Summer Holidays!

We had a great Christmas - lots of practice on the Rip Stik (renamed the Swizzle Stick by us)!

There was also some post lunch, pre-dessert cricket in the backyard too.

We headed up to Devonport for a night to catch up with my family and I forget what a beautiful part of the world my hometown is.

Running around my great-aunts amazing back garden.

Rock-hopping at The Bluff and poking sea anemone in the rock pools.

And then a night camping in the backyard at my brothers new home in Launceston and loving his indoor in-ground swimming pool.  My boy is definitely a waterbaby!!

Wishing you all the best for a Happy New Year - look forward to reading all about it in a few days!

Peek-a-boo Bags For All!

So I'm totally addicted to making these peek-a-boo bags!  Toni has a great tutorial over on her blog if you want to make a little bag to store all those Mr Potatohead pieces or the Duplo blocks or your Barbie and her gear (I'm going to be making another stack of these for my kids - but not before Christmas)!

Here's one for a friends little boy (old mattress cover for the lining and "Truck Stop" for the outer).

One for D who is going to be a train driver (if he's unable to find work as a cowboy).  Again, an old mattress cover for the lining and the outer has concentric trains on it!

 This would be my favourite!  For R, made from retro pillowcase (my brother had the same sheet set growing up) and the mattress cover for lining.

 For little A, outer fabric from Spotlight and the lining was an oppie find.

For Z, outer is Freebird by MoMo and the lining is an old pillowcase.

 Another of my favourites, for G with bubushkas for the outer and a retro sheet cut up for lining.

 For R, random red bird quilting cotton and an old pillowcase for lining.

 And for J, robot quilting cotton and retro pillowcase for lining.

 And for little G, some chambray from my stash and more "Truck Stop" for the outer but in a different colourway!

I have also made two others for the bigger cousins!  So that makes 11 to date and I have a few more cut out for sewing at my leisure after Christmas - including a couple in Christmas fabrics to help store the decorations when they eventually come down.

I love how great this project is for using all those odd bits of fabric you buy but have no plans for.  I also love how great the retro sheeting looks as lining but have been chuckling to myself that I'm cutting up perfectly good pillowcases to make something that is essentially a lined pillowcase with a window on it!

Merry Christmas to anyone who's read this far!  I hope that you get all your making done at a reasonable hour, manage a good few hours of sleep and enjoy the delight of having family around you.

DIY Santa Snacks in a Jar

Look what I've been making!


Gif animation maker

I used a recipe from Bakerella for Cowboy Cookies in a jar and bought the Crispy Peppermint M&M's so they look rather festive.  I also made some labels which I'm happy to share with anyone who might be interested (just email me)!  And then I made about 15 of these for various childcarers and teachers in our lives.

I also had one of those lovely moments when I went to buy these 1 litre jars.  The wholesale jar shop would only sell orders of over $50 but there was another guy there wanting to buy some beer bottles so we combined our order and everyone was happy!  I love a happy coincident.

Flower Sugar Giveaway @ Retromummy

So I'm posting about this giveaway so that you can have a chance to enter too.

Corrie over at Retromummy is giving two people the chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the new Flower Sugar fabrics - click on over to have a chance to win yourself!

And this will be my 196th post so I will be having a giveaway of my own in the New Year - keep an eye out!!

I have been busy beavering away at my sewing machine for the last few weeks but can't reveal anything just yet for fear of spoiling the surprise!!  Hope all your Christmas preparations are coming along - only 5 sleeps to go!

Are you the Lenah Valley Yarn Bomber?

Because we'd like to say thanks for the joy you bring us every day. For the ladybirds, and rainbows, and flowers and for our monster postbox!


We'd especially like the thank you for the little surprise we woke up to this morning.

We love having our own little ladybird, sitting next to our letter box, right outside our front door!

How did you know?

My Happy List

Kate has written her Happy List and then Sarah wrote hers and I've been thinking about mine all weekend! So here it is!

My silly family!
Kelvin's giggles when he's tickled or scared/excited or just plain funny.
Matilda's singing all day and night (with vibrato and all).
"All the Sing-a-lets, all the sing-a-lets, take out you're lets!" (sung to the tune of "All the Single Ladies"), picked up from childcare!
Having lovely friends we can hang out with, rely on, have fun with, plan our futures together, miss when we don't see them.
The wind down of activities ready for relaxed summer.
Sewing things that magically have all their seams hidden and look great.
Having time and space to spread out and sew (and a husband who tolerates the mess whilst it happens).
My placid, gentle, happy dog who spreads her affections far and wide, and a sister-in-law and mum who let her sleep on their bed when they stay!
The delight that comes when you make a wonderful op-shop discovery (and the horror on the faces around you when you say you're going to cut it up to make something else!).
Nice non-work related surprises on my desk when I get to work.
A great hair cut!
Nutting something out - like what to do my thesis on next year!
Our new Christmas lights.
Jokes with my collegues.
Turning off the TV and listening to music instead (and dancing around like silly duffers when the right song comes on)!
Singing with a great bunch of women, every week, without the kids, in my own head space, and coming away feeling lighter and recharged because of it.
Giving a handmade gift and people not believing you made it yourself!!
An unexpected sleep in.
Pottering in the garden.
The few moments of peace I get when I'm hanging out my washing.
Knowing that there is a world full of people who I can connect with and relate to because of blogging.
The fact we call farts "noisy bottoms" at our house and that Kelvin thinks pretend farts are hilarious.
The Amazing Race.
Having so many things to be ahppy about that I don't really know where to stop!

If you want to have a go of this yourself then please head over to Kate's blog and join her linky list!

Last Minute Advent Calendar

So I've done it again. I seriously need to remember that November DOES NOT have 31 days in it! And I shouldn't leave my advent calendar making until the late night of November 30.

I think I've managed to make a pretty cool calendar this year - thanks to some inspiration from the Kids Craft Weekly newsletter.

First I dragged out all my freebie Christmas paper from years of subscribing to Better Homes & Gardens magazines. I cut them into 6" squares and made origami cups using an online tutorial. They're very easy to make once you get into the swing of things. And then I wrote on the numbers and used a hole punch and some curling ribbon to make handles.

The I grabbed some pegs off the clothes line and hang these up along one of the steel beams in our living area. I was debating hanging them on the Christmas tree but that would be too easy!!

And the kids seemed pretty happy with it when they woke up this morning (although Kelvin thought they were boats, but that's OK)!