Craftastic Mommypotamus

So I have been a'crafting this week. First I tried to make edible flubber...that was a bust technically speaking. The flubber never got to the correct consistency. However, Cutes Patoots had a great time. At the end of it the child was a sticky, icky mess and completely thrilled with herself. So even though my experiment didn't quite work the way I planned I am still calling it a success.

See? Happy baby.

    It took me an hour to get her clean and let's just say there is still some dried purple goo on the high chair. But the gooey baby was the bigger priority. It was fun to watch her play with it and after all babies are washable. 

Edible Goo

1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk

6 tbls Corn Starch

Food Coloring

Directions:

1) Heat sweetened condensed milk in a pan over low heat.

2) Add corn starch 1 tablespoon at a time until well blended.

3) Once the mixture starts to thicken remove from heat and add food coloring until you reach the desired color.

4) Let cool to about room temperature.

     After you have played with your goo, simply soak baby in a bath to remove the goo. Soaking in water works in other surfaces too. Warning: There are some jobs even a baby wipe can't handle. This is one of them.

     My next project was for me, a homemade sugar scrub! Seriously never buying a scrub again! Bonus if you bought cute jars it can be given as a gift!!!!

Vanilla and Coffe Sugar Scrub

1 1/2 cup Ground Coffee

2 1/3 cups Sugar in the Raw

3/4 cup White Sugar

1 tbls Kosher Salt

4 tbls Vanilla Extract

1 tbls Olive Oil

6-8 tbls Coconut Oil

Directions

1) In a large bowl mix the dry coffee grounds, raw sugar, white sugar, and salt until well blended.

2) Add extract and oils. Mix with your hand until every thing is evenly coated. It won't seem very moist but it is just enough to moisturize while not leaving that oily feel on your skin.

     Choose your coffee wisely though because your whole shower will smell like it. I'd put a pot on to brew before getting in the shower. Besides you could probably use the caffeine to chase the little one anyway.

   My final project is my favorite and is it ever a doozy! I like to window shop on Zulily.com. Every now and then these AMAZING bow holders come up for sale that look like tutu dresses. I showed them to Papasaurusrex, who was fairly unimpressed with them. He told me I could make one. I doubted him and his wisdom, but agreed to try. I am so glad I did. I think mine came out prettier than the ones I saw for sale, and it is certainly more our colors and style.

      I started with a piece of cardboard from a box and drew out the shape of the bodice. I made about 3inches of cardboard "hip" to glue the tulle on to. I then used spray adhesive to glue 2 layers of quilting batting to the cardboard that I trimmed with scissors to fit. I had the zebra fabric for another project I never got around to doing, which I cut about 2 inches wider than my board on each side. I wrapped the fabric around my padded board and made cuts in the material so it fit closely to the form, and glued it in place with Loctite Crafters Adhesive. I had about 25 yards of tulle in my crafting goodies cut into about 17" strips left over from a tutu project that I hot glued to the bottom of the bodice. I found layering 3 pieces of tulle together and then pinching the top before gluing to give me the best effect. (Side note: Be prepared to burn your fingers. I am pretty sure that is just what happens when you work with hot glue.) Then I cut my ribbon. I used 4 different ribbons: a 3in teal and green polka dot for the waistband, a 3in wired zebra ribbon, a 1in black and pink striped, and a 1in hot pink on hot pink glitter polka dot for the skirt ribbons. I also used the pink polka dot to wrap the bodice. I glued the 3 pieces of zebra print on top of the tulle and the black and pink stripe ribbon on top of that. I then added the hot pink ribbon streamers in-between, and wrapped the bodice, gluing it down in the center of the bodice and wherever it overlapped with a drop of hot glue and the edges on the back. After that I glued the wide teal ribbon over the "messy" edges of the ribbon and tulle and hot glued my embellishments. To cover up the back I am going to use a piece of poster board and Crafter's Adhesive.
     I wish I could give you exact measurements on the length of the ribbons for your craft shopping list, but I don't know. I bought spools from Wal-mart and just cut them to the length of the tulle. The pink polka dot ribbon used the entire spool. The others I had plenty left over. If buying by the yard I would get 1 yard of the waist band ribbon, and 3 yards of the 3" skirt ribbon, 3 yards of the 1" skirt ribbon,  and a spool of the bodice ribbon. I made my hanger out of a left over strip of tulle but you could also use ribbon. I used probably a little over 25 yards of tulle for the skirt. You can use less but I wanted the skirt to be really full as well as long.
     The great part about this project is it is only limited by your creativity. You can cut the bodice to any shape you like. It could be a boat neck, sweetheart neckline, "strapless", or heart shaped. ANY neckline you want. You could even do asymmetrical or get really fancy with extra fabric and some Modge Podge and build a drape or cowl neck. As for embellishments you can use fake jewels, buttons, or even real pieces of jewelry. You can make bows if you want. Though if you are anything like me, you have enough hair bows to put on it you won't feel the need to decorate it with bows. I even thought about having a lace edge under the teal ribbon, but decided it was fussy enough on its own it didn't need more help. 

