Winner of Gnome Giveaway and Blog Awards

It is giving fever here at Two Little Seeds.

First up is the winner of the Summer Gnome Giveaway:

Congratulations to Elizabeth!!!!
Thank you everyone who entered.

Please contact me with your details so I can post the gnomes to you...

all the way to the otherside of the world.

They have their passports ready and are excited to make their first trip abroad!

Secondly I was lucky enough to receive a blog award from the lovely

Scraps of Starlight

Here are the rules:
Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.
Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five (5) words. example: WRITE HEART PEOPLE LIVE HAPPY
Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.

My 5 words would have to be.... CREATE, EXPERIENCE, LEARN, HOME, LOVE...( I really need PLAY too.)

Here are the other 10 blogs:

(If it wasn't for the first 2 blogs... this one wouldn't exist.

They have been very inspirational to me.)

Childhood Magic

Wee Folk Art

Twig and Toadstool

Time To Craft

The Montessori Goldmine

Adventures In Steiner Home Education

By Hook And Thread

Pink and Green Mama

Wild Faerie Caps

Olives and Pickles

Why not stop by at some of them if you haven't heard of them before and find some new inspiration?

x

Say It With Buttons : A Photo Frame Gift

It was Grandma's birthday so Big Seed made her this lovely gift 

of a photo frame decorated in buttons to match her living room.

You need a flat frame, then prime it with white poster paint mixed with glue.

That takes a while to dry, then go crazy with buttons.

I bought a couple of mixed bags from Ebay.

What a co-incidence that Big Seed's aunt should send him some old buttons and necklaces

as a surprise package that morning!

I like the way that some of the buttons overlap the edge...

also to add that extra zing, layer some of them up.

Hope she likes it tomorrow!

By the way...make sure you enter Our Summer Giveaway...if you like gnomes!

Clipboard Treasure Hunt

This game can be played indoors and out.

It's been raining today, so this was a good game to play

in the wet garden in-between showers.

There is Big Seed running off with his clipboard to play this 

 kind of eye-spy game with pictures to cross off. 

Now please don't judge the quality of these drawings -

I had to draw these in 2 mins with a wriggling baby on my lap!

I also want to show that you don't have to design and print everything on a computer.

It started with a flower hunt idea- find the colours...but I ran out of crayons,

so I drew some garden stuff like washing line, sandpit, etc.
This picture above is completed.

It started to rain, so I drew a game for him to play indoors -

with pictures of his toys and household objects.

I tried to draw things that are found in different rooms.

If you need to do chores or need 5 minutes peace - draw things that belong upstairs!



Have you entered Our Summer Gnome Giveaway?

Enormous Splatter Picture

Inspired by The Artful Parent and Jackson Pollock we made huge splatter pictures.

Big Seed really enjoyed this.

Above is the flat canvas I attached to the end of the paper so I could keep this.

This is really cheap from The Range or Wilkinsons in UK.

I love this picture...combines the garden and painting.

I taped lots of big sheets from my husband's office together.

You can use a roll (from Ikea) or a sheet.

I put 3 poster paint colours in pots, watered down a little,

and gave him a brush, a spoon and a stick.

He liked pouring it the best ...he thought that was really great,

I suppose because that's something we don't ever do.

I can also see the shapes he had made out of wool yarn on the grass.

The garden is so great for big stuff!

But you know what he liked the best?

Now his feet were covered in paint so I brought a bowl of water and a cloth

to wipe him...

he loved dunking the cloth and splattering that about the best!

Oh well....typical eh?

Sun Paper Silhouette Game

After reading numerous posts on Sun Paper recently,

we made our own floral and leaf prints with it...

 and turned it into a game for Big Seed.

I bought my Sun Paper from here in the UK.

Then wrap the flowers and leaves in clear sticky wrap,

which you can buy from the supermarket.

You could probably laminate leaves but flowers are too bulky.

Have fun matching!

Alternative Breakfast : Fried Asparagus Rolls & Egg

It is always a big personal achievement if I can get

my son to eat anything green!

This is a simple recipe from this book:

which we are currently using.

 It has a chapter on breakfasts which is really useful as I use

this recipe as a good filler for about 10am.

Here's how:

1. Cut the crusts off some wholemeal bread slices ( not granary..it won't roll).

2. Boil some asparagus. It is best to cook for a few mins but my son loves his veg really soft, 

so I have to cook things longer.

3. Let the asparagus cool then roll it from corner to corner in the bread square.

I found it helped to put a cocktail stick through to keep the shape.

4. Fry it in oil.

5. Cook a runny egg for 3 mins in simmering water.

6. Slice off the top of the egg and dip in.

He actually said," Ooh this is nice, will you cook this again!"

A green vegetable...I nearly fell off my stool! 

How To Make A Wool Needle-Felted Mushroom

I looked all over the internet for a tutorial for one of these and couldn't find one.

I have to thank the lovely Amanda from By Hook and Thread blog who
emailed me instructions on how she made hers.

This is the first time I have tried needle-felting and it turned out quite well.
Big Seed seems to like playing with it.
This one is a little big though, he tries to use the top as a hat!

Wind your wool around a cardboard tube.
Use your special needle-felting needle and stab the wool at an angle.
Make sure you don't let the needle touch the tube or it will break easily.

I bought some white wool tops/roving from here at Handmade Presents in the UK.
Katrin at Handmade Presents is kindly offering readers 5% off a wool order if you mention this blog,
as long as you mention it in the message column of your order.

If you feel confident you can use 2 or 3 needles at a time.
Once it is sturdy, stick a ball of ordinary wool in to make it easier to felt with several needles.

Edit: Amanda says, "Just a little tip, before you wrap wool around the tube, pull it apart and lay some across and some down to cross the layers. It helps the scales of the wool to attach together in the needle felting process."

Here is the finished stalk.

Then find a bowl the appropriate size for the mushroom cap.
Wind the white wool around the bowl as you do for the stalk.
I then took some red wool torn into long strips and attached it to the top.
You can see some faint gaps on top as I didn't have enough red wool to be honest.
You can use all red wool if you have it and omit the white wool part.

For the spots, take a small amount of wool and roll it into a flat ball.
Place a cushion on your lap and stab it with the needle, turning it over several times,
until you have the desired spot.

Attach the spots to your cap.

Pop your cheeky gnomes inside, and put the cap on.
A new home for your gnomes!

Most importantly make it in secret in the evenings, then
watch your child's face light up in the morning when they discover the new arrival!

Speaking of gnomes...have you entered our Summer Gnome Giveaway here?