Mini Library

I’m not really into doing craft for craft’s sake with my kids. I’m not really into cooking with my kids, purely as an activity either. People often think I’m a crafty person because of my blog, but I’m not. I don’t sew, or crochet or scrapbook or do many of the things often associated with craftiness (which I think is utterly fabulous). And Be A Fun Mum isn’t a craft or activity blog. It’s a blog about connection and designing family life.

Part of this is embracing who you are as a mother (I’ve explained it more in this post). I personally may not be a crafty sort, but I am a creative person, and that is what I’m motivated by: it’s the process of it all for me. It’s the working towards a big picture and the pathways to get there. That is why I love blogging so much. It’s an avenue for me to weave the pathways as I go.  So you’ll notice creations on this blog are often an extension of another activity because that is what invigorates me as a parent and I encourage all mums to run with what does that for them too (if that is craft or food, or nature, or an adventurous lifestyle), and don’t stress if you don’t enjoy doing craft (or cooking, or hiking, or whatever)!

For example, we love visiting the local stream, and we made a rock footprints sign out of them for the cubby house.  We recently made a (fabulous) castle out of recycled boxes we had around after I purchased a new slow cooker.  For me, it’s less about craft and more about connections and being a creative family because that is what’s important to me.

I recently met another blogger called Marta from Spain, and she has an amazing mini library on her blog, Reciclando en la Escuela (which translates to Recycling at School). I asked if I could share it here because it’s awesome. Not just because it’s cute but because of the focus of her blog resonates with me.

“Keep creating, playing…and recycling,” Marta says. And I like that focus. It’s not about activities, or even craft, it’s about creating and playing and using stuff in your life as inspiration. 

With that in mind, I realised I had saved the inside packing of product I could use to make our own mini library with the kids. Never before had I thought this type of box to be useful and it got me excited! You can find our effort and tutorial here: Mini Library with Cardboard Books. 

For now, let me show you Marta’s gorgeous mini library made from recycled materials. 

Look at these cute mini books! 

The books, shelves and stairs are made of paper pulp containers.

You can check out Marta’s blog here (you can run it through a Google Translate Tool to convert to English).