Gone to the Beach

Here's the finished play screen:

This side came together quite nicely over a sewing night with friends
- who inspired various features, such as the bucket and spade 

A bit crumpled, but already much played with and definitely a hit. I'd wondered whether they would like being closed in, but had clearly forgotten that children LOVE dens. (Not to mention hurling themselves in and out of holes, too. The strength of the Velcro that holds the whole thing up has been well and truly tested, and the screen hasn't fallen down yet - phew.)

My favourite bit - makes me think of holidays each time I look at it.

And when they have had enough of serving up ice creams to their friends and toys, they can entertain us all with their own unique take of the annual pantomime they'll be going to with their grandparents next week.

No expense spared - spot the bit of garden cane used for the curtain pole. 

With only a couple of nights left until Christmas, a heavy cold, and so no intention of spending both evenings sewing, I adjusted what I was going to do for the reverse side, and opted for a simple design that came together by taking a pair of scissors to whatever bits of fabric I had leftover from other recently finished projects.

I'd normally have wanted to painstakingly hand sew all those branches, and make sure every finished edge was nice and neat. And then, feeling cold ridden, I remembered I had a big tube of fabric glue tucked away in my sewing box. Ta da! Second side of the screen finished in plenty of time to resume position on sofa (with tin of Quality Street close to hand) for the Miranda Christmas special.

Hello, Elephant!

The occupant of the lower bunk is absolutely gleeful at having her own curtains to draw at bed time. I think this play screen is staying put for the foreseeable future...

So a big slice (or three) of Smug Cake for me. This play screen might be a bit shabby around the edges, but unlike some other toys I have made for my girls that have barely been played with, this one has already been worth the effort in terms of fun had out of it. Hooray for sewing and gluing!

Felt Birdies

I've been using up my left over felt and buttons by making some tree decorations to donate for the school fair tomorrow.

I made these whilst watching Kirstie's Homemade Christmas on Channel 4 last night. How appropriate, huh?! LOVE that woman, and, might, just might want to be her.

May see if I have enough scraps of Christmas fabric left for a little heart garland like the one she was making...

Quirky Sock Creatures

 

Two days ago, my middle girl had a go at riding her new (= big sister's old) bike for the first time. Unlike the previous owner of the bike, she pretty much had it cracked after half an hour, and has been requesting to go outside and ride it ever since. 

Yesterday, another small piece of family history happened here. My biggest two girls had their first attempt at sewing. 

Both of these events will be written down in here:

I bought this about six months ago - and, I'll admit now, easy and quick as it is to write a sentence each day, I haven't managed to do so. Sometimes, this little book gets forgotten about for a few days or weeks at a time. But my intention is there - to end up with a record of family life that will hopefully be fun for someone to read through in years to come (either a little old lady version of myself, or my daughters... who knows). 

So, here are a few photos of the results of an hour or so sat on the sofa, my middle one with her tongue out in concentration for almost the entire duration (just like she did on her bike), and the older one trying to out do her sister with ever more elaborate design ideas.

Is the snake I made as a demo of how to sew on buttons a poor relation? I think so.

Proud Mummy? Of course. Think the thing that made me happiest was the fact Sophie sneaked her cat out of the house to school with her, so she could play with it with her friends. Cute. 

Puddings and Owls

Last night I had a go at making a couple of the tree decorations from my sheet of designs (scribbles) that I have been adding to over the course of this week.

The puddings are made out of a woollen tank top of mine I had accidentally shrunk some time ago. 

(This is not the first time I have been guilty of ruining knitwear, although, admittedly, it is usually that of my husband's. So, should you see me sporting a `new' brown jumper this winter, please don't compliment me on it in front of him. The resizing of his favourite jumper remains a sore subject.)

But, every cloud has a silver lining, and all that. And in this case, it comes in the form of festive decorations. 

Part of the fun of making small things like these, is feeling at liberty to experiment and play with ideas. Instead of using felt for the holly and berries, I decided to try bonding two pieces of fabric together (with Bondaweb) as a way of achieving a material that would be stiffer and not fray.

Onto the next design. Owls. Just in case you - like my husband - were wondering. "Well, if I knew they were birds, then I would have guessed they were owls," he said. My three children did not have the same problem as him, and immediately wanted to play with them. Perhaps he is still bitter over the jumper.

I think these little owls are sweet, and they will definitely be going on our tree this year. I want to fiddle with the proportions a bit, and so am toying with some all white snowy versions in soft brushed cotton with pearl beads for the eyes for the next version - what do you think?

Not sure if they'll make the cut for the Christmas Workshops yet - we'll see how the other designs look when I make them!