Busy Bag Swap Complete!

Wow! What a fabulous result we've had from our first Australian Busy Bag Swap hosted by Hannah at Paint On the Ceiling and myself here at Just For Daisy!

Magnetic Fishing Game (inspiration)

Paddle Pop Puzzles

The response was good for a first call out - we had 22 participants who all did a fabulous job. 

You can read the original post here to find out all about the Busy Bag Swap. If you like the sound of it leave a comment on this post as we're looking for expressions of interest to do another swap in the near future. 

Memory Game/Colour & Shape Match

Domino Stones (source)

Many thanks to Hannah for receiving and organising all Busy Bags whilst we moved house! She's also taken these amazing photos of each of the bags, some of them in action with her Miss 3 and Master 9 months! 

1. Baby Animal Match    2. Threading Fun     3. Felt Cupcake Creations (inspiration)

Busy Bags went in the post on Wednesday and we've started getting emails/messages from excited mummies who've received their bags! Hopefully they will all be at their new homes in no time! For those picking them up please check your email for details!

Pipe Cleaner Threading

Paddle Pop Puzzles/Colouring In 

Each of the activities can be used in various ways and to facilitate various learning objectives. Children are challenged in fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, colour and shape recognition, memory and so many other important skills for emergent minds!

The activities are able to be used independently by children or set up by parents as a more guided/adult directed learning activity.

Sea Creature Memory (inspiration)           Colour Recognition                      

Puff Ball Pushing                                        Car Mat Fun

We hope that these fabulous handmade activities created by our 22 participants are able to inspire others to create their own unique 'toys' without great expense and with a whole realm of successful teaching/learning opportunities through child centered play.

Felt Clothes/Clothesline (inspiration)

Felt Shape Board w/ pattern cards 

Eye Spy Pillow

As mentioned above we are seeking expressions of interest for a second Australian Busy Bag Swap and would love to hear from interested blog writers, mums and dads, grandparents and anyone else who would like to participate. 


Please share this post on your facebook page or via email with family or friends you think might be interested in a Busy Bag Swap!


Please comment below or email us at:: justfordaisy11{at}gmail{dot}com to let us know you'd be interested!

Coloured Glasses

Thread my Family                                         

If you haven't already, please head over and 'like' our facebook pages:

Paint On The Ceiling

and

Just For Daisy 

...that way you will stay up to date with our regular blog posts as well as any news on our next Busy Bag Swap.

Magnetic Puzzle Play

                  

Texture Book                                         

Nursery Rhyme Sequencing Cards (inspiration)

Once again a very big thankyou to the ladies involved in our first Busy Bag Swap.

We believe that thanks to your enthusiastic involvement it has been a huge success.

Enjoy keeping your little ones busy with your fabulous new bags! 
We'd LOVE for you to share photos on our Facebook pages!

Bringing Books To Life

Lately I've seen some fantastic posts about bringing books to life for our children. Fostering a love for reading is such a wonderful gift that we can give to our children from such an 

There were a few I found on We're Going On A Bear Hunt & The Three Little Pigs and I've also pinned a few (read: MANY) links to handmade Princess & The Pea fabric sets here and here!

Well, this morning Miss Daisy was keen on reading this book "Five In The Bed" over and over again! Aside from getting how many are in the bed mixed up she can read along to this one herself. 

So I decided we'd go into her bedroom and bring this little book to life!

We collected five little friends who all jumped in the bed... then we read the story once again!

We had a great time with this and I can't wait to do it with some more of her books! 

We will have to do our next one outside!

Have you thought about bringing any of your child's books to life? 

I'd love to hear about it!

The Farm

Life on our 'farm' is different but simply blissful! I can't wait to make it more like a true farm. Vegetables. Animals. Dreams.

We are loving our new lifestyle and adjusting quite quickly to the little perks and changes we've encountered.

The fire has been a welcome addition in the cooler climate and will be a necessity up here in Winter!

We've gathered a good collection of firewood now by a number of means so feel pretty set for the next few months!

Excuse the nappies hanging by the fire... this is how we spend most of our evenings.  With no TV it's usually reading on the lounge. Browsing the computer. And early to bed. It's fabulous!

My new oven is a fair bit hotter than my previous one so my baking times are needing to be adjusted... but I've thoroughly enjoyed a lot of baking in here already! And it means everything is ready quicker - nothing wrong with that!

