Heather's Handmade Life

Reusable snack bag party favours

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Heather Laura Clarke

Ready to quit loot bags and hand out something that’s actually useful?

These reusable snack bags can be filled with candy, crackers or pretzels to be eaten on the drive home from the birthday party, and then the bag can be used over and over again in their lunchbox. They don’t even need snaps or velcro because they have a fold-over flap.

Here’s how to make them:

Cut out rectangles of fabric, one per bag (mine were roughly 8×12” but it doesn’t matter if they’re all slightly different)
Hem or serge the short ends
Fold one end down by a couple of inches to be the bag’s flap, and fold the other end up to meet the top
Serge or sew up each side to close the bags
Turn the bags right side out and fill it with snacks!

Say no to loot bags. Seriously.

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Heather Laura Clarke

Leave a Comment

Dear Parents,

Let’s all decide, as a group, that traditional loot bags are a terrible waste of money and sanity and we should never, ever make them again? OK?

Yes, I know. It’s easy to roam around a Dollar Store and fill a basket with six-packs and eight-packs colourful crap. It sounded very inexpensive in theory, didn’t it? A couple of bucks here for party blowers, two bucks for powdery candies with questionable ingredients. Each bag will only cost two or three dollars, right?

There’s math involved, sure, as you count the number of guests on your fingers. If I buy three six-packs of erasers shaped like horses and two 12-packs of pencils then I could, hmmm. But what about the soccer ball notebooks? Those come in four-packs so I’ll need — PUT DOWN THE CERAMIC DOLPHIN!

Yes, your kids are probably “helping” you shop, too, and insisting they need to give each friend a mini harmonica (the other parents will hate you) and a piercing whistle (seriously, the other parents will stop inviting you fun places).

I have done these loot bags, many times. I have bought or made cute themed bags and written each child’s name on the front, stacking them neatly on a table by the door. I have filled the bags with the junkiest junk you can imagine — the yo-yos that break immediately, the cheap stickers, the miniature bottles of bubbles that last for about eight seconds of bubble-blowing. There’s something satisfying about assembling a loot bag, which is probably why they still exist since being on the receiving end is painful.

When my own kids pile into the van after a birthday party, I immediately ask to see “their cool new bouncy ball” — there’s always a bouncy ball. It’s perfectly throat-sized and just squishy enough that it seem fun to pop in their mouth. (Some kids outgrow “mouthing” things — mine didn’t.) I pretend to drop the ball somewhere in the van and promise to retrieve it later, but I’ve actually used Mommy Sleight of Hand to sneak it inside an empty Tim’s cup.

About an hour after the birthday party, the loot bag toys are broken and go straight into the garbage. I hide any uneaten made-in-China candy in a high cabinet where I’ll “forget” to give it to them, ever, and throw it out six months later. Was that really worth the $5 or $6 the damn thing ended up costing the parent? Nope!

I officially quit loot bags at the kids’ party last year, when they turned three and five. I bought a hard plastic Paw Patrol cup for each guest and filled it with homemade caramel corn and a gummy snake. Eat the snack, keep the cup, DONE. It worked out so well that I did something similar for our daughter’s party over the weekend, and — surprise, surprise — it cost way less than a loot bag of litter.

Trust me, it’s so much better.

Sincerely,
A Parent Who Is Tired of Hiding Bouncy Balls

*******

Pinterest fail: Egg carton flower picture frames

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Heather Laura Clarke

Leave a Comment

I love a good DIY project that uses recycled items (hello, FREE!) but I’ll be the first to admit things don’t always turn out as pretty as they do on Pinterest.

My attempts to turn old egg cartons into 3D art for picture frames? This *should* have been a great, kid-friendly, nearly-free project that cleverly used up something that would otherwise be trash, but it certainly didn’t work out as lovely as advertised.

I maintain there’s still hope, though, so here’s what to do if you’d like to give it a try …

1. Grab a couple of empty egg cartons to get started. Styrofoam or cardboard cartons are all fine, but you’ll be stuck with plain white flowers if you choose a styrofoam carton. Trust me, white is better than what happens when you paint them. (Spoiler alert: “I’m meltingggg! Oh, what a world! What a world!”)

Continue reading in my weekly DIY column, My Handmade Home …

You might also like these recycled material projects …

Mirror from plastic spoons

Paper mache letter wrapped with yarn

Recycling burnt-out light bulbs into glittery decor

Parental essentials on the road

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Heather Laura Clarke

Leave a Comment

I got so many great questions after yesterday’s post on vehicle hacks for parents that I thought I’d go into a bit more detail today about some of the items I keep in our minivan. I’m one of those over-prepared people that always has a band-aid or a hair elastic: it’s a gift/curse.

