Thursday, February 24, 2011

My Creative Space : Playing with Yarn

I've caught the crochet bug....again (I think it must be the cooler weather..maybe?)

Alannah's beanie was finished off and embellished with an over-sized velveteen bow, which she loves and proceeds to wear to school although it is still technically summer here...he he...so sweet...



Also, I'm having fun playing with a peaked cap style beanie...these two are for littlies - pink is probably up to 6 months, while the blue/latte one fits Levi who is nearly 11 months. I have every intention to add a flower or big wood button or leather star or something to each of these on the join of the peak to the body of the beanie, just to finish it off. There is a local school market that I'm participating in, in a few weeks, so I'm hoping to hook up a few of these to sell on the day. What do you think?


And lastly, just for something different, some more crochet...he he...this one is an indie slouch beanie. I have attempted this before but my hook was 2 sizes smaller than the required hook. Now I've got the right sized hook (8mm, in case you are wondering) and things already seem looser and more slouchy, and I'm in love with this colour.


After some inspiration? Head over to Kootoyoo where inspiration abounds!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A Taste of Neverland

On the weekend my sister and her hubby hosted a kids party to the theme of Peter Pan's Neverland. There were many who dressed up (adults included!), there were activities a-plenty for the kidlets and four distinct areas for play - Pixie Hollow, the Mermaid Lagoon, an Indian Teepee Village and the Jolly Rodger Pirate ship (of course :-P). It was wonderful!

A few of the mums pitched in and helped with the food, and it looked amazing, so I thought I'd share those photos first..

Ok, here we go....

Toadstool biscuits


Treasure Chest Cake


Teacup Cookies


Pirate Cupcakes


A Fresh Fruit Cake


Yummy Sandwiches tied up with string


Anchor Biscuits


There were also jelly cakes, fairy/butterfly cakes, home-made sausage rolls and blue (lagoon) jelly cups. Of course the kids all loved it!

I'm sure there will be a few photos posted over on Dan's blog soon, and I'll be back with one more post too.

xx

Thursday, February 17, 2011

My Creative Space : Hooking Fun


I almost missed out this week, due to a 17 hour power failure (last week I did miss out due to our modem dying), but here I am..better late than never, right? :-P

I've just been playing with yarn this week. This is my first ever beanie, with an over-sized flower embellishment, and I've just finished another one in two-tone teal for Alannah, but hers is going to have an over-sized black velveteen bow on it.

It's fun! But I'll be back to sewing next week.

So many more Creative Spaces over here..

Monday, February 14, 2011

Not-Too-Naughty Pear & Choc Chip Muffins


These are proving a real hit with my family, and they don't have too many naughty ingredients, so are great for school snacks too.

Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients :
240g Wholemeal Self-Raising Flour
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1 Egg
80ml Honey
125ml Light Olive Oil
250ml Low Fat Milk
190g Diced Pear
1/2 cup Dark Chocolate Chips (can be replaced with Carob chocolate if you want to be really healthy :-P)

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Prepare muffin tray with muffin cases.
2. Mix flour and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, whisk liquid ingredients until well combined.
4. Add flour mixture to liquid ingredients and combine.
5. Fold in pear and choc chips.
6. Spoon mixture into cases and bake for 20-30 minutes until risen and golden brown.
7. Cool before serving.


Yum!

Happy baking!

xx

P.S - Playing along with 'Sweets for Saturday' over on Lisa's blog - loads of recipes being shared on there - come check it out!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Something for Me...

Can you believe that with all the bags I've made in the past 4 months that I've not even kept one for me?!? Crazy, I know :-P

Anyhow, over the weekend, I fixed that craziness and made myself a bag.

I finally cut into my Matisse fabric stash, and followed a Simplicity pattern and...

ta da!

my new bag...


and the lining with internal zippered pocket...

So happy with it!

Have you made anything for you lately?

xx

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

First Day..


Jude, my little blond bear, started school yesterday. And little Miss Alannah is now in Year 2, and doesn't she look the 'old pro' at this whole school 'first day' photo thing :-P


Jude seems to be a little 'excited on the inside', if you know what I mean. He seems quite happy to go to school, but isn't bouncing off his seat like I know some preppies do. Jude is my easy going one, and he seems to just be taking it all in his stride, like he does with most things.

So with two kids at school now, and just Levi with me, you would hope that there would be more time for crafting, no?

Well, fingers crossed..he he

Oh, and I did finish Jude's library bag too...here is his robot tote...(any scrappers remember this little dude from Cosmo Cricket - it was first a scrapbooking range, now a fabric)


And thank you to all my readers (and comments) over the last few posts - very inspiring and thoughtful...and just so lovely. So thank you!

Oh, and for those who loved Lana's library bag - I can't take credit for the patchwork design - it is a piece of fabric that looks like patchwork, but isn't actually.

Back soon with a new crafty project.

xx

Friday, February 4, 2011

Messy Eater??


'Who, me? Surely not!'


I had forgotten exactly how messy little ones can be, while eating. And Levi certainly is messy!


Or maybe he is just channeling his inner Pro Hart...hmm....


Ok, maybe not :-P