Belated Birthday Bear.

Ladies and Gentlemen....Presenting Penny Bear in all her Royal Glory!  I've been meaning to post this for a while as it was a lovely gift from one of my sisters for Katie's 6th birthday.  Isn't it ace?  The present arrived just as Hubby and I were rushing around to get ready for a surprise birthday meal.  It got packed in the changing bag and brought along when we picked  up the girls.  The evening was a riot of little girls having a whole restaurant wrapped around their dainty fingers and the crown- well- crowned it off!  Seriously, the waiters were enchanted by my little madam in a crown, placing her own orders and skipping around to introduce Penny to the chefs.  She basically had the whole restaurant wish her a happy birthday as we left (By name, I might add).  Baby Hannah wasn't going to be out done either as she sang "Twinkle Twinkle", danced to "Jingle Jangle  scarecrow" and flutter her little lashes to the waiters.  What finally sent me off into hopeless laughter was our charming waiter go down on his knee, hold out his arms and have both my little heart-breakers run into his arms to hug him goodbye.  I'm in for a rough ride with these two, I think!

To party or not to party??

That little Minx!  I had a fantastic "Charlie and the Chocolate birthday party planned for my little ones 6th birthday and she changed her mind just when I had gathered together party supplies and designed the invites!  This is what happens when they talk to other children- apparently, some of her gal pals thought that it would be "Too boyish" which, of course, put her off.  She then couldn't make up her mind and, over the next week she switched back and forth between ideas.

It's a shame as the games were going to be mega!  Oh well, we live but to serve, and managed to settle on a small family gathering, cake and a girls night out just the two of us at the movies.  I had a bit of fun designing a simple cake and trying out an icing bag with very basic success.  I put most of the issues down to the natural food colouring I used.  It seemed a good idea at the time but, the pale colours meant that i needed loads to achieve a sludgy colour which, in turn, thinned the butter cream too much.  She loved it though which is all that mattered and I've not been put off trying again another time.

Home improvements- Cath Kidston style!

I haven't been lazy this month- honest!  There's been lots of little jobs to finish and I'm getting into the whole mending thing (there always seems to be something that needs a tweak and a stitch).  Now thatt the holidays are here I've been able to attack some of those jobs that have been on the to-do list for a while.  I planned to jazz up my girl's curtains using my left over bunting fabric and was looking online for applique techniques but actually found a very simple technique in the Cath Kidston "Sew" book that I've been meaning to start since Christmas when I recieved it.  Don't they look fab!  I think I've morphed into Calamity Jane...I remember watching the "Never underestimate a woman's touch" song when I was little and thinking that putting ribbons on a chair was so far over the edge of taste that it was cringe-worthy.  Oh dear, how I have fallen.  I've chintzed up a perfectly simple set of curtains with the girliest fabrics around (Hate them, if you dare!)

Sew, a needle pulling thread!

Greetings from the Von Trapp sisters!  This was a June project that had to wait until I could pin both girls down long enough to take a picture of them!  Don't they look like the fabulous curtain outfits made by Maria as play clothes?  Now that's what I call "Thrifty" (and bordering on the realms of cruelty to children)

These cute little headscarves were to allow crazy running around without losing their head covers- something which "accidently" seems to happen a lot with big sister.  But, oops, the triangles aren't deep enough for the point to be tucked into the tied up scarf so instead we get that comical blindness as the tail flips over the face as they run around.  

This is just a variation of my pretty bunting.  

1-Hem a triangle around the two diagonal edges.

2-Fold bias tape over the straight edge leaving long enough tales.  

3-Stitch straight across bias tape to make the ties and Bob's your uncle!

Birthday DS covers

It's birthday time in our family with a huge amount of special days coming up.  2 little girls in the family are finally getting their very own DS so I've whipped up a couple of DS cases in matching colours so that the two girls can have matching gifts- They've even got the the same game to play on, which is going to give them another chance for a natter on the phone I suppose... 

Why do we put our own age restrictions on things we are not too keen on?  After years of her asking and being answered with "not until you're 6", I swear she seemed to lose interest.  Until, that is, a couple of moonths ago when she calmly announced a list of things which she expected on this birthday.  It turrns out that the "Not until..." line had been used for a whole variety of wants that we tried to hold her off from and now she is waiting for the big pay out !

