Ayyam-i-Ha 2011

 

Ayyam-i-Ha this year was much anticipated. We made a count down (advent) calendar. I used a 9 pointed star template to cut out 19 stars for the Baha'i month preceding Ayyam-i-Ha. Every morning the kids would take off one star and put it in the box. The box sometimes had a little present or something to do to prepare for Ayyam-i-Ha, like make cards, bake cookies etc.  During the 4 days, the kids had a ball, with numerous parties and presents from family and friends. Lots of precious handmade ones this year, mainly made by children for each other. A memorable evening with grandparents listening to a music we hadn't heard since I was a child and rediscovered. (William Sears tape about Ayyam-i-Ha).

Rainbow rice

This activity was inspired by Pink and Green Mama who's blog is full of fun rainbow things to do.
Be prepared for a mess. I laid a sheet down before putting the tray on, but we still had rice all over the floor. Great for summer outside.

I put equal amounts of rice into zip lock bags, added a few drops of food colouring into 2 tablespoons of vinegar and mixed in with the rice. Pour into bowls to dry. There are different ways of doing this.

great sensory activity

the kids added some little wooden toys, cars, etc to the tray.

paper box

Recycled box for recycled paper. We go through a lot of paper each day, with the kids artwork and writing, so i always have a box for printed paper with a blank side. I'm hoping the tree cutout will be a reminder to 'save trees'.

Fairies and Rainbows

A recent trip to nearby Hahndorf, pics at a fairy shop. The picture with Tigger is of Bayan, Amy and baby Ethan, as the kids call him. We've been getting together on fridays for a moms get together. I really look forward to these friday chill/craft sessions with some fabulous mamas!
Did i mention we're(danny) into rainbows at the moment?

Jewelery stand

Block of wood (off cut), wrapped in paper and decorations, punched in a few nails (beads for decoration) and voila! A much tidier space. The challenging part was the "helpers".... notice beads on floor...

Good enough to eat!

First attempt at soap making. Special request from my grandma (mummy joon), says its the only thing that stops her hair from falling out:) This is a basic cold process soap with a mixture of oils fromt he supermarket and a swirl of chocolate. Yup, plain old cocoa powder. easy peasy, with a stick blender it takes under an hour for the whole operation. Eager beaver sliced it up before dinner - big mistake. Little bunnies were starving and nearly had a slice to eat!

Original pillowcases

While Amy slept, Danny and mommy did some sewing and artwork using fabric markers on a pillowcase. Danny's comments as we sewed: " Mommy, i can sew now!!! Now i don't need to play any other games, i can just do this. " When he completed his sewing (a circle) on a not so new pillowcase, i gave him some Crayola fabric markers and his joy was complete!! Especially when he realized it was an object he could actually use. "Mommy, we are not putting this on the shelf, this goes on MY pillow, no other pillowcases ever." After he had covered every inch of the hoop, I ironed the design on the reverse, and we'll find out soon how it holds up in the wash. Another design mommy made earlier, below.

Teabags, shells and sewing machine

Every morning, as daddy makes his cuppa tea, little miss Amy who wants to do it all just like grown ups insists on getting her own teabag, and swinging it around the house till it ends up in some corner, to be retrieved later by yours truly. So with a bit of inspiration from some blog(sorry can't find link) i came up with this felt version of 'the teabag'. They loved it, for a few days....






A very exciting afternoon at a nearby beach where we discovered treasure-troves of shells and stones. I got so excited after finding cowrie shells for the first time ever, it brought back memories of faraway Cameroon, visiting the palace of a local chief of a village, the front entrance decorated with cowrie shells embedded into the mud plaster, and strung around the neck as a necklace. Historically, they were used as currency in ancient Africa.




Finally, a sewing machine to get on to those myriad projects i've been dreaming up, especially after reading "The Creative Family" (thanks Lessan) and the whole idea of bringing the homely things back into the home.... Got this machine free from our local Freecycle network. Love Freecycle. It works, and at this butterfly stage of our life, i'm not spending much on heavy large objects that may not be able to move to the next destination (no clue yet where that could be).

Felt Phase

Some felt food I made up, which kids loved.















3 months later: Turns out this was more than a phase, i've since made a few more pieces. Some samples made for a friends child:

Coloured pasta craft

Made some coloured pasta to take to craft time at one of the playgroups we attend.
Here's how: to half a cup vinegar add 10 or more drops food colouring. Add pasta shells and let dry overnight. Colour intensifies when dry. I mixed up the colours for different shades here, but primary colours look brilliant too.

Bake me cake

Amy's birthday rolled around and despite the fact that i'm not big on birthdays, i though it a good opportunity to meet up with new mommy friends in new town, and keep it simple. Well, what to do about the cake...what does the birthday girl like? easy, books. All day, everyday, mommy read book. So i'll make a book shaped caked. But which of the many favourite books...hmmm....One that she and i both love, gets read daily, and was MY favourite book as a little girl: 'Karen and the little lost kitten', charming little book with a pop up kitten, now out of print.
Using a recipe for a firm cake, i covered it with a layer of marzipan, then some sugarpaste icing, which was nightmare to get on without crumbling. the rest was just a matter of using painting a scene with food colouring, as if on paper, and some marzipan bits, made ahead.