Making Cards

In a couple of weeks my little one will be turning three. Where did that time go? Months ago she had already decided it was to be a pink party! Can you tell? I decided to have a go at making our own invitations. I gathered up some little fabric scraps and then found an online tutorial which gave me a few tips. Then I just simply glued on the triangles and sewed a simple line to make it look like bunting. Not bad for a first go. Isn't it just amazing what you can find on the internet! Looking forward to having an extra special day with our little one. And having a go at making a few of our own decorations for the party ...

New Beginnings

The weather is warming up and today my beautiful blossom tree began to flower. This is a photo of the very first buds as they begin to open. Every year I get comments on my tree. Its planted in the corner of the front yard and when it's fully in bloom I will share a photo of it. Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. The other day I decided to make a banana, walnut and chocolate chip loaf. I often seem to have over ripe bananas and the only way I knew how to use them up, was to make banana cake. Now this loaf is delicious, I found the recipe in the Countdown magazine. But more importantly than the loaf, I came up with a fantastic idea! How often have you lined a tin and then had trouble putting the cake mixture in because the paper keeps moving? Well, this time I had had enough! I found a few clothes pegs and pushed the paper down, made a few creases around the sides and then pegged the paper into place! Brilliant!! Of course, I did remember to remove the pegs before placing the loaves into the oven.

I've also recently participated in Megans Kids Rugby World Cup Swap.

Lucy and I had fun going around collecting up little souvenirs and things about New Zealand to share with a Maegan and her family in Lake Cherokee, Texas. We are doing a little swap with Karston age 5, Kyrie age 3 and Kanon age 2. We finally got our letter written and our goodies gathered so I was able to post the parcel today - hopefully the goodies will arrive before the final of the World Cup - and hopefully we are looking forward to the All Blacks being in the final!

Almost the end of the school holidays. Then there's only 8 weeks until the big summer holidays. Roll on summer!

Just around the corner

It really feels like summer is coming. Lucy and I have been enjoying ourselves out on the deck almost every day. Spring is certainly here and the garden is ready to spend some time in. Last year, my lovely Kaponga rhododendron barely flowered, I thought I had it in the wrong place, and my tomatoes had very few fruit. It was such a great surprise to see my rhody absolutely smoothered in the most gorgeous blooms just recently - now I think that means we're in for a great growing season. Things sitting in pots waiting for me to plant: Green and gold zuchinni Dwarf peas Italian parsley Rocket Telegraph cucumber 22 corokia (for our new hedge down our new driveway!) 5 standard Portugese Laurels (for a bit of fancy stuff with the corokia) The other day I froze some water and then Lucy had great fun exploring what salt did to the ice when she sprinkled it on. Then we used some droppers to drop different coloured food colouring onto it. I think she just enjoyed watching the colour squirt out of the dropper as she squeezed it hard. I've also been playing around in her room, actually, her room has been an on-going project and I think I can say I've almost finished. I found this delightful girly chandalier and it looks great in her room. At night, it gives off a lovely soft light and Lucy takes great delight in taking visitors by the hand and showing them "my beautiful light." I've managed to cut up some chipboard and found some fabric so my next job is to cover it and make her a notice board. Nothing beats playing with bubbles! Lucy is mastering the art of blowing bubbles and shes getting pretty good at catching them too!

I haven't been blogging for ages and have realised how much I've missed it. Hopefully I can get back into spending some evening time writing my own, rather than just pouring over so many others! It is just so inspiring reading what others have done and are doing. I've started a few little projects so hopefully can get these finished and share them on here.

Snow Lovely

I guess todays blog is for my friends around the world, especially those who grew up in Wellington and now live in other parts of the world.

Today it snowed in Wellington. Today it snowed in Lower Hutt. It hasn't snowed here since 1979! We even had snow down at our place and we live at sea level. So strange to see the flakes flutter down. I think I was as excited as Lucy as we ventured off to play in the snow. It was so much fun to be out in the soft, white flakes as they drifted down. The snow on the ground was crisp white and soft and light. We even scooped some snow up and took it home, although most of it was munched on the drive home.

