my creative space: handprint embroidery

I came across this idea on this lovely blog last year and have been wanting to make our own family one for ages. I've made it as a little art work for the baby's room so when he/she is born I can add their little handprint too!
It was pretty quick to do- I drew around each of our hands on card and then cut out each outline, then I traced around each hand on the fabric using a water/fade marker pen and stitched each handprint using backstitch.

If I was doing this again though I would just trace and stitch one hand at a time- I got a bit confused with all the lines and ended up having to unpick a bit!

It only took a couple of evenings in front of the TV to stitch the handprints and the girls, especially Amelie, thought it was pretty neat when finished. Kids love drawing and seeing their handprints don't they!

And now some questions for you crafty people- I have seen lots of blogs with crochet or knitted dishcloths/wash cloths and would love to have a go at making some for the kitchen (have never used them before). Are they just like using a kitchen sponge- so you use them for wiping the bench, high chair etc?  Does anyone have any links to their own dishcloths on their blogs or know of any links to nice and easy crochet dishcloth patterns? I've searched a few but I thought I would ask here too :)

Thanks heaps, and for more creative space today visit Kootoyoo here
Megan x

my creative space: a patchwork chair

I've had this chair that I bought off Trade Me sitting in our garage since we moved into our house three years ago.

We used to live in a 1930's bungalow which I decorated in a bit of a shabby chic/Cath Kidston style so this chair looked great in our hallway with some fabric from Kate Fitzpatrick. But it didn't really suit the house we live in now, plus there wasn't really anywhere to put it, so it's been out in the garage gathering dust.

But after seeing this chair on the gorgeous blog Lucy and I (thanks for telling me about this blog Saskia if you are reading this!) I decided to have a go at a very small patchwork furniture project with the chair.
I also saw this yellow chair last year on Abby's blog and it just stuck in my head as a great little project.

First off I sanded it and painted it Resene "Sargent Pepper". (I love this colour- I think it's quite similar to Pantone's Colour of 2011

I'm not very good at measuring before I make stuff (a bit like pinning which I have to force myself to do when I'm sewing too!) so for the seat I just cut out a square from some card for a template, worked out roughly how many I would need to cover the chair seat, then cut out a whole lot of squares from my chosen fabrics, then cut some of the squares in half to make some rectangles. Then I just played around and stitched rows of them together and crossed my fingers it would fit over the seat! I used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the seat -nice and quick!

I've put it in Amelie's room next to her bed- a good place for her to put her books and all the other random stuff she likes to take to bed most nights!

To see what's been happening in other creative spaces this week, visit Kirsty's at Kootoyoo here

Thanks for visiting :)

Megan x

Organised Home Project 5: A Civil Defence Kit

Well, I have finally got my civil defence kits done! Now that I'm into my last month of pregnancy (yay!) I've got to say my energy levels have dropped a lot and I am taking a lot longer to do things than I normally would!  We have had heaps on lately and I had a wedding in the weekend to video and make DVD's for- all finished today thank goodness!

Anyway, I've had civil defence stuff all over the baby's room for the last few weeks so I finally got it all together today into a big plastic bin for the garage, and three backpacks in case of a quick evacuation- type scenario.  It's really hard to think of what you would really need and to imagine having to actually use it but it makes me feel good to know that I've at least got some of the basics organised and bought a few things that we might need one day.

Payless Plastics was having a sale last week so I went in and bought a large bin, a 20 litre water container, a bucket and some rubbish bags. I used this list to refer to for things to get..

http://www.getthru.govt.nz/web/GetThru.nsf/web/BOWN-7GZTZF?OpenDocument

I also went through our camping stuff and put our little gas BBQ and some spare canisters in there, a radio, a small tarpaulin, some cans of food (need to get more), toilet paper, a couple of water bottles and some snacks. 

I also got three backpacks and packed one for each of the girls and one for me and my hubby.

I put in a woollen jersey for each of us, a change of clothes for the girls, nappies etc for Stella, water bottles and snacks, a couple of blankets and those silk liner sleeping bag type things that we used back when we were backpacking, and a first aid kit and some toiletries. I also put in a few family photo's and photocopies of our insurance policies and birth certificates. 

I sorted out all our medicines and first- aid stuff in the weekend and made three kits up- one for our family car, one for the house and one for our civil defence kit. I've decided to enrol in a first aid course later in the year as I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to first aid and would really like to have some skills and be confident that I could help my own family and others too.

Well, another project down, just hope I don't have to actually use this one!

For more ideas, Meeks from Juggling Motherhood has written a really thorough list of ways to get your family prepared for a disaster- check it out here.

