Magnetic felt fishing game

I've always loved crafting with felt, you can buy such beautiful bright colours, it's easy to sew, and you don't need to worry about the edges fraying. You can make some lovely long lasting toys for young children with felt, and mine have had a lot of fun playing with this magnetic felt fishing game.

The game is so simple to make and little ones love it. Just lay out the felt sea creatures on the floor and try to pick them up using a magnetic fishing rod. You could develop the game further by assigning points to each creature and/or introducing a time limit.

You need:

Felt in a variety of colours
Small beads/buttons
Cotton or embroidery thread in a variety of colours
Small amount of stuffing
Washer or large paperclip for each creature
Short stick or length of dowel
String
A magnet

To make the felt sea creatures, I made paper patterns to work from, and my creatures measure about 10 cm across. Simply use your template to cut the shape out of felt, decorate as requried with embellishments and embroidery, and sew together. I've used a small amount of stuffing in most of the creatures. Mine are only decorated on one side, but of course you could make them reversible. Sew in the washer firmly at one end.

To make the fishing rod, attach a magnet to a piece of string. I used a circular magnet, and I cut a small circle the same size out of cardboard. I made a hole in the centre of the cardboard and threaded a piece of string through and then glued the cardboard to the magnet. This way the string came out of the centre of the magnet. Then tie the other end of the piece of string to the stick.

I made a felt treasure chest, angel fish, seashell, turtle, starfish and clownfish...

...and a felt killer whale, tiger barb, seahorse, anchor and seaweed.

The creatures you make can be adapted to suit the felt colours that you have available, I tried to use a variety of different colours. I didn't have enough washers for each one so I used paperclips for the smaller creatures, which do still work although washers are better if you can get them.

If you like this, you might like some of my other felt crafts which you can find on my felt crafts page.

Meme: Music as therapy

I was tagged to take part in the Music as therapy meme. You just have to pick 3 beautiful songs, 3 different bands and 3 sets of lyrics that touch you in any way you want to show.

I don't listen to music as much as I used to, and I'm not very in touch with the current music scene. So my choices aren't new ones. But they are all songs that have a meaning to me because they either remind me of a great time in my life or the lyrics really stand out to me. It was really difficult to narrow it down to these songs, because there are a lot of songs that hold memories for me, but here goes.

Number 1 - Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

This was a first dance song at our wedding. We actually had two wedding songs because we had an English and an Indian wedding on consecutive days, and this was for the English wedding. Like most people we agonised over our choices, and it's no lie to say that this one actually came to me in a dream! I didn't really know the song before, but I did know the chorus. When we listened to it properly we looked at the lyrics and realised that it actually is quite relevant as a wedding song, even though it's not one of the more traditional ones. For the last chorus we managed to get everyone up with us dancing on the dance floor.

Looking in your eyes I see a paradise
This world that I found is too good to be true
Standing here beside you, want so much to give you
This love in my heart that I'm feeling for you

Let 'em say we're crazy, I don't care 'bout that
Put your hand in my hand baby, don't ever look back
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart

And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers,
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us,
Nothing's gonna stop us now

I'm so glad I found you, I'm not gonna lose you
Whatever it takes, I will stay here with you
Take it to the good times, see it through the bad times
Whatever it takes is what I'm gonna do

Let 'em say we're crazy, what do they know
Put your arms around me baby, don't ever let go
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart

And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers,
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us,
Nothing's gonna stop us

Ooh, all that I need is you,
All that I ever need
And all that I want to do,
Is hold you forever,
Forever and ever

And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers,
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us,
Nothing's gonna stop us(And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever)
Woh oh oh-oh-oh
(Nothing's gonna stop us now)
Nothing's gonna stop us
(World runs out of lovers)
Now (we'll still have each other)
(Nothing's gonna stop us) us now
(And we can build this dream together) hey baby
(Standing strong forever) I know
(Nothing's gonna stop us now)

Number 2 - Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come

This is a song that I've not heard much in this country. In 2007 my husband and I went on a fantastic round the world trip, starting in Singapore, spending most of our time travelling around Australia, then on to Hawaii and finishing in Chicago. A lot of time was spent driving in the car, and this song seemed to be playing whenever we turned on the radio. So it's more the song reminding me of the time rather than the actual lyrics, although we did travel a long way and felt very far from home at times, so it was also a sort of reflection on how far we had travelled. It is also my perfect running song, as the beat matches my steps exactly!

Hello
Hello
Hello

Waking up at the start of the end of the world,
But it's feeling just like every other morning before,
Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone,
The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour
And I started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye
Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?

