Tickly Moo

Ella’s front tooth, which has been getting progressively wobblier for weeks and has been sitting at an awkward angle for days, has finally broken loose, with some help from some small fingers.  I have no choice now but to admit she is actually growing up and will not remain my little girl forever, a theory I was quite happy having blindly believing in!

But it did give me an excuse to make a tooth fairy pillow which seems to have been accepted as suitable by Ella, though not very interesting when competing with the excitement of losing her first tooth.  But I guess it serves it’s purpose, despite my hurried,wonky stitches.

1 Comment | In: Crafty Stuff, Family Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: felt, kids, tooth fairy. | #

I have kept myself busy whipping up some new crown designs this week and I have even (after many requests) tried my hand at one suitable for boys.  This is not my area of expertise so those of you with boys out there,  please let me know what you think!

1 Comment | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: birds, crowns, dress up, felt, kids, rocket. | #

Today’s wee experiment, a small babushka drawn with Crayola fabric pens.  It turned out ok but I would definitely colour it in heavier to get a smoother finish next time.  Having said that Phoebe took an instant shine to it and is totally convinced that it is Lucy from Little Bear (one of her favourites)  - I don’t see the similarity myself, maybe the black hair?  Oh well, she is thrilled!

2 Comments | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: babushka, softie, toy. | #

I have been working on some new crowns and some Christmas decorations (photos will come soon)  now that the health dramas and franticness of three different productions in one term has passed.  These are the first two.

I am really fond of the bird crown (as are my girls) and love the bright pink and the mint green together.   While making the other crown I was assisted by a nearly two year old leaning on my arm and consequently the sewing is not quite up to standard!  Nothing major, but a few wonky lines (particularly on the cupcake) so I will be making more for sale but thought someone out there might like this one as it seems a shame to have it sitting  in a box doing nothing for years.  So I decided to make it an international giveaway for anyone who is interested, just leave a comment on this post about something you like or would like to see on my site and I will draw a random name on Monday 12th October.  It has the usual covered elastic back and is a slightly smaller size to fit from around 18 months to 6 years, so if you know any little girls who would like a crown and don’t mind wonky lines on their cupcakes, get commenting!

9 Comments | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: birds, birthday, crown, crowns, felt, homemade, sewing. | #

What a week it has been!  Ella was admitted to hospital with bacterial (they think) pneumonia last week which was a stressful and exhausting experience and I must say that those fairly comfortable looking chairs beside the childrens beds in the hospital are completely not comfortable to sleep (or lie awake all night) in.  Ella was the only one who enjoyed her stay in hospital – lots of nurses fussing over her telling her she was charming, beautiful and bright,  as many tubs of jelly and iceblocks as she wanted and pizza for lunch – what more could a five year old want!

Ella is just fine now apart from a lingering cough when she exerts herself and life is beginning to get back to normal, well as normal as it gets around here anyway.

While I was trying to keep her occupied and still while she was resting at home, we decided to make some wrapping paper for her young cousins birthday.  It is his third birthday and Ella was very upset that the presents were going to be late since I was not allowed to leave her side while she was sick.   The converstion went something like this:

“Muuummmy, you haven’t posted the presents!”

“No I haven’t but I will post them on Monday”

“But they will not get to him in time for his birthday, why didn’t you post them?!”

“Mummy was a bit busy looking after you and staying with you in hospital.”

“But you should have posted the presents!” (teary eyes)

“You wanted me to stay with you when you weren’t feeling well”

“But you still should have posted them as well as staying with me!”

“I will try to remember that next time!”

Anyway, suggesting that she make some special giftwrap to make up for the lateness of the presents certainly cheered her up.  This is the resulting wrapping paper which was made very simply and with little mess using plastic cookie cutters, some brushes, paint and we used a roll of brown paper as it is nice and strong and was what we had on hand, but any plain coloured gift wrap or rolls of plain newsprint work well.

Homemade giftwrap is a neat little project for children of all ages – hand or foot prints work well for littlies and are great for really personalising a gift.

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A friend has recently had a wee baby boy which caught me completely off guard as I am not great at boy stuff but I did my best and came up with a blanket with a nice cotton print on one side and the softest chocolate coloured microfleece on the other and a little matching robot softie.  The cute wooden car I picked up at a local craft market and I thought it just completed the set perfectly with its warm rimu tones.

1 Comment | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: baby, blanket, robot, toy. | #

Some classical music, sparkly dresses & felt crowns make for a twirling & dancing pair of princesses before bed.

2 Comments | In: Family Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: crowns, dancing, felt. | #

I have managed to complete some projects in the last couple of weeks despite what seems to have been a constant state of procrastination!  I made Delilah on a whim & think she is pretty cute.  I just felt like finishing something fairly quick & simple and she is what eventuated.  I think I will rework her shape a little & maybe make another couple since we have had baby news from a couple of friends lately so I am always thinking of the things I can make for the new little ones that will be appearing.  So exciting!

I also managed to finish the display box I have been thinking about for months and never got around to.  It is for Ella’s room for her “precious things” and is made from a very old cutlery tray that in its previous life was a storage place for tools in the shed.  I realised I didn’t take any before photos but is was in a pretty bad way, I had to pull the back off, replace all the rusty nails, clean it, paint it & then add the cute paper & a coat of mod podge.  Ella was pretty happy with the result which is what matters & her selection of “precious things” made me smile.

Don’t forget the Sewn giveaway is still running, just leave a comment on the May 31st post below & be in to win!

No Comments | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: decor, doll, sewing, toys. | #

I have decided to join the giveaways for the launch of Sewn – a new online sewing community about to hit the net.

SEWN

Check out their site for the long list of blogs having giveaways to celebrate and share some crafting love.

I will be giving away a felt crown the same as the one above.  It has a felt covered elastic back so fits multiple sizes – from my five year old to me!   Anyone anywhere is welcome to enter.  Just leave a comment on this entry and I will pick a comment at random to find the winner.  Entries close at the end of June 8th, I will draw and announce the winner on June 9th.

I have also added a couple of shrink plastic bird brooches with dingly dangly legs to my etsy shop.  They are based on the birds here I made for my girls and I decided they made pretty cute brooches!

46 Comments | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: birds, brooches, crown. | #

I had a request for a fish yesterday & here is the result  which was sewn up remarkably quickly (as you can tell from the incredibly wonky stitching).  I do so like the colours though & the lips crack me up – not quite what I had in my head!

2 Comments | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: fish, sewing, toys. | #