An early start to a special day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM

This morning Jordan was up very early so what do you do on a special day

Ring Nanny to say Happy Birthday of course.

(Just lucky Day Light Savings has started or it would have been a 5.45am call!!!)

So what did we do for the next couple of hours,

well Jordan settled down to watch a Dora DVD whilst this mama got some sewing done

 Jordan's Flannel PJ's for America

(just need to buy some elastic for the waist and they are all done)

 I can never tell the front from the back on home made PJ's 

so I overlocked a robot square and sewed it to the back - perfect solution (you probably all do this already)

I am also loving the overlocked seams

(I haven't been using it because I thought it wasn't sewing properly and needed a service but it worked perfectly - I am overjoyed about this, makes every project so much quicker and neater)

 For some reason Jordan loves our King size pillows so I bought him his own as he kept stealing ours :-)

Well the pillow is great but the price of the pillow cases is ridiculous and they only come in white!!  Mum suggested I buy a single sheet which was so much cheaper and now I can make 4 pillowslips with the edging already sewn for me and it cost less than the price of 1 - love it!

THE BARN

Thanks Dad

It had to have a last minute addition (railing on the top level so the chickens wouldn't fall off !) and I think I will get out the Balsa Wood and make some fences.

It looks great and I am sure it will entice many hours of playing time, especially now that we have some more chickens.

My new Bag

I am just loving my new bag.......

                                          .......a late night sewing well into the early hours of the morning but once started I couldn't stop and I am so happy with the finished result.  I also love the button I found,  I went into the shop looking for a toggle type button and it so didn't suit the bag but this one is perfect.

I found the pattern here  (The Everything Bag on the Tutorial sidebar). I didn't want my bag quite so big so adjusted the pieces although it has come out quite a big smaller due to the lining being too big, so I cut  it down and then had to slightly adjust the outer bag.  The finished bag is approx 11" (width) x 8.5" (height) which is perfect for what I wanted although quite a lot smaller than the original pattern.

And so, knowing that I would be tired, not want to get up and a tad grumpy sensitive in the morning, what did I do to give myself some extra "sleep" time.........I set everything up for Jordan before I went to bed so that he would get his own breakfast.  He loves it when I do this, he can get the milk out and pour it into the little jug without any spills and will eat his breakfast on his own quite happily.

The Birthday Ring

Its finished !! Well as good as finished, a quick sand and a good oiling and it is finished. I just love it, even more so than when I first read about them and got the idea it could be made rather than bought. Thank you Dad for embracing this project and making it a reality. Thank you Craig for drilling all the holes that we (Dad) didn't have the proper equipment to do. It is going to look amazing when it is oiled and means so much more to us now that "Ba" and Uncle Craig made it. Thankyou again

Introducing Mousey

Say hello to Mousey - he was white but due to extensive playing he is now a slight grey colour and he hasn't even got his nose or tail. He won't actually be getting any whiskers as I have been told to absolutely "NOT" give him any.... The tail has been made and was left on the table with a note asking for help to find Mousey and much to my delight Mousey is allowed to get a tail now.

I was planning on making Mousey a Xmas present but he was found in the makings. I have so enjoyed making Mousey although it did take me 2 attempts to get the head done correctly.

Homemade Gifts made easy

I just wanted to share this wonderful site I just found. With Xmas and a birthday party just around the corner so to speak this site is perfect for inspiration and finding instructions for all those ideas that have been floating around in my mind. I thought you might like it too. I am loving the Paper Star Lanterns and the cute little boxes. Just click on my header title "Homemade Gifts made easy" and it will take you straight to the website or click here.

Homemade Birthday Ring

There has been a lot of creative activity around our household of late. Last week I posted about the Waldorf Birthday ring and I found a more natural looking one on Etsy which I adored. Well since then, my father came up with a piece of wood he bought in Tasmania 10 years ago that was just waiting for the perfect project. Well that perfect project just happened to be a "Birthday Ring" I am so excited about this.

Its not finished yet but here are the photo's so far:-

The only tools required were a jigsaw and a sander

It still needs to have holes drilled in it. There is some rough bark on the side which will look just amazing when oiled. We didn't want to go and add any toxins to the wood with something so beautiful and after some research found that most "natural" oils sold for timber are not natural at all, they are full of poisons, so we are going to go with good old Olive Oil.

A Waldorf inspired shop quite close to us just happened to have some of these on sale. The "6" was actually a "9" but we soon changed that and some of the colours were a bit dull and boring (grey flower) so with a little sprucing up we love our birthday ring characters. I am on the lookout for relevant (to us) wooden pieces to finish the ring. I can't wait until it is finished.

This was the middle piece of the the wood which looks amazing once it had been sanded and oiled with olive oil and is a perfect addition to our nature table.

Sewing Projects

The dust has been dusted off the sewing machine and it has been getting a good workout around here lately. I am also happy to report that there have been no more electric shocks or burns with the new iron although I was a little hesitant in using it and I am keeping the pins well away. They should not have been the culprits but I am not taking any chances - once bitten, twice shy as the saying goes........ First up was a little project from Handmade Home - I couldn't wait to get started on Millie's Hot Pads with some of the gorgeous "Amy Butler" material Melissa sent me. Next on the list came this cute little bag that has been jumping out at me every time I log into "One little Stitch", and the materials used for the Hot Pads also seemed perfect for this. Directions can be found here.

there will certainly be more of these made (in different colours for x'mas presents I am thinking)

So now for my really big project....
"A Pirate Quilt for Jordan" We saw this in Spotlight and loved it so I am going to make it for him for Xmas

our colours chosen, washed and ironed

A Trial run !!

I worked out from this strip that the triangles need to be bigger than the squares to allow for the seems on the side so that the corners don't get cut off. A great lesson to learn and a mistake I won't make again!

New squares cut ready to make into triangles

and the sewing starts tonight !!!

KNITTED DISH CLOTHS and CANDLEWICKED QUILTS

I have been meaning to put a photo up of this for quite some time and just keep forgetting. Whilst trying to avoid the reality of Paul leaving to go OS, I sat down and knitted up a dishcloth one evening in Bamboo wool. I really like using handmade dishcloths and I just love items made out of Bamboo fibre so thought why not for the dishcloth. I have since found the wool comes in a really nice Latte colour so I think I will be knitting quite a few more in the near future.

I think I am going to be very busy over the next couple of months while Paul is away as I have also just decided that I want to make a Candlewicked quilt for when we go back to QLD. I made Jordan a cot sized one with teddybears when I was pregnant and then a doona cover for a friend for Xmas soon after that so now feels like the time to make one for us. I went and bought the material today as Lincraft had a 1/2 price sale on all material - don't you love when that happens and you have a project in mind. Because the quilt is made up by Candlewicking patterns onto squares, I don't tend to lose interest and hence the projects actually get finished. The cot quilt was the first time I had ever made a quilt so it will be interesting to make a "King" sized quilt - thats a lot of candlewicking and sewing but I am up for the challenge.