my creative space

I have just joined in on the 'creative space' sharing over at kootoyoo.com, a gorgeous site from a clever crafty lady, Kirsty, in Melbourne.  My creative space is a little nook/cupboard close to our front door. It's great in that I don't need to use up a bedroom for an office/crafty space but it is quite little so my creative space often spills over onto the kitchen bench or the lounge floor! I love finding containers for all my crafty stuff and one of my best ever pressies was a label maker..yes, 'monica from friends' tendencies!

My creative project today is to make a start on some felt toys from the cute crafty book  

Felties by Nellie Pailloux.

There are so many adorable little creatures in the book- I am going to start with the lion first and then the babushka doll on the book cover. Will post some pics when finished!

Megan

PS: If you want to take a peek at one of the most gorgeous creative spaces I've seen on the web click here- aliciapaulson.com/studio. 

a little bag for a little girl

On Sunday I made another little satchel bag from the tutorial at 'Ruby in the Dust' for my toddler's friend Lily. I bought the flower fabric from Bernina for the lining and I used a design from the book "Embroidery for Little Miss Crafty" by Helen Dardik for the flower but just changed it slightly so there was a bit of applique to match the lining. I really like this little bag :)

Megan

25/02/10

A fab website 'Lil Magoolie' posted about my bag with links to Helen Dardik's blog and website- both are absolutely gorgeous!

A crafty organising project

I saw this cool clipboard project on the website The Creative Mama. My sister is getting married in August and her hubby-to-be is teasing her that she needs a clipboard to get everything organised so I knew this project would be perfect for her! I have also got a problem with bits of paper ripped out of magazines and piled on the bench so I made one for our kitchen too.

I had to buy some Mod Podge craft glue from Warehouse Stationery ( it's like PVA but matt and maybe a bit easier to spread than PVA) and I got the clipboards and the stickers on the metal clip part from Warehouse Stationery too. It was a bit tricky cutting the paper to fit because the only clipboards I found were large ones and my scrapbooking paper wasn't big enough to completely cover the clipboards so I had to do a bit of cutting and trimming, hence the yellow ribbon on my one. I actually think it would look better without the ribbon but it covered up the paper joins and when I was rubbing out the air bubbles I accidentally ripped the paper so the ribbon is a bit of a double cover up!!

Here is a link to the project on the creative mama website
http://thecreativemama.com/organizing-piles-of-paper-diy/
and a link to the lovely blog that the original idea came from
http://martawrites.blogspot.com/2009/05/mini-clipboards-for-may.html
Megan

love hearts

a little beaded bracelet for Amelie

a red rose

a homemade card

         Untitled, Keith Haring

      www.haringkids.com

♥ happy valentines day ♥

Patchwork 'gonks'

I have just finished my second patchwork gonk this morning from the lovely book "Stitched Toys" by Kate Haxell. I made the pink one for my baby who took one look at it and threw it on the floor so luckily my toddler has taken a shine to it instead. She cuddled it last night in bed which looked very cute.  I made the red/blue/yellow one for a friend who is having a baby in August.
Don't you just love their little smiley faces :)

thrifty + crafty gifts for a small boy

I have been busy today finishing off my handmade gifts for my toddler's friend Alex. I found two blue check pillowcases at the Salvation Army which have been perfect for these gifts. First I appliqued a pillowcase with his name and a couple of stars (I used a cookie cutter for the star stencil). Then I appliqued a tshirt from Baby Factory. I made some shorts from my hubby's old t-shirt from this great tutorial www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants   If someone had told me a month ago that I would be able to sew a pair of shorts I would have been amazed but this tutorial does make it seem quite easy. I also made him a softie using the two pillowcases, a bit of felt and ricrac.  I have had heaps of fun practicing some of my new crafty skills and it's been a great 'saving money' pressie too as the only things I needed to buy were the white t-shirt and the pillowcase.

