mellebugandme

Caring for your Boo Bear/Lupin products.

mellebugandme — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:27:27 +0000

Last winter I introduced the Boo Bear Lupin Heatpacks. Cute bears that are perfect to keep warm with at night or to soothe a sore tummy. They are all handmade with double stitching to prevent leakage and are made using 100% Western Australian Lupins.

Lupins are a wonderful alternative to using wheat or rice in heat or cold packs.

They:

Can be quickly heated in the microwave
Can be placed in the freezer to be used as a cold pack.
Very little odour.
30% lighter than wheat heat bags / packs..
Less allergenic than its counterpart wheat (* exception for those allergic to peanuts).
Not treated with chemicals or fungicides.
Heat is Longer lasting that traditional wheat bags.
Lastly it is more resistant to moisture then wheat allowing it to be cleaned more readily.

* Lupins come from the same family as the peanut and is advised not to be used by those suffering from peanut allergies.

How to keep your Lupin Heat/Cold pack clean.

If your Heatpack is slightly soiled then a quick sponge with luke warm water to remove and then to hang up to dry as soon as possible. When cover is dry, rub lupin bag briskly between your hands to ensure grains are dry.

If your heatpack is in need of really good clean then you can immerse the pack in warm soapy water and scrub gently with your hands. Rinse and then squeeze out excess water or alternatively put it in a spin cycle of your washing machine. Then immediately put out into the sun (make sure that its a hot day).

I place my bears on the shadecloth out the back and every now and then turn it over and rustle the beans around to ensure that is all gets dry.

An alternative to hanging outside is too place in a conventional oven on very low temp with the door ajar.

To finish I think it is important to note not to overheat your packs especially when used by a child. Please check the temperature before giving it to your child to ensure no burns.

Lunch box ideas

mellebugandme — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:33:58 +0000

With my daughter starting full time school this year me thinks I will have to be a little more organised with planning her lunch box. The main aim is to keep it healthy and no packets. You have more control over what enters your childs body if you make most* of what goes into their lunch box. It seams that a lot of foods targeted at children i.e yoghurts, muesli bars, cheese packs, crisps are all heavily laden in sugar, fats, salts and preservatives/additives. I was told a few years back that if it has a cartoon character on the packet dont buy it, too true.

One way to check is to quickly glance at the nutrition panel per 100g on the packet. This column is what you use to compare with other products. So products that have:

less than 5g fat per 100g
less than 10g sugar per 100g
less than 120mg of salt per 100g
more than 3g of fibre

Are perfect for kids.

Now in my travels scouring the isles in the store there are little products that have all of these going for it. So in the end use your judgment and compare products to find one with the least amount or think about making it yourself. Cooking it yourself you can see how much fat, sugar and salt you are adding and best of all no ADDITIVES and PRESERVATIVES. Find recipes that freeze well and make things in bulk, make up extra vegies at dinner time and set some aside to puree (i.e. pumpkin, carrot, spinach). These are great to add to loaf cakes or muffins.

So with all that said I have found a get list of lunch box ideas that are grouped into categories.

Essential kids: 101 lunch box ideas

This website has some great recipes.

Kidspot: Lunch Box recipes

A really fantastic planner for the week. I really like how it has a ‘what to prep on sunday box’ (click on pic for link).

The above planner does not allow you to wipe the writing to make up your own planner. So here is my version Lunch Box Planner

Great ways of making your kids lunches exciting from Lunch Boxes with Love.

So my plan is to print out the list, cross out ones I know the kids wont eat and add some others, think about how well it will freeze to make stocks up and print out some of the planners. Lets cross fingers I can stick to the plan.

In the coming weeks I will add my favourite recipes and if you have any ones put a comment below with a link and I will added it to the page.

1 down 3 to go…

mellebugandme — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:40:12 +0000

I have finally got my bottom into gear and started making my daughters school skorts (they look like a skirt but are infact a short). With only a week before school starts I am cutting things fine. I can dooooo iiiiitttttt.

1 made and 3 more to go.

