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Easter stamps.
This one would have to be the most simple to create. These stamps turned out surprisingly very good, so cute in fact I got a bunch of plain cards and we made some quick and easy Easter cards for our loved ones!

You will need;

  • A paper towel roll or a few toilet rolls.
  • Scissors.
  • Tape or a stapler.
  • Paint.
  • Paper or cards.
  • Embellishments if you wish to add them to a card.
How to;
  1. For the egg shaped stamp pinch the top of a toilet roll, voila you have an egg shaped stamp.
  2. The bunny is a little more complex. You need to make 2 egg shaped stamps and attach them to a regular shaped roll. (So 2 ovals attached to a circle)
  3. You can attach them with a stapler or glue. I found sticky tape was quick & easy.
  4. Set out your paints & admire how easy this was and how cute your bunnies & eggs look!
  5. For our Easter cards we did 3 eggs on one side and 1 bunny on the other. We then added Easter egg sequins & little foam stickers. I think they look so sweet & lovely!
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Paper plate bunny.

This craft turned out very cute and LuLu had so much fun making it! She did pretty much everything, I helped a little bit with attaching embellishments, but she insisted on helping glue each item & also painting the mouth on.
You will need;
  • Paper plates.
  • I used a doily as an added touch of pretty – but it’s not needed, I just had spare.
  • Cotton wool balls.
  • Plain paper or card.
  • Glue.
  • Stapler.
  • Pipe cleaners.
  • Paint.
  • Googley eyes – these are also optional but LuLu is obsessed with these eyes lately so every craft project we do needs eyes. You could just paint eyes on.
  • Magnets if you wish to hang it on the fridge.
How to;
  1. Attach paper plates to each other (I stapled them) & if using a doily glue that on now.
  2. Make prints of your little loves feet & hands. You can do this however it is easiest for you. LuLu sat on a step for me and I painted 1 foot at a time & stamped them, then I used a wet wash cloth to wipe her foot clean (we did this inside) & then did the same on her hands. You could also do this outside, but the day we did this was super windy! While the paint is still wet you can sprinkle with glitter if you like.
  3. While the prints dry, glue cotton balls to the bunny. To do this I just spread glue over the area of the bunny that needed fluff and let LuLu attach the cotton wool balls how she wanted. (Turns out she is just like me and hates the feel of them! But she still loved this craft)
  4. Once all cotton balls are attached, carefully cut out the feet & hand prints.
  5. Attach them as shown in the picture. Hands for ears & feet for the bunnies feet.
  6. Add extra embellishments. Pipe cleaners for whiskers, draw on some eyes or add googley eyes, draw on a mouth and attach a bow.
  7. Admire your very cute & festive creation. This bunny would be lovely attached with a magnet on the back for Grandparents.
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Painted eggs.
Now this craft is the most simple out of all of them. You don’t need to make anything & it is easy! I decided this year to use styrofoam eggs instead of blowing eggs to dye. Using real eggs would be a bit tricky with a toddler. These eggs aren’t delicate so they can’t be broken & paint is a bit easier for a toddler to work with instead of food dye. Also, I can never find white eggs in Australia!
You will need;
  • Styrofoam eggs. I got mine from a cheap shop a few years ago.
  • Paint.
  • Paint brushes.
How to;
  1. Paint the eggs. LuLu had a lot of fun experimenting with how to paint the eggs.
  2. Let dry, they dry fairly quickly.
  3. Display & admire!
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Toilet roll bunnies. 
These bunnies turned out very sweet & they make me smile. They were simple to make & LuLu thought the bunnies were so great. Once again these guys needed googley eyes but drawing them on would work fine.
You will need;
  • Paper towel or toilet rolls – cardboard tubes.
  • Scissors.
  • Stapler & sticky tape.
  • Paint.
  • A marker.
  • A cotton wool ball.
  • Any embellishments you wish to use. (Glitter & googley eyes are not needed, but in LuLu’s opinion are a must have in any craft project!)
How to;
  1. Cut 2 small sections from the cardboard tube – these will be “the ears”
  2. Pinch the circles to make ovals.
  3. Attach the ears to a longer bit of the cardboard tube “the body”.
  4. Paint & decorate how you wish.
  5. If you wish to add glitter, do so while the paint is wet. The easiest way I found for us to do this was to hold the tube with my fingers inside & just roll it as LuLu sprinkled the glitter on.
  6. Add features such as eyes, whiskers, nose & mouth.
  7. Attach cotton wool ball tail on.
  8. You now have one very sweet bunny made from something that was probably going to the recycling bin!

