He Works Hard for the Money

Now first off, I can't take any credit whatsoever for this little gem I'm about to show you. A friend of mine had this project in mind for a while, but with her little boy still only 4 months old she took on the challenge for our little guy so I handed over a spare work shirt of hubby's and let her go crazy!

Basically its a cut-down-to-size shirt for the little man and he thinks its the best thing ever! EVER! Okay, so maybe the best thing after Superman and Astro Boy.

When he first clapped his eyes on this I thought they were gonna pop right on out of his head - and the squeals of delight that accompanied the eye popping were a little crazy.

Here he is modelling the new pride & joy of his dress up box......

 Could the grin get any wider? Yeah, someones impressed.

 The best part? The pen pocket! 

(Or pencil for those yet to obtain a pen license!)

 

Now a couple of days later "my friend Sophie" (as he affectionately calls her - bless) came to play. And SHE loved it! And she wants one. 

So what does one do when your best friend is taking the new shirt for a spin? Strip down to black undies and become Astro Boy of course! I love kids at play, just mind bogglingly imaginative.

I love how the shirt looks in the next few shots - "Look mum - look at the reflectors!! HAHAHA!!!".

And so begins another chapter of Oliver at play. I caught him walking around in this shirt talking to himself..."I need to go to work to make money so I can buy things". Love it.

Pining for Christmas!

I promised more pine cone craft, right? Well here we go!

I spotted these while trawling the internet looking for ways to use up our mini mountain of pine cones and I've gotta say, these rate as super easy and look super chic!

So, take some ribbon of your choice, fire up the hot glue gun and have your pine cones at the ready! It really is as easy as putting a big glob of hot glue on the back of your pine cones to attach lengths of ribbon and securing all the ribbons together at the top once you are happy with the arrangement.

Wanna see??

While I was happy to leave the pine cones a la naturale and go with the rustic look, hubby thought they looked a bit 'blah' and were missing something. Now I am no fan of the snowy look at Christmas time - I mean, we live in Australia where Christmas Day can be like a melting pot! But alas, to the shed I went and gave them a little spritzing of spray paint to finish them off.

Happy hubby. Uh huh - he likes them!

Its kinda weird, but superhero's keep popping up in my photos :)

 Oh, and i made the bow to glue on the top. MADE it! I am quietly chuffed as I am a pretty average gift wrapper, but look! A big pouffey bow!

Now it gets real technical - brace yourselves! A bent out of shape paper clip was sewn on with some embroidery cotton as its thicker and will hold a little better, then on with another big glob of hot glue and we're done!

Fancy schmancy right there.

Stockings to be Stuffed!

Some of you may remember this post from last year? Now that we have a new addition to the family this year, our beautiful little Ruby, another stocking was in need! I was soo close to cheating and going the shop-bought option but then I had a vision of my kids hanging their own handmade stockings each year and I simply couldn't do it.

So to the stash! I knew I had some left over fabrics from this project last year, and when I looked I even had loads of squares I had pre-cut that I had totally forgotten about - my heart sang! Just when I was feeling particularly lazy, right in front of me one step is already taken care of.

So again just placing the squares together, adding a toe piece, a top piece and a backing (all one piece - no patches on the back) we have a new stocking to hang ready for Santa to fill with goodies!

 

Posing by his stocking! As Astro Boy, no less. :)

Although I made them slightly different, I'm not sure the kids will really be able to tell the difference so I grabbed some embroidery cotton and stitched on a letter at the top - Oliver is getting quite good at his letters now and was very proud to announce "It's O for Oliver and R for Ruby!". 

Nailed it. 

Pine Cone Gnomes

Really? Its been a month already? Wow, guess I'm not one of those people who can amazingly trade sleep for the love of some crafty goodness. Nope, in the craziness of motherhood sleep wins hands down every time for me!

About 3 or so weeks ago we took a walk to the park and this is what we found...

It had been raining pine cones! Great for 2 reasons: it provided us with an additional activity that day of hunting & gathering, and we now have a great stash for some Christmas craftiness!

Wondering what to do with our new stash I stumbled upon this super cute idea over at We Bloom Here. Pine Cone Gnomes! How simply adorable!