The snow is forecast to fall for at least another day. Maybe tomorrow we'll wake to snow sitting on the lawn. Today has been a real 'once in a blue moon' kinda day - so pleased Lucy and I got out and enjoyed ourselves.

Back on track

After losing a close friend and work colleague, I guess you could say the wheels fell off for a bit. When someone you know well passes suddenly, you can't help but think about the positive things that they contributed to your life. Roger had to be one of the most caring and considerate people I've worked with. Our school held a memorial for him, with well over 1000 friends, family, and past pupils attending, it was truely something special to see how he had touched the lives of so many. It was incredible to see just what an impact a special and unique teacher can have.

What seems like months ago, I got a lovely parcel in the mail from Jude from Tassie. She has a blog called My Quilt Creations. We had participated in a tea towel swap. She sent me two lovely tea towels that go perfectly in my kitchen (think she must have spied our red splashback in a past photo) and some cute buttons. Much to my surprise, she sent then Lucy the most adorable Aussie pinny, and its double sided. Lucy loves wearing it and she even made it with the ribbon that I had used to wrap her tea towels.

Thank you Jude. It was my first blogging swap and what a neat experience. Now that things are back on track hopefully I can join in another. Today has got to be the coldest day this winter, in fact, the coldest day I can remember. I can see a dusting of snow on the hills just near where we live - I have only ever once seen the slightest smidgen of snow there. And then this morning, I saw a car that had snow all over it!! We never get snow in this part of New Zealand but today we have. Looking forward to getting back into some blogging and sharing some of the things we've been doing.

Peg Dolls

I remember peg dolls from my childhood so when I saw this I couldn't help but think, how neat! Small Acorns (a lovely shop in Wellington) is running a Peg Doll Competition. Last year they had over 200 gorgeous pegs entered. I'm not sure if Lucy is a bit young but I still think her and I will have great fun making one. I just think it would be a lovely thing to do with your daughter or grandchild! You can go to their website and all the details are there. You can even send them an email and they will send you a peg doll starter kit for free! This year, not only do they have the kids category, but there's also a 'grown-ups' category ...

This is last year's winner, Miss Coco Chanel. Gorgeous!

Entries close Monday 4th July.

Keeping Busy

With a week of being sick, I just had to make the most of the time and have some fun amusing Lucy, and myself! I've been following Megan's wonderful blog, mousehouse She has so many neat ideas for things to do with her kids, her blog is just full of inspiration and great ideas. A couple of weeks ago she made some sensory playdough with her children. I had made our playcentre playdough a few times so thought this would be something different. Lucy had so much fun adding in the ingredients and helping with the mixing. She especially loved adding the colour and then investigating the different smells for each one. The dough has kept really well. Megan's recipe for the playdough: For the playdough you will need... 1 and a half cups of salt 3 cups flour 6 tbsp Cream of Tartar 3 cups boiling water 3 tbsp oil Mix all ingredients together... Then divide the mixture into however many different colours/scents you are going to make. Carefully add your colour and essential oils and kneed in. (You might need to add a little more flour if your dough is a little sticky). We've also had a few really wintery days here and looking out our lounge windows we can watch the birds in the trees. Wendyl Nissen's weekly newsletter had a recipe for bird feed and a link to some cotton string bags which would be perfect for this (even though they are for when you buy fresh produce at the supermarket rather than plastic bags). Lucy and I went out and found the Wild Bird Seed and lard. Then we just melted half the lard, added the bird seed, some broken up old Weetbix and a few cornflakes, then left it to harden. Together we went out and looked for a spot where the birds would find it, but where the neighbourhood cats wouldn't and where we could watch from our lounge. I also climbed up and nailed on a flat board that the birds could sit on and where I could put out our old bread. It's all been there for a few days but we haven't seen a single bird so anywhere near it - plenty in the trees though ... THEN, I SAW THIS! I couldn't believe my eyes, our neighbours cat!! Sorry, the photo was taken through the glass doors on a cold morning. I'm out there tomorrow moving that table!

