Friday, January 18, 2013

Finger knitted hoolahoop rug diy

 I made this rug from finger knitted wool and my husband's old tshirt. I had been planning to make one fort the longest time! Once I tried making a tshirt hoolahoop rug, but I had to turn it into a basket because I pulled the string too tight:) This kind of small rug is good for kids to sit on while they play board games or Lego, especially on the cold hardwood floor in our living room which is their favorite place to play.


I cannot fingerknit so that stilted by plans to make such a ruig. However, before Christmas, I found a load of finger-knitted balls of yarn at a church bazaar... I bought all of them!

I made the spokes from my husbands old tshirt. It has an earthy color and I tried to use the more earthy colored balls of yarn. Some of the balls were multicolored and I did not always know what lay under the top layers.


work in progress

I



How to stop the fingerk-nitting from slipping and unwinding?: I put the balls of yarn in a fleece sock and always unwinded just enough to be manageable.

The pictures below show how I connected the ends of the finger knitting. This is a much neater way than tying a knot.



Voila! Our finger knitted rug!


Thursday, January 10, 2013

Baking with a 2 year old



 Ok, baking with a 23  month old. Today I saw some ripe bananas on sale at the supermarket and just like that my dilemma on what to bake for a school snack this week was solved (I try to make something every week). So after we got home S had a joghurt and we got down to business. We used the Wonder Muffins recipe from Bibi's Bites http://www.budapest-moms.com/2012/01/bibis-bites/, she has some great recipes!

I got both my sons involved in baking/cooking at an early age as I find it is a good way to combine (messy) fun with the kids getting food on the table. I also thinks it helps their motor skills and promotes their self confidence. The only drawback is time and a slightly more messy kitchen than if I had worked alone.

S really likes to help, and loves the kitchen. I let him do some easier tasks like stir, hold the mixer with me,  shake out packets, sprinkle salt, but cupcake liners onto the tray. Today we even cracked an egg together :)
S stirring with a wooden spoon while I get some of the other ingredients ready.

Simon separating the cupcake liners and putting them on the tray (this has been his job since he was 17 months, and while I had to help him quite a bit in the beginning he is near perfect at the job by now.

I let him but batter in some of the cupcake liners- this was a tricky job.

The expert muffin-unwrapper.

   
Yum!






For G!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

DIY Autumn wreaths

 My sister-in-law and I made these wreaths during the autumn out of leaves and berries we found during a long walk we took in the county side. I have to give a shout-out to my brother-in-law who turned out to be a diehard berry/leaf picker, he found 8and was able to reach) the best stuff. Nagyon köszönöm!
My sister-in-law made this beauty


work in progress

I made the red one.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Felt-Textile Coasters

I made these felt coasters using felt and re-purposed fabric/leftover fabric scraps. I used a CD as the template for the felt bit and the rim of a mug for the fabric bit.  I used blanket stitches to sew the two together and along the side of the felt.

I made these felt coasters for my sister in law.

My son and I made this one to look like his favorite softie!





 




Ikea Malma mirror (be-birded malma mirror 2#)

Decorated Ikea Malma mirror

I made this mirror as a Christmas present for my cousin. I used acrylic paint and scrapbook paper. I also planned to add small hooks (like those on the chopping board key holder http://thefeverishfeltist.blogspot.hu/2012/09/chopping-board-tuned-key-holder.html)  at the bottom so she can hang her necklaces, bracelets ect, but I unfortunately ran out of time...

Ikea Malma DIY


To make sure I do not get paint on the mirror itself I slipped post-it notes under the wood frame (could have worked with sticky tape as well, but this way I covered a larger surface).



Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Painted dolls' furniture


 I bought a box of untreated wooden dolls furniture for my goddaughter Anna-Lea. I wanted to make it prettier and personalized. So I painted the pieces with acrylic paint. I also cut out small stars from scrapbook paper with a star-shaped puncher and pasted the stars on the furniture. Unfortunately, I was so busy before xmas that I was only able to take pics after the last minute, when I have already gave her the gift.



This is how the furniture looked originally
My gorgeous goddaughter wearing the flower hairclips I made her!
In the background you can catch a glimpse of a fellow blogger all the way from New Zealand. You can check out her cool travel blog about her visit to Hungary here: http://eszterlecouteurhungary.blogspot.hu/


Elmo Lens friend/ camera scrunchie DIY

My very talented cousin sporting his handmade Elmo camera scrunchie :)
I saw this idea of a photographers' accessory on etsy (http://www.etsy.com/listing/54888077/elmo-lens-friend) and thought it would be cool to make as Chistmas gifts for the two avid photographers in my family. The purpose of the "lens friends" is getting kids to smile at the camera.

I used an old fleece sweater, elastic ribbon and some felt for the eyes and nose.

1. I watched a tutorial on making scrunchies  here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBVGwiVSwhQ
2. I changed the measurements, so the piece of fleece was about 8cm x 30+ cms
3. I cut out the eyes and nose from felt
3. sewed it all together and voilá...