teeny helpers

Kilakee Christmas Tree Farm

2009-12-05T16:46:00.006Z

We had such a lovely day today, thanks mainly to Killakee Christmas Tree Farm. Ever since I first saw National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I always wanted to go to a place where you got to choose and cut your own Christmas tree. Little did I know I a place existed only about 10 minutes away. The girls had a blast walking up and down the slopes of the hill, finding and picking the exactly right one and I have to say I did too. I did get a terrible pang if guilt as our little fella was felled, felt a bit like murder, but at least he'll be loved as I think its the best looking, most stereotypically perfect Christmas tree I've ever seen, a real beaut. And as it was freshly cut, just for us, and we have a base that stores water, the tree should last right through to the 6th. Here's hoping anyway.And one of the best parts? Aside from them being exceptionally nice and friendly, and giving the girls little chocolate decorations to hang on the tree when we were leaving, all trees under 9ft are €40, so no annoying haggling which always dampens my Christmas spirit.

Highly recommended. Check out their website for opening hours and directions

Babies!

2009-12-02T21:18:00.006Z

I so very much want to see this piece of gorgeousness on the big screen! What a fantastic trailer. And what a magnificent track too, it's Sufjan Stevens and its called "The Perpetual Self, or "What Would Saul Alinsky Do?"' from his album 'The Avalanche'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N009QUWUy7I

Threadless T-shirt Sale

2009-11-27T17:11:00.003Z

Just found out Threadless are having a sale. I am trying to not spend on anything other than essentials, but man, $9! It's hard to say no. They even have the ones I wanted to get the girls at the start of the summer.

French Toast

2009-11-22T13:25:00.003Z

The weather has been just *awful* here in Dublin. Wet, windy and altogether indoors only all around. So what to do with the kids? I revert back to what I always do on days like this. Feed 'um.

As Mi is wheat free, cooking can be a bit limited, and as we were out of wheat free flour, I had to come up with something quick. Enter gluten-free french toast, and may I say, this is the first thing that tastes better without the gluten than with. Seriously, gluten free bread is made for french toast. So much so, this was Mi's plate at the end of her second helping.

Li left that little bit more.For anyone unsure as to how to make it, I keep it really simple - eggs mixed in a bowl with a splash of milk and a dash of caster sugar, dip in the bread, turn and dip again then straight onto a hot oiled frying pan until brown, off onto a plate and sprinkle with a wee bit more sugar as mine don't like maple syrup, much like myself. Simple. For variations, try this here

Felt Christmas Tree Decorations - Little Stockings

2009-11-22T09:00:00.001Z

Finally up on Etsy, my Christmas Tree Decorations

I Felt Like It - clips

2009-11-21T12:56:00.004Z

I bought a set of fantastic clips from Laura at I Felt Like It at the Christmas fair. Mia's thrilled with them, so I've ordered some more as they are very reasonable in price. I sent her on some of my teal felt as I love hot pink & teal together, can't wait to see what they look like

Thankfully not one of my girls artworks

2009-11-18T10:13:00.004Z

This brightened up my day when I read it on a blog today. It's from this tumbr page.

Etsy

2009-11-17T21:32:00.005Z

So its just a quick post to say I've opened a ETSY shop. Nothing much in it at the moment, I have a lot to photograph first, but it's finally up and running. Check back at the weekend and hopefully you'll see it far more populated :)

teenyhelpers's etsy shop

Thanks!

2009-11-15T19:19:00.004Z

Thanks everyone who popped by to sell hello and especially to those of you who made my day by complimenting my work. Great to see some of it selling too :)

I'll be listing some things for sale over the next few days, but in the mean time, if you saw something you liked at the fair and would like it, I'm happy to make to order. For the next two weeks, anyone who was at the fair gets free shipping too, just as a thank you!

For more information, drop me a line at teenyhelpers( at )gmail.com

Tomorrow

2009-11-14T22:14:00.002Z

Don't forget the fair tomorrow :)
I'm at table 11 selling bunting, ribbon blankets and some other bits and pieces. Feel free to pop over and say hello.

www.charitycraftfair.com

Sew whats new little monkey?

2009-11-11T20:35:00.006Z

I've just found and became a member of this lovely site, sew-whats-new.com and within it, I've found this beautiful little monkey pattern, free to download thanks to her maker birdie. Isn't she so sweet? Here's the link

Taggy blankets

2009-11-10T14:28:00.003Z

Here's a few pics of some of the blankets I have for the fair. I think I have about 15 made, but in the event I sell out or your are looking for a particular combination I can make them to order. Colours include sage green, baby pink, cow print, pony print, white, light blue & brown :)

Bunting!

2009-11-07T16:07:00.002Z

This is all for the fair. I've made 22 batches, some for boys, some girls and some for either.

Halloween'ed

2009-11-03T20:29:00.003Z

So as I said, the kids were sick over Halloween, but at least they got to do a few things beforehand. Like these, maybe try them next year.

I'm still here, honest....

2009-11-03T20:01:00.003Z

Busy making and minding. So far for the fair on the 16th I have the following:

About 50 of these, a mixture of Christmas and everyday cards...
20 of these taggy blankets...
Another 20 or so of these, 3m lenghts of bunting...
and a whole bunch of these, still to be finished christmas tree ornaments.
So its safe to say two things. Yes, I am behind, but the kids were sick and they get priority. And secondly, things don't photograph well in the dark as all of this stuff is so much nicer in reality. Where do the hours and days go? I feel like the '07 Government "A lot done, more to do" You can say that again!

Ugly Doll Costume

2009-10-21T10:35:00.002+01:00

So this year as I have the Christmas Craft Fair to prepare for, and with Mi wanted to dress up as a witch, I went against my own wishes and bought them both costumes for Halloween. Tesco's were selling them for what must be pretty much cost price at €7 each so I succumbed and bought them. Next year I'm going to get one of them into the robot costume I want to make so much, but after seeing this today on photobucket, I'm so there! I adore Ugly Dolls, we have a bunch at home, so like it or not, I'll have my own walking talking Ugly Doll kid next year

Pumpkin heads

2009-10-19T08:50:00.005+01:00

How cute are these little pumpkin heads? This photo is from Angry Chicken who has made a free tuturial, which of course is not for resale, on her website here. The pumpkin shape is on one sheet of paper, then on another there is a sheet of a selection of creepy eyes and mouths to cut out and stick on. Nice idea huh?

Ouch!

2009-10-18T10:07:00.003+01:00

Papa P:"Okay, so who's the coolest, me, your father or uncle James?"
Mi (without blinking): "James. He's the coolest"
Papa P: "But why?"
Mi: "He just has a cool name. He's the coolest"
Papa P: "How about I change my name to James. Would I be cool then?"
Mi: "No. If you did, your name would just be Girlie James"

Zinger! That has to hurt.

Leaf mobile

2009-10-10T14:59:00.003+01:00

To get back to the season that's in it, this is a nice leaf mobile myself and Mi made last weekend. We used two colours of paint, green & orange, and no need for brushes, fingers work fine, with two pieces of card, string, some cellotape or glue and a touch of glitter for good measure.

After Mi made her 'leaf person' it was almost a shame to cut him up, but needs must, despite his cuteness
While the paint is still wet get sprinkling with the glitter, that way it dries into it and you don't have to use glue.We collected some leaves from the garden and drew around them. Then I doubled up the sheets and cut the shapes out so I had two of each shape. Then simply tape the string onto one side of the cut out leaf at random intervals and either tape or glue the matching shaped leafs together. I had a nice pot pourri shape that we attached to the end to weight it done a little et voilà, done.

Christmas decorations

2009-10-04T09:55:00.001+01:00

As you can see, finally making progress on the felt decorations I wanted to make. I'm making a selection of stockings, miniture ones for the tree and time permitting, proper ones for good boys and girls to have filled on Christmas day. I made a couple of attempts a few weeks back, but they just didn't work. They either were too complicated to be sold for a small price or just not pretty enough, so I'm thinking I'll go with what I have now; This is the when they are sewed and stuffed, didn't bother adding the hanging loop as they are just experiments - excuse the dark photo and the roughness of the white one, it was just as an experiment to see how it would work.This is closer to how they'll actually look. I'm thinking I'll sell them for about €2 each. I want to try and make some gingerbread men too, and some hearts. The hearts should be easy, the gingerbread will most certainly not be.

