Hand Drawn Dinnerware

7 / 18 / 127 / 18 / 12

Gracen and I had so much fun with this little project today. It’s been flying around the web like crazy recently, (like here and here and here and here) so when we came across plain white bowls for $1 each the other day, I knew we’d be giving it a shot very soon.

All you need is some plain dinnerware, a Sharpie or two, and in our case, some tape, and a pair of scissors.

Because we chose to decorate bowls, I wanted to tape off the inside of the bowl, where the food goes. Some may say that the Sharpie is sealed in by the end of the process, but something just doesn’t seem right about putting Grae’s food on top of permanent marker. Plus, I think having just the rim decorated looks cute. Painter’s tape would have been the obvious choice here, but since I didn’t have any lying around, we made do with packaging tape and it worked just fine.

Grae got started drawing right away. I explained that we weren’t drawing in the middle of the bowl and that we were just decorating around the edge, and that’s exactly what she did (therefore the tape was pretty much unnecessary, but hey, you never know).

When I asked Gracen what I should draw on my dish, her immediate response was, “Apple!” I ran with that idea, and since she’s been so interested in colours for the past couple of months, I got started on a little colours of the rainbow theme of sorts.

Gracen drew and drew and drew and never did I have to encourage her to keep going, choose a new colour, or fill in a blank space. She was having so much fun and was so thrilled about the fact that she was using Mama’s ‘special’ markers that she had more than enough motivation for over an hour’s worth of drawing.

Of course, in that hour, she stopped to come over and admire my dish several times. She’d look with big eyes, then nod her head with a slow, enthusiastic “Yaaaaaaa…” and a sweet little smile on her face, in obvious approval. Then she’d go on to point out the colours and pictures she saw {and shared those she wanted to see in the very near future – my apple, tree, birdie, and banana were all ideas she offered}.

The finishing touch was to happily sprinkle her entire rim with dots of different colours. She’d stop a moment, glance at it sideways, then pick up another Sharpie and add more. This continued again and again until one time she took that same sideways glance, then very nonchalantly announced “All done”. And that was that.

Before we could get it in the house to cure in the oven, she wanted to put her new dish to use, so she carefully browsed through the garden for a handful of ripe strawberries and a sprig of mint.

With her snack gone in less than a minute (yes, she shoved that entire thing of mint in her mouth and chowed down on it like the rabbits at Maplewood Farm), it was time to show off our finished products.

One final touch to add – our names, the year, and for Grae, her bright green signature.

And then into the oven they went. In attempt to “bake the marker on better”, I amped up the heat to 400 and left the dishes in for 45 minutes, despite the general recommendation of baking them at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Bad idea. Although Miss G’s came out fine, my lighter colours really, really faded, some to the point of becoming nearly invisible. Learn from my mistake. The good news is that there’s an easy fix for mistakes such as mine. Just simply redraw your design and then pop it back in the oven for another 30 minutes at 300.

We let our bowls cool, gave them a good {hand} wash, and used them for dinner. I did try washing them (okay, maybe I even scrubbed a little bit), and so far, so good. The designs still look exactly as they did, and I’m hoping they stay that way for a while at least.

This was such a fun, easy, and inexpensive project and I’d highly recommend giving it a try. While Gracen (almost 23 months old) loved it, I think older kids would like it just as much. On top of it all, wouldn’t a hand decorated mug or dish make a great gift for a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or parent? (I must keep that in mind!)

If you do try this project, here are a few tips I learned along the way:

Plain dinnerware pieces can be found at thrift stores, dollar stores, and places like IKEA for next to nothing.
Before starting your drawing, wash and dry your piece very well to get rid of any oil that may cause your marker to stay put as well as it should.
Darker, vibrant colours turn out better. Yellows and pastels seem to fade and distort.
Do not attempt to bake on your design better by increasing the heat. This will just lead to a mess.
Gently hand wash your items. Do not put them in the dishwasher.
If needed, touch up your design and re-bake.

♥

Magnet Fishing

7 / 15 / 127 / 15 / 12

As we were playing with Gracen’s ever-growing magnet collection this morning, a little game we’ve not yet tried popped into mind… Magnet fishing!