There is so much amazing fundraising happening for Christchurch at the moment- it's really heartwarming to see kiwi's and people from all over the world contributing to the Red Cross and other charities supporting the victims of the earthquake. My pillowcase and toilet bag sets are on Trade me now- you can check them out here along with so many other cool handmade things up for auction with all proceeds going to the Salvation Army and Women's Refuge.

Pink heart set

Blue star set

The winner of the nappy wallet from 'the nursery/getting ready for baby challenge' is Notchka- thank you everyone for your comments and tips.

I'm not going to do a challenge this Friday but will be doing one next week- will let you know early next week.

Thanks for visiting, if you have any more civil defence ideas/tips we'd love to read them :)

Megan x

my creative space: Little Red Riding Hood

I saw this lovely old book at my mother in law's in the weekend- a gorgeous version of the classic Little Red Riding Hood story. Amelie loves reading it and dressing up as red riding hood- I bought her a basket from the Salvation Army store and she even made me dress up as the wolf with some brown fur fabric I bought last year to make baby blankets- funny what you get up to in a day sometimes!

I love this little cottage

Stella thinks that she's the little girl in the book and says "La La' very excitedly when she sees it :)

If you're wondering what this has to do with 'my creative space' I've had some Stitchbird little red riding hood fabric for ages now and as I had a couple of presents to make for two 4 year old girls last week I used some of it (along with some 'Katie Rose' fabric) to make two little satchel bags.

And keeping to my red riding hood theme I found this tutorial for a little doll that I'd like to make one day

And how sweet is this birthday card from Bee at Honeyjumble

Have you seen this amazing RRH pop up book illustrated by Louise Rowe? I found it via this post at weheartbooks 

Here's a lovely version of the story from Oxbridge Baby on youtube too...

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty's here
Megan x

Organised Home Project 4: The Nursery/Getting ready for baby

Well, this week's challenge has been much more successful than last weeks! The nursery is coming along nicely and I've managed to get a few things done in preparation for baby number three. It used to be our spare room but now it's all painted and we've moved the furniture around and I've unpacked most of the baby things. At the moment the room is looking quite plain as I am going to wait to see whether we have a boy or a girl before I start crafting a few things and decorating the room more.

I got all the baby clothes out and sorted them into plastic containers in the drawers. I sorted the clothes into bodysuits, nighties, stretch n grow's and outfits....

...and sorted the hats, socks/booties and bibs into containers in another drawer.

When I was pregnant with Stella I sorted the clothes into neutrals and girl clothes but this time I've just put them all together and will just take out the pink stuff if we have a boy!

I've used one of these hanging wardrobe organiser things for the baby's wraps, blankets, cot linen and muslins.

I've packed the baby bag for the hospital. 2 stretch n grows, 3 bodysuits, a wrap, a cloth nappy, 2 muslins, 2 hats, booties and slippers, a nightie and a woollen cardi. I put a couple of newborn nappies in too but the hospital provides nappies and wipes too I think. Probably far too much stuff, especially as I remember with my other two that we just used the hospital clothes and a cloth nappy for a wrap and barely touched the baby bag but at least there'll be something nice to wear home!

(After packing all this into a bag I left it on the bed...wondered why the girls were being so good and quiet...went in there and the bag contents were all over the floor, the bassinet had a doll baby in it and Stella was having a great time playing with the capsule and the baby carrier. Oh well, kept them quiet for a while!)

I haven't packed my hospital bag yet but I found this great checklist from OhBaby. Again, I remember not using even half of what I packed the other two times but at least I have a fair idea of what I'll use this time!

I've got a few baby toys out including these cute velcro balls from Clare at Greenvalley Crafts...

and I bought this lovely baby book the other day.

I've still got a few things to do but at least the big stuff is done now. I'm on the look out for another box frame so I can make a memory box like the ones I made for the girls when they were born.  I used their wrist band and bassinet label from the hospital, some cards they were given, newspaper birth notice, some ribbons from gifts, a little bootie and a few photo's.

and I'll also buy another box file to put things for the baby like their birth certificate, IRD and kiwisaver stuff,  bank statements, warranties for any baby stuff purchased etc.

I can't wait to get into crafting a few things for the baby. I've made a bit of a list of some of the things I would like to make (some are linked to some great tutorials I've come across)

* Ribbon mobile

* baby ball
* baby quilt
*playmat/baby blanket
*nursery bedding

* padded coat hangers

*crochet or knitted baby hat
*applique baby bodysuit
* baby bibs
* taggie toy
*oil cloth change mat

So there you go! Do you have any tips or hints for organising your baby's room, things that were really handy in hospital or in the first few weeks at home, more baby craft ideas or just general tips and ideas for newborns? If you leave a comment letting us know any of these things (or anything else you'd like to comment on!) you'll be in the draw to win this week's prize- a mousehouse waterproof nappy wallet- it's a great size for your handbag to keep some wipes, a couple of nappies, bib, cream etc. It's also good for a toddler bag to keep a change of clothes, a few snacks and some wipes.

