Present Pictures

And here are the promised princess tent pictures. It really was a nightmare to make. Cutting out the windows let the walls stretch out of shape, the wire around each piece buckled, and you don't want to know the gymnastics it took to get those pieces under the food of the sewing machine. I did hand sew some of it, but I would never have gotten it finished if I had tried to hand sew all of it.

DD loves it though, and has played with it every day since Christmas. She doesn't see any of the crooked stitches, the seams that show, the walls that aren't the right shape, or the roof that sags. And in the end, that is what I was aiming for, something that made DD happy, so I'm trying very hard to overlook all those imperfections myself.

I'm much much happier with how this doll turned out, although she does seem to have rather a lot of hair...

DD of course, seems less keen. She's far happier dressing up Big Bird or Simba. The fairy dress (made after Christmas to match DD's) has helped though, and today she has been asking to have her hair in pigtails like dolly, so I guess there is hope.

For anyone who is interested in trying their hand at making one, I bought my pattern for download from Dancing Rain Dolls. It was a really easy to follow and comprehensive pattern, and I definitely think I'll be purchasing some more of her patterns in the future.

Our Christmas

Since DH was working Christmas day, DD and I spent the day at my sisters. We had an absolutely lovely day, decorating her apartment and playing with her baby.

And now, since all the present giving is done, I can finally post some pics of my latest round of crafting. I don't have good pictures yet of DD's presents, though you can see the princess/fairy dress I made her in the above picture. I'll try to get some pictures of the fairy tent and Waldorf doll in the next few days.

This bag and cushion went to DH's mum and dad. DD drew the pictures with special fabric crayons, then I used them to make these. I think they went down rather well.

These went to my sister and her husband (I'm sure you can guess which is whose.) They picked out the materials, and I sewed them up. I think the colour combinations worked really well, even though the camo and orange isn't quite what I would have chosen!

The handmade gifts has been a great experience this year, and I've really enjoyed making them, and thinking of ideas for each person, though next year I think I should start the sewing a little earlier! I felt a little unsure on Christmas morning, when DD only had 6 presents to unwrap, and when we were wrapping them, I felt this urge to go straight out and buy more, but overall I think the smaller number was better. Yes, she was still looking for presents at the end of them, but then, aren't kids always looking for more presents? On the plus side, she actually looked at each of the presents as she was unwrapping them, stopping to put on the dress, and play in the tent before grabbing the next present, something that I DON'T think happens when there are large numbers of presents. I certainly don't think she was disappointed, and we could see from the expression on her face that she was thrilled with her princess tent. She also didn't become overwhelmed and overexcited as she seems to when there are large numbers of presents to open.

Hopefully we'll be strong enough to stick to a similar low key present opening next year.

Christmas Preparations

And I was under the mistaken impression that December would be quieter than November, and I would have more time to post. How mistaken was I?

In previous years, we've bought all our presents. We've made sure we get toys and items with long term playability, and preferably good quality and educational, but still all that shopping and deciding is a major undertaking especially at this time of year. This year, I've been looking around at all the toys in the shops, and been very disappointed in what was on offer. Most things are plastic, and have very little long term playability. Maybe it's DD's age, and the fact that things are becoming very commercialised (why does everything have either Dora the Explorer or Disney Princesses on it?), but I have found very little that I wanted to buy for her. We have purchased a couple of presents online, but the plan this year was/is to make the majority of DD's presents, as well as everyone else's.

Of course, being presents, and given the fact that many of the recipients read this blog, I can't even post any interesting pictures of all the crafting that is happening! The pic above is the beginning of DD's Waldorf doll, that is nearly finished now. I will write more about it and post some pictures after Christmas hopefully.

As if making all those presents weren't enough, I had this crazy idea half way through the month to make an advent calendar! We've been doing it slowly, doing a pocket a day (usually in a rush after DD is in bed!), and though it's nearly finished now, I'll save the final picture until the past pocket is on.

We've had a lot of fun with it though. Instead of going the commercial route for surprises for each pocket, I've been trying to stick with things that we've made ourselves, or things that are some sort of activity we can do with DD. In this picture, you can see the paper strips that were our first surprise, used to make paper chains. We've also had bubble mixture, Christmas cookie cutters, and a treasure hunt. It has been lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to making it a yearly tradition. Hopefully it won't be so stressful next year when the calendar is already made! (And hopefully I'll come up with some ideas throughout the year so that I'm prepared.)

We're Home

We took the early train home this morning, leaving at 5:45, meaning we were back in Caboolture by 8:45. I think personally I prefer to drive, but there's no doubt the trip on the Tilt Train is far more pleasant for DD. We read books, colour in, eat the snacks we bring with us, and usually buy one treat (packet of plain chips or juice) from the galley, simply because it's another activity to pass the time.

The holiday was a week of new experiences for DD, beginning with buying her own small fishing rod, and going fishing! She's been playing at fishing for ages, every time she finds, or makes, a fish, she has to make a fishing line and go fishing too, so it was wonderful for her to get the chance to actually try it for real. (And look at our matching skirts! I very carefully resisted wearing similar t-shirts.)