Failed attempt No. 1

2009-10-03T11:03:00.002+01:00

So I tried to do something different for the crayon cakes I'm hoping to make and sell at the Christmas fair which is rapidly approaching, but all I got was a pretty photograph :)

No matter how much you weight down cookie cutters, the wax just melts out. I shall try again using a different method tomorrow.

Felt advent calendar

2009-09-29T21:26:00.005+01:00

So I should be focusing on Halloween stuff, but I found this link on the purl bee again and wanted to share - its a felt Advent Calendar. And what with the masses of the stuff my felt fairy Laura brought (thank you again so much!) I'm half tempted to give it a go. It's from the purl bee - what a fabulous site, and once you have felt, a rotary cutter & mat and the ability to hand-sew numbers (knew I was missing something, my hand sewing sucks) it's fairly straight forward. It's about 14 weeks to Christmas, so 10 weeks before this is needed. Plenty of time methinks.

I've been away and it's been hard

2009-09-28T14:30:00.003+01:00

Hard to post that is, as at the beginning of the week I was having too much fun and from the middle onward, the baby was sick. And as most people know a sick baby means no sleep, and no sleep makes me no fun.

Holiday was still great, just a shame about poor Li. I'll be back posting properly this week, lots of things to catch up on.

Chalk

2009-09-14T10:39:00.001+01:00

Have a look at this beautiful video, the fun you can have with chalk. Its just reminded me we are out and I still have a can of blackboard paint in the garage, itching to be used.

Firekites AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation

from Firekites' album 'The Bowery'. music video co-directed by Yanni Kronenberg and Lucinda Schreiber.

Sea swimming

2009-09-13T09:21:00.004+01:00

So this photo of my sister and Mi is slightly misleading, we didn't have the entire harbour to ourselves for the whole day, but it was pretty quiet and a great way to spend a few hours and got the kids nice and tired afterwards too. Water was pretty cold, it is Ireland after all, but very pleasant within a few minutes. Even Li liked it.

One very surreal experience though, as I was swimming out on my own around the forty-foot, enjoying the tranquillity and beauty that is a warm sunny day on the East Coast, a plane with a huge banner declaring j!mcorr.com vote no flew by. Man that guy is more barking than the seals. The film Zeitgeist should come with a warning to morons about becoming obsessive compulsive about the whole thing. And if there was ever a good reason to vote yes, the fact that bloke from the Corrs wants you to do the opposite is just it.

The day definitely fit the description of an Indian Summer too, just lovely. Almost as lovely as the Teddy's ice-cream afterwards.

Make hay!

2009-09-12T10:35:00.003+01:00

We've been enjoying the good weather, something I'd heartily recommend as it will be gone in a blink. In fact, racing off as soon as the baby wakes up for another paddle and dip. Happy Saturday!

Pop up pirate card

2009-09-08T20:42:00.005+01:00

Another cute freebie from etsy, this time a pop up pirate card, perfect for my little buccaneer and we will definitely try this out over the weekend, but will probably vary it slightly. Here's the how-to, enjoy

Stamps

2009-09-08T20:22:00.003+01:00

I was looking for inspiration for something to do later this week with Mi when I found this really great yet simple idea and though I'd share. They are cap stamps and are from thelongthread.com. Full instructions are available on that site, but its basically some bottle tops, some craft foam, glue, ink & paper. Nice huh?

If you are feeling more adventours after you try, be sure to check out geninne's art blog, which has a tutorial on how, what & why you should try out stamping for yourself. Just look at the results, very cute. Word of warning - I made lino cuts many years ago in school and the only thing I would say is just be careful with a lino cutter, I remember doing serious damage to myself, or rather my poor thumb, when I was distracted while cutting. Ouch!

Getting closer...

2009-09-04T19:07:00.003+01:00

Following on from my last post on the matter, I see the new poster says its out Oct 16th stateside. Now to find out the Irish release date. Can't wait! Yayy!

Napkin

2009-09-01T14:15:00.004+01:00

As cushion won out, I plain forgot to make Mi a napkin for school until this morning. All the kids have to eat off a napkin, to keep the tables and their lunches clean, good idea really, but with none in the house I had to get sewing. Good thing she didn't start until 10, as I had a chance to make this one.

I will have to make more as despite only being in for a few hours she still managed to cover it in orange. Oh well, at least she likes it. Now if only the same could be said of school.

Taggie blanket, boy style

2009-08-30T12:50:00.005+01:00

I am finally happy with the design for the boyish taggie blankets I'm making. It was hard to get the right balance of being boyish without loosing the colourful, fun aspect of them. These are triple stitched too, so should be able to withstand pretty much anything that any child could throw at them. And machine washable at up to 40 degrees, but to keep it soft, wash at a lower temp and don't tumble dry.

Edited to add; Just finished the girls one too, so though I might as well post a pic of that too.

Gluten free cupcakes. Delicious!

2009-08-29T19:26:00.005+01:00

I've been putting off cake making since my doctor told me that myself and Mi had to go gluten free. Getting used to not eating some foods and eating new substitutes was one thing, but I kept putting off baking my own, worried that a cupcake would never taste the same again. Well, in fairness they were not exactly the same as before, but my, you'd forgive them, as they were delicious.

I think its all down to the flour, I used Dove's Farm self-raising and followed their recipe on the back for fairy cakes. So yes, they were a little bit more crumbly and the texture wasn't identical to a regular cupcake, but they were extra ordinary moist (probably due to the large amounts of butter and egg!) and renewed my confidence in being able to not deviate from eating gluten free. I though baked goods would be my downfall. They were also smothered in vanilla buttercream, the recipe from the hummingbird cake cookbook. And as a friend wisely said, anything smothered in buttercream tastes delicious.

Mi and I decorated while Li slept and her touch has become a lot more delicate, only one got mushed to within an inch of its life.

Art and Hooks Rack from Handmade Home via Etsy

2009-08-27T19:15:00.005+01:00

This is something I am definitely going to try to make when I next have some free time. It's made by Amanda Blake Soule of SouleMama and the full instructions are available on Etsy here

It's from her new book, Handmade Home which has been added to my Christmas wish list. Speaking of books, here's a 10% discount for The Book Depository, which can be used against anything it seems, but it has to be used before the 10th of September. Happy spending! :)

Another one down

2009-08-23T19:10:00.003+01:00

Another soother blanket. Same shape and design as the last one, just a different, more fun material. This one is for a friends little boy, but I've plenty more material so more will be made soon.

Napkin or cushion

2009-08-21T15:00:00.002+01:00

Does it count as theft if you make something then keep it all for yourself?

I took a break from the bunting to make Mi napkins - she's starting Montessori in School on the 1st and they ask that all the kids have napkins to eat their lunch off of. So rather than buy her one, as I know she'll be anxious, as will I, I decided to make her a few instead. But now it's made, or nearly made, still have to add the bias binding around the sides, I want to keep it, stuff it and turn it into for a cushion for me instead. I love pink & green together.

Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Prep work

2009-08-20T17:30:00.002+01:00

Excuse the lack of updates, I've been busy making and doing. I've been buying, washing, marking and cutting bunting flags for the most part and still have so much to do. I have about 10 completed strings now, that's discounting the ones I've given away or make for my own kids, so really wanted to have another 20 or so, to give people a choice at the fair. This is where I'm at so far.

Such early days! I had really best be getting back to it too. But not before I show you this. Mi has been talking more and more about what it is she'd like to do when she's big, as she puts it. I've been veering her towards aiming to be a doctor or scientist, but she's having none of it.

She's gone from wanting "to just be herself" which is admirable in itself, and shows that she's happy in her own skin, for which I'm naturally delighted, to wanting to be a chef and also to work in a restaurant. Luckily those two go hand in hand, but I have a feeling she's only aspiring to that as she thinks she'll be in line to lick a lot of spoons and bowls along the way. :)

Anyway, she drew this for P today, it's her as a grown up chef. Talk about cute!

werewolf

2009-08-16T19:46:00.002+01:00

werewolf
Originally uploaded by atpalicis

Just found this artist on flickr quite by chance and I love their work, definitely recommend you have a look through the rest of their drawings, some will blow you away, just lovely.

