Accidental Christmas decorations

I've had a little bucket of shells in the cupboard for a while now and wasn't sure what to do with them. Being a stones-throw from the beach means we can get more at anytime so we usually just play with them till they crack or get stepped on.

I've also have some rubbish finger paints so thought I'd throw the two together and see what happens. The paint will just make paper wet and vaguely stain it a dull colour.

The Zebra really enjoyed painting the inside and outside of the shells

She would also paint the paper and push the shells around the coloured parts 

Next we got a pot of glue to dip the shells into, before putting in a clean bowl.

Out comes the glitter! The Zebra loves getting her glue covered hands all sparkly 

Shake it all about to make sure each shell is covered, before leaving them all to dry

The glittery shells looked pretty, and the green and red was really Christmassy. I grabbed some ribbon and superglue, turning them into quick tree decorations..

While I did the finishing touches, the Zebra played with the shells and finger paints some more 

I clearly should have been paying more attention as it wasn't long until she had painted her feet and started making foot prints!! At least she had good fun

5 Minutes of Fun - Pom Poms

Alongside our big craft projects, we also do lots of mini-activities. They generally entertain the Zebra for long enough for me drink a cuppa while it's still warm...

They are simple, basic, open-ended play activities which are fun!

Today - Pom-poms and toilet rolls!

Middle Farm, Lewes, East Sussex

While on our venture to Brighton, we took a day trip to Middle Farm. The weather was a bit pants, but it is November and this is England! Once the Zebra was snug in her Regatta all-in-one and Hunter wellies, she was ready for the day and the puddles...

I have to say, we had a brilliant day! It had the right balance between real-working-farm and kids tourist attraction. At £4 per adult and under 3's free, it was also very well priced. There was lots of room to just run and play, and everywhere we went was full of free range ducks and chickens and birds 

Due to the weather we couldn't make the most of the outside play areas - but no trip to the farm is complete without a ride on a tractor 

There's no generic soft play here, instead there's a barn with hay bales stacked up to run, crawl, climb and hide in! It took a while for Zoe to work out how to walk on the springy floor, but once she found her feet she was off!

And no day out is complete without some peephole fun!

The first building we entered had some of the cutest fluffy bunnies you could imagine - along with guinea pigs and even more birds. At feeding time the staff put out a big tub of veggies for anyone to hand feed the animals. Or for toddlers to chew on. 

They also so a 'pat-a-pet' session where the fluffiest, friendliest bunnies come out for a cuddle. That was a major hit with the Zebra (and mummy!) 

Across from the pets was a big barn with yet more very friendly animals. There were llamas, sheep, goats, horses and the loudest donkey I've ever heard. And even more chickens! Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen so many birds in my life.

All the animals were clearly well look after, and they were happy and content. Many would come up to the sides looking for cuddles, which is perfect for a toddler who loves to stroke and pet the animals 

They also have a 'meet the sheep' session where two sheep are popped on a lead and taken outside. It was rather funny seeing a sheep taken on a walk, but they were more than happy to go along with it 

Next it was onto the pigs - after recently discovering the joys of Peppa, I expected big things. However, the Zebra was suitable unimpressed. We did get to feed them, although not by hand due to the size of their teeth. Scary things.

The cows were milked in the afternoon, but as we were there for the morning we missed out in that. But we did get lots of licks from some lovely young calves! 

No trip is complete without a visit to the tearoom for a spot of lunch. All the food is very farmy, hearty and tasty. A kids lunch box was huge and only £4. There was easily enough for two 18 month olds in one box. The tea room was in a lovely building and the Zebra was fascinated by the old beams.

There was also a lovely gift shop with lots of tradition wooden toys, along with the usual soft cuddlies. Zoe picked out a cute little brown pony to take home.

We can totally recommend a day here - it was enjoyed by all the family! It was well priced, well looked after and the staff were fantastic. It had all the basic you need and the loo's surprisingly warm and clean! Can only give Middle Farm a 5* rating 

Jam tarts

I'd forgot just how fun jam tart making was until a recent session at Active Tots so we had a go at home today!

I haven't made me own pastry before, usually I buy the ready made rolls, so I had to find a recipe. 

I am shocked at how simple it is - butter, flour and water. We will be making all our pastry own from now on. 

Mix together the flour, butter and salt until fine like breadcrumbs. 

Add 3 tablespoons of water and three use your hands to mix. 

You can then leave it in the fridge for half an hour to help it roll better, but we are too impatient! 

At this stage I relaised I don't own a rolling pin!!! A quick scout through the toy box and I found a plastic carrot which worked just as well...

Cut out the circles and place into a greased pan.

Fill all the cases with jam and lemon curd, don't forget to regularly lick the spoon.

Pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180degs and make sure doggie gets a good look at them cooking.

They are ridiculously hot when they come out from the oven, so I left them to cool for a couple hours and we will have them after our tea. Delish! 

Potato prints

After finding some very old potatoes buried in my vegetable rack I decided today was a good day for trying potato print painting! 

After cutting off the shoots, the potatoes are halved, and then handles cut into the top of each one.

Next the tricky bit - cutting the bottoms into shapes. Despite starting with 8 stamps I was only able to make 4 prints! The biggest tip I can give is remember anything you cut will print with a mirror image - my Z looks great in potato, but was backwards once printed!

I wanted to go for two different types of picture, so we did:

*Paint on white paper  

*PVA glue on black paper 

While the glue was still wet we sprinkled white glitter all over, hoping for a zebra effect.

 It was lots of fun but with the backwards Z, it came out more as bright splodges

The painting was great fun and kept her occupied a good 20 minutes.

The more she stamped, the more the paint mixed and gave some really funky prints 

There was more dragging than printing but it was a good fun session with some pretty prints 

Remembrance Sunday

At 17 months, The Zebra is much too young to understand why Rememberance Day is so important (She's also  young to be trusted not to eat the poppy on my jumper). 

I still wanted to acknowledge the day, so we had a theme around the Poppy. A symbol of hope and a fresh start, as well as all that has been lost. 

The Zebra loves baking and we try and make something every week. I like recipes that aren't to hard and allow her to do most the cooking. Obviously some bits, like making the leaves, have to be done by me! 

Trying to be a bit adventurous and tasty, we went for a lemon and poppyseed recipe. Zebra enjoyed squeezing the lemons but soon took to eating them... 

We're not sure what went wrong, but this biscuit recipe was much too wet to shape - even after adding in lots more flour. Luckily we had cupcake cases in the cupboard!

After all her hard work of stirring and pouring and filling cases, it's time to taste the mixture while waiting for the cakes to bake

Using the fantastic Wilton Gel food colouring, Zebra was able to paint the cakes poppy red. I love how even a teeny amount of gel gives such a vibrant colour. Once dried, I was able to add the black centres to the poppy.

As the recipe was originally biscuit not cake, the final bite was a bit heavy an stuck to the cases, however the lemon flavour was delicious and has certainly inspired me to cook with citrus more often. 

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