happy (chocolate free) easter

Hi there!

I think I have mentioned in the past that we have a chocolate free easter in these parts. Why? Other than the fact that I work in health policy and project management (meaning, chronic disease and obesity prevention and management), we also have a young'n' with a serious nut allergy. We're talking anaphylaxis for nuts. So that means we avoid all things with even traces of nuts, chocolate being one of them.

What this means for us is an easter tradition that involves dyeing eggs, leaving them in a bowl for the easter bunny, who then surprises us with an easter egg hunt (using our dyed eggs) in the front garden on Easter Sunday. That cheeky bunny - so much fun!

 

Last year we did plain dyed eggs, this year we tried out some crayon resist and dyeing some a couple of times. The boys have developed some creative flair in the last twelve months! We used food colouring today (I wasn't organised enough to use vege dyes) mixed in with vinegar. Once dry we polished them up with a bit of canola oil on a cloth. Voila!

I will admit though - I do miss the Red Tulip Elegant Rabbit, though I have learnt recently they use palm oil, so yet another reason for me to not participate in the chocolate bingeing season...

Wishing you and yours a happy and safe Easter, whatever your traditions!
xx

what I did last night

What I did last night: cooked dinner, put babies to bed, ate icecream (very important), sewed my little heart out with $2 worth of fabric from one of the very best opshops ever, and today I am wearing a brand new outfit! Yippee!

Oh, and I conquered shoulder pleats , which seemed extremely confusing at the time. I'm very proud of myself! Photos to follow...
xx

ps. what I didn't do: washing up, cleaning, laundry... oops!

vintage kitcheny goodness

I have a few weaknesses.

Yes, fabric. Wool, guilty.

But lovely kitchen vintagey goodness I just can't go past. Hello, pyrex. Hi there, fire king. Any of this good stuff in an opshop, and I can't leave empty handed.

And, let's face it. Everything, even just a basic lasagne, looks better in fire king.

celebrating the pom pom

The pom pom surprise for my boys is now up in their room. Yep, you guessed it, I made pom pom garlands. And had lots of fun doing it, and have many many more pom pom crafts planned. I am hooked! In fact, I may need a dedicated new board on pinterest - celebrating the pom pom!

I tried out a few methods of pom pom making - the ol' double cardboard donut method, the fork method, fingers method and the cheaty C method,

I have always found the double donut fiddly, and inevitably end up with my tongue out, though it does result in lovely, nearly perfectly round poms!

The fork method was a cute new way to make itty bitty pom poms but I did end up having to trim these a lot to get a really round shape.

I can never get the fingers method to work - I always end up with pom poms that look like they have been made in two halves :(

I will stick with the cheaty C method I think, as I was able to churn out much faster, rounder, happier looking pom poms this way. The C method is essentially the same as the donut method, but you don't have to guess how much wool/yarn you are going to use before you start, and you don't get to the point where you need to use a yarn needle. Hence the "cheaty" (read: easier) C method.

I know that there are purchase-able pom pom makers out there, but to buy one seems somewhat criminal, given I can make perfectly good ones without another piece of plastic in my life.

Here are some places to visit to get info if you would like to go a little pom pom crazy:

Ye olde cardboard double donut method: via crafted blog
Fork method: via vivid please
Fingers method: via dana made it
Cheaty C method: via craftaholics anonymous

The boys were somewhat chuffed with their new room decoration. Little Pickle told me I am a "beautiful maker", The Gherkin whispered a "wow" (the highest of compliments) and told me we needed to buy more wool to make more. Baby Pickle just laughed.

Hope you will enjoy some of my favourite inspirational pom pom moments:

Source: kidostore.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: mypoppet.bigcartel.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: blog.makezine.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: meetmeatmikes.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: bleubirdvintage.typepad.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Happy pom-pom-ing! xo