Soother blanket, again

2009-08-16T19:06:00.004+01:00

I finally decided on the style and shape for the soother comfort blanket as I felt the last one wasn't quite right for some reason. So I made this, at 6.00am on a Sunday morning no less, when I couldn't sleep. Here it is - it's a 15x15 inch blanket, one side is cotton, the other a very, very soft micro fibre fleece which is polyester and there is a velcro catch so you can attach a soother or small ring toy. Or alternatively, attach the blanket to something so it won't fall off/get chucked out by a troublesome toddler, not that I'd know any of those of course.

I've used a Alexander Henry fabric here, its called baby stars, but I have a whole load of different fabric options so hopefully I'll get a chance to start to these this week.

I'm going to be in trouble...

2009-08-12T21:37:00.006+01:00

...with the subjects of this photo, but seriously, how cute is this? Now before people start crying "child abuse!" "where are their car seats" this was Ireland c. 1990 and while we, as a family, had baby car seats, boosters weren't around, or certainly not in common usage back then. And from memory they were playing in the car when they fell asleep, hence the lack of seat belts.

But would you look at the hand positioning! If my kids ever fall asleep holding hands like that I will be a happy lady. And my sister looks a hell of a lot like my daughter.

Magicmum Christmas Fair

2009-08-05T21:50:00.004+01:00

I've bitten the bullet and signed up to do a Christmas Fair. Eeeek! I've never sold a thing before and I'm frantically worrying about what to make and when and how to make it, but I've committed now, so too late to turn back. November sounds so far away, but I have a feeling it will come around in no time. These are the details:

Magicmum Christmas Fair

Date: Sunday 15th November
Venue: ALSAA, Santry (just off M1, 10mins from M50)
Time: 10am-5pm
Entry: €2 pp or 3 for €5, under 12s free!

Tables:
Jewellery by Dink Design
Usbourne books from DF Books
Childrens Clothing by TickTockTots
Bunting, Blankets & Hand Made Crafts (by teeny helpers!)
Baby Gifts, Hampers & Nappy Cakes
Cosy Toes, Footmuffs and more from Bonnybabe
Music CDs
Decorations & more from Toybarn
Handmade Cards & Mini Albums
Aromatherapy Gifts & Hand Massage
Felt Fruits, Cards & more
Handknits
Avon
Notice Boards
& more

Extremely nervous but glad to be doing it all the same. Will let you know what I hope to have there for sale as soon as I figure that out for myself. :)

Soother blanket

2009-08-04T18:30:00.000+01:00

So this is the blanket - its a bright 100% cotton print with a soft cream polyester backing, very very soft. The extra bit, the blue strip, is where I'm adding a velcro closing, which is perfect for attaching a soother too or a toy on a ring. It's smaller than I'd usually make, picture a large A4 size and you wouldn't be too far off, to make it easier for a toddler or young child to carry, but it would also keep a newborn snug and comforted if it was beside them in a pram. Everything is double stitched and completely machine washable.

Lots more bunting

2009-08-03T18:57:00.004+01:00

Remember yesterday, I said the bunting would be limited edition? Well I made myself into a liar as I had a few hours to myself today so decided to get cracking with it. I'm really enjoying making it, I made flags for boys, flags for girls, bright flags, pink flags, lots of lots of bunting flags.
There are 10 flags on each and they are on just under 3.5m of binding and look great, even if I do say so myself. I'd of made more, but I ran out of the binding. I still have enough flags for another 6 or so sets so will crack on next weekend if I get a minute.
I made a new comfort blanket too, one without ribbons but with a place to attach a soother or toy on a loop. It isn't fully finished, but once it is I'll pop up a photo as I want opinions on it.

Retro rocket bunting

2009-08-02T11:49:00.003+01:00

Just finished this long overdue bunting for a friend. The space material is called retro rockets and it's perfect if you are looking for a bright, fun boy themed bunting without wanting to go too boyish. If you team it with greens and pinks it goes well for a girl too. The long term plan is still to make up a batch of these and sell on etsy or a fair, but for the time being, they are very limited editions. :)

Pick up a pencil, go on, do it!

2009-08-01T19:40:00.005+01:00

I haven't drawn in years. I'm so embarrassed to admit that, but I haven't. I have moved the girls into their own room and reclaimed Li's room as a space for me. P and myself went to Ikea on Thursday and bought me a drawing desk, and a girl can't have a drawing desk and not draw. So here's my first attempt in about 4 years. I chose the shoe as I haven't drawn a converse since 1995. How life has changed since then. For one thing, the shoe was my own and certainly not pink.

It's very rough, and I'm very rusty, but it felt so good putting pencil to paper, even if it is only a crappilly drawn shoe. I heartily recommend taking some time to yourself and just trying it out. And on another note, I've been feeling really awful for a few months now, tired, unable to concentrate, sleeping badly and just down. Well, I bit the bullet and went to the doctor. Guess what, there was something wrong and better yet, its very fixable - a course of vitamin B12 shots for the next 10 weeks and a high dose of iron I'll be back on track. Yay!

Kids Craft Weekly

2009-07-30T09:16:00.003+01:00

One of my favourite kids' craft sites, Kids Craft Weekly is a brilliant creativity resource. Run by Amber, a mum herself, there's loads of stuff to make & do with fantastic step by step photos of how to do it. But my favourite thing is their roughly bi-weekly email issue. That's full of projects big & small that are suited to all ages.

The most recent episode, issue 75, paper cup craft has blown me away and I definitely recommend you check it out, especially as the weather has turned and the rain is here a bit too often these days.

These little paper buckets are really cute, but the lion above, I am definitely going to make that with Mi, and best of all, it's so easy too, on paper anyway.

Cakes no more

2009-07-25T13:19:00.003+01:00

So my new cookbook arrived, this one, on the day I was told by my doctor that they want Mi & myself to go off gluten for a few weeks, perhaps permanently. How unfair is that? I had a few blood tests, will get the results next week, but it looks like my current love affair with cupcakes and brownies is going to come to a sudden end. So, rather than sensibly ease myself into it, I'm going to have a blow-out weekend this weekend and make a seriously spectacular sponge cake and a boat-load of brownies. I'll post recipes after I try them out, so watch this space.

Ps - the cookbook looks spectaular, so unfair

Softies

2009-07-21T12:40:00.001+01:00

When Mi was small, about two I think, I made her this:
Not the pram, but the softie. She really liked ugly dolls at the time, so I wanted to make a girlfriend for her Wedgehead doll. She was called Ink for a while, short for Pink, but this has changed to Mr Mia 2, but that's a long story and not one for now.

So, I wanted to make Li one, as she's now become more & more interested in soft toys (neither of my girls are doll girls, but soft toys? Man oh man do they love them!) but I'm just not sure what to make. I'll have to start planning though, as she's begun to try and claim her as her own, just look at the photo below

Quick one....

2009-07-19T17:42:00.011+01:00

I made this for a budget postal swap - the budget is €5, the theme is "pamper someone for a €5" and this is what's called a boo-boo pack in the States, or a hot & cold pack here. It's designed to go in the microwave or in the freezer and then applied to aches or pains as required. It's also infused with lavender, dried & grown from my garden, so smells yum and is very relaxing. And its amazingly nice when you have cramps.

But the problem is my damn machine is acting up. It's supposed to be shabby chic, but does it just look shabby? Of course I was planning of putting something else in with it, but at the moment I'm thinking it looks too rough and too messy to be given to anyone, even if it does smell amazing. So should I just leave it out and get something else? What do you think? I've to post it off in the next day or two.

More ribbon blankets

2009-07-19T14:31:00.007+01:00

Well I finally got two blankets finished following the prototype one from last week. This is the girls one above. And the boys one below. The boys one which is just below has already been given to its new owner, lovely baby Christian, as Li had thieved the original one I was making for him, and the pink one above was made for Mi as requested.When she asked for a blanket I was initially not going to give her one, what does a girl of four need with a blanket, but then I changed my mind as I figured it would be a good road test to see what punishment they can take and how they wear. If she can't rip it, no one can.

