Just two little kids...

Yesterday I thought it a great idea to dress the kids in some of the new stock Ive been designing for my store for Spring/ Summer and take some pics up at my inlaw's beautiful property. Sounds simple! But nothing is ever simple with kids..... about 6 hours later I had 2 half decent pics , 30009 terrible ones and pretty much gave up!

Elliott prefers to frolic half-naked than be dressed at all, and Fern wants to dance with the box of ribbons rather than sport them in her hair... 

But in the end it didn't matter. I left them to it. And captured my best photo of the day without trying. Unstaged. Just two little kids playing together with no fears or inhibitions. Just as it should be...

In which the sandpit becomes a VEGGIE PATCH!

The deed is done, folks. Too late to go back now! You might remember this post where I battled with my inner guilt and outer frustration about removing the kids' sandpit... well, last weekend I got over myself and just.did.it.

No more sand!

And hello, dirt!

A fair swapsy, by anyone's book?!

Together, the fam and I hit the nursery and bought every veggie seedling in sight, along with 300 bags of potting mix. Upon getting it all home we realised the said veggie plot is only about 1.5m square and we might have overdone it a tad. But overdoing things is rarely an issue in our house!

In it all went, with the kids stamping the soil down with their gum booted little feet.

And now? I am like some sort of greeny organic earth mother with my patch of veggie goodness blowing gently in the breeze, growing day by day. Yes folks, untold pleasures are sure to be derived from this veggie plot... its just a slight mystery as in my excitement I threw out all the name cards and have forgotten what is actually in there! No doubt it is all splendid stuff, indeed.

I have no idea how to look after my patch or what to do once something resembling a VEGETABLE pops its head above the earth. I assume I should toss water at it every now and again, but I fear it might like other additions, like mulch or fertiliser or a bit of sunlight. But all things come to those who wait, and my patch must be patient. Heck, it took me 6 months just to find a POT for the last plant I brought home from the nursery!

I'll get there though folks, I'll get there!

Oh, and the kids are thus far not demonstrating any signs their childhood has been irrevocably tainted by the removal of their sandpit. Quite the contrary. Turns out there is a LOT of fun that can be had with dirt and earthworms. Which makes us all very happy, indeed.

Here tis!

What thinketh you? Do you grow your own vegetables with success? Are homegrown hunza pies materialising from your oven like you are some kind of domestic goddess? Do share!

My Jar of Hearts...

Howdy pretty people! I thought today I'd brush the cobwebs away and pop back into my sadly neglected blog to share with you a quick little project I got up to over the weekend... I shared an image I discovered recently on my Facebook page  and lots of you loved it; I loved it too! It was just an inspiring image, no tutorial but I knew it would be super easy and it turns out it was! This was my original inspiration:

... and here's what I whipped up in literally 15 minutes on Saturday afternoon:

This little jar of hearts makes me super happy and can perch merrily on a sunny windowsill, or perhaps be used as a party favour, or propped upon a shelf... so many options! Fern prefers to use hers as a must ache....

If you like this little jar of hearts and would like to make your own, heres a simple instruction guide just for you!

You will need:
- Coloured felt
- bamboo skewer or similar
- Wadding
- Needle and thread
- Sewing machine (or handset if you are keen)

1. On a scrap of paper, fold in half and draw half of you love heart shape so that when you cut around you have a perfectly symmetrical love heart!

2. Use this folded piece as your template, tracing around your folded felt piece and cutting out. You will need two of each colour to make one love heart.

3. Pin the two felt shapes together and sew around the outside leaving a few cm's down one side. Remove pins and turn inside out. Stuff with wadding, then sew side closed with needle and thread. Stick the pointy end of your skewer up the pointy end of your love heart ;) ........... step back, and admire your handiwork!!

4. Continue until you have lots or just a few and smile... don't you just love your jar 'o' hearts? xx

Life in Miniature

For some reason, my daughter likes and HAS always liked little things. I have a 12 year old Labrador and the animal likes to always have something in his mouth. Like, always. Even when you think he doesn't have something in his mouth and throw him a piece of toast at brekkie(as I do - he likes a bit of vegemite toast, he does) he somehow manages to spit the leaf he's been hiding in his mouth out of his mouth and catches the bit of toast mid-flight before it hits the ground. Talent.

My daughter is similar to my Labrador. Ok, she doesn't keep leaves inside her mouth, but she likes to have something in her hand. At all times. The thing inside her hand varies from week to week. This week, it might be one of her "Littlest Pet Shop" characters. She holds that thing in her hand from the minute she wakes up. As Im getting her dressed she's clutching onto it. Somehow trying to squeeze it through the armholes rather than let it go for a moment. At the shops, she's clutching onto it. At lunch, it sits in front of her plate. At night, it's held tightly in her dedicated grasp. Once, I kid you not, Fern held onto one of her 'pets' for a full three days straight. That's 24 hours x 3. She woke up crying in the middle of the night when she dropped it and I had to crawl under her bed at 1am to retrieve it for her.

