Felt Car Play Mat

So one day I was surfing and I found this! It's an amazing car mat from Kimbo at her blog called A girl and a glue gun. Don't you just love the name of her blog? I do, 'cause I'm also crazy about my glue gun. After seeing Kimbo's mat, I was very inspired to make my own version for Little One. Mine is not nearly as elaborate as hers, but I was happy with the way it turned out.

Now you would think that I have a very happy little boy who loves playing with his car mat... well, not really. Every time I put it out to play, he crumples it up within minutes. I quickly realised that he doesn't like that the felt sometimes moves when he drives his cars on it. I have played with it too and found it to be fine, but I suppose when you are only 2 years old, these things can be a bit more frustrating :). If you have any good suggestions for keeping the mat flat and steady, please feel free to comment.

On another topic for a moment...can you spot some very cool toys on our mat. There are a variety of brands being played with here, but some of them are from the "WOW" range of toys and have been loved and played with by both my boys. If you don't know the range, they have an awesome website that you can visit here. They are really great quality and tough toys that can take a beating.

For more amazing play mat inspiration be sure to visit these blogs too:

Arctic and Jungle mats at Shady Tree Diary

Dinosaur play mat at Serving Pink Lemonade

Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train mats at My Delicious Ambiguity

Car and Animal play mats at lovely little sweetpeas

Happy playing.

PS. I'm linking this to:
Get Your Craft On @ TODAY'S creative Blog 

MADE BY LITTLE HANDS MONDAY @ delicate CONSTRUCTION

We Play @ childhood101  
Making the World Cuter Monday  
HIGH PAW @ the best toys for toddlers 

Easter Weekend

We had a busy and blessed Easter weekend! We had a lovely walk on Good Friday afternoon and the boys in my life played some soccer at the local park. Although the rain did not arrive till Sunday, a chill was in the air and one can now feel our Winter approaching. In contrast, on the other side of the world, perhaps where you are, Spring is in the air and Summer is beckoning. I am reminded though, that no matter where we are, whatever the season or weather, we all shared this special significant Easter weekend. I really hope yours was wonderful.

~ Georgia ~

Sock Bunny

Like this bunny?

What about this one?

I saw this idea for a sock bunny at the Disney Family Fun website and I couldn't resist making one. I used grown-up socks (instead of kiddies size) and lentils. The bunny feels quite heavy and floppy. Very different to my sock kitty , which is filled with batting.

I also don't know how they (Family Fun) got their bunnies' ears to stand up so nicely?  They must have some secret photo shoot tips that they are not sharing with us ;). Big One made me feel much better about it, when he told me that he actually prefers the floppy ears (YAY!) and he thinks my bunny is great. I so love hearing things like that!

My little secret photo tip for getting bunnies' ears to stand up straight is...wait for it...lay your bunny on it's back...hee hee. 

I am really enjoying these little sock animal additions to our home. I think I'll keep making them...perhaps a puppy next. Have you ever made a no-sew sock animal? Please share a link in the comments if you have. I would love to come and see.

Great Reads

Every week I read the most wonderful posts and discover great ideas on the internet. Most of my creative inspiration comes from blogs that I love to visit.

I recently read a beautiful, very touching post ...one I had to share with you. It's filled with pictures that say it all and  I only wish I had written it myself :). It's about filling your home with the unseen "things" and written by Ashley from under the sycamore. I only very recently discovered  Ashley's blog and have found it hard to not keep on reading...she has a delightful sense of humour and really makes me giggle. This post will make you smile. It's just lovely and such a great message.

I must add that Ashley and her family are going through a very difficult time right now. Her beautiful 21 month old daughter broke her femur (thigh bone) just over a week ago and has to lie on her back in hospital for 2 weeks. Can you imagine keeping such a little person in bed on her back for so much time. Ashley has been giving a daily account of her little girl's hospital stay and it is a poignant reminder (to me) of how documenting our daily experiences with pictures and words can be so powerful. Do pop over and check out how they are doing.

Till next time...

