Soft Owl (Sqoot) for kids

Those of you who have been reading a while may remember Squog. He's a soft toy square dog I made for my niece. 

Well when my friend (who is a proper sewer) saw it she asked if she could steal the idea to make one of her own. Of course I didn't mind, as I'd seen the idea before on he internet anyway and I was honestly quite flattered!


So I decided to steal her version of my knock off of someone else's idea...


AKA how to get rid of fabric and ribbon scraps. Plus a really quick project to do for a last minute gift. I made one this afternoon for Ethan with Izzy's help and it took me about an hour. But could be quicker if you were uninterrupted.

Clearly I need to do this project!

Cut four squares the same size, and two that are 2cm longer, the pieces you want to be the side pieces where you'll have the 'wings'. Cut about two thirds of the way up on both.

Pin your ribbons into place on both pieces.

Bit of a tangent; I wanted mine to be the same on both sides so did them the same for each piece. But you need to do one the mirror image of the other so they'll look the same when sewn together. NOT like I did here. Though I think it still looks nice this way.

Back to the tutorial.

Sew in place and backstitch too. Just to make sure those ribbons aren't going anywhere.

They will both look something like this.

Applique the face on the front piece with a backstitch.

Then lay the 'face' square on top of a wing square right sides together and sew.

Lay the other wing square right sides together on top of the 'face' square and sew.

Do the same for the back piece.

Place the top square on top of the far left piece and sew.

And do the same with the bottom piece.

You now have your net (high school maths anyone? This is about as far as I got!)


Now you're going to start sewing it into a cube inside out. Now at this point would have been the right time to pin in your ribbons for the ears and feet, but I forgot till I got to the feet. But they should look like this:

Obviously I had to unpick the top and then sew in the ears!

Place the right side of the top piece onto the top of your face piece, hold in place and sew.

Then do the same for all the sides around the top piece.

And the same for the around the bottom piece. Except for the last side where you should leave a couple of inches open, back stitching around the opening.


Clip the corners and turn right side out pushing out the corners with a blunt pencil or crochet hook. Whatever you have lying around.


Stuff, whipstitch the opening closed and you're done!

And the lion version for Ethan?

So cute together too!

Perfect for a baby, which was the intention for the owl, but Izzy saw her and was smitten! So apparently great for three-year-olds too! You could also add a bell, which I tried to but hadn't made my hole big enough and was short on time!

Anyone else panicking and making/buying more presents when they thought they were done? Just me? Crazy I know! 


Plus it is my husband's birthday today! And my sister's tomorrow! I did cave and buy in his cake this year, which I am sure I should not feel bad for!

Make your own crackers from scratch

So, you may know by now I'm cheap.


Far too cheap to spend more than £20 on crackers that are full of things no one wants. (There's 14 of us at my parents for Christmas dinner)


Even too cheap to buy the 'make it yourself' kits.


So I played around a bit and figured out how to make my own using thickish paper, sellotape, ribbon and whatever I had around to decorate them. Plus whatever goodies you want inside.


First fold the paper in on itself nearly to the middle and then cut out triangles along each folded edge. You'll notice you don't have to be perfect.

Unfold and you'll have something like this:

Flip it over and decorate. I went boring. (classy?)

But my kids were more adventurous.

Roll it up when it's dry and stick it down with sellotape.

Tie one end up with a piece of ribbon, stuff and then tie the other end too.

A few of mine, but I like the kids ones best.

One of Izzy's.

And Ethan's. Just in case you didn't believe that I used what I had on hand to decorate! (one even had googly eyes!) 

But come on, who wants to be doing any more shopping than absolutely necessary this week?

And in the interests of keeping it real...

Most of the backs look like this, but I'll just arrange them like this:

So no one will notice. And you could add the snaps, but my kids HATE when they bang so I left them out.

Nosey? Here's what I put inside mine:

Just some pretty little baubles and a bell. Izzy also put a funny face picture inside some (instead of a joke), her idea too! The kids ones have little disc gliders. My husband has already been playing with them, so I'm thinking I should have done more like that...must be getting boring as I'm getting older!

Such a nice easy craft for the kiddies. But one that also helped me tick something off my list. Mine both loved decorating and Izzy loved stuffing and then passing them over for tying. Great to occupy them this week. 

Anyone else's kids crazy this week? And with no nursery school I am running out of fun ideas for them! (any help is welcome in the comments! :) )

Songs Kate Sang

Today I'm going to share some of my favourite bits from Kate over at Songs Kate Sang.

Kate does THE most beautiful photography, with her photos I know that I don't just need a better camera to be on her level, I would need some serious skill. What a gorgeous shot of her tree.

And she has great style, she doesn't brag about her home, you more get glimpses of it through her photographs.

She makes me laugh too!

But more than that, Kate also touches on the really meaningful stuff. Like religion (or just living well if you're not that way inclined!) and giving to others.

Hope you'll go pop by and tell her how crazy good her photography skills are! :) 

Christmas Pudding (nut, dairy and alcohol free!)

Yes, my family are awkward (anyone got one who isn't?!). Since before I was married it has always been me who has made the Christmas puddings, it was just for my family, then one year, while Andy and I were still dating, I decided to make one for his family too.

And I don't mean to brag, but that was the Christmas that his Granddad said to him:

"You've got a good one here, make sure you hold on her!"

Because, this Christmas pudding is THAT good. His granddad is also said that it makes him feel like a boy again! Which to be honest neither me or Andy could work out if it was a good thing or not...

Any how, many of you know I'm a Mormon, so don't have alcohol, so making a pudding without is just normal. But Andy's family also don't like nuts in puddings, and we have a niece who is lactose intolerant. So just a few tweaks to a Delia Smith recipe (she's big in the UK) and you have a pudding fit for many fussy family members!

8oz shredded suet (use the beef kind if you want lactose free, vegetable can sometimes have milk added)

4 oz self raising flour

8 oz breadcrumbs

1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

16 oz soft brown sugar

8 oz sultanas

8 oz raisins

16 oz currants

2 oz mixed peel (though I buy a value pack of mixed fruit which has mixed peel already in, I've never noticed the difference with cheap or expensive fruit, and the remainder of my mixed peel just went off the other way!)

*optional* 2 oz skinned and chopped almonds

1 apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

zest of one lemon and one orange

12 floz fresh fruit juice (like apple or orange), shloer or norfolk punch 

4 eggs

It seems like a lot, but this will make two medium size or four small puddings, so cut down or split it up as needed.

1. Mix the suet, breadcrumbs, flour, spices and sugar.

2. Add the fruit, then apple, peel and zest. Mix well.

3. Mix the liquid and eggs together and add to the mixture.

4. Mix together really well adding a little more liquid if needed. The mixture should drop off the spoon if tapped on the side of the bowl. Then cover with a towel and leave till the next morning.

5. Place into greased basins and cover with baking paper and then a muslin or thin towel. Tie with string around the sides to secure and then steam for 8 hours to cook (even if you are giving it away or saving it). Top up the water in the pan as needed.

6. Replace the baking paper when cooled and store in a cupboard or somewhere else cool. If you're giving it away add a piece of pretty fabric and a ribbon with heating instructions(below) on a tag. Perfect.

7. Now Delia says to steam for two hours before serving too, but a few minutes in the microwave is just as good in my opinion!

(from Delia's website unfortunately, mine wont be served for a couple of weeks!)

Hope you enjoy! It just occurred to me, is Christmas pudding an English thing or is it had everywhere?

In case it is an English thing, it is delicious with custard or double cream on Christmas eve or boxing day (or even Christmas day if you have space!).