But she's a bit fickle, my daughter. Unlike Elliott, who is still dedicated to his beloved Flatout bear, Fern's obsessions fluctuate with the seasons. What is held in her hand this week is tossed unceremoniously in her drawer the next. I dunno.

No matter, that's just my daughter. Her little foible. There are worse habits, I'm sure.

Yesterday, I found this handmade toy on Etsy. A little matchbox 'bed' and mousey and it is so adorable I want one immediately. My daughter will most definitely be getting one of these for Christmas, and I know she'll love it. Its miniature, handmade, gorgeous and the sweetest thing I've seen all week.


What strange habit does your lil one have that you can't help but indulge?!

from here

A few NEW Goodies from my studio...

Hi guys! Today I want to share with you some new products Ive been working on for my store... a while ago I felt I was talking about my work too much so I stopped sharing it so much with you, but I have decided Ive gone too far the other way seeing as this IS my blog to share with you! Anyway what I want to show you are some things I've made lately of the non-clothing variety... I LOVE making clothes for babies but sometimes I like a break to develop new ideas and here are a few I'm really proud of with more to come! Enjoy this little sampling... xx

Pastel 250mm home wreath with birdie and butterfly $59

Baby mobile $24

Boy Boudoir Owl wall hanging $28

Hairclip holder with bonus hair clip $19

Three Dimensional butterfly wall hanging $18 

Hanging birdies $9 each through custom order

Hairclip holder with hair clip $19

Baby mobile $25

Personalised nursery pillow $29.95-$49.95

Baby Mobile $25

Bright baby mobile on sale $21

DREAM wall hanging $24

Why a 'bathroom break' is a luxury, not a right...

30 In the olden days -- you know, before my name ceased to be "Nicole" and morphed into "muuuuuuum" I recall a friend telling me she was so busy with her baby she didn't get to go to the bathroom.

Say what?

I mean, a bathroom break takes an average of 32 seconds, right? Surely one could not be so entirely consumed with their baby that they could not take a brief interlude to go to the bathroom whenever the need struck.... could they?

And of course once I had a baby of my own I understood. Or I thought I did. But yesterday I got a reality check and realised I knew nothing about estimating the damage that can be done in the time it takes for one little bathroom-break.

Folks, yesterday I got punkd! By my own son!

I left my children in the general vicinity of the kitchen and was in the bathroom for no longer than 30 seconds. As I wandered out, my daughter was screaming "muuuum! Bubby's got the butter!"

YOU THINK?

why bathroom breaks are a luxury, not a right...

30 seconds, folks!

Sonny was 'doing his hair' with 'product'... which is fine except that I prefer to use it on my toast rather than as a styling tool... With no idea what to do first and butter spreading its way throughout my house I scraped scooped up said child and plonked him in the highchair.

You can see by the pictorial evidence above how excited sonny-boy was to be in the highchair at this point. But let me show you again :

Yep. You're seeing that, I'm sure.

But what you can't see is just how excited I was to be home alone in this situation. Super, super excited.  Especially because I had nothing else to do at the time..... natch.

After snapping a few shots as 'evidence' I rang husband to enquire as to his whereabouts. Saturday is a work day and I knew it would be borderline home-time. By some stroke of good fortune, husband was two minutes away. Which is just as well because sonny might well have spent the whole night in the highchair until I found backup.

Oh, this will be a story for the 21st.

And a valuable lesson has been learnt:

1. Never EVER leave sonny unattended for any reason. Ever. At all.
2. Never EVER leave any dairy product unattended for any reason. Ever. At all.
3. Never EVER go to the bathroom while sonny is awake without tethering him to the bedpost first. Ever. At all.

What valuable lesson have YOU learnt of late? Oh do share, how can I share all the 'fun' to myself?

What to do with those ole Vintage Handkerchiefs...

There is something unapologetically nostalgic about floral, pastel, musty smelling 'kerchiefs from the yesteryear, non? I think so, anyways...

Recently, I acquired a little collection of them. There they were, all standing in a row. Big ones, small ones... I couldn't stash them away, I just couldn't.

So I didn't.

I made this with them instead:

Sigh. Bunting is fabulous at the best of times, but I love how unique this string is, that it is both handmade AND repurposed with a touch of vintage. Despite how much I love it hanging in Fern's room, I can't keep it. Fern already HAS a string of bunting that was handmade when she was one by her nan and I and I have no other suitable home for it in my home... 

So! My lovingly constructed string of bunting is up for sale in my store for $29.95 and I am excited to see it go to a loving home. Visit my store to view and tell me..... what other ideas how you to repurpose old handkerchiefs? Do share, because I'd love to give another project a go!

ps. For those of you who admired Fern's crochet rug that I consigned for her bedroom recently, you can buy your very own here. I was well pleased with mine and I'm sure you could ask for custom colours as the shop owner is very obliging and I'm still marvelling at what a great job she did of Fern's!

Have a great week, peeps! xx