we heart craft

 
So, every now and then my lovely hubby goes away with work. It's rarely for very long, typically 3-4 days, but it can make for a tricky time with the boys club (plus mummy) left at home.  Mr Pickles has just headed off on a whirlwind nine day trip to the U.S.

All has been going well. Until we went for our regular pre-dinner walk on day two of daddy's absence. The Gherkin cried and cried (and cried). He wanted to hold daddy's hand, not mine. He wanted daddy to put him to bed tonight, not me. He missed daddy. He wanted daddy to be home. He wanted to tell daddy that he missed him. (Being in horribly different timezones stinks). We stopped, sat down on the grass and had a big snuggle until he stopped crying. And then kept walking.

My nearly five year old boy adores his daddy. And he is beginning to realise that one day he will grow up to be like daddy. He watches Mr Pickles like a hawk, like he is taking notes now, for later.

One of my big wishes for the Gherkin is that he grows to be one half of the beautiful man his dad is*.

So, today we made special love craft for daddy. Printed pages covered in hearts, a little white crayon and watercolour paint, and hours of entertainment for the Gherkin (who really, really loved seeing the surprise messages magically appear).

 Happy non-Valentines Day Mr Pickles from your tribe. We love you, we miss you, do not forget to come home! xo

 * hopefully a little better at doing the laundry though, so all his loved ones woollens don't end up felted ;)

The Big Reveal

So, here he is in his new favourite thing - a blue, sparkly tutu. I hope it is okay to confess here that I used the cheeky no-sew method! I am also sorry that I can't remember the original source for this (thought it was sew mama sew but now can't seem to find it), but I do know that if you pop it into Dr Google a thousand results will come up!

But here is my super-easy version:

Step 1: Sew a "tube" of elastic to fit small person, ie. just get a piece of elastic that would fit round her/his middle and then sew the ends together).

Step 2: Cut piles of tulle into 10-20cm wide strips, I did these of varying length, but you could be more even with it... you may even work out the perfect length by measuring up your wee person! Our tutu is a bit chaotic, so is more like a wild faerie tutu, than that of a prima ballerina! Yippee for rotary cutters! I think I ended up with about thirty to forty strips.

Step 3: I then mixed all of the strips into a big pile, to pop them on randomly, but some of you might like to work more neatly ;) Fold one strip of tulle in half, put the loop at the centre behind and above the elastic with the ends hanging down behind the elastic. Then pull the ends up in front of the elastic and through the loops. I'll pop photos here soon (have to take pics in daylight).

Step 4: Repeat til you're done!

Happy tutu-ing! Oh! and jut in case you thought The Gherkin just at sat around looking gorgeousin his tutu:

Have a lovely weekend! xo

the gherkin is three! (and the big play kitchen reveal)

So... the day arrived. And the gherkin turned three. And the cliche that all parents repeat, in spite of themselves, enjoy every moment - it all goes so quickly, is so true. I can't believe that our little baby, who took an anxious two minutes to start breathing, was such a bright shade of jaundiced orange, was sooo very sleepy, is now our funny, clever chatty, all-singing all-dancing, gentle boy. He's three. And he had a blast!

He did have a cake of course, but the photo of him blowing out the candle on his birthday raisin toast is so much better.

For those of you out there, wondering about progress on the play kitchen, here is the end result.

Doesn't it look great? The gherkin loves it. A happy bonus for us, living in a teeny tiny home, is that it looks quite unobtrusive in our loungeroom where it lives permanently. Components are listed below, for those of you interested...

* It is built from the components of the RAND bedside table (thanks IKEA). We bought two, and used one in its entirety and the other for parts (a grand total of $29.98).
* The kitchen has a divider between the two sections, and a door, all made from the second bedside table. The door is hinged using a cabinet hinge.
* We also added a back made of masonite, which is just tacked on.
* Stove top knobs are made from cabinet knobs, as are the taps, and the tap itself is made of a U shaped handle with one side sawn off.
* We didn't like the IKEA coasters as hot plates, so instead invested in some floor protectors that you attach to the underside of your furniture and screwed those on.
* Then some eyelet hooks and a bit of elastic with a cute japanese cotton print...

...And voila!

I'll be posting on some of the foods over the next week or so, but I have a lot of crafting to share so will have to spread it all out...

Chat soon!
xo

baby elephant love - the mobile

Just finished another mobile!
This one is called baby elephant love... and is made from polkadotted felt (of course from my existing fabric collection - I am still going with use what you have). This is now available at my etsy ...

Now that I have finished stitching felt hearts I can go to bed (whew!) ... it is 1.46 am here!

xx

the bird mobile... completed!

Hoping everyone has had a beautiful week. We had a rough ol' week in this house last week, but life goes on...

So, I finished off the bird mobile on the weekend, and so wanted of course to give you all the progress update. Here 'tis:

(more pics on my flickr)

I found the threading much more difficult than I had ever imagined (!) as I had to get the entry and exit points "just right" to get the birds to "sit" properly. I am also not particularly thrilled with the black thread... I was thinking of fishing wire but didn't know that there was enough weight on the thread to keep fishing wire straight. Any ideas very much welcomed!!!

I love how they move... the birds seem to be bobbing their little heads up and down... I must admit I was thrilled with this result!

The mobile was a great hit with the recipients as well... even the grandparents gushed, which made all of it incredibly worthwhile (of course giving a handmade gift always is extremely rewarding!).

Hoping you have a gorgeous, wonderful week. I will promise to pop back in and let you know about the Melbourne craft fair which was a great source of inspiration, but not now... later!
xx