jigsaw bags

We have lots of jigsaws. The kids were really keen on them over the colder months but they haven't been played with as much lately. 

I wanted to pack them up but many had ripped boxes or nothing at all to be stored in. As a solution I bought some pillowcases from an oppy for 50c each- they're less expensive than fabric and already 1/2 sewn : )

When cut in half each pillowcase made up 2 drawstring bags. I used some lengths of ribbon as drawstrings and wrote the name of the jigsaw puzzle on the outside of the bag. They're tucked away in the laundry cupboard until next Winter.

I've made a few spares as I'm sure we'll find other things to store in them.

Things I'm loving...

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something you can be thankful for..no matter how simple it is.

I framed M's first piece of 'school art' this week.

We're having fun with the New World food people are giving us- I'm trying hard to not want a set!

M is enjoying them so much she's started making her own mini foods

and I love that we're at the doing dishes is a novelty stage!

Joining in with Meghan at MNM's

my mum's blog- yum

Did you now that my mum blogs too? Here's a link to her blog  Capital Living. She shares really yummy ( mostly vegetarian) recipes and delicious baking like some of these recent recipes...

Citrus almond semolina cake and citrus compote

 

Vegetarian shepherds pie

Spicy lentil soup

  

Pearl barley rissotto with marinated feta 

  
The best ginger loaf

The best chocolate chip cookies

 

 

 

 

 

from cot to chalkboard

I'm very sentimental. I've been holding on to our cot for a long time. It has such lovely memories. It was given to me by a friend. It was white, wooden, smaller than the average cot so it was the perfect size for me to feel happy about them going into it after a bassinette.

 I love the ages our kids are now but I do sometimes think back to the days when they would fall asleep in my arms, nap like in these pictures and were my wee babies...

It was out on our deck for a while, then it came inside as a day bed in T's room. I decided it was time to let it go so had the hubby dismantle it. We will be using the bar sides to make a clothes rack/ drier for in the laundry and I kept one end of it to make this:

It just rests up against the wall, I like how there's a place for the chalk to sit too. I'm not sure what I'll do with it when they're too old for chalkboards!

gumball necklaces

M had a play date today with one of her best wee friends from school. It's not a very nice day outside so I thought this afternoon might be a good time to let them make these. They were inspired by my crafty mum friend Rachael ( I really wish she'd start blogging so I could credit her properly!). She got the idea from joyfolie who made this one...

Lovely huh.

The rest of my inspiration came from spotting a big jar of gumballs at K Mart for $5. Sooooo much cheaper than big beads!

I loved the colours.

It's pretty easy to do. Use a small drill bit to drill holes through each of the gumballs. They're sort of hollow so it's not tricky. Thread them onto ribbon tying a knot in between each ball.

I used big needle adn wrpped some tape around the pointy end to protect little fingers. I found these butterfly shapes that I thought would look cute and be easy for wee hands to stick on too.

They drew a plan first...

 And then threaded. The butterflies were stuck, one on each side.

Pretty cute!

By the way. I let the kids eat one gumball each just to have them realise how yuck they taste. They're really only good for making necklaces : )

Oh- and unless you plan to spray varnish them to seal them  I wouldn't recommend wearing them in the rain or on really sunny days!

books books books

I get super excited about book fairs, here's a pile of about half of the bargains I got last weekend. The rest are under pillows, in and probably under beds and stashed in different places on their shelves. I spent $10 and came home with 35+ books for the  kids- happiness!

I dont think you can own too many books.

This is how the girl then spent most of her afternoon...

Both the mum and the book nerd in me were very happy.

Joining in with Max from http://www.blackbirdhasspoken.com/ forThe Op shop Show of ( even though it was a book fair). I don't think she'll mind : )

a gorgeous and very generous giveaway

Stella ( from The Golden Adventures of a Very Dark Horse) is hosting a fantastic giveaway, go and check it out! Here's her words about the gorgeous goodness up for grabs...