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I hope you found these little craft projects inspiring & that you do one or all of them with your little bunnies!

These crafts just weren’t fun & wasting time, as we craft I try to encourage LuLu to learn new things. Colours, shapes, how things work, about bunny rabbits etc.
Everything is a learning experience for kids. Craft time is can be extremely beneficial to your child’s brain development.
Some of the benefits of doing crafts include, but aren’t limited to…

  • Bilateral Co-ordination; Can be strengthened with crafts. 
  • Creative skills; Feeling different textures, improving her painting skills & expressing herself with what she likes. 
  • Cognitive thinking; Understanding cause & effect (mixing colours,) & visual processing. 
  • Motor skills; painting, sprinkling glitter, controlling tricky objects to paint (cardboard tubes & eggs roll around unlike a flat piece of paper) & helping attach small embellishments.  
  • Thinking skills; Considering options & making decisions. 
  • Problem Solving; Working out ways to stop the egg from rolling & how to paint a round object.
  • Listening skills; Following instructions. 
  • Science; That glue is sticky when wet but isn’t when it is dry, round things roll & paint is wet but when we wait & have patience it will dry.  
Doing craft is so much more than just passing the time and making things that look cute. It is amazing the things young children pick up & learn!
It is also a great time to spend with our children, bonding, talking, working out what colours they like and teaching them things.
I encourage you to take a day, an afternoon or just a few hours before Easter or over the Easter long weekend and make some crafts with your child. They don’t have to look perfect, your child will not care – the crafts above aren’t perfect, but we are proud of them & think they look wonderful. We had so much fun making them and LuLu just loves craft time and I can bet your child will love making them too with you.
I look forward to seeing your creations on social media!
#motheringwithheartandjoy · 2016 · activities · decorations · diy · LuLu · motherhood · recipe · toddler · valentine's day

Making hearts with my sweetheart. {Easy D.I.Y Clay Ornaments}

JustBindy1 Comment

Valentine’s Day is this Sunday…
So this upcoming sweet holiday has been the perfect excuse to do some crafting with my tiny sweetheart! 
This past week we made some little clay ornaments…
She is at the age now where she is very interested in helping out in the kitchen so she really enjoyed helping make them, rolling them out & cutting out the shapes.
They do take a little time to make, but LuLu had a very fun time making them and painting them with her best little friend.
The dough is very soft to work with and not grainy, it dries well and is a beautiful white colour. 


“Not salt dough, clay ornaments” –
Ingredients;

  • 1/2 cup cornflour (corn starch)
  • 1 cup bi-carb soda (baking soda)
  • 3/4 cup of water.
  • A few drops of lavender (or any essential oil you like) *optional.
  • Food colouring *optional. (if you wish to add colouring, mix with water first then add)
Useful items;
  • Small/medium sized sauce pan.
  • Spatula/wooden spoon.
  • Measuring  cups.
  • Bowl.
  • Wet chux/cloth.
  • Rolling pin.
  • Cookie cutters.
  • Straw.
  • Paint/glitter/embellishments/clear varnish or clear drying glue.
Making the clay;
  1. In a small-medium sized pot add all ingredients. 
  2. Stir over medium heat, it will be very liquidy for a few minutes. 
  3. Then suddenly you will notice the texture start to thicken, keep stirring. 
  4. When it looks like very smooth dough take it off the heat. 

