A mama with ideas...

Make your own tabletop photographic studio with a DIY lightbox...

Posted by Maxine Cleminson - - 0 comments

I am most definitely an amateur photographer. However, that doesn't mean that I don't aspire to take better photographs! I invested in a new camera at Christmas, upgrading from a decidedly point-and-shoot digital camera (albeit a nice Canon one) to a fancy (albeit entry level) Canon EOS T3i Rebel DSLR (see link at bottom)! And I love it. Even with my limited forays into its many settings I have been able to take pictures of much better quality than I have ever achieved before. In fact, I am planning to go on a photography course soon so that I can better understand my camera and the processes involved in taking great photos.

One of the things I have been particularly keen to get better at is taking professional looking close up photos. As a blogger describing crafts and cooking (amongst other ramblings) I really wanted to be able to take close ups that my readers would love... from an aesthetic point of view but also from a practical!

Looking at other blogs and websites (like Etsy and Ebay) for inspiration, the things I think that makes a great close up professional image are having a blank (not necessarily white) background that does not distract from the object, no obvious shadows/glare/reflections and colours that appear vibrant and true to life. While the first is quite easily achieved simply by placing the object being photographed on a blank 'canvas', lighting the object well enough without creating shadows/glare/leaching of colour is really hard with a standard camera flash and/or lightbulb.

You can buy professional lightboxes or light tents . These essentially act to diffuse bright light ... like a mini professional studio, but they are expensive for what they are in my opinion. So I decided to make my own.

You will need...

A large-ish, sturdy cardboard box
Sharp scissors and/or a craft knife
A ruler
A marker
Sticky tape
White trash bags (or you could use white muslin fabric, white kitchen paper or similar)
A large sheet of pure white Bristol board
Sheets of other coloured card
3 lamps (the brighter the better)

Using a ruler, mark a line about 1-2 inches from the edge one of the sides of the box (I used the width of the ruler for ease).

Using a sharp craft knife or scissors, cut out this rectangle.

Repeat on 2 other sides of the box. Tip the box onto the intact side with the top open (you may have to trim the flaps of the open top. Keep the base of the box taped shut.

Cut a section of your white trash bags (or muslin fabric) to fit the hole you cut in the box and tape in place. Repeat for the other 2 sides.

Trim a large sheet of Bristol board (this type of paper is completely matte and uncoated) to the width of the base of the box. Then gently bend it to lay in a curve down the back wall and across the base of the box. This creates the appearance of an infinite background.

Then prop lamps to shine through each of the white covered panels. The brighter the better (in fact mine weren't really bright enough and so shadows are still evident in my images). Then prop your camera on a tripod (if you have one) or just on a stack of books in front of the box and start taking close up images.

Here are some quick images I took using things close to hand... as is typcial in my house a variety of toys were underfoot and made great test subjects! I also found a soda can shot by Him Indoors with a rifle at a friends' ranch! You can play about with different coloured card in the background, for example, I swapped the white Bristol board for a sheet of black card with quite striking results. In the last image, one of the twins had switched off the lamp to the right of the image, but I quite like the shadowed results!

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Silent Sunday...

Posted by Mama Max - - 1 comments

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Reversible wipe clean placemats ...

Posted by Maxine Cleminson - - 0 comments

Mealtimes with three young boys are a messy affair! I am forever wiping hands, faces, tables, chairs, floor and even walls on occasion! It really is feeding time at the zoo! The boys themselves are washable, so I don't mind too much, but protecting the furniture is another matter. I've tried normal cotton tablecloths, but can't be bothered with the washing & ironing. I've also tried vinyl tablecloths, but these tend to slip and don't stand up to vigorous wiping, plus there's also the issue of nasty toxins in vinyl. So when I saw a whole range of beautiful laminated cottons on the www.fabric.com website I was intrigued. Unlike vinyl or most oilcloth, laminated cotton doesn't contain phthalates, so it's great for kids' projects. It's also softer to the touch and so drapes/folds a bit better. The difficulty I had was that the cotton I liked only came in a 44" width... not wide enough for a tablecloth for my table. Therefore, I decided to make small easily wipe-clean placemats... and reversible to boot! I made them as simple as possible with no bound edges to catch dirt or fancy pockets for cutlery (yet more nooks and crannies for gunk to collect) and with a thin layer of batting in the middle to make them feel a little more substantial.

