hook in hand

I'm finding little time these holidays for crafting. I have a little bag of cotton in the lounge just in case, amongst all the chaos I can find a few spare moments to crochet a little something. The time I have available is such that anything that requires a pattern will not do, so I've been crocheting some little cloths. I had thought that I'd use them in the kitchen, but after I added the trim they look that much more special and maybe they will find their way into the bathroom instead.

Also close at hand is the last EVER issue of World Sweet World, sigh, I'm a bit disappointed I never got around to submitting a few little ideas I had for their craft section ( I'll post them here instead, soonish) and of course I'm disappointed that there will be no issues following this one. I've enjoyed every copy, reading a little bit about other like minded NZers and finding inspiration by the little projects that lie within.

The dress I'm wearing in the photo above was a recent thrift find, it was in the fabric section and I thought I was picking up a curtain and was surprised to find that it was in fact a dress. I like the fabric and thought I'd turn it into an "Anne of Green Gables" inspired bag, the dress I thought looked too small to fit me. Once home I decided to give it a try on, with my husband at hand in case I got stuck in it. But it fits much better than I anticipated (didn't need his help after all) and I will be wearing it as the weather cools down more. However at this stage it's just for around the house as my post Easter/Christmas/2 children tummy is sticking out a little too much in this dress, maybe with a generous cardi it might get a trip out of the house.

on my lap

I few weekends ago I heard Wendyl Nissen on talk back radio talking about her homemade cleaning recipes and she had me hooked. A quick look on her website wendylsgreengoddess and all the great recipes there left me wanting more, so I bought her book. I'm not disappointed.
There are loads of natural recipes for cleaning in there and some great tips for sustainable living. I was initially drawn to her oven cleaning recipe that you can find here, I hate cleaning the oven and it's a job that is mostly left to my husband as I often get a headache from the smell of oven cleaner. I was so surprised how well the baking soda and washing soda worked and there was no nasty chemicals and no scrubbing. So now I'm hooked on replacing all my cleaners to more natural ones. I've been making my laundry powder for some time now and wouldn't go back to store bought, even though it requires a little more effort. The added bonus of all of these green recipes is most of them work out much cheaper than the store bought equivalents.