preparing for the easter bunny

For some reason this Easter I have been a bit unorganised (my version of unorganised).  Nevertheless, I have three little ones firmly reminding me that we have to prepare for the Easter Bunny. With little voices trailing behind me we all worked together to make our Easter table.  This afternoon we gathered our baskets and a bit of left over lawn clippings (like I said, unorganised) to make a nice nest for the Easter Bunny. 

 We found and cleaned an old table from home and made room for its place.

 

Some vintage 'scrap' fabric was sourced from the depths of my sewing room which was the perfect size for the table.

Our old wooden tree was decorated with some foam eggs purchased from the Reject Shop.

Other items were gathered from around the house. We found three little wooden birds and some feathers.    



 I raided Miss Flutterby's room for her bunting I made some years ago.

 We also added some drawings on the wall as a backdrop for the table.  

Well, like I said earlier, I was pretty unorganised however we put this together with just things from around the house.  It doesn't really matter if you have some or none of these things.  The joy was in improvising and making the most of what we had.  The joy was in the process, just being together and anticipating tomorrow.
Here's hoping the Easter Bunny finds you.
xo 

repurpose

Do repurpose your 'old' clothes? I had a batwing top that was sitting in my cupboard.  I loved the fabric, pattern and the shape of the top but somehow the batwing thing just didn't work - too much material in the wing things and probably a 'young' design/look for a not so young mama so this morning it got a renewed lease of life. 

  

Step 1. Take the good old batwing top and check stitching.

Step 2: Take fabric scissors and cut carefully along the outside of the seam.

Step 3: Repeat on other side.

Step 4: Save left over fabric for another project.

Step 5: Put on and enjoy!

Happy Weekending.
xo

hand-made

There is something nice about hand-made don't you think? L'l miss flutterby is having her 3rd birthday soon.  In preparation for the event I have been researching and sourcing ideas from the internet.  To keep cost to a minimum I decided to make the invitations (this post) and the decorations (will post on this in a few weeks).  After sourcing card stock from our local newsagent and free images from the internet I designed the layout in a Word document.  

It was easy to format the images by using the cropping and text box tools to get the placement of the images and text just right.  There was a bit of cutting involved (pink frill template) however this was completed in front of the TV while the babes were sleeping and before I knew it they were all cut. 

To make the holes in the frill template I used Fiskars small hole punch (a bargin buy from Spotlight).  By the image, you can guess what she wants as the theme.  I figure you only turn three once and I only have one daughter so it's nice to go to the effort (time permitting of course). 

xo

Christmas...(3)

Well we know why this time of year is called the 'silly season'.  My list of things to do is getting longer not shorter.  Nevertheless, it's always nice to steal a few moments of solitude amongst the chaos even if it is until midnight.  This year I decided to make our own advent calendar.  This is such a good activity that everyone can be involved in and heaps of ideas can be found on the internet.  Here is my simple home-made version.  I just have to find a spot on the wall and fill the envelopes with some goodies or tags that reveal a surprise/activity.  

Something sweet for Christmas…

Advent Calendar

Supplies:

For this project I raided my craft box.  Some of the items above are very (very) old and some are new. 

1. Paper - Amy tangerine (6x6) a recent purchase from 'Spotlight'.
2. Wooden pegs - small packet from discount store 'Waynes World'.
3. Scissors with edging - discount store 'Waynes World'.
4. Tags, string and envelopes (seed packets) - from local newsagent.
5. Wooden stamps - (featured above) scavenged through discount bins at craft shows many years ago.
6. Other wooden block stamps (featured on advent envelopes) are mostly from 'Stampin up' my friend is a demonstrator. These stamps are quite a few years old now. 
7. Sparkle emblishments - from discount store 'Crazy Prices'.
8. Paper with typography on it - from packet that bought tags, string and envelopes in from newsagent.
9. flower press cutter - from discount store 'Crazy Prices'.
10. Typography rub ons - from discount store 'Crazy Prices'.
11. Date stamp - I have had this for many years but I think I just picked it up from a newsagent.

I bought Amy Tangerine 6x6 paper stack, the seed envelopes, string, tags and pegs recently.  The other items I have had for many, many years.  I always wash/clean my wooden stamp blocks after use and dry them thoroughly before packing away. 

For a project like this you don't need to spend a fortune.  There really is a lot to be said about searching in discount stores and just use materials you have around your home; pens, pencils, printables/templates from the internet, magazines, photos, stencils, crayons, glitter, stamps, stickers, paints, watercolours, leaves, sticks, gumnuts, post it notes etc. 

Keep it simple and enjoy the process.

xo

right now...

What do you do when there is so much to do?...

Sew of course!