To make 6 placemats, you will need...

1 yard of laminated cotton (44" wide)
1 yard of laminated cotton in a contrasting or complementary pattern/color (also 44" wide)
1 yard of low loft batting (also at least 44" wide)
Clothes pegs or sticky tape.
Scissors
Sewing machine with a presser foot (alternatively, you could use baking parchment)
Coordinating thread

Firstly you need to cut out 18 rectangles, all 12" x 18" - six from your first laminated cotton, six from the other laminated cotton, and six from the batting. If your laminated fabric is wrinkled from being folded, you can iron (on low) on the REVERSE. To be extra sure you don't melt the laminate, it may be a good idea to use a pillowcase over the top!

Place the two rectangles of different laminated fabric together, shiny sides touching. Then lay a rectangle of batting on top. Hold the 3 layers together with clothes pegs ... don't use pins as these will permanently mark the fabric. Alternatively, you could use sticky tape, but this is a bit difficult to remove from the batting!

Sew the 3 layers together on your sewing machine with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 6 inch opening on one of the long sides of the rectangle.

Trim the batting close to the seam, and cut notches in the laminated fabric in a fan shape around the corners.

Turn the layers inside out using the opening left in the seam, so that the two laminated fabrics are outside and the batting is inside.

Squash it flat as best you can. Then, starting at the opening in the seam, simply sew a border 1/8" from the edge all the way around. Because laminated cottons are 'sticky', this can be difficult without a special foot on your sewing machine (a presser foot, or one designed for this sort of thing is best). However, there are other solutions. You could tape a strip of baking parchment in place, sew over the top and then simply tear it off. Low tack masking tape (or the blue decorater's stuff) would work equally well!

This then provides a defined and flat edge without the use of bias binding (which in my experience traps all the muck when you try to clean the mats, defeating the object of having wipe clean surface in the first place!).

Initially the mats may be a little 'puffy' due to the batting inside, but you can squeeze out any excess air and over time they will flatten out. To care for these placemats, simply wipe clean with a damp soft cloth and soapy water or a multi-surface spray. If they become heavily soiled, you can soak them in mild laundry detergent & rinse, or toss them in the washing machine on a handwash setting. However, let them air dry as they may not survive the tumble drier! Once sewn together with shiny sides facing outwards you can't iron them... obviously!

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Hunger Games... Katniss' Favorite Lamb & Dried Plum Stew

Posted by Maxine Cleminson - - 3 comments

Okay... so I was a little late to this party. I only read the Hunger Games last week after being intrigued by the hype and the trailers for the new movie. I have to admit that I am partial to a bit of Sci Fi & Fantasy and have dipped my toe into the world of Young Adult fiction a few times... Harry Potter & the Twilight saga being among my favorites. And the Hunger Games did not disappoint. In fact, I loved it so much that I read all three books back-to-back (an advantage of coming late to the party) in a matter of days! One of the best things about this series is the role-model-worthy strong female lead... by comparison, Hermione Grainger is frankly a bit of a nerd and Bella Swann tends to grate on the nerves after a while, whereas, Katniss Everdeen is a feisty, butt-kicking, strong young woman... something rather absent in a popular fiction for young people. I approve!

One of the most obvious themes running through the series is food... the indulgent & extravagant meals of the Capitol residents compared to the shocking lack of food in the districts and arenas. And the author Suzanne Collins does an amazing job of making the readers' mouths water with her descriptions of the former. I was particularly envious of the Lamb and dried plum stew that becomes Katniss' favourite, so much so that I was inspired to recreate this dish by adapting my own Lamb stew recipe. In my mind, I imagined it to have a middle eastern quality, hence the addition of warm aromatic spices such as cinnamon and sumac (worth trying to get hold of if possible, but can be substituted with the finely grated zest of half a lemon). A rich and hearty dish like this deserved long and slow cooking, so it was a perfect opportunity to get out my trusty slowcooker!

You will need...

2lb lamb stew meat (diced boneless shoulder is very tasty)
2 heaped tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, quartered
1 1/2 cups (350ml) dry red wine
1 1/2 cups (350ml) stock (preferably lamb, but beef can substitute)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon tomato puree (paste)
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 level tablespoons dried sumac
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (sounds like a lot, but lamb needs it in my opinion)

Reserve until last hour and a half of slow cooking...