Surprises

It's been a week full of surprises, thankfully all good! With little Lucy being sick with bronchiolitis (inflamation of the tubes in your lungs which, according to our doctor, has become much more prevalent in small children now that we are keeping them out of the sun more as it appears to be related to not having enough vitamin D!), and then an ear infection so another trip to the doctor - good surprises were just what I needed! Firstly, this lovely parcel arrived in the mail from Kim at Cupcake Cutie. I entered her competition at Craft 2.0 at the Dowse and I was the lucky name to be drawn. Her Little Red Riding Hood now sits in pride of place on my sewing table. Thank you Kim! She's lovely. I've also been pondering away at trying to think up some technology challenge for a group of 12 and 13 year old boys in my technology class. I came across this website where there are lots of really neat things to make that are science and technology based. My husband and I (OK, mainly him but I'll be teaching it to the boys tomorrow!) made a very successful steam powered engine for a Putt Putt boat using an old coke can, glue and straws. Instead of a boat, we just used an old foam tray to test out our engine in the bath - and it worked first go! If you're not sure what a Putt Putt boat is, have a look at the first minute of this clip.

Beginnings

I couldn't resist this lovely bunch of lisianthus, now they are cheering up our dining room - not that our dining room needs cheering up, just nice to have some fresh flowers in the house.

I've been mulling over making Lucy a little doll.

This is the second time I've got 'Softies, 22 Friends for you to sew, knit and crochet out of the local library. On the cover is the dolly, Polly (2nd from the left) so I've found a few fabrics and am about to start making Lucy a little Polly.

Now that I've blogged about it, I will have to get on with it and actually do it! Thought this might help me to get on and start!

My two and a half year old loves wearing clips - for about five minutes. Then they just disappear into a huge hairclip black hole somewhere in our house that I never knew existed. Hopefully one day this black hole will spit them all out and we will be up to our knees in hairclips. In the meantime, I figured if I just make lots and lots of them they will just be everywhere around the house, thereby making it a little easier to find one when I need one.

Suddenly friends have started enquiring about me making a few more .. so I'm experimenting with attaching the button to the clip so that they don't come apart easily. Stay tuned, I've just about found the best solution and am feeling pretty pleased with myself, who knows, I might even try opening my own little shop on felt. I've found a couple of other things to attach to the clips so once I'm sorted I'll blog about those too - with photos of completed ones!

Thanks also to Jen from Jacolily Design, she kindly sent me a Baker's Delight voucher which Lucy and I immediately enjoyed - one of their cheese twists went down a treat! Think we had overdosed on the hot cross buns so went for something savoury ... delish. Thanks very much Jen.

Wintery Easter break

With Easter falling late this year, the weather wasn't great. Lucy and I still managed our egg hunt (even though I had to dash out just before and quicky hide the eggs). She was so proud of herself spotting the 'hidden' eggs and then took much delight in coming inside to sit down to a feast of chocolate!

I've been spending more time looking at people's blogs and the other night I came across Made by Joel. He has all sorts of things on his blog and I particularly love all of his crafty ideas that he does with his kids. Feeling inspired Lucy and I sat down to make our very own aquarium. We have visited the Island Bay Marine Education Centre often and she loves looking at the fish. If you are in Wellington it really is worth a visit.

We dashed out in the rain and picked up a few supplies at our local $2 shop and came home and got ready. I think the highlight had to be the glitter and anything shiny for Lucy, needless to say, we have a very glittery aquarium! And we couldn't forget Nemo! She thinks its great and we both had lots of fun glueing and putting it together. We tied the cotton to the buttons so that she can take hold of the button and slide the fish across the aquarium, now she can make them swim around on her own.

Not sure what we'll make next ...

Lovely morning out

I had been looking forward to today's Craft 2.0 at the Dowse Gallery for weeks. I've been lots of times before as it's close to home and I love looking at all of the treats. Everytime I go, I always leave feeling inspired and impressed by all of the beautiful things that people have spent so much time making. The gallery is full of lots of loveliness and lots of little delicious goodies.

