Discovery Bottles

Margaux  is obsessed with water bottles so this was a much-loved sensory activity. I filled some empty water bottles with a few different things I had around the house which would catch the light or make different sounds. She's been playing with those with delight so I had to share.
- I used thoroughly dried 1 liter sized water bottles
- Fill them up and tie a ribbon around for added fun
- Safety tip: if your baby/young child knows how to open the bottle, use a hot glue gen to seal the cap

Content:

• a collection of buttons all different shapes, sizes and colors
• water with some cinnamon
• pieces of aluminium foil 
• packing foam 

The buttons are great for the colors and sound, the aluminium foil catches the light, the water is great for movement and seeing the cinnamon mix in, packing foam gives a subtle sound and light movement.

The Magic Tissue Box

A fellow Mama gave me the idea of this one. She said her daughter loved it so I had to try. It was a big hit!
Take an empty tissue box and fill it with scraps of fabrics. Use pinking shears to hem the edges so they won't fray. You will need a lot of fabric scraps for this. If you don't have any/enough around the house, you can get some on Etsy for a few dollars.
Simple fun in a box!

Egg carton, baby style

Who knew an empty egg carton could be this much fun? Just ask Margaux.
Following our first sensory activity with water, we continued with the discovery of an egg carton, baby style.
This is one oh-so-cheap and fast toy to make which is a winner in my book:
- Takes 1 minute to make
- All the supplies are already in your home
- The best of all: Margaux loved it and played morning and afternoon with it

If it passes the Margaux's seal of approval, it had to go on my blog!
Just take an empty egg carton and fill it with eggs made out of kitchen paper or toilet paper rolls.
Watch with delight as your baby has fun :)

Sensory activity: Water fun!

Today was a perfect late summer weather and I thought a good opportunity to play with Margaux outside.
I'm trying to do more sensory activities with her and this is the first of a few. You don't need to over think it with a baby: once they are mobile, crawling, standing up and walking, their favorite activity is exploring the world around them. Simple water can be just the trick. Take it outside too if you have the opportunity and watch your baby enjoy playing in the water, birds singing in the background - just taking it all in. Pure pleasure.

Margaux's First Garden Party Cake

Cake decoration in the U.S. is a big deal it seems. Shops are filled with amazing looking cakes. For little ones, they have all sorts of shapes and colors, fulfilling the dreams and creative minds of those little ones. After checking it out though, it seemed there were two concerns with those cakes: 1) Their price sounds like you're off to marry your baby with a wedding cake price tag. 2) Their taste is not the best.
So I decided to try my hands at it and make her a two-tier cake. I must say, I was a little anxious: the idea of putting one on top of the other without everything falling apart, writing her name on it without messing up everything...I had "butterflies in my stomach".
It took two days, but I must say in the end it was a lot of fun doing it, and the best is that you can unleash your creative spirit in the best way: for your little one :)

Top tier: Hazelnut cake with an apricot glaze, covered with rolled fondant
Bottom cake: Chocolate-almond cake with buttercream icing, rolled fondant
Daisies bought from Wilton's and glued with a dot of icing (water and icing sugar mix)
Her letter was written using an "icing writer". I tried my hand at it on a cutting board first and just free-hand wrote it.

What I learned:
- I followed a friend's recommendation and chilled each tier in the fridge as I was preparing the other, this helped work with each cake as they hold better
- I used a cardboard to place the top tier on top of the bottom cake: this is a must. It enabled me to simply lift the top cake without destroying each tier, making it easy to cut pieces of each depending on guest's preference.
- Buttercream icing holds fondant better but is quite heavy
- The thinner the fondant, the better
- Writing a full name, when quite long, is hard and messy, best to stick with a pretty single letter
- The satisfaction of doing something for yourself rather than buying it is not only cost effective - most of all, it is a great feeling.