Some things I've learnt/need to do next time

• when doing the applique do everything in order using the same colour thread so you don't have to keep re-threading the machine for all the different bits
• I need to adjust the pattern for the shorts - they are a bit short in the crotch!
• learn how to ladder stitch to close my softie opening
• be more careful sewing around the rounded bits on the top of the softie
• check that the iron is clean before ironing onto white fabric!!
• meausure twice before cutting

I am going to make a label and call the gifts a "Time For Bed" parcel :)

Megan

a homemade birthday card for mia

I have had fun today getting a few bits and bobs to put in my niece Mia's bag I made for her birthday which is today. I went to one of those dollar value shops and got a notebook, some coloured pencils and stickers. Had to put in some yummy sweets too! I made a wallet the other day to go with the bag just out of felt with a bit of applique and embroidery for her name on the front. I got the idea from a moochi necklace I bought back when we were dinks (double income no kids!!!) that came in this cute felt bag.

I have just made her a card too- using a blank craft greeting card and scrapbooking letters from the Warehouse. I cut out some small paper bunting the other night as I was thinking of using that my for blog banner so I just stuck some of them on the card and sewed a little line across the top! The flags are a bit big for the card but they do look so cute! Well I think so anyway!!
I got two lovely treats today too- a gorgeous reddish pink necklace from "Rendezvous" in Tauranga where I had a lovely chat to the lady working there who is in her second year of fashion design at the BOP Polytech. She showed me a top she was making and we discussed how to make a really easy pair of boys boxers/shorts. It is so enjoyable meeting and talking to people about sewing and craft since starting my craft journey.

I also got a very cute coin purse from Cat Taylor today thank you Cat- I have put it on the outside of my bag to show it off :)

an art idea for a childs room

I love this little art display above my baby's cot. It ended up being quite affordable too! I bought these lovely nursery rhyme greeting cards from a card shop in Taupo a few years ago now and I framed them with simple white square frames from the Warehouse which were only about $10 each. Again this was a while ago but I find sometimes you go into the Warehouse and there are heaps of great frames and then a few weeks later there are hardly any! Or you could go to an op shop and see if you could find some frames there.  The hardest part was getting them all straight and evenly spaced on the wall! I really like the white frames against the green wall and the card illustrations are so sweet.

In her room we also painted the wardrobe doors with magnetic paint. It needed three coats over the top of it so it isn't particularly strong- just holds flat, light magnets but my todder and her friends love playing with them! Will have to move them up soon when the baby starts crawling though!

Ben's Bruschetta recipe

Here is my hubby's delicious recipe for tomato and basil bruschetta- we enjoyed this yesterday in the sun with our bread from the farmers market and homegrown cherry tomatoes and basil. Feels like a bit of a distant memory as it is pouring down now and feels quite wintry for the first time in ages

Ingredients
Bread- ciabatta or baguette is best
Tomatoes
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Garlic clove
Salt and pepper

Roughly chop tomatoes and basil. Mix together with salt and pepper in bowl
Slice bread into thick slices and brush or spray with olive oil (both sides)
Place bread on hot griddle pan or under the grill until toasted (both sides)
Peel and slice garlic clove in half and rub one side of the bread with the garlic
Heap tomato and basil on top of bread and drizzle with olive oil

Enjoy!

squashed pumpkins

I came across a lovely tutorial for a patchwork ball from one of my favourite bloggers- Melissa at tinyhappy.typepad.com
Here it is here
http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/2008/05/how-to-a-simple.html
Being a beginner crafter I thought I would give it a go- mine have ended up looking more like squashed pumpkins (well that's what the hubby said when he saw them) but the girls are loving them so that's nice. I went to Bernina and got some little bells to put into the balls so Stella really likes that :)
I think my problem is that I need to make my petals a bit longer and skinnier. Also I need to learn how to hand sew the seam together by using the ladder stitch which I haven't tried yet. I have two newly
pregnant friends so I really want to make one for each of them as a wee congratulations gift.

