A Change is as good as a Holiday... right?

Well, that's what I keep telling myself... it's been a loooooong time since my last holiday, so I chopped all my hair off.

This is how little the Bubbas and Moo were back then. How things have changed....


Anyway, there was actually a point to this post.

I was going to tell you about the awesomeness that is the Blogtoberfest Giveaway list.

Make sure you go over and check it out and visit some of the lovely blogs that are having giveaways. I need to sort out my own giveaway too, but I need some ideas.

What would you like to win?


***apologies - the Linky Tools site seems to be down so you can't see the giveaway list. Fingers crossed it will be back up and running ASAP!

If you're going to wear a sling...

...then it may as well be cute!

Poor little Moo fell off the fort in the school playground last week and managed to break his arm.

For some strange reason, the local chemist only sells adult sized slings (now, I'm thinking that kids would be much more likely to break their arm and need a sling, so that's really a missed marketing opportunity Mr Chemist).

Anyway, the adult sized sling was swimming on him, so I made him a couple of kiddie sized versions. They can swapped over and washed whenever the need arises.

The strap just adjusts with velcro so it can be raised and lowered as needed.

Bag making hardware is quite handy in times like this.... I had everything I needed in the stash already.

Here's a little shot of the Dino sling in action. Apparently it was quite a hit with the little preppies at school yesterday!

The ambitions of a Preppie

I was on school pick up duty yesterday. I only live about 500m from school, but it takes me about 15 minutes to walk there and another 15 minutes to walk back.

So I picked up Moo from his classroom, and for the entire 15 minute walk home he told me everything that he would like me to make for him. He didn't even stop and draw breath. He truly believes that I can make anything and everything. It's so darn sweet!

We had about an hour before he had to go home. He desperately wanted me to make him a Dinosaur Pillow Pet. I desperately wanted to play Jenga.

We compromised and decided to draw a sketch of a dinosaur that we could make into a mini softie.

We used Crayola fabric markers on calico. Super simple and extremely quick!

I think he loves him.

My Creative Space... a little early

Photo Credit

The mission should I choose to accept it.... is to make a Lego Ninjago Vest.

It involves quite a bit of artistic license, some felt, giant ric-rac, and copious amounts of coffee and red velvet cupcakes.

The small child seemed pleased when he tried on the work-in-progress version, and has now requested that I make the headgear.

To be continued....

The home of my creative space

Sunday Snippets... via Instagram

Another week seems to have flown by, so here's a little snapshot of the week that was!
 

Monday - Moo Moo's first day of school

Monday night - my SIL made me Donna Hay Chocolate Fondant Pudding

Tuesday - Part 1 of my Doily Exhibition piece

Wednesday - Day out in Ballarat

Thursday - Transplant Clinic

Friday - Part 2 of my Doily Exhibition piece

Friday - Mr Limpy Houdini Dog watching the after school chaos (Yes - my Christmas Wreath is still up)!

Saturday - Part 3 of my Doily Exhibition piece

Sunday???? Who knows what I'll get up to!

Playing Sunday Snippets with Tinniegirl

Oh Christmas Tree Yukka

My sister and BIL and the kidlets are heading off for a Queensland holiday this week (soooo, what do you think the chances are of the phone ringing at 4AM while they're away?)

I had to take advantage of the slave labour family christmas spirit before they left, and invited the boys over to decorate my tree.

I can't deal with any of that mess inside the house, so my original idea was to get them to decorate the silver birch tree in the front garden....

.... but using their own artistic abilities, they decided that the christmas baubles were much better suited to hanging from the dragonfly lights and the yukkas.

Once they'd finished, I tried to get just one decent ta-daa moment for the christmas album.

...and again

...and again.

I give up.

Sometimes all you need is....

Milkshakes and cupcakes...

.... and sunshine and balloons...

....a new friend to chat to....

...and love!

Sunday Snippets

Playing Sunday Snippets.... with Tinniegirl

Making Mending Fun (or at least trying to)....

I don't mind mending clothes, but some days it's completely mind numbing, boring, and snoozy.

I soldier on ahead, and think about the fact that it's great to be able to mend everyday clothes. I'd rather mend than just dispose of them when tiny little things go wrong. Especially when it comes to things like expensive school uniforms!

So on the weekend, when my sister delivered a pile of things to be mended for the nephews, I decided to have a little fun.

