Thankful and International Tea Day

 "My dear, if you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head I should better understand your affairs." -Charles Dickens . "

May 21st each year is observed as international tea day. On this occasion today I hope that all you fellow chai lovers are enjoying a sip of " kadak garam chai ". This morning when I was making myself some tea the irresistible aroma of tea brought back fond memories. Memories of enjoying cutting chai on tapri with friends in my college days. I thought of those numerous times when my Aai would instantly make "alyacha garam chaha"  as soon as she heard the rain drops on the roof top. Several other such special memories flooded my mind .

The weather was refreshing this morning. I sat on the deck sipping my first cup of tea amidst the chirping of birds. It just felt heavenly . The mug that I was drinking my tea in suddenly grabbed my attention. Instantly I felt thankful and grateful. Thankful for this cup of tea, thankful for another day and thankful for nature. The setting was perfect and so was the tea. More than ever I was grateful for the wellbeing of my family and friends. Amidst this pandemic and uncertainty one thing is sure - a hot cup of tea never fails to soothe me.  After all the ancient proverb aptly says -  "the path to heaven passess through a teapot. "

DIY Recycled Crafts

Resourcefulness is a must have trait for any person. It is the need of the hour that we teach our kids how products are made, the materials used and how this process impacts the planet . I always encourage Kid K to use the scraps of paper we have . We start searching in that bin whenever we decide to do any craft. Many a times the bin inspires and shapes our project in the process . The outcome is even better than what we had envisioned most of the times. Using recyclables in creative projects not only saves materials but boosts creativity .

Kid K had a project assigned in school. The project was in line with the theme "Reduce, reuse and recycle ". Kids were assigned to make a useful item from something at home that can be recycled instead of throwing away. After brainstorming multiple ideas this is what we came up with. We made a piggy bank from an empty salt container. All I helped was to cut the top part for the coin slit . She drew and cut the ears and nose. After wrapping the container with pink construction paper she glued the nose and ears . Finally she added the googly eyes and a pipe cleaner as a cute curly tail . Our mini heart punch came in handy for the emebellished ears . All I had to do was make little suggestions here and there but mainly encourage her . It took us less than 30 minutes from start to end. Kid K is so excited to talk about her piggy bank in "show and tell" at school this week .What do you think about this money saver piggy bank ?

Pinterest Projects - DIY Valentine Love Bugs

 Love is in the air and in my craft room as well. With my Kid K bugging me for a valentine craft project all I could think of was love bugs . So we both decided to start with making some hearts . We put them all together to create different love bugs. Of course first one was the butterfly . We only used scraps of cardstock paper we already had from previous projects . Reuse, reduce and recycle . Aptly what Kid K is learning in class currently. The size of our paper love bugs was pretty much defined by the size of scrap paper we had at hand . After a fun and love filled crafting session here is what we both came up with . Also Kid K learned a new skill .She can now easily use the mini heart punch  . It is her favorite crafting tool now . Can you tell ?

We used these bugs on every door in the house. Now our favorite room in the house is the "Monkey bedroom" and we clean up the "Ladybug room" aka toy room every day. Hope you all had a good valentine's day this year .