Ag May ...

Sometimes I feel like the most organised, super efficient, cover-all-bases, thinking-10-steps-ahead type of person...  like when we came home after a long weekend away. After a fun-filled albeit tiring last day, plus a long drive home, we had the kids fed-ed and bedded, everything unpacked and put away, and set up for the new school term by 8pm. We had made sure the girls had enough snacks, filled with enough fruits and popcorn to make a long car ride home pleasant. We had washed all of our clothes the night before so were unpacking and putting away clean clothes (I loved this!!!) and had plenty of clothes to choose from for the following day. And everything had been checked off everyones list of holiday expectations, so they were happy to come home. All steps covered.  Organised.  Efficient.  Give the girl a pat on the back, John.  (Wait!  Who's John?) And sometimes, I feel like the laziest, biggest time-waster to have ever lived... like the ti...

Back to front... let's start with Blueberry Custard Pie. A buttery homemade pie crust, encompassing a custardy blueberry filling; topped with a streusel topping.  Once the pie crust has been made (which can done in advance) then this pie comes together quicker than you can say "a buncha munchy crunchy carrots"  (Octonauts, anyone?). This pie is awesome straight out of the oven, served with a scoop vanilla ice-cream, tea and Mark Harmon in bed, or warmed in the microwave served with a dollop of cream for breakfast the next day.  But better with Mark Harmon. I have written about this already ... actually almost a year ago today!  But I think it's worth writing about again. My little ones are growing up quickly.  Besides all the exasperated sighs, the telling off, rule after rule after rule, we're doing aw-right.  I have been having more energy, am more organised, and more open to laughing with the girls.  Something recently just clicked with m...

I asked Little Miss M - Do you want to have your birthday at a play centre and you can invite lots of friends, or do you want me to plan an at-home party with just a few friends? After all the fun that she had been having at her friends parties being held at a play centre, I was very surprised when Little Miss M opted for an at-home party.  Apparently, I'm loved because I plan the birthdays. And so a birthday party was planned... A FURBY PARTY!!  Dah-Noh-Lah!  Party party!! We had games... A photo booth with props... (and we printed out the photos for the guests to take home) We had cake... And we sent the party guests home with a furby key chain, a photo from the photo booth and some homemade love... Yes, I had to take a few days off from work to get everything done. Yes, the Furby cake was filled with smarties and m&m's (not sure why we don't have a picture of it).  And I really don't want to think of how much butter was used to ma...

Hello there world and all of its lovely people.  I've indulged my laziness and procrastination tendencies enough and I'm ready to face the world.  What have you been up to in the past 6 months? I think I've found a pattern... I think it takes me about half a year to get going; to get my mojo on; to get off my arse.  After a quiet six months, all of a sudden, I have inspiration boards and I have time planners and I have goals..  and it's already July. Anyways, here are a few handmade goodies that have graced my craft table in the past six months.  Either I've been really non-productive or I've been really lazy with the camera.  Probably both... never mind.  Let's work with what we've got... Origami (Christmas) Baubles - it helps if you have a circle cutter Origami Baubles paired with white chocolate stuffed Snickerdoodle cookies - white chocolate stuffed anything *swoon* Hairclip/Headband holder My gorgeous niece asked for a box for ...

We've had a small spate of birthday parties for Little Miss M to attend in this past month.  And it's always a bit of a guessing game to figure out what her friends might want for their birthday.  What Little Miss M would like to give to her friends. So far Little Miss M is still quite happy to give her friends something homemade.  And so far, these have been a hit with both Little Miss M and her friends (well, according to their mommas anyway).  And I think these little ones still get a kick out of seeing their names on things.  What do you think? And the best thing... I've heard how Little Miss M's friends show how they treasure their presents - favourite doll's sleeping bag; magic cape; a bag for treasured things.  And how they don't want to sully it by getting it dirty on their bed if they use it as a pillow!!!! Little Miss M has been helping with the designs.  I'm hoping to start her on sewing them up herself with a bit of practise :) ...

DIY – Gingham Shirt Oh - and please excuse the less than flattering photos... Another foray into "sewing for me" – a pink gingham structured shirt. This is another pattern from Vogue.   What can I say – I like familiarity . The pattern offers multiple variations, which was appealing as well as it being the style that I was looking for. And here is the finished product (*sigh* back to setting up the camera for selfies).   Ok, it’s not my favourite pair of pants but I’m working on that. Onto the shirt.   I like it.   It’s not perfect, but it has potential. On the finished product... I like contrast cuffs and collar.   I like the shape.   I like the fit in the front.   I like the circumference of the sleeves. I don’t like the slight tightness in the bust.   I don’t like the length of the sleeve.  To get to this point, these are the alterations that I had to do to the pattern - Shorten to cor...

I love our little set up at home.  Cozy.  Tiny.  I'm currently in love with small-space living and I'm constantly thinking of how we can make our set up work better and better for us. One of things about our small space is that it can feel a bit dark.  I'm not entirely sure why.  The place is not constantly flooded with light, but the lighting is usually quite pleasant.  I suspect it's the flooring and possibly the walls.  And our furniture... So I thought I would do something about our furniture. And I turned this, our table and chairs... Into this... Hmmm... Looking at this photo, I think I might paint the sides of the table top a brighter white.  I was going for a rustic look, but this might be a bit too unfinished for me. Originally (as in pre-kids), I wanted sleek and dark and elegant.  And then I moved onto sleek and white with chrome.  And then, skipping the whole white and natural wood (although that still appeal...

It had been a very long time since I had last attempted an adult clothing sewing pattern.   Being a beginner sewist (I refuse to refer to myself as a sewer!), I needed patterns that were extensive in their instructions, smart in their construction and professional in their finishes.   Having reignited my sewing career using my favourite bag designer's pattern, I was used to high quality patterns. As time had gone on, though, and my need for fit-to-size clothing, I thought I might be in a good place to start exploring womens clothing again.   I chose this Vogue pattern as my re-entrance project. One of the reasons I didn’t continue with making my own clothing back then was because I didn’t know how to alter a pattern to fit, or where to find that sort of information (short of doing a course).    And what was the point of making clothing that was as ill-fitting as what I could find off the rack? Just a decade or so on, and the internet has made a...

Homemade Lap Blanket I am tentatively making my way into the world of quilting.   And these sweet little lap blankets are my stepping stones into that crafting nirvana. These blankets teach me about sandwiching techniques and binding.   I’ve also enjoyed how my lettering has been coming along and I welcome some more practice with names that have curves in them. For this blanket, I was determined to improve my machine binding.   In traditional quilting, binding the sides consists of sewing the binding on one side of the quilt and hand stitching the other side.   Personally, I find hand stitching quite meditative and I do enjoy it, but it does require not having little girls that like to jump on your lap in any instant.   Plus hand stitching is still a time-consuming task for me, so it pays for me to practice another technique, a quicker technique of binding. The lettering was hand drawn and then appliquéd using a small zig zag stitch...