So let’s get started …

I showed this essentials kit in yesterday’s post, and it’s probably the most important thing in my minivan. CPR kit (with a mask and gloves) in case I ever need to put my first-aid skillz into action + a couple of loose band-aids are the biggies, but the chapstick and Advil are also reallllly vital sometimes.

This all fits into a mini pencil case and I keep it in the driver’s side door (along with an extra baggie of my oh-so-awesome Lifesaver mints) so it’s always easy to grab.

Now, this next case wouldn’t be considered an “essential” for a lot of people, but it is for me. I keep a couple of small notebooks, different black pens and a few sketching pencils in a little pouch.

This is fairly new because my old (terrible) method was leaving numerous notepads and pens in EVERY SINGLE BAG, EVER. This way, I can grab a single book or pen to throw in my purse if I expect to be sitting/waiting so I can write out lists, sketch upcoming project ideas and clothing designs, etc.

Now let’s take things into the backseat (oooooh!) and see what’s happening in the heart of the minivan.

One of my recent discoveries, which I mentioned in yesterday’s piece, is that I keep a bag of mini trash bags in the seatback pocket of each vehicle so we always have a fresh bag ready to go.

Each package was $1 each and they’ve been INVALUABLE for us, since we were accumulating a lot of garbage and often trucking around full grocery bags of trash, etc.

I also started tying the trash bag to the netting on the seatback pocket, rather than on the passenger armrest, so I can still reach it from the front without constantly looking at it. Also, it’s easier for the kids to put their trash in the bag since they pass it to exit the vehicle — and let’s face it, they’re the real pigs.

On the other side of the van (driver’s side), the seatback pocket holds the empty bags (ready to be used), a mini package of wipes (we don’t use many now that the kids are four and five), a pump of hand sanitizer and a mini package of tissues. All very important and therefore SUPER EASY TO GRAB.

Now remember that big yellow Bag O’ Crap from the top of the post? That’s where post of the stuff is, and I keep it tucked in the back of the van (technically the trunk, but you know it’s not *really* a trunk in a van).

Here’s what’s inside my Big Bad Bag of Car Crap …

Various drugs (stored in an old Ibuprofen bottle), first aid kit with bug spray and AfterBite (never been used, but I seem to think we’ll use it at some point), a zippered pouch with extra kiddie underwear (not really an issue at these ages, but you never know) and socks for the kids (and me) in case we hit up an indoor playplace during the bare-footed months. Oh, and toilet paper. My kid peed in the parking lot of Cleve’s less than seven days ago, and this would have been useful.

Potty emerg. Daughter was horrified I suggested peeing in Spider-Man cup in privacy of van. Peed right in the parking lot instead, happily.

— Heather Laura Clarke (@HFXHeather) April 29, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Folder with a blank scribbler, colouring books, stickers and a fuzzy pencil case of crayons. (If this stuff looks familiar, it’s from the church bag I made a million years ago … when we were going to church regularly, whoops).

I recently threw in this 20-question card game we’ve never played, just in case.

Four bottles of water (Yes, I know — leaving plastic bottles in a hot car is bad. These are just emergency waters, and I’d rather drink possibly-icky water in an emergency than nothing), two juice boxes, a somewhat-crushed bag of Goldfish, two boxes of raisins, and a fold-up reusable shopping bag.

Four really tiny fold-up chairs in their own bags (bought for $4 each last summer at Carlton Cards, of all random places), back-up sunglasses for the kids and for me (although I always have my good ones in my bag, and the kids typically wear a pair out of the house in the summer), back-up hats for the kids (they will likely leave the house wearing a “good” hat daily during the summer, but these are beat-up back-ups), and one towel in case we find ourselves at a splash pad unexpectedly.

Oh, right — the centre console. I talked about this a bit yesterday, too, but here it is again. I put silicone muffin tin liners in the cupholders because they get so grody (crumbs, spilled Diet Coke, etc.) and are difficult to clean properly. I also keep a phone charger and car power adapter (useful for charging the kids’ LeapPads and the iPad, as well as my iPhone and iPod) in the centre console, along with my really ancient iPod (not pictured) and the cord that connects it to the stereo.*

*This van does not understand your fancy Bluetooth technology. It’s all about the cords.

***

So that’s it! Other than license and registration in the glove-box (and yet another notebook and pen in there, too, in case of writing down accident details), that is EVERY SINGLE THING in our minivan.

Am I missing something important? Is your mini packin’ something I should have, too? Let me know!

When messy minivans attack: vehicle hacks for parents

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Heather Laura Clarke

Leave a Comment

I cleaned my van on Saturday morning and, I’m not going to lie, it was totally magical. I have a new-found love for that hunk of metal on wheels.

I was inspired by this column I wrote a couple of days earlier, which is in newspapers across the 9-0-2 (cool-people speak for Nova Scotia, maybe?) today.

If you’re going to write about cleaning your hell-hole of a minivan, you really feel compelled to practice what you preach.

