Mother's day was a non-event in our household this year as it fell on the weekend that we were finally moving into our (unfinished) new house. We were too busy trying to make the house safe & habitable for us all to stop & celebrate. However we normally try and make a big deal out of these days of celebration as being a Mama & Daddy is really important to us. However if you are anything like us there can also be a sense of dread as any special occasional looms as it inevitably means spending money, which is really tight lately. For this reason I have decided to use my imagination and make the day as special as I can without going over budget, and i thought i'd share one of my projects with you so that you can give it a go too! I'm also sharing with you the gift we gave Ken last year as it is a really nice idea for new Dads, Ken loved it & it doesn't cost much at all.
I am making quite a few little things for Ken which are art & craft based to enable every present to be a personalised one of a kind. Also Henry is now 16 months old & loves drawing, painting & anything messy, so I'm always looking for projects that a toddler or child can do. I don't think it's ever too early to get children involved in creating & crafting so even babies can get involved. I'm only sharing one of this year's projects before Father's day as i don't want to spoil all of the surprises. I can't wait to show you all the other things Henry & I have done for Ken though!
I know that posting this on friday night when father's day is on Sunday is a little bit short notice for making presents, but these really are super quick to make & are great if you've forgotten to get anything & can't face buying cheesy I ❤ Dad chocolates!
I am making quite a few little things for Ken which are art & craft based to enable every present to be a personalised one of a kind. Also Henry is now 16 months old & loves drawing, painting & anything messy, so I'm always looking for projects that a toddler or child can do. I don't think it's ever too early to get children involved in creating & crafting so even babies can get involved. I'm only sharing one of this year's projects before Father's day as i don't want to spoil all of the surprises. I can't wait to show you all the other things Henry & I have done for Ken though!
I know that posting this on friday night when father's day is on Sunday is a little bit short notice for making presents, but these really are super quick to make & are great if you've forgotten to get anything & can't face buying cheesy I ❤ Dad chocolates!
Father's Day DIY: Salt Dough Medals....
These are a great idea to do with toddler's as it's just like playing with play dough for them. I'm pretty sure that most people will have flour & salt in their cupboards......and that's pretty much all you need so these really won't break the bank!
To make the salt dough:
All You'll need is -
1/2 Cup of salt
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of plain flour
To make the salt dough:
All You'll need is -
1/2 Cup of salt
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of plain flour
Mix all of the ingredients together to form a dough......
Mix it into a ball & knead it for about 5 minutes. It will become smooth and resemble play dough.
Roll the dough out into a thin sheet & cut out what ever shapes you fancy. I went for big circles & little stars.....and a lion!
Now get the little ones to put their stamp on to the dough. You could do footprints as well if you feel like it & then write their name & the year using the tip of a knife.....that's obviously a job for the grown-ups.
Once you've finished designing your medals together use the knife to make a hole in the top so you will be able to put ribbon through it.
There will be loads of dough left over so get creative and make whatever shapes you feel like. Henry liked rolling out snakes. Bake everything in the oven for about 4 hours on a low heat about 140℃ or gas mark 1.
I also used the Lion cookie cutter that I was given by Hels Martin as a thank you for baking cakes for The Lionheart magazine launch to make our very own Lionheart! I'm inspired to make lion heart cookies like this now for the release of issue 2!
Another present idea which is ideal for new dads:
Last year for Father's day I gave this picture to Ken for father's day. It's a photo of him holding a newborn Henry, however to make it special I typed out all of his tweets from his @Codename21 twitter account from the first few weeks after Henry was born. These were a great record of how he was feeling at the time & are a really great memento for both Ken & Henry. Obviously not all new dad's use twitter, but text messages or Facebook status updates could also be used. The important thing is to make sure the date is next to the quote!