a morning at the beach

What a beautiful day in sunny Tauranga- I took the girls over to the Mount for a play and to meet up with a friend and her 2 little ones. Amelie liked making "ponds" and Stella enjoyed the sand. I used to think it would be really tricky to take two kids to the beach by myself but I am slowly realising that its not that hard and its really worth it!

easy peasy quiche recipe

Well, if I can make this anyone can! A friend from New Plymouth gave me this recipe-great for vegetarians or just a good cheap meal.  Even my toddler aged nearly 3 loves it and that's saying something! Only took me about 15 minutes to prepare the filling even with my toddler wanting to 'help', and then 30 minutes of cooking.
I don't use pastry so I guess it is more like a frittata maybe? Either way, it is quick, easy and delicious!

Ingredients
1 tbls butter
3 rashers bacon (if you want)
1 onion chopped
assorted chopped vegetables- I used chopped spinach, grated courgette and chopped capsicum
2 tbls standard flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs (we have quite a big dish so if you have a smaller one you could try 2 or 3)
half a cup grated cheese
salt and pepper


Instructions
Preheat oven to fanbake 200 degrees celsius
Melt butter in large saucepan, add onion (and bacon if you want), cook until onion is clear.
Add your vege's and cook
Stir in flour and cook until frothy
Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens
Remove pan from heat
Lightly beat eggs in a bowl with a fork
Add eggs and cheese to the saucepan, stir to combine
Season with salt and pepper
Pour into suitable dish
Place in 200 degrees celsius oven for 30 minutes
Serve with salad and bread- yum!

PS: a tip if you are using grated courgette- after grating put the courgette into a paper towel and get rid of as much moisture as possible otherwise the quiche can be a little soggy. When I made it the second time I actually left the courgette out

shoe frou's

I saw these on one of my favourite TV programmes last year-' Lush House' with Shannon Lush on the Living Channel. She made these cute eco-friendly and cheap shoe frou's as an alternative to store bought shoe deoderisers so I made some up last night for each shoe wearing member of my family!

SHANNON LUSH'S SHOE FROU RECIPE
2 tablespoons talcum powder (keeps shoes dry by absorbing sweat and moisture)

2 tablespoons bicarb soda (general cleaner)
2 drops oil of cloves (kills mould, stops shoes smelly musty)
2 drops tea tree oil (kills tinea)
2 drops lavender oil (adds a nice fragrance but also a muscle relaxant)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then spoon them into the foot of pantyhose – tie off and dab in your shoes as often as you like to clean and deoderise.

it's true what they say

Everyone says kids love gardening and are better at eating their vege's when they help in the vege garden and I am amazed at how true that is! Our toddler loves helping with the watering and picking the 'harvest'. She is eating beans straight from the plant and loves courgettes now too. She loves picking the cherry tomatoes too but is still unconvinced as to the taste of them!
We bought a raised bed kit before Christmas so she can have her very own garden- my ideas for it are to have a swan plant to attract the monarch butterflies, some beans and peas as she really likes them, some flowers which we are going to plant to form a letter A, some sunflowers and maybe some blueberries too.

Lo♥e my cloth nappies!

A friend of mine put me onto Honeychild nappies a while ago and I just love them- wish I had used them with my first baby but didn't really think about it then to be honest.  I have got 6 so I use one at night for my toddler and the others in the day for my baby. I still use disposables for her afternoon sleep and night sleep.  I've also started using little baby flannels and a homemade baby wipes recipe - even though my hubbie still prefers the disposable wipes we buy them rarely now as opposed to buying them weekly!
Here is my baby wipes recipe- I just put it straight into a spray bottle which I then spray onto a flannel when I am changing her.

Megan's Baby Wipes recipe 
(for small sprayer bottle)

2 squirts baby bathwash

2 squirts baby oil

1 or 2 drops of essential oil- I use lavender and tea tree oil
Fill up rest of bottle with water and shake to combine