Easter Printables

With Easter around the corner, there are some super Easter ideas around the net and some of the nicest free printables can be found at We love to illustrate for children. I got so excited when I found this site and went to visit all the individual blogs involved. This is one group of super talented ladies and they are so kindly sharing some of the most amazing free Easter goodies. 

Wouldn't this just make the prettiest  Easter bunting?

 And this printout lets you play dress-up with some large sized eggs!

  

To see more, be sure to visit the site. They also share these fantastic free back-to-school printables here.

Have fun!

Baking School

Who would have thought that baking some biscuits could be so much fun and educational at the same time! It's a super sensory experience, uses fine-motor skills, and we added shape and colour recognition, as well as counting into the mix!

Nope, no cookie dough in my mouth Mommy...

PS. I'm linking this to: 

For the Kids Friday @ Sun Scholars  

Tot Tuesdays @ My Delicious Ambiguity 

High Paw @ the best toys for toddlers

The Heartfelt Project

 

I'm very excited to share some special South African products with you from
The Heartfelt Project.

The Heartfelt Project was born out of a very tragic event, but today is empowering a number of woman and impacting a community.

I am sharing just a few of many lovely products available. Magnets, brooches, hair clips, baby mobiles, Christmas decorations (love these!!), wedding favours and much more, are available to purchase.

Aren't these bunny brooches so sweet? They would make such a lovely Easter gift for the little ladies in your lives (or even the big ladies).

Or what about a dozen or so Easter egg magnets.

Love these Robot-Schmobots!

These are beautiful!

To read more about the Heartfelt story and do some shopping, please visit their website. You can know that your purchase will be making a difference in the lives of a community. Heartfelt also exports worldwide and with the exchange rate being strongly in the overseas buyer's favour, those of you across the seas will be smiling all the way :).

Books by Tara

April is Autism Awareness Month and I hope to bring you some Autism related posts this month (I had better get a move on...it's the 9th already!)

Today I want to tell you a little about Books By Tara. Tara, whose own son was diagnosed with Autism, found that there are very few "simple" books on the market that are designed for older children. With this in mind, she decided to create her own books. These books focus on a specific theme and use photographs to explore each theme. The books are also spiral-bound, which is great for isolating the pictures while teaching or "reading".

Tara found that these books help establish a mutual focus and this in turn provides an opportunity for social connections. The books also provide opportunities for fun discussions and in turn language skills are practised and enrichment takes place. Tara states it beautifully when she says, "all children require engaging experiences with caring adults to truly thrive linguistically." Tara has a variety of fun titles, including Holes and Tall, and shares lots of ideas on how to use her books on her website.

Last year I was fortunate enough to win a copy of Water through a competition run by Memetales and was, according to Tara, the first person in South Africa to see one. If you would like to read a free online version of this book, follow the Water link above and you can read it on the Memetales website. To see how we (Big One and I) won it, click here.

Would you like to win a book too? Every month one lucky subscriber to Tara's newsletter stands a chance to win a book. How awesome is that!

There is so much one can write about Autism. Is there anything that you would like me to specifically write about. If you do have any suggestions, please leave me a comment or email me.

Cats {Cutest Cat Party}

This cat party at Parents.com must be the cutest ever! I'm not kidding. Pop on over to see decorated cat cups and plates; kitty collars and paws to make for dress-up; balloon cats (see ours above); and a super cat cake! Seriously cute...that's all I can say. :)

Cats {Cat and Cow Craft}

 

When I saw this cute cat craft here at Katherine Marie Photography, I just knew it would be a great addition to our Cats theme! It comes from All Kids Network and the instructions can be found here.

Little One watched with great anticipation while I made this kitty and got up to some of his own cutting and pasting. He loves using a scissors and cuts really well. He also loves the glue stick, but is inclined to want to eat it! Anyway, he was really impressed with the cat and asked me to also make a cow. So I obliged - good Mommy that I am. I was about half way when he then insisted on a sheep...I promised that for another day :).

Till next time...