I figured out that hubby's iPhone can remain logged into my Instagram account and that is still attached to my facebook so I feel a little more tech savvy and connected even though I don't have an iPhone myself anymore. I've been trying to get a few pictures each day while he's here with the phone on holidays! 

But the DSLR has also been getting a very good workout! :)

Oh Pumpkin Soup - I love thee! This beautiful soup was made with the biggest pumpkin ever from the beautiful Easter Markets. Must find out who this local grower was!

After seeing Jess at Joyess Threads & Design's gorgeous room for little Jonty I decided to follow her fabulous tip and buy a single sheet set for Miss Daisy's toddler bed quilt and modify it a little to suit! Fabulous idea and it only cost me $15 for the cover, 2 pillowcases and plenty of leftover fabric!

I'm thinking through what blogging will look like for me now that our lifestyle has changed a little. I have a few posts ready to go and so many in my head... hoping to get back on here regularly as soon as possible! :)

I've just started reading blogs regularly again too so please say hello and send me over if you haven't heard from me in a while! :) I'd love to come visit! 

Creamy Broccoli Soup Recipe

We've been having a lot of soups lately.

Hubby went to the beautiful Easter Markets held locally on Easter Saturday (I was sick and ended up in hospital overnight so no markets for me) and brought me home 3 gifts. One was a woven anklet, the second was a hemp hat and the third was the biggest most beautiful pumpkin I've seen!

We made the most delicious pumpkin soup - twice! And I've got a little leftover pumpkin to make a few batches of pumpkin scones. We froze a batch of soup and I intend to freeze some of the yummy scones. We've been making good use of the freezer lately. 

It's stocked full of meat, chicken and fish which will last us the next few months as we alternate between vegetarian and meat dishes. I've also baked some muffins and frozen them too! And a couple of pasta dishes. It's an easy way to have lunches, dinners or snacks on hand! And certainly a handy habit to keep up once baby comes along!

Today we made a yummy Creamy Broccoli Soup from here.

It turned out beautifully!

We enjoyed some for lunch and now have 2 serves left over which we're going to use as a mash base for a lamb dish tomorrow. Yum!

My favourite part of this dish was the blanched brocolli added in after the soup was pureed! Delish!

What's your favourite soup!? Got a good recipe to share?

It's been so long... Whilst I've been gone we ELOPED...

Yes, I am already married (7 years this year!)... it wasn't us personally that eloped but some close friends of ours who took us along as their witnesses! It was such a special privilege to share in their joyous day!



Albeit a little rushed only 5 days after we'd 'moved into' our new home! More on that in a future post. Or several future posts.


Miss Daisy enjoyed a 3am start along with her first bus, plane and boat ride all in one day! She was such a happy little traveller! The dummy disappeared by about 7am! It was a long day!


The wedding was held on Moreton Island, QLD at the Tangalooma Resort and we spent four perfect days in the sunny paradise of the island! A very nice break for us after our 4 week settlement period with the new house and a lot of work in that short time!


The whole family looked stunning - hubby and I doubled as wedding photographers and we were quite happy with how the shots turned out! 

I've missed blogging a lot but haven't really had the time for photos and such. The inclination is certainly there but I'm having to prioritise! Boooo! Soon...


In other news I've also let go of my beloved iPhone 4... being quite rural the mobile phone reception is not very good so I decided to downscale a little and go to a rather primitive handset and a cheap prepaid option. (This phone is sooooo primitive!)

Just another way we're 'switching off' a little up here. So far we've had no TV up here either and it's wonderful! I don't think we'll bother plugging it in at this stage!

I do aim to be back in the full swing of blogging soon and instead of iPhonography I've had my beautiful DSLR out and about with me lately getting a workout! So watch this space!


I've missed reading and commenting too so have a lot of catch up reading to do! Let me know if you think I should read one of your posts from the last month! :) I'll whack on my boots and come straight over! :)

Oh and to those of you who have sent us your amazing Busy Bags for the Busy Bag Swap... Hannah and I should have them ready for the postman by Monday of next week! Which means you should have them before the week's end! That's exciting, believe me - they're fabulous!!


Anyway, I'm off to poke around a few blogs while I can!