The girls and I went yesterday hunting for crafting supplies and decorations for the holidays. There’s a cute little Daiso shop at the City Center in Salmiya (if you haven’t been there before, its actually inside the City Center in the right corner near the back).

Daiso is a 100-yen shop from Japan that carries hundreds of every day items, knick knacks and other useful stuff. The shop has an array of small goods including baskets and buckets, coffee mugs, dishes and Japanese-style tea cups and place mats, flowers, bags, plastic containers, water pitchers, kitchen utensils, sewing supplies, cleaning materials, candles, picture frames, birthday party supplies, make up bags and hair clips, socks and embroidery thread, yarn (limited varieties, however), toys, signs, notepads and pens, whiteboard markers, boxes, flower pots, decorations and right now a nice little collection of Christmas decorations including lights, tree trimmings, Santa hats and more.

Most items are 600 fils though some can be KD1 or more. I love browsing the shop to find small trinkets, decorations and crafting supplies. I found the cutest little Japanese-style tea pot, tea cups (without handles), a few kitchen supplies and gorgeous clay fired wasabi dishes there. Great if you are on a budget and want to satisfy your shopping bug and also get a few needful things and crafting supplies. 

Funniest Family Guy moment ever!

Kuwait moms get your wallets out! Lots of holiday shopping opportunities coming soon to a bazaar near you. Here's a quick list of upcoming events for moms in Kuwait.

Dec 6 – German Speaking Ladies Advent Café & Bazaar. In Mishref at the German Ambassador’s Residence (Block 5, Street 8, Lane 1, House #10), open from 11am-3pm

Dec 6 - Holiday bazaar at Salwa al Sabah Hall in Salmiya (next to Marina Crescent). 10:30-8pm. Note: Santa will be there for photos from 10:30-noon and 3:30-5pm. KD 1 entrance.

Dec 6 – Pink Friday Anti Bullying Walkathon. Begins at the Scientific Center and walking to Marina Crescent and back.

Dec 7 - Kuwait Textiles Arts Association (KTAA) Bazaar. Find quilts, original designs, bags, jewelry, crochet blankets and goods, shawls, crafts, embroidery and more. From 10am - 6pm at Sadu House (on the Gulf Road next to the Parliament building)

Dec 7 – Kuwait English School Annual Bazaar in Salwa, 9:30am-4:30pm.

Dec 7 - Radisson Blu Fun Run. Starts at 8:15 at the Viking Club for registration. Telephone: 2567-3000

Dec 7 - K's Path Shelter Open Day. 11am-2pm KD 1 entrance donation. Map and directions www.kspath.org or Telephone: 6700-1622

Dec 8 – Birth Kuwait will host a lecture on children with special needs for parents and professionals working in the field.

Dec 9-11 – Jack and the Beanstalk at the British School of Kuwait Shakespeare Theatre.

Dec 13 – The English School Winter Bazaar, Salmiya. 2pm-5pm

Dec 14 - Visit to the Camel Races. AWARE Center field trip. 11am-5:30pm. Email [email protected] for more information.

And don't forget to join our mailing list for more updates, information and news on everything moms in Kuwait need to know. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all American moms in Kuwait. We know its hard being away from your family and friends and we wish you a wonderful and happy day. 

But you don't have to be from the US to be thankful this day or any other. Research has shown that being thankful has real and lasting benefits including reducing anxiety and stress, improving overall health, strengthening relationships and improving resilience. For more information, check out this article from the New York Times.

Kuwait Moms Guide is thankful for our readers and advertisers, for the many moms who support and encourage us and for the opportunity to contribute something positive and useful for moms in Kuwait. We are also incredibly thankful that today is Thursday! :)

What are you thankful for? Leave a comment and share with us what gifts enrich your life. 

I recently attended a workshop at Sadu House organized by Khayt Group to learn how to crochet this very cute little owl hat. As I'm not very good at crochet, it was great to have help in learning the new technique and following along with the pattern. 