It's a pink explosion and one that will hopefully use up this over supply.  I am keeping this one simple to showcase the lovely collection of prints in 2½" strips.

I hope you are having a lovely day too.

baby beanie

I finally finished! 

creative chaos

Lately the urge to finish some sewing projects is on my mind.  I have resigned myself to the fact that if I am ever going to complete any creative projects then I am just going to have to work amongst the mess and the toddlers.  Yes, all that beautiful pencil work (scribble) was miss flutterby's attempt to help her mama. At least it wasn't the scissors!

At the moment I am attempting to make a beanie/hat for baby flutterbug.  I am using the pattern from 'making children's clothes' by Emma Hardy as a guide.  To save time and money I am just recycling a grey jersey tunic/dress that I no longer wear. 

What projects are you working on at the moment?

follow up...

I really enjoyed making this cute dress (below) over the weekend for my little flutterby.  I collected the published pattern from Australian Homespun ‘The Oh So Fresh Issue’ No.81 Vol 11 No. 2. 

The pattern is by Wynona Leach and Anna Dinh of Ivy Designs.  This is a great dress for any season with or without lining and depending on the type of fabric you select.  For time sake I didn’t worry about including the applique and embroidery design.  This pattern is simple to follow and you could add anything you like or leave it plain.

http://www.ivydesigns.com.au/

http://www.ivydesigns.com.au/p/blog_23.html

The navy fabric and lining I used was from Spotlight.  It is a heavier fabric to add extra warmth and comfort for the cooler weather.  The buttons were just raided from my button jar. 

I am attempting to make another dress just to make sure the first one wasn’t a lucky attempt.  I am planning to add a pocket on the front (green / contrasting fabric).  The pink and green floral homespun fabric I am using for my second attempt was from a local patchwork store as is the white cotton lining fabric.  All fabric is left over from other projects. 

Also over the weekend…

Given there is a little more time to enjoy being in the kitchen, I decided to brave a new world and attempt to make our own pizza dough.  My husband was so confident that he had our takeaway pizza number on standby.  To my surprise the pizza dough worked!  From the dough quantity we made two large size pizzas and some little ones (using a scone cutter) that our toddlers wanted to make.  For two adults and two toddlers, there was plenty of left over pizza for the next day!

The barbecued pizzas recipe is from ‘We Love Food’ by Kirsty Manning-Wilcox and Peta Heine page 101.  The recipe suggests placing the pizza on a pizza stone and place in a barbecue or oven.  We just used a regular pizza tray and the oven, but I am thinking a pizza stone would be a good present for the one who had no faith in the mama who made her first batch of pizza dough.  The best part of was that the whole family became involved in making the pizza from dough making; observing the rising process; rolling the dough; selecting the toppings; cutting out mini bases etc. Delicious!

home...

Over the weekend as I stared into my fabric stash I realised that while my taste in fabric style, prints, colours and tones has changed over time, the one certainty is that I still have a cupboard full of fabric!   Still in their packets projects, unfinished projects, will get to that one day...projects...oh I forgot I had that... projects...oh my. 

What am I really doing when I am selecting and buying all this beautiful fabric? I think it might be the thought of some having some time....time to create...time to give to something special to loved ones...time for myself...time...one thing that is quite precious. 

So this morning, after grocery shopping, the household chores were put on hold for some...

'me time'.

Until tomorrow...

inside...outside...

Inside...making cards for Mother's Day.  Of course they have more than one mother figure in their lives such as nanna's and friends that they have adopted and call nanna in their eyes.

Outside... just playing.

home...

Taking some ideas from yesterday's workshop 'Food Tales' I made meatballs in tomato sauce for dinner last night.  I used my mum's base recipe and adapted the meal to include other ingredients we had in the fridge and pantry.  This is a warming and hearty dish that I remember eating when I was young and it still continues to be a favourite family meal. 

Dominique Rizzo gave a wonderful tip her family uses when cooking a 'one pot wonder meal'...the meatballs is one meal and the leftover sauce (I made a little extra), is saved and used for another simple meal with pasta for later on in the week.

Another project looming in the background that I have been working on is getting more organised particularly when it comes to planning family meals.  I dug deep in the back of one of those cupboards where all the 'stuff' goes and retrieved an old blackboard that I once used but never could throw away.  So work is underway to re-purpose and re-paint our 'family blackboard menu'.  The only expense was the paint brush and the chalkboard paint that came to well under $20 from our local hardware store.  I have to do some more coats before I hang the board and share some photos. 

I also spent time mending and finalising some fabric projects.  I do love having time at the sewing machine, even if it's just straight stitching.

While running errands, I picked up a parcel from the post office...well not much will be happening for the rest of the afternoon now that I have this lovely book in my hands.    

Until tomorrow...