B l o s s o m

Bread Baking and Thrifting...

2009-01-13T18:01:00.005+09:00

I made an attempt at baking some bread this afternoon. It's ready and waiting to be cut at dinner tonight. It doesn't look too bad, so we'll see how it tastes.

I have to confess, it's a pretty easy recipe that I have a feeling will probably be more like damper than bread. But if it tastes good, then the recipe will definitely be a 'Keeper' in this house. And if it is good, I think it would be delicious in winter with a pot of soup.

Our kids are on school holidays at the moment and they've been pretty good most days, EXCEPT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!! They've spent all day testing my patience!!! So when my mum rang this afternoon to ask if she could have the kids tomorrow to do some cooking with them and go for a swim in their pool, I couldn't say 'Yes' fast enough!!! Sooooooooo, first on my list tomorrow is to go and buy a coffee plunger at the sales (been wanting to buy one for ages) and also I'm on the look out for a muddler to make Lime Caprioscas. When we were away last week, each night my cousin made Lime Caprioscas for us and they are the best!!! If you haven't tried them, YOU MUST!!! In order to make them, you need a muddler for the limes. And lastly, I'm going to have a scrounge at a few Thrift Stores. I took the kids to our local one today for a quick look and decided I won't be going back there again. The prices are ridiculously expensive!!! Seriously, they were charging $28.99 for a scrappy looking doona cover that had stitching coming undone all over it. And $12.99 for a casserole dish....with the lid missing!!!! So I'm off to check out a few others and will hopefully have more luck.

Learning Something New...

2009-01-12T17:16:00.003+09:00

We've just come home from a week down south staying at a beach house and had a beautiful time. We were so relaxed we could easily have stayed another week. While walking along the beach on the first morning, I decided to collect some shells to put into a frame. Here is the result...not too bad for a quick and simple decorating idea.

And yes, I'm back to the crocheting (beginner style)!!! I'm loving this yarn...it's so soft and the colour is a beautiful blueish-grey. I'll keep going with this for a while until I'm confident enough to try something a little more adventurous ie. large blanket or perhaps a scarf.

PJ's...

2009-01-04T13:04:00.005+09:00

I finally got around to making Will's summer pajamas. I used some Alexander Henry fabric that I bought a while ago. I used the same pattern as their winter pj's, just altered the length. And I made them in such a rush last night, the fabric is upside down...so far Will hasn't noticed!!!

And a good ol' Bonds singlet with an applique on the front for the top. Will loves them so I'm happy!!!

We're off down south to the beach for a week so hopefully I'll have some photos to show when we return...

Randomness...

2009-01-03T19:28:00.006+09:00

My Handyman Hubby fitted this shelf for me today in our living room above the coffee table.

I love it!!!

He also fitted three shelves in the playroom, above Will's Lego storage unit. Will makes so many Lego creations that we desperately needed somewhere to display all of them.

We bought the kids a trampoline for Christmas which they LOVE.
And now our backyard resembles a children's playground, with the swing set they already have!!!

Hope the start to your New Year has been happy and healthy!!!

The Table is Set...

2008-12-24T15:51:00.005+09:00

I decided to set the Christmas Table today ready for lunch tomorrow...after all, it is the best part, right!!! Yesterday afternoon I made some paper ornaments to hang from the candelabra...I found the tutorial on How About Orange...they're so quick and easy and very effective. Who knew how handy that candelabra was going to be!!!

I bought some beautiful fabric from Ikea a couple of months ago to make a table cloth for Christmas Day. I love the subtle yet distinct design on it.

At each place setting I've put little boxes with an individual chocolate inside. These are just match boxes covered with pretty paper and tied up with a ribbon. Next year I'd like to make an Advent Calendar using the bigger style match boxes. They're a fun, cheap way of dressing up the table.

And a closer pic of the paper ornaments. I also had some strands of red ribbon laying around in my sewing room so I've draped those over the middle of the candelabra (how many times can one use the word 'candelabra' in a single blog post???).

Now I really do think this will be my last post before Christmas, so enjoy your day, embrace your loved ones at this special time and celebrate with family and friends!!!

Special Treasures...

2008-12-23T08:21:00.003+09:00

I know I wasn't going to post again but I forgot to show you a few special things. I picked these ornaments up on sale last year for less than $1 each and found them hiding in the back of the linen cupboard last night. I now have them sitting on the dining table in this beautiful bowl that used to belong to my great aunty.

Glenn and I planted a couple of hydrangeas on the weekend and this morning I discovered that our lovely little pup, Lola had obviously jumped up onto the plant and broken this little beauty off...so it now lives in a glass on the dining table too!!!

I've been wanting some sort of chandelier/candelabra to go above our dining table for a while now and found this one about a month ago at our local Bed, Bath and Table store. The price was heavily reduced...so much so that I had to ask if it was broken!!! Lucky for me, it wasn't so I bought it and Glenn hung it on the weekend. Now I just need some candles for it and it will be all ready for Christmas Lunch!!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

2008-12-22T19:08:00.002+09:00

Our Christmas tree has been up since the 1st of December so I thought some photos were in order.

I was at Ikea last month and they had some beautiful Christmas wrapping and decorations. I decided to go with a red, blue and white colour scheme for wrapping this year. And the Christmas table will be decorated in red and white.

Our poor old Christmas tree is looking rather wonky. I would have loved a real tree but Glenn isn't too keen on the idea. I'm thinking next year I'll pot some sort of conifer and bring that inside.

Since this will probably be my last post before Christmas, enjoy your Christmas Day and have a safe and Happy New Year !!!

Dough Ornaments...

2008-12-17T13:49:00.004+09:00

I was inspired when blog surfing the other day to make some dough ornaments with the kids. We painted them yesterday after school and the kids have given some to their school friends for Christmas. We're also going to put one at each place setting on Christmas day for our guests to take home and hang on their tree. Simple and sweet!!!

Dinner Party...

2008-12-13T13:35:00.003+09:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I've had an afternoon of baking/cooking today...some banana muffins for the freezer using my favourite recipe.

A delicious Creamy Caramel Fudge that is still setting at the moment. Can't wait to chop into it and try some...the mixture was delicious!!!!! It's actually a microwave recipe that a friend gave me and it's so easy. And because it's very sweet and rich, I'll chop it into small cubes so should get quite a bit out of this tray.

And lastly, some minature chocolate meringues. We're having a few friends over for dinner tonight so for dessert I'm making a warm chocolate sauce to dip these little meringues into, as well as some strawberries and marshmallows (for the kids)!!!

We're bbq'ing a butterflied lamb leg and some veal and chicken sausages. And I'm making a warm potato salad with mustard dressing and a rocket, pear and goats cheese salad. Will try to remember to take some photos of the salads.

Little Nooks...

2008-09-16T08:05:00.003+08:00

Over the weekend I did a bit of re-arranging of the bits and pieces on our restored meat-safe and this is what I came up with. I wanted a stack of candles so I placed them on my glass cake stand. I'm going to add a few more to it. It looks gorgeous all lit up at night and anyone would think my kids had never seen candles before...they get so excited when I light them.

I've also got a gorgeous photo of my brother and Will in the mirrored mosaic frame, a little succulent and my favourite pear ornament (I collect pear ornaments...weird I know!!!).

Blossom...

2008-09-14T10:07:00.003+08:00

Couldn't resist posting some photos of our Plum Tree that's starting to blossom.

You can see from the photo below that we have these plum trees lining our fence in the back yard. We have two different varieties that we've alternated and we're hoping to receive fruit from them this summer.

Secrets about me...

2008-09-14T07:35:00.003+08:00

I saw this on Melissa's blog and it looked like something fun to record.

1) LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATRE? Kung Foo Panda with Chloe, Will and Glenn (Glenn loved it and the rest of us fell asleep!!!)

2) WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? The Complete Secrets of Happy Children by Steve Biddulph.

3) FAVOURITE BOARD GAME? I love Rummikub (Glenn and I play at least one or two games together most nights). And we're loving Uno Attack with the kids before bed.

4) FAVOURITE MAGAZINE? I used to be a magazine junkie, but haven't actually bought one at the shops for ages. My favourite though, is Donna Hay (I have a subscription!!!)

5) FAVOURITE SMELLS? I love my current perfume, 'Still' by Jennifer Lopez.

6) FAVOURITE SOUNDS? That's a tough one...probably my kids when they get that real belly laugh going...I can't help but laugh too.

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Fear!!!

8 ) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE? The first thing I think of and do, is open the blinds to discover what kind of day it is...our bedroom faces east so we get the sun shining straight in if it's going to be a nice day. Otherwise we look out over the park at the dark clouds.

9) FAVOURITE FAST FOOD PLACE? I do love a Toasted Chicken Teriyaki & Salad roll from Subway occassionally.

10) FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? There are definitely no future children on our horizon, but I still love picking children's names...strange hobby I have. Our new little puppy has been named my current favourite...Lola!!! And our kids names are very traditional...Chloe and Will.

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—’IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D……definitely buy a holiday house on one or two acres down south near the Wineries. We'd have chooks and a huge vegie garden.

12) DO YOU DRIVE FAST? I'm probably more on the fast side than the slow, but I don't speed!!!

13) DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? Hahaha...no.

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY? I love the loud, crashing thunder but I'm not too keen on the lightning.

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? A white Hyundai Excel.

16) FAVOURITE DRINK? It's hard to choose between a latte and an icy cold glass of champagne.

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD…teach myself how to crochet...big things...not just long straight rows to drape around the Christmas tree!!!

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? Yes and I enjoy them.

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? I'd probably like to a go a bit lighter than the darkish blonde that I am now.

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN?
a) Perth, Western Australia
b) Roebourne, Pilbra region of Western Australia
c) Kununurra, Kimberley region of Western Australia.

21) FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? I enjoy watching tennis and swimming.

22) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED? Nothing....except Will right before shower time when he ALWAYS hides under there and we have to pretend we don't know where he is!!!

24) WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN? Weird question...yes.

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL? Morning.

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP? Sunny side up.

27) FAVOURITE PLACE TO RELAX? My current favourite place (because of the cooler weather) is on the kids couch in the playroom...it's so warm and sunny in there. But when the sun is shining outside, the best, best, best place is on the bench seat out the front over-looking the kids playing at the park, usually with the toasty sun shining on you.

28) FAVOURITE PIE? Lemon Meringue Pie

29) FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? Need you ask...Chocolate!!!

Happy Father's Day...

2008-09-07T17:29:00.002+08:00

We had THE most beautiful day today at Kings Park for Father's Day. There was a Festival going on across the lake so we set up our picnic over the other side, away from it, then wandered over for a look.

Almost everything was free, including rock climbing, woodworking, snake handling, camel rides, funky junk making, face painting and heaps more. Chloe has been wanting to go rock climbing for a while so this was her perfect opportunity.

And Will had fun making this tiger out of little bits and pieces of junk. They had a stall with lots of tables set up with all sorts of junky bits and lots of hot glue guns for the kids to get creative. Since Will loves creating so much, he had a ball.

And these creatures were wandering around the park all day. They're dressed up as flora and fauna from the park lands. You may or may not be able to tell the guy in red is dressed up as a Kangaroo Paw.

Will was soooooooo proud of himself for doing something his mum would NEVER do!!! Brave little man!!!

We're off to dinner tonight, just the four of us for our little family Father's Day dinner!!! Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Early Signs of Spring...

