Homemade kids clothes swap

On TNN we did a Homemade kids clothes swap. I was given 2 wee girls to sew for. One being very little - only 4 months old and one being 18 months. I love sewing girls clothes for a change from the boys clothes I always seem to be sewing. So I knew I would have fun with this one.
My swaps have been sent off but not quite received and I know they will be received in the next day or so. So lets hope the recipients don't look here.
For the 4 month old girl i made a very cute and teeny tiny little dress from 2 different lots of corduroy. This is a similar pattern to the ones I shared about a couple of months ago. I changed a few bits and pieces with the pattern.

I used cute little flower snaps for the closures.
I ran one corduroy sideways and one up and down for something a bit different.

For the 18 month old girl I made a wee Merino Tunic from a pattern I made up. I kinda went along the same lines as the Charlie tunic but obviously without sleeves, but I liked the way the quilting cotton was a feature.
If I had girls I would have struggled to give these away - they are just soo lovely... Just as well we don't have girls eh....

HELP!!!!

Jack and I have been reading this book called Nat Fantastic, which he loves.
Nat turns into a superhero at bedtime when his Mum leaves the room.
Great story by the way. And this is the HELP part of the post... Jack asked me yesterday - "Mum can you make me some of pyjamas just like that?" Hmmmm So where will i find silver fabric suitable for pj's???????? I have had my thinking cap on thinking of all the different ways to do this - Dye??? Won't give the same sheen as a nice silver fabric, If i can find silver fabric suitable for sleeping in then i could print stars on the fabric.... Possibly....
Then I also have to find something similar to the pants....... So hence my HELP moment - any ideas out there?????

I won something!!!

From Wildflowers and Whimsy blog. It's a lovely necklace and 2 cute wee hairclips. I am thinking about giving them as a gift as I know the perfect person to pull them off.
They are a lovely turquoise colour - which just happens to be one of my favourite colours at the moment.

They arrived beautifully packaged up with pink tissue paper and a ribbon around it.

Wildflowers and Whimsy is an awesome blog - go and check it out.

Flea Market Finds

A couple of weekends ago we went to a garage sale run by the school to raise money for the Christchurch earthquake fund. It was great we made over $3000 for the Red cross fund. Anyway I managed to pick up this awesome Dick and Jane book and these cool stencils. Jack has been having a ball reading the Dick and Jane book and writing his name with the stencil. He can actually read the Dick and Jane stories by himself which is so cool. He is so ready for school and he still has to wait for another six months. I was originally going to cut the book up to make cool vintage story book blocks - but how could I do that when Jack loves reading it so much, + the fact that it's almost a little wrong to cut up such a beautiful old book.

March - the month...

March is going to be an awesome month - yesterday I won a weekend away at Bluewater resort in Tekapo - Yes the very one that Steve was construction manager on. So one weekend this month we will whisk our little family off to Tekapo for a weekend away, which will be lovely. I would like to think that this month is going to be a productive month for me - but I see myself probably working a bit more than my 2 days a week that I normally do with an extra 50 students that have enrolled at school from Christchurch.
My project list for this month consists of
Finishing 20 Ponchos for kindy and that is it. If I get time which I doubt I will then I will start some winter clothes for the boys and some extra stock to put on Felt or in the Musterers Hut.

1 week on..

from the terrible earthquake that rocked Christchurch and people are still being pulled from the rubble unfortunately not alive like the first couple of days. This tragedy has rocked our world down here - we are 3 hours south and inland from Christchurch... but still own a house there and have the majority of our friends and family there. My Mother in law had just arrived in Twizel at the time of the quake to help look after the kids as I was teaching all week. Father in law rang to say there had been an earthquake but he was OK. However at that stage he couldn't get hold of Steve's sister or her husband to know if they were OK. I had felt the earthquake while sitting having lunch in the staffroom. And today exactly a week after the quake the whole school and staff and community stood outside the school near the marketplace and showed our respect for the Christchurch Quake victims with a 2 minute silence. The church bells rang, the firemen sounded their siren as a mark of respect that echoed through our wee township. We also had the families and alot of the parents that have fled Christchurch there too. It was a very somber and reflective moment. I sit here very grateful that all our friends and family are alive. Though some have lost houses, they are still with us - the most important thing. I also feel for those families who have lost everything or someone and know that with Christchurch being the community it is we will know at least one person that has perished in this awful disaster.

Kia Kaha Christchurch

Declutter and organise - month 1

So you are probably wondering how I am going with my declutter and organise goals from this post.
Well we are just about at the end of the first month and I have been busy in Charlie's room. Although not quite busy enough to post pics just yet. However you need to see the before pics first.
So here goes


and I know what you are thinking - "it's not that bad" Well this is true - it's not - however the wardrobe is a problem with a birthday coming up i feel there will be another inundation of toys so i need to clear some space for some toys to go before his birthday arrives. Also half of the stuff that is in the wardrobe is stuff that he doesn't use anymore - mostly baby stuff. The capsule is going to my sister for her baby so that's one thing out of the way.
So next time you hear from me i should be back with after pictures