Here’s a sneak peek of the “essentials kit” (yes, business cards are essential) I keep in the driver’s side door of my mini …

Of course, it’s not the only kit in there. Oh, no. There are many. I’ll show some more “after” pics tomorrow.

(Updated to add: There’s a new post on EVERYTHING I keep in my vehicle, and how I organize it.)

Today is all about sharing the HUGE list of ideas I compiled, so here we go …

***

There’s less than two months of school left and the weather’s already perfect for lots of playground-hopping and mini roadtrips. It’s time to give your babe-mobile a much-needed wash and vacuum — SO. MUCH. ROAD. SALT. — and get it nice and organized for spring.

My own minivan? Definitely looks worse for wear right now. There’s at least one melted sucker in a rear cupholder and the remains of several broken Happy Meal toys. So I’m going to take my own advice and try a few of these vehicle hacks for parents …

Keep a basket of snacks in the trunk — either individual packages or large containers with bowls for portioning out servings. It’ll save you from running through the drive-through if someone is suddenly starving, and it’s great for impromptu park picnics.
Ditto for water and juice boxes. We always have a large jug of water in the back for emergencies and usually keep smaller water bottles on hand, too.
Keep parental pick-me-ups — like aspirin, breath mints and gum you don’t feel like sharing — in the driver’s side door. The kids are less likely to rummage through it, compared to the easily-raided centre console.
Are those annoying kids always whipping open the doors and banging them against the wall of the garage? Cut a pool noodle in half, lengthwise, and bolt the pieces into the wall at the spot where the door normally hits.
Turn a plastic container into a trash can, or tie a bag to the armrest of the passenger seat. I picked up two $1 packages of mini trash bags and keep a package in each of our vehicles now because the garbage used to drive me crazy! Now there’s always a fresh bag right there, ready to use.
If there’s a chance of frost in the morning, park your vehicle so it’s facing east. You’re increasing the odds of the sun melting it for you so you don’t have to wrestle with the scraper — minivan windshields are BIG. (We hopefully won’t need to worry about this tip until the fall, although my windshield was totally frosted this morning, so who knows?)
Shell out for a phone-charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter (wait, does those actually exist for lighting cigarettes in 2016?) and never, ever leaves the vehicle. Get in the habit of charging your phone whenever you’re driving, and you’re less likely to get stuck somewhere with a dead phone.
Keep a few boredom-busters in the vehicle. We have a small tote with a few books and quiet games we can pull out if we’re unexpectedly delayed or find ourselves at a home without toys, but we hardly ever need them. This means that no one remembers what’s in the bag and it’s a big exciting deal whenever we pull it out!
If you’re going on a long trip — or your kids just get especially bored in the car — you can hang a canvas shoe organizers over the back of a front seat. The pockets are perfect for storing little toys, snacks and activities.
If your little one is prone to carsickness or they’re just a messy eater, cover their seat with a fitted sheet to protect the upholstery.
Get creative with containers. Travel soap cases are great for storing crayons and decks of cards. Empty DVD cases are a perfect spot for coloured pencils and drawing paper.
Keep a summertime stash in your vehicle so you’re always prepared if you stop at a park or playground unexpectedly. It should contain a hat for each child, a towel or two (for splash pads) and a small bottle of sunscreen. Ideally, yes, you’ll already have sunscreen in a bag that regularly goes in and out of the house with you — because sunscreen can lose its effectiveness if it’s being baked in a hot car every day — but it’s better than nothing if you’re stuck.
Keep wipes in a seatback pocket for wiping up sticky fingers, sticky faces, sticky spills, sticky everything.
Don’t forget a first-aid kit. I have one in my vehicle that I don’t think I’ve ever used, but it’s there — including a mask and gloves in case I get a chance to use my CPR skills on the side of the road (something my instructor assured me would probably never happen). We do, however, use the extra stash of band-aids I added. Playground scrape season is coming, guys.
Did a bottle roll under the seat a while back and now your minivan smells like a rotting animal? Hop on Pinterest and learn how to make a vehicle-ready essential oil diffuser from a clothespin, hot glue and felted balls.
Picking up a drive-through meal and the cupholders are mostly full? Bring along a muffin tin and sit in on the passenger seat inside a deep plastic container — you can fit 12 drinks easily!
If everyone will be eating in the car, keep a few plastic shower caddies around to hold their meal and drink — since, chances are, the cupholder’s been yanked off their booster seat and who knows where it is?
Keep an old blanket in the trunk. You can use it at soccer games, picnics and beach outings during the spring and summer, and it’ll be an in-case-of-emergency item during the winter months.
You know how the cupholders always end up sticky and crumb-y … or is that just my minivan? Put silicon cupcake liners inside the cup holders and you can simply pull them out and wash them (or replace them) when they start to get gross.