toys Toys TOYS!

When I was in elementary school, I used to go to an American church during the week to partake in a girls' program called Missionettes.  I've never been in a girls' program aside from that and am not familiar with Girls' Scouts other than their cookies, so I have nothing to compare it to, but in retrospect it was very much gender-biased.  We learned about women in the Bible, to cook, to craft, among other things.  It was okay though because my curiosity has supplied me well in the male-oriented spectrum of life.  I generally know most tools, know how to fix a toilet (even if it is just temporary), know more about cars than most men would expect me to know, and whatnot.  I have many many fond memories of my time in Missionettes and one of the most grateful things that I have learned through the program is crafting.  My parents both worked very hard to provide for our family and so teaching me to craft wasn't exactly their priority, but there at Missionettes, I made things that to this day I completely cherish.  It wasn't anything fancy or intricate.  Sometimes it was a sewing-with-yarn kind of craft you would probably find at a dollar store, and sometimes it was revamping a cheap plastic photo album with lovely printed material, lace, and buttons. I can confident say that it was the introduction to crafts at Missionettes that has made me into the crafty person that I am today.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I am by no standard a pro at anything I do.  In fact, my work is rudimentary at best, but I believe that God has given me the interest in wanting to make things and a talent to work with my hands.  Also, I don't believe in having to pay inflated prices for things that I can easily make with the time I have at home.

This brings me to my current and on-going interest in toys for Luna.  Toys in general are super expensive.  Toys in Korea in general are like three times the prices back at home.  sigh.  I do not have the money to satisfy my want for toys for Luna, especially when I'm looking for toys that are specific to her developmental stage right now.  This is where my crafting comes in.  Also, being a teacher by profession helps me to think of toys for her that would be beneficial to her stage.  So, here it goes.

One day I noticed that she was starting to use her fingers to pinch objects.  Also, she liked putting stuff into containers.  So I saved my plastic cup from the coffee shop and brought it home.  One man's trash is another man's treasure, is it not?  haha  Then I got the scrap ribbon I had in the house and sewed up the ends to make little balls out of them.  This was the result:

 

Luna likes to shove the ribbon ball into the hole in the cup.  I initially thought of buying pretty little pom pom things at the craft store, but there are no mega craft stores Michael's in Korea.  I'm sure I can find them if I looked, but the ribbon was already at home.

Luna really likes to do this.  It's really amazing how focused she is when she tries to finish this task.

For a while, I didn't have any other inspiration to make a toy for her.  Finally I found something to make.  I'm still in the middle of the project though.  What am I making?  I am making a ring stacker for her.

I don't know why, but Luna loves that blue ring holder!  And that's not even the intended use.  The blue thing is actually the rack for the Avent bottle parts sterilizer. lol.  Luna loves to go in the corner where I have stored it, open the top and bring out the rack.  She just carries it around.  So, I decided to make some rings out of felt and stuffed it.  I've made three rings so far and need to make more.  I just haven't had the energy or the mind to do it lately. We've only had this for a week now so she hasn't mastered getting the post through the ring.  But, she will.

Also, I made some puppets with felt.  My mom sent me a Tweety bird puppet during the summer and Luna was super amazed by the puppet.  It's a simple puppet too; it doesn't have a moving mouth, but just a giant head and arms.  I made three friends to go along with Tweety.  The first one I made was of a rabbit.  When I cut out the body in accordance with the width of my hand, I forgot to account for the thickness of my hand. Oops.  I worked to fix it, but it means that it only fits my hand.  Then I made the frog so that Husband would be able to fit his hand.  This time, I made it too big where it is real comfy for him but I can't use it very well because my hand is much smaller.  The most recent one I made is the owl, and it happens to be my favorite.  I saw this owl on Pinterest and I think it provided a template, but I didn't use the template.  This time, the size is just right where both of us can use it comfortably.  (This is starting to sound like Goldilocks.) I've included the measurements for those of you who want to try it out.  Note that the rabbit is the smallest in width and height as well.

Of course, with the green felt I had, I made a felt CHRISTmas tree.  Felt stick to felt so I cut out "ornaments" that Luna can stick and unstick onto the tree.  She isn't toooo interested in the tree, but its there for when she is.  This idea wasn't mine, but a fellow mom on a fb group I am a part of.

With some fabric that I bought at Dongdaemun last week, I've made some bibs.  Koreans don't actually use these as bibs, but as scarves for the babies.  Koreans have this thing about always having to keep the neck warm to keep the cold away.

This took a little more work because I'm hand sewing them.  I left my sewing machine back in California though I'm sure using the machine wouldn't cut down on time too much because I'm not too skilled with the machine either. haha  But, after cutting the two fabrics, I ironed the edges down so that it would be easier to sew them together.  I ended up having to adjust the ironing twice in the middle of the sew because the two triangles weren't lining up right.  In the end, the green side came out a little lumpy but you can't tell once the scarf is around the neck.  I also attached some snap buttons so that I wouldn't have to tie it.  The snap buttons can easier be bought at Daiso too.
(Looking at the pictures now, the green print looks similar to the play clothes that Maria made for the children in Sound of Music)

A while back, I also made teething pads for my ergoBaby carrier.  Again, I had the cloth at home already. so i just sewed it up instead of paying the $10 for it.

 I used one of the numerous brand new washcloths we had at home.

The one on the left is the ergoBaby teething pad and the one on the right is the washcloth. 

I just sewed up the ends and sewed in the snaps and voila! I've got some more teething pads. 

Last week, Husband and I went on a Dongdaemun haul, picking up some goodies at the toy alley and the fabric/craft mega building.  Like I said, toys are expensive.  Wooden, Montessori-like toys are even more expensive!  Holy moly! If you know the toy alley, there's a store on one of the corners that is gigantuous.  It's two floors and it holds many many toys of brands that you know.  It also holds many Montessori toys and wooden toys that I would love to buy for Luna.  The problem is the price.  Even at Dongdaemun, the prices are ridiculous.  sigh.  BUT there is a toy store I found that hold wooden toys at a much cheaper price!  I bought a wooden puzzle for 5000 won.  yay!  I forgot the take a picture of the store front, but hopefully someone can help you find it if you decide to go check it out. They also sell lamination stuff.

The prices I saw there were comparable to the prices on Gmarket, so if you're not into actually playing with the toys before purchasing (like I am), then I say utilize Gmarket instead of making the trip to Dongdaemun.

You can find directions and additional info on the the toy alley on this blog, Kids Fun in Seoul: Dongdaemun market


Back in May, I posted info on a baby cafe near my apartment.  They've actually changed their name and their prices/policy a bit.  It used to be that a purchase of a drink will get you two hours of play, and a food purchase will get you three hours.  They have actually started charging an entrance fee of 1000 for the adult and 2000 for the child in addition to the drink/food purchase (the drink/food prices haven't changed).  However, there is no time limit.  It's still a pretty good deal.

This is a lot of information and there are still two more topics I wanted to cover, but I think I'll leave it for next time.  Leave me some love please!


Next: soap making/packing supplies and stripping diapers