I'm not sure what I was supposed to do today...

(and I still have a vague, unsettling feeling that there was something I was supposed to do...)

But I did...


... eat the last of our yummy "Cathie Cookies" (Fruity Oat Cookies, to be precise), one of the amazing recipes from Cathie's blog...


... play our girl's new invented game - "Backy Books" (basically you grab all your Golden Books, turn them over so you can only see their backs, and then pick and read a book without knowing what it will be)...


... and turn three old cloth nappies into a dressing gown, because I felt like doing some of my favourite kind of sewing (using old stuff, so there's nothing to lose, and making it up as I go along).



Hope you've had a fun Sunday too!

library parties are the best...

because the invitations are fun...

because we could indulge my love of retro and her love of signs (thanks for leading us to these, Vic)...

because I had the perfect excuse to build more bookshelves...

because this was our menu plan...

because of story time (we love story time!)...

because it's fun to watch little hands creating...

because a cake shaped like a book is pretty easy to make...

because cupcakes featuring all her chosen books are not THAT hard to make when you have a food dye pen (thanks for the tip, Cathie!)...

because it's nice to give as well as receive...

because she loves books, and we love her.

(we had the BEST time, and are happily exhausted today... please excuse my continuing slackness with correspondence and comments...)

my creative space - no bake cookie

I said "should we make something?"

She said "Yes please!"

The only problem was, I was thinking crafty thoughts, and she was thinking cookies...

We found a compromise - a softie cookie, (with a bit of inspiration from the works of Nikki and her girl).



Mmm, smells good...


For creative space inspiration, visit Kirsty.

cover version

Is anyone else excited that Spicks and Specks is on every night - straight after the kids' shows?

(yeah, yeah, I know it's not really a kids show, but I try to sing loudly to block out adult content, and well, she developed a Spicks and Specks love in utero, and always managed to wake up for a feed in time for the show when she was tiny...)

Video made a bit over a year ago - this "piano" was one of her first completely independent duplo creations (another was a "Spicks and Specks set" but maybe I shouldn't mention that in case you think we're completely crazy...)

Hope you're having a happy Wednesday (and staying safe too).

a girls' weekend

In case you're wondering, no, I'm not interrupting a weekend of child-free relaxing and general indulging to make a blog post... because it's not that kind of girls' weekend (though that would be just lovely). Instead, my husband is off on a "boy's weekend" so it's just me and the girl for a couple of days.

I am feeling a bit tired - I missed my late morning break when she and Dad head to the park for their regular Saturday play time - but I am also feeling grateful.

Grateful for a relaxed lunch date with another of our favourite girls.

Grateful for extra time to play and imagine and just be (even if that means "being" kangaroos with repurposed apron pouches) .


Grateful for reminders of how similar we are - she also "photographs" everything (with a no-longer functional camera, which luckily functions quite well in her imagination).


Grateful for a naughty-ish late-ish dinner of pancakes (made less naughty by very good eggs, and by a healthy-ish topping of apple sauce made entirely of finely grated apple).


Grateful for remembering that even though we are not always perfect (and yes, we both had our moments at the supermarket today), we really are pretty great!


Visit Maxabella for more grateful thoughts.

ordinarily happy

I think I like day to day life more than Christmas or New Years, or any of those other special occasions. I don't really like the pressure to be extra-happy, or extra-good, that can come with those big-name days.

I prefer it when perfectly ordinary days, and ordinary moments, turn into special memories.


By the way, we've taken our tree down now... but an even more beautiful one has sprung up in its place...

Wishing you loads of ordinary (and extraordinary) happiness this year...

xo

my creative space - the ephemeral dollhouse

I've gone on and on about this dollhouse, haven't I? Not to mention spent much time thinking about decorating options, even wishing I had more hoarded papers to choose from (I know, really...).

Then, I came to a realisation - this is a cardboard dollhouse.