The Linky tools seems to require a subscription now so if you have done any organising this week or linked up to my challenge please leave a comment with the URL of your post so we can all read it- you'll be in the draw too of course!

Next week's project...my wardrobe...maybe yours is in need of a bit of a sort out too? Mine sure is!

Happy organising :)

Megan x

my creative space: polka dot rabbits

One of my favourite magazines is NZ 'Your Home and Garden magazine' and I especially love the back page with it's "Four Ways With..." crafty ideas. Here's this months theme...

I decided last night to give the cute rabbit project a go. I used a soft fleece for the front of the rabbit and fabric for the back. Mine ended up with much skinnier ears, arms and legs than the one in the mag!

I made the grey one for our baby on the way and the red one is heading off to Australia for Monkeemoomoo's Queensland Flood Appeal Dolly Drive.

I made a little bag for the red one using one of my favourite tutorials again. I remember taking about two evenings to make my first little satchel bag when I was just learning to sew and now I can make this little bag in about 20 minutes!

Peek a boo

Hello world!

To see what other crafty people have been up to this week head over to Kirsty's at Kootoyoo.

Thank you for visiting - might see you tomorrow with my 'getting ready for baby' organised home challenge, it's a bit more successful than last week's!

Megan x

Organised Home Project 4 : Family photo's/memories

Well, have I been on a mission this week or what....I have decluttered my iphoto albums as well as decluttering my hundreds of bookmarks, files, stickies, itunes music and basically everything else on my computer....decluttered to zero.
Yep, my computer's hard drive ironically decided to choose this week- the week I was finally going to print and sort out out all my photo's from last year- to crash and die with no files to recover. So now I have my laptop back with a new hard drive and absolutely nothing on it which was pretty devastating on the day it happened (Tuesday) but I'm now pretty much over it, probably because it was completely my fault for not backing up anything on my computer and not printing photo's. So if there's anything to be learnt (I'll be like those people caught by the police on TV shows like Police ten7 and Motorway Patrol that lecture you the minute they are caught about the evils of drugs, alcohol and speeding)  and tell you that for the sake of a $150 back up hard drive it's probably worth the money! I thought they were about $500 ( I have no idea why I thought that, don't know why I didn't just go into the Apple store here and find out last year like my hubby kept telling me to do...) but photo's really are priceless and irreplaceable so I'm buying a back up device tomorrow!
Anyway, this weeks organising project is a bit of a failure sorry- no inspiration from me except maybe the urge to go buy yourselves a backup device or print some photo's!!
Luckily I did start uploading the first half of last years photo's to Snapfish so I only lost half a year of pics which I am still sad about but I guess it could have been worse if I had lost the whole year (just trying to make myself feel better as I sure was beating myself up about it on Tuesday!)

Anyway, if you have been on to it and printing photo's or thinking about displaying some on the walls in your home I came across this great post the other day with inspiring ideas for displaying family photo's.

The winner of last week's puzzle bag prize (from last week's Kids Toys challenge) is Dee, check out her organising here.
No prize this week sorry due to my complete failure of this week's project but next week's project will be a goodie, well for me anyway!  It's "'The Nursery/Getting ready for Baby". My hubby has finished painting it this week so next week is all about getting the bassinet put together, sorting out clothes and baby stuff, a bit of decorating and a few other things I need to do.
Thanks for visiting and hope to see you next week with a much more inspiring post I hope!
Megan x
PS: Had a really fab night on Tuesday at our 'Crafty Stitchers' first evening. It was so lovely to chat, see some crafty crochet and knitting projects happening, share a few tips and have a lot of laughs.  Looking forward to the next one already!
PPS: I had some good news this week after my computer drama...a kind friend from my teaching days has given me her old overlocker! She read my post about making the puzzle bags using pinking shears  and she is also is doing a bit of decluttering herself so I'm now the proud owner of her old overlocker. Does anyone have one of these?

I have absolutely no idea how to use it but am going to get it serviced and then get a friend to show me how to get started- exciting!  Thanks so much Sue :) 

'love' themed goodies

Hello all, I've been a bit quiet on the computer this week but just thought I'd share a few things I've found online tonight with a bit of a love theme, seeing as Valentines Day is just around the corner....

Naomi Murrell flock screen print

You can also find Naomi Murrell products at Small Acorns

Heart shaped tealights from Rose in Thorns

 

Print from Dear Colleen

 

Love heart chalkboard garden stakes from Lark

I love mummy bib from Cherish Child

Happy Valentines Day for Monday!

Megan x