Fall-inspired DIY Runner Rugs

We have been looking for a runner for our kitchen that fits perfectly in the space and blends in with the decor at the same time. So, during a shopping episode one fine morning, I came across some mats on an end-of-season sale that looked the perfect candidate for a chabby-chic runner rug. The only problem was they were too small to make a runner but very beautiful/unique (they are hand-made). So, I decided to buy them (can't beat the price of 5$ for each handmade mat) and sew them together to make a long runner rug.

What you will need:

• Table runner (however many required to fit a space; the best way to test the space is by placing the mats in place and figuring out how much mats are needed or you can measure the space =)

Single Mat © Everything Family Guide

• An upholstery needle with a large groove
• Thick string, wool, or twine; the same color as the mats. I used a roll of normal knitting yarn.

What you need to do:

• First, place the mats side-by-side and upside down (we will be sewing on the bottom side of the mat that will be facing the ground) and then start by threading the string together. 

• In the beginning, the first stitch has to be secured with a thick knot and a criss-cross stitch. In order for the stitch to not show at the top of the mat, it is important to sew on the inside seams of the rug and not let the needle go through on the other side.

• The criss-cross stitch continues all the way along and is the best way to put the mats together and keep them together for a long time. Below is an example of a criss-cross stitch in a color that blends in with the mat. 

Criss-Cross Stitch © Everything Family Guide

• This project is a little time-consuming (possibly 10-15 minutes per mat), but all the hard work goes a long way. You can stitch a runner or a large carpet sized mat. 

Inspiration: I got the idea of stitching the mats together from Apartment Therapy where they had sewn round rugs together to make a stylish rug. 

4 Mats sewn together © Everything Family Guide

Viola! Beautiful D-I-Y Runner Rugs. The total cost of my mats $25 (including the mats, yarn, and upholstery needle). We loved them so much that I ended up doing one for the kitchen and the hallway. 

Thanks for reading,
Annie

Gardening Project at Home

We have been super busy this spring and summer (which is soon to end...SIGH...). This year we tried our hand at vegetable gardening. After doing some research, we have learned that for a crop-producing garden it is best to start planting our seeds and bulbs in early spring. We had a late winter this year, and so we started our vegetable patch in mid-May. In warmer places, it is suitable to start in April.

Here is what we did:

• We chose the sunniest spot in our garden because we were only planting for the summer and you need around 8-10 hours of sunlight for the healthy growth of your plants (this process of converting light to reusable energy for the plant is called photosynthesis). We started off by digging an area of the garden that was about 2 feet tall and 7 feet wide. We dug up the earth and loosened the dirt to add in our organic soil. We used two whole, large bags of good quality organic soil and mixed it up with the loosened dirt. Tip: it's best to get rid of any weed, grass, rocks and pebbles from the garden patch, as they can interfere with the growth of the crop and its roots.
• Then, we purchased organic seeds and vegetables from our local garden. My friends advised me to use fresh root vegetables (like green onions, onions, potatoes with suds, garlic, ginger, etc.), with their dried roots still visible. Using fresh vegetables for herbs that have roots usually yields good growth results.
• We made little holes with our spade to drop in our seeds and vegetables. Then we planted the vegetables and seeds in a row with a 3 to 5 inch gap between each vegetable (on the side, and in the back and front). After dropping in our seeds and vegetables, we closed the gap by covering it with dirt around the hole. Tip: don't be tempted to put in too much seeds or vegetables in a hole, as this can result in tiny or no growth.
• Next, came the CARE. We watered the plants everyday in taking care to use a watering spray, instead of a direct watering hose or can. Too much water pressure can make the plants stems slanted, weak or get damaged in the process. Thus, it is important to use a watering spray with low water pressure from the hose. Occasionally, I would visit the patch to pull out any weed or grass growth in or around the garden patch.

