.Lego Sack.

When I made a heap of "Peek-A-Boo" Toy Sacks to combat the toy clutter, I just wasn't sure what to do with the Lego. It continued living in a plastic box, but I would cringe every time I heard that long c-r-a-s-h and saw Lego strewn all over the floor. Oscar is pretty good at packing it up, but it was getting rather tedious. Then the Lego box was being used as a boat and it broke. So we started storing the Lego in a Toy Sack, but it just wasn't working.


A short while later we were having a play date with our special friends and discussing various ways to store Lego (VERY important topic of conversation on a play date!) and one of my friends remembered a circular mat that turned into a bag in which Lego could be both played on and stored in. BINGO! Of course, if I used some more of my lovely Ta-Dot fabric it would blend in perfectly with the Toy Sacks! I told Oscar about it, he drew up some plans (I'll have to take a photo and show it to you soon - it is so cute!) and one weekend we sewed it together.

Ta Da! The all-problems-solved LEGO SACK!

When the Lego is packed away, it sits neatly like this:


Then, when the kids are ready to play all they have to do is untie...


...stretch...


...pull apart...


...spread it out...


...and build away!


The beauty about the Lego Sack, is that if as many blocks as possible are kept ON the mat when playing, then it will mean no packing up later on. All you have to do is pull the drawstrings tight and the mat gathers up into the sack!


We've had it for a couple of weeks and it is working really well. Oscar is quite careful to keep most of the blocks on the mat and happily packs up when he is finished aswell.

I plan on sharing a tutorial for the Lego Sack in the next week or two so if you have Lego issues (or any other small toys that are a pain to keep clean) then maybe this would be helpful for you?

.Sleeping the Kids.

The blog has been quiet this week. Everything has been fairly low-key around here lately actually. It started with Jaron getting sick on Sunday and then Lil quickly followed on Monday evening. After a shocking night with her up and crying for hours on Tuesday (very out of character for her to wake in the night time) I took her to the doctor on Wednesday to find that she has a throat and ear infection. Poor little thing. There has been icky pussy wax flowing from her ears for a few days (yeah, really gross) but she started on antibiotics yesterday and has really perked up today.

So, my big plan this week was to get started on a new pattern. The ideas are flowing and I know exactly what I need to do, but when the kids finally get to bed at night the inspiration stops and I have not managed to touch the sewing machine once this week. It will happen...as soon as this creative-block passes :)

This week has marked the 6 month anniversary living in our new house. When we first moved in we told ourselves that we would have the landscaping finished in 2 months...and it still isn't done. Hopefully in a few more weeks it will be mostly taken care of. We haven't really had a weekend for 6 months and are feeling it. It is all worth it at the end of the day though - our own home with everything as we like it.

We are getting set to put some more decorating touches on the inside of the house too...I've been doing a little internet surfing to get some inspiration and am in love with this kid's bedroom. I love my kids sharing a room. At the moment Tommy has his own, but when he gets bigger I know he will want to join in with the big kids. I've told Jaron that in the next house we build, I want a big bedroom for all three to share just like this set up. I don't know how long they will want to share for...hopefully until they are 10? Jaron will just have to do some clever architecture stuff to make the room usable once they are a bit older and decide they need their own space. At the moment, the kid's bedrooms are set up so that they only house their beds and books. All of the toys are in the studio so, to me, having a bedroom each is a total waste of space if all they are doing is sleeping there.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. I'm off to go and write some lists and maybe even cut into some fabric ;)

image source

.Recipe Monday.

I think these biscuits are supposed to mimic Arnotts Kingstons. They are close and were good for a tasty for a homemade treat.

Coconut Chocolate Crunchies
125g butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbs golden syrup or treacle
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
chocolate icing (I made mine using icing sugar, cocoa, butter and water)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line trays with baking paper.
Beat butter, sugar and syrup until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Stir in sifted flour, coconut and oats.
Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls; place about 5cm apart on trays. Flatten with a fork.
Bake about 12 minutes.
When cool, sandwich biscuits together with chocolate icing.

.New earrings.

I have to admit that I didn't expect earrings to sell as well as they have in the Citrus pOp shop. I guess not having my own ears pierced has made me ignorant to how cool earrings actually are :) (I am about 75% sure that I am going to get my ears pierced very soon now!)

After quickly selling most of my stock, I have now restocked and included loads more styles to choose from. At only $10 a pair they are a great gift and cheap enough to treat yourself for no particular reason ;)

Here are a few of my favourites:

Yellow Sun

Apple Fresh

Skyways

Whispering Waterfall

.Art Swap Package #1.

I love the posty...well, maybe not the posty himself (although he is a cool guy), but I love the surprises he brings in the mail! The coolest thing about online shopping is the excitement of receiving it on your doorstep in your PJs - after buying it online in your PJs!!

I wasn't expecting anything exciting in the mail today and don't have any purchases on their way to me (it is the best when you forget you have bought something though and it surprises you!) so was totally perplexed when the posty dropped off a mailing tube and it was post marked USA.

