Sneak peak

I am so excited about the LM going to school in a couple of weeks that it is driving me crazy ha ha

Tonight I thought I would try on his new school shoes with the (horrible navy socks they have to wear ) socks and OMG what a cutie........They looked big but they aren't I guess I am not used to seeing him in shoes like this ..

We got them from Athletes Feet  all I know is they cost $120 and they were on special.I am a great believer in buying good shoes for shoes that need to be worn everyday.Lets hope he doesn't grow out of these too fast....

Also tried on the school hat.As you can see LM is a poser when it comes to taking photos.

I bought this one with the school emblem on it but the school has told us that the P & C will be giving every new kindy student a hat.Pretty neat hey...So I was going to take it back but thought Yeah we will lose it and be rushing around trying to get him ready for school and wont be able to find his hat -so the hat stays.

Well that's my sneak peak.I can't bear to put his shirt and shorts on yet I want to try and wait and see the whole effect at one time.

Bring on February......Bring on first day of school.....

Basketball Hoop

The LM got a basket ball hoop for Christmas in 2011 it was on a stand and he used it quite a bit.The only thing wrong with it was it kept falling over and the pole kept coming out of the base so it was always laying on the grass.It got bent in the middle and as I cant stand the backyard looking messy this drove me crazy and it was about to be thrown out but this was a shame as LM did like to play hoops..

Anyway the other day when we cleaning up the yard I had a light globe moment.....BING   ....I got Kev to unscrew the backboard with the hoop and attach it to one of the pergola poles and in  doing it this way we could put it  the right height for LM now -but it can easily be moved as he grows.

LM  loves playing hoops now he is so cute to watch except we have one problem ....LM hates wearing clothes  it is so hard to get him to wear even just undies especially when he swims (that's another story ) So while I love the following photo I had to be artistic and cover his bits as he loves to played nudie hoops......

"GOOD SHOT' .....I am glad we did this with the hoop because he plays hoops even more now....

Now all I have to do is get LM to wear clothes ha ha ha

Mel's Cake pops.

My future daughter in law Mel emailed me on Tues to ask if I could make some cake pops for her sisters baby shower this SATURDAY  yep you read it right Saturday....

I dint want to be a bitch and say no so I emailed her back and said no problem...

Now she wanted yellow and blue cake pops Urrghhh yellow.I thought they would look yuk.But when they were finished they looked really good.

I am so slack though that I didn't start making these till last night (Thursday )and Mel needs to pick them up Friday night (get to work Dee ) .That is the part I hate- making the balls but something I will pass on to you is when rolling the balls you will get a better finish if your hands are damp and clean.So after I do a couple of balls I wash my hands and lightly dry them..Hey it works for me....
I then freeze the balls till I need them.

Just another  little tip here  from a packet of candy melts I can do around 30 pops.I already had white melts and didn't want to spend another $13 a bag for blue and yellow so I bought the chocolate powder in blue and yellow ($2.60 a tube ) and just tinted the white -PERFECT...... I don't think I will buy the coloured melts again you just have to much wastage.

 

Don't the colours look good together.I am still learning the ins and outs of making cake pops and I just keep trying new ideas  as I go along but I think they look great.I was suprised how good they looked when I had finished as I had a major headache and making cake pops was the futherst thing on my mind but I did them and I am glad to see them go ha ha

 

Best of all  Mel loved them.....So now I am a legend of a mother in law to be ha ha

Grandkids sign part 2

Some of you may remember the grand kids sign I made for my mother-in-law and all the trouble I had with it.....

Well I decided to bite the bullet and make my mum one.

This time I learnt from my mistakes ha ha (first time for me ) .I also added the word "Our" to the sign as I knew mum wouldn't want flowers on it and this filled it in good.

Also this time after I painted the sign when I put the vinyl on and was about to paint over it and use as a stencil I thought No it looks good just as it is.So I left it and am very glad I did.

Same idea with the little pegs and photos but I added an extra peg because you never know when another baby will pop up.....

Well mum and John loved it and I do as well but I am glad I have no more to make as they are a PAIN to do.......but worth it

Ruffle bags

For Christmas I decided to make some ruffle tote bags for family and friends that I had seen aound on the net..