1. Ipad Mini Case/Clutch from Blackbird And The Owl.  This ridiculously cool clutch was custom designed just for this giveaway!  Peggy let me choose the colours and patterns, and I do rather love it!  Check out her site to customize your own cute clutch.  Valued at $70
2. Sailor Spy clothing voucher.  I've shared something of my love for Sailor Spy here, and really, I think this is a New Zealand designer we all need to keep an eye on!  Nin has currently put some of her beautiful stock on sale (as well as some LOVELY new pieces), the perfect time to spend a winners voucher!  Valued at $75
3. Leather Wrap-Around Watch from PetitJuJu.  Throw away your phone (well okay, don't literally throw it away) and keep holiday time the old-fashioned way with this way pretty watch.  Valued at $75
4. Hand Painted Butterfly Scarf from ArmeniaOnSilk.  Beautiful and soft - this reminds me of the gentle summer's breeze.  Perfect for spring and early summer, or for driving open-air in a convertible ;-).  Valued at $70
5. Sukie Diamonds Cotton Tote Bag from Wocolate. These colours make my heart sing!  Store your travel snacks, or all your must-have travel accessories in this pretty bag.  Wocolate is a new discovery, and that shop is filled with products I adore!  Valued at $39.95
6. Blue and Green Wooden Bracelet from Jull Made.  I love this bold, statement piece!  Jull Made has so many lovely pieces, and very affordably priced too!  Valued at  $21
7. Ceramic Adjustable Ring from imkajewelry.  I love the gentle hues of this ring, feminine and bold, with a touch of geometric shaping.  So pretty...  Valued at $25.50
8. Weleda Skin Food.  Weleda has long been one of my all-time favourite companies (I even worked there at one stage, that's how much of a dedicated fan I am).  This skin food is a really lovely product, with a pretty citrusy scent.  Valued at $21.90
9. Trilogy Rosehip Travel Collection.  A more perfect travel companion could not be found.  Trilogy makes lovely organic products that smell divine, and all packaged in travel sized portions - sweet!  Valued at $39.90
10. Karen Murrell Rymba Rhythm Lipstick.  Love this shade!  This beaut lipstick is made from natural products and environmentally friendly, and also, the packaging is divine.  Amaze.  Valued at $29.95
11. Blackmores Digestive Bio-Balance Capsules (45 capsules).  These can be used by the whole family, to help keep the bacteria in your digestive system nice and healthy.  So you know, you stay nice and healthy during your holiday :-).  Valued at $29.90
12. Blackmores Travel Calm Ginger (30 capsules)  For the travel sick (I NEED this for our next trip), a non-drowsy formula for family members over 6 years.  Valued at $16.90
13. Blackmores Tart Cherry Sleep Capsules (60 tablets) I don't know about you, but I often sleep terribly while I'm holidaying, and this might just be the answer to my problems.  A natural, non dependancy-inducing product - sounds perfect.  Valued at $44.90
14. Penny Scallan Juicy Apple Creative Set.  Cuteness!  A nice easy way to keep older kiddos occupied during a long journey, or during quiet hours on holiday.  Valued at $30
15. Toffee Apple 3-Seasons Sleep Sack from The Sleep Store.  I seriously want one of these for Garland.  Cute and so helpful, because if there's one thing little people love to do, it's to kick off those blankets.  Fyi, the winner will receive a pink striped Sleep Sack.  Valued at $129
16. Thermal Lunch Bot from Munch Cooking.  Make your kiddos some delicious, hot (okay, warm) travel food, and store it in this super handy insulated food container.  Sounds like a good idea to me!  Valued at $24.99
17. Munch Cookbook from Munch Cooking. Okay, not technically a travel item, but a v. useful wee resource non-the-less.  And just because I like to float my own boat ;-), I just got nominated as one of NZ's best kiddo food blogs in the Munch Awards, hehe!  Cookbook valued at $28
18. Rabbit clothing voucher.  Eeee!  I missed out on winning the voucher given away at Mend and Make New (though one of my RL friends won it, woot!), and now I get to give away a voucher myself!  Rabbit is definitely my favourite new kiddo clothing discovery, and probably yours too, amiright?!  Valued at $30
19. Little Monster - Sherbert from Needlebot.  Um.  CUTE!!!!  That's pretty much all I need to say about this prize, other than, AFFORDABLE!  The perfect little travel buddy for a little one.  I may just have to ask santa to purchase one of these for one of my littles this Christmas.  Valued at $20
20. Penny Scallan Juicy Apple Junior Wheelie Bag.  Love these wheelie bags!  This is part of a new range put out by Penny Scallan, and I adore the vibrant red.  That's one suitcase you'll easily spot on the conveyer belt!  Valued at $58
21. Felt Shark Mask from Struckla and Peach. I know that my kids would get a kick out of sporting this mask during a long and boring road trip.  I'm sure it would make you pretty popular with other travelers too!  Valued at $15

