Hello again

Before I get started I had to check the last time I blogged, it was a year and a half ago! and now I'm trying to think about what has happened in that time, and then I realised quite a lot has happened in this time. So many reasons why I stopped blogging, so many life changes and reasons why I decided not to bother even opening up Blogger.

This year I might have some new big changes with our little tribe of 4, things I would like to start sharing. Things I'm quite excited and scared about, things that are constantly running around my head that I would like to write out, but first I'll do a little recap of the past year and a half.

Its the school holidays in Australia, my first lot of summer school holidays, its hot and we are inside with the air con on. Last year my eldest Ruby started Kindergarten, crazy! I think back to when I started this blog, I was eagerly waiting for her to make her debut on the world, and I began documenting my craft projects as a way of filling in time and showing anyone that read this little blog the things I had lovingly made.

Ruby is now 6 she is a confident little girl, she is a beautiful big sister and caring friend. She has loved the new and exciting world of being at school. She loved her teacher and made loads of friends and was invited to so many parties. Each day she would learn something new and eagerly tell us about it with such enthusiasm, and inform us about the games she played with her new friends. A year of school has passed by so quickly, and before we know it she will be starting year 1, back to school which I can tell she is missing.

Before Ruby started school, she had to do a head start program for 4 weeks. Going to school on a Friday morning and meeting her teachers and doing some work in her future classrooms, meeting new friends who have since become her close friends. This was meant to be a happy and exciting time, but unfortunately it was a horrible time and the lowest of my life. I wont go into to much detail, but at the same time I was taking my daughter to school, I was back and forth at the hospital as my Mum had terminal cancer and in those 4 weeks of school my Mum passed and a funeral was arranged and had. It was so hard being 2 different people, the proud Mum on the outside and a heart broken daughter on the inside. 

We knew the day was coming but I have to admit I didn't think it would actually happen. Mum had been a fighter for decades, so many different forms of cancer came and she fort them hard. But it all became to much and she didn't even get to see Ruby in her uniform. Having this happen has really made an impact on me as a person, in different ways, ways you don't even realise. My brother and sister and I really united together, we all took it in turns going to the hospital and being with Mum, our relationship is strong and we have really banded together since. 

2016 has been a strange experince ever since, Mum passed in the November and the new year saw us all continue on with a lives, and with us all having a gaping big hole that really couldn't be filled and that constant feeling of a piece of our puzzle forever missing. 

Family life, lets make it happy again. My partner Chris and I have been together 10 years now. He really is the best, the best partner and the best Dad. Ruby is now 6 and a half and my little Olive is 3 and a half. 2016 saw Olive and I spend lots of one on one time together, having coffee dates, play dates and fun. Olive is my little independent girl. She can sit and play with anything for ages, she has an amazing imagination and creativity. It was so great having her to myself, we had a great year together and this year she is off to preschool for the first time, I loved our time together but I feel she needs the extra social interactions that being at home with me just doesn't have.  

To market, to market.

This year saw me have my second year on the market scene, I'm so happy with what I've made this year and the positive feedback I've received. I will be doing some future Blog posts on this, and posting some photos and thoughts on this.

So this is the most basic of run downs I can give, I may refer back to this in future posts, YES future posts, I'm really going to make a go of it this year. I'm so looking forward to what I will be writing about in December this year, I'm really looking forward to 2017. 

Thanks for stopping by

Em xx

My market stall

So, its only been forever that I've said I was going to have a market stall. My new years resolution was to have a stall, and I finally did it. If anyone is from the Central Coast, you will probably be familiar with the Shelly Beach Markets. They are on the last Saturday of the month, I've done a few this year so far with the next one being next Saturday 25th July. My dear friend Larissa from Sugar Plum Tart and I have been going together and it has been great finally selling our hand made creations.

 I found this amazing vintage sheet a little while ago, brand new/old never opened. I love how bright and colourful my stall is, you should see the kids eyes light up when they walk past, love it.

 I finally have started selling my felt cakes, how long ago did I make these? 5 years maybe.

 I've also sold loads of my little Russian dolls. And I went on a hair clip making frenzy.

And all my new crochet toys. It's funny that each market is different, I will sell loads of one thing and the next market I sell none.

 It's all a good learning experience and I will try and make new things for each market to try and mix it up a bit. I also get bored making the same thing over and over. I have also found pricing to be hard as I don't like to under price myself as I put a lot of time into making everything, but I also want people to want to buy them too. 

