One of the fun little things I’ve tried to keep up is having Gracen pick a new fruit or vegetable to take home and investigate during our weekly shopping trips. Though she seriously contemplated a papaya, she ended up selecting this particular dragon fruit today. This is the conversation that ensued while browsing the other aisles…
Gracen: What’s dis one called again, Mama?
Mama: It’s a dragon fuit. We’ll cut it open when we get home and see what’s inside.
Gracen: NOT a DRAGON though, right Mama?!
Hah! Silly little goose.
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Though Gracen’s crib could have been converted to a toddler bed, we opted to rearrange her room a little and make space for a large floor bed. Not only does it give her lots space to spread out while sleeping {and minimizes falls out of the bed}, but it also allows for family snuggles, awesome story reading sessions, and provides a new play space too. Tea anyone?
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Our healthier {butter and marshmallow-free} version of rice crispy treats have been a huge hit in our house since we first created them a few months ago. For Valentine’s Day we made a heart-shaped strawberry version, and I knew I wanted to come up with an Easter version too. As it tends to, my mind went to getting more use out of the plastic eggs I still feel guilty about buying (even though we reuse them year after year, use them for sensory play, turn them into bath tub toys, and make fun popsicles with them).
While I had grand plans of creating a little hallow in the centres of the eggs and placing a couple of small treats in the middles, we ended up just making solid eggs. To do so, all we did was fill up each side of the egg generously with warm crispy rice treat mix, packed them down a little, and shut the eggs while they were still warm.
We let them cool and ended up with perfectly formed eggs that pop out of the shells effortlessly and make great on-the-go treats (the plastic eggs double as containers until you’re ready to eat them) . They were also a lovely addition to Gracen’s egg hunt and she’s been enjoying one every couple of days since.
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Seeing this adorable video tutorial on Jen Loves Kev inspired Miss G and I to create our own bath fizzies to gift to her two lovely grandmas (we love giving handcrafted gifts!) This lavender rosemary version was for her Grandma Charlotte who enjoys natural, woodsy scents, and her citrus-loving Grandma Sue got a lemon grapefruit version.
Here’s our line up of ingredients… Baking soda, cornstarch, coconut oil, citric acid, water in a spray bottle, epsom salts (we’d previously dyed ours pink just for fun), fresh rosemary from the garden, lavender essential oil, and purple food colouring. While we had most everything already on hand, we picked up the lavender essential oil at a local variety store that specializes in natural products and the citric acid from a very cool little Main Street shop called The Soap Dispensary (if you live in Vancouver, I highly recommend you check it out). Citric acid can also be found in grocery store canning sections, behind the counter at pharmacies, and in many bulk food stores too.
Making these was pretty simple, so as usual, my little helper did most of the work. First off, we measured out all of the dry ingredients, added them to a large mixing bowl, and dropped in a generous amount of essential oil before Gracen whisked everything together thoroughly.
Next, we focused on the wet ingredients. In a spray bottle that allows a very fine mist, we shook up some water, some liquid coconut oil (we just ran the jar under warm water for a minute to liquify it, but you could just as easily melt it in the microwave), and several drops of food colouring.
For the next step, you need to have some patience… Basically, the goal is to add the water and oil mixture into the dry mixture very slowly in order to avoid causing a fizzy reaction. If you get a little bit impatient (like we did the first time around), you’ll have all kinds of fizzy bubbles in your bowl, but your finished bath bombs won’t fizz all that much once in the tub (though they’ll still soften the water and smell fantastic). In order to do this, you want to mist some water/oil onto the dry ingredients, whisk it well, add a little more, whisk it well, and so on and so on. What’s fantastic about having a helper is that one of you can basically stir while the other sprays.
As you go, you’ll notice that your mixture will eventually start to clump while mixing and look less like a floury powder. When you can grab a handful, squeeze it, and have it hold it’s shape, you’ll want to stop adding water.
We could have stopped where we were in order to make straight up lavender bath fizzies, but ripped up a bunch of fresh rosemary and added it into the mix instead.
Next we scooped the mixture into the IKEA ice cube trays we regularly use for crafting, pushed it down well, added more mixture, and patted it down tightly once more. Then we laid them out in the solarium to dry out a little bit.
This is the next test of patience when it comes to this project… At the two hour mark, I couldn’t help myself and attempted pushing out a couple of our little bath bombs. Though they sort of held their shape, it was a crumbly mess and I totalled a couple in the process.
At the 3 hour mark, they came out much more cleanly and easily, so I’d definitely recommend waiting. Once out of the moulds, we let them dry on the counter over night.
The next day, we carefully placed them in a vintage mason jar tied with some pretty bakers twine.
And that was that. Simple and pretty.
For Grandma Sue’s batch, we followed the exact same recipe, but split the dry ingredient mixture in two before adding the essential oils and water/coconut oil combo. For one half of the batch we added lemon essential oil and yellow food colouring, for the other we added grapefruit essential oil and pink food colouring, and we skipped the rosemary all together for both.
The thing I wondered about most when making these was whether or not they would actually fizz… They do! (Well as long as you’re patient and add the water to the mixture slowly that is.) Though it’s not the explosive sort of fizz you get with the beautiful bath bombs purchased at LUSH, they have a nice slow release sort of fizz to them that lasts for a good long while. And the smell is amazing! Just one little fizzy makes the whole bathroom smell wonderfully!
Rosemary Lavender Bath Fizzies
Whisk the dry ingredients and essential oil in a large bowl.
Add the warm water, liquid coconut oil, and food colouring into a spray bottle capable of a fine mist and shake it well.