2008-09-06T15:40:00.005+08:00

Well, spring has certainly begun and the early signs are evident. Our baby cos lettuce is ready for picking and just in time for the warmer weather which means lots of salads and outdoor eating.

One of our first spring flowers on our Dietes...I love the purple and yellow.

And the first spring flower on our Cottonwood Hibiscus.

We're off to Kings Park tomorrow for a Father's Day picnic. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all you wonderful dads...especially mine!!! I love this pic of my dad and Will snuggled up on a trip up the river on our boat.

Lazy Day at Home with Sick Boy!!!

2008-09-02T11:34:00.005+08:00

Mr Monkey has been home sick again today (this is his fourth school day off!!!) so I've had to take the day off work. He's been happily playing Lego in the playroom so I thought I'd use some of Anna Maria's GORGEOUS Garden Party fabric to make a cushion. That is one talented woman...her fabric is devine. It's the perfect weight too, especially for home furnishing.

I'm loving that mustardy colour...reminds me of the sand.

We've got Chloe's sports carnival tomorrow so I'm off now to make some Anzac Slice to take. Follow the link to find the recipe (that is...if I've linked to it properly??? I'm still not quite sure how to link to previous posts on my blog)!!!

Thrifting or Op Shopping...

2008-08-27T16:59:00.006+08:00

We say 'Op Shopping', you say 'Thrifting'...it's all the same. One person's trash becoming another persons treasure!!! I went to a couple of local Op Shops today for a look and came out with some goodies. This children's book called 'The Quilt Story' is really sweet. And who knows...maybe it will inspire me enough to have a go at making a quilt for Chloe.

I found this pyrex dish too...I'm in love with the colour...it's perfect for my kitchen.

And these are a few more children's books I found. A couple of them are going to be used as readers for Will who is just learning to read. And Chloe is currently working through the Adding & Subtracting workbook. And I couldn't resist the 'It's Great to be Eight' book for Chloe (after all, your only 8 once!!!).

I have a really busy day ahead at work tomorrow so hopefully it will go smoothly. We have a brand new HUGE coffee machine that is the size of a standard household fridge. It makes lattes, long blacks, mochas, cappucinos, chai lattes, chai teas, hot chocolates and all at the press of a button....it's the coolest machine ever and makes working soooooooooo much more enjoyable!!!

Summer PJ's...

2008-08-26T18:28:00.007+08:00

These are the easiest things to make and soooooo useful. Chloe chose the fabric from my stash. We decided to add some lace trim to pretty them up a bit. Now I just have to buy a singlet/tshirt to go with them and we have a pair of summer pajamas!!! These PJ pants are so addictive to make because they're so quick and simple. I'll make both the kids a few pairs for summer.

I'm pretty sure the hem is even on both legs, I think they were just pulled up a bit higher on one side and now they look really wonky!!!

I'm looking forward to choosing some fabric to make Will's pants...fun, fun, fun!!!

Her Name Is Lola....

2008-08-25T11:17:00.003+08:00

Look at our little fur ball...and she doesn't have irredescent green eyes by the way!!! Her eyes are actually really hard to see because they're black so they get hidden amongst the black fur. She's a Maltese x Poodle (otherwise known as a 'Moodle'...hubby is not happy about that at all...not a tough enough breed name as far as he's concerned!!!). We got her about three weeks ago and she's now fifteen weeks old. She's very sweet and will be a whole lot sweeter when she learns to wee and poo ON THE NEWSPAPER...not everywhere BUT on the newspaper!!!

As you can imagine, the kids think she's the best!!! They've both got their little games they love to play with her and she is her happiest when she's with them...it's pretty cute to watch.

I'm off to sew up some summer pj pants for Chloe...it's not summer here yet, but our winter weather has been sensational lately, so I'm thinking summer is not too far away.

Sketchbook Ivory...

2008-08-24T15:33:00.006+08:00

I'm so glad to be blogging again after a long break. I've had trouble uploading photos ever since our computer crashed and as much as I could ramble on all day, lets face it...a blog needs photos!!! HOWEVER, the photo issue has been fixed and fingers crossed, we have no more computer problems for a while!!!

We've got a small lemon tree in our back garden that was full of fruit, but the tree has almost no leaves. I'm pretty sure this isn't normal!!! A friend told me you shouldn't let them fruit too much when they're new as they need to establish themselves first. I picked all the lemons off it today (they were all ripe) and am hoping it will come good again soon. I baked some Lemon and Poppyseed Muffins today to use some up. And I have to show you my very basic table runner in my most favourite fabric EVER!!! I was so excited when I received the package of fabric, that I couldn't wait to make something with it, so a quick and simple table runner it was. I've also covered a canvas in the same fabric for our bedroom and I'm going to use it as a starting point for decorating our room.

I'll be back tomorrow to post some pics of the new addition to our family...our little puppy!!!

Enjoy your Sunday evening...

Computer love...

2008-07-22T20:00:00.003+08:00

Our computer crashed a few days ago...I turned it on in the morning and was greeted with a blue screen with lots of computer jargon that I didn't understand!!!!!!! I've now found out that if ever you see a blue screen, it's known as "The Blue Screen of Death" in the computer world!!! Luckily we have a very good and clever friend who was able to save all of our photos, documents, favourites etc. and put them onto our new hard-drive. So now we have a lovely new, clean, and non-corrupt hard-drive and I'm hoping to keep it that way for some time!!! And Todd, I promise I will ALWAYS regularly back-up my computer onto disk!!!

On a happier note, it's the middle of winter here and our gooseberry bush is loaded with fruit. It was a cutting from my mum's bush and we only planted it about six months ago. They grow very quickly and the fruit is small, juicy and delicious. I'm really looking forward to re-planting our vegie garden soon. We've already got baby cos lettuce popping up (some of it went to seed last season) and we're going to grow continental cucumbers again (they were brilliant last season), tomatoes, capsicum and whatever else takes our fancy at the nursery.

I know we all make Banana Muffins but the recipe below that I found in our kid's school recipe book is my favourite so I thought I'd share it with you. The pic below is Banana & Choc Chip Muffins.

Banana Muffins

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

3-4 ripe bananas (mashed)

2 1/2 cups self raising flour (sifted)

milk (just a little so the mixture is wet but not too gooey)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Mix all ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Spoon batter into muffin cases. Bake in a moderate oven for approx. 30-40 minutes.

School Holiday Fun...

2008-07-16T08:31:00.005+08:00

On Monday we met up with some friends at our local park for a catch up. We ended up bringing my girlfriends two kids home with us for a play (not sure if your kids are the same, but whenever we get together with friends, they never want the play date to come to an end). I was more than happy to have my friends two over as they kept mine amused. The boys spent most of their time either playing Lego or kicking the footy across the road at the park. While they were all amused, I quickly made another table mat for our coffee table in the living room. I used some Amy Butler fabric together with a really heavy linen look fabric that I picked up at the op shop a little while ago. I found a huge piece of this linen that is an ugly darkish brown on the right side, but on the back is this perfect linen colour...so I use the back of it.

I set the girls up out the front with some embroidery. They look so sweet out there stitching away. (Mental note...must make some more cushion covers for the faded cushions out the front)!!!

Look at their sweet designs and very neat stitching.

Playroom...

2008-07-12T08:33:00.004+08:00

Recently, we re-decorated the kids playroom. We sold all of the old playroom furniture on ebay and replaced it with some new bits and pieces from Ikea. I wanted to create a workstation for each of the kids as you can see below. The set of drawers in between the desks holds all their paper, colouring books and stationary (sticky tape, glue, scissors etc.). And above each of their desks you can see three green tubs that are hanging from a rail on the wall. These hold their textas, crayons and pencils. And they each have a shelf above their desks for displaying art work etc.

We now have a couch in the playroom which I love. Our playroom is such a sunny room for most of the day so it's the best place to curl up and read a book or watch a dvd. You can see some art work that the kids have done, hanging on the wall. Chloe did an aboriginal style dot drawing of a platypus and Will's is of a snake!!! The frames are from Ikea and their perfect for changing the art work around ever few months.

This little unit is from Ikea also and it has finally solved all of our Lego dramas!!! It's worth it's weight in gold!!! Every piece of lego has it's place and the kids keep it pretty tidy because they know where everything goes. When we are at home, Will spends most of his time playing with Lego so to have it so easily accessible for him is great.

And finally, this is the storage unit that holds our games, books, dvd's and other craft bits and pieces.

Not sure about you, but I love seeing other peoples playrooms, studios, lounge rooms etc (think that's the sticky beak coming out in me) so I thought I'd post some pics of ours.

Enjoy your weekend!!!

Our New Toy...

2008-07-11T08:27:00.003+08:00

This boat is officially know as "Glenn's Dream Come True"!!! We bought it about six weeks ago. Glenn has been wanting one for as long as I've known him (sixteen years) and finally, the time was right and the perfect boat was available for purchase, so that's what we did. And already, we've had some fantastic times on it. In fact, the weather in winter is so much better for boating than it is in summer (providing it's not raining). Last weekend we had a beautiful (but very chilly!!!) day on Sunday, so we took my mum and dad and my brother and his wife out for a cruise. We headed up the river into East Perth. We tied the boat up (I'm sure that's not the correct 'boating' terminology...I must brush up on that!!!) and jumped off the boat for a wander. There's some gorgeous cafes and restaurants around here so we stopped for a coffee before heading back. That's my dad there tieing the boat up.

Doesn't this look gorgeous...it was such a beautiful spot.

And the kids had a ball playing in the autumn leaves. They gathered them from all around, into a giant pile and then jumped all over it. Hey, if it means we can have a coffee in peace, they can do what they like!!!

Breaking the Blogging Drought...

2008-07-09T15:50:00.002+08:00

I'm back!!! Not sure for how long, but we'll see how things go. This is the first bit of sewing I've done in what feels like such a long time. Life has been really hectic, but I'm thoroughly enjoying working part-time. The kids have adjusted beautifully (we had a few tears from Will for a couple of days when I dropped him at school, but all is good now!!!). And of course we're on school holidays at the moment, so I found some time to make these sock monkeys for the kids.

This one is Chloe's and it turned out really cute. BUT I definitely need to brush up on my handsewing since these have quite a bit of it!!!

And as per Will's usual style, we had to break the 'Sock Monkey Mould' and make one with extra long limbs and tail!!! How hilarious does it look. Seriously, it has the most ridiculously long legs ever!!! And they were an absolute bugger to stuff!!! But as far as Will was concerned, the longer the better. We used a pair of mens knee high socks to make him (not sure what man would want a pair of yellow and black striped knee highs???) We had a bad start to this monkey because I forgot to turn the first sock inside out before I sewed up his legs and body, so he has a few raw edges showing...just adds to his charm I think (that's what I told Will anyway!!!).

I'm hoping to find the time, enthusiasm and energy to get back into blogging again. Wish me luck!!!

Returning to work...

2008-05-16T13:51:00.002+08:00

My blogging has been few and far between lately which I'm not happy about. I'm feeling the need for a bit of a break at the moment as there seems to be so many things going on.

The Mother's Day Stall was a huge success and I'm now concentrating on a slightly smaller project, being Chloe's 8th birthday party next Friday night. And for the first time in Birthday Party History in our household, I am not going to do it all myself...I am hiring some entertainers to do it ALL for me. We're having a Pajama Party with twelve little girls, so I've hired a couple of teenage girls who will run the show. Then we're having pizzas for dinner, followed by birthday cake. I think this is going to be the easiest party ever!!!