So if you are on the Central Coast and around the North end of the Coast, it's a great day out. Also Long Jetty is 5 mins up the road from the Market. It has really become a great little hub with loads of great shops and cafes, definitely a great day out if you are coming up from Sydney.

Em xx ♥♥♥

A quick catch up

So much has been going on, the main highlights have been that I finally have been having a regular market stall and we have recently returned home from a trip to the UK for a month. I thought I would share a few photos of some of my crochet projects which Ive been selling at the market.

 I made a whole heap of donuts

 More Giraffes

 Some little bears

 Bunnies

 I made these as little Easter gifts for the girls, I didn't sell these

 Little bunny rattles

 Bunnies in Cardies

 A combination of donuts and watermelons to create a watermelon donut

And did I mention I made a heap of donuts

I will post about the market soon, just thought as I had a chance I would do a little Blog catch up

Em ♥♥♥

Transferring activity

I love Pom poms and as you may see there are loads of things you can do with them.

 This is a great activity as it's easy and it covers many areas of development for little people. I have an 18 month old and it's great for her, it was also a hit for my eldest when she was the same age.

All you need is two bowls and a small pair of tongs, and of course pom poms. I used to also do this when I worked in Pre schools, and I generally had the 18 month to 2 year old's, we also used dried pasta.

Some of the areas of development this is good for are,

Fine motor development

Hand and eye co ordination

Speech and Language 

Cognitive development

Dexterity

 We talk about the colours in which we are picking up, my 18 month old is slowly learning new words and enjoying to practice them. It's also great for introducing colours into her learning and play, which is great for language and cognitive skills.

The transferring of the pom poms from one bowl to another is great for her hand and eye co ordination as she has to focus on the pom pom and use her fine motor skills by using her hands to control the tongs in order to pick them up, and release them.

When my eldest became more confident with it, she would sit for ages just transferring  the pom poms between the two bowls. It kept her quiet and was a great calming activity for quiet time.

So why not give it a go, maybe try the dried pasta ( just make sure they don't eat it). The small plastic tongs to squeeze tea bags are also great for this, and also a bit easier to handle for little hands.

Em xx ♥♥♥

Pom pom glitter bunting

Another cute activity for older kids or Mum's looking to make something cheap and cute for their little ones room. 

These pom poms came in a big bag which cost $2 at a craft shop. The glitter card also cost about $2 which I bought at a dollar/pound shop. So this is quite an inexpensive way to make something a bit cute and add a bit of sparkle to any room. 

1, Find a sized circle you like and trace around it onto the back of the card, cut it in half and this will make your template. I used a plastic cup for the size of mine.

2, Now just trace it onto the rest of the card and cut out your bunting, I got 12 from 2 sheets of card.

3, Now with your hole punch, punch 2 holes in your bunting pieces, one in each corner

4, Now cut out a long length of your string (I used a gold yarn which I already had). Then thread the yarn onto the bodkin (or just a regular needle, depending on the thickness of your yarn/string). Now start with threading through a pom pom then the bunting shape, and so one, finishing with a pom pom. this is so when you tie it off it wont fall off the string.

 Now for the two ends, for each end I tied a loop and knot, then I threaded the left over yarn through the pom pom and cut it off, just to make it neat.

Now hang it up and admire it's cuteness. I used blue tack to adhere mine to the wall, but with the loops you can hang it from some hooks too.

I hung mine in my daughters room, she was pretty happy with it.

So this is a pretty easy way to make bunting that doesn't require a sewing machine.

You could use any coloured card or even foam, you could even use those lovely wool felt balls. There are lots of variations you could try. I would love to try some with my vintage wallpaper, for a vintage look. I even made some without the pom poms and just ran my cardboard through the sewing machine. This was also quite easy if you have a sewing machine.

Happy Crafting

Em xx ♥♥♥

Pom Pom Poppers

 I'm certainly not going to claim this as my idea, just showing you all the fun things you can do with pom poms. This is a fun little activity which will keep the kids entertained for a while, and not to mention finding pom poms all over the house, it's a small price for entertained kids.

 Cut a hole in the bottom of the paper cup

 Then cut the top off the balloon

 Tie a knot in the end of  the balloon. Next stretch the balloon over the bottom of the paper cup. Then tape the balloon to the cup.

Now, let the fun begin. Pop a pom pom in, and pull back on the the balloon then release. they do get a bit of distance, luckily the pom poms don't hurt or break anything.

Then get of the firing range and grab a cuppa whilst you can.

Em xx ♥♥♥ 

Pom Pom Bracelet

 This is an easy little activity I can do with my 4 and a half year old, I did need to help her with a couple of things. It turns out pretty cute for a girl who does love her accessories and dressing up.