I believe the world is burning to the ground
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come
Well I believe it all is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come

I think it turned ten o'clock but I don't really know
And I can't remember caring for an hour or so
Started crying and I couldn't stop myself
I started running but there's no where to run to
I sat down on the street took a look at myself
Said where you going man you know the world is headed for hell
Say your goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to

I believe the world is burning to the ground
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come

Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come

It's gone, gone, baby, it's all gone
There is no one on the corner and there's no one at home
It was cool cool, it was just all cool
Now it's over for me and it's over for you
Well it's gone, gone, baby, it's all gone
There is no one on the corner and there's no one at home
Well it was cool cool, it was just all cool
Now it's over for me and it's over for you

I believe the world is burning to the ground
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come
Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come

Number 3 - Pulp - Something Changed

I've always liked Pulp, and I've always liked this song, which was released when I was a teenager. For this song, it's the lyrics that stand out to me. It's about how making a small choice about what to do, or where to go, can affect the rest of your life. It makes me think about all the co-incidences that came together to bring you to where you are now. Love it.

I wrote the song two hours before we met.
I didn't know your name or what you looked like yet.
I could have stayed at home and gone to bed.
I could have gone to see a film instead.
You might have changed your mind and seen your friends.
Life could have been very different but then,
Something changed.

Do you believe that there's someone up above?
Does he have a timetable directing acts of love?
Why did I write this song on that one day?
Why did you touch my hand and softly say.
Stop asking questions that don't matter anyway.
Just give us a kiss to celebrate here today.
Something changed.

When we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing,
That in a matter of hours we'd change the way we were going.
Where would I be now? Where would I be now if we'd never met?
Would I be singing this song to someone else instead?
I don't know but like you just said
Something changed.

Knitted Ugg boots and pretty dresses

After this post, my sister was kind enough to pass on to me a bag full of lovely little girly dresses. Most of them are a bit big for the moment, but this one fits perfectly and Mia looks gorgeous! And how better to complement the outfit than a beautiful pair of knitted Ugg boots, knitted by Grandma?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Harry has a Halloween party at nursery today. He wasn't very keen on dressing up, but we managed to persuade him into an outfit of sorts. He told us that he wanted to be a pumpkin, but by this he meant that he wanted to put an actual pumpkin on his head. Luckily we have a pumpkin hat which he was satisfied with.

We carved a pumpkin at the weekend with help from Grandma, and he decorated a bag himself which was a kit from Tesco. Talking of Tesco, I may have mentioned that we live very close to a very large Tesco, where we seem to find ourselves on a regular basis. Well they have set the standard on what is to be expected for Trick or Treaters locally with their large multipacks of sweets and chocolates on big displays throughout the store. I'm not sure if we'll open the door tonight, unfortunately we live in an area where we are more likely to receive threatening teenagers in hoodies than sweet little toddlers, and we also don't want the ringing of the doorbell to mess with the delicate procedure that is bedtime.

Have fun if you're celebrating!

Littlehampton Bonfire 2011

We've made it to Littlehampton Bonfire for the last few years. It's really good, because it always seems very child friendly, or at least more so than larger local celebrations like Lewes. It does seem to get busier every year, but we always manage to find somewhere to stand where there aren't too many people and we can get a good view of the procession. There are also lots of other small children, so everyone is considerate of you with pushchairs.

The procession started at 7.45am, so we aimed to arrive in Littlehampton at 7pm. Unfortunately we had a bit of a directional mishap and ended up at the wrong end of town, so we had to take a bit of a detour to get to our usual parking spot. We aim to park to the east of the town centre on one of the roads off the seafront, and then walk in. This evening was a two pushchair trip, which was a bit of a mission but needed to be done.

The procession is always very good, and you can tell that the participiants have put a lot of effort in. There were some lovely themed floats, and of course the local bonfire societies with their torches. Mia was wide awake through most of the procession just staring straight ahead, she was hypnotised by the lights. The highlight for Harry was the noisy steam traction engines.

When it had finished we doubled back to a new viewing spot and watched the procession again, before heading down to the seafront to watch the fireworks. We had an excellent view. Mia stirred but slept through them, and despite our and his best efforts, Harry fell asleep halfway through. Maybe next year he'll last through the whole evening!

Ferring Country Centre

Although it's only down the road, we only discovered Ferring Country Centre very recently (we thought it was a garden centre). We had a flyer through the door for the Pumpkin Fayre and a spare afternoon, so we decided to pop along. We found a lovely little farm in among the houses, with lots of farm animals to see.

Although Harry was very interested in the animals, he was particularly intrigued as to why there were tyres in all the pens.

He had a go on the duck fishing game, and although he managed to pull out all losing ducks the lady running the stall very kindly gave him a prize anyway. There was also an indoor play area with a ride-on tractor which was very popular and a farm set to play with.

Ferring Country Centre is an independent charity that promotes meaningful training and work experience for people with learning difficulties. It's located in the village of Ferring to the west of Worthing. Admission to the farm is currently (2016) £3 per person, babies under 1 are free.

Rainy day party in the living room

Now that the weather has turned we need to find ways to entertain ourselves indoors. We did this a month or two back and Harry loved it, so we had another party in the living room! First we made hats for everyone and got out the party cloth to sit on:

Then I got the food ready:

No surprises what Harry went for first:

Won't be long before Mia can have some too!