It was a breeze to set up. We gathered up a few materials we had around the house – a bowl, magnets, scissors, embroidery floss (any string would do), a large paperclip, and a piece of drift wood from Gracen’s beach sensory bin (a twig, chop stick, or popsicle stick could easily be used instead) – and created a pond of magnet “fish” and a fishing rod.

These alphabet magnets, made by Gracen’s Auntie Roz, worked well because they were very strong but still light enough to be picked up by the paperclip. The only problem was that they were so strong that with a small bump of the bowl, they’d all cling together, making it hard to catch a “fish”. We did try her Melissa and Doug wooden alphabet magnets, but because of their weight and weaker magnets, they couldn’t be picked up by the paperclip. Ultimately, something in between the two would have been perfect (I’m thinking the plastic letter magnets may be the way to go).

WIth our fishing rod built and our pond freshly-stocked with fish, we were ready to go.

Caught one!

After she’d fished standing up for a while, she decided to try fishing while sitting down. Looping the line around the rod a couple of times made this a much more manageable task.

Caught another.

Gracen thought this activity was a lot of fun. As she pulled the magnets out of the pond, she’d remove them from the paperclip, announce their colour (older kids could do colours and letters), and add them to her caught pile (often giving herself an enthusiastic clap afterwards). She enjoyed it so much, in fact, that she insisted that it stay in her room until her Papa returned home from work so she could show him. And that’s exactly what she did.

Sometimes simple fun is the best kind.

♥

Moon Painting

7 / 15 / 121 / 19 / 14

I’ve had tons of fun little activities and cooking projects I’ve wanted to do with Miss G over the last couple of weeks, but all the gorgeous sunshiny weather we’ve been having has allowed for little more than bike rides, outdoor play, visits to the beach, and afternoons at the pool. Darn weather!

Though we’ve been soaking up every moment of our summer, today’s dreariness was a welcomed change. Our house was cool, and we stayed in all morning playing and having fun {without melting}.

The first little activity we tried was what I call moon painting. It’s super simple and involves three basic things everyone with munchkins probably has at home – a tray of baking soda, food colouring dyed vinegar, and a few old medicine droppers / syringes.

See why I call it moon painting? The vinegar and soda mixture bubbles up and leaves little crater-covered splotches when it settles back down again.

Gracen really, really enjoyed this activity. I demonstrated how to using the dropper, and she picked it up very quickly (although it did become harder near the end when there wasn’t as much of the vinegar mixture left). She’d drop a little vinegar onto her tray, then point in excitement as it fizzed up in mound of bubbles. Afterwards, she’d announce the colour of her newest splot.

Pinch…

Drop…

And watch the bubbles!

Moon craters in the making.

We did try using the syringes too, but we quickly learned that they led to great big swamps rather than moon craters, which caused less of a fizz.

So back to the dropper we went.

The end result was a tray covered in colourful craters and a little lady who would have done continued moon painting for the rest of the morning given the chance.

Here’s a little video of Grae hard at play:

And the best part about this activity? Because both vinegar and baking soda are very effective natural cleaners, clean up is a breeze! Who would have thought your little one’s art project would equal a newly-shined kitchen sink?

♥

A Fort Morning & Finding Balance

7 / 10 / 127 / 11 / 12

One of my priorities as a stay-at-home mama is making the very most of my time with Gracen. Now, I don’t necessarily mean that we’re always on elaborate outings and doing involved, pre-planned projects… I just mean that during her awake time, I try my very best to spend my time with her. For me, that’s the reason I’m at home right now. Her. So things like blogging, reading and returning emails, checking Faceboook / Twitter / Pinterest, doing major housecleaning, working on Littlest Lulu orders, and making phone calls wait until she’s in bed for the night or get done during her nap times (as much as humanly possible, at least). While she’s awake, my goal is to be actively present. Sometimes we do pre-planned activities or go on elaborate adventures, and sometimes we do low-key things around our house, yard, and neighbourhood… We read stories, do puzzles, play games, explore our backyard, do art projects, visit libraries, go to the pool, visit places around the city, have play dates, go for walks, and check out playgrounds. But as much as possible, we spend time together. Of course, there are things that just need to get done – shopping for groceries, doing errands, washing dishes, and cooking for example. Although Grae often helps me cook and do dishes, she’s very good about playing independently during these times too, which, in my opinion, is an important skill for all kids to have.

