How to Wash Soft Toys

If you're anything like us, your little Sprout(s) have a small mountain of soft toys with one or two firm favourites that have probably seen better days! But can you remember the last time you washed them? I have to confess I can't..... not even the the most loved of the bunch. If I really dig deep, I may have a distant memory of them enjoying a snorkel in the washing machine around about the time Sprout had chicken pox and a chest infection, but even then I couldn't be totally certain. 

So earlier this week Sprout's soft toys enjoyed a 'spa' date with the washing machine. 

Here's my guide to washing your child's cuddly toys as quickly and painlessly as possible -

1.Wash all the toys as soon as you get up in the morning. This will give you a pretty good chance of getting the favourite ones dry by bedtime.

2.Check whether the toys are suitable for the washing machine. It's very easy to shove the whole lot in and start the wash before remembering that one in particular is battery powered or has delicate decoration - a couple of our Hello Kittys are minus a few bows because of my overenthusiastic washing!! Ooops!!

3.Choose a washing powder that is gentle enough for your child yet powerful enough to get those toys really clean. We use Simply Sensitive which is dermatalogically tested, phosphate free and carries the Vegan Trademark. It has great cleaning power, however what we like the most is that once washed the toys smell clean, but not with the over powering scent you get from other washing products!

4.Choose a suitable cycle. Depending on your machine you'll probably be able to control all the elements of the cycle. I chose a delicate cycle that washes at 40 degrees, rinses 4 times to ensure all suds have been washed out and spins at 1200rpm. You could probably lower it to 800rpm if your toys are really delicate, but it might prolong the drying time because less water is removed.

5.Identify how you are going to dry all the toys - outside on the line, in the tumble drier or on a radiator. Again make sure the favs enjoy the quickest method to avoid those pre-bedtime meltdowns!!

Why bother washing? Washing helps to keep germs at bay, minimise dust mites and prevent allergies and asthma. Think about it like this - you probably change your sheets every 1-2 weeks and yet your child doesn't drag their sheets down the stairs on a daily basis, take their sheets to the park, throw their sheets into the footwell of the car or take their sheets to pre-school..... 

How do you keep your child's soft toys clean?

Leave me a comment below.

Sprout’s House

 xox

Desk Dilemma

I have finally started sanding Sprout's old fashioned desk. Hooray! Those of you who have been following our adventures for a while may remember that this was one of the presents we bought for her third birthday and I had grand plans to renovate it over the summer holidays - last year!

This was how the desk looked a couple of days ago....

and here she is now! Isn't she so much more beautiful now all that paint has been removed? 

There is still a little bit more sanding to do, but hopefully I'll finish that over the weekend.

Now comes the difficult part - what to do with the desk next? I am quite keen to continue experimenting with Annie Sloan's chalk paints (I used them for the Memory Boxes) and of course Sprout is very keen on a pink theme. She has approved two colours so far which luckily tie in with the curtains she already has in her room.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paints

Magic Tree Curtains at John Lewis

However having seen how beautiful the desk is underneath all that hideous paint, I am wondering whether it would be a shame to cover up the wood again. Perhaps just a layer or two of wax would be enough?

Let me know your thoughts and have a great weekend.

Sprout’s House

  xox

Linking up at ~
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Stripy Fruit Lollies

Well howdy peeps! Long time no see!! I hope you are all well wherever you are at moment!! We have just got back from our summer holiday. It was so lovely to get away and have a change of scene. We have all returned refreshed and ready to enjoy the rest of the summer. With that in mind, Sprout and I have continued experimenting with different ice lolly recipes - a couple of months ago I shared a recipe for Strawberry, Blueberry and Raspberry Ice Lollies - so here's another of our favourite recipes....

Ingredients 

1 cup frozen mango

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 cup frozen strawberries and blueberries

100-150ml Vita Coco Natural Coconut Water 

1. Use a handheld blender to blitz together the mango with a couple of splashes of coconut water. Keep adding coconut water until you get a nice smooth consistency.

2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of the mango to each section of your lolly mold. (I held my mold up the light to check that I had roughly the same amount in each section.)

3. Pop the mold into the freezer and scoop the remaining mango into a bowl. Rinse your blender.

4. Blitz the raspberries in the same way as the mango - adding coconut water until the berries are a smooth consistency. Pour the mixture into a small bowl.

5. Repeat with the strawberries and blueberries.

6. Take the lolly mold out of the freezer. Add a layer of  the raspberry mixture and then a layer of strawberry/blueberries.