So, it's "Yes" to a DS (second hand)

"No" to Disneyland (until number 2 is bigger)

and "Maybe" for the ballet lessons (I didn't realise that there were waiting lists for these things?!)

Anyway, back to these cases.  This design is by my sister Jess.  Well, she doesn't class it as a design as it is so simple.  But simple is what we all want in a design, especially when it looks so good and does the job well. 

So, using single crochet, make a rectangle long enough to double over + flap allowance and slightly under the width allowing for the edging.  Single crochet all around whilst joining the edges cuts the job down by half and makes the cover look really seamless.  I did add a tiny front pocket for a single cased game for the busy girl on the move.  I toyed with the idea of adding a strap but as we have a car bag- and that's primarily where it will live- I left well enough alone. 

And now for a brief moan about velcro...Stick on velcro seemed like such a good idea.    Ok, the thread HATED the glue and ended up breaking and knotting causing many holes to my delicate pinkies.  I changed over to non-stick for ds case number 2 which was much easier but as I only had black velcro it doesn't look as nice.  I'm  sure they will love it anyway! 

Why is there never enough time?!

 I have finally fallen into the category of "Pulling out a favourite pattern" brigade.  Gone are the days when each patterns was new and devoured at great speed, now my time is filled with the ever increasing babies and the gifts that need to be made.  So, again, out come my "Tasty Crochet" book and another picnic pack is created.  Although, I must say that each time, the idea gets tweaked a little and improved. 

As I have two nephews approaching their first birthday I decided that a lunch box for them to tote around with their play lunch would be just the thing!  I loved the mental image of them squeezing the soft toys as babies and growing to play picnics and then using their little bags at playgroups (so grown up!)  Several adults did not seem to get the gift- My husband's side see my crafty gifts as a bit hmmmmm- but hey, it was made for a tot and I know tots LOVE play food!

 Don't you just love the lunch box? A fiver from matalan which was a bargain.  I made a sweet little napkin/ table cloth out of the gorgeous fabric from my recent swaps and it all wrapped up a treat.

And now for a thrifty tip....

In my attempts to Make do and mend I finally had a go at saving some of those beautiful candle holders that I could not bear to throw away.  The rational in keeping these was to clean them out and fill with new candles, sweets or treats and cellophane up with ribbons for a easy Christmas gift (I'm thinking of end of year Teacher gifts...) 

VERY important- Heating in the microwave is a BAD idea!  It seemed so practical but I forgot all about the metal wick holder which immediately started to spark and crackle.  Thankfully I was standing by and pulled them out before the thing exploded.

So, placed in boiling water for 2-3 minutes to loosen the edges and they popped out like removing a jelly from it's mould.  A bit of a wash in soapy water and don't they look lovely!

Hero day costumes!

Here are my Hero Day costumes from February.  Yes it's a tad late going on but, when you have a husband with a bit of a camera obsession, it takes a while to find the pictures!  Especially since he rarely remembers to upload or edit the dodgy ones...You know the ones, the pics where he think you look fine but your eyes are closed, you look like you've got a double chin and you really should have put make-up on that morning.

Mother Teresa took forever but looks great!  I attacked my local charity shops for cheap fabric and both costumes ended costing  less than £10.  My costume involve a bed sheet cut in two pieces for a skirt and head scarf, and a blue £shop table cloth.  The strips took hours to cut, press in half, stitch and repress open to make the bands of blue but it was worth it .  The polo neck was £3 in Primark so all in all, a thrifty costume.  The day itself was blanketed with snow but I stood at the gate without a coat (it would have spoilt the look!) and my little blue sandals and welcomed each child in.  I must admit that the best part was driving to work in full dress- the looks I got on the way was priceless as were the reactions of my work colleagues!

Now, Katie's costume was lots of fun.  I found an adult grey jumper for the chain mail which I lay her on top of, cut around her, pinned and stitched on the reverse The tunic was one of Hannah's old baby sheets cut, pinned and stitched on the reverse (this one took a while).  The cloak and matching emblem was an adults red t-shirt cut, gathered and edged with little crosses.  I used Velcro to attach and remove the cloak and the sword and shield cost about £3 from amazon.  I'm so pleased Katie chose St George as the school have a dress up day on St Georges Day.  Can you guess what she wore??