Anyways, late last night we found out we’d be having some visitors this afternoon, which was great. But when I woke up and took a look around my house only to find that it was a DIS.AS.TER, I realized that there was simply not enough time to make the house presentable and shower and get myself ready for the day during Grae’s noonish nap. (Side note: How does this happen?! I think we’re relatively tidy people and I’m the clean-as-you-go type, yet every now and then, I find myself amidst a MESS! I know that some moms would say ‘Who cares about what the house looks like when you have guests over – you’re a busy mom of a toddler!’ and I’m working on getting {closer} to that point, but I’m just not there yet…) Knowing that I’d have to spend part of my day doing things I’d normally do while Miss G slept, I decided that we’d put together something fun to keep her happy and engaged while I zoomed around the house tucking things away, sweeping floors, and tackling dust bunnies.

With the help of a blanket, a flat sheet, a handful of clothespins, and a few strips of duct tape (because what isn’t duct tape good for, really?), we whipped up a little bedroom fort, fit for a queen.

Once we had it set up, we collected a few things from around the house to ‘furnish’ it with… Throw cushions, a tea set, mini books, the Hello Kitty family, and some drawing goodies all found a home in Grae’s fort.

We played together for a little while, and then I got busy cleaning while Grae enjoyed her new space. While it wasn’t the perfect solution, it certainly helped. I got what I needed to get done done, she had a fun morning despite the fact that Mama was a little less present than usual, and we had a great afternoon visit with our guests.

It’s amazing what a sheet-turned-canopy can do, isn’t it?

♥

Button Play

7 / 3 / 127 / 6 / 12

As much as I love setting up little play invitations for Grae, many activities are initiated by Gracen and come about organically. This morning, as I was answering birthday calls (hello, 31), Miss G found a box of craft goodies we had carried in from the car and left in a heap at the front door (we got in late last night and after what’s supposed to be a 5 hour trip turned into an 8 hour trip, there was little energy left for unpacking things) and immediately gravitated towards the many little pouches of buttons I had stowed away. Having been given the okay nod from me, she started slowly unzipping the pouches one by one and emptying the contents into the bamboo dish that normally houses our remotes.

Such fun. The colours, shapes, sizes, and zipping kept her happily busy for a good portion of the morning while I slowly worked on unpacking things.

Later in the day, as I began gathering dinner ingredients, she came across a couple of clean ice cube trays waiting to be filled and frozen on the counter. I’m not sure what inspired her, but she quickly left the kitchen and returned with her bowl of buttons and the creamer cup from her tea set. Brilliant. I don’t think I could have come up with a better ice cube tray activity on the spot if I tried. I retrieved a blanket, she spread her things out, and happily played until dinner was ready.

I may be discovering new runaway buttons around the house for the next week or two, but having an hour to cook and wash dishes while my girl happily plays independently is well worth the pick up.

♥

Simple Fun: Pipe Cleaners Paired with a Strainer

6 / 13 / 121 / 4 / 14

On the one and only afternoon I need to get ready for an fancy evening event, my ultra routine 2-hour-nap-every-single-day girl wakes up after 50 minutes, ready to get up and get busy playing again. Ugh. I had only painted my nails in that time, let alone prepped dinner, had a shower, done my hair and make-up, or selected a purse to bring along. With some serious mommy time needed, I pulled out a little independent play idea I’ve had in the back of my mind for a long while now… Pipe cleaners and a strainer. Now, if you’re on Pinterest, you’ve most likely seen this idea circulate dozens of different times. And rightfully so. It’s ridiculously simple, it requires only two very basic supplies, it’s super engaging, and it is great for fine motor skill development. Just what the doctor ordered for a day like today (well that and some hot water, because when I went to have a shower I discovered we had not a stitch). I set Grae up in her room, gave her the brand new bag of pipe cleaners she’d picked out at the store a few days ago, along with our kitchen stainer, showed her how to put a pipe cleaner through a strainer hole, and let her be.

Let me tell you, she seriously loved it. There was probably about 25 to 30 minutes of silent, serious play that followed. In fact, it was so quiet, that I kept peeking around the corner to see what she was up to, and there she’d be, sitting in the middle of her carpet adding more pipe cleaners to her colander masterpiece.

