Fright night.

Both the kids have got somewhere to be this Saturday.  In this part of the world, the tradition of Halloween is quickly gaining momentum, what with every shop in the land having at the very least a small section devoted to kids' dress-ups, sweets shaped like eyeballs and severed fingers and a pumpkin-face version of just about everything.  There's a long break without much going on between Easter and Christmas, and Halloween has slotted nicely into the Australian calendar of things to do.  Let's face it, if it weren't for all the Halloween merchandise, retailers would be displaying all the Christmas stuff from the start of September, and we'd be preparing for that.  Or in my case, still leaving it until the last minute.

I secretly really like Halloween, because I love costumes, and the supernatural, and the dark.  My husband hates it, and thinks it's just an excuse to sponge lollies off your neighbours and to pitch eggs at cars.  He admits that he is cynical, but only because that was the sort of thing he did in his younger days, and he says he didn't have to use Halloween as an excuse, either.

Anyway, this year we've decided that Cameron can go trick or treating.   He is going as the Grim Reaper.  A lovely friend takes her kids every year, and knows all the best places to go.  He's ten now, and he only has a few years of trick or treat left in him, so we thought we best let him see what all the fuss is about, before he gets old and cynical like his father (who, I will add, is lovely in all sorts of other ways, just in case he is reading).

Sophie is going to a Halloween disco being held at the kids' taekwondo club.  She was excited about dressing up as Jack Skellington, but I didn't have enough time to throw together a stripey suit.  Maybe next year.  Instead, I convinced her to go as a baby vampire bat - she loves baby animals.  Even ones capable of infecting you with rabies.

I made her a bonnet based on the ones I sell at my online store, replacing the rounded bear ears with pointy batfink ones.

The wings were made from a stretchy lycra material, using this awesome tutorial.  I have had this one pinned for ages!  When I suggested to Sophie we dress her up as a bat, her only request was that she would be able to dance!  This bat-wing shrug is so comfy to wear, simple to make, and just so effective - perfect for dancing, too!  I also stitched up a pair of black bloomers to wear over her tights (just because I love them so <3).  Oh, and she's practicing the snarl for nearly the past five years.

A bit of greasepaint on the nose is about all I'm capable of when it comes to face-painting.  I would love to learn how to do it, but this one's too wriggly and Cameron has always been very tactile defensive.  He hates face-painting, temporary tattoos, refuses to let me write my phone number on his arm with marker if we are going somewhere crowded (he prefers carrying a laminated card) - he just hates being drawn on.  He runs home from school to scrub pen ink off his hands, yet needs to be told without fail every day to clean his glasses and brush his hair.  I hear most ten year old boys are like that, so I'm not worried.  Not yet.

I can't wait for Saturday - I'm looking so forward to seeing all the children in their costumes - kids and dress-ups!  Two of my very favourite things!  I hope you a spooky and scary-fun Halloween!

Because weeding is boring.

I'm supposed to be sorting out my garden this afternoon, but I got really bored.  So I brought a whole bunch of stuff inside and made pictures instead.  Weeds will wait.

I'm beginning to think I have a sort of attention deficit disorder, as these days everything I undertake becomes an art project or a photo opportunity.  I am also starting to realise what a pain in the ass neck I am to live with, because nothing ever gets finished around here. 

Oh, deer.

Put on a happy face - it's Election Day!

The kids had some fun making faces today.  It's amazing how some cardboard, paint, sequins and glue can make a couple of hours fly by.  Especially those sequins.  That kept Cameron busy for a good hour or so.  Which is probably just as well, being polling day and hearing nothing on the radio and television except for Labor this and Liberal that.  Boring for everybody.

Sophie made a face, too, but hers was done in about five minutes, as is evident in the final product.  We tried to encourage her to draw eyes and a nose, but were met with a loud and resounding "NO!", and the typical "I'll-do-it-the-way-I-want-thanks" glare, which is becoming increasingly normal.  She was keen to put sequins on, too, but after gluing them to her hands, her face, the chair, the floor, etc. we decided that hers was better off sparkle-free.  The few she did manage to glue to her artwork were picked off before photo-time.