  5. Place the clay dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cool cloth to cool down. (About 1/2 an hour) 

  6. When cool, dust cornflour over a smooth surface and knead the dough.
  7. Start rolling it out flat – you don’t want it to be too thin because that will cause it to crack. Try to not over roll it too many times as that can also cause cracking. (about 1/2 a centimetre thick is good) If you find the clay is starting to dry out or crack a tiny bit as you are rolling it, wet your hands lightly and roll the clay back into a ball. 

  8. Cut out your shapes. You can use cookie cutters for this or stamps (trim around the edges once you’ve made the imprint with a stamp) and you can even make hand prints.
  9. If you plan to hang your ornaments, make a hole in the top with a straw. 
  10. To harden you can either let air dry over night or for a day or pop them in the oven at 80degrees Celsius (175 Fahrenheit)  for an hour, turning them over 1/2 way. *Mine could’ve had a bit longer in the oven, so you could extend the cooking time for an extra half hour or so – but check them regularly, they did finish drying over night. 

  11. Once baked/air dried – decorate however you wish. We used paints & glitter and sealed them with a clear varnish.

This craft was lots of fun for both of us. I also made a few little gift tags to use on gifts. The clay was super easy to make, with the addition of lavender it also smelt nice and the bright white of the clay was very pretty – so if you didn’t want to paint it – you don’t need to. If you didn’t want to involve your child in the making of the dough (because kids in the kitchen can be a bit of a handful sometimes) you could easily whip this up while they were asleep at night and then they are all ready to paint and decorate the next day! This was the perfect activity for a play date, both girls seemed to really enjoy painting the ornaments. 
These love hearts will make very sweet little Valentine gifts for our loved ones! 
I really love doing activities like this with LuLu, it may just seem like a craft or play – but she is learning so much through play.
She was learning;
Maths; Measuring and shapes. (She now tells me every time she see’s a heart)
Science; She saw the mixture change form. From dry ingredients, to liquid and then to a clay. And then from a soft clay to a hard ornament. She also learnt that the clay was hot, but we had to wait for it cool down.
Motor skills; Scooping and tipping ingredients, mixing, kneading, rolling, squeezing the clay, cutting, painting, sprinkling glitter, helping thread the twine and hanging the ornaments.
Literacy; Following instructions and older kids would also be learning to read a recipe.
She also learnt patience while the clay was being cooked on the stove & while it was cooling.
So please always remember every single thing we do with our children is a learning experience. They are little sponges and take it all in, they love to learn. You don’t have to sit down and do actual lessons – play based learning is so wonderful for little kids. 
So I encourage you to try this craft, I would love to see your beautiful ornaments.
Make sure you hashtag #MotheringwithHeartandJoy or share it to one of my social media accounts!

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I hope you have a lovely Valentine’s Day with your loved ones. 


To read my previous 2 posts that have been very popular click HERE and HERE.

On the blog today; making hearts with my sweetheart! ❤️❤️This clay ornament recipe is very easy and is handy to…
Posted by Modern Wife Life 31 on Monday, February 8, 2016

christmas · craft · diy · toddler

Deer oh deer, some deer-lightful Christmas crafts. {Toddler Craft}

JustBindy1 Comment

Hello fellow Christmas lovers,
How are you? Are you waving your festive freak flags proudly? Crafting up a storm? Or did you just finish your Christmas shopping yesterday, like I did? (Yes, Christmas is next week and my unorganised self just finished Christmas shopping!)
Now, it’s no secret I love deers, we all love deer. I like them just as animals, their antlers, their tasty meat (sorry) and as ornaments…
And of course we love the most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. 
So here are some adorable little Rudolph crafts…


To make these adorable little fellas you will need some basic things you probably have laying around your house;