Make the Tassel

1, Wrap some of the yarn about 10 times around the piece of cardboard

2, Slide it off the cardboard, then tie some yarn at the end of the tassel then tie some yarn about 1cm down from the top

3, Snip the ends off to make the tassel neat

(this part may need an adult to help)

 Thread the elastic onto the bodkin, this might need to be done by and adult. alternatively you could used a plastic  bodkin for kids. Then thread the beads, then through the pom poms, then through the tassel and keep going. 

Then tie off the elastic into a few knots, (an adult might need to help here too)

And there you have it, a cute little bracelet. I love pom poms and love adding them to lots of little projects for my kids.

Happy Crafting

Em xx ♥♥♥

Hello 2015

Wow, January has nearly gone already. I cant believe 2014 has gone and we are in 2015, resolutions are always on peoples lips, I don't tend to make them as I almost never keep them. My little Blog is one of them, I drop by time to time and have a look, and post a few things. Truth is I have a Samsung tablet now, its great for the quick stuff I need to do, like banking, email etc. I don't always have the time to get the lap top out and set it up as our new place is small and I don't have much room to keep it out all the time.

Anyway, this year is bringing some big things, I did set a little challenge for myself for the new year. Have a market stall, I'm glad to say I have been accepted to sell my things at a market, but I think I will start with the Feb market as I don't have time to get everything ready to start this weekend.

I'm also helping out a friend and contributing some little tutorials for something he is working on. I thought I would mention this as you might see a whole heap of little tutorials pop up in your feeds.

We are also off tho the UK with these two cheeky monkeys. Ruby is 4 and a half now and Olive is 18 months. How we will all go on a plane is anyone's guess, I hope for sleeping kids the whole way, although I somehow think that is a ridiculous fantasy from a delusional mother. We have a couple of months to mentally prepare ourselves, which is good.

So I think I will be keeping myself busy with making things for the market and doing some little tutorials over the next few months. Cant wait to show you how the market goes.

Em xx ♥♥♥

A bit of upcycling

 I love finding treasures at the op shops, I don't get to go much anymore as taking 2 kids in and out of the car then taking them in etc, it isn't fun. I love little shelves that can house little things. These are 3 that I have painted and put some lovely paper at the back.

 I have shown this one before maybe, it was a spice rack and I do keep it in the kitchen. It looks lovely now and I love this little colourful corner.

 This one is my absolute favourite. It was a horrible mission brown and needed many coats of paint to get it pretty. I found the green and pink vintage wallpaper in my travels and are my favourites. I did a swap with someone on instagram and got the blue and yellow ones. I am just so happy with how it turned out as I love vintage wallpaper, this one lives in Ruby's room.

This one I initially sprayed blue and didn't like it. So I just went back to the off white and it looks way better. I have a bit of a wrapping paper addiction which I will never use for wrapping. I used lots of the paper as they are all just pretty. This is how is started out....

And now it is full of Lego Mini Figures. Anyone else have an addiction to these? These are the smallest amount of ours, these ones are Ruby's faves. We do love a bit of Lego in our house, one of the houses I made before is full of them.

Em xx ♥♥♥

Crochet Floor Rug

My sister fell pregnant a while ago and I decided to try and make her a crochet mandala floor rug. I found a thinker cotton yarn which I thought would be perfect to give it a go. I chose three colours thinking that they would be OK for either sex. I looked at some different patterns, but in the end I just went with it trying different stitches from different patterns. I have to say that I unpicked many rows as it was hard to get the mat to stay flat.

 I used 6 balls of  yarn and went as far as they would take me, I think it turned out to be the perfect size.

 Here is the rug on the floor in Olive's room, I kind of wanted to keep it for myself.

I gave it to her the other week when she had her baby. She had a little boy so the colours worked extra well. She loved it and I love my new little nephew, new babies are the best.

Em xx ♥♥♥

A spot of Crochet

I just thought I would pop a few photo's of some of my crochet projects from the past few months. I made lots of Giraffes for lots of new babies we know.

 These 2 were for a boy and a girl, I love the grey for both sexes

 This little guy was a just because one

 And the coloured one was for my Nephews baby cousin, love them all together

This colourful bear was for Olives little friend

And this little girl was for my Niece, the pattern was in an old Mollie makes, or the simply crochet from them (I cant remember). I altered the pattern to make the clothes different. I would have loved to make more, but she turned 2 and they would have been lost on her, maybe when she gets a bit older I will make some more clothes.

Em xx ♥♥♥