Book Week 2014

Every year most Australian schools have a special 'Book Week' celebration that encourage the kids to read more books and fostering a reading relationship. The children are asked to bring a book that goes with their costume. Every year I leave organising a costume to the last minute so my son ends up wearing his everyday clothes and he goes as his favourite author. This year I was determined to be better organised as I now have two costumes to come up with. If I get it right this year then next year will be a breeze especially with three kids at school. 

The good thing about this years Book Week is that my son already knew what it was he wanted to go as and it wasn't an author. The bad news was I didn't have anything he needed to create his costume so I went off to the thrift shop to see what they had. I was really lucky to find an army t-shirt and army cargo pants for nine dollars. This was a little more than I wanted to pay but he would be more comfortable wearing a cotton outfit than the cheap nylon dress up outfit the local shop was selling for ten dollars. With a few extra accessories the entire outfit has cost me fifteen dollars but he's so excited to be going as a army private that it's money well spent.

My daughter started Prep this year so her costume requirements are different. The class had a theme so each Prep class was asked to come as a character from a fairytale. Many of the girls chose to come as a princess (Frozen was a popular choice). The boys had the opportunity to come as fairytale character, our class had more superheroes represented than Prince Charming. With this in mind I jumped on Pinterest to see what I could find for my daughter. We were thinking of dressing up as a fairy but we thought this fairy costume would be very different from all the other fairy costumes that might be worn on the day.

source

I found these instructions at Lilliedale for her Book Fairy Costume and the best thing was she provided detailed instructions that helped when I put the costume together. The best part about this costume was that all I needed to purchase were a few second hand children's storybooks, ribbon and a few glue sticks which cost me less than eight dollars. 

I made a few changes to the wings so that they looked more fairy like and less like the pages were falling out of the book. I didn't reinforce the book with wire but I did use two books to stabilise it so that it stayed in place. I also used a drill bit to make the hole as I didn't have anything else that would make a hole big enough so that the ribbon would thread through to tie around her arms.

1. Remove pages from book and glue to book.
2. Glue both books together making sure the cover is on display.
3. Drill through both books.
4. Insert ribbon so that it can be tied off.

The outfit was a great success, with a heap of parents stopping to comment on the costume and asking how I made it. The only negative aspect to the outfit was that it was impossible to sit in the car while wearing it. I ended up having to place it on the front seat and dress her at school. She loved wearing it and she didn't complain once. However with the weather being questionable the school cancelled the parade and they took the children into the school hall. Each year level had to sit down prior to been called up on stage, they showed off their costumes and then they returned to sitting down on the floor. As you can imagine she didn't have a big area to sit so the skirt was compromised. 

Although she had to sit down for the best part of ninety minutes. She did a good job looking after it, only a few cones came away from the ribbon. I'd bought my glue gun with me to school in case anything like this happened so I was able to fix it quickly without it causing any problems.

From the look on her face she had a great day and after the class pictures were taken I took her costume home with me. Having her wear it for the entire day would have resulted in her not being able to play and the costume would have gotten in the way. When I picked her up from school she was still wearing her crown and she told me that the librarian had come and talked to her at lunchtime. Apparently the librarian had never seen anyone like it in all the years she'd been working. Overall, it was a great costume and she looked beautiful.

Megan

Playroom Inspiration

We've lived in our not so new house for two years now and I'm presently looking to create a kid's area for the children to play in, create in and study in. With four children ranging in ages between nine and two it can be some what difficult to make the space work for everyone all the time. I knew straight up that I wanted the room to be multifunctional while also making it a fun and happy place to play in. So the first thing I did was search Pinterest to great some ideas of what makes a great playroom.

If you click on my Pinterest board you'll notice that colour, reading and homework area play a large roll when I've chosen the pins I've picked. In this post I thought I'd share my favourite playroom finds and the idea behind what I was thinking when I pinned each picture.

Love the colours and the amount of storage for toys.

Love the coloured canvas storage cubes and the little reading
nook between the bookcases.

A great bench seat that would be ideal for a reading nook.

Cushions for a reading nook to encourage
the kids to read.

Love the book cover letter to promote reading.

Long desk for all four children to sit at when
everyone is at school.

Love. Love. Love the colours in this room. It's so what I want for our
space because it would make you smile.

Love this rug and would love to great
something similar to it.

As you can see I have picked images that have a heap of storage within the room as well as lots of colour. If I had to describe my design criteria for the kids playroom I'd say that it might look like a 'Rainbow has thrown up in the room'. I'm wanting the colours to work within in the room without competing so I'm hoping that I'll e ale to pull this off when it all comes together.

In the coming weeks I'll share a few things that I've achieved so far within the room. I've got plans to paint a recently purchased bench seat using a new Australian made chalk paint that was released by a local business called Canterbury Blue Shabby Chic Furniture. The paint is called Chalk EZ2 Paint it's really easy to use and I'll go into more details when I get my seat finished.

I can't wait to share the things I've completed with you and I'm hoping that I get everything finished. I've now found the few things that I spent months searching for and I just need to find the time once school goes back to get this project FINISHED. Don't hold you're breath projects in this house seem to take forever to get completed. Wish me luck I'm sure I'll get there ha ha.