This will be how wide my smile is tomorrow when the Election is over.  Hooray! - no more political flyers choking my letterbox, or being accosted while grocery shopping by local party members, or receiving pre-recorded telephone calls from Tony Abbott right in the middle of dinner or while I'm trying to get the kids to bed.  That was just annoying.  Gee, I wish I had his home number.

It turned out to be one of those days...

This has got to be the most perfect quote for this picture.  William Shakespeare must have encountered my daughter in one of her former lives.  She has had a face like a thunder-cloud all day, and has been twice as loud as one.  Ha!  I'm turning this into a postcard, and then sending it off to all my friends and relations.

Ahhhhh, peace.  And thank goodness for bed time. 

January is birthday month...

 

...and today,  it's Cameron's turn!  He is 7!!

No party, this year, unfortunately.  Cam is still slightly mimsy following his operation, and we knew this would be the case, so it was a very quiet affair.  Besides which, this time of year is a rotten one for a kid to have his birthday.  It's right at the end of the school break, so it's been ages since he saw his classmates (and being the dreamer he is, he doesn't even remember who was in his class last year).  And it's H O T.  The mercury has been teetering between 40 and 43 degrees celsius for the past week, and entertaining a houseful of kids in that sort of heat is asking for big, sweaty, miserable trouble.  We  get around these problems by having his party two months early.

Well, that's what we did last year, anyway.  I had the added dilemma of Sophie being due two weeks prior to Cameron's sixth birthday, and there was NO WAY I was going to be able to deal with party preparations, the scorching January heat AND a newborn.  I am not one of those Super-mums.  So, we held it in November instead.  As it was his last birthday as an only child, we decide we would make it all about Cameron.

So, Cameron on the invitations...

...the reply slips...

...the loot bags...

 

...and the party game (although we didn't get round to playing this.  Bummer!)

Nothing so grand and egocentric this year, I'm afraid.  And waaaaay too hot to ride the bike he got as a present, which was disappointing.  Although his Dad did make him a pretty wacky and delicious cake...

 

...and cake fixes everything.

Happy birthday, gorgeous boy!  I love you! You made my dreams come true. xxxx

The absolute best things I ever made.

 

I love this child to a million bits, even if she does have her entire family on the hop.  She knows how to get what she wants from everybody.  So, be warned, world. Plus, she knows no fear.  I imagine she will turn out to be a lion-tamer or a star-ship captain, or something equally fearless.  

While this adorable, funny, chatty, dreamy, loopy creature....

....will be taking me to the Academy Awards.  Sweet.

Lollipop Christmas cards

The unrelenting avalanche of Christmas cards and candy canes from Cameron's classmates has begun.  I swear we still have candy canes left over from last year.  Somewhere.  The novelty of receiving candy canes lasts through about the consumption of four of them, and the rest, well, who knows.  In a sad, little forgotten pile in somebody's room, no doubt.

Still, they are lovely to receive, and as a rule, we usually give them out as well.  Although, as is the traditional custom around this time of year, we make our own cards, because I'm a real fuss-pot and can't really find anything I like.  They are either too boring, too dear, too cutesy-poo, too cheap-looking or we've already received half a dozen in the same design.   I know the recipients are only six years old, and probably don't really care, but my finicky nature gets in the way of doing what's easy.  Gosh, anyone would think there are a hundred hours a day in Lainie-land, which could not be further from the truth.   Besides which, my boy is not going to let me take these cute, silly photos  of him forever.  So I'll run with it while I can.

Last year's effort was sort of a last minute rush, but turned out dirt cheap and effective enough for Cam's  five-year-old friends.   I made candy cane baggies for them in lieu of Christmas cards (I hate stuffing and sealing envelopes, blerk!). Seventy two mini candy canes cost me under four bucks, plus with the left over stationery from Cameron's party invites, I was able to make close to 6 dozen of these for next to nothing.  What a Scrooge.