So towards the end of the summer and during beginning of fall, we decided to harvest our vegetables. Here is what we found (our hard earned results):

• Turnips - We used seeds to plant turnips. They grew the largest in our garden, with a fresh/crisp scent and vibrant colors. We knew they were ready because once they grow, they start to come up from the ground to the point that you can see turnip heads attached to the leafy part of the plant. Once they were cut, we found some kind of an infestations inside the vegetable and had to throw it out. Just a note to add, the turnip leaves are very leafy and wide/large.
• Radishes - We planted the radish using seeds. Although, the plant grew large leaves, the radishes were hard and raw tasting on the inside. Maybe, they needed more time in the ground, as some were kind of green on the inside.
• Potatoes - We used our pantry potatoes that grown white heads or sprouts. Potatoes need a lot of water and the leaves and stems should be trimmed often. The leaves are big and grow in clumps. Also, due to a lack of water or high heat/long sun hours, the leaves can burn or turn yellow. Two months into the growth, if the potato roots don't have room to grow or won't grow anymore, then you may begin to see little white flowers bloom from the potatoes stems/leaves bush. This is an indicator that there is no more growth of the potato root. The potatoes we harvested were tiny, but tasted and looked great!
• Carrots - We planted carrots seeds and the carrot leaves sprouted from the ground later than the other vegetables. The leaves looked very delicate and fine. The carrots we harvested were very tiny, but crunchy and sweet.
• Ginger - We used fresh ginger root and were not successful with growing anything during this season. The ginger root did grow some tiny roots on its head (this is an indicator that maybe we needed to plant them for a longer time). We planted the ginger root with a little bit of it peeking out for better growth.
• Green Onions - We planted fresh green onions with the onion root in the ground. They took a while, but once they strengthened they grew really tall and strong. After harvesting, we found the green onion bulbs and stems to be very large, yet crunchy and fresh in our salad.
• Onions - We also planted fresh, organic onions with the root side in the ground. They also grew thin, green sprouts similar to green onions. When we harvested them, we found them to be very tiny, yet fresh. 

I was aiming at doing everything organic (sans the fertilizers and pesticides). I think that when people do gardening at a grand scale (for business or education then they may need to use fertilizers to up their crop production and keep bugs/pests at bay). For me and my kids, this was just a learning experience and we did learn many things; some things we did right, while others needed improvement. On another note, I want to add that we harvested a little early because we sometimes get early cold weather here in our city during August, with Fall right around the corner. 

Overall, gardening is a committed job, but the yields make everyone feel so excited and proud of their accomplishments (after all the TLC). Next year, we will try some of the same vegetables but in a new way as we all learn from our mistakes. Below is our garden in pictures:

First growth © Everything Family Guide

First growth © Everything Family Guide

First growth © Everything Family Guide

First growth © Everything Family Guide

Growth in the mid-season © Everything Family Guide

Growth in the mid-season © Everything Family Guide

Growth towards the end of the season © Everything Family Guide

The yields from our gardening project  © Everything Family Guide

Thanks for joining us and reading about our gardening ventures.

Sincerely Yours,

Annie

DIY I Spy Jars

We have been M.I.A from the blogging scene for a while due to a number of reasons...we apologize for any inconveniences.... :)

We made super easy DIY jars using simple ingredients from our crafts' closet. All you need is a clean/washed baby food jar, dab of water-color paint, glitter, a few drops of oil (we used what we had), sequins or other small objects/toys.

Simple Directions:

Firstly, fill in the jar with water 3/4 full. Now you can add the materials individually; stars/sequins, drop of glitter or plain water-color paint, glitter, and a few drops of oil. The kids may or may not require help closing the lid on the jar. Now, the fun begins and the kids can mix the materials in the jar by shaking the jar. I chose baby food jar because they are really good with preventing leakage. Here are two finished DIY Space-themed I-Spy jars: 

Take care and thanks for reading,

Annie

Table Manners for Kids

Teaching and implementing table manners for your children goes a long way in helping them become refined, considerate and respectful social beings. 

This week we will be focusing on table manners from the book, Emily Post's Table Manners for Kids, authored by Peggy Post & Cindy Post Senning. This is a great teaching resource for parents and caregivers alike to teach about eating and dining etiquette. When I was growing up, there were certain rules everyone at our home followed during meal times. We learnt many of our manners from our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and by sitting around the table as a large/small social gathering. Now as a parent myself, I want to pass on those manners to my children. Let's discuss some of my perceptions about table manners and its’ impact on our children as a whole.

As a classroom teacher and parent, I am finding table manners to be lost and missing during mealtimes. Some may inquire about the cause of such a problem. Well, more and more parents nowadays are very busy and in many households both parents are working. Since parents take turns working, in order to divide the supervision duties of their children, they are finding less and less time to spend together as a family. Most of the time spent together as a family is during meal times or during other household activities such as discussions and conversations, TV time, helping around the home, etc. This time may become divided or become a cause for distractions, as parents and their children spend their times apart from each other. 