Its super cute and especially with the weather turning cold so I wanted to find the pattern to keep it. Repeat Crafter Me (a very cool blog on crafting, crochet and crock pot cooking with lots of free patterns and crafting ideas) offers a free pattern for newborns, adults and children. I'm including the one for newborn hats below. For those who are interested in making the hat for older children or adults, visit Repeat Crafter Me's website. 


Crochet Owl Earflap Hat
Size: Newborn

Supplies:
• Medium worsted weight yarn 
• Crochet hook size H-8 (5.0 mm)
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
• Two 3/4" black button for eyes

Abbreviations:
ch - chain
sl st- slip stitch
SC - Single Crochet
DC- Double Crochet
HDC- Half Double Crochet
HDC Decrease - Half Double Crochet Decrease


Round 1: Magic ring, Chain 2, DC 12 inside ring, joint to 1st DC, chain 2
Round 2: 2 DC in same stitch and in each around, join, chain 2 (24).
Round 3: DC in the same stitch as Chain 2, DC, DC, 2 Dc in next, *DC in next 3, 2 Dc in next, repeat from * around, Join to 1st DC, chain 2. (30)
Round 4: DC in the same stitch as Chain 2, DC, 2 DC in next, *DC in next two, 2 DC in next stitch, repeat from * around, Join to 1st DC, chain 2. (40)
Round 5-7: Beginning in same stitch as Chain 2, DC around, join to 1st DC, chain 2 (40) Note: before joining round 7, change color.
Round 8-9: In new color DC around, join to 1st DC, chain 2 (40) 

Do not fasten off, begin first earflap

Earflap 1:
Row 1: Starting in next stitch, HDC 8, chain 2, turn
Row 2: HDC decrease, HDC 4, HDC decrease, chain 2, turn
Row 3: HDC 6, chain 2, turn
Row 4: HDC decrease, HDC 2, HDC decrease, chain 2, turn
Row 5: 2 HDC decreases, chain 2, turn
Row 6: HDC decrease, fasten off leaving long tale

Earflap 2:
Count 9 stitches away from seam.

Row 1: Chain 2, starting in next stitch, HDC 8, chain 2, turn
Row 2: HDC decrease, HDC 4, HDC decrease, chain 2, turn
Row 3: HDC 6, chain 2, turn
Row 4: HDC decrease, HDC 2, HDC decrease, chain 2, turn
Row 5: 2 HDC decreases, chain 2, turn
Row 6: HDC decrease, chain 1 turn (do not fasten off)

Continue to SC around the entire hat, join to first single crochet, fasten off leaving long tail. You should now have a long pieces of yarn hanging from the ends of each earflap. You will use this as a strand in your braid.

Eyes (Make 2):
In first color (this is your accent color):
Magic Ring, Chain 2
Round 1: 10 DC in chain, Change color to white before joining to first DC, chain 2 (10)
Round 2: 2 DC in same stitch and in each stitch around, join, chain 1 (20)
Round 3: SC in same stitch, 2 SC in next, *SC, 2 SC in next, repeat from * around, join to first sc, fasten off leaving long tail to sew on (30)

After sewing crocheted eyes on, sew 3/4" black button in the center for the eyeballs

Nose:
Chain 6
Slip stitch in 2nd chain from hook, SC, HDC, DC, DC, fasten off leaving long tail to sew on

Ears:
Cut two strands of 12 inch long pieces of yarn in each color (6 strands total). 
Loop through 2 DC's in the crease of the 3rd round.
Knot and trim to approx 1"

Braided Tails:
Cut three 1 yard strands of each color (9 strands total).
Pass through last space in earflap. You should now have 18 strands to braid with.
Make knot and braid approx 5.5 inches long, knot, trim ends.

Pattern and photo credit: http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/04/crochet-owl-hat-pattern.html#sthash.2ohOiCyB.dpuf

Kuwait Moms Guide has put together a quick guide on how to obtain children's health cards. All schools in Kuwait require children to have a health card certifying that they have received the required vaccines. 

We provide information on what to expect, what documents you will need to bring with you as well as an explanation of the process. We hope you find it useful.