It is, ultimately, designed to be short lived, even disposable. It is also a dollhouse for a small child - a small child who sees "bananas" and "boats" in scraps of fabric or cardboard. It does not have to be perfect, or even finished, to be loved.

So here it is: the ephemeral, happily unfinished dollhouse.


The art room - filled with happy music, loads of natural light from a lovely big window, and inspiration from Leunig and Van Gogh...



The (unchanged) dining room (a buffet might be nice in here)...


The extra - bright kitchen, with wonky stove, wonky lino, and an empty fridge - not for long...


The floral bedroom - with just one bed for 7 dolls...

I wonder what will happen to this house next? The one thing I know is, I won't be the one making the decisions... and it will probably never be "finished".

More creative spaces here.

my creative space - how to make a boxy piano

A while ago I had a bit of fun making some "upcycled" furniture for our (not yet finished) cardboard dollhouse. Estelle was kind enough to suggest I should do a tutorial, so here it is...

How to make a boxy piano...

1. Find 3 boxes which, when stacked together, look a bit like a piano.


2. Don't worry if they're not the right length, just measure, cut and fold to make a smaller box (if they're nearly the right size, don't bother - just pad out the short one with some paper or cardboard).


3. BEFORE you stick them together, gently fill the boxes with tissue paper or newspaper - just enough to help keep their shape but not so much that they bulge (check by stacking them up again)... sorry I forgot to photograph this step!

4. Put a bit of glue between the boxes, then start taping them up - I like to use this gummy brown tape that I've had since I dabbled in watercolour painting many moons ago, but any tape would do.


5. Tape them up until they're nice and stable - I probably went a little overboard...


6. For my first piano (see here), I just used the brown tape all over for a fast and easy finish. This time, I covered the piano in little bits of brown tissue paper that I'd dipped in diluted PVA glue.


7. Leave it to dry (and don't be too careful about covering the bit where the keys will go - that's about to get covered up)


8. Measure the space for your piano keys to go - subtract a few mm from each side, then draw your piano keys. After discovering first time around that lead pencil can smudge when covered in Mod Podge or glue, I used a non watercolour black pencil this time.


9. Stick on the keys with Mod Podge or PVA, remembering to seal the top of the keys too, and you're done!


After finishing this piano, I wondered whether one family of dolls really needed two pianos - Audrey and Beris disagreed, and quickly set themselves up for a piano duet....


the only problem is, Audrey is a "by the book" classical piano player, and Beris is a "play what you feel" avant garde type, so it ended up as more of a piano duel...

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty's.

because i am a good wife...

Because I am a good wife, I made this scarf for our girl - who wore it for five minutes before deciding Little Ted liked it better (I think he does, actually).


Because I am a good wife, I spent this afternoon doing everything in my power to keep a noisy 3 year old from being a noisy 3 year old (and was grateful for a sunny day with lots of opportunities for chalk art and nature study).

I listened to the game on the radio, and popped my head in for a smile during the good bits, and stayed well away during the bad bits...


and, because I am a good wife, I will be doing it all again next week....

give me strength!

flea market finds - treasures from the trip home

I posted a while ago about our recent family holiday, involving a big dose of en-route op-shopping... and showed you what I found on the way there... now I've finally remembered to show you what we found on the way home!


Our main op-shop destinations were Leongatha and Korumburra - we stopped in both towns on the way there and back, so as not to miss out on any shops that might be open only on certain days.


We visited about 5 op-shops in total, plus a book fair selling cancelled library books - there was at least one other shop I didn't set foot in, amazingly (I was already testing the patience of my fellow travellers...) - and had a great time enjoying generous pricing, friendly people and lovely finds...


though I wish I'd had more time to really have a rummage... next time I might make my family stay in an op-shop town, instead of a beach side village!!

Check Her Library Adventures for more finds!

PS: I'm trying a bit of Spring-inspired decluttering with a weekly "reverse finds" post on Saturdays - would you like to join me?