 Megan

De-Cluttering, Young House Love, Sickness and Another Failed Project.

Well I've been away for two weeks and I've really missed you guys. We've had a few things going on during these two weeks so I thought I'd share with you what we've been doing. I spent an entire week DE-CLUTTERING sections of our house so that I could create more room in our house. One thing I discovered during this time was that I have held onto so many things that I've wanted to use later but I don't think I'll ever find the time to get around to doing every project I've thought of. I set myself a goal for the week, I wanted to get the car into the garage so that we'd be protected when it rained. I didn't achieve my goal but I did get rid of quite a bit of stuff, I was able to set up a store area for school bags etc and I got Mackenna's bedroom furniture into her room. However, I still have a heap of things to get rid of and with the wild weather we've experienced in the last two days I really need to pull my finger out.

 

 

My book 'Young House Love: 243 ways to paint, craft, update and show your home some love' by Sherry and John Petersik arrived on Wednesday at my doorstep. I was so excited that I sat right down to have a quick read. The first project was something that I'd been thinking about for ages so I was really excited to get my remaining supplies so that I could finish off the project. I found wrapping paper that fitted with what I wanted and I also grabbed some more double sided tape so that I could stick everything down. Well after spending 6 hours trying to stick wrapping paper directly to the back of a billy bookcase I gave up. I was so frustrated that I ripped the wrapping paper off and this lead to removing some of the colour of the backing board. So now I'm going to try following John and Sherry's advice and I'll stick the wrapping paper to bits of cardboard or foam core. I was going to share picture BUT when the project doesn't work I'm going to keep it secret until I finally get this little project off the ground.

 

Now we have all been ill with the flu around hear and as usual I'm the last one to catch it. A mother's life is so exciting especially when you know that 5 other sick people will eventually make you sick. I will be returning later in the week due to the fact that I'm going through the worst of this dreaded flu and this phase lasts a few days. When I return I will share with you the Christmas ornament I made as part of the Christmas Ornament Exchange program I've signed up for.

 

 

So I am off to look after the kids while also trying not to spread my germs around again. Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to show you what I've been up to while I've been sick.

 

 

Megan

Scholastic a great fundraiser and a good read.

Both Mackenna and Caelan received their Scholastic book lists the other week and Caelan had a list a mile long of what he wanted. I found Mackenna's in her school bag so she didn't know anything about what was on offer. I've always enjoyed getting the little pamphlets even when I was in primary school. I'd do what Caelan does now only difference being I never asked mum or dad for the books because I knew that I either didn't have enough pocket money and I'd have to ask for the rest or because there was something else I didn't want to miss out on. So I'd save my money and daydream about the books. 

When Caelan was in Prep I got him a Lego book from Scholastic. I'd never seen anything like it in the stores and he's addicted to Lego so I knew I couldn't go wrong. Well this time I placed my order with Marchant Park because it gave me extra time to look over the pamphlets, I could think about what I wanted instead of making a rushed decision and I had time to find the money I'd been putting aside to buy the children's some books. Hands up if you love moving.

So I purchased 6 books. It should be 2 books per child but they will share some. I'm now on my way to growing their library, helping them read better and allowing them the chance to learn to love reading. I was amazed that these 6 books only cost me $20 and even better there was no charge for postage or petrol. What was even better I got the books back while dropping Mackenna at kindy so no one saw them and I then had the opportunity to hide them away. So this is what I got each child, I'll show you the books and then give you a breakdown of the costs involved.

Caelan has received the following 3 books and I'm hoping that everyone will get to use 'Silly Milly and the Mysterious Suitcase'. If Quinlan is lucky he might get to have a look at the 2 Lego books Caelan received but I wouldn't hold my breathe if I was him.

Silly Milly was a little too easy for him, might give it to Mackenna.

So this is how much each of Caelan's books cost. Silly Milly $3, Fight the Fire $3 and Escape the Lego City $4.50. Total cost $10.50

Mackenna got 2 books I'm hoping she really likes them. I read Hattie and the Fox to the kid's after we got home from school. They all liked the story but when I gave it to Mackenna she seemed upset she really wanted Caelan's Book Silly Milly. Here is what Mackenna got.

I might give Mackenna Silly Milly and Viveca Hattie and the Fox. Not
 sure will watch to see how the kid's go with the stories.

Mackenna's 2 books were really cheap and I always love a bargain. Strawberry Shortcake Activity Book $2.50 and Hattie and the Fox $2. Total cost $4.50.

Viveca ended up with only one book but I'm hoping this book will help her toilet training. I saw this title first and I knew straight away that I wanted this book so there was no question about who was going to get this book and teaching aid. Viveca's book cost $5, so that's how I got 6 books for $20.

This book comes with a crown and reward stickers that go on the crown.

This is a good little book. The stickers you'd give your child as a reward go onto the crown and this helps reinforce the behaviour that you want the child to do. Viveca is getting there she knows what it feels like to need to use the toilet but with all the driving we do each morning and afternoon she doesn't get too many opportunities to use the toilet.

So all up each book cost me $3.33 which is a bargain. I don't know of any book I could get for that price. I'm going to paying more attention everytime these pamphlets get handed out at school or kindy.

Megan