Here's how mine turned out...

I changed up the shoes a little to give them a curled up toe and just lurve how they turned out!

These little guys will be sitting in our entry way this festive season, hopefully putting a smile on the faces of any guests that walk through the door. I love how tiny they look next our Buddha, a little magical don't you think? I would have loved these as a kid, thinking up make believe happenings with my little gnome family and I hope my little guy gets lost in his imagination too.  

 I did use a 5c piece to balance the pine cones up as they can be a little wobbly and it worked a treat.

 
Ok so technically there are no Christmas Gnomes right, just Elves? But I think these guys give off a burst of that childhood Christmas magic that I so fondly remember as a kid. Just add Christmas deco or two and they sure do look the part.


Stay tuned for some more pine cone craft real soon - we have a whole bundle to get busy with!

What will you do with your Pine Cones this Christmas?

Cushioned You Just Snuggle Them??

Is it just me who takes a simple task and makes it sooo much more complicated than necessary??! Ok, so maybe it is just me. Right. Moving on.

So these are as basic as sewing two panels together with a zipper thrown in and yet in the process I think I cursed more than I have in a while. I won't bore you with the ins & outs but it did involve a bit of unpicking, putting this in the "tomorrow" pile several times and giving my machine a good ear-bashing!

Tomorrow has come! Yay! And I now have some lovely bright cushions greeting my guests with a big fat HELLO! when they come through the door.

 Hello, colour!

 Extreme Close Up - 

loving these Japanese Sateen Cotton prints!

New cushion loveliness............

So...looking much better than the blandness that previously graced my couches, yes?..... 

 Blah

If you are looking for a colour injection in the form of some new cushions but don't want to fuss with making your own - head on over and see Kelly at www.colourtherapydecor.com. Kelly has some amazing products made from the most delicious designer fabrics that are sure to boost anyone's happy-metre!


Now, if you do so happen to be a house guest of mine just be sure to briefly admire - my zipper insertion does leave a bit to be desired! But hey, these are made with love...not perfection! 

So Bloomin' Cute!

My boy lived in onesies and singlets as a bub during the scorching summer heat and I'm guessing this summer won't be much different for our little lady. This time around though I thought I'd jazz that nappied-bum right up!

I recently stumbled upon this tutorial and with the weather warming up its perfect timing to give these bad boys a go!! Aren't these just the cutest?

I found a pile of blue floral in my stash which was screaming out "pleeease make me into some cute little butt bloomers!!" And so, I did.

Here's how they turned out...

Ruffly florally goodness. Can this butt get any cuter? I think not.

Tanked Again!

Seems I got singlet fever following my last post - perhaps 'cos I got summer fever with these glorious warm days we've been having of late!

I picked this up at a thrift shop ages ago and really had no idea what to do with it. In fact, I'm not even sure what drew me to it in the first place. But after singlet success last time this immediately became my next candidate to get tanked!

I know you're thinking it's kinda daggy, right? But I saw potential in this seemingly tragic tourist get-up!


Again, just following an existing tank and adding some ribbing - which I should add is also thrifted - we end up with this.......

I'm loving the superb retro vibe this is giving off! Oh, and the hem - or lack there of - is intentional. I entertained the thought of hemming it but I think the rolled edge adds to its character.

The beauty of refashioning mens' tees for little peeps is that the text or images become the main focal point - don't you agree that it was a little lost in the 'before' pic?

I'm yet to snap the little guy wearing it but a pic will be sure to follow once I do!

This tank is screaming lazy summer days...... oh yeah.

Get Tanked

I (embarrassingly) have had this shirt for about 10 years, and although its had a good innings as a bed shirt its really time to boot it out of my bedroom!

So what does one do with such a shirt? Refashion it into a tank for a little guy, of course!

Poor old Apex shirt has had its day...

 ...but has new life breathed into it!

I pretty much just traced an outline of an existing tank, added some ribbing to set off the text on the shirt, sewed it all up and bang! A brand new tank ready for summer.

He loves his new "soccer shirt". Not too sure where he thought that up given the big basketball on the front, but hey, he's given it a good wearing already.

