Sewing Cards

[Dora with her backpack and map, Boots with tail].

After consulting my Woman's Weekly Children's Arts and Crafts book (circa 1970?), we made these Sewing Cards today using cardboard, a hole punch and some wool.

Livvie showed great determination in getting the threading right, unravelling it and starting again when she made a mistake however, Elly lost interest after about 3 holes, so I finished it off for her, when she insisted it have a border too;

They seem to think these are 'photo frames' so maybe we will do some portraits later today too...

Puzzles for Dad

Nick often does interstate trips for work every couple of weeks, but this week was extra long with him away in Queensland and then Canberra for most of the week. Needless to say, the girls and I were very excited about his arrival home yesterday.

I thought it would be fun if the girls painted him a puzzle each, something personalised, something they could do together when he got home (because what else would he rather be doing after a 3 hour drive?!?! hehe).

Livvie got straight to work, painting a picture of herself (with wings, because she is a fairy of course) and her daddy;

Elly painted a house and when I asked 'Where's Daddy?', her quick reply was, 'Inside the house!'. Of course.

Look at that morning 'do!

There were a few more blank puzzles inside the packet (which we got from the Craft Fair for $1 earlier in the week)... so Livvie painted a rainbow puzzle;

...and Elly painted an abstract design in shades of red and pink that was really tricky to put back together!

It was such a nice little project and the girls really loved that they had actually made something for their Dad that they could play together with him. And such a lovely mess was made of their paints;

Winter holidays

Some of my 4 yr old daughter's Preschool friends go on some great overseas holidays and bring back cute little gifts for their friends. Last time it was an Eiffel Tower keyring from Paris, there was a postcard from Disneyland and this time, it was this lovely little coin purse from Thailand. I just love the bright, colourful leather and the simple elephant shape.

Since having children, we never seem to venture too far away from home for our holidays... a 1 hour flight to Queensland for a summer beach holiday or a 2 hour drive to Bundanoon to stay on a farm are the most common getaways for our little family.

The July school holidays are nearly upon us and as I am working as a Teacher's Aide, we will definitely take the opportunity of my two weeks off work to go away for a few days. Where? I do not know... but I am pretty sure (actually, I'm absolutely certain) it won't be Paris or Thailand, unfortunately!

Craft and Quilt Fair 2011

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Elly and I had a lovely morning at Darling Harbour today. First stop was the Craft & Quilt Fair (where my decision to learn to sew was made, three years ago!).

When the girls were little, I used to try to steal a few minutes in a craft store by myself, while my husband would look after the girls elsewhere. But as they have gotten older, I enjoy taking them with me and I know they love being amongst all the colours and textures and helping me choose some lovely goodies to bring home.

Of course, I always let them choose something crafty to bring home for their stash too (their school desks are currently overflowing with crafty bits and pieces). Livvie tells me she wants a sewing machine for her 5th birthday and Elly, at three years old, can hand stitch better than I can... so I think we all have a mutual appreciation for handicrafts!

Anyway, with the aid of my little helper today, we perused aisle after aisle of beautiful fabrics and notions and came home with...

Ribbons from Craft Queen. I loved their Jumbo Ric-Rac and Wide Florals too! And I couldn't resist their buttons either...

Deal of the Day... $3.50 fat quarters from Patchwork with Gail B;

Scrapbook Paper from The Craft Spot;

Beautiful Magical Lands fabric from Saffron Craig;

This sweet little fat 1/4 from Studio Mio;

And totally unnecessary but funny... this little badge;

Nick is due home from a business trip tonight (provided his plane can land at Sydney Airport... it was closed earlier today, due to the volcanic ash). However, I think I'll save this little joke for another day. The next time I am at my sewing machine, I'll make sure I am wearing my badge and I'll point to it, if he disturbs me!

A Gluten-free and Lactose-free Lunch

We had friends over for lunch yesterday and... I obviously had help with setting the table! The girls made all the little place-cards; Livvie wrote the names and Elly drew a picture of each person on the under-side.

I love having friends and family around for a meal, there is always an air of excitement as we get everything ready and the children try to 'help' in any way they can, picking fresh flowers and in the case of my girls, making handmade cards and signs for our guests. There is often a countdown to when they will arrive and once they do, I love seeing my little house full of loved ones, laughing and talking and singing and enjoying being together.

The other side of it is I usually get a bit stressed about being the hostess - I am prone to forgetting something major, like oh, offering our guests a drink! (We have learned that it is best if Nick is the Barista in our house while I take care of all the cooking). But yesterday's menu was a little bit more tricky, preparing a 3 course meal that was Gluten-free and Lactose-free.

It probably would have been best if I had spent some time earlier in the week planning this lunch, but the truth is that late the night before was the first chance I got. It all came together in the end with these little dishes I rustled up, after a lightning-speed shopping trip for all the ingredients at 8am in the morning...

Starters were: Corn & Bacon Fritters (with rice flour) topped with Avocado and Mushroom Caps with Capsicum Pesto and for others, Gruyere Cheese;

The Main Course was a Lamb Roast with Rosemary and Potatoes, Pumpkin, Onion and Green Beans.... (I initially had visions of making individual pot pies with gluten-free pastry, but thankfully, common-sense prevailed!)....Together with some of the benefits of my husbands interstate trips;

And for Dessert;

Toffee Poached Pears with Coconut Macaroon and Strawberries.

Whilst I do consider myself to be a pretty decent baker, this dessert really takes the cake. Even my fruit-averse husband will testify that this is absolutely delicious. I think that anyone who ever comes to our house again can expect to have this for dessert, it was so yummy.

Of course, the best part was seeing our friends again... and the 5 hours we spent sitting around talking and laughing with them. For my girls, they will have treasured memories of our friends bouncing on our trampoline with them... and pretending to jump in our pool (in the middle of winter!) much to our three-year olds great concern.... and the magical head massages they were given, to calm them down from a state of hysterical giggles.

'Can they come back again tomorrow?' asked Livvie. I really wish they could! I would at least know what the dessert would be...

Skirt

A little skirt for a little friend...

My girls have enjoyed many beautiful hand-me-downs from Zoe, so I wanted to make her something special. I didn't have her measurements beforehand (just lucky guesses) but now that I do, I will be making her a couple more. Especially now that I know what her favourite colours are (which of course, is so important when you are 5 years old). Next up will be the pink and purple number. I should have known!

Rain, rain go away...

Is there anything worse than being stuck inside on a rainy afternoon, after being stuck inside on a rainy morning? We could only keep them cooped up for so long...

The giant puddle was far too tempting for my two!

Fairy Party

Yesterday I took my girls to the most beautiful fairy party for one of their little friends from PreSchool....

Like most little 3 and 4 year old girls, Livvie and Elly already had fairy wings and frilly skirts for their costumes, but really, you can never have enough ruffles... so I made them each a little fairy headband/crown the night before;

I cut strips of tulle which I gathered, as I stitched it to some elastic. Then I used a hot glue-gun to add sequins for some extra sparkle. I was thinking it would be worn as a crown on top of their heads, but the girls had other ideas...

'Do you think Charlotte will know it is me?' Livvie asked, as she put it on.

I love how something so simple, can make her feel so special!

There were Fairy cupcakes for all the fairies, little glass bottles of peach nectar, mini banana-bread in individual paper boxes...

It was all very sweet.

The birthday girls' Mummy is very clever and crafted up some beautiful drawstring goody bags to take home...

... (a Kinder Surprise) and these beautiful handmade clips inside;

Such gorgeous treasures for my excited {and exhausted} little fairies!