Yarn key chain

Funky key chains is something that I always wanted to have and even today I’m always on a hunt for these for my kids or for a gift and sometimes for me as well. I have a nice collection of these but always looking for a new idea in this. This week I tried my hands on yarn key chains.

I love colors and the quality available in market these days. The natural to synthetic fibers in yarn with a wide variety like fluffy yarns, multicolored yarns, faux fur yarns etc gave me good opportunity to make my designs.

Supplies required: old key chains, 3-4 color yarns, 2 black beads for eye balls or google eyes, a small hollow plastic ball for face and a few straws for making hands and legs.

First make a structure of the doll or monster or whatever character you wanna make on paper. Now, take a plastic ball for face and make a small hole at any one place and insert a straw in it. Connect small straws for legs and hands with help of needle and thread. Now wrap the yarn allover in symmetric way to strengthen the hands, neck and legs,. Wrap some extra yarn of different colors or same color to give it a desired shape and size. Once done with wrapping, paste the google eyes on face and for lips the yarn will look best.

Attach a key ring at head and your monster/doll/or any of your favorite characters is ready to use or to gift.

Whenever you make it, leave us a link to the photos in the comment section that will definitely be worth watching for us and our other viewers also. ……..........................................................…: ) agoodstuff

Books Organizer

Scattered books all around thats what I was used to see in my kids room. They have a proper almirah for spacing them out but…..the room looked messy most of the times as they were in a habit of keeping a few of those books always on table top or side tables.

I made 2 small book organizers with help of some cardboard boxes (toy boxes) and covered them up with a colored glaze paper (gift wrap paper). It turned out a very lovely and a bright organizer. I sticked a cloth patch* on it and then it totally looked a kiddo room thing.

My kids now keep all of their bedtime story books (or regular in-use books) in these and the room now looks clutter free.

Cloth patch*: Any engraved kinda patch (like a bunny, toy, tree, plant, flower, star or teddy) on kids old & used clothes can be cut out and the borders should be sealed in with a thread and needle. This patch can be used for any of the crafts for your lovely kids.

Keep crafting and have a good day…………….…………: ) agoodstuff

Presentation of watermelon

Presenting plain watermelon is always boring, the same cubes or the long slices. Here I have three simple ways which can make your melons look great and tempting.

1.

    

This one is looking great. The semi circular balls can be cut easily out of the melons with help of a scoop. They have come out perfectly and are looking like some sort of colored Bengali mouth watering sweet dish. Just sprinkle some crushed leaves of basil and a pinch of salt on the chilled melons before serving.

2.

 

 The star shaped cookie cutter has worked great here. The melon stars are then garnished with some basil leaves.

3.

This one is really simple to cut and can be kept in two to three numbers on 6 seater dining table.Simply cut the melon into quarter pieces along the length and then cut the triangles and serve them in the same.

Easy shapes to cut and present…………….…………: ) agoodstuff

Visit to cup and cake factory

Last evening we had a cupcake party at our tv room balcony. Me and kids really had a great time while munching on those velvety cupcakes which were freshly baked …not by me…. bought from a neighbor store “ the cup cake factory” at Ninex Mall,Sohna Road, Gurgaon.

 A few months back I was looking for a strawberry girl cupcake for my daughter’s birthday and most of the cake bakers in the city refused to make it and cup cake factory was the only one to come up with 3-4 ideas on the same. Today, I’m sure a lot of bakers have come in city with good designs and yum yum look factor but cup cake factory is still scoring good for me. They are really good in creativity and  you can see that not only in their cakes but also the gift packs (the boxes).

Have a look at the shop and munch out the cuppy goodies.

Enjoy…………: ) agoodstuff.

Making artificial buds (beads) and small planters at home ( DIY projects):

1. I made these buds a week ago and thought of sharing it here. The white bead balls on a dry branch of any shrub is a very simple project and can be decorated with some artificial flowers and leaves in a vase.

 I took a dry branch (multi zigzag branches) of a plant (shrub) and cleaned the dried leaves from it. First, identify the areas of branch where the balls can be inserted. The pointed branches selected should be strong enough to hold the weight of stone balls (clay ball).The balls are made with quick dry clay (white). You need to be quick in making the balls as this clay dries very fast. The ball made needed to be inserted in the branch as soon as it is made otherwise it will become hard and insertion will be difficult (Also, if the clay dries up then the ball making would be difficult and will show cracks).

I have kept this branch in its natural color. You can paint it in white (or any other color) and the balls can be painted in red, orange , purple or yellow colors as per requirement of your rooms. The balls should be painted in pearl finish or metallic colors to give a pearl or metallic color (fevicrylhobby ides acrylic colors).

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2.

This is a small wonder that I saw yesterday in home town, DLF City Centre Mall, gurgaon. It can be made at home with a little effort and can be a good DIY project.

The only things required in this project are artificial moss, white bowl, few artificial flowers and leaves( can be taken from old flowers from your vases which needs replacement for a new look or colors), scissors and a glue.

The making: Stick some artificial moss in a bowl and then make a small hole in the center and insert the flower stick and a leaf stick in moss and the plant is ready to be kept at your slabs.

You can place them in 2-4 or 5 numbers on the multilayer book shelves, kitchen window slabs or the bathroom window slabs. They can add a new zing at the dull areas…………….…………: ) agoodstuff.

Colorful fresh salad:

We usually run away from salads/nutritious things as our taste buds don’t like them. Lets make these salads more colorful and yummilicious so that kids can also enjoy the fruits and veggies.

The basic fruits in my salad are pears, apples, mangoes, pomegranate seeds, bananas and jaanun (black plum). Along with fruits I incorporated a small piece of broccoli and green capsicum to it. The finely chopped fruits and veggies are then chilled in fridge and then I added salt and black pepper to it. I also added honey (1/2 tsp), grated ginger and lemon juice (1/2 tsp )( as per taste) just before serving. To give it a crispy and crunchy taste, I added a few puff cheese balls over it.