I had seen heaps of them on Pinterest and thought hey I can make those.

So I got my bags from eBay I think they were  7 for $15 +postage.
Got some yummy material and got to work.

The thing with sewing and me is I don't pin and I don't like to measure (my downfall I guess I just go by eye which most of the time it turns out OK.) And I really hate instructions -did I say I sew doesn't sound like it ha ha

The only thing was I didn't know how to make the flowers so I looked up some tutorials and then made them my own way....

Kev said "why bother looking how to make them then going your own way? what a waste of time...."
I just looked at him and said "you don't understand you are such a man"

All I did for the flowers was take a piece of material ,fold in half,do a running stitch (do you still call it that ?) then pull it all up and wind it around so it looks like a flower and get your needle and thread and sew it through one side to the other till you are happy with it.
On some I put a button on some I didn't...I am going to put a little felt circle on the back of some and then a brooch back to make brooches.....

I used a pencil to mark where I wanted my ruffles (first time for everything ) to go and sewed the ruffles  on.  The bottom one first through to the top ...I even used pins something I don't normally do ha ha ha...Then I attached my flower on by hand stitching....

 

So there you have it my ruffle bags.Not bad for a rush job .They will get better as I go along especially if I don't rush them...Sorry the pictures aren't that great  but you get the idea...

 

love

Dee x

Some LM Art

The LM has wanted to draw lately, something he never has really been interested in..so I said OK because I want to  put it in our yearbook and I want to encourage him to draw more It's a win win situation for both of us..

I had to share these few because the descriptions he gave me are so funny.He has such an imagination. And yes I needed to ask what the pictures were.Some I had an idea but his descriptions are not what I was thinking of but now I can see it...Do you understand what I mean?

I really like this one. He is really fascinated by Kerry and the baby.He asked Kerry the other day if the baby has a camera in her belly to take photos with.

Another day he said The baby isn't smart because he has a big head like Manny. Strange little fellow isn't he....

My mum calls LM her sunshine and sings to him "you are my sunshine".....

Kev's dad has just had a hernia operation so that is where this comes from.Also I am sure DA is smiling going to work no more LM chatter chatter chatter for an hour in the morning and a hour in the afternoon or LM turning the radio stations over and over till he finds a song he likes and poor Kev likes to listen to talkback urghh....

I am glad I am keeping these and I am sure I will be glad in years to come when LM is older like you tend to forget the little things they say.

I was lucky in that the year Kerry started school it was the Bicentinnal so Aust post brought out a hard cover diary.Well I filled it in everyday with bits of school news and such photos and little sayings she used to say.It is so good to look back on.

Also on funny sayings when we were in Coffs with our other Grand kids the kids were opening up their gifts well the LM came and sat beside me and looked at the kids and said "they grow up so fast"
I said "what did you say " and he repeated it for all to hear well we just started laughing "where did you get that from"I said.His reply was TV.. Well I guess they soak it all up like a sponge and like I am very strict to what sort of shows he watchesand thank God I am because who knows what else is going on in his little mind.

Do you keep little memories like these?

I am making another baby blanket.

Coming home from  holidays I was bored in the car so when we were leaving  Coffs Harbour I got Kev to stop at Spotlight so I could get some wool to make a baby blanket for the new gran baby ...

Well I was lucky the wool was all 30 -40% off so I did really well.

I bought  2 different types of wool....One bumpy and one with long strands  and a size  8 crotchet hook.

I had no idea how it would make up but I liked the combination and thought it should look good..

And I was right with my choices it is making up wonderfully.It is so thick it will be great for winter.

I made it 50 stitches wide  and it takes a ball of each wool to do 2 1/2 rows .Lucky I bought 10 rolls of each.

I did a bit in the car coming home but soon tired of it so I am finishing it at home.Can't wait till it is done....

 

This is a close up of the blanket.It is so thick.

Snow spike is a multi coloured wool with a light blue and a darker blue thread in it and the other is
Stellar which is just a long hair yarn but crocheted together looks fantastic.

What do you think?

I am excited....

Check it out I am one very excited Nana-to-be......

We have just done the invites for Kerry's baby shower.
They are just how she wanted them nice and simple....

And like I said I am so excited I am like a pig in S....... that wasn't really nice was it but it is the truth I  am excited beyond belief.