Also, I had a call a few weeks ago from a company I used to work for before I had the kids, asking me if I was interested in coming back to work part time....school hours, two days a week (whatever days I choose), good money...ummm....yeah, I'll take the job!!! They are a large Insurance Broking firm and I'm starting with them next week. I have to say, I'm VERY nervous. My main concern is for the kids (I think that's what they call 'Mother Guilt'!!!). I don't want them to be negatively impacted by this in any way. And I'm pretty sure they won't be, as things will remain constant for them. I will still drop them to school on both work mornings and pick them up one day. Then Glenn will pick them up the other day so that I can work until 5pm. They are very excited about daddy picking them up one day a week (BUT I don't think they're as excited about daddy preparing dinner for them!!!).

I need some time for me to settle into this new routine, so things on the blogging front will be quiet for a little while.

Time for Celebration!!!

2008-05-10T15:42:00.003+08:00

Well, it was a HUGE success. We made the most we've ever made at our Mother's Day Stall today and I have to say, I was just a little bit proud. The stall looked really gorgeous...until it poured with rain!!! Only for the first hour or so, then it cleared...thank goodness!!! We were absolutely overwhelmed with cakes, cookies, relishes and homemade things which was fantastic. Apparently they've never had so many baked goods and potted plants before.

Anyway, I'm off to put my feet up for the first time in a while. Then I'll be getting stuck into organising Chloe's 8th birthday Pajama Party in two weeks!!!!!!!!!! Which I think will be a walk-in-the-park compared to the Mother's Day Stall!!!

Mother's Day...

2008-04-27T16:18:00.004+08:00

Busy, Busy, Busy!!! The last few weeks have been mostly spent organising the Mother's Day Stall. And as much as I've enjoyed it, it has been pretty full-on. Particularly on the admin side of things. So many newsletters to print out and staple (475 to be exact...and more to go), notices and packs to hand out to teachers, doing up helping rosters, banners and the list goes on. But on the fun side of things, today I made up all the 'Bathtime in a Bag' gifts. I cut squares of pink muslin, piled three tablespoons of oats in the middle, added a few drops of an essential oil, then tied them with a pretty ribbon. These are called 'Bath Teabags' and you place them under running warm bath water for a few minutes, then leave in the bath while you soak away your troubles. And I bought some cheap tealight candles from Ikea (50 cents each) to go with the bath theme. I did up some little swing tags with instructions for mum. I've made up sixteen of these and I'm hoping they'll sell for about $5.00 each.

Here they are altogether, ready for the stall.

And this is what each one looks like when it's put together.

My Baby Boy...

2008-04-15T15:40:00.005+08:00

Well, my baby boy lost his first tooth last night. He was so excited and proud of himself. But not me...I was so sad and teary at the thought of my baby growing up too fast. It seems like only yesterday that he was here in his highchair looking adorable...

And now he's such a big boy. I had just put him to bed last night (his tooth was wiggly, but still firmly in place!!!), when he came into my room with his tooth in his hand. I asked him if he pulled and wiggled it out and his reply was...

"No mummy, I was just relaxing in bed and it fell out!!!". Yeah right!!!

He had obviously made his mind up that it needed to come out (and that he needed some extra cash for our holiday next week!!!).

We've told him that now he will grow a 'Big Daddy Tooth' to replace his lost baby tooth, in the hope that he will understand that his new tooth that grows, will be with him until he's a big daddy so he must look after it carefully.

Reading Corner...

2008-04-14T12:51:00.005+08:00

I took the kids off to visit our new Ikea this morning (I've been a few times, but they haven't seen it yet....and it IS a big deal!!!). We had a lovely morning tea in the cafe (that Daim cake is awesome!!!). I only bought a few little things for the house...a couple of succulents to go in each of the bathrooms, a basket to put some kid's books in for our family room and I caved in to the kids pestering and bought them a lovely little animal stable that came with about eight or so soft toy farm animals (have I mentioned Chloe loves animals?). So they've been spending the afternoon playing farms and zoos.

I wanted to make up a bit of a reading corner downstairs in our family room area for the kids. And two minutes after I'd set it up, I found Chloe reading to Will...so sweet!!! I won't mention that five minutes before this photo, they were yelling and screaming at each other because Will wanted to put the farm animals into the stable and Chloe didn't want him too!!! But all is peaceful now, so I won't complain.

And in the second photo is our book/reading corner...I think it will be lovely in winter because the sun comes in that window in the afternoon. I've got a couple of European cushion inserts in my linen cupboard so I'm going to make up some floor cushions to go in this corner too. I just need to decide on some fabric.

If you haven't already checked out Kate's blog over the last few days....you must go and congratulate her as she's had her little baby girl. And what a sweetie she is!!! Congratulations Chris and Kate!!!

Tissue Huggers...

2008-04-11T14:32:00.004+08:00

Here are all the tissue huggers I made today for the Mother's Day Stall. Don't they look so pretty all lined up together!!!

I thought this one below was my favourite, but now I think I like the one at the front in the pic above with the little apples on it. Sweet, sweet, sweet!!! Gotta rush and pick the kids up from school. Today was there last day of school and now they're on holidays for two weeks. I'm looking forward to the slow and lazy mornings, but I must start planning some things to do.

Snuggle Bunnies...

2008-04-10T21:47:00.005+08:00

Well, the weather was finally cool enough tonight for my little cherubs to wear their new winter pajamas I made for them the other day. And doesn't Will look extra excited to be wearing his!!!

They each chose some fleecy material from Spotlight a while ago (actually, it was last winter, but I've only just learnt how to make the pants!!!). Chloe's material has little cats all over it (she's animal crazy...wants to be a Zoo Keeper when she grows up) and Will's pants have planes on them (for no particular reason...he just liked them). In the school holidays (next week) I'm taking them to Spotlight again to choose some more fabric so I can make one more set for them. I've just appliqued some of the same material onto some tops I bought from Target and blanket stitched around the edges.

Will's pants are just a bit too long but I figure they'll last him longer (and I can't be bothered taking them up!!!).

Aah Choo...

2008-04-09T14:25:00.002+08:00

I'm making quite a few of these tissue huggers for our Mother's Day Stall. Here is number one of about fifteen or so. Our monthly craft group is on tonight, so I thought I'd get the rest of them cut out tonight and ready for sewing tomorrow. They're so quick and easy...but in my view...an essential for any mum!!!

I've also made a pair of winter pj's each for the kids, so when they're home from school and I can get them to model for me, I'll post pictures.

I've had a few other ideas for the Mother's Day Stall...I'm going to do up a couple of little treat boxes:-

1. 'Breakfast in a Box'...this will have some yummy muesli in it, a couple of lovely teabags all presented in a noodle box with a little swing tag and a sprig of lavender.

2. 'Bathtime in a Box'...this will have a glass votive candle (from Ikea for 50 cents each), a tea light candle and a little bath tea bag (square of muslin with 2 Tbspns of oats and a few drops of an essential oil, then tied with pretty ribbon). This will also be presented in a noodle box with a little swing tag and a sprig of lavender. The bathtime box will come with an instruction card...run bath, place bath teabag under running warm water to infuse bath, light candle and leave mum in peace for at least 30 minutes. When I've made a sample of these, I'll show pictures.

Hope you're having a lovely day...

This Is...

2008-04-06T09:19:00.004+08:00

This Is...my knick knack / jewellery box.

I have to say, I'm a jewellery girl so this week's 'This Is' is right up my alley. Anyone that knows me, knows that I LOVE jewellery. And I have lots of it. But I am finding that as I get older, I tend to wear the same pieces every day. Except my earrings...I change them daily depending on what I'm wearing.

I got this jewellery box about five years ago for my birthday and it's brilliant. It holds so much. I don't keep my earrings in here though, I have a separate little container with tiny compartments for each pair of earrings. And I actually have a few other little containers holding special pieces of jewellery too, but this is my main jewellery box.

Thanks to Anastasiac for this week's theme. You can check out more knick knack / jewellery boxes over at Three Buttons.

The Recipe Box Swap...and Earrings!!!

2008-04-03T11:05:00.003+08:00

Before I begin, I have to say I'm certainly making up for my lack of posting over the past few weeks. I think this is my third or fourth post for this week....hope I'm not boring you!!!

I had a meeting this morning with the past co-ordinator of our Mother's Day Stall so that I can get my head around the running of it and all that is to be done. And I'm pleased to say I've come away feeling excited, creative and not too overwhelmed. I got to work straight away after our meeting and made a few pairs of earrings to sell.

These ones are my favourite...

I've mentioned in a previous post that I'm taking part in The Recipe Box Swap over at I Have To Say, so here is my recipe for this month.....Beer Bread. I don't have a photo to show you, but it's the easiest bread ever!!! Go and visit I Have To Say to check out more great recipes.

Beer Bread

Ingredients:-

3 cups self raising flour

2 Tbspns brown sugar

375ml full strength or mid-strength beer (at room temperature if possible)

2 Tbspn water (if necessary)

Method:-

1. Combine SR flour and brown sugar in a large bowl.

2. Make a well in the centre and pour in a can/bottle of beer.

3. Mix to a smooth consistency and pour into a greased and lightly floured round cake tin.

4. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until golden.

5. Remove from tin to cool and then slice with a serrated knife.

6. DELICIOUS served warm with lashings of butter and a lovely soup for dunking!!!

Handbag Organiser...

2008-04-02T11:57:00.003+08:00

This morning I had a go at making a Handbag Organiser....tutorial courtesy of The Giving Flower
It turned out really well and took about forty five minutes to make so I'm thinking I'll make a dozen or so of these to sell at the Mother's Day Stall. Thanks so much to Cathy from Miss Marzie for the idea!!!

I have to say, I do love the idea of having all my handbag 'bits and pieces' in the one spot inside my bag. Particularly because my bag is fairly large.

Mother's Day Stall...

2008-04-01T12:10:00.004+08:00

Yes, that's my new baby from now until 10th May. I'm on the Fundraising Committee at our primary school and nominated myself to run the Mother's Day Stall this year. We set it up down at our local shopping centre the day before Mother's Day.

I've helped out in previous years by baking biscuits and slices and also making jewellery, bags, tissue huggers and a few other bits and pieces to sell. And this year, I decided to have a go at running the stall (actually, it was more a case of....no-one else put there hand up so I did!!!)

Sooooooo, first things first. You just can't have a Mother's Day Stall without some bunting for decoration. This morning I made this bunting and went for a classic pink and lime colour scheme which will become the colour scheme for the stall. All of the items on the stall are donated by parents at our school and within the community which is lovely. We usually find the homebaked treats sell exceptionally well, so this year I thought I would send home with the school kids, a few quick, easy and possibly freezeable recipes on a little card for them to give to mum or dad in the hope that it may inspire them to get baking for our stall. I've got a stash of bags that I've been making for the stall and I'll also make some more sterling silver beaded jewellery. I was also thinking drink coasters might sell well.

Does anyone have any quick and relatively cheap things I could make? I'm always on the lookout for ideas.

This Is...

2008-03-29T09:46:00.003+09:00

This Is...the contents of my handbag.

I'm a day early for 'This Is...' so please excuse my eagerness!!!

Here we go:- purse, phone, sunnies, pink diary & pen, tissues (in red spotty cover), Nivea lip balm (can't go anywhere without this), Westfield gift card, baby wipes (at the risk of sounding obsessive compulsive...I use these to clean my hands after I've been op-shopping....most of our op-shops are pretty dusty and dirty...and of course I also need these to clean the kids up occassionally) and lastly my tictacs. I love to drink coffee, but I can't stand the after-taste, so I have tictacs.