Kids are growing up in a fast-paced, ever-changing world. Kids have a lot of distractions such as cell phones, Ipods, computers, TV, etc. Often times we see that when these children bring their 'technologies' to the table, the idea of 'table manners' goes out the window. They may be focused on the 'screen' so much that they are unaware of how they are putting food in their mouths, or how they are eating/chewing their foods. Eating is a conscious effort and when you pay attention to what you eat, it goes a long way for your physical and mental health. I believe that is another cause of an alarming rate of obesity in our youth. According to the World Health Organization (2010), the number of overweight children under the age of five is estimated to be over 42 million around the globe and out of that number 35 million of these children are living in developing countries.

Overall, we have examined that any time spent together as a family, is the opportunity for parents to teach their children about following the ethics and morals of life. Kids learn from their first significant role models; their parents. That is why it is equally important for parents to pass on those manners and traditions to their children. So, I say let`s stand up to the challenge and put down those `screens` to spend more quality time together as a family during meal times.

Picture taken from Emily Post's Table Manners for Kids
By Peggy Post & Cindy Post Senning

What are some of your unique family manner traditions that you share around the breakfast, lunch or dinner table?

Thanks for reading!

Annie

References

Post, P., & Senning, C. P. (2009). Emily Post's Table Manners for Kids. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.

World Health Organization. (2010). Childhood overweight and obesity. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/

Best Fried Fish Recipe

So it has been drizzling here in our city and on some days we may see bright and sunny days. To compliment the cold weather, we decided to make our signature family fried fish. I have been experimenting with various methods and recipes for fried fish to get the crispiest and most juicy fish. Here is the BEST recipe for a juicy and delicious fried fish:

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of Frozen/Fresh fish (preferably Basa or you can also use cod). I like to buy the Packaged Cod at Costco
• 3 tbsp of white flour
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1/2 tsp of paprika (optional) or 1 tsp of Tandoori Masala
• 1/2 tsp of lemon juice

Method:

1. Defrost the fish by soaking it in warm water (in its' unopened packaging).
2. Once the fish is defrosted, cut the fillets into 2/3 inch sized pieces (the larger the pieces, the better it is to fry them without the flakes pulling apart). 
3. Now carefully mix all the ingredients in a bowl with the fish fillet pieces. Leave aside for 2-3 hours for marination. Remember to NOT add any water, as the fish itself releases some water.
4. Pour 1 and 1/2 inches of oil in a skillet and heat the oil to 350 degrees (oil temperature can be measured using an oil thermometer).
5. Once the oil is ready, carefully place the fish pieces in the skillet using fry tongs. Stay close-by to avoid over-frying or burning fish pieces.
6. The key is to not turn the fish every few minutes. You have to wait for the fish to turn medium-golden brown (not DARK brown) in the bottom before turning it over to the other side. Be carefully in turning the fish over so as to not to break the fish. Usually, I found that when I wait for the fish to turn golden brown (not dark brown) on one side, the fish holds in place.
7. Lay the finished fried fish pieces (tongue twister:) on a piece of wax paper to absorb any excess oil. Remember to serve the fish hot or warm to enjoy the great taste of the fish.

© Everything Family Guide

Optional: You may serve this fish with bread pieces (garlic bread is awesome) and boiled vegetables (below). I season my vegetables with salt and pepper. As a topper, my family loves red onion slices and lemon to go with the fish.

© Everything Family Guide

© Everything Family Guide

Enjoy!
Annie

Expecting 411 by Dr. Ari Brown

I just came upon a great parenting resource by Dr. Ari Brown and thought I would share it with you folks. Dr. Brown is a expert pediatrician and an official spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics with a wealth of knowledge that she is willing to share with parents and caregivers alike. This amazing resource is for expectant parents and/or new parents...

• Expecting 411 (The Insider's Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth): This is a great informational resource with detailed illustrations on natural childbirth, mother's pregnancy diet, delivery, etc. Here is the link: https://windsorpeak.com/expecting411/

 

• Baby 411: this is another great expert resource about your pregnancy, newborn and toddler. Here is the link: https://windsorpeak.com/babybargains/products-page/single-copies/?sitestore=baby2010  

What is your go-to guide on pregnancy, newborns, toddlers or any other parenting tips/ideas?