The little fella will be here sooooooooon.

Pretty as a flower frame...

I saw these these frames at my local scrap shop.I wont tell you the name of it because I don't like the owner as she is a rude cow (worse than me ha ha ) anyway it was designed by Manor House creations using their flowers which you can buy online from them or I bought some from EBay.But don't go to the cow shop....moo

I bought the frame and flowers and sent a pattern to my dad who cut out some more frames for me as I wanted to do a few and my father does a fantastic job of cutting for me..

Anyway I had intended to do one for mum for Christmas using her wedding photo and their 25th anniversary picture and then a recent one. As usual I kept putting it off till 2 days before we left for holidays    HELP....

So I thought just do it it wont take long and it didn't.

I painted the frame white, cut out different papers from my stash of papers , Kev printed and sized the photos then it was just a matter of arranging the flowers.Oh I forgot I also dry brushed some gesso on the flowers and leaves for something different.

This is the frame after it was painted white-Duh......

The finished frame.I also had some 3d butterfly's that matched the paper so I used a couple on the frame.

Mum hung this on the wall but you could also use an easel to display it on.I think when I make mine I will use an easel.

 

You can just see the gesso on the edges.I think it gives the flowers & leaves more depth.

 

 

Then after I made this one I thought I should make one for my step sister. But I was low on flowers and very low on time(this was the night before we left) so I got Kev to cut down a frame to just 4 holes and got to work with that.

I am extremely pleased how this turned out and so was she....you can see the 3d butterfly's here better.It needed something else and I didn't know what to use so once again I raided the shop (my stash) and found this little rhinestone heart sticker and decided to use that.It works well.

I even used on both frames some pink feathers I had in my stash.I think they blended in well.

So yeah!  another  two Christmas present crafts all done....And as usual it was done at the last minute.When will I learn?..

Queensland fun in the sun

Well you all know we went to my mums for Christmas and lucky us that mums lives on the Gold Coast....

The Lm went up to mums by plane earlier to give Kev and I a little break (thanks mum)  and because we are going back up there in April we bought all of us a pass for Movie World,Sea World and Wet n Wild.I got them for $99 each and you get unlimited access to the 3 parks till June 2013.

So mum and John took LM to White Christmas at Movie World which he loved.Mum said the snow and the lights were wonderful and she would go again...

The LM also went to Sea World with mum......

When we got there we all went to Movie World and the LM got to meet Tweetie Bird who he loves and he does the best impersonation of.

"I thawt I saw a pussy cat...I did I did see a pussy cat"

Then mum and Kev took LM to Wet n Wild -I was feeling yuck and bandages and water don't mix so I stayed home and relaxed. .LM loved it loved the wave pool love the tubes I told you this kid has gills...

I also got to do lots of shopping  heaps of goodies for next Christmas and I even started on some birthday presents for 2013 .Yes this year I am going to be organized.

But sadly we had to leave mums and return to Sydney.It's funny that even though you had a great time on holidays  it's true that.....
                     theres no place like home...

Happy late New Year

 

Well here's to a very late but heartfelt greeting -I hope you have a Happy New Year from my family to yours.

Have you made a New Years resolution yet?

I haven't cause I don't keep to them ha ha but I do have a few things I want to accomplish this year though

* I want to do a course and master photo shop.I'm not dumb but gee I can't figure it out .I can do bits and pieces but I am just not confident enough to purse it by myself so off I go to learn it.

* Paint my house walls white.they are currently Dulex China white which is a soft beige but I now want white.....big job and it's going to take awhile but I have to start somewhere.

*Become a better cook and try different things.I am a country cook you know bake dinners ,steak and veg and there is nothing wrong with that but I just want to try more variety.

*Do a refresher cake decorating course.I used to make wedding cakes  with all the moulded flowers and piped lace work  but things have changed over the years so I would love to update.

*Finish off a lot more of my unfinished  crafts.I have so much crap I could open a craft supply shop..

* I want to open an Etsy shop and sell some of the things I make (this one I have already started on )

* Paint my bedroom suite white...that's a big job as well but it will be worth it.

*Take the LM to see snow. I have never seen it myself either so maybe this year I will be well enough to go.....I hear Tassie gets good snow ...