I really enjoyed making them, so much so that I'm half thinking I might make a few and put them on Etsy and see if anyone is interested in buying them. I know I would have when Li was small. I though I could do a few colour combination ones - pink & brown, blue & brown, brown & cow pink, white & cow print, so they wouldn't have to be so definitely boyish or girlish either, but I have to admit, I do have a wider range of girlish ribbon. It's just prettier and more plentiful, but I do have a massive range of both. And they look pretty cute when you package them up.

Alas poor Borders I knew thee well

2009-07-17T10:00:00.001+01:00

I have a complete & utter weakness for bookshops, but Borders.... Borders has a a really special place in my heart as it was my main place of work for the Summer of '98 in Baltimore. Anyway, closing down sale, 50% off everything with only one exception- magazines. I bought way too much for way too little & I'm delighted with my haul.

I'm possibly most pleased with my moleskin notebooks & sketchbooks or maybe the photo albums & of course my illustrated children's books (that are really bought more for me than the kids). I even got a whole bunch of fabric goosegrain ribbon which was marked down to €1.50, so ended up costing 75c for 3m.

All the above cost under €100 and there's a few things not in that photo. The queue to pay took 45 mins to get through, but I went with my sister so we queue swapped while the other shopped. In fact if it wasn't for Li constantly sticking her fingers down her throat making herself wretch and laughing about it it would have been a fairly stress-free shop.

Cookbooks

2009-07-16T08:40:00.005+01:00

I’ve been thinking recently about how many cookbooks I have. And out of all of those how many I actually use. I have come to the conclusion I probably only use about 7%, maybe 10% in any way regularly. Not a good ratio really. But then again, the ones I use, I really use. Like the brilliant one I have dedicated to muffins. Or it’s sister publication, the one dedicated to cookies. So what cookbooks, if any do you find yourself using again and again?

I think this one above is my overall favourite for all things sweet. It’s just a great book, lots of ideas and easy to follow recipes and things always turn out well from it, even on first attempts. Always. It’s small, simple and best of all really inexpensive.
The thing that got me thinking was my fuzzy logic method to justify a new cookbook. In the end I couldn’t but went ahead and bought it anyway :) I ordered this one above as the recipes look really good, and it's a cookbook from a famous bakery. Hope it’s not another looks good, reads good but still sits on the shelf looking pretty kind of a cookbook. But if you were to recommend a cookbook, which would it be?

Finally, a ribbon blanket

2009-07-12T21:17:00.003+01:00

So I finally got the nerve to cut up my beautiful blanket material and made this tonight. It's a prototype and so I'm actually going to rip the stitches and re-sew as I learnt a lot in making the first one, but aside from a tweak here and there, it's working really well. The material is amazingly soft and in my very humble opinion, it's actually much nicer than this drab photo makes it appear, there's brighter ribbon out of shot, so I'm really delighted with it.

My idea was to make a whole batch of these, using all the various combinations of ribbons and fabric that I have at home and then set about trying to sell them on-line somewhere. I hoped to have these and some bunting ready for a market coming up next weekend, but time escaped me and I have a engagement party to go too (two engagements in so many months! Yay!) so that idea got scrapped, but this one, when it's finished, will be for a friends new baby boy who I hope to meet for the first time at the party.

Scraps

2009-07-12T14:00:00.000+01:00

So I finally began to put some of the bunting scraps to use. Firstly, there were these:
Very simply made using cardboard, glue, the material scraps and pinking sissors. Cut the cardboard first, and if you have a letter than needs a hole in it, like 'O', 'A' or 'R', cut a hole into the material too as it makes it easier.

Also put these together with Mi, very rough and ready picture frames, but they have no glass or edges so they are perfect for putting up beside her bed. Again they are just a cereal box cardboard backing with material glued in place and finished with an pinking shears. Excuse the bad photo, and they were straight, but the Thug made a swipe at them and messed them up a little.

A seemingly ordinary laundry bag

2009-07-11T09:49:00.006+01:00

So I was walking in to the kitchen and I didn't expect this to happen!As you can see, hide & seek is beginning to get out of hand, especially when one party isn't aware that the other is playing and gets a huge fright as something begins to rustle and emerges from what seems like far to small a bag to fit a 4 year old.

Of course I had to get her to re-create it as while it was frightening, it was pretty funny too.

You take a stick, you take some ribbon....

2009-07-10T16:57:00.003+01:00

......and hey presto! A toy to entertain a four year old for an hour at least. I used a stick of cut, dried bamboo from the garden and the ribbon was recycled from somewhere I can't remember. I was going to slice it and string it through the stick, but do you know what, tying a double knot worked just at well. Might be because the bamboo has a good grip to it. Looks like my dreams of having an entrant in the 2012 Olympics are still being kept alive.

Happy hand

2009-07-05T17:47:00.003+01:00

I spent the day with Mi today, on our own for much of it, but without her little sister for all of it, so she had a lot of my time. This evening, when we were home she drew me this card. It's her happy hands, as she had a "really good time so even her fingers were happy". Li got her mitts on it, thus the rip and the dirt, but it's one of my favourite pictures yet. And before anyone gets worried, there are actually 4 fingers and 1 thumb, it's just they are drawn over each other - she's not missing a digit.

Shortcakes, Dutch style

2009-07-04T19:24:00.003+01:00

I found this delicious recipe for Dutch Shortcakes. It's so easy it's peasy, only take about 10 minutes to prep, 15 minutes to cook, uses really basic ingredients everyone should have and the results are just delicious. But very diet unfriendly!

Ingredients;
150g Butter (softened!)
80g Caster Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
2 Tablespoons Corn Flour
180g Plain Flour

Instructions;
1) Heat the oven to 180ºC.
2) Cream the butter and sugar together until it's nice and light & creamy using a electric whisk.
3) Beat in the egg yolk.
4) Gently sift both flours in and continue to mix well until it has come together.
5) Next you need to transfer to a piping bag with a large star nozzle and pipe long continuous strips onto a non-stick baking sheet. I found it quite tricky to pipe, as it is quite thick, but keep at it and squeeze the life out of the bag if you have to, no need to be gentle.
6) Bung into the oven, check at 15 mins. If golden brown, remove, it not, continue to cook for a maximum of another 5 mins.
7) Remove from the oven, but keep them on the sheet. After a few minutes, while they are still hot, using a sharp knife gently cut into individual pieces. Allow to cool for a further couple of minutes and then very carefully transfer to a wire rack. They are quite crumbly, so use an appropriate flat lifter.

Delicious served with tea's coffees or chucked into a bowl with strawberries and vanilla ice-cream for dessert.
Enjoy!

Rain, rain go away

2009-07-02T20:27:00.004+01:00

So the rain had us all stuck inside for the early part of the day, and I was tired having been awake half the night with the thunder, so back to crafting we went. Mi wanted to make, surprise surprise, a card! Turned out pretty cure actually. Materials are just two pipe cleaners, 1 piece of card, glue & cut up bits of coloured paper or foil scraps. This is how you do it;

Aside from the glueing of the pipe cleaners, Mi was able to do it all herself, supervised of course. Unsupervised would have meant the glue would have been applied to herself and half the downstairs of the house too. And she even managed to sign her own name. Her penmanship is coming on no end.

Although the card was for P, and he though it looked like a murder note, so I think I'll try and get her to use less blood-red next time.

New blanket

2009-07-01T22:00:00.002+01:00

I made a new small persons lap blanket this evening, and it was surprisingly easy too. I had an ikea cot duvet that I had never used as I don't use duvets on cots so ripped the seams and sewed it onto a ridulously soft throw - feels like feathers it's that soft. Worked pretty well, but the shape skewed slightly on me, so it's not the perfect rectangle I wanted it to be. I've put it up in a press for now, as according to Amy Karol's book Bend the Rules sewing, sewing mistakes disappear as soon as you stop focusing on them, so hopefully I'll have forgotten the things that are slighly imperfect by next week when I give it to Li.
I need to get some thicker, more heavy duty needles too - the poor machine really had to work today.

Grubby little thing!