I know this probably looks like I've cleaned out my handbag especially for this photo, but this is honestly as messy as it gets. The only thing I threw in the bin before taking this photo are a couple of used tissues (and for some reason, I figured you didn't need to see those)!!!

I'm still here...

2008-03-28T19:14:00.002+09:00

Yes, I am still here. I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I'm going through a bit of a lull at the moment, creatively speaking. And when this happens, I try to snap myself out of it by reading blogs and sewing books for inspiration.

I'm throwing around the idea of making a doona cover for Chloe's bed (to go with her new red and white colour scheme). I've found a beautiful one in Amy Butler's 'In Stitches' book, but I'm not sure if I'm game enough to tackle such a big project (not a big project for some....but VERY big for me!!!). I'd love to know if anyone's made a doona cover and if so, how tricky was it? The Amy Butler one is patchworked, so perhaps that may be a tad ambitious for my first try?

Dinner Time...

2008-03-14T19:07:00.005+09:00

As a follow on from a previous post of mine (some time ago), I've designed these placemats to encourage kids to help mum and dad by setting the dinner table (and perhaps earn themselves some pocket money). In my previous post, I made some little aprons with a knife, fork and spoon stitched onto three separate pockets for kids to carry the cutlery to the table. And now these are the placemats to show them where to place the cutlery. It's a bit hard to see in this photo ( I need a new camera!!!), but I've stitched a knife, fork and spoon onto the linen fabric.

I've used a heavy linen look fabric to stitch the cutlery onto and the flowery fabric is from Z & S.

This is the backing fabric which is also from Z & S.

Here's a close up of the cutlery. This is purely experimentation at this stage, so I realise the cutlery is a bit wonky. I drew it free-hand and then machine stitched over it, so tonight I'm going to make up some templates to trace and I'm going to try handsewing the cutlery as well to see if that gives a better result. I've also used some 100% cotton interfacing to stiffen them a bit, which has worked perfectly.

I would love to hear feedback on these...particularly the cutlery design. I basically copied my knife, fork and spoon from my cutlery drawer. I'm happy with the knife and spoon, but I'm not sure about the fork. All suggestions welcome!!! But be kind...me ego is fragile!!!

My Little Cherubs...

2008-03-12T18:48:00.004+09:00

I didn't have any white paint (can you believe it!!!) to paint the frames, so I used what I had. But I do think this colour is too close to our wall colour. So I'm off to Spotlight tomorrow to purchase some white paint and have another go.

I can't believe the detail in this painting and the gorgeous colours (unfortunately my mediocre camera doesn't do it justice!!!). That blue is way more vibrant. I do wonder who painted them? There is no name on them at all.

And this one definitely needs a white frame. I guess I'll just consider this first coat to be an undercoat!!!

I went upstairs last night as usual to check on the kids before I went to bed and this is what I found when I went into Will's room. Did I mention we are in the middle of summer and it was 37 degrees yesterday. I just had to get a photo of him in his beannie. And that's half a tattoo you can see on his forehead, in case you were wondering!!! He's got them ALL over his body too!!! Both my kids love sneaking out of bed once Glenn and I have said our goodnights and re-dressing themselves in all manner of things. This is Will's usual get-up. And Chloe usually changes her pj's from summers to winters (she knows I won't let her wear winters during summer, so she sneaks them on later), then she adds her eye mask, her woolen gloves and her toe socks...yes, this is also in the middle of summer).

But last night I could only catch her with her winter pj's on. I'll make sure I capture her in her full get-up next time. It really is hilarious. Especially those toe-socks....they are the funniest looking things. Look at my little cherubs...I always think they revert back to babyhood when they're sleeping. I look at their faces and to me, they look just like they did when they were babies. I wonder if it will always be this way??? I hope so!!!

Op Shopping and Gardening...

2008-03-11T15:48:00.004+09:00

We had a pretty hot day today of about 37 degrees and I had the urge to garden. If I don't do it when I have the urge, then it doesn't get done. And our front entrance was in desperate need of dressing up. So I trotted off to Bunnings to get some plants. Usually I wander around for ages trying to find the perfect plants, but today I was in and out in fifteen minutes. They had exactly what I was looking for. I'm not the best at keeping the water up to my potted plants, so I needed some that were drought hardy!!! Mother-In-Law's tongue is always a good one and the smaller one is some sort of cordyline I think (can't remember).

I love this one with the red flowers. These are great as climbers, but my girlfriend has a white one in a pot that looks gorgeous. They flower pretty much all year round. And the little one is a Liriope.Just before school pick up this afternoon, I popped into our local Op Shop to have a look. This is what I came out with...these two lovely paintings. The floral one has already gone up in my sewing room and the boaty one will probably go in the family room. I'm thinking of painting the boat frame white to give it a beachy look.

I LOVE eating anything with lemon in it so I had to get this Little Lemon Book. All the recipes use lemons. I'm think I've heard about this little cookbook before, so hopefully I'll find some yummy recipes in it.

And lastly, a beaded bracelet. The beads are wood and I love the colour combination.

Isn't this painting gorgeous. There were actually two more of these, both similar to the two I bought. I did see a few other things I liked, but I find that our Op Shops are pretty expensive (certainly compared to what Eastern States bloggers seem to pay for their goodies), so I left the other things behind.

The Recipe Swap Box - Money Saving Recipes

2008-03-09T12:08:00.003+09:00

I've just joined a recipe swap group over at I Have To Say so here's my 'Money Saving Recipe'...

Quick Quiche
Serves 6

4 eggs
3 rachers bacon, chopped
1 cup grated cheese (add extra if you want it to be really cheesey)
1 small finely chopped brown onion
1/2 cup SR flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 Tbspn chopped parsley

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a square cake tin that has been greased lightly.
Bake at 190 degrees for 40 minutes or until set.
Serve with a green salad and crusty bread.

Optional - This quiche is lovely topped with circles of tomato before baking.

This is a very basic recipe, so you could omit the bacon and add whatever you like instead...eg. spring onion, cherry tomatoes, chives.

This Is...

2008-03-09T09:08:00.004+09:00

This Is...looking out my front door.

I literally stood at the front door to take this photo. I think I've mentioned before, we live opposite a park, so it's lovely to sit out the front and enjoy a cuppa while watching the kids play at the park (my kids, not other people's kids....I'm not a pervert!!!).

And this is where I sit to watch them.

I'm sorry for missing last week's 'This Is...'post. I made sure I got in early this week!!! If you'd like to look out the front of other people's doors, then go to Three Buttons. And thanks to Brooke for this week's topic.

Time for a catch up...

2008-03-08T18:49:00.003+09:00

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. I'm not sure why, but I've felt that there hasn't been anything very worthy of posting about, except the usual day-to-day stuff. And now I've found myself nearing the end of the week without a post, so I will just have to post about the usual day-t0-day stuff. Now is your chance to move onto a more interesting blog!!!

We went to visit Glenn's parents this morning so I baked some chocolate brownie to take. I've made chocolate brownie plenty of times before, but this recipe was a new one. And I have to say, it's by far the richest, most chocolatey, fudgy brownie I've ever made. It's delicious, but you certainly can't eat too much of it because of the richness. Of course, it's full of all the usual chocolate brownie goodness.....tonnes of sugar, tonnes of dark chocolate, tonnes of butter....and just as I'm pulling it from the oven and marvelling at my handiwork, Glenn informs me that his parents have just started a new diet!!!!!! So how bad did I feel walking in the door with, probably one of the most fattening slices ever!!! Needless to say, we brought the remaining slice home with us so it was not a temptation for them, and we had some for dessert tonight.

And here is tonight's dinner....the kids asked what was for dinner and Glenn said a 'Snack Attack'. So I think that will be the new name for this dinner. We've been having it a bit lately on the weekends. Tonight I set up a blanket on the back lawn for a picnic dinner. It's amazing how a slight change to the normal dinner routine for the kids is enough to excite them so much. We had a lovely dinner of shaved ham, jarslberg cheese (my favourite), pate' (mmmmm), hommus (mmmmm), bread rolls and some salad.

And we set up our picnic right next to our rabbit, Roxy. So poor Roxy had drool through her cage at our dinner. She's already spent the afternoon out, hopping around the back yard and eating all my lettuce in the vegie patch.

We're off to the beach...

2008-02-28T15:34:00.005+09:00

Here is the the canvas that I covered to go in Chloe's room. I used some co-ordinating strips of fabric sewn together and stretched over the canvas. My favourite is the blue and red floral...it's so sweet.

Well, we're off to the beach for the long weekend tomorrow. We're staying at a place called Dalyellup Beach...for those West Aussies, it's about ten minutes past Bunbury. We're going with my sister and her family, my mum and dad, my aunty and my cousins and their little boy. Apparently the beach house we're staying in is a big five bedroom place, so plenty of room for all of us. I'm really looking forward to getting away and the weather is going to be beautiful.

This afternoon I baked a Chocolate Torte to take with us and I must admit it doesn't look very appealing in the tin (it's still cooling down), but it is the most devine chocolate indulgence. It's flourless and full of dark chocolate and almond meal. It's one of those easy but rather impressive and delicious desserts that is foolproof. This is probably about the tenth time I've made it and it always turns out beautifully. It looks great presented on a cake stand, dusted with icing sugar and you MUST serve it with a HUGE dollop of King Island Cream!!!

The kids have been home from school AGAIN today (remember, they were off sick on Monday!!!) because the teacher's are on strike. So we met up with some other school families at the beach this morning. It was beautiful...but we had to leave before lunch because it was getting really hot (it reach 41 degrees today).

I'm off to dinner tonight with some Year 3 mums from school. We try to get together once or twice a term to catch up and we always have such a great night. I'm looking forward to some adult conversation!!!

Chloe's Bedroom...

2008-02-25T14:19:00.005+09:00

Chloe and I decided to re-decorate her bedroom a few months ago and it's taken us this long to decide on a colour scheme. When we were at Ikea several months ago, she fell in love with this quilt that has a floral design on one side and a very fine red and white stripe on the other. It has scallopped edges and it's gorgeous. So when I was at our new Ikea store last week, I bought the quilt along with some pale red linen curtains that match perfectly.

I have both kids home from school today with runny noses and coughs so I've spent the day doing housework, making (and eating) pancakes for morning tea, baking a slice for afternoon tea and making some cushions for Chloe's bedroom. I made a plain red and white stripe cushion using some great fabric from Ikea (another purchase from the other day....I can't believe the fabric range they have now.....soooooooo exciting!!!). The other cushion is made using the same red and white stripe, some red linen that I cut off the bottom of the curtains (they were too long), a beige linen square with a little embroidered flower on it and some red flower fabric from my stash.

I have a canvas from Chloe's previous bedroom decor that I painted hot pink with coloured polka dots on it, so I'm going to cover this in some red and white floral fabric and hang it above her bedhead where the other little painting is at the moment. And we used to hang all of her hats on the 'Dream' hooks, but they're all pink, so we've put them away in a little basket and I'm going to make a red and white bag to hang on the hook to keep her pj's in. (Her old pajama bag is pink!!!).

It's a bit of effort to change her colour scheme (especially when the old one was bright pink and aqua), but I've been promising it for a while now. The old quilt was her first quilt when she moved into her big bed at two and a half years old, so understandably it had seen better days. All we need now is a white-wash wicker chair for her reading corner (and probably a cushion to go on it), her pj bag and the fabric-covered canvas. I'll post some more pictures when I'm done.

