30 July 2013

Quick Crafting with the Kids

I was tidying up the kitchen cupboards when I found these: I loved the colourful, polka-dot cupcake cases and thought the kids would have fun making something. After a couple of minutes brain storming, we decided to make flower pictures.  I was put in charge of the scissors and the girls told me what to cut. It was a fun way to pass...
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Getting Patriotic Over Toast

At breakfast this morning Samantha asked me to draw a flag so she could colour it in.  Sure, why not.  So I grabbed a piece of copy paper, a black marker and drew an outline of a Union Jack.  Immediately, Olivia decided she wanted to colour a flag in too.  Both girls sat in the kitchen munching toast and colouring flags. Once...
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29 July 2013

Dressing up Peanut

Meet Peanut ... Peanut has been around since I was pregnant with Samantha.  She was Olivia's own little baby, while I was busy trying to manage a toddler as well as a newborn.  Peanut has been loved.  She has been bathed, dressed, undressed, and generally dragged around the house.  Peanut hasn't been played with much lately...
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28 July 2013

Summer Shorts go Retro

The first two pairs of shorts I made were a roaring success with the girls.  They've only had them for a week and they've already been through the wash three times.  I think they'd wear them every day if they could.  Just as a reminder, I'm using this pattern by MADE: For round two of shorts making, I'm trying the retro, racer style...
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26 July 2013

Tidying Up the Littlest Room

The shelf in our downstairs cloakroom (that's polite English speak for toilet) has become a jumbled mess of supplies I'd really rather not have on display.  I would post a before picture, but it's just too embarrassing.  I found these really handy wooden storage drawers at Ikea.  Unfortunately they are not very pretty, so I decided to...
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25 July 2013

Organising my Recipes

Since moving to London, we have been living in a house without loads of storage.  While the kitchen isn't the smallest one I've ever had, it is seriously lacking in storage.  One of the annoying things, is that there is no space to store recipes and cookbooks.  A great big mess has gradually developed, which is taking up loads of the...
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22 July 2013

Tackling the Mess in the Kids Bathroom

Having fabulous, organised spaces is one of the things I really love.  I'm most definitely not the tidiest person in the world.  My tidy spaces gradually devolve into disorganised messes, but when everything is put away and looks beautiful, it is delightful. Our girls bathroom has lately become a jumbled mess of random shampoo bottles, piles...
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21 July 2013

Summer Shorts

For years the only sewing I have done has been things like curtains, sheets, bibs and other bits and pieces for around the home.  I stopped sewing clothes because they were fiddly to make, supplies (like fabric and patterns) have become really expensive, and too many times I had finished something, put it on and it just didn't look as good...
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20 July 2013

Breaking in the Brand New Sewing Machine

Last month bought my very first brand new sewing machine.  My previous sewing machines had been a 1960s Bernina (one of those old black enamel ones in a wooden case) inherited from my Nana, and a ragged old Janome (with all the paint peeling off) that shook the house when I sewed.  This new machine is a step into luxury.  It's shiny,...
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