Space to feed and space to bed down and rest
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

But do give it a try with your kids, because it as fun as all get out. I love my little worms and taking care of these pets is so easy and utilitarian... your topsoil will be the talk of the town.

Start with a big container. For the past year, I have been breeding worms in an old bucket but have been eyeing other containers to expand to something larger. I found terracotta and cement flower pots and chose to make the new vermi-bin in the cement one, mainly because of its size.

Step 1: Make a bed for your worms to rest in when they are not eating. You can take big sheets of newspaper and form tightly wadded balls to make about two layers of bedding at the bottom of your chosen bin. Now dampen this.

Step 2: Throw a bit of sand on top.

Step 3: Add your worms. You will need to get worms from another vermi-composter (that will be YOU soon enough). The type you need are called red wigglers. To be honest, my worms found me and asked me to start a vermi-compost for them. They were delivered in a load of cow manure for my garden; and when I looked at them I just knew they'd be happy in my bucket. They were reddish and wriggling...but are very, very tiny. THere are tons of them now because I feed them every few weeks.

Step 4: Don't become too attached to your worms...

Step 5: Now, in one area of the bin place your kitchen waste (tea/coffee grounds, rotten veggies, banana peels, eggshells, fruit peels, etc). This can pretty much include anything except dairy, meat and fish scraps. Almost everything else goes. My worms are currently working on the waste scraps from an untreated wooden dinosaur kit. You need to add waste in bundles so that there is always a resting area for the worms (the bedding and soil).

Step 6: Cover the whole thing with a little more dirt and shredded newspaper. Dampen this just a bit too.

Step 7: Now cover the entire compost bin with a big board or burlap tarp. SSssssh. THe worms like it to be dark and I presume quiet.

MAINTENANCE
The trick to maintaining things inside is to take peeks and see just what's happening in there. It isn't good if the bin gets too wet and mushy (a big mess, in fact) so you may need to move everything to one side and put in new newspaper bedding balls to absorb excess moisture. On the other hand, it shouldn't be too dry either, so add water in small amounts if needed. Soon you will figure out just the happy medium.

Add your waste in small heaps by digging a hole in the compost and adding the waste in one place. Cover it gently. The next time you add, dig in a different place and bury the waste. It takes about 3 weeks to fully decompose one bundle.

You should get some very dark, rich soil to add to your garden or houseplants -- all from what came out of your own kitchen scraps (that's the part I like the most)

The world just wouldn't be the same without its earthworm recycling systems!

FELT BOOK COVERS

felt book cover
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

We had two birthdays for little girls this week. We used small memo notebooks from the local market and just decorated them up with some felt we had in the house. My daughter made the sunflower and I designed the heart.

Cut your felt to the exact size to wrap around your notebook.

Set out your felt design for the cover and dab glue to keep it in place.

Stitch it all down.

Carefully glue it onto the notebook. Be sure to use a strong glue/fabric glue and get the edges very well glued so that it doesn't start to peel off.

Load some heavy books on top of the book to make sure your cover is on there firmly.

Both girls loved their gifts!

recycled card chains
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

Lately I have been on a little kick to develop fun banners and strands for decorating a room for a holiday or birthday. While we were making these strings made from recycled greeting cards, my kids and I were thinking that it might be fun to 'make a party' from scratch. So, when guests arrive they have to make some decorations (while the cake is baking) and then make mini-pizzas once the decorations are in place. Some invitees might feel a bit chagrined to find that they were hired this way, but others might find it sort of entertaining....



1. STRINGS WITH RECYCLED GREETING CARD CIRCLES:

You will need scissors, string, glue, pencil, and various round objects of various sizes to trace for cutting out.

Cut out three circles of the same size and fold them all right down the middle with the pattern you want to show on the inside.

Glue one side and paste two halves together

Now run the string where the two halves come together

Put glue on the entire back side of the remaining circle and glue the full 3-D circle together with the string going in the top and out the bottom

Repeat with different sized circles.

Hope you can get an idea from the photo at the top.






2. TRIANGLE BANNER

This is so fun and easy. Cut a bunch of long triangles from large sheets of old drawing books or from newspaper, etc.

Have kids decorate the front and back sides with color and sequins, etc.

Staple the triangles over a string leaving a small gap in between



Let the party begin!

leaf prints
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

I've been wanting to try leaf printing on fabric for a long time now.

My daughter and I purchased a very low cost marking fabric at the local market (Rs 28 per meter) and bought some green fabric paints. We made our prints by painting the back side of each leaf where the veins are and pressing it firmly down on the cloth. Much to our surprise, almost every print was successful because the leaves we collected were just so beautiful. Each one, so different.

We cut the fabric into patches and added some other stamping designs to add color.

Then we realized they were perfect for the tote bags we had made from all the scrap fabrics i had sitting around the house so we are now stitching them onto these...leaving the edges to fray in a natural sort of way :-)

HAPPY EARTH DAY


For Earth Day this year, my daughter made small pencil stands in the shape of the earth out of clay. She also raided various garbage heaps near remodeling sites to find old slabs of kitchen/bathroom tiles and marble to make artsy designs on. She and her friends held a small exhibition at school and raised money to donate to Greenpeace, which has an office in Kolkata now!

We used clay but did not get as far as firing it...but the earth pencil stand my daughter made a year and a half ago is still standing strong so perhaps firing is not really necessary.

FELT WALLET

mseeds craft last sunday
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

Felt! It is a perfect fabric for getting kids starting with basic stitching and tailoring concepts...because there is no need for hemming and you can always get out the glue with the going gets tough.

My son is proud to keep his pocket money in this little wallet he made all by himself. The stitches are beginners stitches but they keep the coins in! And that's all that matters.

Decorations are easily cut out of felt and can be glued on first...you may want to help by adding a few stitches later on for staying power.

Bean bags, wall pockets, frames...have a felt fest soon.

Calendar Time

january
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

I save all my children's artwork but don't always know how to display or use it. Finding nice ways of putting the best pieces to use is always in the back of my mind.

So we bought large drawing books and then printed calendar pages off of the internet (go to free printable calendars and choose one you like for 2009). The pages were cut and glued into the drawing book and then each page was embellished with artwork from this past year.

Who will be the lucky recipients of these 2009 art calendars??