And I might post some pictures of Will's bedroom too. I don't know about you, but I love seeing what other's do in their kids bedrooms.

This Is...

2008-02-24T16:56:00.003+09:00

This Is...me taking a photo of myself in the mirror with my favourite accessory!!! Or in my case, accessories. This week's theme is from One Red Robin. And you can check out other people's 'This Is' posts at Three Buttons.

We have a huge mirror in our dining area and that's where I took the photo (it was either there or in our ensuite), so I must apologise for the poor lighting.

I had to cheat a bit because I have two favourite accessories. The first is my newish bag. I bought it using a gift voucher a few months ago and I LOVE IT!!! The pewter colour is perfect because it goes with everything and it can hold lots of stuff if need be. My other very favourite accessory is my Pandora Charm Bracelet. Glenn bought it for me about three and a half years ago and last Christmas I got my last charm to fill it (a gorgeous little queen bee with a gold crown from my brother and his wife). If you haven't heard of these bracelets, you MUST check out the Pandora website. I have a mixture of gold and silver charms on my bracelet (that's why it took three years to fill...the gold charms are solid and pretty expensive!!!) All the people closest to me have bought me a charm for my bracelet, so each one has special meaning.

Cushions, Work and Ikea...

2008-02-19T19:33:00.004+09:00

Last night I had the urge to sew and since I just don't have enough cushion covers, I decided to add to my collection!!! I thought I'd try a patchwork style using Anna Maria's Bohemian fabric for the first one. I'm pleased with the way it turned out, since patchworking is very new to me.

And tonight, I've just finished making the second one using the same fabrics, but a different style.

I'm off to work with Glenn tomorrow for the day (and every Wednesday after that for a few months), helping them with some bookwork until their new office girl starts. It's been eight years since I was in the workforce and I'm NERVOUS to say the least!!! I'm wondering whether I can wake up in the morning and fake a sickie on my first day, or stomp my feet and throw a tantrum until Glenn gives in and tells me I don't have to go. I'll be ok, right???

So I'm not excited about going to work tomorrow, but I'm REALLY EXCITED about Friday 'cause some of my girlfriends and I are going to our new Ikea store that opened last week. Apparently it's five or six times bigger and better than the old one. And we all said when it opens, we'd make a day of it together. And Friday's the day!!! I can't wait!!!

Afternoon Tea...

2008-02-18T14:29:00.005+09:00

I've just made some afternoon tea for the kids today and thought I'd post the recipe. It's super-quick and easy (I think that should become my motto!!!).

Quick Anzac Slice

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted
125gm butter
2 Tbspns golden syrup

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line an 18cm x 28cm slice pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, sugar, coconut and flours. Mix well.
3. Heat butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan on low until butter has melted and mixture is well combined.
4. Make a well in centre of dry ingredients. Add butter mixture and mix well.
5. Press firmly into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Cool in pan, then cut into squares to serve.

Yum Yum!!!

Three Cheers for Girlfriends...(especially crafty ones)

2008-02-15T17:58:00.010+09:00

On Wednesday night, our craft group met at my house. I love handsewing but haven't done much of it so decided to try out some embroidery. I did this little design on paper the other night when I was messing around so I thought I'd attempt to transfer it to fabric. It still needs some little leaves added and a few other bits and pieces, then I'm thinking of attaching it to the front of a cushion cover for Chloe.

On Thursday, I went to Bed, Bath & Table to get some easter decorations. I don't usually decorate for easter, but this year I've decided to begin the tradition. BB & T have the MOST gorgeous easter decorations at amazingly cheap prices. These handpainted eggs are the tiniest little things and they come in a gorgeous minature wooden box. I loved them so much, I bought four boxes of them (only $2.95 a box). They're the sweetest!!!

And these handpainted eggs below were only $4.95 per box. At this price, I'm going to give them to the kids to give to their friends at school for easter with a little chocolate egg.

Just look at these little wooden boxes....I can't wait to use them for something else. I've put all the tiny eggs into a martini glass and displayed them on my hallstand near the front door. And these little butterflies are made from tin and they have a plastic sticky dot on the back of them. I thought they'd be sweet to stick on some white card and use for birthday cards.

And here's the 'Staple & Sew' girls on Wednesday night (there's five of us). We were doing a mixture of handsewing, pin-up board covering, cushion making and appliqueing. It's lovely to break the week up by getting together in the evening mid-week. And we have such a laugh....there really is nothing like a good bonding session with girlfriends. Thanks girls!!!

Recipe Sorting...

2008-02-13T13:07:00.006+09:00

Here's where my free time was spent on Monday and Tuesday.....sorting out my recipe files.

They were in such a mess, with loose recipes stuffed into the files everywhere. The old files were looking really scrappy and dirty so I bought two new files, some dividers and plastic sleaves and got cutting and glueing. I have a 'Sweets' file and a 'Savoury' file and this time I also made one more smaller file with weeknight dinner recipes in it (forgot to photograph this one).

The weeknight recipe file is working really well. I've only put dinner recipes in there that I know my kids enjoy and that are healthy and fairly quick to make. So now there's no more searching through dozens of recipe books and files to find that perfect dinner.

Tonight I've got some girlfriends coming over for our monthly craft group called 'Staple & Sew'!!! I'll try to remember to take a few photos tonight.

And lastly, some Amy Butler fabric I bought from Reprodepot....how cheap is that place!!! I LOVE this fabric. I'm thinking of using the blue to cover a huge blank canvas I bought for our bedroom. We've got a bit of pale blue, beige and white colour scheme in there so I think this will work nicely.

This Is...Sunday Lunch

2008-02-11T17:27:00.000+09:00

This weeks topic is Sunday Lunch. As you can see from the photos, our lunch consisted of peanut butter toast and cupcakes!!! Glenn was working all day Sunday, so we had an easy lunch. And the kid's choice was toast with peanut butter. It smelled so good, I had some too. We baked the cupcakes in the morning so they were sweets after lunch.

We don't usually do anything special for Sunday lunch, more often than not it's leftovers from Saturday night dinner. Last Sunday's lunch was homemade hamburgers, leftover from dinner with family on Saturday night.

There are some delicious looking lunches out there...makes me feel the need to make more effort on our Sunday lunches. You can check out other lunches at Three Buttons.

Tagged...

2008-02-09T22:22:00.000+09:00

I've been tagged by the lovely Zoesquid.

The rules of the game are:-

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let's get started then.....

1. I love Peanut M & M's. And when I eat them, I have to sort them from smallest to biggest and this is the order in which I eat them. If I'm at the computer, I lay them out on the desk to sort them, but if I'm eating them while watching tv, I rest them on my tummy to sort them (obviously we're not talking a whole packet, I grab a handful at a time....sort, eat and then go for another handful and so on).

2. One of my favourite night time snacks is very thinly sliced apple with a very thinly shaved piece of cheddar cheese on top. Mmmmmmmmm...this is beginning to sound like '7 random food facts'!!!

3. I am a 'list' girl. I LOVE LISTS!!! I write a list for anything and everything. As soon as I have a task to do, trip to pack for, etc. the first thing I do is write a list. In fact, I've even written a list now with my seven random/weird facts. And I didn't even realise I'd done it until typing this now!!!

4. I'm very stubborn!!! I don't like to be told what to do or how to do it. I've been like this for as long as I can remember. If I want to know how to do something, I'll ask and am happy to be told...but only if I ask!!! And the payback is that my daughter, Chloe is exactly the same...gee, I can't wait 'till she's older!!!

5. I have a real obsession with correct spelling. Whenever I read something...anything, I spellcheck it. I can't help it. And I get so much satisfaction from finding spelling errors in professional publications like magazines. What a sad life I lead!!! Of course, I know I make mistakes in my posts so please don't think that I think I'm perfect, it's just a weird thing I do.

6. When I was nine years old, we lived in a VERY SMALL country town in Western Australia called Roebourne. There was a really awful cyclone that went through the town that we were caught in. It caused some horrific damage to the town, major flooding, houses destroyed, trees uprooted etc. And the name of the cyclone was Cyclone Chloe. Many, many years later our daughter was born and we named her Chloe. The funny thing is, it wasn't until a few years after she was born that I suddenly remembered that the cylcone we were in was called Cyclone Chloe.

ummmmmm, I'm stuck on the last one....

7. When I went to business college a long time ago, I typed at a speed of over 100 words per minute with 99% accuracy. That's about as fast as people speak. I think my speed may have dropped considerably by now. Can you tell I was sitting here looking at the keyboard trying to think of my last random fact....then voila...how about my typing speed!!!

I'm not going to tag anyone because I think most of my favourite bloggers have seen it, but if not and you'd like to complete it, consider yourself tagged!!!

All Glammed Up...

2008-02-08T19:21:00.000+09:00

So I was sitting out the front early this evening having a glass of wine, watching the kids playing at the park and commenting to myself on the unusual amount of traffic circling our park. Then gradually the park turned from this...

to this...

It was a school ball / prom for one of our local private schools. Very exciting stuff for my little seven and five year olds to watch!!! There was a rainbow of beautiful coloured dresses that the girls were wearing. They all looked stunning and they were having a wonderful time. My kids were so excited to watch all the limos roll up. This is the first limo...a Ford Territory, then there was a Hummer (very cool...) and two black Chryslers. I couldn't take any more photos because I was starting to look like a bit of a stalker....you know....weird neighbour taking photos of young adults all glammed up...

I couldn't help but reminisce about my own Year 12 ball...was it really eighteen years ago??? Surely not??? Seems like only yesterday. And I was thinking about these young adults heading off to have the night of their lives...will it turn out to be all they dreamed of??? I hope so!!!

'This Is...My Collection'

2008-02-04T16:32:00.000+09:00

This Is...My Collection.

I love cake stands. And it appears that I have a small collection of them. It all started with the plain white one that I bought for myself. Once I discovered how a cake stand can turn a very ordinary looking cake/dessert into something rather special (especially with a dusting of icing sugar), I was hooked. The glass flower shaped cake stand was a gift from my sister-in-law and it came with a lovely glass dome. The pale pink one was a housewarming gift from a friend. I used this one at our Christmas Cocktail Party last year to display lots of sweet treats like nougat, white chocolate & cranberry rocky road and bite sized meringues. It looked gorgeous. And lastly, the green floral cake stand was a gift from my mum and my sister. They also bought me a beautiful teapot and teacups and saucers to go with it.

The next cake stand on my list to acquire is one of those small little ones. Perfect for afternoon tea with one or two people, to hold a few pieces of slice or cake.

We survived (or should I say...I survived!!!) the first day of school. Chloe is very happy in her class (she's in a year three/four split...she's a year three) and Will was very happy in pre-primary. He has a lovely teacher. As we dropped the kids off at pre-primary this morning, she gave all the mums a sweet little handmade pink envelope containing two teabags, a heart chocolate and a lovely poem about leaving our children in her care and she'll look after them as if they were her own and that we should relax with a cup of tea and before we know, it will be pick up time...such a sweet thing. I almost cried reading it, but I was strong!!! I had a coffee with some girlfriends who had also dropped all their little ones off, so we got chatting and forgot about the sadness of it all.

And here they are on Day 1...

Could Will's bag be any bigger???

You Make My Day...

2008-02-03T12:30:00.000+09:00

You Make My Day

The lovely Kate nominated me for the 'You Make My Day' Award!

