DIY: Cowboy & Indian themed party

 

A few weeks back we held a cowboy & indian themed party to celebrate Kobe's 3rd birthday. We hired out a community centre for a few hours & invited his lil mates to come dressed up as either a cowboy or indian. I got crafty & made the decorations out of objects I already had.

 

 

1.I painted some cardboard with green paint. (You can also make your own non toxic kids paint using this recipe). Once dried, I wrapped some cooking twine around some to form the lines of the cactus. I used liquid paper to make the cactus spikes. Then popped them into some baskets (ok one is a lampshade but you cant tell hee hee) I had lying around the house which I tied some coloured ribbon around. The pink flowers are folded out of crepe paper.

 

 

2. Loot lolly bags for the kidlets. I had some calico in my fabric stash which I cut up & stuck some sheriff badges onto. I originally was going to embroider the dollar sign on but then opted for permanent marker as it was more time friendly. I stuffed them with a chocolate wagon wheel, a stamp, a hamburger lolly & a whistle.

 

 

 

3. Arrows made out of sticks (from my front magnolia tree). I glue gunned some feathers (from Kobe's craft box) & wrapped some coloured ribbon around them. The arrow point is made from cardboard.

 

 

 

 

I would love to say that this little cowboy was Kobe but its one of his little friends ready to lasoo some bandits no doubt. Kobe wore a little poncho (refused the head feather) which he lasted about an hour in. He shyly clung to his poppy's leg until he warmed up out of his shell at cake time (& then it was goodbyes all round to his mates). I really liked the way the decorations turned out but next year we may go along with his favourite theme, rubbish...

Happy Tuesday friends!
Grace

#Sidenote; the dreamcatcher in the first photo was made with an embroidery hoop, some cooking twine & ribbon out of my craft stash.

28/52

 

28/52

 

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week in 2014".

 

Kobe you are now 3. I hope this year brings you more contentment with going to daycare which you just started. Its not going well but we shall preserveer & hope there will be less tears (from either of us) as time goes on.

 

 

Happy Wednesday friends!

Grace

Changing my mindset

I have been trying to change my mindset on wanting everything to wanting to live a more simpler greener lifestyle while trying to stretch our dollar further. Its freaking hard is an understatement!!! Feeling slightly overwhelmed by trying to make the right choice for this little family of ours. During my research around the net I have found some amazing inspirational sources.

For those dreaming of throwing in the city life for a country life, these people make you want to do just that;
The shady baker, every time I try to bake my own bread I hope it turns out like Janes, sadly it never does. Ah practice (or lots of it in my case) makes perfect!
Whole larder love, Rohan makes me want to go out & forage for food to make a hearty meal.
Gourmet farmer, I could happily morph into my couch watching back to back episodes on former food critic come farmer Matthew. Hurry up please season 4:)

For the money pinchers;
Free our kids, the toddler & me & our year for free is an interesting read.

Inspirational people;
Inked in colour; Sasha is a single mum with the greatest ethics. Her nothing new project is inspiring! Her strength to not purchase anything new for a year is hardcore. I plan to use her recipe for chalkboard paint & natural wood finish on some preloved furniture (once I sand it).
Ben Law; Ben has lived & worked in the woods for over 10 years & built a cosy cottage from scratch?!? Simply amazing!

Magazine love;
Peppermint; focusing on sustainable issues, craft & fashion. Bonus is they have free downloadable sewing patterns off their website!!!
Green lifestyle; I stumbled across this magazine at the local library & cant enough of devouring old issues with tips on green living. Im obsessed!!!

My daydreams about baking all our own bread, making all our clothes (FYI Luke will never wear anything I make & Im not sure how fashion savvy I can sew hee hee), growing all our veggies, using less chemicals & plastics, wasting less food, driving a hybrid car are a long while off. But they are in our 5 year plans. I have a start on cutting down on food wastage, plus I stopped using floor cleaner a while back & instead use eucalyptus oil, a room spray is a mix of lavender oil & water, the only thing growing in my veggie garden seems to be piddly lettuce, capsicum, some barren tomato plants & some edible nasturtium & unflowered calendula flowers. But whenever I feel overwhelmed by feeling that Im not making enough progress, I just constantly remind myself that I will never be a sustainable living advocate, I can only do what I can & what works for me (& family) right now.

Happy Friday friends!
Grace

27/52

27/52

 

 

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week in 2014".

 

I seemed to have missed a few weekly portraits so I shall skip what I missed & join in with where everyone at The 52 project are.

 

Kobe, I begged you to semi pose so I could capture you in your kitshy apple sunnies. You weren't impressed having to sit still (of more than 2 seconds) so I ended up with a tonne of photos like the following below...

 

 

 

 

Happy Tuesday friends!

 

Grace

 

 

 

 

DIY: The clueless girls way to making a quilt

 

 

Seriously I started sewing this quilt when Kobe was still a tiny wee baby in his cott. This is the second quilt I have ever sewn (the first one was in home economics in high school) & I did it all with guesswork, hence my blog title. Now that Kobe is in a single sized bed I have had to triple its length from the original planned cott size. Its far from perfect, some of the triangle points don't quite match & its a tad lumpy but otherwise I think it looks pretty darn cute!