Grandpa is an expert at fishing luckily, since I'm certainly not, and DH isn't keen on fishing at all! He baited the hook for us, and was very determined to catch DD a fish. It's very good to see her taking to him, as she has been scared off by is gruffness up until now. I think it was the My Little Ponies he gave her that did it. That was a great idea Grandma!

And yes, in case you're wondering, our persistence paid off, and we did finally catch this little bream. DD was absolutely thrilled. Unfortunately it was a tad on the small side, so he went back into the ocean, which DD was totally happy with. She wasn't too sure about actually eating a fish.

I actually enjoyed this exercise too, and now have at least some idea of how to set up a fishing line (I'm sure there's a technical term for all that tying lines and putting on hooks and sinkers, but I'm clueless as to what it is), so have another little skill added to my self-sufficiency checklist. Not that I'm sure there's anywhere to catch an edible fish nearby, but you never know.

While we were reeling in lines, baiting hooks, and casting out over and over, we noticed what we at first thought was a log floating past. Then we realised it was moving, and my first thought was "Crocodile!" (Not totally out of the blue, they'd been talking about finding croc's further south than usual on the news the previous night.) Luckily it turned out to just be this lizard/goanna going for a swim. He wandered up the beach, as if he was exactly where he wanted to be. Very strange.

The pelicans thought it strange too, and one even wandered after him to ascertain if he was edible, but decided his size was a bit of an issue, and wandered off again. They were far more interested in the chance of getting thrown some leftover bait.

On the last day of the holiday, we all woke up really early for a visit to Tin Can Bay to hand feed the dolphins. Despite the long drive (over an hour) each way, it was well worth the effort. DD loved it, and was only disappointed that she couldn't line up to do it over and over again, as she does with the elephants at the zoo each year. We've promised to go back soon and take Daddy too.

There is, of course, one more activity we did on holidays, another infamous holiday quilt, but you'll have to come back tomorrow for pics of that.

Autumn Leaves

Autumn is such a non-event in Australia. Surrounded by evergreens, the season passes with little notice other than the fact that it's getting cold. Since it rarely drops below freezing here in Brisbane, the beginning of cold in autumn is only a little milder than the mild winter cold. Which is why this liquidamber tree at my mother's inspired me last week.

I wanted to make a patchwork rug for DH like this one we made for DD last visit, but the colours we had in the velvets were limited. That's one of the problems with sewing from recycled materials, you can't just go out and buy what you need to finish a project, you have to work with what you have. Not that I've had much luck with finding what I want in craft stores when I go looking. Anyway, as you can see when we made DD's quilt, most of the velvet was pinks and reds. I slowly pulled out a pile of other colours, browns, reds, and a tiny bit of orange, and eventually picked out all the other colours I had, and was left with a beautiful array of autumn colours, that inspired me to send DD out to pick an autumn leaf from the tree.

This is the rug that eventually worked it's way out of the materials, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out from a bunch of velvet that initially looked all pink. Because of all the agonising over colours and patterns, it took most of the day to complete this one, unlike DD's rug, which only took a few hours.

We used the bitty leftovers of the velvet to piece together the back, since none of the colours that were big enough to do it in once piece fitted in with the autumn theme.

These appliqued leaves added the perfect finishing touch I think, even though my Mum and Dad kept saying they were stars! Hopefully when we pull this rug out next autumn, as it starts to get cold, it will help us feel a little more autumny. Hopefully the little liquidamber's that I plan to dig up from around the base of my mum's tree and plant in our front garden will help as well.

Craft Retreat

DH has been working long hours completing a course for work this week, so DD and I headed up to my mum's for a visit, some R&R, and of course, some crafting! I had these shirts already cut out, and DD had painted the pic (it's 3 flowers, 2 butterflies, and a bee if you can't recognise it), and we sewed them up pretty quickly. All made from recycled shirts from the $3 rack at the local second hand shop. Even the ribbing is from a second hand rib t-shirt.

These were made from a flannel nightie at my Mum's local second hand shop. The ribbing, again, was from a second hand t-shirt. The top pattern is adapted from the same pattern used for the t-shirts above, just with longer sleeves, and ribbing at the bottom as well. The pants were a new pattern my mum had, but when we did our first try on, they were too tight around the waist, hence the pink ribbing gussets on the outside of the legs. They look great though, as if it was intentional!

OK, I have to admit it. These were made from new material that my mum bought when DD was little, and I've been waiting for a chance to sew up. It is patchwork flannel, and very bright and colourful. The ribbing is second hand though! We only had a limited selection of colours, no blue, and the only yellow we had just wasn't bright enough, but I think the red works pretty well. And no, we didn't just like the side gussets so much we repeated it, we cut both pairs out at once, so had to make the same adaptations to both!

Not bad for about 4 days of sewing is it? There is one more sewing project, but it deserves a whole post to itself, so you'll have to wait till tomorrow to see it!