  • Paper plates
  • egg carton 
  • Brown paint (or crayon, or pencil) 
  • Brown cardboard
  • Red embellishments for a nose
  • Googly eyes
  • Scissors/stapler for parent to use
  • Pen/pencils
Now the simple steps;
1. Cut your paper plate in half and then cut 1 half in a triangle.
2. Staple together.
3. Cut out 1 section of egg carton. 
4. Draw around your child’s hand for antlers on the brown cardboard, cut out 2 copies of a hand print per paper plate reindeer you are making.
5. Also cut out 4 legs for each reindeer.
6. For egg carton reindeer, draw antlers (mine are not very good) and ears and cut out.
7. Paint your reindeers.
8. Let dry.
9. Attach googly eyes, red noses, antlers and ears.
10. Ta-da you have the most adorable little sweet reindeers.
I also made a few other “reindeer” things this week.
I whipped up a stocking for Trent with some lovely fabric from Spotlight. This is the first stocking I have ever made and I was impressed that my basic sewing skills created this…
And yesterday LuLu and I baked some gingerbread cookies, I used The Pioneer Woman’s recipe and it is really nice. If you use this recipe keep in mind it does make a lot of dough. I decorated the gingerbread men like deer, please excuse my basic icing ability. Trent & LuLu think they are tasty and cute though!
  To end this deer-lightful post I will leave you with some photos of the “reindeer” (red deer) that were at a shopping centre in town the other week, LuLu loved them and wore her sweet little “deer” print top. She loves deers and says “doe” & “buck”.
Comet is death staring me down because he knows I have a relative of his in the freezer, Blitzen is in the back oblivious, singing Christmas carols. 
Have a beautiful week before Christmas friends.
If you make these sweet reindeers, I would love to see them so tag me in them on social media!

2015 · activities · christmas · decorations · diy · toddler

Paper plate Christmas trees, 2 ways. {Toddler Craft}

JustBindy1 Comment

Hello lovelies!
Yesterday we had a day that was so terrific it deserves a blog post. 
I recently wrote a very honest blog post about feeling like I lost some of the sparkle out my life, I was trying to get it back – it was almost there… But not just yet. 
But yesterday, that day sparkled and it sparkled hard. Maybe it was the fact LuLu used most of the contents of a huge gold glitter shaker or maybe it was because yesterday was just really, really lovely.
Now, the day didn’t start off super splendid. My day had started at 5am when Trent got up for work and then we were all up. Thankfully I was able to persuade LuLu to have snuggles for an extra hour, but she was pretty insistent that I get up and make her some breakfast.
Now at the time I often do not enjoy dragging myself out of bed, but I do actually love getting up early, especially in the warmer months. I can get lots of jobs done when it’s nice and cool (before the Summer heat kicks in) and I just feel very productive which in turn makes me feel great.
Anyway, we had an early start on the day, not by choice – but I am glad we did…
I got my jobs for the day out of the way early and then I decided LuLu and I would attempt a Christmas craft. Our first Christmas craft.
We made paper plate Christmas trees in 2 styles. We made 1 of each for our house, my parents and for my Nin. These sweet little crafts make lovely little gifts to Grandparents from your child, we delivered the finished product to my Mum yesterday afternoon and it was hung straight away on the fridge. 

Our sparkly Christmas trees. 

I just used items I had laying around the house so you could do this too with your littlies. 

For this craft you will need;