The Purpose of this Award is as follows:-

'Give the award to 10 people whose blog brings you happiness and inspiration and makes you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware, you may get this award several times'.

These are all blogs that I love to read weekly and they keep me inspired to create. So I think they're more than deserving of the "You Make My Day" award.

And here they are...

1. Two Little Banshees (right back at ya' Kate!!!)

2. Lottielulu

3. Missy Muh

4. Whatever

5. Day to Day

6. Three Buttons

7. Tree Fall Design

8. Ric Rac

9. I Love Milk and Cookies

10. Thornberry

Thanks again Kate for nominating me. So sweet of you.

Mixed Feelings...

2008-02-01T21:43:00.000+09:00

My little boy starts full-time school on Monday. I really thought I would be excited at the thought of having FIVE full days all to myself. And I certainly know that when the kids were younger, I would give anything to have even one day. But things are different now.

I think when your kids are that bit older they become more of a companion for you. I'm so used to always having this little shadow with me. Of always having another little person to consider when planning activities and places to visit during the day. Where ever we went, I made sure it was child-friendly and that it wasn't going to be somewhere that Will wouldn't enjoy or where I would have to discipline him for being too noisy or wanting to run around and do what little boys do. And now, it's just me. I can go where I want to go and do what I want to do. But strangely enough, I'm not at all excited about it. What I wanted so much, I don't want anymore. I just want my little companion.

And then there's the feelings of justification. Now that both the kids are at school everyday, what will I do with my time. Will I feel the need to constantly 'show' what I did with my time..... "Look darling, I did three loads of washing, a basket full of ironing, polished the floors and baked a cake all in one day"!!! And I should clarify at this point, that Glenn is definitely not the type to make me feel like I should be justifying myself....but I do know what I'm like and I know I will feel the need to. So do I get a job that will let me start work after school drop off, leave in time for school pick up, give me time off when the kids are sick, give me time off to do classroom roster, give me time off to do canteen roster, give me school holidays off??? Is there such a job???

Those are my thoughts that are swamping me at the moment, so I'm keen to get that first day of school over with so I can deal with it and learn how to move on.

Pillowcase Dress...

2008-01-31T17:10:00.001+09:00

I made an attempt at the Pillowcase Dress that's done the rounds in blogland (I can't remember which tutorial I ended up using....there's quite a few out there). I didn't have a pillowcase to cut up so I used fabric in the same way.

I think it turned out really sweet...probably looks more like a nighty though. I had a bit of trouble with the arm holes when I was making the casing for the ribbon ties, but overall it's a simple and quick sewing project (particularly if you use a pillowcase).

New Look...

2008-01-30T14:49:00.000+09:00

As you can see, I've been playing around with my blog today. I finally figured out how to put my own photo up in the title...not hard really. These were another couple of shots I took for the header photo, but they didn't quite make the cut!!!

And here is Chloe's chair bag in the blue cherry fabric. I didn't have the right sized chair to hang it over so it's a bit hard to get the idea, but basically you're looking at the part that hangs at the back of the chair with a pocket to keep their things in and on the other side is a pocket to hang it over their chair. The kids keep all their work books in the pocket and in Chloe's case, lots and lots of teeny tiny cut up pieces of lace from the art and craft room, a really dirty old ruler, pebbles from around the school.... She takes after her dad...she's a hoarder, she literally can't throw anything away (I haven't worked out yet if this is a good or bad thing???).

Will's library bag is just as he ordered....pirates!!!

Holiday Snaps...

2008-01-29T16:46:00.001+09:00

We had a fantastic time in Dunsborough over the long weekend. The weather was perfect. We spent time at the beach, had lunch at a winery, played boardgames, drank champagne with friends and relaxed...just how a holiday should be. I love this photo of Chloe at the winery sucking on a lollypop!!!

...a bit more scenery from the winery. It was a gorgeous setting. Unfortunately the food let them down a bit.

Glenn and Will had fun at the beach together building sandcastles and trenches. The beach was a minutes walk from our house and the water was only knee deep for a long way out so the little kids could splash and play around by themselves without us worrying about them going out too deep.

And now it's back to reality and it already feels like we haven't been away. The kids are back to school next Monday so today we've spent the day buying last minute school supplies, labelling, labelling and more labelling and sewing up library bags and chair bags....pictures of these tomorrow (oooohhhh how exciting....bet you can't wait to see them!!!).

'This Is....What Scares Me'

2008-01-28T17:49:00.000+09:00

This is an easy one for me this week.

What scares me is......flying!!!

In fact, it more than scares me....we're talking major fear. I try not to let it stop me travelling and am hoping the more I fly, the more I'll get over my fear, but so far it hasn't happened. Before I can hop on a plane, I HAVE to have a couple of glasses of wine to help calm me down and it does help a bit. But of course now with little children, I can't completely wipe myself out. And I'm also very conscious of not passing my fear onto them, so I have to hide it from them which can be very difficult.

And it looks like Three Buttons can relate well to what scares me!!! I'm curious to see how many others have our same fear. I think it's pretty common.

We're back from our long weekend by the beach and it was fantastic. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

And lastly, a closeup photo of some of our Frangipani flowers.....my favourites!!!

Self Portraits....and Summer Holidays...

2008-01-25T08:24:00.000+09:00

Will and I were messing around the other night taking some self portraits. And now looking at these, I just can't believe how much he DOESN'T look like me. I mean, seriously, could we be any more opposite??? And in fact, Chloe looks a lot like her dad too. Do I feel just a tad ripped off.....since I was the one that carried each of them for ten months, gave birth to them, ruined my body all for the love of them!!! No, I'm not upset in any way!!!

Anyway, I'm signing off for a few days...we're heading down South for the long weekend until Monday. I will hold off doing my "This is..." post until then (the title this week is "This is...what scares me". And I know EXACTLY what I'm doing for this one...no thinking required)!!!

Have a lovely Australia Day weekend!!!

Experimentation!!!

2008-01-22T20:01:00.001+09:00

Last night I covered my second cork board to go in my sewing room (this one's a bit bigger...from Ikea). I've hung it near my cutting table so I can pin my sewing instructions, measurements etc. to it when I'm working, as well as other bits and pieces. I think it will be very useful.

I've been experimenting these last few days after coming up with an idea to make a child's apron that they can use when setting the dinner table for mum or dad. The idea developed as an extension of the craft aprons I made for my kids a few days ago.

I thought that a little apron for kids to wear, with three labelled pockets for knives, forks and spoons would be a great way to get them involved and more importantly, excited about helping with an everyday job like table setting. They can use the three pockets to sort the cutlery and then take it to the table and set it. And who knows, it could even earn them some pocket money if they're lucky!!!

I've made these ones using quilting fabric, with a linen pocket and twill tape ties. The knife, fork and spoon design have been machine stitched.

So what do you think??? Or have I totally just stolen someone elses idea???

Sweet Treats...

2008-01-21T17:56:00.000+09:00

Look at my delicious purchases from Spotlight today. The fabric is all quilting fabric and it was all on sale!!! The green spotty one actually has tiny little red lady birds on it. The red one with the black pirates on it is for Will's library bag (his choice!!!). And the others are all for various different projects.

I also bought the green wire basket today too and it was also on sale (so of course, that justifies everything!!!). The basket is beautiful and it is now sitting on my shelf holding all of my twill tape, ribbons, ric rac etc.

This is my favourite cup...

2008-01-20T17:21:00.000+09:00

I decided to join in the fun with the meme over at Three Buttons.

Today's post is 'My Favourite Cup'.

My favourite cup is this one that I bought for myself about a year ago. I love to drink my tea and coffee in a large mug and it has to be SUPER HOT!!! First thing in the morning I love to sit down with a cup of tea in my sewing room and check my favourite blogs while the kids are happy playing (usually!!!). Of course, once the school holidays are over, this ritual will be over....so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Our standard hibiscus' are looking gorgeous this summer (their first summer) so I thought I'd share them with you.

Nothing to report on the crafting front today, but I do have something in the making that I will hopefully share soon.

Craft Aprons...

2008-01-18T08:24:00.001+09:00

Well, as expected, yesterday was a stinking hot day so we spent most of it inside in the air-conditioning. In the morning, I made the kids some little craft aprons. Then we baked a couple of slices to share with friends who came over in the afternoon for a swim.

Chloe wanted her apron to hold little notebooks and pens and Will wanted his to hold large A4 pieces of paper and pens/pencils (he's always got to push the boundaries and make things just that bit difficult for me!!!). I had to explain to him that because he's only a little boy, an A4 piece of paper will be too big to go in his apron and will end up wrapping half way around his body. He didn't care, so neither did I!!!

These are the end results. They were a bit of an experiment because I've never made them before and didn't have a pattern. So since I'm still a beginner to the sewing thing, I'm quite proud of myself for cutting out a rectangle, hemming it and attaching a couple of pockets and ties....pretty difficult stuff!!! I like the whole concept of a craft apron and I think they'd make lovely gifts (particularly for little girls) so I'm going to try another one with a few extra fancy bits and pieces.

We're off to Karrinyup Shopping Centre this morning for a trip out. I haven't taken the kids to the shops all holidays (except a couple of times before Christmas). We're taking their cousin Cayley with us too. They'll be lots of window shopping, playing in the toy shop and coffee, pumpkin and date muffins, iced chocolates and chocolate cherry slice!!!

Have a lovely day.

Randomness...

2008-01-16T17:57:00.001+09:00

Chloe went to a school friend's house today for a play and my sister had Will for a few hours so I was FREE!!! I spent my morning indulging in a late breakfast, reading a magazine (from cover to cover!!!) and sewing with no interruptions!!!

I made a door stop for our laundry door. My friend gave me a template for the pyramid style doorstop. It was really quick and easy and very addictive. Unfortunately we don't have any other doors that need a door stop, but I just can't stop at making one....help me!!!

We had a stinker of a day today...I think it reached 36 or 37 degrees (and tomorrow will be 39) so I made the kids some spiders. For some reason, I've never made these for them before, despite me having them as a child frequently. Anyway, they went down well with Chloe but Will wasn't to keen on them. You can sort of tell by the expression on his face in the photo.

And lastly, this afternoon, in between making dinner (for some crazy reason, I seem to be most productive during this time) I made a messenger/pin-up board to keep above our phone in the kitchen. It will hold all manner of things, particularly party invitations, pens, vouchers, school notices etc. I've so desperately needed something like this (we have a new stainless steel fridge that I'm trying not to put anything on) so here it is. I sort of took the cheats way out a bit. I bought a $5.00 cork board from Bunnings that has the timber frame around it. Then I covered it with fabric and staple-gunned it tightly at the back (Emily, I'm loving the staple gun!!!). I decided it needed a pocket to slot extras into, so I hemmed a bit of fabric top and bottom, glue-gunned the bottom edge of the pocket along the bottom frame of the board, then staple-gunned the sides tightly at the back. Voila!!! Now I just have to sweet talk Glenn into putting a hook on it and hanging it for me. I'm a bit of an organisation freak so to have a special place for all those annoying bits of paper, pens etc. that seem to lay around all over my kitchen bench, is VERY exciting!!! I'm thinking of making one more of these boards to go in my sewing room, to pin favourite little fabric scraps to (if I'm really in love with a particular type of fabric, I can't just toss those scraps into my fabric scrap basket, it gets kept to one side in a 'special' spot...and now that spot can be pinned to a board....now I'm probably starting to sound weird???). And then I can also pin any other little bits of inspiration to it. Very handy I think!!!