So there you go, my week of crafting. If you try any of these let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your creations!

Product Review: Ingenuity Sahara Burst Automatic Bouncer

     One night Papasuarusrex, Cutes Patoots, and I left the house to grab some takeout for dinner. (I know terrible, but I was too tired to cook and frankly needed to go grocery shopping. I know you've been there or will be soon). But upon returning home there was a package on our doorstep. I practically flew from the car because I KNEW that HAD to be my Ingenuity Sahara Burst Automatic Bouncer! I just knew. Kids II, the parent company for Ingenuity, Bright Starts, and a handful of other companies sent me an email to let me know I would be receiving it in the mail for product testing and review. I was thrilled because Cutes swing died the week before so she was refusing naps. This was going to be the answer to my prayers! Unfortunately, Papasaurusrex decided that no matter how excited I was I had to eat my dinner before I could play with my new toy. As soon as I was done though I was one the floor, screwdrivers and batteries in hand.
     This was not our first bouncer. I got rid of the first bouncer a long time ago because of flimsy construction, so I was a little wary of another one. One thing I noticed immediately was how nice the materials are. The metal pieces are a nice heavy gauge, but not so heavy as to hurt the baby if they say, grab a leg and roll away with it. The plastic pieces are high quality too. They are a thicker, higher grade plastic than I have seen on a lot of bouncers. The seat cover is made of super soft materials that the best word to describe is cuddly. So cuddly that Cutes grabbed it and rolled away to snuggle with it while I worked on putting the frame together. I was immediately impressed by just the materials. (Side note: Putting together a bouncer with a 7 month old is an interesting process. She kept stealing the instructions. Thankfully the mechanics of putting it together are fairly simple and I could do it with out the instruction book. Though what I read of them suggests they were well written with los of illustrations.)

All assembled!

     On to assembly. I expected it to take me 5, maybe 10 minutes to put together. I was wrong. It took me
closer to 40. So if your little darling is already here make sure you have someone else to help you watch them or do it during a long nap. Of course it could also have been the infant playing with the various parts while I was trying to assemble it, but some of it was that the pieces fit together very tightly. It took a lot more force and finesse than I expected to attach the legs to the seat frame work. I had to get Papasuarusrex involved at that point. This is NOT a complaint. Once the frame was assembled it was VERY sturdy. It moved only the way it was supposed to. There was no side to side twisting of the frame. It didn't sway from side to side and need the seat cover to stabilize it. I would rather it take me 40 minutes to put together a sturdy product I can continue to use than 10 minutes for something that will warp. Everything fits together very snug, even the seat cover fits tightly to the frame so the seat portion doesn't sag and leave baby unsupported.
      Cutes didn't get to try it out that night because bedtime was upon us by the time I was finished. The next day though she was all about sitting in and under her bouncer. Because it is a little taller than some of the other models on the market the Ingenuity Sahara Burst Automatic Bouncer can also be crawled under and she turned it into a fort. That day she took her first real nap in a week. She was comfy and cozy and she loved the little elephant toy bar. Cutes is an older infant now and is about 20 lbs, but she was well supported by the Ingenuity bouncer. She even liked the automatic bouncing it did. Yes you heard me right, AUTOMATIC bouncer.  No more bouncing with you foot while the seat just vibrates. This bouncer features 2 bounce modes. One is your standard up and down but the second one is the coolest. It is a heartbeat mode and simulate the thump of the human heart. I would have loved to have had this bouncer when she was a newborn for that alone. It also play music, which we both enjoyed as there 8 songs and 3 nature sounds programmed in. It also has a timer so once the little one is asleep you don't run the batteries out.
     My only complaint is that the toy bar comes off rather easily. This is so it is easy to pick baby up out of it and I understand that. But the toy bar is also positionable and can be pushed back to allow access to baby. I wish it locked in somehow. Over all though this product is a big win. Sturdy construction, high quality materials, useful features that work the way they should, and a napping baby.

Well sometimes, but that is how I feel about it too.

    I did receive the Ingenuity Sahara Burst Automatic Bouncer from Kids II for free, but all the opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone. Kid II and their affiliates in no way influenced my thoughts on this product. We genuinely love this bouncer. It can be purchased from Target for $49.99 and it will be worth every penny. Cutes Patoots is more of a swing baby and she loves this bouncer. And after all baby love is the best endorsement of all.