 

 

 

1. I chose this cute vintage space themed fabric with red & blue fabric to match. I cut them into triangles roughly with sides measuring 23cms with a 1.5cm seam allowance.

2. I laid them out alternating blue fabric, space themed fabric, red fabric, space themed fabric then sewed them in rows.

3.Then sewed the rows together. Some of the triangle points didn't match up but I kept on going (eventually).

 

 

 

4. As I used an old quilt which was quite lumpy I didn't want it twisting inside the quilt cover so I topstitched some of the seams down to the old quilt.

5. Then I put the right side (ie. the printed fabric side) of the front & back of the quilt cover together & sewed 3 of the sides together. Leaving the bottom of the quilt cover open.

6. Turn the fabric inside out revealing how the quilt cover will look & folded the bottom seams up inside the quilt. Because the quilt was so bulky (& I broke a sewing needle on it) I had to dodgily handstitch along the bottom seam.

7. I forgot to take photos of the fabric before I cut it up so here are bits of the spaceman print.

 

 

Tada. Lil one testing the finished quilt. Perfect for snuggling in on these chilly Winter nights & mornings. I can only pray that the 7am sleep ins he has been treating us to will continue F.O.R.E.V.E.R :) & he wont revert back to 5am-6am...

 

 

Happy Thursday friends!
Grace

#Sidenote; Im sure there are easier & proper ways to sew a quilt, this is simply my how to version:)

What I wore: bridal shower ladylike

 

When I received the invite to Lukes sisters bridal shower. I was a bit clueless as what is a bridal shower exactly? Baby shower yes, bridal shower no. Its pretty much a high tea with games (with no male stripper entertainment although there was some naughty-ish prizes that were won).

 

 

I thought I would dress the part, Amy is quite ladylike so that was what I was aiming for too. I found this faux fur collar in an op shop a couple weeks back & teamed it with a white vintage dress I have had in my wardrobe for ages. Seriously this dress is probably one of the only dresses I shall keep for life. The shift dress cut & the bow detailing are so simple yet elegant. Timeless. I only wish I could style my hair like this.

 

 

And don't get me started on this vintage beaded clutch. Love love!

 

 

Yes I may of been nominated as a toilet paper bride in one of the bridal shower games. This is the closest I shall get to wearing a wedding dress. I didn't win but the bow made on the back by the talented Sarah was fabulous.

 

 

Amy cleverly had Audrey Hepburn quotes dotted around the bridal shower

"The most important thing is to enjoy your life-to be happy-its all that matters".

 

(What I wore: Vintage beaded clutch & faux fur collar/ thrifted. Vintage earrings & dress/ I had in closet).

Happy Monday friends!
Grace

The road to happiness

 

I recently told a dear friend the road to happiness is never easy. Last year was one of the most challenging trying times of my life. So this year I have been putting the focus on making changes to being happier. Don't get me wrong, everyday I thank my stars for being healthy, having a roof over my head, loving friends & family & this mostly sweet child of mine. But still there were areas of my life I needed to change.

 

 

1.Purging toxic relationships was on the top of my list. Spending less time (or no time) with people who expect me to chase them for every catch up or dump their problems on me without listening in return. By letting these relationships slide, I found I see more of my real friends.

2. Taking me time, this is by far the hardest concept for me to accept as I like to be a very hands on mama for Kobe. I put all my energy into being the bestest damn mama I can be & I try to be there for every milestone. However lately I have been feeling a bit burnt out & wanting some time to breathe & relax. Hence Kobe will be starting daycare for half day once a week, who knows I may even stay in bed for that half day:) Luke is stepping up & having daddy son special time for a couple hours on the weekend. Plus I have started having a sewing night (which sometimes leads into a movie night) to unleash some creativeness with a close friend once a week. Expect to see some sewing DIY blog projects coming up (once I figure out her fancy pants sewing machine, mine's an old school basic one).

 

 

3. Making our house a home; we have been in our house for a while now & it still doesn't feel quite like a home. It may be the piles of  clutter (Im a secret hoarder) I seem to hang onto for no reason but because one day I may use it (eh, not!). Im going thru room by room & deciding what to sell/keep/pass on/donate. Its quite freeing but I have a long way to go. The fun part will be scouring the web for décor inspiration & adding splashes of colour to our space. We have plans to paint the loungeroom this weekend, yippee!

 

 

(He doesnt know it but the lil one is totally flipping the bird in this photo?!?)

 

4. Lastly more exploring, Luke/I suffer from major wanderlust. Funds are tight at the moment so overseas family travel trips are sadly on hold but we are making plans on some local roadtrips exploring Western Australia by car. Coral bay & Balingup we are a coming (some time later in the year).

 

So that's me in a nutshell at the moment, how are you? What are you doing on your road to happiness?

 

Happy Monday friends!

 

Grace

 

*Sidenote; photos taken at this years Bickley harvest festival.