Playing and Bunting...

2008-01-15T13:16:00.000+09:00

We had a lovely morning with my mum this morning. We took my kids and my sister's daughter to Heathcote Park, South of the River. It's a gorgeous playground set up very high that overlooks the river. After the kids had a play, we walked down to the rivers edge to collect shells and inspect jellyfish (mostly washed up ones). Then we had an icecream and headed home. Silly me forgot my camera, so all the photos are on mum's camera. It was a great morning and the best part is, once you get home the kids are usually happy to amuse themselves for a while.

I've been promising to make some bunting for my friend's two little girls for a while now. But the thought of cutting out all those triangles was putting me off. Soooooooooooo, yesterday afternoon, in between dinner preparations, I decided to make a start on it. I had all the triangles cut out within the hour. Then after dinner, Glenn took the kids across the road to the park to play cricket, so I was able to sew the bunting together (that took about half an hour all up). And soooooooooooo, 'Tah Dah'....we now have finished bunting. Sometimes I don't know why I spend so much time procrastinating about things. Once you get started, it's usually not as bad/difficult/time consuming as you think.....USUALLY!!! The bunting photos are not the best....it's very tricky to photograph (and I'm a BAD photographer). But I think you can get the idea.

Hope you're having a happy day.

Don't ya' Just LOVE a New Bag!!!

2008-01-14T15:52:00.001+09:00

Last night I cut into some more Heather Bailey fabric to finally make MYSELF a bag. I always seem to be making them for everyone else...so it was my turn. And I was sort of experimenting with a few 'new to me' techniques, so I wouldn't want to pass that on to anyone else in case it didn't work. As it turns out though, the bag was a success. I used the same pattern from 'Last-Minute Fabric Gifts', but I tried lining it with interfacing to stiffen it a bit. I also lined the straps too and did some extra rows of stitching on the straps to make them stronger. The only problem I've had, is the interfacing doesn't seem to have stuck to the fabric properly in a few areas. There are a few lumpy spots. I've never used interfacing for bags before so it's completely new to me. Perhaps I've used the wrong thing? Does anyone have any suggestions or a better type of interfacing to use?

I've had a very productive 'home' day today. It's amazing how good you feel after getting stuck into some dreaded housework and washing (it's just the getting started bit that I have trouble with). This morning was spent cleaning the house, followed by a quick trip to Coles for some groceries. Then this afternoon I've done three loads of washing and made dessert for tonight. I made an English recipe (I'm assuming.....well, it came from an English lady anyway!!!) called Syllabub??? No idea how to spell it but it tastes amazing. But then, I am a sucker for anything citrussy. It's basically made up of lemon and orange rind and juice, a little caster sugar and a tub of double thick cream, all poured over some sponge finger biscuits and left to set in the fridge. Yum, Yum, Yum!!!

Check These Out!!!

2008-01-11T08:18:00.001+09:00

A quick photo-free post today to let you know I've added a few new blogs to my list of 'Blogs I Love To Read'.

Tree Fall Design has some fabulous, beautifully made goodies.

I Love Milk and Cookies is obviously all about food. There are some great recipes and fantastic photography.

Of Paper and Thread is a lovely WA (Bunbury) based blog. Lots of beautiful handmade things.

And lastly, Elemental Stitches is a GREAT blog for tutorials. There's so many on her blog, from making children's clothes to housey bits and pieces. Megan, you'll love this one.

So just in case you had absolutely nothing to do over the weekend, this should keep you busy for a while. Enjoy!!!

'My List of Stuff I Did'...

2008-01-10T19:19:00.000+09:00

I was struggling for a title for today's post so who better to ask than a seven year old!!! And of course, her suggestion was...'My List of Stuff I Did'!!!

1. My sister and I swapped kids for the night last night...I had her boy, Conor (eight years old...sleeping over with Will) and Chloe slept at my sisters house with her eleven year old girl, Cayley. It's a lovely swap where the brothers and sisters get a break from each other. We often do this in the school holidays. This morning, the boys and I decided to bake a chocolate cake. I had to search lots of recipe books for a recipe. I suddenly realised how I get so caught up with cooking the 'fancy food', that I seemed to have forgotten about the everyday goodies. Soooooooo, we found the perfect recipe and got to work. With a bit of icing and sprinkles, it turned out delicious.

2. My lovely cousin Carolyn (who was one of my bridesmaids when I was married twelve years ago) had her first baby just before Christmas...a little girl called Madison Sienna. I can't wait to meet her tomorrow. So last night I embellished a couple of plain singlets with some cuteness to go with a few other gifts I bought for her baby a while ago. And I couldn't help but feel some yearning for when Chloe and Will were small, delicate little babies. How life changes so quickly. But the cruel irony is that when you're stuck in the middle of a baby keeping you up all night, rarely sleeping during the day, demanding your attention every minute, you feel as though it's NEVER going to end!!! But it does!!! And although I wouldn't wish those sleepness nights back again, I would do anything to cuddle my own helpless, beautiful, little baby again. Oooooohhhhh, am I sounding just a bit clucky???

3. And finally, a spunky hairdo I did in no more than three minutes today for Chloe with our new Trash Ties (it's the really long Trash Tie). As I've said before, they're great!!! Chloe has picked this hairstyle as the winner for her first day back to school this year!

Hope you all got through 'Your List of Stuff You Did' today too!!!

My 'BLOB' called Blossom...

2008-01-08T19:21:00.000+09:00

Aren't little kids adorable with the way they interpret things. This afternoon, I set the kids up with some flat little wooden popstick style people for them to decorate with fabric, textas etc. Will decided he wanted to take it a step further and make a bed for his wooden doll (actually, it originally started out as a skateboard, then he changed his mind and made it a bed). He asked me to make a tiny little pillow for it. When they had both finished decorating, Will asked me if I was going to write about it on my....."B-L-O-B". I love it when they misinterpret things. I always ask them to repeat themselves, just so I can have an extra giggle to myself. Yep, I was right the first time....he called my blog, a blob!!! So cute.

I took the kids to Spotlight this morning (of course, it was for very selfish reasons....I had a Christmas voucher to spend!!!). I told the kids they could choose a little craft each to do. That's where the wooden popstick people came from. I decided I wanted to spend my voucher on a cutting mat and a rotary cutter so I can learn how to make quilts. Of course, I spent three times the amount of my voucher, but I'm certainly very well set up now. Spotlight had a clearance table for all their quilting fabrics and they were marked down to $3.00 per metre. I found this gorgeous aqua and floral fabric that had originally been $18.95 per metre....BARGAIN!!! I've already used most of it making another table runner, a small coffee table mat, a cushion and a little drink coaster. I wish I'd bought more, but the kids were worn out by the time I reached the fabric aisle. And really, I'd spent enough!!!

Table Runner

2008-01-06T14:49:00.000+09:00

I ordered some of Anna Maria's 'Bohemian' fabric and received it on Friday. I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for. I love that each of her designs incorporates so many colours.

Then it hit me...the perfect use for the fabric where I can look at it and admire it every day. I decided to make a table runner for our meals table. I love how it turned out. I used a plain linen for the middle piece and all the others are from the Bohemian range. I bought the fabric on sale from Quilt Fabric Delights. I might just have to order a bit more.

New Beginnings...

2008-01-05T17:25:00.001+09:00

I can't believe two weeks holiday is over already and we're at the beginning of a fresh new year. I love the feeling of beginnings and all that lies ahead. We had a lovely family Christmas. Here are the kids on Christmas morning looking bright as buttons despite their VERY EARLY wake up time!!!

One of my favourite Christmas presents was Last-Minute Fabric Gifts by Cynthia Treen. It's a lovely book with some beautiful and inspiring sewing projects to make. I made the Twig-Handle Tote, but adapted it to suit fabric handles (although I am going to buy some wood handles to try out too). It's such a simple pattern and I had each bag made in no more than an hour. The first one I made using a lovely aqua and fushia floral fabric from Spotlight. It's a very heavy-weight fabric so it holds it's shape really well. The other bag was made using Heather Bailey's Freshcut fabric which I'm in love with at the moment. I'm going to try the bag again, using some sort of batting/wadding inside to stiffen it. Speaking of Heather Bailey, we received some of her Trash Ties the other day and they're fantastic. So much fun to use with endless hairstyles to try.

While Glenn has been on holidays, we've planted our vegetable/herb garden. Although we're on a fairly small block, we have the perfect garden bed for vegies and herbs. It gets almost full sun and it's a great size. All we have to do now is keep our rabbit, Roxy away from the lettuce!!! We've only had it planted for a week but already our beans and peas are shooting and everything is looking great. Very exciting!!!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

2007-12-24T09:52:00.000+09:00

Just a quick note to wish you all a lovely Christmas. Glenn is on holidays for a couple of weeks so I'm going to sign off for a few weeks to spend time with family and friends.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Beautiful Art...

2007-12-18T16:11:00.001+09:00

Finally, we picked up our painting for the family room the other day. And here it is on the wall.

I also picked up some beautiful photos that we had taken of the kids a few months ago. They look lovely in these beachy, white frames. Gradually, the house is coming together the way I was hoping it would.

Nothing to report on the crafty front today. Although I am in the process of making another crochet garland for the tree....I'm loving this crochet thing...it's so relaxing. I find I can't sit and watch tv unless I'm doing something with my hands, so crochet is the perfect thing. And anyway, tv is rubbish at the moment.

Childhood Memories...

2007-12-17T08:34:00.000+09:00

And finally, I've finished the last of the three skirt and top sets. So now I can get wrapping and put them under the tree.

I've been teaching myself to crochet recently (I have lovely childhood memories, sitting with my dear Nana as she PATIENTLY taught me how to crochet....the first project I can remember making is a doll's carrier with a blanket for the little doll. We used the base of a plastic cordial bottle, then crocheted a drawstring style bag that the plastic base sat in and you could turn the top of the bag down at the sides so you could access the inside. And inside was a tiny little mattress, a tiny little doll and a tiny little blanket.....crocheted by me!!! And once you'd finished playing with it, you rolled the sides of the bag back up, pulled on the drawstring, slung it over your wrist and off you went to play, with your little doll close by. I wish I had a photo to show you, but unfortunately as a teenager, I didn't think I would ever play with something like that again so I must have got rid of it. It makes me angry to think that I would have got rid of something so precious. Chloe would have loved to have had a chance to play with it and admire it.) But thankfully, I do still have lots of my nana's other knitting and crochet work.

So with my very faint crochet skills, I have recently been re-teaching myself to crochet. I made a VERY SIMPLE garland for the Christmas Tree. It's just a chain with little dangly bits all the way along (I'm sure there's some very technical name for the 'chain' and the 'dangly bits'). I like the way it's turned out, in all it's simplicity and uneven crochet stitches.

Totes...

2007-12-10T19:01:00.001+09:00

I managed to find a spare hour this afternoon after picking Chloe up from school and before getting dinner ready, so I sewed up the tote bag for Chloe's teacher.

She's due to have a baby early next year so we thought we'd go with bright colours on the bag, for the baby to look at.

Finally got most of my Christmas shopping done today so that's one thing I can tick of my list.

Christmas Festivities....

2007-12-09T19:15:00.000+09:00

The weekend is almost at a close and I have to say, I couldn't be happier!!! It's been way too busy for my liking.