1 1/2 cups (approximately 300g) pitted prunes (dried plums!)
1 tablespoon honey
2-3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (you can substitute butternut squash or sweet potato if you prefer, or do a mix of root vegetables)

Simply toss the diced lamb cubes in the flour and then brown in a frying pan with the olive oil. Remove to the crockpot with a slotted spoon.

Then gently brown the onions in the same pan you browned the lamb. Deglaze the pan with a splash of the red wine and then put the onions & juices from the pan into the crockpot with the meat.

Finally, add the rest of the wine, the stock and the spices & seasonings and mix well.

Cook on 'high' for 5-6 hours or on 'low' for about 8 hours, or until the meat is tender. Add the dried fruit, carrots and honey for the last hour and a half of cooking if on high or 2 hours if on low (this stops mushy carrots), and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Serve with wild rice (as Katniss was served hers before the Hunger Games) or mixed grains and sliced crusty, wholegrain or seeded bread in homage to Rue & the District 11 bakers... I guess if I was being purist, I would bake crescent shaped loaves with seeds from scratch!

If you don't have a crockpot, you could make this in a standard casserole dish. Just cook slowly in the oven for approximately 3-4 hours at 285'F (140'C).

Enjoy... and may the odds ever be in your favor!

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Potty training twins... not for the faint hearted!

Posted by Maxine Cleminson - - 0 comments

I am very blessed to be the mother of three beautiful boys ... the Big One (who has just turned 7) and three year old identical twins, affectionately known as the Shouty One and the Chubby Cheeks One. In three years of being the proud owner of a twinset I have lost count of the times people have said "Oh my, you've got your hands full". While this is invariably true, I can also say that being a parent of twins is marvelous in ways that parents of singeltons may not realise. My eldest (bless his cotton socks) is a needy and attention seeking little monkey who is very dependent on having an adult partner in crime for his adventures. Only this morning I have been asked to sit and watch several dreary Beyblade contests uploaded onto YouTube by his fellow über-nerds and expected to "oo" and "ah" along with him in all the right places. Yawn. And when I try to explain to him that Mummy would rather like to have breakfast he looks at me with puppy dog eyes expecting me to drop everything!

This is in big contrast to the Shouty One and Chubby Cheeks One who are very good at entertaining themselves and each other. I am not saying that having twins is a breeze ... far from it! In fact, those first 12 months will scar me physically, emotionally and psychologically for life!!! However, as they've moved from utterly dependent babies towards increasingly independent and self-reliant preschoolers I have started getting glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel! The two of them will happily play together for hours at a time, making up role plays and scenarios that as an amused bystander can be a joy to eavesdrop on! They share better than other 3 year olds I know (and some 7 year olds *cough, cough*!!!), and have learnt to take turns at an earlier age. I'm not saying that they've mastered this entirely. I still occasionally have to drag them off each other when all the caring, sharing social niceties have been tossed out of the window in exchange for a more primal wrestling and hair pulling contest! The point is that I am often surplus to requirements in their games! Yay... 5 minutes peace to enjoy a cuppa (or update this blog!).

This independence from me has been taken one step further of late with the long anticipated end of the nappy era! Just last month, I changed the very last diaper I will ever have to do (well, until I babysit for a friend or have grandkids, I suppose!). It's literally the end of an era. Seven whole years of wiping, washing and spending ridiculous amounts of money, time and effort to keep those 3 little behinds squeaky clean! I would estimate that is approximately 15,000 nappies between my husband, the occasional babysitter and myself. Phew.

My experience of potty training twins has been an interesting one. The Big One set the bar impressively high, and so my expectations were that this potty training malarkey was an easily mastered thing. He showed all the classic signs of readiness at around 2 years, and after a relatively painless week of hovering around him with a plastic potty he was dry day and night by 26 months. So when the twins turned two, I went out and bought them matching frog potties, lots of underwear, all manner of fancy pull-ups, and waited eagerly for them to show willing. And waited... And waited...

Sure, they were willing to sit and pose for photos on their potties (wearing nappies mind you). But mention the idea of using them as intended and I was met with blank refusal, denial and even hysteria from the Shouty One!

So, I had to rethink my strategy. And 18 months later we have finally achieved our goal of ditching the nappies. This is what I have learned from the experience...

