{Montessori on a shoestring} Nature table

This is a repost from one of my old blogs.

Mrs. Montessori believed that children are stewards of the Earth and by incorporating nature-related activities, they will learn to care for nature and develop a love for it. And that is why I designated a place for Umar to explore nature indoors. 

After much moving furniture around, I found a spot for a nature table. As it is quite a narrow nook, I decided to use a bench instead of an actual table. It would have to be high enough to fit a child’s chair and deep enough for things like a flower press, some jars and vases and a scrapbook. So off I went browsing IKEA’s online catalogue and I found the bench I wanted to use. But it wasn’t in stock! Alas, I MUST find an alternative because Nijaz (he has a love-hate relationship with IKEA) somehow magically agreed to go to IKEA with me that weekend! I decided on a LACK TV bench. I was hoping to get something made from solid wood but the TV bench was cheaper than the bench I wanted and it was the perfect size.

After the exhilarating trip to my most favourite shop (in case you lost me, it’s IKEA), I put the bench together but omitted the shelf on the bottom. I also bought 3 of the NJYTTA frames in green. I have had the prints, also from IKEA, for a while now, bought for $1 at clearance.

The table now sits against the wall. The framed prints of various plants are in theme and were put up with 3M hooks (great for preserving the wall). He has a little vase with an artificial gerbera in it and some jars with random things in them, which I repurposed from his treasure basket. He also has a bucket for picking flowers and herbs. Umar has since put a rock or two in the bucket, pine cones, flowers from his mini gardenand parsley from our little vegetable patch (post coming up).

There are also a flower press and a greenhouse (not shown (it’s placed near the window for some sun); it’s a kit from Woolworths in collaboration with Jamie Oliver) growing garden cress, coriander, chives and basil. Another thing he has handy is a magnifying glass, which at the moment Umar uses to ‘make your eyes look BIIIG!’. The little crate contains some wooden and cloth fruits and vegetables (some are available from our online shop Fancy Grey Cat).

On the left is a basket with Umar’s activity mats. One is a long playmat which his grandmother got him.  One is a white bathmat and the little one is a placemat, both from IKEA. On the right is a little basket with some picture books on animals and plants. I plan to get more books on nature and a wooden tea box to store and display his finds.

I hope you enjoyed the little walkthrough. Thank you for stopping by and happy DIY-ing!

Note:

If you ever buy the NJYTTA frames, you’d notice that the plastic glazing seems a little dull. Just peel off the protective layer of plastic on both sides before framing and your picture will look super bright and shiny!

List of products:

LACK TV bench

NJYTTA frames

Books:

First animals by Hinkler books

I see by Helen Oxenbury

Pelle’s new suit by Elsa Beskow (this book is great not just for its beautiful nature illustrations, but for practical life skills as well)

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Edit: We have since rearranged this space in our house but we loved it while it was there (14/08/15)

{Organise-my-life project} Clothes organiser

This is a repost from one of my old blogs.

It took me years to realise that I am most productive when I am most organised; time-wise, thoughts-wise and things-wise.

So, I aim to reach my 30^th birthday next year with an organised schedule, mind and home. I will document bits and pieces of organisation ideas and tips being implemented in my life on this blog. I shall call this adventure organise-my-life project. Hopefully I will meet my deadline with a completed work. 

This brings us to one aspect of organisation that has boggled my brain for a while now; chest of drawers for clothes, how do I organise them and make them stay that way forever. I yank a t-shirt out and the whole system disintegrates. Or I try again and  lift the whole stack of tops and take the one I want and I end up doing that once and decide the next time that I just want the top t-shirt and leave the rest never to be worn again. And go back to the yanking method and back to my dilemma.

 

Just like Sheldon, I’ve been using a FlipFold for a few years (I made one with cardboard before forking out the money to buy a real one) but it doesn’t solve the stacking problem.

I thought of a filing system, which actually has been done through an IKEA hack – T-shirt filing HEMNES drawerbut I’m not that handy and the comments made a point on space (which I am trying to maximise).

At a glance, these look like a lady's monthly necessities

I remember an organising tip retrieved from an obscure part of my mind; think vertical. So I did more research (read: Googling). I found these beauties called Pliio. I think they’re an absolutely brilliant idea. Unfortunately, they do not have a retailer in Australia. A check with Amazon showed that they are USD20 for ten and they will deliver for about USD20. Now, my tops probably cost me about $10 each so I doubt I would spend $5 just to put them away. Besides, I needed them to fit nicely in my drawers.

What the inside of my drawer looks like now

So, taking my cue from my experiment with the FlipFold apparatus, I decided to try this filing system with, you guessed it, cardboard! They were from IKEA and toy boxes mostly. 

My drawers are about 350mm deep and 150mm high. So for the main body, I measured out 150 x 130 mm so I could have two rows and have some leeway for clothes thickness. The Pliio has three sections to it. I copied that design and found it perfect for dresses and long tunics but not so perfect for regular tops. 

So for t-shirts, I measured out a main body and just one flap. As for pants, I find just having the main body is enough. 

Materials:

Cardboard

Pencil/pen

Ruler

Scissors/box cutter

Tape measure

1.       Measure your space.

2.       Decide on the size of the main body of the clothes filer and how many flaps. Mark on cardboard.

3.       Cut the cardboard and use it as prototype for tens/hundreds more you have to cut.

4.       Tend to your sore scissors hand.

How to fold:

Top - flatten shirt and place filer in the middle, fold on either side, then fold top and bottom and fold the filer.

Pants - fold pants lengthways, put filer on one end, fold either sides and fold from the filer end until done.

 

And here's how to fold a child's top:

 

Tips:
Make sure your source of cardboard is clean

The corrugated nature of cardboard makes it easy to manipulate when folding a thick article of clothing

I would love to come up with something that doesn't require to be left in the garments or even just a better and more durable material. But in the meantime, I am happy with this solution.

Thank you for stopping by and happy organising!

Edit: I have since ditched the cardboard because I find it easier to just 'eye' the folding. I still fold my clothes the same way for the drawers minus the cardboard (14/08/15)