Sunday 27 March 2011

Of course they're supposed to be cropped!

Just a little project I started a while ago, but needed to adjust the waist band (no one likes their trousers falling down mid dance!).




Ah the joys of dancing without showing your bum :)




Yes, she did need a wee on this picture, so being the good mum that I am I only took one more photo before letting her sprint upstairs to the toilet.


And of course I totally meant for them to be cropped, I absolutely did not accidently use too-small leggings as a guide for the pattern. Ah well my first attempt at clothing. (except the hat I made my husband that he wont wear, I swear its only a little bump on top of it and does NOT make him look like an overgrown pixie.)


They are far from perfect, but to my delight she loves them. Because she knows I made them for her. And that stops all the 'oh look at that wonky stitching/uneven leg lengths/tiny bottom allowance' comments in my head.




I just love that girl! Mental note, can see jealous brother in the background and should probably make him something next time...I'm thinking a t-shirt and some fabric paint?


Anyone know where I can get some fabric paint?

Saturday 26 March 2011

Step away from the thickers

It's been a little quiet on the crafting front the last couple of weeks, first everyone was sick, and I was looking after them, then I was sick and they looked after me. (I much prefer it the latter way round!)



So just a few quick cards. Have I mentioned yet that I love Thickers? They are so easy to work with! Plus they can make a big difference to a project (scrapbooking, wall art, cards etc.) without it taking a long time.


This one is for my daughters birthday. (She will be three.)



And this one for my son's birthday. (I'm sure you can guess how old he'll be.) :)



And for my mum...Thickers and chipboards are my go to items at the moment, these ones are 'Smirk' ones. Is it obvious I made these cards in the same session? Ribbon, flowers, thickers and chipboards? Well if it aint broke! I know it's not everyones taste but I love simple cards (plus they're easy to make :) which equals more time with the hubbs and The mentalist. I LOVE this programme! Watch it and prepare to be hooked. However after watching the first season on a box set I'm now really annoyed by all the add breaks that interrupt great acting with 'go compare! go compare!'). That was a l o n g bracket!

There will be plenty more birthday related projects coming your way soon, I'm currently working on flowers hair clips and superhero capes. Photos soon!


Izzy loves my thickers too!

Sunday 13 March 2011

Maybe a little too honest...

I read an article recently about how Mums lie to each other. All the time! 

"Yeah I'm totally the same little Buxton is only allowed to watch 30 minutes of T.V.."

When I first read it I though, nah, not me I don't hold back! I tell people about how frequently Ethan wakes in the night, how big Izzy's tantrums are and how many 'accidents' she may or may not have had. (Yeah maybe I keep it a little too real.)

But then as I read I realised I did! So maybe your friend comes over, and you remembered about them coming but hadn't quite noticed it was 10am already and your house is a tip. (Still dishes from last night's dinner and Ethan-now-I'm-10 months-I-can-totally-feed-myself's dinner smeared on his tray, the wall and most of the floor space. PLUS toys, pjs and the odd dirty nappy on the living room floor.) So what do you say when you see their eyes sweeping around the house looking for any clean spot to sit? 

I would like to say I told it how it was and said,

"I spent the from 5.30-7.30am trying to put Izzy back to sleep with a combination of Andy sleeping with her in her bed, then all of us in our bed, and finally when Izzy laid diagonally Andy in Izzy's bed.

Then when I could open my eyes wide enough to attempt going downstairs I spent the next 1-2 hours trying to encourage other breakfast choices than frosties. After distracting Ethan enough with his obsurdly loud singing ball so I could run upstairs before they could notice I was gone to pee and grab the first clothes I saw in their wardrobe. Ran downstairs, changed both children whilst they were running/crawling away.

Waited two minutes after fully dressing Ethan before smelling his bum again to find he had left me his second poo of the day. Spent half an hour then trying to clean a pooey bottom whilst he crawled, climbed and shuffled away.