7. Top each mold with a layer of the left over mango.

8. Push a lolly stick into each mold and freeze for at least 4 hours.

9. When you're ready to eat, take the lollies out of the freezer and pour hot water over the mold to help release them. 

10. Lastly..... enjoy of course!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Let me know if you get a chance to test these out - especially if you try out any different flavours!

Sprout’s House

xox

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Sprout's Play Shop Tutorial

Here's a really cheap and easy way to make a play shop for your little one.

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Sprout's Daddy and I purchased this set of shelves from eBay for about £15 - it was originally the top from a dresser.

The shelves came with these little pieces of wood that slotted into either side of the shelves to help them balance on the bottom half of a dresser.

We decided to turn the shelves upside down so that they would be more stable. Then we sanded and primed them using a gloss primer.

Once dry, Sprout's Daddy used an off cut of wood to add a top to the (upside down) shelves. He sawed off the ends of the shelf supports and used them to fill in the little gap underneath the new top. These were glued in place and then the off cut was glued and nailed to the top. The curly parts of the supports were glued to the front of shelves to hide the where we had attached the new top and make it look a bit prettier! All this was sanded and primed too.

The final job was to paint the shelves - I used Crown's Non Drip Gloss in Duck Egg Blue and gave it a couple of coats.

For the shop, we used a mixture of food packaging we had saved, some bits that Sprout's had received as presents and then we also bought a few bits and pieces too.

(In case you're interested, the grocery set (white rice, brown rice, sugar etc), food group baskets, till, scales, cupcakes and lollies are all from GLTC.)

Once everything was arranged on the shelves and Sprout officially opened the shop I decide that although the curly sections had prettied up the front it still looked a bit bare. So I made a simple banner.

Using Word, I chose a really simple font (easier to cut out!) and typed in the letters I wanted. I printed it out and cut out each letters. I chose some off cuts of fabric, drew around the letters and then cut them out. I glued each letter on to some ribbon and then stuck the ribbon to the shelves using mini glue dots from Hobbycraft.

Have you re-purposed a piece of furniture recently? Was it for you or for you children? Share your ideas in the comments.

Sprout’s House

  xox

Linking up at ~

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Pink Princessy Party Favours

Here's a great idea for creating pink princess inspired party favours!!

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As lots of you will know, Sprout recently turned four and we held a princess birthday party complete with bouncy castle, a pink castle cake and at the end of the party we gave out  pink princess-y party favours.

Due to a couple of bouts of Sprouty illness - chicken pox and an ear infection - my organisation of the party was fairly haphazard and by the time I got around to shopping for party bag treats the selection on offer was rather dismal. Instead, we found these great Playmobil figures at Toys R Us. Each bag contains a selection of pieces that make up a surprise Playmobil figure - although you can narrow it down a bit by choosing a blue or pink bag depending on your child!

So you might get an Egyptian queen or an ice skater, a surfer, a cowboy or a pirate. One of the great things about these little packages is that they encourage you to create your own characters too. For example,  you could add the surfer's head to the cowboy's torso and then give him the ice skater's legs!! Lots of scope for imaginative play!

Reality Check!!.....What I'm about to share would have occurred if I lived in an ideal world!! However back in the real world, I had just finished an incredibly busy term and Sprout was fighting off temperatures of 105˚F so although we did hand out little pink packages at the end of the party containing a Playmobil figure and a mini-packet of Haribo - it was minus the 'pretty' bits!!

Equipment -

pink tissue paper

pink heart washi tape

heart paper punch

cream parcel tags

white curling ribbon

silver pen

Time: 3-5 minutes per favour

1.Cut your tissue paper to the correct size - I used 5 or 6 layers to for each parcel. The fewer layers you use the more see through your package will be!

2.Wrap the party favours and seal with strips of washi tape.

3.Cut 50cm of curling ribbon and wrap around the package.
4.Double knot and then use the blade of a pair scissors to curl the each end of the ribbon.

5.Wrap two pieces of washi tape around the end of the parcel tags, punch a heart through the tape and label with a guest's name.

6.Repeat until you have wrapped all your parcels!!

These really are easy to make, and you could customise them in so many different ways - green tissue paper with a dinosaur punched tag, purple paper with a butterfly punched tag or yellow paper with a star punched tag. The possibilities are endless...

What kind of party favours do you give out at parties? 

Leave your suggestions in the comments!

Sprout’s House

  xox

Linking up at ~
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