Happy Reading!
Annie

Dinosaur Printmaking

Printmaking is always fun! Kids get to see that stamping a shape(s) can produce a new shape. This project was inspired by my preschooler's love of dinosaurs and our upcoming trip to the Royal Tyrrell Museum (located in Alberta, Canada).

Materials Needed:

• Watercolor paints
• Sponge
• Plate
• Good quality thick art paper (one that doesn't curl too much after paint application)

What to do:

Pour separate colored paints in individual plates.

Dip sponge in plate fully before applying to the paper to form a shape. During sponge application make sure to apply the sponge fully by gently pressing your hand. Leave the painting to dry.

Practicing Dinosaur Prints © Everything Family Guide

Add details to the dried painting with markers or pencil crayons. We added details like eyes, mouth, claws, and spots, using watercolor markers.

© Everything Family Guide

What's your child's favorite dinosaur? We would love to see your ideas and dinosaur-related art projects.

Annie
(Source: for more fun dinosaur related art projects, you can refer to Dinosaur Fun by Usborne books)

Mosaic styled Artwork at Las Vegas

Mosaic-styled Artwork at Las Vegas Airport Terminal

Close-up of the Artwork

We saw some really interesting artwork at the Las Vegas airport where the students drew pictures which were minimized and then placed in a tiled fashion to resemble a wall-sized painting.

Spring Art: Butterflies, Butterflies, Butterflies...

This art project was inspired by the beautiful colors of the spring. We love using recycled materials for our art projects. So for this project, we used painted paper that we had salvaged from another art project.

Materials Needed: 

• Paper painted in a variety of bright colors (you can paint over recycled paper with bright watercolor paints; allow time for the papers to dry before proceeding with this project)
• Paper Punch (we used a butterfly one; you can use other spring shapes like a flower, bird, etc.)
• Glue stick
• Plain/white art paper
• Scissors

What to do: 

1. Prepare for this project in advance by painting papers using a variety of watercolor paints. We used a large bristle paint brush to paint each of the papers with a yellow, red, orange, and green color. Allow time for the paper to dry.

© Everything Family Guide

2. Next, you need a paper punch for producing various colored shapes. Tip: Remember to keep your colors separate for creating a striped (horizontal or vertical) affect.

© Everything Family Guide

3. We started the project by applying glue on the plain/white paper. Then, we carefully stuck each butterfly/shape on the glued space.  

Tip: When the glue is applied on the paper it may dry out really fast, so it`s important to only apply glue when you are ready. We used a small plate to separate each colored shape; to work efficiently and with ease.

© Everything Family Guide

4. After the red butterflies, we added orange, green and yellow ones. We applied the shapes in a horizontal pattern. At the end, we cut off small strips from the leftover paper to form a border. Then, we glued the paper strips to add a border to the art project. 

Here you have it...Paper Punched Butterflies! Aren't they cute?

© Everything Family Guide

We love the beautiful colors of spring..how about you?

Annie

Mosaic Art using Paper Scraps

At Everything Family Guide, our purpose is to recycle and re-use everything whenever we can. Everything little thing that households do to conserve resources goes a long way towards saving our world! So today we created mosaic style art using construction paper scraps from an old project.

Materials Needed:

• Different-colored scrap paper tiles (size doesn't matter)
• Scissors
• White paper (8 1/2 by 11 inches)
• Liquid glue

What to do:

Collect the construction paper scraps.

© Everything Family Guide

Cut them into little pieces; we cut ours into little rectangles. 

© Everything Family Guide

Next, we applied liquid glue in a row and glued the pieces together, making sure that the pieces fit close together and there is little to no white space. This way there will be no straight lines when you are applying the mosaic tiles, as all the pieces are of different sizes (and that is what makes it look so good at the end).

© Everything Family Guide

All done! This is the finished product...

© Everything Family Guide

We had some more scraps left so we did another one!

© Everything Family Guide

Mosaic styled art projects are great for little hands and guaranteed to be lots of fun! And they always turn out to be so beautiful.

Annie

Interactive Calendar Wheel

This week I introduced an interactive component to our Daily Calendar. I wanted to make my preschooler more involved in the Calendar activity. Hence the Interactive Calendar Wheel was introduced!