  • Paper plates
  • Scissors
  • Stapler/tape
  • Green paint
  • Glitter, embellishments, pom poms – anything you have laying around.
  • Optional – magnet. (Attach to back with glue or tape after child has finished decorating, for easy display on a fridge)
Directions;
For the flat layered Christmas tree I just cut 3 triangle shapes out of a plate and stapled them together. After cutting out 3 of the same shaped triangle you are left with 1 very small triangle, I used this as the trunk and just stapled it all together.
For the cone shaped Christmas tree, I cut a section of the plate out and then just formed a cone shape and stapled it together. You could also cut the plate in half and then shape a cone out of the half. 
Sorry I didn’t really use a pattern, I just free handed everything. So it was all trial and error and they are by no means cut out perfectly. I actually didn’t plan to blog about them either which is why I didn’t take photos of all the steps. And just a note, when buying paper plates, find the cheapest ones possible. The more expensive ones tend to have a clear coating over them, you want proper paper plates to do crafts with.
Step 1; Do not squeeze your paint tubes so hard the nozzle end shots off and into the cup of paint. Great start to the project Bindy, good job Pinterest Mum… 
Next I just gave LuLu a pot of green paint (I mixed some craft paint I had with a green glitter paint) and let her paint all the trees. She did incredibly well, this was her first ever Christmas craft.
The paint needed to be applied very thickly in LuLu’s opinion. 
While we let the trees dry we went outside for a play, to hang out the laundry and to check out our tomato bushes. We picked the little tomatoes and sat in the sun and ate them… Yum!
Yummy home grown tomatoes – the perfect snack for in the back yard.
After the trees were dry (“I had distracted LuLu long enough to let them dry as much as they could”) I set LuLu up to decorate her trees. I gave her a pot of craft glue and a paint brush, a box of embellishments like old ribbon, cut up pipe cleaners, pom poms, sequins and her favourite decorative touch – the gold glitter shaker.
Now I warn you, if you do this and want to use glitter – be prepared it will get messy. Ours did – there was glitter everywhere. And that is ok. LuLu was having fun and in my opinion glitter is the prettiest mess you can have.
I personally think the glitter adds a nice festive touch to the floor and this maybe a new favourite photo of mine.
I sat there in awe watching her dip her brush into the glue and paint the tree, carefully picking out sequins to push into the glob of white glue and then grabbing the shaker and covering the tree, the table and the floor in gold glitter. Moments like this are what I dreamed of being a Mumma. Just having fun, doing crafts, making memories and a mess and just being together. 
LuLu took decorating her trees very,very seriously. Every tree (& the table & floor) needed a good healthy dose of gold glitter.
Our craft table afterwards. Clean up was pretty easy. I picked up the pieces I wanted to save/reuse, cleared the table, rolled up and tossed away the drawing paper that covers the table and did a quick vacuum. Easy! We then went and jumped in the pool to clean and cool ourselves. 
One of LuLu’s masterpiece proudly displayed on Ninna and Poppa’s fridge.
That sparkle, I love it and it’s coming back, in full force. We take our sparkle very seriously.

I encourage you to have a go at this super simple craft and let me know how you go. I would love to see the photos of your little ones masterpieces. 
If you don’t have any green paint at home, making home made paint is super easy, check out my recipe HERE.
I also have a Pinterest board full of Toddler Christmas craft ideas that you can check out HERE.
Also, I have a give away running on THIS post, so make sure you check it out and ENTER! (2 days left to enter!)
Have a lovely weekend and if you do this craft, share your trees with me on my social media.
Facebook; Modern Wife Life 31
Instagram; @Modernwifelife31
Twitter; @Modernwifelife3
Snap Chat; Bindy_30

2015 · bullets · christmas · craft · diy · housewife to huntress · shooting & hunting · video · youtube

Tutorial; Recycled Ammo Christmas Bauble {VIDEO}

JustBindyLeave a comment

Hello!
It’s nearly Christmas – it’s nearly Christmas! Ok, a little while to go – but it’s close… 
I tried to keep the Christmas posts until December – I did… But I did this awesome craft over the weekend & it’s super basic, but I am in love with it – it takes next to no time at all (can totally be done during your child’s nap time!) and I was so excited about it – I filmed a video. Yes, I FILMED A VIDEO! And I have been so excited to share it with you all… So I am sharing a Christmas craft tutorial – in November… But hey, it’s late November – so that is ok, right? 
Oh heck, even if it isn’t right – I am proudly waving my festive freak flag! 
Now, I know this may not appeal to everyone – but the beauty of this craft is you can totally customise it to your own taste… You can add whatever you like…
I made “recycled ammo Christmas baubles” or “bullet baubles”… 