Then managed to dress him again then wondered what the knock on the door might be at this early time! Oh it's 10."

But instead I mumbled something about it never being this messy and that I had been doing tidying all morning, I hate it being messy! It's never this messy? (LIE! Just incase you hadn't already spotted it.)

Why not say I'd struggled that morning? Why not admit it to one of the people that would understand and probably empathise with me? And why, when I know someone's coming over, do I ignore my kids for an hour and do a frantic cleaning spree? Seeing another person's house looking imperfect makes me feel normal! I'm not the only one! (phew!)

So here it is. My living room. Izzy was at nursery school, I was not planning a lesson, or cleaning a different room, or even playing with Ethan. I was laid on the sofa. :) And I enjoyed it! (Then took some photos and tidied it, cos really that's even too messy for me!)


Yes, that's all the toys out of the box, out of the tubs, clothes drying over the heaters (I WISH we had a tumble dryer) and if we sweep right...



All the DVDs within baby height out.


But look how much Ethan enjoyed himself...



And I think it's okay to admit that my son is nearly a year and is not 'sleeping through' and so I do still have to rest through the day to avoid becoming 'the hulk mother'.

So a few more confessions;

I sometimes use my own toothbrush to brush Izzy's then Ethan's teeth, simply becuause I can't be bothered to haul all the children (yes I am aware I only have two) downstairs again to come up.

Sometimes I leave the clothes in the washing machine so long I have to wash them again.

Some days I can't seem to find enough time to shower.

Some days Ethan goes without his two portions of fruit (unless petit filous counts?)

During the winter it can be a long time between shaving...but its all to do with keeping my legs warm.

One more thing, in the interests of 'keeping it real'. I was having a gate fitted the other day and the joiner asked to use the bathroom. So I showed him the way and saw as I opened the door poo streaks on the toilet seat! Argh! Do I ignore it to avoid embarrassment? Wipe it? Tell him it was my newly toilet trained daughter who is a little short for the seat still? (even though it makes it seem more like it was me then?)

I embarrassedly wiped it (not with my hand!) and blushed something about toilet training. And later realised it sounded like I was training myself. Oh.

Well there you have it, dishes from the night before, shelves emptied onto the floor while I watched and poo streaks on the toilet seat. No lies. Just being honest. (yeah I know too honest) But hopefully you like me won't feel as guilty about being imperfect.

So please share and don't make me feel like I'm the only one who does things like these. I love my children and they are happy, so what if my house isn't perfect. It's part of what makes it a home.

New baby gifts

One of my best friends just had the most gorgeous baby girl. So I got enlisted my trusty sewing machine...


With hindsight I would have like the taggy blanket a bit bigger but it was my first attempt.



The picture frame is punched circles with different girly embellishments, would probably use more of a theme next time but 'girly' works for me!


I love touchy feely presents for babies because they're good for when they're just becoming curious and also up until teething!

I have since made a cube and blanket for another friend's baby boy, bigger blanket but also an unintentionally bigger cube too. Which even looked too big in my son's hands (who is nearly one).

And here's what Izzy did as I worked...


And it's blurry as Ethan was climbing on me as I photographed! He then moved on to Izzy who was less than pleased.

Saturday 5 March 2011

If only!


Can I just say wow? I mean I was excited about my room-to-grow sewing machine cover! Now I'm pretty sure it's too late to start this for Izzy as her birthday is next month, (plus I really need my glue gun birthday present from my husband, and my birthday is even after Izzy's. Okay I'll aim for Christmas then. 

But check out her blog, she does wonderfully simple tutorials (that made me think even I could make this!) And she has some really good ideas. Check her out at cookcleancraft (craft section)!


*Disclaimer, this post was not solely aimed at my husband and another hint on what I want for my birthday present. Though I would LOVE a glue gun... (That bit was totally a hint.) *

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Pimp my sewing machine cover!