Interactive Calendar Wheel © Everything Family Guide

We used two (8 1/2 by 11 inches sized) thick cardboard papers to make the Interactive Calendar. For the top layer, we drew pictures that are specific to each box/topic. In the Interactive Calendar, we added titles and pictures to help our child find the items easily. There are two ways to make this calendar:

• For individual use, make a calendar that is easy to hold and sized right (around 8 1/2 by 11 OR 8 1/2 by 14 inches).
• For group use (in a classroom), make a calendar on a large chart paper (27 by 34 inches) and laminate it for future use/reuse.

© Everything Family Guide

 

We use the interactive calendar wheel to practise what we are learning in calendar time. For example, when we place the date cards on our wall calendar, then I have my preschooler spin the wheel on the interactive calendar's date section so that he can demonstrate the date as well. This way he is learning by doing in more than one way. And that is the best way to learn; learn by doing. 

We are finding the interactive learning wheel to be very beneficial for Calendar Math. We suggest that you try it with your little one...

Annie

Recycled Magazine Envelopes

We love to reuse and recycle things at our home! Here is an awesome project that is super cute and crafty for your little one. 

Materials Needed

• White paper for tracing envelope template
• Marker
• Paper from Magazines
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Address Label stickers (Optional)

Here is what we did...

Prep: First, I traced a shape/template of an envelope on paper (inspired by the Country Living Magazine). Then I cut it out for the project.

Envelope Template © Everything Family Guide

I traced the pattern on the magazine paper using a marker, to help my preschooler see the shape for cutting.

Tracing the Template on Magazine Paper © Everything Family Guide

Then we cut the shape/template using child-safe scissors.

Cutting the Envelope template © Everything Family Guide

The Magazine Cut-out © Everything Family Guide

Now the fun begins, we folded the two side flaps inwards. Next, we applied glue on the two side small flaps using a glue stick. Then we folded only the bottom half towards the flaps to secure the bottom of the envelope in place. We allowed the envelopes to dry before folding the top flap to close the envelope.

© Everything Family Guide

For finishing touches, we stuck address label stickers to the front of the envelope! Now you are all done! The envelopes can used to deliver secret messages between siblings/friends or for slipping in a love note to momma or papa dear! My kids loved these so much that we ended up making some more!

© Everything Family Guide

This was an awesome recycling project and my preschooler loved turning magazine pages into envelopes! Are there any other ways that you use to fold envelopes? Please share your ideas and suggestions with us!

Annie

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Collage

We love the "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle!! We are always reading it and looking for new ways of exploring this AMAZING book! Here is an amazing paint collage art project inspired by the book...

Materials that you will need: 

• Sheets of white paper
• Watercolor paints
• A Paint brush
• A Painting tray
• A Glass of water
• A Glue stick
• Scissors
• Markers (for decorations) and,
• A Large sheet of paper

Here is how we created our collage...

We painted a variety of colors (inspired by Eric Carle's book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar) on white sheets of paper. We didn't use any particular painting technique but we made sure that the whole surface of the paper was covered in paint. So this way, we painted five sheets of paper using a variety of paint colors. We left the paper to dry.
 

© Everything Family Guide

© Everything Family Guide

© Everything Family Guide

When the painted paper was dried, we traced shapes of butterfly wings, circles and strips, using a pencil crayon. We also used the last two pages of the book for inspiration on what shapes to trace for our collage.
 

© Everything Family Guide

© Everything Family Guide

Then our budding artist cut out the shapes from the painted paper with a pair of scissors.
 

© Everything Family Guide

© Everything Family Guide

We laid our cut-outs and planned where we would place our painted paper cut-outs on the large sheet of paper using the book as a reference (the very last page with the butterfly on it). It is very important to go over the details as it can be confusing for the little ones. I always demonstrate a few steps before I allow my preschooler to go ahead independently. We placed them on the paper without gluing first to understand how to use our cut-out shapes.

© Everything Family Guide

We glued on the shapes like a collage (one-by-one) to help form a butterfly. We started off with the head in the top center of the page. Then we added the wings on each side, one by one. Finally, we added the body of the butterfly and small cut-outs for the details on the butterfly's wings. At the end, we drew two antennas with a marker. You can also add the butterfly's hands/feet for additional details.

© Everything Family Guide

 

© Everything Family Guide

This project turned out to be very beautiful and it's definitely going in our little guy's art portfolio (where I save all his treasured artwork). Thanks for reading our post and I hope you will try this project with your kids/students! We would love to hear how it turned out!

Annie