I'm thinking a few more of these will be in order very soon...I can smell Spring just around the corner!

He's Got Undies on the Outside!

Its no secret around here that this kid loves a good dress up. Fireman Sam has been given the flick in favour of Superman, and man o man, Superman has just about moved in.

What started out as an innocent Superman t-shirt purchase soon turned crazy when this kid saw his first Superman movie - thanks Dad! While I'm all for a good role play and imagination building things weren't so good when the t-shirt was being worn in icy winter temps WITHOUT a jumper-slash vest-slash anything slightly warm- as it was covering up his "badge" (aka Superman logo)! Even a mere suggestion that he should put something warm over the top would prompt a tantrum of massive proportions!!

So! A plain blue jumper under the t-shirt solved this prob but now he insisted on wearing his red undies on the outside of his pants! Ha! Cute and all, but made toileting a nightmare - off with the red undies, off with the pants, off with the underneath undies! Phew.

So out came some plain blue tracky daks and some red fabric scraps which would create some faux undies! Ta da! It worked, he loves them and even lets me wash the outfit once a week. Yup, once a week. Eew. Oh well, who am I to get in the way of his massive imagination?

 Red scraps....

...plus tracky daks

= faux undies! 

Genius! Sometimes the battle just isn't worth fighting with the little people so rather than resisting, a little imagination on my part works wonders! 

Park-ready winter Superman comin' at ya! 

And just for a giggle, on that one day a week where his outfit is having a wash and he reluctantly dons plain clothes - do not dare call him Ollie - no no - "I'm Clark Kent!"

Oh bless the little people! 

Hats & What Knot

Sewing projects are of the super quick variety around here at the moment which translates to super easy. This one hits the mark and is also super cute! Its a baby knot hat - check it out....

 Knottin' but cute!

There are a few templates floating around out there - single knot, double knot - take your pick. This is a double knot number which ties up to give the little "rabbit ear" appearance. Love!

And these can be whipped up using the smallest amount of fabric for teeny little heads - perfect for reusing old t-shirts destined for the charity bin!

Winter Warmers

What? A 9 week hiatus? Yup, sorry bout that. Our gorgeous little lady has thrown us for a six with many a sleepless nite (and I mean completely sleepless, not even catching the odd hour here and there) and endless tears. Seems the poor little mite has a bad case of reflux which we are slowly getting under control and I am feeling (slightly) more human.

So! I got back behind the machine yesterday! Some gorgeous new nursery curtains was the outcome but that's for another post....watch this space.

Today I'm sharing these cute arm & leg warmers I made for the boy last winter. And cos its so chilly outside at the mo its totally appropriate.

You can buy these little fella's ready made but why not give it a shot yourself with some old socks or even new ones - still less expensive and a bit fun too.

Toe socks!

Here's what I found in a drawer, all rolled up in a ball  that hadn't seen the light of day for oh, I don't know, years! Kind of puzzled about the one stretched crinkled sock...??

Anyhoo, so by chopping off the toes and cutting an extra piece to make a cuff, we end up with these funky little dudes...

Look how little he is! I did warn you it was a while ago - look - I see a nappy! These were a real hit with Ollie and he still fishes them out of the cupboard now. Win.

It's a girl!

Yes, this year I got the best mothers day present ever with our beauty arriving right on Mothers Day!

Its been a looong while since this page has had any loving, between the latter stages of pregnancy and the arrival of our beautiful Ruby June there has been little time for creating but I am bursting on the inside with loads of projects wanting to be bought to life!

So, while I'm in the midst of the newborn fog here's a cheats post...

Remember these pants I made little while ago? Well, here they are being put to good use in Ruby's first photo shoot & I think they look adorable!

I was concerned that these Itty Bitty pants would be WAY too itty bitty, but nope, they are a perfect fit!

Love.

See you again when I start emerging from 'crazy newborn world' & have more things to share with you!

PS. Isn't she yummy?

Hoot Kinda Hoodie

Last winter I purchased this hoodie pattern from Heidi & Finn and, hello 12 months later, I finally gave it a crack!