2009-06-26T15:07:00.004+01:00

So I was taking pictures of Li yesterday, and the just after I took the one above, which I think is really beautiful, this happened.

The dangers of candid portrait photography. Unfortunately my camera is officially out of action until I can figure out how to clean cake off the lens. I knew I should have gotten off my arse and bought that lens filter to protect it.

Operation Teddybear

2009-06-26T14:57:00.004+01:00

Just though I'd mention this. There is a campaign being run by a number of parents who are protesting about the cut-back in services at Crumlin Childrens Hospital. As some might know, this weekend is family weekend at The Dáil, with it open to the ticket holding public, so many are taking this opportunity to show their concern and protest.

"We are having a silent protest at The Dail, Kildare st entrance,on Saturday and Sunday. All we ask is that you bring a Teddy Bear to represent each of your children or if you are not a parent just bring along a teddy.If you can stick a sticker with the child's name on it-all the better.
There is a free Family day on both days at The Oireachtas.

We are hoping for thousands of teddy bears to get the visual effect we want.We want everyone in Ireland to be aware of the cutbacks in Crumlin and to realise they could affect any of us at any time.

You can drop the teddy on your way in and where possible if the children can place the teddy that will be best."

More details on their facebook page

Do not adjust your screen

2009-06-25T19:12:00.003+01:00

Blue potatoes now available in Superquinn. Yum! I'd just love to make a big gluttonous pile of mash out of them and smother it in butter. Although if you think I could get Mi to even taste them you are very much mistaken, she knows when some thing's not quite right, if only she could put her finger on it. It's a mystery.

Big up's for Zara

2009-06-23T15:12:00.001+01:00

I got a voucher for Zara from my aunt for my birthday, but instead of buying myself clothes decided to get some for the girls, of should I say for Mi now, and Li in about 3 years time, as everything I buy gets passed down the line. I was really impressed with their sale stock, which is pretty much the only section that I buy from.

I wanted to get enough to last her through to next year and I think, aside from having to get some basics along the way, I might have managed it. Good quality jeans and wool jumpers were all around €9-€10. Plus all the trousers have adjustable waistbands, which I have to have for Mi as she has no butt and it's difficult, neigh almost impossible to get trousers to stay up. And the style! Just look at these t-shirt illustrations. And for only €3 and €5 apiece too.

This one reminds me of a hybrid between loobylu's illustrations done in a traditional japanese style.
And the second was one of a set, the other face being a beautiful red haired girl with glasses. The first one came with this little linen bag too.Very sweet.

Ahoy! Treasure Maps!

2009-06-21T19:21:00.006+01:00

I didn't take many pictures of the Girls birthday party, and even though I was pretty sick, it was a great success. The big hit, aside from the huge bouncing castle were these.I have to add, I didn't make them as I was sick and resting in bed at this stage, but my sister and her boyfriend did a stellar job on my behalf. They are roughly A5 sized paper strips, hand torn and drawn, stained with a coffee mixture and dried for about 30 seconds in the oven, which was cooking the cocktail sausages at the time, then rolled up into a sausage shape.

I had previously wrapped about 40 small bits and pieces including pencils, pirate eye patches, mini playing cards, sunglasses, musical instruments and bubbles in newspaper and they were hidden around the garden while the kids ate. Then after they had their fill, they were all handed a treasure map and told to try and find the loot. They really enjoyed it, so much so that many weren't bothered actually opening them, they were all too busy trying to find more. Almost every kid took their map home, clutched firmly in their hands, and even now, a full week later, Mi is still trying to find every opportunity to go on a treasure hunt with her map again.

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

2009-06-21T18:38:00.009+01:00

Even though Fathers Day in our house was cancelled* Mi and myself still made some nice cupcakes just to show we are fans of Mr P. As we had the majority of the ingredients in the fridge and a new piping bag I wanted to try out, I decided on Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins with a Lemon Sherbet Buttercream Icing. Yum!

They are completely different to the usual cupcake/bun/bastardised sponge cake base that I usually use. No need for creaming the butter and sugar as you melt the butter and mix it into the wet ingredients then throw them all into another bowl with all the dry ingredients to make the batter. There's actually very little fat/eggs in them, but the icing makes up for that :) Here's the Muffin Recipe:

150g Blueberries
25g Icing Sugar
300g Plain Flower
2 Teaspoons Baking powder
Pinch of Salt
150g Soft Brown Sugar
1 Egg
200ml Buttermilk (see 3 below for substitute if you don't have any!)
2 Tablespoons of Milk
50g Melted Butter
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1) Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin sized paper cakes.
2) Put the blueberries into a very large bowl and sprinkle the icing sugar over them, to coat. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and stir together.
3) In a measuring jug or separate bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk, milk, melted butter and vanilla. If (like me last night) you don't have buttermilk, you can use 200ml of low fat milk with 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice, which has been allowed to stand for at least an hour.
4)Add the entire contents of the wet bowl into the dry ingredients bowl and stir by hand until combined.
5)Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, diving it easily. They rise a good bit and while this is a recipe for 12, I found last night that they made more than that, so if possible, try and make extra rather than over-filling the cases.
6)Pop in the oven for about 18/20 mins, until risen and golden. 18 mins was more than enough when I skewer tested, I was using an electric fan oven.
7)Let them cool in the tin for a minute or two, then pop them onto a wire rack, et voliá!

As the muffins with their lack of butter and egg do actually taste quite 'healthy' and the blueberry is a bland enough fruit, I decided I needed to make something punchy to cover them in, so made up this recipe for what I call Lemon Sherbet Buttercream Icing. It kinda tasted fizzy in the end, if that makes sense, so hence why I called it sherbet.

50g of Butter, softened (preferably lightly melted)
100g Icing Sugar
drop of Milk
2 Desert spoons of Fresh Lemon Juice (I recommend adding this gradually to taste. I think I actually added more, really did it by taste)

1)Put the butter into a medium sized bowl.
2)Gradually add the icing sugar and the drop of milk
3)Beat together until smooth, I nearly always use a mixer for this
4)Gradually add the lemon juice, beating well each time, then stopping and tasting. And you're done whenever you think you are done.

Pipe onto very well cooled/cold muffins and garnish as you see fit and refrigerate for at least 30mins if possible. I used sprinkles from M&S. Mi helped, and really explained to me how to a child, there is no such thing as "Less is More" as it's quite obvious from her decoration skills, the only thing that's More, is More. This is one of hers.
* Fathers day was postponed as poor P is still feeling rough, and seeing as my birthday was postponed from when I was unwell, made sense to delay that too.

Sick as a dog!

2009-06-18T21:16:00.003+01:00

I've been sick as a dog, unable to get my ass out of bed, so sorry for the lack of updates. Even missed my own birthday, so you know I was bad. Only positive to come out of it was that as i was bed-bound I got a chance to cut some more bunting panels, so used up all the material I'd been hoarding for that very purpose.
This may not look like a lot, but by lord, it is. Need to go to homefocus and buy some bias tape and I can start sewing, when the two chislers give me the chance of course.

And want to think of something nice to do with the scraps too. Was thinking appliquéing onto t-shirts or bibs or the like? Not sure, but I will do something, too nice to throw away.

Look what arrived in the post

2009-06-09T19:56:00.002+01:00

My long awaited minky blanket material! 5 yards of it. Bought on ebay for a fortune as its not sold over here, but fingers crossed it's an investment as I'm turning it into something (hopefully) wonderful and sellable. Watch this space!

The start of a great year

2009-06-09T08:57:00.004+01:00

This day last year I was incredibly overdue and wished I had my baby in my arms a million times a day. I had become slightly delusional with the waiting around and discomfort that comes with being *that* pregnant with a deeply engaged, op presentation baby. I began to imagine that I might possibly be bringing my second born to school in-utero. I had surreal dreams of giving birth to a fully grown child, complete with classic British school uniform, hat and all.

Well, she wasn't that big, and I wasn't waiting that long in the grand scheme, but at 9lb 9oz, or 4.34kg, & 54 cm long she could have passed as a 6 week old and thankfully she has continued to thrive and grow and smile and be loved by all. Love you sweetheart, xx.