1. You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

The Shouty One and Chubby Cheeks One are identical. They've got the same genetic makeup and have reached physical milestones within days if not hours of each other (literally... they both cut their first tooth on the same day!). So I was delighted when both boys started to show physical signs of readiness at around the age of 2 and a half. They were both:

going for a reasonable amount of time (i.e. a few hours) with a dry & clean nappy.
getting coordinated enough to pull up and down their own pants, and sit on a potty chair without much help.

Their language skills were also developing well enough that they could follow simple instructions/directions and answer simple questions. I took both this physical & verbal readiness as a cue and decided to begin potty training by staying home for a few days and letting the boys run about with no diapers. Big mistake. What I hadn't factored in was emotional readiness. Both boys were going through a particularly negative phase ("No!" being the word of the moment) and were not going to cooperate regardless of the equal parts praise & persuasion I heaped upon them.

My boys are both very strong willed and until the time was right for them, they were not going to participate. This is an important thing to remember when toilet training any child, singleton or twin, and it is only with the power of hindsight that I am able to realise why I had such an easy ride ditching nappies with the Big One. He was a chatterbox from very early on, very able to understand and follow directions. He was also quite dexterous with good gross and fine motor skills. But more importantly he was also relatively compliant at the age of 2... it was closer to three when we started with the battle of wills with him and thankfully he was already toilet trained by then!

2. 'Constant togetherness is fine - but only for Siamese twins" - Victoria Billings

With the realisation above, it was inevitable that I was never going to be able to get both boys toilet trained at the same time. They are individuals with very different personalities (something that Him Indoors and I have worked hard to allow the development of). Making the decision to train them separately was actually quite liberating as I had been worrying about keeping one in diapers while focusing on the other, but in actual fact it was really the best thing to do and allowed them both to be considered as individuals. Therefore, last August when the Chubby Cheeks One started expressing an interest the potty 1 month off his third birthday, we jumped straight in with an intensive week of potty training. No diapers at home at all!

With the Big One we had greeted every pee & poo on the potty with a veritable fanfare and round of applause, often followed up with kisses, stickers and even phone calls to the adoring grandparents!!! However, it became pretty clear early on that this was not appropriate when toilet training twins. Every time the Chubby Cheeks One had a potty success that we celebrated, the Shouty One became even more resistant... almost considering our praise of his brother as an indirect reproach of his lack of success. So, we definitely had to adapt our strategy and greeted the successes with a slightly more muted level of praise, especially when the Shouty One was in earshot!

My theory about waiting for emotional readiness proved right, and the Chubby Cheeks One trained relatively painlessly over a few days at home, and was dry at night within a few weeks.

3. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Once the twins turned 3, the number of times I was asked if they were toilet trained yet seemed to grow exponentially week-on-week! It's almost as if there's an unspoken rule that kids should be toilet trained by 3... or else. That's all well and good, unless you are the parent of a 3 or 4 year old that hasn't heard of this rule and isn't planning on playing that game anyway! For example, we considered a Caribbean cruise from the local port of Galveston for the Thanksgiving Holiday, but there was no way we were going to pay several thousand dollars for a holiday in which only two thirds of our kids were eligible for the kids club (exclusively no diapers or pull ups).

I tentatively asked our pediatrician whether I should be concerned at the Shouty One's blank refusal to use the potty at the age of 3 and a quarter, and while he said "No", he did follow up with "but if he's still not potty trained by 3 and a half we can prescribe him laxatives". What?!!!!! He wasn't constipated. Just stubborn and scared to give up his diapers.

So with that at the back of my mind I decided that we needed to up our game in the form of bribery! There are probably plenty of child experts out there that will tell you that this is wrong and no doubt setting a bad precedent for the future, but I prefer to consider it "positive reinforcement". I definitely don't believe in punishing or threatening a child in order to achieve success with things like potty training, but carrot instead of stick is fine in my book.

However, sticker charts were poo-pooed (excuse the pun), candy became old hat and frankly we were running out of options. The Shouty One is as stubborn as a mule and he really did not want to give in. And this was all that was in the way of potty training success... a battle of wills. I had to make the outcome (i.e. using the potty) so worth his while that he would give in.

Therefore, I took it one (desperate) step forward and bought all three boys some shiny new remote control motorbikes they had greatly admired on a previous shopping trip! I showed the boys the toys, let them touch them and try the noise buttons, but then put them high on a shelf. They were to earn these new toys by cooperating with Mummy.