♥

iPhoneography // Puppeted Pigges

6 / 9 / 126 / 10 / 12

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The Outpost Cafe

6 / 7 / 121 / 23 / 13

Today Gracen and I visited one of the places that has long been on my ‘rainy day to do list’… And while it wasn’t actually raining, it was one of those dreary, chilly days that makes you crave a good cup of coffee in the warmth of a quietly busy cafe. We headed down Fraser Street in search of The Outpost Cafe, and after circling the block twice and driving past three times, I finally noticed the shop nestled in a small string of semi-deserted-looking businesses. I’d heard all kinds of good things about the delicious coffee, homemade food, and open-to-the-public and child-friendly ‘staffroom’, and despite its very modest storefront, it did not disappoint. My latte was perfectly satisfying and the separate munchkin-centred room was exactly what all coffee shops need in order to allow caffeine-craving mamas a few minutes to enjoy their fix. I sipped my latte leisurely while Grae gobbled up her Larabar (she spilt her entire steamed milk not a moment after purchasing it) and moved on to investigating each and every toy the room had to offer. And on top of all the fun things left out to explore, the room hosts a giant blackboard wall {along with several buckets of colourful chalk} just waiting to be drawn upon.

Gracen had an absolute blast and I had what was one of my most peaceful cups of coffee I’ve had since Gracen arrived in this world 21 months ago. Here’s to another rainy day escape being added to our repertoire.

♥

Construction Sensory Bin

6 / 5 / 123 / 24 / 14

After our grasshead hairstyling session this afternoon, we headed out into the warmth of our solarium to explore something else I had set up during nap time… A new sensory bin! Truthfully, I wanted to create a construction sensory bin, but didn’t really have the materials I needed. I improvised and included some ‘building cups’, a shovel, a rake, a pumpkin scraper, and the one and only actual construction thing I could find – a little front loader. Of course, Gracen didn’t mind a bit that there wasn’t the variety of construction vehicles, workers, and signs that Mama had wanted. She got busy taking apart the towers, rebuilding them, scooping up pebbles, dumping them, and driving her little front loader up and down the rock hill. She did of course get into the bin and even tried laying down and rolling around in the pebbles this time around… Silly girl!

♥

Grassheads: Hairstyle Edition

6 / 5 / 126 / 6 / 12

A couple of months ago, on a very rainy Vancouver day, we had a little family crafternoon and put together Gracen’s first ever grassheads. Ever since, they’ve been sitting atop their mason jars on our kitchen window sill, soaking up the sunshine and drinking up loads of water. Of course, our little magic girl’s grasshead has grown far better than Mama’s or Papa’s.

This is what it looked like this morning…
About time for a hairdo of some sort, I’d say. So while Gracen napped, I set up a little play invitation for her. I gathered up some hair goodies, a couple of elastics, and an old hairbrush and set them all out on her table along with her grasshead.

This was her reaction when she saw what I’d set out for her… Kisses for the grasshead! Apparently she liked what she saw.
She wasted no time getting started. She climbed up on the chair, and got busy trying to put the clips in. It wasn’t easy, but with a little bit of help, she put every single clip in the grasshead’s hair.

Next up was the headband.
That is, until she decided she’d wear it instead!

Done with the first hairstyle! Future hairstylist? I’d say so.
Afterwards, I helped her make little grass pigtails. She thought it was completely hilarious and kept stroking her own pigtails and then pointing to those belonging to the grasshead.

Overall, Gracen loved this activity. My only wish is that I had taught her how to properly use scissors by now so that the grasshead could have gotten a little trim! I guess we have something new to work on. ☺

iPhoneography // Another Day, More Instagram

6 / 4 / 126 / 4 / 12

Admittedly, I am the very last person in the world to jump on the Instagram wagon. In my defense, I’ve actually had the app for a really long time, but just kind of randomly started using it the other day. I’ve been having so much fun with it that I’ve kind of put my real camera aside for the last couple of days, but I promise that’ll come to an end very soon. In the meantime, here is some of our day via Instagram…

steamed milk stop // making music

tunnel crawling // canadian girl

gracen to the rescue // frogs like to smell flowers too

clover // newly organized

apple store visit // soup for dinner

♥

P.S. Find me on Instagram at jkossowan.