Echino Oilcloth

2009-06-08T15:04:00.001+01:00

Hurrah! Look whats just been released - Echino fabrics as oilcloth! I've liked their material for a long, long time, it was the reason I bought a beco baby carrier, I fell in love with the material they used in a dove beco, but now they have released oilcloth I think its even better. The one above really reminds me of the illustration from "The Tiger that came to Tea"

You can buy via etsy, through thefabricbar or from the purl bee and they really great, step by step, tutorial on how to make this great little shopping bag here. Me wanty!

Wet blanket weekend

2009-06-07T13:51:00.006+01:00

What a bad run of luck! On Thursday night, well actually very early Friday morning, Mi came into our room hysterical and frantically trying to catch her breath, making a truly horrible noise with every breath. I took a look at her, checked her chest which was concave and literally carried her out the door, threw her into the car and drove straight to hospital.

We were seen straight away and it turns out she has severe croup and stridor, but after a short while on a steriod nebuliser, some more liquid steroid and a few hours of being monitored, we were let out to go home. That was brilliant as it was 50:50 on whether or not she'd be admitted, as she still had stridor, even though it was lessened. Mi had become very upset & distressed at the idea of staying in hospital and as its important to keep a child with breathing difficult as calm as possible, this was the best time ever for her to kick up a fuss as it meant we got to go home.

Scary thing was, she had gone to bed 99% fine - I had noticed that her voice sounds a bit off, a bit deep, but no other symptoms, not even a runny nose, nothing.

Anyway, the girls birthday party was cancelled, or should I say postponed, and I've been too busy looking after her to do much else as you can imagine, but I did want to pass on this recipe from tast.ie's blog as it was one of the only things that managed to brighten up my otherwise rotten weekend. The yummiest, easiest banana bread in the world, that anyone should be able to make, it's that simple. God's honest truth!

Excuses and rugs

2009-06-04T22:54:00.006+01:00

We've been away again, at a wedding in Galway. And now we are back, the weather, overall tiredness and Mi's birthday celebrations are to blame for the lack of posting. That and the close to 150 midge bites I received which have me on pretty strong anti-histamines and in an overall grumpy, itch humour. They really are that bad. I look like I have a seriously awful case of chicken pox, but thankfully they decided to attack my legs and shoulders, both easy areas to cover, so I'm avoiding being stared and shouted at by passers-by for carrying plague.

Although poor Mi has been getting upset when she sees them. We were down at the beach this morning and she really wanted the sea to wash them away and got upset when it didn't work, bless!

Anyway, Mi's birthday was Tuesday and even though I was working, we still managed to spend some good quality time with her and my parents came up with my sister to share her delicious strawberry & buttercream sponge. Yum!

Herself & Li are having a joint birthday party on Saturday, so up to my eyes with that now - 15+ screaming children. Fingers crossed the rain holds off as I don't know if the house will hold that many kids. Expect lots of updates of some of the nice treats I have in store for it though!

In the meantime, I've been pining for a new carpet for Mi's room. No money, but no hard in planning? Anyway, she used to have a small one I bought in Habitat, but it looked better in Li's room, so she got it. I've been thinking I'd like a Marimekko red/pink flower one, and while searching for that, which I can't seem to find I found this, which is pretty close.
Now, ignore the silly sculpture, it is pretty close right? But the thing it, it's not exactly it, and while its a Linge Roset, I'm not exactly their biggest fan either and then there's the fact its a blatant knock off. Hmmm. So then this caught my eye,
and I though that it was just the business, until I saw this,
which is a hand felted carpet, made of balls of felt, strung together. Felt. Bright beautiful balls of felt. Have I every mentioned how much I love felt. Makes me feel like I'm 6 years old again. I just love this rug, I think it was designed especially for me.

But then I remembered what I actually want it for and I imagine it would last all of what, maybe a day before it was squished and ruined. Maybe it's just one to get in my twilight years, when the girls have grown up and flow the coup and I'm back to drinking all the gin I want, all the time. Maybe my bites will have cleared up by then too. Fingers crossed.

Sunshine. And lots of it.

2009-05-29T15:00:00.003+01:00

The weather is just too good to be indoors crafting, so we're out enjoying ourselves. Hope you all are too. We are playing with flowers though. Looking at the bees land on the lavender, hoping it grows well as there's lots that I want to do with the dried flowers at the end of the Summer. It's just beautiful at the minute, so vibrant.

But what is with the daisies this weather? We cut the lawn and less than 24 hours later they are back in their droves, poking their little heads out of the grass. Mi's gone daisy-crazy too. Every few minutes in the daylight hours she's handing me "some flowers she picked because she loves me". She's one big hallmark moment that kid, I think she's after something. Still, keeps her busy, keeps her happy, keeps her off the streets. Li like them too, but just to eat or to destroy.

I've been making daisy chains with Mi, but she's not quiet dexterous enough to be able to do it herself and gets a bit frustrated and bored trying, so we have resorted to pressing them and glueing them into cards. What is it with that girl - always with the cards! Hello, my name is Mia and I'm a card-a-holic.

Ta da! Done

2009-05-28T16:05:00.003+01:00

So here's the finished product. Can you tell I'm delighted with it. So much easier and less time consuming that I expected. Will definitely be making more, now I know I can. The colours are more vibrant than they show here too, bright fuchsia & orange. I used a zig-zag stitch around all edges and then finished the sides off with a pinking shears. The bias tape was a bit of a pain, might try to find some nice rope for next time, but still, I managed to get it all finished in under an hour which is pretty good considering I have no sewing experience what-so-ever.

Two birthday books

2009-05-27T20:25:00.004+01:00

I'm putting off sewing the bunting as I'm afraid I'm going to screw it up. Going to bite the bullet tonight though. In the mean time, have a look at this sweet book I bought Li for her birthdayFirst is Charley Harper's ABC's. It's a board book and each page gets a letter to itself, and an animal to signify it. It's so sweet, illustrated in the 1950's or early '60's I'd say. Just lovely. You can see more of his illustrations here or buy prints here.

And Mi is getting this one, 'While You Are Sleeping' by Alexis Deacon. It's really sweet, yet still sort of creepy, all the teddy bears come to life to look after the sleeping girl but they are illustrated in a really unusual, keep one eye on the bear at all times kind of way. I think she'll love it, she actually likes things like that.

Bunting

2009-05-21T21:14:00.004+01:00

Hoping to get a chance to sew this tomorrow or over the weekend - my first attempt at bunting. This will be for Li's room I think, I'll decide when its finished, see how it looks.

I cut the flags this evening, now to figure out if I want to use a traditional bias cut edging or rope. Can't make up my mind. Think I'll try the edging though. Then I'll just use a pinking shears to edge, keep it simple. I was going to sew them inside out, so when they are turned they will look more shop bought, but I actually think slightly frayed edges will suit it more. Will post an update over the weekend.

By the way, the material is a mixed bag - the plain colours are from a pack of fat quarters sold in Hickeys/Home Focus, nice and cheap, like under €5 for a pack which contains about 6 fat quarters of coordinating strong bold colours. The rest is scraps of Amy Butler fabric, and old IKEA cot blanket and a fat quarter I bought from ebay that wasn't right for the job I bought it for. Suits this fine.

Lunchbag, 1st attempt

2009-05-20T21:59:00.008+01:00

Could be better, could be worse. Didn't start until late as was working late, so that didn't help. And I didn't have any velcro, or should I say, I couldn't find the velcro that I know is hiding somewhere in the house, but as a mock-up prototype, 1st attempt, not bad at all.

Lunchbags made easy (or maybe not!)

2009-05-19T16:43:00.005+01:00

Following on from this thread, my challenge to myself this week is to find the time to make this oil cloth lunchbag. The photo is from tumbling boxes' blog and she has detailed instructions which look easy enough. However I may regret saying that.

Will let you know how I get on and hopefully have some pictures by the end of the week.

Thank heaven for pancakes!

2009-05-17T16:00:00.004+01:00

So what to do when its absolutely lashing outside, you are on your own, with two cranky kids, for the whole day, one's teething, your head is splitting from a sinus headache and you have no car? Feed 'um. All their favourites. My bribe of choice - Pancakes! Pancakes as big as the moon, or so Mi thinks anyway. In reality, they are the size of a full dinner plate, but that's pretty impressive to an almost 4 year old in itself. The prep of the batter and cooking even managed to get my mind off the pain in my head.