So I made a cover for my brand new (ish) sewing machine, I used a book my wonderful friend Kathryn lent me - One-Yard Wonders by Yaker & Hoskins. (I'm pretty sure it was a hint to stop going on about fabric flowers, which require like two stitches, and move on to something else. So I saw the cover and thought it would be perfect, seen as my sewing machine already has paint spatters and glitter on her after only two months. (my daughter is even more into crafting than I am!) 


Now before I show any pictures please remember I started sewing only two months ago, and for one of those months I was under the impression that said sewing machine was broken, only to discover in an 'ahhh' moment that actually I had been putting the thread over the foot instead of under. (oh.)


So please ignore the wonky pocket, or not-so-perfect seams and be proud that I achieved this in only one evening!



Ah, you're wondering if I forgot to put my sewing machine inside?


Nope it's in there, paint splatters and all. It just turns out that my lovely machine is...petite. 

Don't laugh, my husband just pointed out that it's quite practical to have growing room.

So I'll be taking up the hem a little *cough* three inches *cough* and thought maybe I could add a little something. Of course my first thought was a flower or two, but that's maybe getting a little predictable. (As it's all I make!) Then I thought ruffles? Too much? Just along the bottom?

Anyway, what do you think? Pimp my sewing machine (cover). :)



Oooh maybe ruffles along the top of the pocket? Hmmm. Yes I am a two trick pony.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Ahhh...

So this was how my sister and I spent her half term.



The space! Wish I had a really great before picture to show you, but it was truly bad, the whole floor was covered with coats and shoes and junk! So after a trip to ikea for a new bed we also came back with these shelves, about £8 I think.


The lighting is pretty poor but look at everything SO neat! Makes my head feel less cluttered too!


We also got some more ribba photo frames to add to my collection so I could begin my photo wall! I have been wanting to do one for aaaaages, but we're in a rented house so not an option right? Wrong! I found these command strips that you can use with no damage to the wall then you're done with them! Get in! So without further ado...



And here's what it looks like with the rest of the room (ish).



Sorry I can't show you any more but It was pretty messy everywhere else (as that is all child height!). I love that I can add to it as I get new pictures too.

Fancy a close up of our family name picture?


Just some scrapbook paper and some thickers. I LOVE thickers! It's out there now, so you all know. Maybe it's not a proper addiction however I did have to hold back the tear when I realised that Izzy's card for me incorporated many, many of my precious thickers. But it's okay, I'm totally over that now!

I'm kind of wishing I'd used a more plain background, but I think it's growing on me now. What do you think?


Wooden Bead Necklace


So I've seen necklaces similar to this around blogland. I especially like them because they double as a teething aid too! Stylish AND practical :) 

So I kind of just made this up as I went along so bear with me!

First, choose your material and buy some wooden beads or balls. Measure how wide your material should be by rolling the bead in it and adding about an inch.



p.s. you will be seeing that top a LOT. It is my husband's (or was) and it shrunk in the wash. Now before you ask I didn't do it on purpose, however I did do a little dance when he told me it was too short now. I actually live in my husband's clothes when I'm pregnant as I get ENORMOUS! So nothing, not even maternity clothes fit me in the end. But now I have an excuse to wear his clothes and I don't have to have the sickness or horrible uncomfortableness (and yes that is a word).



Anyway, back to business. I cut a yard along and then sewed it into tube right sides together. Turn it inside out using a safety pin to guide it through.



Then tie a know in one end, but leave some on the end to hem and add your ribbon onto. Then alternate a knot then a bead, or mix it up however you like! 




(Yes when I saw my nails on this I did remove the nail varnish! Yuk!) When you have a short end with no space for a knot turn the raw edge under and insert the ribbon (leaving plenty to tie in a bow later). Sew... Same on the other side.


Then melt the edges of your ribbon so they don't fray. And then your done! Wear it and realise that actually your son doesn't care about jewelery (sigh of relief from my husband). But never mind, it looks pretty cool anyway! :)




I put a clip on corsage on it and that looked even prettier, maybe there's another use for the stacked flowers...