a polka dot wall

I have coveted these types of polka dot wall decals for some time. I like the idea that they're not permanent ( I'm always changing things around at home). I like that with decals I don't have to make my mind up about anything that's long term- the thought of having to decide on wallpaper for the kid's rooms would just be too much for me. I could never build a house- too many decisions to be made!

http://www.thehomesihavemade.com

http://downthatlittlelane.com.au

Recently I found this site http://polkadotwallstickers.com/

I bought 60, 2 inch ( that's 5cm-ish ) gold dots for $8.98 US plus $10.99 US shipping ( which came to $25 NZ inc postage). I couldn't find them cheaper anywhere in NZ.

After putting them on a bigger wall and then changing my mind I found out that the stickers came off  really easily and repositioned well too (whew!). We're going for a random look for now but one day I may like to spend the time spacing them out evenly : ).

I've hung the pin board we made together low enough for her to pin whatever she likes on it. Pre-quakes she was just sticking things up with blue tack but now that our walls have a fresh coat of paint she's not allowed!

I love it, it makes us both smile...

and the winner is......

There was a grand total of 3 entries. I wrote names on paper, put them in an ice cream container and had M streeeetch up to pick one name out- very official.

And the winner is...dun da da da dah- da ( that's fanfare by the way)

Leonie from Sunshine x3! Leonie has an awesome blog full of creative goodness. She is very supportive of whimsy and makes lovely comments. She is someone I'd really like to meet in person so I'm really hoping there's another bloggers conference in Auckland one day : ) I'm pretty chuffed I was able to do this wee comp and send her a pressie.

I also want to thank the fabulous Miriam from Create Hope Inspire for her comment and for her support of our wee blog. You should go and have a look at hers, you'll love what she creates, she'll make you laugh and probably inspire you just as her blog title suggests.

The last person to comment was my mum, I'm kind of glad she didn't win ( sorry mum) but it would've been a bit awkward lol. Mum blogs her yummy vegetarian food ideas on Capital Living. I'll shout you coffee when you're in ChCh next mum.

Thanks also to Soup for the goodies to trial, my washing has never looked so good.

our new peach tree

The boy has said more than once that he'd like a peach tree. We have strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and lemons and a fantastic vege garden that my husband takes care of- but I also wanted some more fruit trees. The blossoms are very pretty and I was very pleased with the price- $10 on Trade me. It was cheap because the seller wasn't sure of the variety it could be Golden Tatura or it or Golden Queen- I'm just pleased it's not a Black Boy peach- I'm not a big fan of those.

Husband has said that it was probably cheap because it's a standard tree- ie it grows up to 6m tall- oops, we'll have to prune it! I must remember to by dwarf varieties from now on : )

Here's some shots of us planting it- planted right next to the playhouse so T can " look out the window and see if the peaches are ready".

I plan to spend the day in the garden tomorrow giving it a weed and tidy- I love being in the garden with the kids- do you?

pretty!

clearing the space

This one will be fun to look at when he's 20 : )

Here's some pics the boy took- I don't know why I like them, it maybe because I enjoy seeing what got his attention :)

our favourite books at the moment

 The Littles by John Peterson. We finished this a week or so ago, the first chapeter book we read to our children aged 4 and 5 . They both happily sat through this. It's about a family of 'Littles' who live in the walls of a house and have adventures  : )

 

Mr Poppers Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. This is the chapter book we're reading now, the chapters are just the right length to keep the kids interest. Mr Popper gets sent penguins!

By Margaret Mahy, a funny classic that our kids ask to have read over and over and then chat about.

The boy loves this one, it's about a group of lower case letters who do up a fire engine and then go on to help the capital letters fight a fire and save the day!

Piggity- Wiggity Jiggity Jig  by Diana Neild. I love the rhyme and rhythm in this- it's very easy to read, lots of giggles and has a positive message.

Joining in with Stella's ( Golden Adventures of a very dark horse) Bubba Bookclub