A Holiday Quilt

One thing I love about visiting my mother (aside from the fact that I get to chat to her till all hours and spend time with her), is going through her material stash. She was into recycled crafting before I even knew about it. She has an entire caravan full of cut up second hand clothes, unwound jumpers, and bits and pieces she has spent years collecting. At one point, she was very into making crazy patchwork quilts. Some time I will have to take some pics of her quilts to put up here, they really are amazing.

This time though, I had a specific project in mind. Several years ago, when I moved into my first apartment on my own, we made a blue and green velvet patchwork lap rug. DD loves it, and carries it around the house to play with. I would rather it was left on her bed, covering up the board between hers and mine, so she didn't hit her head on it! The only solution was to make another rug! This time, of course, pink!

The material used is velvet, mostly from old velvet dressing gowns, which were all the fashion there at one stage. Mum has quite a collection, with lots of great colours for this project. We added in some purple and orange as well, just so it wasn't quite so pink. All red tones though.

DD had a lot of fun playing with the pieces, and some old dolly pegs that she found in a box of toys/craft stuff my mum had there.

Eventually we rescued the pieces to lay them out in a good order. It took lots of re-arranging so that we didn't have too similar a squares right together, although really, it probably didn't matter.

Then sewing them up. It's really handy to have two people for this job, as one can sew, while the other keeps the pieces in the right order. In a random design like this though, it really doesn't matter that much.

And here it is, the finished product! We found a piece of polar fleece left over from some tracksuit sewing we did for DD several visits ago for the backing. It was thick enough that we didn't need wadding, which was an added bonus. Then we gave it a quick wash, and here it is hanging in the sun. A good day's work I think.

A relaxing holiday

DD and I just arrived back from a wonderful couple of days staying with my parents in the Wide Bay. This is the view you see when you get up in the morning! This is one of their two dams. There are some barramundi in there somewhere, but they've never been caught, though a few have tried.

The waterlilies are really taking over this year. Usually they're just around the edges, but now they're covering the whole dam.

DD had a ball, running around after Grandma, and going for a ride on their ride on mower.

Panda the dog was also good for following, but she spent much of her time sitting at Grandpa's feet, his ever faithful companion.

On Friday, we went down to the beach. It's lovely at this time of the year, almost totally deserted.

I'm sure it won't look the same now, school holidays started yesterday.

Too cold really for swimming, but there are plenty of other fun things to do.

I tried to convince DD to help collect some of the shells that were everywhere, but apparently it was more fun to fill the bucket with wet sand!

The second hand shops failed us, and we had to buy this bucket/spade set at a discount store. Not bad for $2 though.

This bit of coral was large enough to hold her interest for a few moments though.

When playing with the sand lost it's appeal, this bag of beads and jewelery was good for a few minutes entertainment.

While we were there I had a really good chance to scour all the second hand shops. Their prices are MUCH better than here, and they seem to have a much better variety. I have 20 or 30 new sewing patterns, a lot of them children's ones, which will be put to good use. I also found a lot of older craft books with interesting things like how to make different kinds of rugs, simple clothes from simple shapes, and lots of other decorating ideas. I'm really looking forward to the house being finished so that I can start decorating!

Easter

We've had a lovely Easter Sunday today. Sadly, DH had to work, but we drove him in near the city, then went to have breakfast with my sister and her hubby's family. This is the view from Mt Cootha, where we had breakfast. It's just west of the city, and has a pretty good view. That is the city centre, where DH works. We live about 50k to the left! There wasn't the best view today, rather foggy and overcast.

In fact, about 20 minutes after I took the first picture, the rain came in. You can see it coming across the city like a sheet, amazing.

We decided not to go overboard on the Easter Eggs this year, buying one bunny to share amongst the three of us, which looks like a very good idea, as this was my sister's Easter basket to share at the breakfast! Luckily there were about a dozen people there to share them amongst. We bought some home, and they are sitting in the bottom of the fridge, recovering from being in the heat in the car on the way home. Tonight, after DD is in bed, I'll hide most of them in the cupboard above the microwave (the only one DD can't reach!)

Instead of eggs, I stayed up way too late last night to make this little baby for DD. I asked DH to put it on his hand, so that you can see the size. The pattern came from the same old book of magazine cut outs that the ducklings did, and was designed by Jean Greenhow.

He sits in a little basket (the instructions said to use an aerosol lid, but since I didn't have one, I used a cardboard baking powder tin), and I added a few tiny Easter eggs for her. She loved it. She even thanked me for making it for her, even though she didn't see me, and I didn't tell her I had made it. Cluey kid that one.

After we came home, we took the chicks out for a run in the yard. They love getting out, and one of our big projects for this 'weekend' (which will actually be Monday and Tuesday that DH has off) is to make a chook tractor for them to be out in during the day. We'll still bring them in at night for a little while, as the chook tractor won't really be dog proof enough for my liking.

The chicks are really growing, they even have feathers on their wings already! As you can see, they're trying very hard to fly! They're also trying to have dustbaths, on the newspaper in their box! I think they really need to be outside!