Amaze Balls

As a vegetarian with aspirational vegan tendencies coupled with a serious liking for chocolate, and a desire to give my toddler healthy snacks I have been coming up with ways that I can enjoy the taste of chocolate without having to spoil it with cow pus or exorbitant quantities of sugar!  I am a fan of Nakd bars which are made with raisins and nuts and stuff and I thought I would have a go at making my own using the ingredients listed on the pack.  

Here is my first attempt at a chocolatey vegan homemade snack, I call them Amaze Balls because you will be amazed at the flavour (and they are ball shaped!(and it sounds awesome!))

This is how I made them:

In a blender place 5 dates, 50g raisins, 2tbs coca powder, 50g cashew nuts and 1/2 tsp orange essence. 

Blend until they become a thick paste,

Roll into beautiful shiny balls,

EAT!

(Warning these are addictive! They won't be around for long!)

Fun Things to do with Toddlers - Water beads, hair gel and shaving foam

If water beads alone weren't fun enough then combining them with hair gel and shaving foam is a sensory extravaganza! 

We put them in a dish and let the fun begin, (how good do they look all lined up, just waiting to be mixed up)

Check out that wonderful slippery shine on those babies!

Boris gets stuck in, he isn't so fussed about getting messy hands these days.  mixing them together was like combining the layers of a blanange, jelly, custard and cake, all mixed up.

Scooping, pushing, picking up, mixing, swirling, poking, grabbing, squeezing, squelching, mushing,

A marvelously messy, superbly sensory, wonderfully wet, sensationally slippery experience!

Yes, we had a good time with the shaving foam, water bead, hair gel combo, it soon ended up all round the garden, but it was worth it.  Give it a go.  Have you done anything exciting with water beads? Leave a link in the comments!

Reggio Tag Toy

When Biscuit was tiny I had in mind to create a Reggio inspired play space like this one on The Imagination Tree. I decided to make a tag toy using strong contrasting black and white with bold shapes to grab Biscuit's attention.  It took me a long time and by the time it was finished he was really a bit old for it, but I thought I would share it anyway and give you a short run down of how I made it. 

I used to do loads of crafts but have so little free time now it is a rarity, I love sewing and crafting so much I hope I can get back into it as the boys get older and can amuse themselves for longer.  So any little project I do feels like a huge achievement, and of course I want to share it!  

Step 1: Cut 5 squares of black fabric and four squares of white measuring about 12cm each (for a 10cm square with 1cm for stitching together)

Step 2: Cut one piece of black fabric (for the back) measuring about 33cm by 32cm,

Step 3:  Cut strips of tape (I think I used herring bone) for the tags,

Step 4: Cut the shapes you want appliqued onto each square,

Step 5: Sew the shapes onto the squares using a very close zig zag stitch so it creates a solid line of stitching about 1/2mm thick all the way round, this stops stray threads on the applique shapes,

Step 6: Sew together the squares as you would a patchwork quilt,

Step 7: Place the front and back face to face then pin the tabs all the way round so they are inwards,

Step 8: Sew all the way round leaving a small gap,

Step 10: Turn inside out and sew up the gap.

Very basic instructions I know, it was pretty simple though so I am sure you can work it out, and there are probably way better instructions for how to make a tab toy than these such as this one  and this one. 

Have you ever made a tag toy? or any toys for your baby? I would love to see them, feel free to link in the comments. 

Hope you are having a great weekend x