Saturday Morning Fort

6 / 2 / 126 / 2 / 12

An early morning fort filled with tea and stories to start our Saturday…

♥

Letting Loose, Play Palace Style

6 / 1 / 125 / 13 / 13

After waking up to yet another {very} rainy day, I decided it was time for some dry, indoor fun this time around… So off to the Kerrisdale Play Palace we went! I don’t know what it was about today (perhaps it was her nearly 13 hour sleep last night or it being her second visit – she’s a veteran now), but Gracen was absolute WILD woman! Walking into the rink was like letting a bucking bronco loose after keeping him in the gates for an abnormally long time. The moment she stepped foot onto the concrete, she was running and jumping and squealing and flinging her little body around like it was the last day she’d ever get to play in her life. Just a guess, but apparently she thinks the Play Palace is pretty awesome.

She didn’t waste any time getting down to business. First she hit up some old favourites…

And then it was off to try some new things… See that little monkey climbing up that inflatable ladder? Last time she got half way up, panicked, and we had to retrieve her. Not this time though. Apparently she’s a big girl now because she climbed up and zoomed down on repeat.

And then there was this. Never in her life has she ever gone down a slide on anything but her bottom, but today she was all about belly-down, face-first.

Oh, and going down with her little ‘yeehaw arm’ in full effect.

Later on, she saw a big girl climb up for a ride on the shark’s back, and she was desperate to do the same. After letting her try and try again to get on, I finally broke all the rules, climbed up onto the inflatable while the supervisor wasn’t looking, and helped her up. (Shhhhh… Don’t tell.)
Strangely enough though, today’s absolute favourite was the foosball tables. She kept going back to them again and again and when I told her we only had time to do one more thing, she picked going back for some more table football.

It was the perfect way to spend our rainy morning. I left with a dishevelled, tired little monkey who was more than ready for her nap when we got home.

♥

Ordinary Days

5 / 16 / 125 / 16 / 12

Sometimes ordinary days are the best kind. Don’t get me wrong, Little G and I love to get out, go on adventures, and visit fun places, but sometimes normal, everyday kind of days equally wonderful. Today was one of those.

Some H2O and an energy bite post-swimming lesson. (I’m happy to report, by the way, that our submersion day went well. It was presented in a way I was comfortable trying and Miss Grae did not come up choking, crying, or looking at me like I had betrayed her. In fact, she seemed just fine. Yay for that.)

A playground stop was in order afterwards. Shhhhh… Don’t tell Mama Gracen’s hiding.

Strolling in the sunshine.

In the words of Grae, “dig-a-dig-a-dig-ah”.

Backyard antics.

A quiet moment in the shade of our plum tree.

Tricycle tricks.

Sandbox play with the little girl from downstairs.

Itty bitty bookworm.

An afternoon treat – frothy raspberry milk.

Just like Mama. (Grae loves this ring I had custom made in Kuwait. It says ‘Brad and Jen’ in Arabic, so I love that she loves it.)

A homemade popsicle for dessert.

Double-fisting. (Of course Mama’s desert looked just as yummy as her own.)

Oops. That’s not the popsicle hand.

Freshly bathed and ready for bedtime stories.

I’m so lucky to spend my days soaking in these magical little moments.

♥

Water Sensory Bin

5 / 10 / 123 / 24 / 14

I love the fact that we have a little solarium out back. Unfortunately though, for us, it’s not just a place to grow pretty plants and relax… It’s our laundry room, shoe closet, tricycle riding corral, and recycling depot, all in one. And today it became a play room on top of all of that.

I’ve been squirrelling away little things for some sensory bins I’ve wanted to put together for Miss G for a while now, and today Gracen and I finally found bins that are the perfect shape and size. As soon as we got home, we gathered our materials for a super simple water sensory bin, changed Miss G into a bathing suit, and headed out into the solarium for some fun.

We laid a blanket down first to minimize potential flooding and slipping, filled the bin halfway full of water, added a couple of drops of blue food colouring just for fun, and plunked in Grae’s collection of shells, rocks, and driftwood.