This year, we did a postcard-type affair, using the same idea as was used here.   My original thought was that I would have Cameron holding a candy cane, but they are too bulky and they buckle up the finished card way too much.  We were lucky enough to find Christmas lollipops at Red Dot, which worked brilliantly.

 

I sort of stuffed up the photo, and had to use some very sneaky Photo-shopping...

 

...besides the addition of text, did you spot the difference?

Once they were all printed and the borders cut, I re-inforced the back and front with tape before cutting the slits for the lollipop stick (which I did with a brand new box cutter I nicked from work.  I needed a new one anyway.  Thanks, work!)

Before inserting the lollipops, I firstly passed a bamboo skewer through the slits (the point on the end makes it easy).  This just helped to 'prime' the slits and made inserting the slightly wider, blunt-ended lollipop stick through a bit easier.

 

Last but not least, to protect them, we sheared the snap-lock bit off of some snap-lock sandwich bags, which were the perfect size, popped the cards in and taped them at the back. 

 

Too easy.  And good for giving to the grandparents, too (it has Nanna Pat's seal of approval)!

Happy Bow-thday postcard

If you made one (or more) of these bow brooches to give as gifts, here's a fun way to package them up.  Keep a heap handy as pressies for the female rellies, friends, day-care ladies, teachers, etcetera.  In fact, you don't even have to use a picture of your child; it could be a picture of yourself, a cute puppy, or even Darth Vader (providing you aren't breaking any copyright laws.  This is an exercise in making a nice gift while saving money, not being sued by George Lucas and losing your home).

Firstly find a picture you want to use.  This one will do.

You might want to use a favourite photograph you already have, or take one especially for this project.  If you decide to do the latter, leave a bit of headspace above your subject's head so the bow fits on the card.  (Oops, I'm sounding a bit gender-bias and assuming your subject is a girl - sorry!  If you have a boy-child, then leave enough room under his chin so you can position the brooch like a bow-tie).   Then, if you have photoshop (like me), and know how to use it (unlike me), then you have all sorts of options on your hands.  If not, see what you can do with Paint. 

Print out your pictures.  If you like, do a draft copy first to make sure your happy with how it looks (the actual printed picture can sometimes look a lot different to how it appears on screen).  I print mine postcard size, 6 inches by 4 inches, two to a page.  Make sure you check the 'fit picture to frame' box.

When you are happy with how it looks, print your cards on to 200gsm paper. (Don't hold me to it, but I'm guessing any sort of paper you print photographs onto would do the trick.)

Work out where you want to position the bow brooch on your card.  Place the pin of your brooch in position against the card and mark in pencil where you will make two holes, about 1 cm apart. 

Poke a dressmaking pin through the marks you made and using these pin-holes as a guide, reinforce this area on the rear of the card with sello-tape.   You can also reinforce the front of the card with sellotape too, if you like.  Which is probably a good idea, to prevent tears.  Yeah, do that then.   Again, poke your pin through the (now taped up) pin-holes again, and then find your self a larger needle, like a bodkin, and carefully pass this through the pin-holes to make a larger hole.  Ouch.

Measure a nice even border around your photographs, and then cut, using straight- or fancy-edge scissors.  

 

Erase any pencil lines you made when ruling the border (carefully if you used fancy scissors because those edges can be reeeally delicate).

 

And then carefully pin your brooch on (roll the card slightly to help you pin it on, don't fold it!)  Awww, sweet!

 

Even if the recipient of the card is not a bow or brooch kind of person, they can leave the pin intact and keep the card as a 3D type of picture.  But, if they want to use the brooch, they still have a lovely photo/card as a keepsake.   In addition, the bows are inexpensive to make, the card is personalised and cheap to whip up, and they hardly cost anything to post, which makes them a great gift idea for interstate friends.  And overseas relatives that live far, far, FAR away.  Geez, I wish I had some of those.