I confess though that they are pretty quick to whip up as all the seams are unfinished. The great thing with working with Jersey as it does not fray.
You too can make one of these using my tutorial that includes a pattern for size 5/6.

Back to school tutorial round up!

mellebugandme — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:47:29 +0000

With school soon approaching us it is time to get organising and preparing the wee ones for the year ahead.

Here are some great tutorials that will help you on your way (click on the picture).

My Skort Tutorial

Back Pack

Library Bag

Pencil case tutorial

Art Smock

Lunch bag

Skort Tutorial

mellebugandme — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:06:05 +0000

The ‘Back to School Skorts’.

My little miss is not a fan of wearing shorts, yet as with most little girls they have yet to learn to sit like a lady. I had a search at other tutorials on the net but I was yet to find the right skort I had in mind. So off to the the drawing board and after a few failed attempts I ended with a working pattern.

Skort Tutorial pdf

I would love to see your end results or a review of the pattern so leave a link/comment below.

Happy Sewing!!

* I found that doubling your hem stops it from rolling up.

Back in Business!!

mellebugandme — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:51:53 +0000

After a lovely break with my family over christmas I have reopened my Mellebug Store on Madeit. I have decided that I will predominantly sell my handmade wares through Madeit and have occasional Market Nights on my facebook page. Me thinks it will be a little easier to keep track of items and perhaps less time tapping away at the computer (in which my kidlets would be more than happy for).

I have added some more gorgeous reversible and adjustable hats to end the summer season and look forward to starting creating some Boo Bear Lupin Heatpacks this winter.

Some Mellebug products can also be purchased from Aster&Ruby in Mandurah and Story Boutique in Floreat, Western Australia.

Super easy Sugared Cinnamon Almonds

mellebugandme — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:02:46 +0000

I have been making these to put into my chrissy goodie bags for a good 5 years now. Its kinda an expected gift along with the family calendar and my Trifle for christmas dessert. Some traditions should never be broken.

The Sugared almonds are super delicious and take under 20mins to make. Even my daughter who never eats almonds will happily munch away a cup full at a time.

Ingrediants.

Almonds (of course) 750grams
1 1/2 C Castor sugar
2 Tbl Cinnamon
1 C water

1. Pour your water and sugar into a pan and bring to the boil. Add your almonds.

2. Keep an eye on it and give it an occasional stir. The water will slowly evaporate.

3. When the water has just about evaporated add the cinnamon and continue to stir until all the water has gone and you are left with crystalized sugar on the almonds.

4. Pour out onto a tray and cool. When they are completely cold place in an airtight container. I think they will last a couple of weeks but they never last long enough in my house to find out.

Yummo!

Buy Handmade this Christmas!

mellebugandme — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:32:17 +0000

Click on the pic and it will take you to some handmade Australian gorgeousness just perfect for christmas presents this year.

OMG Santa knows my name!!!

mellebugandme — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:19:28 +0000

Last year whilst scrolling the internet looking for santa related messages I came across this

PORTABLE NORTH POLE

You put in your childs details, what gift they want the most, what good things they have been up to and some photos of them and they put it all together to make a special message from santa.

When we did this last year my two where aghast that Santa knew who they were and even had a picture of them, OMG. Their faces were priceless, a moment that I hope to encapture again.

It is free to watch and you can purchase a DVD of it.

Its Magic…………

Is your Christmas tree up yet??

mellebugandme — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 07:55:55 +0000

What is your day of choice to dust off the christmas tree and spit shine your baubles?

For us its the 1st of December. There were squeals of delight as we turned the calendar month over and announced that its the start of December. They could hardly contain themselves when we told them we would be doing later in the day. Thus every hour we have them asking “Is it time yet??” pleading eyes.

It will most definentley be an exciting time as we anticipate the arrival of Santa as my two have no concept of days/weeks. They understand presents, presents and more presents. Back when I was there age…………..

So now Santas little helpers need to get off their bottoms and get the shopping organised. I cant believe they have left it so late this year, tsk, tsk.