Spray the water into the dry mixture slowly, mixing well in between, until the mixture comes together and holds its shape when squeezed. Rip up the fresh rosemary and stir it into the mixture.
Scoop the mixture into the moulds, press it down tightly, and let dry for at least 3 hours. Gently remove the bath fizzes from the moulds and let them sit out on the counter overnight to fully dry out.
Package and gift. ☺
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While on vacation in Victoria recently, Miss G slept on an adult-sized bed for the very first time. We were staying at Brad’s cousins place (where there’s no crib) and we’ve never owned a pack and play, so we decided to just wing it and see how it went. Luckily, it went fabulously (though it did mean that I slept on a couch and Brad slept on a floor while Miss G had the master bedroom – hah!) I’ve read many stories about great sleepers transitioning to a bed and suddenly bedtime’s a battle and night wake ups are frequent, so I was a little apprehensive (okay… terrified) about making the switch. Over the last two and a half years, we’ve worked very hard to ensure that Gracen became (and stayed) a good sleeper and was/is always well rested, so the last thing I wanted was for it to all fall apart. But I should have known better than to worry. Our easy-to-please little lady was excited about the switch, and because she’s such a rule follower, getting out of the bed wasn’t an issue. Our time in Victoria came and went, and we were faced with the decision of what to do in her room back home. Originally, the plan was to make the switch when we arrived in the Okanagan for the summer, but because we had been so successful with a bed already, we wondered if it would be better to just ditch the crib, set up a floor bed, and continue along the path without stepping backwards. In the end, we decided to ask Gracen what she wanted to do. Her decision? Setting up a big girl bed in her room at home. So that’s what we did.
Before dismantling the crib and switching things around a little bit to make room for a bigger bed, I made time to take some photos of her bright, cheery little bedroom {something I’ve been meaning to do for a long while}… It’s an eclectic mix of colours, patterns, and old/new/handmade/gifted pieces, and I sort of love the pieced together mismatched feel it has to it. It’s colourful, happy, and a perfect representation of our little lady and all of the people who love her.
Her crib is probably the most basic one you can buy, and I like that about it (we had the same one in her Kuwait nursery too). Her gorgeous quilt was made by her Auntie Roz for her second birthday. It was her first ever quilting project and she was sweet enough to let us choose our fabric (isn’t it beautiful?!) online before ordering it and putting it all together for Miss G. The paper bunting on the wall above the crib and the felt babushka doll were both handmade by me, the button ‘G’ was handcrafted by my Auntie Viv, and the two canvases are a project Grae and I do each year around her birthday.
The black and white birdie curtains are a favourite from IKEA, the pom garland was handmade for her first birthday party, and the wooden toy box used to be her Papa’s when he was little, though the magenta colour is new. Up above her curtains are some of Gracen’s most fragile treasures. The Peter Rabbit treasure container and letters were both gifts from Grandma Charlotte and the beautiful little porcelain flower arrangements used to belong to her Great Grandma Amy long ago. Off to the side in the white frame is her first ever finger painting (I adore kids’ artwork on walls) and down below is one of my best thrifting finds – the pink wooden doll crib which is now home to Tess, a vintage doll from Grandma Sue.
The giant catch-all shelf that is home to part of Grae’s ever-growing book collection is one of IKEA’s classic EXPEDIT pieces (we’ve seriously owned tons of these over the years). On top is her first birthday party hat, a couple of wooden angels (one of which my Auntie Lou gave me years ago and the other from a favourite student of mine), a beautiful set of wooden memory blocks from Grandma Charlotte and Poppop, and a frame customized with Amy Butler fabric by Auntie Rozi. Up above on the little clothesline hang some of our treasured pieces from when our girl was teeny tiny (the striped sleeper was her coming home from the hospital outfit and next to it is her first ever dress). The frames on the shelf and beside the shelf are filled with free prints from some of my favourite blogs… The ‘Babies Don’t Keep‘ one from Lay Baby Lay and the ‘you is kind / you is smart / you is important‘ one and the ‘Life is a Beautiful Ride‘ one are from irocksowhat. The glass piggybank is a gift from a family I babysat/nannied for from the age of 12 until well into my twenties, and the glass house piggy bank that is hiding behind it is one of the few pieces we brought home from her Kuwait nursery.
This little shelf, which is one of my other {rare} thrifting finds, is home to a set of Olliblocks I made for her, a jar full of our homemade ribbon wands, some family photos, and her little collection of photo books I’ve made in the past.
The other side of her room is home to another space saving shelf from IKEA, some vertical pom garlands (also from her first birthday party), her beloved closet book nook, and some colourful artwork (the marker drawing on the left by her cousin Korbin and the blow paint piece on the right by Grae). The inside of her book nook also features some artwork done by Grae, plus ‘Papa Baby’ one of my childhood Cabbage Patch Kids (who was found in this exact position might I add).
The final little corner of her room is home to one of her very favourites – her dress up centre built by Poppop. Up above is a felt heart mobile I put together for her, which is very difficult to photograph nicely, but looks quite magical as it moves.
Well there you have it – Gracen’s cheerful little bedroom pre transition to a big girl bed. ☺ There were still some projects and little things I wanted to do in it, but those things all got put on hold when we decided to move back to Kuwait come summertime. The exciting news is that Grae will have a giant room (with her own ensuite!) in our Kuwait apartment, so it’ll be a ton of fun to set up something new from scratch. I’m already dreaming of a well-stocked crafting nook, a cozy corner for reading, and a permanent sensory table of sorts…
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After an absolutely wonderful weekend in the Okanagan, we headed back to the Lower Mainland today… Lucky for us, there was a midpoint performance in Merritt to reenergize us for the remainder of the trip.