I also managed to stumble across the most hideous ladies winter knit dress in an op shop for a couple of bucks - and let me clarify - hideous in that the print was completely inappropriate for a grown woman to parade around in but oh-so-cute for a kiddy! So, seeing its potential I snapped it up and decided it was perfect for this little project.

I got to cutting out my pattern pieces and wondered just how easy this would be as it is also fully lined. Worry not! This pattern is super easy to follow which is generally why I favour etsy patterns over commercial ones which I generally find pretty complicated.

I used some stretch knit for the lining that you may remember from these pj's I did a while back, and the finished product goes a little something like this....

Its been over a week since I finished this and I've only just convinced this little monkey to try it on. Ok, so convincing isn't really what went down - I had to bribe him with lollies in exchange for a few snaps!

Trying hard to look like he's into into it, but totally getting distracted. 

Are we done? Wasting no time in getting it off!

Poo Poo Bum Bum - change pad cover!

Another baby post coming your way!

I recently bought a new pad for the bub's change table. While the little seaside creatures may be a bit cute its still kind of, well, blah. Here's what it looked like pre-makeover...

I had some terry-like fabric in my stash that I picked up ages ago for a couple of bucks in the remnants bin and thought it was perfect to cover this little baby up. There are loads of tutorials out there for this kind of project (like this one over at Sir Bubbadoo) and here's what we ended up with. My pad wasn't anywhere near as deep as the one in the tutorial so I made a few tweaks but basically the process was the same.

I added a strip of the apple fabric also hiding in my stash to add a little bit more interest and ta-da! One jazzed up change table that will be a little more comfy and loads warmer for a tiny tooshy this winter.

And the convenience of whipping it off for a quick wash following little messes speaks for itself....I'm thinking I'll need to throw together a few more of these babies!

Itty Bitty Baby Pants

I know I know, its been AGES since I got my butt into gear and actually posted something on here. The good news is I am now officially finished work (well, my paid job anyway!) in anticipation of the arrival of bub number 2, so with any luck I can get my hands into loads more projects and be a lot more regular with my posts. Here's hoping.

As you can imagine I am a little obsessed with all things teeny tiny at the moment and have whipped up these little baby pants which are a total copy cat of a cute Bonds number.

 

 I am all for comfort when it comes to newborn clothes & these are just the tonic.

Three pairs down, many more to go! I am trying with all my might to keep them as unisex as possible but just couldn't resist using this gorgeous leopard/pink combo in case we have a girl this time.  Hey, even if its a boy I might just throw them on for a few minutes to see how they look! (Ahem, just don't let hubby in on that one)

Oh and I should mention that these are all made from old shirts that I don't wear anymore with a little ribbing for the cuffs. So when cleaning out your cupboards think before you throw - you may just have the perfect use for those old clothes!

I am Fireman Sam!

I'm on the dress-ups bandwagon again!

While we've all been cursing the copious amount of rain this summer, our little guy has been taking what is usually bushfire season very seriously! What started off as a cute little role play emulating his new hero Fireman Sam, quickly became an obsession. Our house must be called the fire station, our cars the fire trucks, Ollie must be addressed as Fireman Sam or he is a seriously unhappy chappy - even "Mummy & Daddy" has been given the flick in favour of new monikers "Elvis & Trevor"!

Cute at first, but 8 weeks later he is still keeping up the charade and driving us a little nuts at times. Whipping up a mini fireman outfit allowing him to indulge a little in this new world now seems more like mum is feeding his obsession!

This outfit was created without patterns (yay me!) using only existing clothes as a guide to get the sizing right. And it didn't turn out half bad!

The only stipulation from Sam himself was that the jacket had to have two rows of buttons, just like Fireman Sam's. Sure thing.

Reporting for duty, Sir!

Water on!

"I love my shiny buttons"

Crazy fireman dude maybe, but adorable nonetheless!

The yellow strips were cut from an old t-shirt, and the reflectors are simply...wait for it...strips of duct tape! Ha! You can buy the reflective strips in haberdashery stores but I thought this was a cheap creative alternative.  Oh, and because our shiny buttons are purely decorative, I added a couple of little velcro strips to hold the jacket closed.

Success! And its all because of you, big guy...........