* I want to make my soon to be born grandson a mohair teddy bear.I have made quite a few  and enjoyed it so I am looking forward to this one.

*Oh yeah I want to go to Perth.I want to see Bon Scott's grave and whatever else but mainly see Bon Scott....Yes I know what a westie...

* Change my blog's look....I have spoken to someone in regards to changing things so that will be happening soon Yeah....

Gee I guess I have more things to do than I thought.Maybe I should have said I want to lose weight and get healthy and save money but hey that is boring....

Our 2nd Christmas

We went to mums in QLD for Christmas so we missed having the day with our kids so when we got home on the Monday we decided to have our "2nd Christmas" on Tuesday.Talk about pushing it.

We got home at 4.30pm by 8.30 we had unpacked had some dinner Kev went and got the groccies while I finished putting all our stuff away and did some washing Phew....

Kerry and Emmanuel,Ashley Mel and Mr & Mrs Sid came over for dinner and presents and once again a truly good night with family and friends makes me realise just how blessed I am....

The next day LM asked if we were having Christmas again today......I guess he loves it just like me ha ha

A Christmas flop

 

After my last post where I was showing off some of the yummy things I have made over Christmas I just had to show you this.....

Aren't they just the cutest.....Little Santa Strawberry hat's.....

I bought some chocolate cups from Cole's and whipped my cream.Cut the bottom off the strawberry's and fill the cups with cream.Put the strawberry's on top and add a dot of cream for the pom pom on top.

All good,Look yum.....well that is not the end of my story....

A certain husband who shall remain anonymous  " KEVIN" sorry couldn't help myself.....put these in the car for the trip to my sisters for lunch.While he did bring everything out  of the car  a certain desert was left in the sweltering Qld sun for several hours.

It was only when we went to eat dessert we realised "hey where are the Santa hats" OMG we (no not we but he ) forgot to get them out of the car.So off he went and brought in my little flops.
"oh I was looking forward to having one of those "said my dad....

So there you go I may have success sometimes but for every couple of successes there is a flop.....ha ha ha

Christmas Cooking

While up at mums for Christmas i made some treats for dessert to take for lunch and some for other days.

These cute little reindeer cakes are from my friend Lisa.She in turn got the recipe from the Coles book.

I used chocolate ripple biscuits which I put into a patty cake pan.
Put a spoonful of caramel pie filling on each one.
Melt some chocolate and pour on top of caramel.
Decorate-I cheated -I already had the little eyes at home so I used them.I put a chocolate button on for the face and a jaffa for the nose and pretzels for the antlers.

Next year I am going to pipe out some simple antlers with chocolate and use those.But those still tasted great...

Another thing  I made was taken from  Desire Empire  which is another blog I love and she has has the best recipes .

These were Meringue birds nests with a mascarpone &strawberry coulis- sounds a bit posh but trust me so easy to make.I made these on our last night at mums  and they went down a treat.

I bought my meringues bases at Cole's but at the last minute decided to use pavlova nests.
You need
2 tablespoons of Castor sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 tub of marscarpone
1 punnet of strawberry's

Cut half the punnet of strawberry's into strips these are for decoration.With the rest of the punnet push through a sieve (I made Kev do this he he he )
Add the sugar and vanilla to the marscarpone and some of the strawberry puree.
Put into the nests.
Decorate the with the remainder of strawberry's and pour a little of the strawberry puree over them.

Eat and enjoy.....We did....

Lastly I got this idea from A collection of thoughts blog one of Tamar's family bought this kit from Cole's called a Meringue Christmas Tree kit.I couldn't get one in Sydney but mum was able to pick it up in Qld.I didn't make it up there but did when we got home for our second Christmas day celebrations.

 

I changed it around a bit and added whip cream in the caps and strawberry's and then I made spun toffee for the top.

 

Now the toffee bit sounds posh but it was quite easy except I put it in the fridge to keep cool. Then Kev noticed it has dissolved in the fridge.So I quickly made up a second lot but this time I forgot about it and burnt it (OMG the smell of burnt sugar yuk) I was going to give up but thought OK one more try.
This time perfect......hey maybe I am either posh or just lucky....ha ha ha

Merry Christmas