"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

All last week Seth had been watching videos on YouTube of how to make DIY hockey goalie pads. We are forever looking on eBay for some because in this country they are a nightmare to get hold of and when they do pop up they are really expensive. With Seth's recent video viewing, it was inevitable that this weekend he would be wanting me to make some. So after talking to a friend in the library early in the week, I was told about 'Scrappies' a shop in Church Stratton that sells bits and bobs for craft ideas. I was hooked by the thought of a shop dedicated to that so as soon as I got home that day I checked out their website. Their website header says 'supporting creative arts and children's education'. That sold it for me.

The following day after a fun (but freezing) afternoon at Stiperstones we decided to detour home slightly to check out Scrappies in hope that we'd find the things that we would need for Seth's pads. I needed foam and something strong and water resistant to wrap the pads in. The store was a lot smaller than I was expecting but it was packed full of all sorts of random things and the staff in there were so friendly. I quickly found some large pieces of foam and a roll of yellow plastic that looked like the kind of material gym mats are covered with so that was perfect. I also had a yoga mat in the loft that I had brought home from a Netflix event a while back so apart from Duck tape (which I picked up on the way home) I had everything I needed for Seth's big hockey idea.

I had an idea of what I wanted to do and like most of our creative ventures I tried not to over think it and just get stuck in. So we cut the foam and the yoga mat to the correct shape for Seth's legs and glue gunned the layers together. The plan was to stitch the yellow plastic material around the foam but it wasn't doable with Mrs M's sewing machine so we had to improvise. Mrs M had a large can of spray adhesive for carpets so I took the foam and material out side and I wrapped the pads. For extra support, I used the yellow duck tape to seal the edges. I was so excited when I saw the yellow material in 'Scrappies' as our team, when we are playing hockey in the street is 'The Bees'. So with some black Duck tape, we also gave our bright yellow pads some black bee stripes and they looked great. I also took Seth's plain white hockey mask and with the yellow and black Duck tape and a stanley knife, gave it a makeover, fit for any hockey playing bee.

The part that was concerning me from the start, was how we were going to attach them to Seth's legs. Seth set about rummaging through the house looking for anything strap like that we could use, but there was no joy. So we jumped in the car and headed to Hobbycraft and found some thick black elastic to use. I still had no idea how we were going to attach it though. As we were walking back through the door though it came to me. We cut 4 slits in the pads and threaded the elastic through the front and then tied them around his legs, job done! I will get round to adding clasps on the back at some point but for now they are awesome.

All that was left to do was play and the boys were loving their new pads. Seth was blocking most of my shots which meant he was brimming with confidence, talking about wanting to become a professional hockey goalie. The goals that the boys are using were also made by us, we used heavy duty Wilkinsons bags with bees on to hold the netting to the pipes, we're very resourceful.

The pads were a touch too big for Opeie's little legs (even though I think they look great on him), so as there were some leftover materials I made him a smaller pair. He wanted his Bee pads to say 'HONEY' though, these boys of mine are too cute!

Seth has now asked if I can make a blocker and catcher! A hockey dads job is never done.

Game On!