On Saturday night, we took the kids in to the city to see the Christmas Pageant. Glenn, myself and the kids stayed overnight in a hotel close by so we could just wander down there and wander home again when it was all over. My sister and her family met us at the hotel and we all walked to the Pageant together at about 5.30pm to secure our front row spot...very important!!! They close the roads at 6.30pm so the kids could mess around on the road while waiting for the pageant to start. The lady next to us took some pavement chalk so the kids played hopscotch and drew portraits of each other. The pageant started at 8.30pm and finished about 9.30pm. The kids had a ball...it's such a fun night for them...and us!!!

Here are some pictures of my boy, Will and his cousin Conor (Will is the blondie) and Chloe (in the mauve jacket) and her cousin Cayley at the Christmas Pageant.

No sewing, crafting etc. to report of this weekend....but I must make a bag for Chloe's teacher that she has on Thursdays, so I'll post about that when it's done.

Thanks Dad!!!

2007-12-05T15:31:00.001+09:00

Just a quick post today....some time ago, we were given a lovely old meat safe from my Great Aunty. It was beautiful but in need of some serious restoration work. I started to sand it back and realised it was covered in LOTS of coats of paint. I was talking to my dad about it one day (well, probably more like complaining) and he offered to restore it completely for me. Of course, I accepted his offer and only a couple of weeks later, here it is looking way better and more beautiful than I ever thought it would. And having said that, if I was restoring it myself, there is no way I could have got it looking this good. Right down to the original latches, dad has cleaned and scrubbed and sanded and painted and here is the end result. I LOVE IT!!! I'm still fiddling around with ornaments etc. to decorate it, but I'm happy with it like this for now. The outside is painted a semi-gloss off-white and for the inside I chose a very pale mint green. Have I already said how much I LOVE IT??? Well, I LOVE IT!!! Thanks so much dad.

This afternoon I made a couple of little things for Will's teachers at kindy. We've all put in money to buy them vouchers for a day spa, but I still like to do something else just from us. So, we've made tissue huggers and little Christmas decorations. Cute!!!

The Kitty Cat has a Moustache...

2007-12-04T19:34:00.000+09:00

Oh my goodness...I've just checked my last blog entry and have realised that I've made a cute little kitty cat for Chloe that has a MOUSTACHE!!! I think I've sewn the 'whiskers' too close to the mouth/nose and now it looks like it has some serious facial hair!!! Woooooooooopppppsssss.

Luckily the little princess hasn't realised my mistake.....

'Tis the Season...

2007-12-03T17:41:00.000+09:00

The tree is up, decoration making is in full swing....yep, Christmas is almost here. The kids have been niggling each other (to put it lightly!!!) for the past few days so a craft was in order this afternoon to distract them. Of course, even that started in an argument, but once they got into it, we had some peace and quiet. The result is the paper chain hanging on the Christmas tree. These are such a simple decoration that are easy for the kids to make without adult supervision and they really do look great.

The kids have been nagging me to make some little soft toys for them over the weekend....nothing too complicated for Will....just a TRUCK and a REINDEER. I think he's forgotten that I'm a BEGINNER to sewing. I got away with making a very small felt truck, but the reindeer gave me some grief this afternoon. Will had it in his mind exactly how he wanted me to make it, so instead of me forcing my opinions, I decided to make it as he wanted and it turned out ok. He's happy so that's what's important. And the cute thing is, whatever I make, the kids think it's wonderful and they want to take it to school straight away to show for news!!! Ummmmmmmmmm, I may have to do some explaining to the teacher about all these weird creations.

And for Chloe, I made a little kitty (based on the miny moopy design that has been floating around blog-land). It turned out pretty cute for a first attempt. I made it last night just before she went to bed so I let her choose all the fabrics, then told her I MIGHT get started on it when she's in bed. I actually finished it and put it at her bedroom door so she could find it when she woke up. She loved it.....so I'm happy!!!

Alfresco Dining...

2007-11-28T16:41:00.001+09:00

Well, we had a lovely weekend and the wedding was beautiful. Of course the bride looked gorgeous, the reception was great, the food was great and there was lots of dancing afterwards so I was happy!!! And it was lovely to spend a WHOLE day with Glenn on Monday (minus children). It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have to get kids in and out of the car. And we were in and out of the car a lot!!! We were on the hunt for furniture for our alfresco area. We visited every outdoor furniture shop in all of Perth (well, nearly) and finally ended up finding what we loved at Big W of all places. It's the 'Patio' range of furniture by Jamie Durie. We got a six seater meals setting and two large day beds...they're my favourite. Glenn brought it all home last night and set it up for me....he's a sweetie. And I LOVE IT!!! Please excuse the plastic pots for the plants as I haven't potted them up yet, but you can get the general idea. There will be lots of tropical style plants around, a few coffee tables, maybe some wall art, some candles and that should just about do it.

Do I really need more cushions?

2007-11-25T09:39:00.000+09:00

Last night I stayed up way past my bedtime to make some cushion covers for the living area (I know, I know...those that know me are probably thinking, how many more times can she change her cushions!!!) I like to call it 'experimenting with colour'. I won some fabric scraps from Ingrid at Lottielulu a few weeks ago. The orangey-yellow flower fabric was from Ingrid and the pale green spot fabric is from Spotlight. The fabric on the back of the cushions is also from Ingrid. I love the cheery, sunny look of these cushions.

We broke with tradition last night (our tradition...) and put the Christmas tree up early. I usually like to do it on 1st December, but I bought and made some new decorations this year and couldn't wait to see them on the tree. Now that Will is older and less inclined to pull, poke and prod the decorations, I thought we could scrap some of our old and very well worn ones and go with some newys. I'll post a photo of the tree soon.

Must leave it there for now, I need to drop the kids off at mum and dad's. Then Glenn and I have twenty four hours of childfree time together....very rare and much appreciated. Thanks mum and dad!!!!!!!

Art...

2007-11-23T12:36:00.002+09:00

I don't have much to show by way of my creations at the moment so I thought I'd show you the painting I was talking about the other day. My mum's friend is an Artist and this is one of her paintings. As soon as I saw it I loved it and new it would be perfect in our house. So here are a couple of photos of the painting in our entrance. Sorry again for the bad photos...photography is definitely not one of my strong points.

We have a wedding to go to on Sunday at The Vines and Glenn and I are staying at the resort overnight which I'm looking forward to. I don't know the bridal couple very well (in fact, I've never met the bride) so it will feel a bit strange to be sharing such an intimate day with them, but I'm sure it'll be lovely. ALL weddings are lovely!!!

Bye for now and have a great weekend...

Mmmmmmm Lemon Slice...and Decorations

2007-11-21T18:51:00.002+09:00

The kids and I went to my mum and dad's for afternoon tea today and mum made the most delicious (and very easy!!!) Lemon Passionfruit Slice. My kids have a definite weak spot for Lemon Slice so it went down a treat with them.

I'm sure mum won't mind if I share the recipe with you (it's not like I've tried to pass it off as my own.....I would NEVER do that!!!).

LEMON PASSIONFRUIT SLICE (mum didn't use passionfruit 'cause she didn't have any and it was still yummy)

1 cup SR flour
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup caster sugar
125gm butter, melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk
juice of 2 lemons and finely grated rind of 1 lemon
pulp of 2 passionfruit (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line the base and 2 sides of an 18 x 27cm slice pan. Combine flour, sugar and coconut, add butter and combine well. Press firmly into the pan and bake 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool slightly. Combine condensed milk, juice and rind with a whisk and pour over the base. Sprinkle with coconut and bake for a further 12-15 minutes until set. Cool in the pan and chill until needed. Cut into squares and store chilled in an airtight container.

Sorry, no photos....we ate it too quickly!!!

On a craftier note, I made some lovely simple Christmas decorations today. In the latest Better Homes & Gardens magazine they had some free wrapping paper. I used it to cut out little Christmas shapes then stitched them together so they hang in long lines. I've hung two strings of them at the front door (we have glass front doors) and they look really sweet. Here is a photo of one set (they were really hard to photograph as it was so bright). These particular ones I actually stitched to some very thin white ribbon so I could leave a gap between each one.

I'm Free...

2007-11-20T10:18:00.001+09:00

My lovely friend has taken my son, Will for a play this morning and has then offered to drop him at kindy this afternoon so I have a very unexpected, but most appreciated FREE day today!!!

So what shall I do and where should I start? I have one more of the three 'skirt and top' sets to make so I'll get that done and I'm hoping to head to a garden shop to buy a new pot. I bought a plant yesterday to go inside near the meals area and I want to plant it in a big, tall pot.

Here's a couple of photos of the second 'skirt and top' set for the eldest of the three daughters. I made this one with a contrasting hem band and the tutorial was courtesy of I Have To Say .

And one more skirt...a little ruffle skirt using the tutorial from Grand Revival Design. For a beginner like me, both of these tutorials were very easy to follow with a beautiful result.

Surely that's enough skirts for me for now.....

All that glitters...

2007-11-18T19:13:00.000+09:00

I've been inspired to make some jewellery lately. We recently purchased a beautiful piece of art from a good friend of my mum's (I will post a photo soon...) and I wanted to make her something in return. She loves jewellery, particularly in aquas and greens so I made her a lovely bracelet in those colours and a pair of matching sterling silver drop earrings. I only made them last week and at that stage had no intentions of starting my own blog, so I don't have any photos as I've already packaged them up to give to her.

But I do have a couple of photos of another very similar bracelet that I made for myself in pastel glass beads, swarovski crystals and sterling silver spacers. Not sure if the photos do it justice???

And a couple of appliqued singlets for Chloe's teacher ready to go...

More Christmas Gifts

2007-11-18T13:07:00.001+09:00

Here is a little outfit I made for my friend's five year old girl....a Bonds singlet with a flower appliqued on it and a little skirt using the most gorgeous floral fabric. I'm making two more of these sets using different style tops for the two sisters of this little girl.

These sets are so quick and simple to make and after many years of starting very lengthy quilting projects, I've finally come to the realisation that I am definitely most suited to quick sewing projects. I like to start and finish something all in the one sitting.

Next on my list of things to make are some gifts for Chloe's teacher who is leaving at the end of this year to have a baby boy. One of the mums at school is organising a basket full of goodies so I thought I'd make one or two bunny rugs/muslin wraps and some little blue Bonds singlets with appliques on them like the one above.

Well, we have some beautiful sunshine outside today that I'm going to enjoy. Hope you're having a lovely Sunday!!!

...and now some pictures

2007-11-17T16:46:00.000+09:00

...just a quick post to include some photos.

Firstly, a skirt I made for my daughter, Chloe that has sort of turned out to be a Christmas skirt.

A lined tote bag that will probably be a Christmas gift.

And finally, a picture of our very first flower on our Little Gem Magnolia tree....it smells delicious too!!!

Please excuse the layout of this post...hopefully I'll get better with time.

Hooray...My First Post

2007-11-17T14:08:00.000+09:00

Well, I've finally found the courage to start my own blog.

There will be plenty of chatter, plenty of sewing and little bits of jewellery making, home decorating, cooking and recipe sharing thrown in too (I love sharing favourite recipes for others to enjoy...and I'm always on the lookout for favourites from others too, so feel free to share).

I will post again soon, with some photos of Christmas goodies I've been making (I have good intentions of starting my gift making early this year....we'll see how it goes).

Finally, a HUGE THANK YOU to Ingrid at Lottielulu for give me the gentle push I needed to get my blog started.

Bye for now....