DIY Gift Tags

I have been wanting to do this for a while now and today's rainy weather has been the perfect occasion: DIY gift tags.It's quick and fun to do. I have a big collection of Little Golden Books that I have pick up in op shops and garage sales. The illustrations are gorgeous. They are not always in good condition which makes them perfect for craft projects. (I find it difficult to cut books that are in good shape.

I simply cut two rectangle shapes for each tag; one with the chosen illustration, one in a recycled brown paper bag. I zigzag stitched the two layers, sandwiching in the middle an office tag. If you have a punch hole, you probably don't need to do this. I had these tags sitting in my drawers so I decided to use them. It gives a "luggage" tag effect which I like.

They could make a fun garland too...or be hung in the tree...

A little TLC for the bathroom.

The main bathroom in our house has been for a long time a place of no interest.  It has pink tiles, the wrong kind of pink, yellowish tiles on the floor, dull white walls. A cheap vanity with a marble top...

With a budget of nort, but inspired by my friend Geraldine's desire to update her own bathroom and a wild pinning session on Pinterest, I went and gather a few of my favourite Bali items and decided to dedicate them to the bathroom.

Like my little fun mirror with beads and tassels. Very gypsy. Love it.

And my set of aluminum tins.

I have a hard time finding shower curtains attractive. So i bought a simple clear plastic one ($6 from Bunnings, rings included) and retrieved from my stash of fabrics a sunny happy cotton and a green flower power vintage bed sheet. I sew the two together. And voila!

A nice, vibrant shower curtain.

I love recycled plastic rugs. This one, picked up at Ikea for $12 was just the right size and colour. Plastic rugs are awesome in the bathroom.

I love a bit of live green in bathrooms, so...

I added these two little guys. The jute hanging pot holders are from Apple Bee.

I retrieved  unwanted wooden shelves from the attic and added a few more of my Balinese treasures.

And I have finally made the switch and now only use Pesthemal towels or Turkish towels. Absolutely brilliant and beautiful! Fast drying, ultra soft and absorbent. And if they are good in the bathroom, they are perfect at the beach too; they remain sand free even when wet!

I did a quick paint job on an old cabinet found on the side of the road and now we have a first aid cabinet too!

It may not be the bathroom of my dreams but you know what, I quite like my bathroom now. Yes, it still has pink tiles and a cheap vanity with a marble top but I don't see them as much now. It goes to show that even without a big budget you can turn ordinary into ... nice ordinary!

Gift bag

In preparation of the gifts giving season, Mia and I have been working on a little quick easy project, recycling paper brown bags I keep when I shop. ( I love shops that use paper bags!).

We opted for a bird but of course A reindeer would make it more Christmassy. 

We used Gel Pastels from Djeco. They are terrific. A great gift for any little -or big- artist.

A litte bit of decoupage and a little bit of collage and lots of colours. Very simple.

HALLOWEEN Mexican way.

Another Halloween...another costume dilemma... After the Owl, and the Blue Witch... what to do, what to do??
Thank you once again Pinterest for your endless source of inspiration. I always had this fascination for the Dia de los Muertos. Skeletons and skulls mingle into a carnival of colours, and the abundance of flowers and banners is just magical. It is intriguing, a little creepy, inspiring and beautiful. But somehow I've never thought of putting it together with Halloween, probably because the two are culturally very different. Still. As far as the costumes go, it just works so well.
So I got busy pulling out of my special reserve the most vibrant fabric I could find. I had just enough of that bright pink and red Indian silk to make a dress for Mia, together with some black tulle and a bunch of colourful pompoms.

It worked better than expected. Especially I had never done this kind of makeup before and I wasn't sure if I was going to pull it off. By no means perfect, but perfect enough for Halloween!

Louis warmed up to the idea and asked for a Mexican makeover too.

Brrrr... Creepy!!

And the two together: Awesome!

Even Lucile was keen on having a share of the fun.

But she wasn't daring enough for the pompoms head piece. Mia loved it though and wore it so well too.

Another Halloween Happy Day ! Yay!

until next year...

Minecraft cake and Finn the human marshmallows delight...

WHAT KEPT US BUSY THESE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS... Part One

We love Minecraft and we love Adventure Time. Since both involve being sitting in front of a screen I thought we could put a bit of action -real action- into it.
So, this is what happened:

A Minecraft block cake and...

a Finn the Human Marshmallow delight!

The kids wanted to concentrate on the decorating, not the baking, so they've used cake mixes.

The little Minecraft guy is made out of fondant.

And it was the perfect activity. Nothing too complicated, just challenging enough for them to feel they were making something special.

It was yummy too!

Baby Dribble Cloth ... or the love for Chenille.

I love chenille. I always have and always will. Especially when it comes to baby gear. It's much softer than terry toweling and quite absorbent too. I've got a little friend, Alexandra, a real cutie pie, who has just discovered the joy of dribbling! So I just knew what to do: Dribble Cloths!

But, alas, finding Chenille hasn't been that easy. Spotlight has some, but only in a very pink pink and when I asked for a possible order for a nice crisp white, I was told it was discontinued and won't be available in the store anymore, whether white, pink or blue. Blah.
So I bought some of the pink, just in case. But I wasn't convinced.

So I tried Lincraft and got a bit more luck here. I've found some white Chenille, but only in the wide ribbed style. I don't mind; I quite like the look of the wide strips but it's not as soft as the other one.

I'd love to make a both robe for the kids with it, but at nearly $23 a meter, I probably won't. But I can make a lot of dribble cloths instead. And so can you because it is so easy to sew!

It is not something new, if you google, you'll find there are quite a few dribble/burp cloths around. But I'd like to show them to you here, just in case you've never came across any.
I like to gift mines as a set; two or three with matching mini ones, about the size of a man's wallet, to fit in any pocket for a quick dribble wipe action. I must say, I've used the small ones a lot more. And I still do, to wipe off chocolate moustaches and other bits of food that tend to cling to the kids'mouth. 

The larger ones are made to protect your shoulder after a feed. Well, they can be used for any sorts of spill, really.

Here's how to:

Larger cloth: Cut a rectangle 10"x 16" in the chenille, then in the fabric of your choice. With wrong sides of fabric together, sew all around, leaving a small opening. Trim excess fabric at corner. Turn fabric inside out (through the opening) close the opening with a top stitch.
I like to fold the large cloth in three, so I topstitch two lines like so:

It keeps the two layers of fabric in place nicely and the folding tidy.
For the mini cloth, I just top stitch in the middle, so it folds nicely in half.
And that's it. Real easy, Real quick, Really do-able. And it makes really cute presents. Really, really!