In the pile was:

2 pairs of grey school pants - holes to patch plus hems to be taken down.
1 pair of skinny jeans - missing button
2 pairs of tracky dacks - holes in one leg of each

With the mending of the school pants for a 12 year old, I was pretty limited. I made patches from grey wool suiting to repair the holes (which worked amazingly well... couldn't even notice) and took down the hems as low as they can go. Hopefully they'll last out the rest of the cold weather this term.

The skinny jeans for the 9 year old didn't have any scope for fun either. He would  have been devastated if I did anything to them!

Which only left Moo Moo's kinder trackie dacks....

It's the biggest event of the year!

Supermarket Cake, Betty Crocker Frosting, and Hundreds & Thousands

It's my birthday..... and apparently there's some other event happening today which has transfixed the attention of the entire world.

Did someone say Royal Wedding???

Prince Moo Moo (after cake) and Princess CurlyPops

I had a little early birthday celebration on Tuesday while my mum was visiting (not that I actually need an excuse to eat chocolate cake)!

The Royal Subjects

The Royal Subjects were disinterested in the pomp and ceremony of the occassion. They were only there for the cake.

The Royal kiss was thwarted by a rascally Prince Moo Moo.... he was more interested in a second helping of the chocolate cake too.

Let's hope Wills and Kate are more successful tonight!

*The crown partyhats were actually completely unintentional - they just happened to be the only ones in the supermarket on Tuesday!

A Big Weekend

I packed little Moo Moo into the car thismorning and we headed off to celebrate Amelie's birthday.

I only had my mobile phone to take this photo but, check out that amazing cake! It was the most beautiful teapot, covered in flowers... and inside was layers of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. Moo didn't finish his piece, but it was so yummy that I may have had to finish his piece as well (luckily I was wearing a loose waisted pair of jeans).

Lets just say that after all of the delicious food, I nearly needed to roll out out the door.

Then we headed off to the wee girls house to meet her new kitty cat Cranberry Marmalade. Moo picked an afternoon snack from the apple tree, while I enjoyed a lovely cup of tea.

The perfect finish to such a lovely weekend!

Suave - Part Three

So today was the big day - Moo Moo's 4th Birthday.

When I arrived, he was busy riding his brand new Ben 10 bike, so little Zaney helped me to carry the pressie (and my handbag).

There was a flurry of excitement to open the pressie (note to self: tissue paper is a really bad idea as it tears up into tiny little pieces that end up everywhere).

The birthday boy was far too engrossed in his new Nano Bug game to do any modelling shots for me. I'm not so sure that a fedora, vest, and boardies are a good look anyway!

Noah wanted to join in with the modelling action too.

There was a yummy barbecue dinner and bithday cake of course.

Storybook - Where's Chicken

I'd forgotten to make a birthday card, so luckily the wee girl came to the rescue yesterday. She designed all of her pieces for Moo Moo with a chicken theme - there was a chicken birthday card, a chicken jigsaw, an illustrated storybook, and a huge Pin the Beak on the Chicken game (including detachable beaks and blu-tack).

He has another birthday party on Saturday with all of his little kinder friends.... if only all our birthday parties could last for a week!

Suave - Part Two

Currently blog finished - I still need to stitch in the lining

While I was holidaying down the coast over Christmas, I managed to do a little window shopping.

I noticed that the cool surf brands like Rip Curl and Quiksilver had Fedora's for kids and adults in their current seasons offerings.

I had my nephews do a little Fedora modelling for me in the shops, and then promptly put them all back because I knew I could come home and make them instead!

The lining in my Dragster Dominoes fabric

This is the Fedora pattern by Nicole Mallalieu Design, and it's my very first attempt at making a hat. Now that I'm over my fear of hatmaking, I really should open up the Kids Hat pattern that I bought aaaaggggges ago, and make a start on those before another summer passes me by.

The Fedora pattern comes with three different sizes which is fabulously versatile for the growing boys in my family. Mr X wants one next.... to wear with his skinny jeans.

As this one is for Moo Moo,  I made the small size, with the standard sized brim. I used a lightweight black denim so that it's quite versatile for different outfits, but also just because little boys can be grubby!

For the hatband, I used some offcut from the suit jacket so that it matches his new vest.

He's going to be the suavest little four year at the playcentre party on Saturday!