But you could add into the bauble anything you love… 
I know a lot of people don’t have surplus of empty shells laying around like I do – but I know some of my readers are fellow hunters & shooters.
This ornament would also be a great addition to a gift you are giving to someone who maybe interested in hunting or shooting. Just wrap the gift in brown paper, tie with brown string and attach the bauble – I think it would look really great. 
This is the perfect ornament for “manly men” – my husband, brothers & Dad don’t care that much for Christmas decorations – they just go along with whatever is put out or on the tree – but they thought these were really cool. And because it’s made from empty shells, bullets they actually shot – it makes it a little more special. 
The baubles I used are from Lincraft and I got them when they were on a 50% off Christmas stock – I can’t remember the exact price but I am positive they were under $4. I’ve also seen clear shatterproof baubles at some cheap stores.
So here is the tutorial, (if by chance the video isn’t showing up please click HERE)


I really love how these turned out. I made 4. 1 for our tree, 1 each for my brothers & their girlfriends and 1 for my parents. They were all really impressed with them.

If you recreate this craft, please send me a photo on one on my social media – I would love to see!!
Facebook; Modern Wife Life 31
Instagram; @Modernwifelife31
Twitter; @Modernwifelife3
Have a wonderful day! 

diy · toddler

Easy DIY colour book for your toddler.

JustBindyLeave a comment
Hello!
Today for “Toddler Tip Thursday” I am bringing you a super easy and cute DIY for you to do for your toddler or young child, this project will help them learn colours. This little DIY is basically free if you have a collection of stickers and coloured markers laying around the house like I do. 
This project takes maybe an hour at the most, way less than that if you are uninterrupted. You could probably complete it while your little one naps.
This is how to make a paint chip colour book;

You will need;

  • Paint chip cards of a variety of colours, get 2 slightly different cards of each colour you wish to use. (Bunnings and Masters don’t seem to mind when I take a few colour chips home, when I say a few I mean like a handful. I guess if someone gives your grief or you need to explain yourself, either say you are making a colour book or your painting a rainbow in your kids room and want to get a rainbow of colour chips to pick the shades) You could also just use white coloured card and paint or colour it in… But the paint chip cards make it very easy. 
  • Stickers to match the colours.
  • Colourful pens/Sharpie/Markers to write with.
  • Glue.
  • Clear contact or a laminating machine.
  • Hole punch.
  • Ribbon or split ring.
Step 1;
Raid your local hardware store for paint chips in a variety of colours. I went for every bright colour I could find and also brown and grey. Remember to only get paint chips from the same brand so they match up together well, as they’ll be the same size. I forgot this and only got 1 yellow one, so luckily I had spare ones at home but the spare was from a different brand so I had 2 from 2 different brands, it still works but it doesn’t look totally perfect. 
Step 2; 
Lay out how you want your book to flow. 
Then put the book together to see which cards need to be glued to the back of each other. 
Step 3; 
Glue the cards together. I found it easiest to have the book set up/stacked together how I wanted and then I just worked through it gluing the backs to each other until I was done.
Step 4;
You could let your child help with this step… Decorate with stickers and write the colour name on the card. 

Step 5;
Cover with clear contact or laminate. I laminated mine and just a word of warning, I stupidly didn’t think when decorating mine and used little jewels and 3D stickers, they don’t go through the laminator well. My red page is a bit ruined! 
Step 6;
Hole punch the sides of the pages and secure with ribbon or hole punch in the top corner and secure with a split ring.
Step 7;
Enjoy!

LuLu likes her little book and we go through the colours and point at all the different stickers. I really like this project, using the paint chips with different shades and tones of the colours shows children that colours come in a variety of shades. 

I hope you give this project a try, it is super easy and can be as detailed or as simple as you like. If you do try this DIY please tag me in it on social media! 

2015 · cleaning · diy · domestic engineering

Domestic Engineering #4 How to deep clean your Dish Washer {Finish Give Away!}

JustBindy17 Comments
This post in sponsored by Finish. I only choose to work with brands I know and I am familiar with and personally use. Finish is a well known and reputable company, I regularly use their products, when they approached me to do a sponsored post with a giveaway for my readers I was on board. I like doing posts that highlight good products that I use and also give back to my readers! All opinions in this post are my own.