The Big One was tasked with chores to earn his, and the twins were tasked with telling Mummy or Daddy when they needed to pee or poop and then cooperating with going to the potty. This was obviously a walk in the park for the Chubby Cheeks One who had mastered using the potty months previously, and so he got his motorbike pretty quickly. And then after a few hours of watching his brother play with the new toy, the penny finally dropped. It was like a light going on! I use the potty ... I get the toy. And Hallelujah, my adorable, stubborn strong-willed Shouty One gave in at last!

Over the next few days he was allowed to play with the bike as long as he cooperated with going on the potty, but it was put back on the shelf when he didn't. A week later he was dry day and night and now 2 months on he's more reliable than his brother!

This technique may seem quite harsh, and I guess you would have to judge your own child's personality and development stage before trying something similar, but it worked brilliantly for us!

So now we are out of nappies entirely. We still have the occasional accident and my washing machine is still on the go most days, but I am delighted to have come through the other side of this challenge (relatively) unscathed.

And if you have found this page in desperation of ever getting your twins toilet trained... remember to keep it all in perspective. Your children WILL learn to use the potty. They WILL give up wearing diapers. There WILL be a day when they can use the toilet independently. IT WILL HAPPEN! Just be patient, flexible, and loving, remembering that your bright, independent and individual children will master this skill eventually! And one day soon, you will be able to sit back and reflect that it wasn't too bad ... was it!?

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Make your own raffle boxes...

Posted by Maxine Cleminson - - 2 comments

Right ... I'm gonna confess... I'm rubbish at posting regularly. I have loads of blog entries that I've got half written or outlined in my head, but life seems to get in the way lately. Not that being busy with your family & friends is a bad thing (obviously), but not so great when you are hoping to build a readership for your blog! I had already explained how we have been a little busy with visitors over the first few months of the year. Well, they have now sadly gone, but life has remained just as hectic. Occupying my energies over the last few weeks in particular has been organising a fundraiser for a little English girl called Amelia. She is 3 years old, beautiful, spirited and unfortunately has a huge inoperable brain tumor. She is here in Houston, Texas to participate in a medical trial that we are all praying will save her life. Her parents have shown amazing strength and courage in dealing with this terrible ordeal and some of us local Houston families wanted to support them during this time. We organised a last minute Easter party for Amelia at a local restaurant called Clay's (a fabulous, family friendly place) and held a fundraising raffle and egg hunt for the kids! Thanks to the generosity of lots of lovely people, we were able to raise nearly $2,500 to help the family pay for the treatment (a small fraction of what they need in total, but a heartfelt gesture on behalf of the folks involved!).

One of the things we needed for our raffle was ballot style boxes. We wanted to do a Chinese style raffle, whereby you only enter for the draws you are interested in! However, with a lot of generously donated prizes, we needed a lot of boxes! You can buy these from stationary supply stores, but we wanted to minimize costs so that all profits went directly to Amelia. I therefore decided to make them myself and found inspiration in the form of drinks can boxes... the multipack sort of carton you buy in the grocery store with cans of beer or soda! The best thing about these style of boxes/cartons is that they have a pre-perforated slot in the top designed to be a handle!

You will need:

Empty drinks can boxes/cartons (I used some that had contained 12 cans of sparkling water like the ones below, but a variety of different brands have similar designs)
Wrapping paper (I got some really cheerful stuff from the dollar bins in Target!)
Sticky tape
Labels to describe your prize
Raffle tickets (the double ones with the 'keep me' stubs)

This could not be easier... simply wrap the box in gift wrap paper leaving one end open. Find the handle slot and make a slit in the wrapping paper, fold the paper into the slot (and into the box) and secure inside with sticky tape. Close the open end of the box loosely (no need to tape shut) and complete the wrapping. This will be the end of the box you open to stick your hand in to draw the raffle tickets! On the other end of the box you can add a label so that people know what draw they are entering! Then people simply post their raffle tickets into the boxes they want to enter the draw for (remembering to keep the other half of their tickets!).

As you can see below, Amelia had a lovely afternoon with the other kids... participating in an Easter egg hunt and even getting to ride a pony with a pink mane (specially prepared for Amelia by the lovely staff at Clay's Restaurant)! Plus, we managed to raise a brilliant $2,400 from our raffle and auction!

If you would like to read more about Amelia and the fundraising efforts going on (or even to donate if you are able), please check out her website by clicking on the link below: