the 46 brazillionth post ever on how to display kiddie art

We haven't done organised crafting for ages ... have we outgrown it? Probably more to do with the fact that our art room has been a revolting, disorganised, uninviting shambles for months, a state I finally remedied these past holidays. 

And jeez did I unearth a lot of art.

Although not crafting as such, we always have paints available on a table in there and over the last while the girls have filled page after page with lovely colours and textures, all left on windowsills to dry and never thought of again.

I tell myself the process is more important than the end product but I still hate throwing these creations away. 

Add to them the mountains of stuff which came home from school at the end of last term and ja, a lot of art.

The pick of the crop I stuck up on one wall, a towering monument to my small people's creativity.

and yes, that's a crate of booze next to the wheel-less trike, because boozing and crafting
go very well together don't you know

And the enormous pile of abstract paintings I sorted and hole-punched with a 2" punch and artfully arranged in a frame I had hanging around (ha ha).

I'd love to do a massive one, in a white frame, but it's a start and I've no doubt those girls will produce much more material for me to use in the future!

zen christmas

I could bang on and on about how utterly sublime Cape Town has been these last few days. Windless, warm (but not too warm), clear, blue and gold.
But that could get you hating, and I wouldn't want that.

So I'll just bang on about how relaxed and ready I'm feeling about Christmas, and you can be hating on me for that instead.
But really, I'm as surprised as anyone. I'm genuinely calm, prepared and feeling totally zen about this silly season: Christmas, school holidays, endless empty days to fill  - bring it on.

Molly's SmugFace Guide to Christmas Preparedness:

1. Schedule 3+ weeks of family sickness for November. This enables you all to get really used to spending lots of time at home together. And gives you some time for holiday crafting to distract you from killing your children, or yourself.

2. Do one 2h trip to Osman's sometime far away from pay day (way too busy then) to sort out all stocking fillers, extra tinsel and tree bling, and the necessary couple of small friend gifts. Yeah, I know we should all be buying handmade but frankly, I can't always afford that.

3. Agree with your friends not to buy each others kids presents. We give and receive generously for our children's birthdays, and with all the family gifts they receive at Christmastime I don't think they need all that extra loot too. Sometimes we bake for our friends around Christmas time, sometimes we don't - there's no pressure and no one should be keeping score.

4. Order one kid's main gift from Kalahari (or similar online outlet), source other kid's gift on the web and go straight to the source to buy it in one easy excursion. Visit Reader's Warehouse or similar for a couple of books.
(Our girls get stockings from 'Father Christmas', and one or two presents from us. I'm loving the 3 gift concept too - something to wear, something to read, something to play - but if summer thus far is anything to go by they'll be stark naked until February, so I'm skipping the 'wear' one.)

5. Luck out on finding one source for all family gifts (us adults all buy one small gift per couple) - and earn bonus smug points for a) buying them all in under 30 mins and b) supporting a local industry.
Oh and, persuade your siblings not to breed - it really helps when you don't have nieces and nephews to buy for.

6. Wrap as you buy. I'm new to this (and I'm not joking when I say I'm as freaked out by this newfound efficiency as anyone) but what a winning concept. Buy a gift, wrap it when you get home/ that evening/ while they're in the bath / while talking on the phone. It only takes a minute and it's easier to stash a wrapped gift than an unwrapped one.

7. Start making a list in October of what your kids need or want so when you get the inevitable queries from relatives you've some answers at the ready. I've yet to meet an aunt or granny who's not appreciative and it means I have some control over the kind of kak, I mean, presents which come into the house.

8. Pledge, and stick to it, not to go into any malls after end November. So far I've managed this and my god it's making a difference to my sanity levels. The Garden Centre doesn't count okay!
[Ack, went into Cavendish yesterday - but took the lift straight down to Woolies, bought shoes for both girls and got the hell out. Relatively unscathed.]

9. WALK AWAY. What can't be done, won't be done. Don't promise nothing to nobody but yourself - I've had years of practise letting myself down, it stopped hurting long time ago.

10. Throw candy, not money, at any problems which come your way. Or alternatively, your own face. Frequently.

Ah the smugness. Annoying hey?

Yeah, I'm too zen to let that bug me. And too busy frantically finishing a handmade stocking for Sunday.

What is it about this time of year?!

the flip-flops of efficiency

A few weeks ago I bought Friday her first pair of flip-flops.

I know, I know, 4 years old seems very late for this but I have such lurid memories of tearing my feet apart with plastic shoes as a kid that I'd delayed buying her some 'til now.

She opened the bag, gave me her shy/proud smile.
'Aren't you clever Mum. Flippy shoes just like you and Dad.'
 
She's been proudly wearing them in ever since, being very sensible about changing shoes if they start to hurt, and telling anyone who'll listen that she's got new flip-flops, often followed by, 'Have you got flip-flops? No? (then with genuine sympathy) Shame.' 

She loves that they've got stars on them and she loves that the straps are hot pink (duh, she's 4 - of course she does) but the thing she loves most (besides maybe me, for buying them), is the sound they make when she walks.
The first time she wore them to school I stood at the gate watching her walk up the pathway, then called out to her softly, 'Flip flop flip flop flip flop.'
She turned and flashed me her biggest smile.
Hot damn I earned mega brownie points with that purchase.

And my favourite thing about the New Shoes? Because she likes to move in them she's taken to sudden flurries of 'packing away'. Bustling round the house putting away toys and clothes and moving books back into her room. All the while enjoying the crisp sound of efficiency. Flip flop flip flop flip flop.

I could listen to that sound all day.

Gratuitous, and total unrelated, picture of lavender in the setting sun light.

 I don't have a photo of the flip-flops, they move too damn fast.

toyi toyi

So I'll admit it ... I failed the 7-day Toy Cure. Sometimes toes just won't toy the line you know?

Wait, that's not right ...

I mean, some things are just not meant to be toyed with.

Some toys just won't tamed.

Some toys just need a good wash and they're good as new.

I did gather a box of bits and pieces for the Rural Child, and I did a fair bit of sorting and rotating of books and craft materials, but I wouldn't use the word 'cure'.

Nope, sometimes it seems you can't just throw your toys.

All photos by moi, some posed, others not - bet you can't guess which are which!

the 7-day toy cure

I'm a-doing it!

I'm not a huge fan of online de-cluttering or organising tutorials, but this is one I'm happy to try out. We have, as I'm sure many families do, TOO MANY TOYS.
Could there be a more shockingly First World problem?

I'm quite good about a (fairly) regular clear-out, but as with the clothes mentioned yesterday, until now I've always wanted to keep things for my youngest growing up, or toys which have an emotional value - either for the person who gave them to us or the stage in their lives my kids played with them.

But now that Sunday's outgrowing toys as rapidly as she is clothes, it's time to do a real cure.

I'll let you know how it goes ... and feel free to start it anytime yourself, I'll update links to the daily (gulp) 'assignments'.


Day One: Create an Outbox and Touch every Toy

Day Two: Touch every Toy cont. (it sounds a little creepy doesn't it?)

Day Three: Arts & Crafts Supplies (I did this already last month. Yay me.)

Biggest challenge I foresee: keeping the 'Outbox' safe from prying eyes and hands.

Nothing suspicious about this right?