Finished in the nick of time

These stockings were totally inspired by SouleMama.

When I saw the one she did for her youngest I thought what a lovely idea and I would love to have a go at one for my little ones.

I have to say that I was totally hooked on the cross-stitch, despite having to do it by head torch!

The little elf came from Wee Wonderfuls elf pattern.  Which was very easy to make and so cute I thought.  Little Roo chose this for his stocking but when he saw the snowflakes I was sewing on his sister's stocking he had to have some of those too!

The snowflakes came from Modern Folk's through The Bitter Frost and Snow.  Such lovely designs and I have a couple of other ideas for these snowflake crossstitch - watch this space!!

I can't decide what I love about these stockings most, the metallic red embroidery thread I found, the gorgeous patterns and designs or the gold satin I lined the stockings in!  The Little One's are very pleased with their stockings, mainly for the presents they will hold!  Little Roo has informed me that he wants Santa to bring him 10 and I wasn't to worry about them not fitting in as Santa squashes them down apparently!

Well that's it from me for this year!  Have a very Merry Christmas and New Year and I look forward to being back in 2014 with a few more crafty endeavours!

Superhero Party

Little Roo, our little super boy turned 5 on Friday - crikey 5 - doesn't time fly - which means, I've just realised, that this blog must be 5 too - birthdays all round!!  Little Roo, being 5, is very into his superhero's; Spiderman is his personal favourite but he loves superman, ninja turtles, batman, well in fact any superhero, so it wasn't difficult to come up with a theme for his party!  He is also a bit of a groover on the quiet - must take after his mummy! - so a superhero disco party it was!

I really enjoyed organising this party, I did a lot of lovely research, searching the internet for ideas and came across lots of amazing ideas.  I had had this idea that I would make everyone a superhero mask for their party bag and after a bit of searching around came across some gorgeous superhero masks by Slowmama, who had got the templates from Ambrosiagirl.  I loved the shape of the masks and the fact that there was a boy and a girl version.

I also loved the extra detailing of the star that Slowmama had added so I decided to add a star to the girl masks and a lightening bolt to the boy masks.  Luckily when it comes to making 20 superhero masks I didn't need to rush out and buy any supplies - no, being a horder and craft addict I had a whole box of felt - it did make me feel very happy (and virtuous) to be using up my stash!!  I made the masks double thickness and added the details on first before sewing the two sides together, catching in the elastic as I went!

I also found a great idea at Millybee for some superhero capes to add to lollipops and I added these to the party bag as well!  A lovely idea and so great that she has made the download available for everyone to use!  I managed to find some great pop art online too which I used to make some cake toppers for the cake!

Of course being nearly 8 Flopsy Bunny was far too cool for a pretty superhero mask and went for a black version instead which she can use when she is playing spy's!!  Little Roo loved his party, he had a wonderful day and it was lovely to watch my not so little boy and all his friends getting along so well and really enjoying themselves!  Happy Birthday my lovely boy!

Christmas Crossstitch

There's nothing like Christmas to kick start some crafting activity.  I know it has been a bit quiet on this blog on the craft front this year and it is not from a lack of desire or interest it is just that my attentions have been elsewhere.  But with Christmas round the corner my craft to do list has suddenly sprung into action and is growing at an alarming rate.

This is my first attempt at crossstitch and I have to say that I am hooked!!  Although a couple of worrying things have been discovered along the way.  Mainly that I need my eyes tested and I probably need glasses, I did find it difficult to see all the little holes I needed to make my stitch into!  I also discovered that as the lighting in the sitting room is quite low it makes seeing all the more difficult so I have been crossstitching by head torch, much to DH's amusement and despair - luckily he is very accepting of all my various foibles!

Final Bits and Bobs

The last (you can breathe a sigh of relief now!) pictures of our renovations.  This light fitting would probably be more at home in some large rambling manor than our little 3 bed cottage, but then sometimes you need a bit of overstated glamour in your life - or is that just me?!!

 

I have to say that I love it and although it is probably a bit grand it does suit our stairwell beautifully and it makes me smile every time I walk past - which surely is a good thing?!

Flopsy Bunny has a bedroom to dream for and I would have loved a room like this when I was her age.  It suddenly feels like our little house has been transformed.  It is amazing what a lick of paint, a bit of wallpaper and a new carpet will do to a room.  The wallpaper has been a favourite of mine for 5 years now since I first spotted it and I still love it now - birdcage walk, isn't it gorgeous?!