And when it still hasn't cleared up outside, and you brain is still pounding, try a little mac & cheese bribery. Works well with any ages, as you can see from Li here. She doesn't look cranky anymore does she? Although if you look closely, you can still see the tear in her eye from when she lost her reason as I was taking a whole five seconds too long getting her into her tripp trapp when all she wanted to do was chow down. Short fuse this one.
But don't feel bad, it wasn't all white food. There were veg too. Mi's favourite, carrot sticks. Yum!

The Purl Bee

2009-05-16T14:40:00.003+01:00

How did I not know about this site before?? The Purl Bee has the most beautiful photos, simple, straightforward explanations and most fantastic designs I think I have ever seen on one single craft website. Seriously, have a look here at the holiday sewing section. I am so going to get some new felt and make me some of these!

Sweet shirt dress

2009-05-15T15:30:00.005+01:00

Anyone with a little girl and handy with a sewing machine should check out dana's blog spot here where it shows how to turn an old shirt into a lovely summer dress. This is her finished dress above. I saw it on sweet juniper's woodcraft first, and not only does it appear to be very practical, it also looks simple enough too.

Paper Blooms

2009-05-14T17:33:00.012+01:00

Mi and I made paper flowers today. Turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself. Although I'd prefer if the sun had of been out and we could have picked some real ones instead.
First off we made this card for my mother, who's going into hospital tomorrow. Nothing too serious, but still, never nice being in hospital, so Mi, who's card crazy, wanted to make her a get well soon card.While we were going about making it, I remembered I had push pins in the press, so we expanded into making her some paper flowers to go with her card. The stem is just foldered card, to give it some strength. Obviously sticks would work too, but we had none so this worked just dandy.

Then as we had cut too many circles and petal shapes, it seemed a shame to waste them, so we made these. I espically like the marimekko style ones, that came about quite by accident.
We finished off with two corsages, one with a pipe cleaner, one with a simple card strap. All in all not bad and only used a bit of coloured card, some push pins, a pipe cleaner if you have one, for the corsage, and some glue. Simple!

Not that I'm buying anything at the moment...

2009-05-12T21:14:00.005+01:00

...but if I was, I think it would be one of these for Li...
...and one of these for MiBloody Threadless kids, always makes me so wanty. Although with the second one only $9, it's not going to break everyone's bank. Back to crafts again tomorrow I promise!

en vacances

2009-05-11T17:58:00.001+01:00

Apologies for the lack of updates, just back from a trip away. Bet you can't guess where from the subtle hint in this photo. Normal service will resume shortly

Simple pom-poms

2009-05-06T15:00:00.000+01:00

I hadn't made these in years, but with the charity shop find of the other day, I set about making some pompoms with Mi. No, not the flashy American cheerleading kind, the simple, fluffy friendly kind. Here are the steps -
Measure and cut two identically sized circular pieces of cards. In the centre of each, drawn to smaller circles. As you can see, I used cups and coins to help with this part.
Then carefully cut them out.
Holding the two identical pieces, back to back, cut a thin wedge out of both pieces of card. This is to allow the circles become more flexible, which really helps teeny fingers with wrapping the wood. Then start wrapping tightly the wool around the card. Do this the whole way around, and back again for good measure. You really want it to be well covered in wool.

This next part is a bit tricky and should be done by the supervisor rather than helper. Still holding the wool tightly, slide a scissors into the space between the two pieces of cards and gently start snipping the wool away, until it has all been snipped. With the wool still in your hand, tightly, and I mean very tightly, wrap the wool between the two pieces of card. When its good and tight, tie and knot in it.
Pull out both, now lose pieces of cards and store them for the next time. Fluff up the pompom by hand, et voilá
Of course Mi couldn't not put googly eye on him :) I'm going to make a bunch and turn them into a pompom scarf as a present. Will post pictures when it's done.

Now were to put it all....

2009-05-04T10:08:00.000+01:00

So I've been putting Mi's pictures on her door, on the magnetic holder beside the door and of course, the fridge, but the house is getting a little over run with her bits and pieces. Which brings me to these - nice simple ways to display your childs art;

Coat Hangers, just add clips, courtesy of barbara berrada

Curtain rail from IKEA, courtesy of ikea hacker.
This is a really simple idea, just use string and clothes pegs, again courtesy of barbara berrada flickr

And this is a sweet idea and keeps things very minimal. Take photo's of your kids pictures, shrink, print & frame. Courtesy of tiny decor blog

Not a great plan....

2009-05-03T12:05:00.001+01:00

So apparently, in case you weren't aware already, sewing up a soft toy after you've had a celebratory glass of wine (Go Leinster!) isn't a great idea.

Not only did I manage to miss-sew both paws, I also forgot to add a white fleece patch for his tummy. I could rip and re-stitch, but I think I'll start over. I drew the pattern up myself so still have it.

This bear is for Mi's birthday. I still have to make Li a fox. She gets a fox as that is what Mi wanted to name her before she was born, and as cute as it would have been to call her that, I think she would have hated me as a teenager.

Bargain of the week!

2009-05-03T11:38:00.000+01:00

A whopping €4.50 for the lot in the local charity shop. And I had only been thinking how much I wanted some nice soft, cashmere wool. Someone out there was listening. Bargain.

Play Dough

2009-05-02T15:22:00.001+01:00

So I finally got some time to make some playdough with Mi. We had gone for a long swim so I knew Li's nap would be longer than usual so took the opportunity for some one-on-one time with Mi.

This is so simple to make, really easy, and the ingredients are all widely available and cheap too.

First you need to measure. One cup of plain flour, half cup of fine table salt, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar, a tablespoon of cooking oil and a cup of water. If you haven't heard of cream of tartar before, its a raising agent, and you usually find it beside the baking powder in the supermarket. I get it in the local Tesco, your local supermarket should have it too.

Anyway, chuck all this stuff in a bowl, or better still, a microwaveable plastic bowl, and mix it all with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula.

At this stage I add a few drops of food colouring, what ever colour you like. I was told by Mi to make pink and purple, so in this bowl I used a few drops of red and blue together then in a separate bowl, just a little red on its own. I also like to add a drop or two of essential oil at this stage, like lavender or tea tree - anything really, it's just to make the whole thing smell a bit nicer. Don't use something that a little one might confuse with food though, so no vanilla etc.

Now you need to cook in a microwave on full power for 2 mins. After that, take it out and stir. At this stage it should be done and look and act like normal run of the mill play dough and should not be sticky, so if it still is, just bung it in again for another 30 seconds, maybe even another minute, as the cooking time is approximate and depends on the strength of your microwave. When it's done, let it cool for a few minutes and you are done. You can also add glitter at this stage, but for the love of all things holy, don't microwave it again at this point unless you want a indoors fireworks display. Only thing left to do with it is play with it.

It keeps for ages and ages and ages in an air tight container. Actually, longer than the bought stuff.

Doodles and clocks

2009-04-30T20:59:00.001+01:00

Must admit, not a great day on the whole crafting front. Had great plans to make some new play dough and some cakes but spent the majority of the day on the phone chasing down our passports while feeling very under the weather. Very irritating, but the passports were sorted in the end, thankfully.

Anyway, it's bad days like these that in this house you pull out the old faithfuls - jigsaws, colouring books and whatever the hell you can find in the garden.

I'm all for free style colouring and drawing, but once in a while it's nice to get to just colour something in. Mi has this great colouring book, which I'm sure many people already know, but just in case you weren't aware of it, Taro Gomi's The Doodle Book: Draw! Colour! Create! is just great. Firstly, it's huge, and more importantly, its fun, and I mean for kids and their adult helpers. The book is basically a series of half finished doodles, lines or shapes and an instruction is given at the top of the page for the colouree to alter it into their own drawing. A colouring book that allows for creativity. Genius. Taro Gomi is the artist behind "Everybody Poops" which was a favourite in this house in late '07.

