HIBISCUS (Gumamela) BUBBLES

This is a classic pastime I used to do when I was a kid. Mom taught me how to prepare Hibiscus (Gumamela) bubbles; and now I am sharing it to my little girl. She enjoyed mixing and blowing those bubbles.

My Gumamela plant

INGREDIENTS:
10-20 hibiscus leaves
2-3 tsp detergent
250 ml water

MATERIALS:
blower
mortar and pestle

Hibiscus leaves, and mortar and pestle

detergent

water

my daughter's old bubble blower

PROCEDURE:

1. First, crush Hibiscus leaves using the mortar and pestle. (I used stone when I was small)

2. Next, put crushed leaves in water.

3. Then, add detergent. Mix.

4. Lastly, let stand for 5 minutes. Afterwards, you can already enjoy your bubbles.

Little miss says it's like cooking.

It's windy; can't really catch those bubbles in photo.

Have a fun summer! =)

COILED MAGAZINE FLOWER FOR HEADBAND

'Found a way to jazzed up my old white plastic headband using coiled magazine pages. 

Here's how I did it:

MATERIALS:

headband

coiled magazine pages 

a piece of green magazine page cut as leaf

glue

varnish

(for the procedure on how to make coiled magazine pages, please refer to http://imaginen-nen.blogspot.com/2013/04/coiled-magazine-bangle.html )

PROCEDURE:

1. Form the coiled magazine pages into a flower; use glue.

2. Glue the leaf at the back of the flower; and apply varnish to make it a bit stiff.

3. Lastly, glue the flower to your desired position on the headband.

My little girl modelling it for me. =)

Have pretty summer! =)

COILED MAGAZINE BANGLE

I made this bangle out of magazine pages. I think this could be a great summer accessory; but I haven't tried to submerged it in water though. =D

MATERIALS:
magazine pages
super glue or glue stick
cardboard
poster paint
varnish

PROCEDURE:

1. Cut strips of magazine pages about 1.5 to 1 inches in width.

2. Get a strip and roll it from the tip.

3. Coil the rolled strip from the tip. Then glue.

4. Cut a cardboard strip and roll it according to the circumference of your arm. This will serve as your guide when you glue the coiled strips together.

5. Put a rolled scotch tape on the cardboard bangle to hold the first coiled strip. Then glue the coiled strips together according to your desired pattern or design. Avoid putting glue on the cardboard.

6. Remove the cardboard and leave the bangle to dry. Afterwards, you can also paint the dried glue with your chosen color so that it will look neat. I painted mine with green poster paint. Lastly, coat with varnish for added luster and to make it stiff.

That's it! Have a beautiful summer! (*-*)

LIGHT CATCHER

This is another cool summer project for you and your kids.

'Got this idea from Smart Parenting Philippines March 2011 issue; under How-to column entitled Easy, breezy summer by Grace Marcellana. I just changed some materials that are not readily available in our home.

Here's a photo of the light catcher I made with my 3 y/o daughter:

The main material here are the old CDs that reflect sunlight that's why it is called light catcher.

MATERIALS:

Old CDs

Colored paper

Sequins

Flower bead

Crayons

Ribbon

Glue

Sticks (2)

Scissors

PROCEDURE:

1. I got these two (2) wooden sticks, my father's scraps after repairing an old wooden bed. I covered them with colored paper.

2. I arranged them into a cross and tie them using the ribbon.

3. The next thing I did was to decorate the CDs by tracing them in colored paper, cut, then ornate.

My little darling wants to make one too.

This is a sunflower according to her. =)

4. Lastly, I glued them on the CD, strung the CDs and tied them on the sticks.

FINAL OUTCOME:

There goes Orange's sunflower.

Glimmer, shimmer, shine! (*-*)

SUMMER TREE

Summer tree will be a traditional activity at home. We started making summer tree last year. It is like a Christmas tree but we used a tall ornamental plant and we hanged DIY drawn ornaments such as sun, fruits, and anything that has something to do with summer. Here's a picture of our summer tree this year:

MATERIALS:

An ornamental plant

For the ornaments:

Fabrics of different color (can be leftover ones)

Transparent folder

Glue

Ribbon

Marker

PROCEDURE for making the ornaments:

1. Using your marker, you need first to draw any summer-y objects on the fabric. You can also put words on it or the names of your family members. I wrote some verbs so my little girl will get to know some English words. She's already fluent with our native dialect Ilocano and national language Filipino because these were the medium of instruction in her school. She can speak a little English mixed with the two dialects.

2. Glue a ribbon on the transparent folder. This will serve as the string.

2. Paste the object that you have drawn then cut according to its shape.

Other ornaments I made:

The star was supposed to be a starfish but my daughter insisted that the star in the sky. So I wrote twinkle instead of swim.

Kite and Bird

Cloud and Watermelon

Flower and Leaf

Valentine is over but my little girl wants to include "Love". Oh, the lips was my idea, LOL. =D

Here, Orange enjoys decorating our Summer tree.

HAPPY SUMMER! (*-*)