Jaron was working from home today and I saw his "what the heck have you bought now?" look being thrown my way. I was wracking my brains trying to remember what I had bought that would have to be rolled up into a tube and even more confused when I opened it up and found this inside:

Remember the Art Exchange Project: Art Swap I blogged about last month? I know how these chain mail things can easily not work if one person breaks the link, but thought that out of 36 gifts, I would be bound to get at least one or two things in the mail and would be happy with that. But, oh my goodness!!! My jaw dropped when I received this brilliant canvas print in this morning.

The penny dropped when I read Katie's note and she explained that this was her Art Swap gift to me. I didn't expect to receive something this awesome. If you are not a member of my church then you may be a little confused as to what the picture is all about. It is a photograph (taken by Katie) of one of our faith's most prominent temples in Salt Lake City. I have wanted a picture of the temple to display in our new home but hadn't found one that I loved so this is just perfect! I'm going to take it to be framed next week and can't wait to get it up on the wall.

Katie has an Etsy store, Katie's Clicks where she sells her canvas prints - there are heaps of beautiful photographs to choose from, go and check them out.
She also blogs at Something About Kate - and is giving away this print at the moment! Hurry though, the giveaway ends in about 24 hours so quickly go and leave a comment! I really want to enter but think that would be a little greedy of me ;)

Thankyou so much Katie :) I am so excited and honoured to have received this beautiful canvas in the mail today.

In other Art Swap news...my art swap recipient has received her package and blogged about it here. How cute do the hairclips look in her daughter's hair? Margie also has a unique Made It store selling funky cloth dolls, personalised soft toys, wooden blocks and more at mydezigns.

.Citrus pOp Giveaway.

If you haven't visited the Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts blog before - you gotta do it now! Jenny is celebrating her 1 year anniversary and is celebrating with 1 week of giveaways.


I'm taking part in her celebration and giving away a $20 Citrus pOp gift voucher. So if you want to win - head over and enter :)

.The Princess and the Pea.

Many months ago Lil decided that she wanted to have a princess party when she turned 3. I love Lauren Child (Charlie and Lola is big in our house) and bought Lil a copy of The Princess and the Pea on Book Depository a few months ago to put away for her birthday.


The book is absolutely delightful. I couldn't resist making her a toy set to go with it. I left the project until too late though and it didn't turn out exactly how I had pictured it in my head, but is still very cute.


It was all very straight forward until it came to actually making the princess (something I should probably have made first up!) Choosing fabric for the 12 mattresses was just too much fun though - I love sorting through my fabric stash and coming up with different fabric combinations! I used left-over quilt wadding for padding. They are a bit thinner than I would have liked, but still work fine. The problem came when I didn't have the time or creativity to devise a princess pattern myself (I can design clothing patterns, but am hopeless at softies!!). After a bit of googling, I came across this awesome idea and was all set to scan a pic out of the book and print it onto iron on transfer paper, then we started having printer troubles and I was finding it difficult to buy transfer paper for a laser printer.


Two nights before we left for Sydney, I was getting a bit desperate and remembered the Ruby Lou Doll pattern I had seen for sale on Sew Much Ado. It wasn't what I had in mind but she is very cute and Lil loves her!


The problem was, that she was a bit too big for my pre-made mattresses!! I took a bit of length off her body and legs, and she is still a bit tall...lucky for me, 3 year olds don't notice things like that ;)


I made her a little pillow and sewed a little pocket to one of the mattresses to house the "pea" - which ended up being a green marble I stole from one of the kids games!!!


I made the princess a crown by drawing a crown shape, cutting it out of two pieces of felt and sewing together around the edges. Then attached velcro to each end to hold it together and make it easy to take on and off. Cool things about the princess...her body is made of a scrap of fabric left over from my little sister's grade 10 Leavers Dinner dress and her skirt is made from fabric I cut from a ball skirt I wore on New Years Eve 2000! I planned on making Lil a matching skirt for dress ups, but ran out of time, so will do it sometime soon.


Of course the set wouldn't be complete without something to keep it in so I made bigger version of the "Peek-A-Boo" Toy Sack out of some Heather Ross, Princess and the Pea fabric I have been hoarding.


I love the little red shoes peeking through the window :)


Phew - glad it was a success!!! There were a few times during the process that I was ready to chuck it in and head to the shops to buy her a present but I'm glad that I stuck it out and it turned out really cute in the end. Lil loves it. She doesn't get the story properly yet, we haven't had a chance to sit down and play with it and the book is a little "old" for her right now. When she opened the present, one of the first things she asked is, "but where is the king?!!" - hmmm...maybe for Christmas. There is a bit of room left in that toy sack ;)

.Linnea Swedish Design giveaway winner.

The winner of the Tree of Life Cushion Cover from Linnea Swedish Designs is Kate!

Congratulations Kate! Send me an email with your postal details.