I love Spring time, it really makes me motivated to deep clean everything I own. I am slowly working my way through my Spring Cleaning check list. 
Today I deep cleaned the dishwasher and yes, just like your washing machine this appliance does need to be cleaned regularly to make sure it works well and also lasts.
For the sake of this post I let mine get a little dirty… So no judging!
This is a “natural way” to clean your dishwasher. 

Firstly gather your supplies;

  • White vinegar
  • Bicarb soda 
  • Borax (optional) 
  • A stiff scrubbing brush or old toothbrush
  • An old rag/cleaning cloth
  • Measuring cup


That’s it – everything you need to give your dishwasher a good clean is probably sitting in your cupboards as you read this!

So lets do this!
  1. Open dishwasher and pull the bottom rack out to reveal the dishwasher trap. 
     

  2. Remove the trap and open it up. 

  3. Rinse the trap under hot water and try to remove any large pieces of food or rubbish.
  4. Sprinkle bicarb soda on the trap and then pour vinegar over it, it should fizz.
  5. Scrub with brush gently, until clean. 

  6. Rinse again with hot water. All clean! 

  7. Repeat process if you have any other parts of your dishwasher that are dirty and removable (cutlery basket etc) 
  8. Replace dishwasher trap and any other pieces you removed. 

  9. Wet cleaning cloth with vinegar and wipe down the dishwasher. Remembering the seals, door frame, racks, blades etc. 
     

  10. Remove any other debris & gunk from the bottom of your dishwasher, if you find any.
  11. Remember to clean parts you normally overlook, when you half open/half close your dishwasher check the bottom ledge of the door, I found mine was very dirty. I vacuumed it and then wiped clean. 

  12. Once you are happy all the parts are as clean as you can make them add 1-2 cups of white vinegar to the bottom of your dishwasher and run a full cycle. White vinegar will flush out any built up grime & help your dishwasher smell fresh! 

  13. Wipe down the outside of your machine and the top of the dishwasher while the cycle runs.
  14. After the vinegar wash has completed if you want to give the machine an extra clean, you can do a bicarb soda wash, where you sprinkle 1 cup of bicarb soda (or borax) on the bottom of your dishwasher and once again run a full cycle. This cycle will polish your machine. Baking/bicarb soda is a wonderful cleaning product. It can eliminate odours, remove built up grease and help whiten stains. 

  15. Repeat. Clean your dishwasher monthly. Alternating each month between a vinegar & bicarb soda cycle will keep your dishwasher running like new! 
    Dishwasher trap, before and after.
    Dishwasher, all sparkly clean!

Now if those steps are too much effort for you, Finish has a wonderful dishwasher cleaner that can be used monthly to freshen up your dishwasher. It cleans your whole machine in 1 cycle. Easy! 
On the topic of Finish this is also the brand we use & I recommend for dishwasher tablets and also rinse aid. It is important to use a quality product in your machine and I find Finish to be very reliable and I never have to rewash dishes after using this product.

Thanks to Finish I have another competition, this time 1 of you can win a Finish gift pack! All you have to do is fill out the entry form below and you are in the draw to WIN!

Rules to enter give away & a few terms and conditions;
  1. You must be an Australian or New Zealand resident. 
  2. You must be a follower of this blog, either subscribe via Google, bloglovin or by email!
  3. You can gain bonus entries by following ModernWifeLife31 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
  4. 3 bonus entries are counted if you tweet about this competition.  
  5.  Another way to earn a bonus entry is to leave a comment below telling me your favourite Finish product or any tips on how you clean your dishwasher! 
  6.  Competition begins on Wednesday 16th September 2015 and ends Wednesday 23rd September 2015.
  7.  Winner will be announced on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter on the 23/09/2015.
  8. The winner has 48 hours to contact me with their postal address. If there is no contact within that time frame I will redraw another winner.
  9. The prize will be sent to the winner by a representative for Finish.
  10. I have no control over the postage of the item, but I have full faith that your prize will arrive in a timely manner once I pass your postal details on to the company.
  11. Prize is final and cannot be changed or exchanged for money.