Handmade | Hear Mum Roar

Category Archives: Handmade

Lavender

Written on September 15th, 2010 by Hear Mum Roar in Cognitive, Emotional, Fine motor, Going green, Handmade, Language, Preschool aged, Projects, Saving money, September 2010, Social

It’s been beautiful Spring weather here lately. Mr 4 and I ventured outside to pick loads of lavender that has popped out all over the place. We also set about untying and pulling the petals off the dried lavender that has been hanging all this time.

Mr 4 and I compared two very different flowers: a dried lavender flower, and a fresh one. We talked about the differences in colour, texture and smell. He had a ball hanging out in the old shop, having a nice old poke around.

First we sorted through our big wicker basket chock-ful of flowers. Mr 4 and I had to turn them all around so that each bud was facing the same way, then tie them in bunches and lastly, hang them up to dry. I told him about how the air circulates all through the leaves, petals and stems, helping to dry out the flowers so we can preserve them for later use.

It certainly kept him very busy! ‘This is hard work, Mum!’ he kept telling me.

But there was more to do… It was then time to un-tie the dried lavender that Missy 9 had helped me with, and crumble the petals away from the stalks to be stored.

You should have smelt that shop! Oh my…

We’ve also been having some adorable visitors that have been keeping the children amused…

Meet Little Frog. If you remember me telling you briefly about our flooding situation, then I don’t need to explain to you why the carpet has been ripped out and you’re staring at the concrete floor of our currently defunct playroom. It seems Little Frog has made himself right at home amid all the damp.

And have you met Big Toad?

This picture really doesn’t do this beautiful creature justice. Blame it on the neurotic woman behind the camera! This overblown toad was found outside whilst I was outside at the bins. I rushed inside to find a container and a cloth to put over the top.

Big Toad was much heavier than I anticipated, and lurched all around in this temporary home. I was not game to take more than a bird’s eye shot. But I will say this toad is much, much bigger than it looks in this photo. Its tummy was so chubby, it nearly didn’t fit into my container! We all enjoyed looking at its colourful stripes and it’s bubbly neck. Then, of course I let it go. I think it was a very pregnant girl frog…

I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many toads as I have since moving here. And certainly none so colourful! Does anyone know what type of toad it is?

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It’s a wet one today

Written on June 9th, 2010 by Hear Mum Roar in Fine motor, Going green, Handmade, June 2010, Projects, Saving money, School aged

It’s been one of those days to just stay inside and huddle up from the cold here, today. I figured it’d be a perfect time for an update post.

I did venture just outside the back door to show you how our backyard is coming along since we started tackling the mess:

As you can see, it’s still quite the blank canvas. But the exciting news is that it’s now ready to grow some lawn on the dirt patch you see (formerly waist-deep weeds and thorns), some hedges and fruit trees! I cannot wait until we realise our dream for our kids to interrupt their outdoor play to stop, pick a fruit of their choice from a tree and sit underneath munching happily.

If you remember my freshly crushed pot-pourri from a few days, I have an update on that too. I was wondering out loud if it was ok to use freshly crushed petals for a pot-pourri, but was willing to experiment, given the amount of poo stench our animals and children were belching out! Well, I’m happy to say that after a few days, it’s drying out beautifully. See?

I’m still leaving it sitting on the kitchen bench and crushing it to release more scent. As Marilyn pointed out, you can also use essential oils to freshen up the scent too.

I also mentioned that I wanted to start drying some flowers. Well, Missy 9 and I were very busy yesterday afternoon picking this:

I wish you could smell this. It’s all we can smell in our house at the moment. Missy 9 also helped me to bunch up the lavender and hang it in the studio to dry:

More on this after it’s nice and dried out!

I’m also thrilled to announce that Team Ivy reached it’s goal of $5,000! I’m so amazed and proud of what Tiffany has acheived with one idea. I’m also proud of Nuffnang for donating the last $500 once donations reached $4,500! It makes me love being a blogger all the more.

I’ve also upgraded the survey for Hear Mum Roar, as I know it wasn’t so easy originally for many of you to put a variety of answers in. I couldn’t change it with the platform I was using, so I’ve changed to another, and now, as far as I know, it’s working how it should be. So please, don’t be shy, tell me what you love or hate about this blog! I’m enjoying reading the answers so far, as it’s really helping me to know what you want more of.

Talk to you soon!

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Home made air freshener

Written on June 8th, 2010 by Hear Mum Roar in Challenges, Going green, Handmade, June 2010, Projects, Saving money

Having a new puppy in the house means we’ve been cleaning up a lot of puppy accidents. She’s getting more toilet trained, going outside to do her business. But sometimes, she just doesn’t make it. Ew. Today I was cleaning up the yard of all her poop, then came inside to freshen up Sookie’s kitty litter. My darling asked me to put some more deodoriser in his litter.

I hesitated.

a) Because we’ve run out of the deodoriser.

b) Because it’s full of bad chemicals I don’t want around my fiance.

c) Because I had another idea I’d been meaning to try for a while.

So, today, I was forced to try this idea thanks to the empty deodoriser bottle.

I went out to my front garden and tore petals from the prettiest smelling flowers I could get my hands on. I ripped them to shreds, and threw them into the bottom of Sookie’s empty litter box. Then I filled it with litter. So much nicer and more natural. Not to mention, totally free, and no packaging to dispose of.

I then changed Missy Two’s pooey nappy, and it stank the entire room out. My hands still smelt divine after ripping up all those gorgeous flowers. So, I had another idea. I returned to my garden, and took more petals: lavender, rose, geranium, daisies. I got out my trusty pestle and mortar….

…and crushed those fresh petals to buggery.

I know that with pot pouri, you’re supposed to dry the petals first, but hey, says who? The whole living room, kitchen and dining room smelt amazing. I’ve just left it sitting in the pestle and mortar, and everytime I want to reactivate the scent, I just give it a mix, or smash it a little.

From now on, I’ve decided I will start drying my own petals and do it the ‘proper’ way. Great to know though, that in a moment’s notice, it really doesn’t matter. Fresh, crushed petals rock.

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Pay it forward

Written on November 7th, 2009 by Hear Mum Roar in Giveaways, Handmade, Projects

From here

I will be paying it forward, making a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post. I have 365 days to do it in…What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!
The catch is that you must participate as well: you must have a blog and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Just cut and paste this one if you like, which I did.

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