Crafty ideas

Whilst scrolling through posts on my blog list I came across a link to this blog. It has heaps of crafty ideas linking to other blogs (which have even more crafty ideas!).

Here are some projects I am interested in (not sure when I will get a chance to try them out..!)

Mini Easter Baskets

Denim Bible Carry case

Felt Mr Potato Head

Little girls ruffle dress

The domesticated skirt

Ruffle shirt makeover

Homemade Christmas gift ideas

This Saturday I have set aside the whole day to help our kids make Christmas cards and gifts for their friends and teachers. I can't believe there is only less than 2 weeks left of school!

I haven't completely decided what they will be making, but I came across a few good ideas for gifts for teachers and lots of other inspiring ideas for
friends and family.

This is what you do with...

My kids love to colour, cut, paste, make and paint! For the past few days they have been asking me if they can paint. But I keep delaying my answers, saying, maybe tomorrow... ??

Finally I caved in and said YES you can paint after breakfast!! Well breakfast came and I was not in a painting mood, (I was actually in a sorting and cleaning mood!) I asked my husband if he could take them to the park for a while before he went out golfing for the day, I just needed time to BREATHE before the painting started!

It's amazing how much clearer you can think without 5 extra people in the house! Within 5 minutes of them leaving I came up with a great idea of getting them to paint the trampoline boxes...outside! I didn't have any large bit of paper and I didn't want paint inside, and here were these 2 plain big boxes all ready for painting!

There was hardly any mess for me to clean up, they used up all the paints and I just put all the empty containers in the bin, and they painted to their hearts content!!

So here's what you can do with those leftover Christmas present boxes!!

My husband is an great cake decorator!

When it's birthday time, I bake the cake and my husband decorates.

Child no. 3 turned 4 yesterday. Leading up to her birthday we asked her what kind of cake she wanted, and each time she gave us a different answer! She loves to change her mind!

Finally the day before her brother suggested having a crocodile cake, yes, that was what she wanted. All day she was telling people she was having a crocodile cake.

Then on the morning of her birthday, her older sister was chatting to her, and she decided that she now wanted a Princesses cake!

We said NO you are having a crocodile cake, you can't change your mind again!

It didn't take long for her to be decide she did want a crocodile cake!

I must say that my husband is very talented at creating cakes. He never uses a book, he makes up all his creations. I just ask him how many cakes he needs and what shape, make the cake, then leave the rest up to him!

So here is the crocodile cake.

And here are some other past creations.

Teddy Bear's Picnic

We had the Teddy Bear's picnic on Wednesday for my 6 year old and 5 of her friends. It was such a fun day!

I spent all day Monday sewing these backpack picnic blankets for each of the girls. I came up with idea when I was trying to think of a way they could carry their teddies.

The blanket folds up into a backpack and there's a pocket on the back to hold a teddy. I have so many odd bits of material that just haven't been used for anything so I didn't have to buy anything to make them!

I found some $1 baskets from some second hand shops and put some material in them. They used these to carry their tea cups and food.

I made cupcakes and the girls iced them and decorated them.

They also made pretend cupcakes and food for their teddies. Can you tell which ones are real?

Once we had made everything we went outside and had the picnic!

After eating the girls played while Emma and I sat down and had a cup of tea!

Then we played some games with the teddies.

Push the teddies on the car;

Teddy sack race;

And their favourite was hide the teddies. We hid the teddies all around the garden and they had to try and find them!

At the end, they decided to do some more making, this time clothes and costumes for their teddies. They were so creative and came up with costumes and dresses!

I am glad I put in the time and effort to make it a fun and special day, not just for my daughters but for her friends!

I thank God for such a beautiful sunny day, despite the rain in the morning!

Felt food frenzy

I have been addicted to making felt food this past weekend!

I have been in a sewing/crafty mood lately. I have seen several blogs with felt food featured, but I haven't really been inspired to try making anything until I stumbled across some pictures of cupcakes. I suddenly had to give it a try!

So here are some photos of what I came up with.


Here are the cupcakes.



I made a cake with removable decorations and candles and tea bags.



Some donuts and strawberries.


Here it all is, ready for a tea party! I want to try making a pizza next with removable toppings.



If you would like to try making cupcakes, here is a blog which had a step by step tutorial on how to do it.

Nappy tote

I mentioned in my last post, I am slowly moving out of the 'baby' stage, so this means I don't really carry a baby bag anymore, just nappies and wipes in my handbag.

I came across this good idea for a 'Nappy tote' on a blog (check out the post on 'Diaper and Wipes case' 17th July 2008) I often look at. I made one yesterday for my handbag, and it fits perfectly! If don't carry a baby bag anymore, and just need the essential baby stuff, check out this idea! And if you know me and you want me to make you one, I would be happy to!

Favourite things in my home

The other day I bumped into a friend I had not seen for a while and she told me she had heard about my home, and suggested I take photos of it and put them on my facebook! At the time I thought, do people really want to see pictures of my home? What would they want to see? It got me thinking about what I like best about my home and what I find really useful and what other people comment on when they come to my home.

So... here are a few of my favourite things.

The kids craft shelf.

This bookshelf/cupboard is located right next to our kitchen table where they do all their craft, drawing etc. I have put all their craft bits and pieces (patty pans, pipe cleaners, wooden sticks, googly eyes, glitter, ribbons etc.) into glass jars so we can see what there is. A few years ago I used to put all their bits and pieces, glue, scissors, boxes etc into a big box and let my eldest daughter just 'go for it' in the afternoons, but come pack up time she it would just get dumped back in the box and things would get thrown away and there would be a big mess all over the floor! Now when they do craft I just put a few jars on the table and let them 'create', because its all in clear jars, they can see what there is to use and its very easy to put things back in their jar when they are done!

Our collage wall. This wall is located in the hallway connecting two bedrooms, bathroom and laundry. I love displaying the kids pictures, and this wall is nice and long.

Framed kids pictures. I had bought these two silver frames from Ikea one day at a bargain price, but I didn't know where to put them or what to put in them. Two Christmas's ago I asked my then 3 year old daughter to paint me an angel to put in one of these frames to decorate for Christmas. I helped her paint the flowers. I was intending to keep them there temporarily while I searched for some nice prints, but, I have grown to love these pictures and I get a lot of comments about them, so I think they will stay there!

I just love the colours this painting!

Crafty weekend

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling rather inspired to sew! I went through all my materials and decided to make a skirt for child no. 3, who is rather obsessed with skirts and dresses! However, in the meantime, I came across an old craft book which my mother used to use. It brought back old memories of when I was a little girl. I used to make little mice out of felt and create little mice villages.

I thought while I am in a 'sewing mood' I should make my children some little mice! Sooooo I spent the rest of the day was spent making 10 little white, cream, light brown and dark brown mice! While I was making the mice, the kids made houses, boats, furniture etc. for the mice. It kept us all entertained for most of the day.!

Later that day I helped them create some mini sand boxes. Because the sand pit has been rather soggy lately, I put some sand in a shallow box and gave them small animals, diggers, rocks, sticks, leaves, glitter, and little people and let them create a mini place! My kids love sand and this keeps them busy for ages and they don't get all sandy!!

My husband can't understand why I always find messy things for them to do, (he always goes for the 'clean' activities like tv and kicking a ball!) but I just love watching them create things!