There's a few in the series but this one seems to keep going and going so hopefully it will be another while yet before the sequel has to be bought. Here's some examples of what's inside. The first one asks for the robots to be given limbs, the second requests a rainbow is drawn over two pages. The third just shows how lovely the illustration is.

Who'd of though, but another thing that gave her about an hour of fun today was dandelion clocks. On a walk to the shops, an event only taking place to break up the day somewhat, she found their round seeded heads for what I think was the first time, well since she had a real understanding of the world anyway. She found the idea of this great poofy seed head amazing and happily helped mother nature along, spreading weed seeds everywhere along the road, puffing away at each and everyone she could find. Thankfully not in my back yard too. Back to promises of play dough tomorrow.

Decal-icious

2009-04-28T19:32:00.000+01:00

I'm a sucker for bright colours which is why I'm such a fan of sticker & decals, especially ones from Blik. They provide a opportunity to brighten any wall or dark corner with a bit of fun. They aren't expensive, permanent and are easy to apply.

I have sweet sixteen, basically bright candy colours dots, on the wall in Li's room, which is this picture on the left. It makes it so bright and fun and childish without going with a specific theme or characterisation. They have ones that I'd have loved as a kid too, but I'm not sure my mother would have let us have donkey kong decals on our wall. Boo hiss her! ;)

Anyway, threadless, the site now famous for it's t-shirts teamed up with Blik some time back. The results are a bit hit and miss, but when they hit, they really hit.

This one is pretty sweet,

as is this

but I think this is my favourite at the moment*

*Favourites have been known to change on a hourly basis :)

Paper Pet

2009-04-27T21:27:00.000+01:00

So simple, yet looks like lots of fun. Not mine I'm afraid, belongs to .naa.'s flickr stream but I'm definitely going to try it with Mi next week.
Crayons, pencils or markers, card or an old cardboard box, scissors, blue tac and a thick nibbed black pen

Ribbons

2009-04-27T20:49:00.000+01:00

I'm sick of spending a fortune on a poor selection of ribbons so I'm on a quest to find some reasonable priced, and more importantly, interesting ribbons. Preferably woven or printed please.

These are some I've found so far:

Only snag with this site is that my Dutch ain't what it used to be, so not sure how to order, or the cost of shipping. Must bring out the google translator, um, I mean dictionary.

Etsy supplies has some nice ones too.

These are from Holland's fabric house. It's not cheap at $7 a meter but it's unusual and very sweet. Try doing a search for ribbon or printed ribbon on Etsy in supplies, lot of nice choices.

Lunch

2009-04-27T19:27:00.001+01:00

So tomorrow my little girl Mi is having a 'trial' of school. It's only an hour, and I nearly forgot about it altogether, but it is quite a big thing all the same. She's only going into Kindergarten too, but still, I can't escape the reality of it all. My little girl is going to school. Soon.

I am going to console myself about the fact she's growing up ridiculously quickly by trying to track down some really nice stationary, school bags and bits and pieces for her, as that was always my favourite part of going to school - the supplies. But part of me really just wants to send her with her lunch in a classic brown paper bag.

Thankfully she's not into themes yet, aside from occasionally requesting pirate or princess or even pirate princess items, but we have managed to bypass me having to try to say no to Dora t-shirts and the like. Although I suppose I could always 'pimp' up the bags, like here.

It's what's inside....

2009-04-27T19:00:00.000+01:00

I was on keep calm gallery's website, they specialist in hand screened prints, and found this lovely one. It's really nice, I like the style and message, but at £50 it's just a bit too steep, considering its size. I'd like it for Mi's room.

I think this is more my current budget at £18, and suits my current frame of mind. It would look pretty sweet in the kitchen.

.

Pillow Buddies

2009-04-26T21:52:00.001+01:00

This little fella was made when I was so sick I wasn't allowed out of bed. He's a pillow buddy, and he's Li's so he doesn't have a name yet. The main body is just cotton which is from the 'barnslig' range from ikea and the face is fleece. He's stuffed with toy fill. He's a bit worn as he's well used by Li, and despite the fleece being described as non pile, you can see he's balling a bit, but hey, he's loved :)

I actually hand sewed him, not allowed out of bed remember, but if you were to sew him up on a machine he'd take no time at all. Must make some more, Mi would like one and she's very into pillows, cushions and soft toys so to have one that was all three would be fairly spot on for her.

Dutch Bunny

2009-04-26T21:18:00.000+01:00

I bought this for Li when she wasn't yet born. I decided if she was a boy he'd just have to accept the flowery patterns because, lets be honest, I wanted it for myself but at almost 30 years old wanting a stuffed rabbit is just a bit too much isn't it?

It is made by pakhuisoost a Dutch design company that specialises in design for kids. This is called a cuddle bunny and I got him for about €2 in House of Fraser in Dundrum as they didn't sell well so were just trying to shift them. Lucky us!

I keep meaning to make a tribute bunny, a copy so to speak, and this has just reminded me to get my ass in gear as he looks pretty simple, even for my basic sewing skills. All you'd need is colourful material, felt or fleece off-cuts and embroidery thread. Will put on the list to make soon and promise to report the result back.

The 'bots

2009-04-26T19:57:00.000+01:00

Having received the latest update from kidscraftweekly we set about making some felt robots this week. Huge success, Mi loved every minute of it. Here are some of her creations. While I provided some practical help, Mi was the art director in every sense of the word. I think she did really well.

This was her first attempt, meet Mr Wrong.

Then Fleddy

And finally, my favourite and the one she made almost entirely by herself, Teddy.

All that is needed here is to cut the felt (or material scraps or paper/card) into squares and rectangles, some backing card and pva. I had some googly eyes, and some foil left over from the last craft, but these little guys are savage recyclers, so just look again at what you have available to you and try and use it. Even try the press as cheerios would work too.

Depending on your kid, their age and their attention span, it's a good idea to have the felt pre-cut and bits and pieces to hand so you can get stuck right in straight away.

A Very Stroppy Caterpillar

2009-04-26T19:34:00.000+01:00

Inspired by the book of a similar name, and an egg box that had been stuck on a shelf, crying out to be re-made into something new, myself and Mi set about making ourselves a caterpillar. My sister was also on hand to help, and a good thing too, as half-way through Mi decided that "Actually, she was finished" so her help on the project was somewhat lacking.

He's basically one egg carton, some green & black craft paper and the foil remnants of a long eaten Easter egg mixed with some pva glue and two shades of green paint. Oh, and how could I forget Mi's favourite part, two googly eyes. Here he is in all his glory.

As made by a 30 and a 25 year old. With some help by an almost 4 year old. She did the eyes and antenna and stuck one section on, and a tiny bit of foil.

All Hail Max, Ruler of the Wild Things!

2009-04-26T16:25:00.000+01:00

I am so looking forward to seeing Where the Wild Things Are I actually get giddy at the idea.

I first remember seeing the book in Pembroke Library in Dublin, I was around 4 I'd say, and I was hooked. I didn't even realise there was a movie coming out until about a month ago and the trailer is giving me high expectations. I love the style of the creatures and Max's costume.

Speaking of which, I'd so very much love to get a Max costume for Mi - reading the book at night together has sort of become our thing. I was on Etsy.com trying to source one, but could only find one that wasn't right and one through Etsy Alchemy. No word back on that yet, but if anyone knows anyone who can make me one like this, I'd love to hear about it. I can handle making the crown myself :)

Tea Parties

2009-04-26T16:12:00.000+01:00

Having a tea party is perhaps one of the easiest ways to entertain a child for a good 20 odd minutes anyway. Seriously, all you need is a table, chairs and invited guests.

Obviously some of the non stuffed variety help, but as you can see from the photo below, taken when Mi was an only child, bears work fine and only have small tummies so all the more for her.

I like it when the bears make a bit of an effort too, to dress up I mean, and doing this with your little one makes the event a longer, funnier experience. Pooh looked pretty fetching in Mi's old button under vest. Go for broke and make the invites too. It will really set the day up for you.

It's not all about the food either. This one was a ten minute affair, all the ingredients were out of the press and fridge, but if you make cakes, buns and cut up finger sandwiches and decorate the table up with napkins and bunting you can make it all the more special. Particularly when there's more than real life guest at the table. The table's from ikea, as are the chairs.