Join our mailing list for more useful tips, information and updates. 

What do geometric patterns, Bedouin weaving, discarded tires and children’s markers all have in common? They are all part of the beautiful exhibit ‘Saduing’ now showing at Sadu House. Created by local artist and interior designer Bader al Mansour, the exhibit is at once an homage to the Bedoin heritage of Kuwait, a call to protect the environment and an inspiring demonstration of humanity’s creative spirit.

In ‘Saduing’, al Mansour has taken ordinary objects and bits of junk – strips of tire, game board pieces, spools of thread, computer keyboard parts – and turned them into representations of the traditional Bedouin textile art, Sadu.

Reflecting the traditional shapes and geometric patterns of sadu weaving, al Mansour’s art twists our notion of ‘saduing’ on its head. Some pieces will cause you to pause and look twice. You won’t be expecting that colorful sadu bag to be made from iron or realize until you stand right up close to it that the sadu patterned art piece is actually constructed of computer keyboard keys. He’s also created two very unique Arabic fonts inspired by the geometric shapes common to Sadu weaving patterns.

Al Mansour has been creating art from recyclable materials since 1994 and has won many competitions and awards including three Golden Awards, the Issa Saqar Creative Award and first place in the My Touches for My Country Exhibition among others. He is the creative genius behind the lovely recyclable art installation in Yarmouk Park that includes a Mona Lisa made from computer parts, trees and arches made from old tires and flower pots made from exhaust fans. Check out a gallery of his work here. 

In ‘Saduing’ Al Mansour reimagines not only his cultural heritage but also the means by which it can be actualized. For those interested in Sadu or recyclable art or just anyone with an appreciation for beauty and unusual things, Saduing is a satisfying journey into a environmentally-friendly future via Kuwait's past.

Saduing by Bader al Mansour will be shown until November 28 at Beit Sadu (located on the Gulf Road, next to the Kuwait National Museum). Don’t miss it.

Totally awesome stunt parents pull while their kids are sleeping to convince them that their toy dinosaurs are real...View the images here. 

Don't forget to join our mailing list to have more cool info, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox. 

Teaching babies to sign before they can talk has become a popular phenomena in the States. 

We tried it with our first daughter more as an experiment than from any real dedication. Baby sign language is different from the adult versions (which are real, fully developed language systems like American Sign Language). 

Some moms swear by baby sign language, arguing that it helps cut down on the frustration a toddler feels when learning to talk because it gives them another way to communicate. Other moms say its unnecessary or worse inhibits the acquisition of verbal speech. (Note: There is no research to support the assertion that it inhibits speech acquisition and the American Academy of Pediatrics supports teaching babies sign language.) 

We never went beyond a few words with our first daughter, as she never seemed interested in learning it. Once she entered daycare, she enthusiastically picked up language and so the issue was moot. For our second child, I taught her one hand signal that she still uses sometimes but she acquired language early (thanks to the exposure from her older sister) and so we never had a need to go further with baby sign language.

If you are interested, here are some basic tips: 

1. You can start teaching signs at around 6 months old but most babies won't be able to repeat the signs until at least 8 months. So don't get discouraged if they don't respond or learn the signs right away.

2. Think from your baby's perspective, what are the words baby needs to know first? Go for simple words like mother, milk, more, hungry, dad, and the like. I taught my daughter a hand sign for 'finished'  and she used it often from around 1 year to 1.5 years and then dropped it when she could say the word. 

3. Involve siblings, dad and other caregivers so they will know what your baby is trying to communicate when he/she does start to use the signs.

4. Continue talking to your child even if you are using signs. You want to encourage the development of speech regardless.

5. Don't be scared to create your own simple signs if that works better for your family. The key is to keep it simple and fun. 

Also there are several websites that offer Baby Sign Language instructions and videos. We liked Baby Sign Language, which offers an intro, videos and basics including printable flashcards for free. 

What do you think? Have any other moms in Kuwait taught their babies/toddlers baby sign language? What was your experience like? Would you recommend it to other moms?