I heart blankies

I love blankies. Especially special blankies, like the one Ty has. It's blue polar fleece, boring as, constantly covered in fluff and bits of toast, smells like crap, and is way too big to be practical. But it's still sweet. Especially when he shares it with his sister.

I am, however, hoping that Holly will become attached to something marginally more attractive (and more sensibly sized). So, I have made her a tag blanket - black and white skull polar fleece + pink zebra print cotton + purple dinosaur applique = AWESOME!

I am hoping she will think so anyway. Most likely she will vomit on it in disapproval.

I have four other blankets available that for US copyright reasons can't be sold via Etsy, so I have listed them on MadeIt - links below...

Zen Blue
Rainbow Reef
Mondrian
Little Moo

All I want for Easter...

Check out this for an Easter treat - all I have to say is... NOM NOM NOM!!!

Feeling a bit reflective again:

Today I love
The smell of: the last vestiges of summer
The sound of: water balloons breaking
The taste of: Ferrero Rocher
The sight of: Ty playing in the fountain at Rouse Hill
The feel of: Holly's super soft arms

Good things about today
- I got a sleep in
- My root canal work is finally finished
- I had two sleeping children by 8.30pm
- Having the house to myself with Rich at the footy
- I have resisted the temptation to open the second box of Ferreros in the fridge

A very vicious Easter

Have you thought about giving Carlos or Elroy as an Easter gift? Here's why you should!

- They won't melt
- They don't contain 90% saturated fat
- Eggs are soooo 2009
- Your gift will be the most memorable
- Bunnies love you forever
- Handmade = AWESOME!

A 'tweet' little mobile for Holly

I finally got around to finishing this - a bird mobile for above my daughter Holly's cot. She is 9 weeks old today and still in a little crib in our room which is quite plain and bare. So, I brightened it up with some of my birds - 3 little ones, a big mumma & some fabric leaves, all strung together with sticks, wool and ribbon.

It appears to have passed the test; Holly seems to enjoy watching it twirl in the breeze....

(UPDATED 24TH MARCH):

....and it has only taken Tyler seven days to break it. Nothing that can't be fixed though!

Vintage doily bunting - with thanks to Shirley Thwaite a.k.a: Nan

Here's my pretty vintage doily creation - complete with a sweet story behind it (visit the shop to read it).

It was a sad day when we had to clear out Nan & Pa's things. They had lived in their little house in Robyn Place since before I was born and I have so many happy childhood memories with that house as a backdrop, so much so that I felt compelled to make a scrapbooking page for Nan so she'd know I appreciated hanging out with her when I was a wee kiddo.

New in store: what is this going to be...?

Not telling just yet!

I'm working on some lovely projects with doilies... should be available for sale in a few days.

For now, happy Friday to everyone and go the Eels! We're off to the first game of the season. Hubby is VERY excited. He has been counting down the sleeps till tonight's Parra v Dragons game.

Expectations... shifted

Today, I have officially accepted that Tyler no longer needs a two hour nap in the middle of the day.

This much-dreaded day has been looming on the horizon for months, however something surprising happened today after I woke up and steeled myself for twelve straight hours of toddlerdom - we had fun. We had a really nice day. I wasn't cranky; he wasn't naughty; we just had a great day.

I think the thing that made this so is that I wasn't expecting to get my eagerly awaited 'me-time' after lunch, and therefore didn't get frustrated when I had a little man wanting to play hide and seek at 2pm when I'd been trying to get him into bed since 12.30.

We didn't have any plans - all we did was buy tiny obscure sized batteries for a zillion different toys that had been silent for months and have now been reanimated. We played with trains, we drew, we did craft, we read books, we watched Yo Gabba Gabba, we used his slide as a bowling ramp, and just generally had a beautiful relaxing day.

The author of another blog I frequent posts a short list of things she is thankful for each day, and being in this reflective mood, I'm inspired to do the same.

Today I love
The smell of: grass
The sound of: Holly's first cooing noises
The taste of: Tyler's half eaten banana
The sight of: Ty sharing his blanket with Holly
The feel of: A summery breeze - perfect, perfect weather

Good things about today
- I enjoyed my children instead of just trying to get through the day
- Richard and I had a very brief but rare cuddle on the lounge
- I got most of the housework done
- I was able to get some sewing done before 10pm
- I had a healthy lunch of rice cakes and tomato

Ssssssuper etsy finds

So I'm looking around my little office / storage room / herp room* / general dumping ground trying to think of an interesting search term to inspire an 'etsy finds' post... and I look over to our two pythons watching me coolly as always from across the room. Here's some lovely finds with a nod to Rumble and Station. Enjoy!

Ball python soft sculpture by weirdbuglady

Suede python bag by limilovesbags

Tangerine snakeskin bracelet by unearthed's shop

Snake art print by thailan's shop

Jake's python by nixonillustration

Python snake skull pendant by mrd74

Snakeskin jasper rondelle beads by yakutum

African python and elk corset belt by stacyleigh

Red snake crew tee by cypressink

*WTF is a herp room you ask... herps = herpetology = snakes  :)

Fabric of the week - Dig It (and a rant about my storage crisis)

This one is for my wee man... Michael Miller's Dig It.

I'm coveting this storage basket from baffinbags on etsy but would need about ten of them to tame the bomb site that is Tyler's toy shelves (in the meantime I have just received this gorgeous snack bag in the post from greenstreetbags. Ty loves it!).

Anyway on to the storage issue, I have just taken care of the 'small bits' storage with some little plastic modular workshop bins that my hubby was ditching from his work van. Now we have a basket each for trains, matchbox cars, men and tiny craft pompom balls (he loves them, or rather, loves throwing them far and wide and picking them up with tongs).

It's the big storage that I can't seem to get my head around in his room. To make matters more complex, Ty's room will shortly become Ty and Holly's room, and will be full of yet more crap, ahem - 'precious possessions'.

Dammit, we just need a bigger house.

Small people are the best kind of helpers

 

Here's my little man Tyler giving me a hand with putting together a tag blanket. Actually he is just fascinated by the 'bubba balls' ie: round pin heads, and managed to play quite contentedly with my pincushion for a good fifteen minutes without stabbing himself (which is more than I can say for yours truly!).