Thankyou to Linnea Swedish Designs for being a Make It Perfect Cool Shop! in August :)

.Ruby Victoria giveaway winner.

The winner of the Japanese Teapot Original Linocut Print from Ruby Victoria is Kelly!

Congratulations Kelly! Send me an email with your postal details.

Thankyou to Ruby Victoria for being a Make It Perfect Cool Shop! in August :)

.Lil turns 3.

When we were in Sydney we celebrated Lil's 3rd birthday. This was such a wonderful treat for us as ALL of the kids cousins live in Sydney so we have not had a birthday party with lots of extended family around before. Lil loved being the star of the show - and being showered with lots of very girly presents that are keeping her very entertained at home now.


We were very grateful to Carli and Winston for letting us use their home as our party ground. It was fun to catch up with everyone, have the kids play a few games, share a dinner together, toast marshmallows on the fire outside and enjoy a lovely, relaxing Sunday evening.



My Mother-in-law made a spur of the moment visit from New Zealand and was able to come to Lil's party! She made Lil an amazing princess dress...it is crazy - think 1980s bridesmaid dress style, with lots of shiny fabric, trim, puffy sleeves and a big skirt! I've got to take a proper photo of it soon. Lil has been wearing it all the time and just loves it!


For Lil's birthday cake, I made our favourite Coconut Ice Cakes (and later on realised that I didn't put enough flour in them, but they were still good!). She really wanted a princess/queen cake. There were thoughts about making some elaborate big princess, but in the end I decided to melt some white chocolate, tint it yellow and pipe crowns freehand onto some baking paper. I'm really glad that I did, because they looked really cool! I think this is my new novelty cake decorating "trick" so look out for it in the future ;)

.home again.

We have just returned from a family holiday to Sydney. That explains why things have been quiet around here for the last little while. I did schedule a few blog posts to pop up while we were away (like the Cool Shops! reviews and giveaways - which are still open, so feel free to leave a comment if you want to win) but otherwise I have really enjoyed an email/blog/internet-free week. I have returned to an inbox full of emails, so if you are waiting for a reply then I'll get around to it soon!

We had a great time visiting with family and friends - there is never enough time to do all of the things we want to do and visit all of the people we want to see. The kids had a ball playing with their cousins and traveling around Sydney with us.

I've got lots of things to blog about - and lots of bits and pieces to catch up on at home so for now, I'll leave you with some pics of the kids from Sydney Aquarium. It was great, as was Sydney Wildlife World and Sydney Tower - although I was a terrible photographer for the whole trip away and didn't get my camera out as much as I should have!

.August Cool Shops! LINNEA SWEDISH DESIGN.

Cool Shop! #2 for August is Linnea Swedish Design:


Linnea is Swedish-born but now resides in Australia and combines her love of screen-printing and fabric to create funky notebooks, cushions, wall art, lamp shades, bags and much more.

I'm a sucker for lists and notebooks, so I asked Linnea if I could review one of her Think Big Dream Big Notebooks. It is so cute! I love the colour, the hand screen printed design and the size is perfect for me to carry around in my bag. These notebooks are avaliable in other colours too.



This Australian Capital Cities Tram Roll Print is brilliant too:


Linnea Swedish Design has a Made It store, an Etsy Store and a website.

GIVEAWAY

Linnea is generously offering one of my readers a Tree of Life Cushion Cover! To be eligible to win, all you have to do is head over to one of Linnea Swedish Design's stores (Made It or Etsy) and check out the goods...come back, leave a comment and tell us which product is your favourite.

Giveaway will close on Monday 9th August and winner will be drawn randomly.

.August Cool Shops! RUBY VICTORIA.

My new "Cool Shops!" feature is up and running! I've got a fantastic line-up of shops and business to share with you over the next few of months - it has been great fun for me to discover some of the talent that is around.

The very first Cool Shop! I would like to introduce you to is Ruby Victoria:


Narelle is the crafty lady behind Ruby Victoria and is a fellow Tasmanian :)

Ruby Victoria specialises in original handcarved lino block prints with a bit of letterpress thrown in for good measure.

If you are looking for beautiful, unique notecards, gift tags, linocut prints (and more!) then Ruby Victoria is the place for you.

Narelle sent me a set of her, "Hello" Debossed Notecards to review and I am SO impressed. The same day they arrived in my letterbox, I used one to write a note to a friend on :)


She also threw in a selection of gift tags from her store - they are amazing!


I love these notecards also - they are so cute!


Ruby Victoria has an Etsy store, a Made It store and a blog so go and check them out today!

Thanks Narelle for being my first Cool Shop! and for your wonderful products :)

GIVEAWAY

Narelle is generously offering one of my readers a Japanese Teapot Original Linocut Print! To be eligible to win, all you have to do is head over to one of Ruby Victoria's stores (Made It or Etsy) and check out the goods...come back, leave a comment and tell us which product is your favourite.


Giveaway will close on Sunday 8th August and winner will be drawn randomly.