It's been a bit quiet around here but today Lucy's 'Gamma and Poppy' looked after her while I had a bit of time out.

There was also another reason why I was looking forward to today. My bestest friend from Intermediate school days was having her first ever stall at the craft fair. We haven't seen each other since sometime at high school, so its been about 25 years since we've caught up. It was just wonderful to see her again and so lovely to see her gorgeous bags and purses, not to mention her cute rabbits that I've been eying up on her felt shop.

After catching up, it was time for a little wander. I was after a pincushion and a few hair clips for Lucy - she seems to eat them for they are forever disappearing and never to be seen again. I also wanted something a little more homemade than just the usual plastic. I have a small, but growing, collection of hearts which hang in my sewing room, today I added this lovely red heart, made my Stephanie Cahorel.

Then I spied the most gorgeous stall full of lots of bright and cheerful loveliness, and pincushions just like I was after. I instantly spotted this one and had to have it, although I did have to decide between this and one shaped like a cupcake.

Kim, from cupcake cutie must have spent hours and hours cutting and handstitching all of her beautiful creations. How do you put a price on all those hours of work? She had so many delightful things, just as I was about to leave I spied her needle books and so had to have this too!

I thought I'd done well to get out the door with just my couple of purchases, I had looked for little hair clips along the way but hadn't spotted any. I was out the door and there right in front of me under the big red and white polka dotted umbrella were the most perfect hairclips for Lucy. Unfortunately I don't know who the lovely girls are that made them. They were an instant hit when I got home.

I had a lovely morning out looking at all of the wonderful handmade creations. I hope those that had stalls had a successful and enjoyable day at the Dowse.

Good Day for a Good Book

Winter arrived here yesterday. We lit our woodburner and felt warm and toasty as the rain was driven into our house by one of those chill-you-to-the-bone southerlies. I have to admit there is something very cosy about the fire going on a cold, wet day and being snugged up inside with a good book. Our local library is on the net and so I love browsing their new books online, making a reserve and then popping down to collect a bundle of books that all look great, and often, very new.

The other day I came across this book.

The presentation is really attractive and easy to either browse through, or study carefully. Its been divided into chapters such as Window, Bed and Gifts and other Little Things. Some of the ideas are delightful in their simplicity, and there's a wide range of abilities catered for.

I recently bought some white clay that just dries in the air (great stuff for making things with kids, easy to use, dries quick, you can paint it and it stays strong). So in the easter break I'm hoping to have a go at making a few little labels for some of my kitchen containers.

And just one more picture because I thought this was a great idea. Belt buckles.

the homemade home

50 thrifty and chic handmade projects

Sania Pell

Bits and Bobs

Its strange how a week can pass so quickly and you think you've achieved nothing. Thats been my week but after downloading my pictures I feel like I've had a great week.

I've spent the week making baking soda and vinegar volcanoes and silly putty with a great bunch of Year 7 and 8 boys, building boats with Year 2's, exploring our local rocky shore with Year 6, I've finished my first ever sun hat for Lucy, I've taught myself how to make a lined zippered purse (without a seam at the bottom!) and made one and I'm reading a great book!

Suddenly finding myself as a science and technology teacher, I've begun to remember some of the fun things we did as kids, anything that made a mess, tasted great or just weren't supposed to do was fantastic fun! Hopefully I can give some of these kids a taste of that. I've been exploring growing crystals, without much success, and so this week its finding the perfect recipe to make hokey pokey - what better way to explore chemical change? I'll post my most successful recipe for hokey pokey next week. I'm secretly chuffed with my reversable hat! I joined this Sew Along and so followed Hazel's blog each week. Lucy loves it too so I can see I'll be making her another one, and perhaps one for me too. What bliss I have every Monday night. Sewing class. Three whole hours of just sewing and chatting sewing. Perfect.

Oh, and my great book. The cover caught my eye at the libary the other day. The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow. There's just something about the main character, Cassie, who is a single mum and a water diviner. I'm only about a third of the way through and am finding it hard to put down.