*sigh*, I am a happy bunny.  I just need to organise the redecoration of our bedroom now - funny that that has been left to the very end . . . oh well next year . . . but I have got my eye on some lovely wallpaper . . . !

An Autumn Walk

Little Roo had far too many beans in his legs this Sunday.  So we quickly grabbed a coat and some wellies and set off.

We are so lucky that behind our house is a big wooded hill with many little paths and different routes that you can take.

 Which is perfect for the little ones as we are not always doing the same 'walk'!

The colours were still amazing, even though lots of leaves have fallen.

A lovely walk, with my little boy and our sticks - well you need a stick when you go for a walk don't you?!

I do love Autumn as a season.

Preparation has begun . ..

The beginnings of something.   Ideas are taking shape, purchases have been made, preparations are underway.

Memory Cushion

It was my mum's special birthday party at the weekend, special because we are not mentioning the age . . . but here's a clue . . .

My talented sister made the amazing cake, along with sugar paste buttons!

We had ummed and aahhed about what present to get mum.  We bought her a Sat Nav because map reading has never been her forte but we thought we needed something more personal to her.  She is really into making quilts (this was the one she made Flopsy Bunny last year) so I suddenly remembered Rachel Rabbit's blog post about making a memory quilt for her Nana.  Well as I only came up with this idea two months before the party I thought it was better on a smaller scale and so we'd have a memory cushion instead!  I was really chuffed that everyone in the family rose to the challenge and it was really exciting receiving the squares back when they were finished - each one very different!!  Then it was just a case of sewing them all together and making the cover.  Mum was really thrilled with it and everyone had enjoyed making their squares too - so a really good group project.

 

It has also kicked started my crafting again.  You might have noticed that not much crafting has been going on recently . . . well renovations and other life issues have got in the way.  But I'm now back in the groove and just in time as Christmas is looming fast.  Making the cushion has also inspired the Little Ones.  Flopsy Bunny has decided she is going to be a fashion designer and has been drawing out her designs and which I've got to try and help her turn into something she can wear!!  We started with a white t-shirt that I let her draw on in fabric dye pens.  Not to be out done Little Roo had a go too, but instead of letting him loose on a t-shirt I gave him a square of white fabric to draw on and then I'll sew it onto a t-shirt for him!  Watch out there's no stopping them now!!

 

Half Term in Pictures

It was a rather bracing and windy holiday but we had some amazing bright days in Normandy.

Lots of history which went completely over the little one's heads!!

 

 

 Gorgeous beaches to stomp about on in wellies and warm coats.

We all came back windswept, slightly queasy from the crossing but feeling alive!  It's amazing what the sea can do to one's sense of well-being!

Whatever happened to September . . . ?

Well to start with, there was a lot of this . . .

Which did seem to take ages, but I guess decorating a bedroom, hall, landing and stairs does take time, especially in an old house when you never really know what you are going to find when you take off the wallpaper!

But luckily by the end of the month, it was beginning to look like this (more photo's of Flopsy Bunny's room when it is completely finished - DH and I v. tempted to move in as our room is now the ONLY room in the house not to have had a facelift!!)

 There were just a few finishing touches to be added.

 And after 4 months we finally got our new window for the bathroom, which is so great and I am so very pleased with it.  Our window people did an absolutely fabulous job of making us a completely new window and from the outside you can hardly tell the difference between the old windows and the new one, it was complete with steel frames and leaded glass!

 Gone is the manky old curtain which used to hide the electric meter and fuse box, they are now beautifully housed in these cupboards/bookshelves.

 Finally and for me (almost) the best part of the renovations we have done so far is getting some new carpet!  When we moved in 11 years ago we decided that the carpet had to go.  It was shabby then, a bit of nylon on floorboards with the underlay long since worn away, so 11 years on . . .

The house feels transformed now, so light and airy that I keep wanting to turn lights off that aren't even on!!  Also wonderful under foot too.  We found Little Roo lying on the carpet the morning after it had been laid and I can completely understand why!

I just walk around my house

smiling now!

Of course in the midst of all this chaos, Little Roo decided to add some chaos of his own.  We are now calling him 'Danger Boy' - wherever there is trouble he'll be there!

So I guess all in all this has kept me pretty busy, of course there was also Little Roo starting school and Flopsy Bunny going up to Juniors.  I am just looking forward to half term and hoping it is going to involve me, lying down in a darken room!  Or some bracing Autumnal walks in Normandy!