Give your children a bowl full of this salad, I’m sure they are gonna ask for more.

I enjoyed eating it thoroughly...love the colors of this....: ) agoodstuff.

Veggie Sandwiches

Veg sandwiches are perfect for a tea party / breakfast/ fulfilling and nutritious kid’s Tiffin or lunch packs. These require a little preparation before but while serving, they take a few minutes only. I’m gonna share three of these today. The spinach paneer sandwich is my favorite and my daughter likes the cheesy one.

Spinach Panner Sandwich:

(paneer is curd cheese made by curdling boiling milk with lemon juice or vinegar)

Boil spinach in a pressure cooker and then spread it on plate to get at a normal temperature. Blend it with a handy blender and keep it in a thick consistency (do not make a paste). Put a pan on fire and add oil to it. Now add ginger and garlic paste (one table spoon) and sauté it a for 1 minute and then add coriander powder(1/2 table spoon) and red chilli (1/4 th table spoon to it and stir it a little bit. Add spinach and panner (both in equal quantities, approx.  6 table spoons each) to this and keep stirring for another minute and add salt to taste. Take the pan off the fire and let the mixture get cooled. You can refrigerate this mixture and can use it as when you wanna eat it (this mix can go for two days if stored in closed container in fridge, do not put in freezer).

Now, whenever you wanna eat a sandwich, put this mixture between bread toasts and enjoy the nutritious green and white combo, full of vitamins, minerals, protein and above all good health. You can give this to kids in their tiffins.

Veggies and Yoghurt sandwich

The hung curd is used in this recipe which can be made by hanging curd in a muslin cloth for 2-3 hrs. Add finely chopped - onion, tomato, cucumber/bell pepper and walnuts to the hung curd and finally add some powdered black pepper and salt to taste. This mixture can be stored in fridge for 3 days.

Whenever you wanna make a sandwich, place this mixture in between the toasts and let your taste buds enjoy no guilt creamy taste. Ummmmmmmmmm………..…yummy.

Cheesy bites

This is kid’s favorite yummy cheesy grilled sandwich with veggies like tomato, carrot and onion.

Just put a cheese slice on one bread and then spread some finely chopped -onion, tomato and carrot (boiled) in proportions of 1:2:3 respectively. Sprinkle a little bit of black pepper, salt and oregano to it and place a bread to cover it up. Grill it in a sandwich maker and get your kids ready for a cheesy treat.

Hope u like these ones……………yum yum …………: ) agoodstuff.

Skin and hair care in rainy season

 Monsoon/rainy season is the best time for rejuvenation of the cells and the systems of the body, if treated well. A good skin care regime and the body massages can release tension from body and improve circulation.

Face care:

Basic principle for all skin types is to keep the skin clean and dirt free but limit washing to 2-3 times in case of oily skin as it will stimulate the oil glands to produce more sebum.

For Oily skin:

Scrubbing: Try soft scrubs as the hard ones would leave the open pores more damaged. The use of dried lemon or orange peels scrub works great if gently rubbed on the skin.

Toning: Lavender oil is good for oily skin. It has to be diluted with water and the proportion would be 10:1 respectively. Apply it on face for 5 mins and then wash it with cold water.

Massage: The papaya, cucumber or watermelon massage is best for the oily skins.

Face Pack :The fullers earth pack with rose water, besan (gram flour) with curd and pinch of turmeric pack works great, sandalwood powder with rose water pack , Crushed tomato and fullers earth(multani mitti) can also be used as a face pack for oily skin.

Moisturizing: Use serums rather than moisturizers to keep oily skins hydrated. A water based moisturizer is better for this skin than a cream based moisturizer.

For homemade moisturizer, prepare a mix of 2-3 drops of strawberry or orange oil with 2 spoons of rose water, apply it on skin and wash after 5-10 mins

Serums available in market are: Clinique – Dramatically different moisturizing gel; derma e hyaluronic acid hydrating serum; Clean & Clear oil free moisturizer ; Avon – Clearskin; almay – daily moisturizer; L’oreal hydrafresh anti-shine, H2O face oasis hydrating treatment and there are many more which can also be used.

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For dry skin:

Scrubbing:  Use crushed almonds with honey/oatmeal with homey and rosewater/ crushed strawberry seeds with milk cream to remove the dead cells.

Toning: To open the small pores of dry skin, use a mixture of milk and chamomile in 1:2 ratio and gently put on the skin with a cotton swab and feel the soothing effect.

Massage: A mixture of banana and honey/a mixture of raw honey, olive or almond oil with 1 tsp of lemon juice; can be massaged on face for a perfect glow.

Face Pack:  Apply a paste made up of equal parts of jojoba oil with honey and curd/ a paste of wheat bran with crushed almonds and milk in equal quantities/ a paste of soaked and grinded almonds with milk cream

Moisturizing: Moisturizing is very important part for dry skins so use a a home moisturizer like glycerin and rose water in equal parts and keep it for 10-15 mins.

Hair care during rainy season:

Another important thing to be taken care of during this season is the problem of hair fall. A proper massage would help to keep your hair shiny, healthy and strong by infusing moisturizer into the scalp.

*Coconut oil and castor oil massage will make hair soft and silky

*few drops of peppermint oil or rosemary oil to massage oil mediums like almond or olive oil can work wonders if you have hair loss.

Golden rule:  Drink 8-10 glasses of water every day to keep your skin hydrated and eat lots of fresh fruits and salads to be healthy from inside and outside …………….keep radiating in all seasons………..chao…..……: )-agoodstuff