A personal A to Z!

At the moment my mind is very much turned towards my daughter and things that she might enjoy or help her learn about the world around her - so I apologise for there being a second post that is baby-related!

Although she is only 16 months she loves reading and letters of all kinds so this is how I came up with this latest little project : Sophia's Alphabet

The first of all I made the list of everything for each letter and picked out her grandparents and pets and then added other familiar items from around the house to fill up the other letters.

I then took photos of the items and printed them off.

These were then trimmed and stuck to some coloured card (cut to size to fit in a card storage box I had found!)

Carefully I wrote the corresponding letter on the front next to the photo and then wrote the name in full in the back (in my best writing!)

The cards were then covered in sticky back plastic to make them last a bit longer as my daughter is definitely at her most destructive at the moment!

And here is the complete set...

Taggie anyone?

My daughter is now nine months old and is now heavily into exploring the world around her. As a mother I hope to give her things that she can enjoy in her play time.

I came across this tutorial on how to make a Taggie which has different ribbons for a baby to explore. It also crackles - and my daughter LOVES things that crackle!

The project is easy to follow, simple to do and cheap to make...

It is the perfect project for using up small squares of fabric too (something I have in large quantities!)

The project did not take long at all to complete either which made it a good project to do of an evening when I just wanted to sew but not spend too long on it.

The website is: How to make a crinkle Taggie from cucicucicoo

My daughter simply loves it! She finds it fun to bury her face in it and laugh very loudly - oh how I wish how her brain works!

Feet first...

The final touches towards my daughters naming ceremony are coming together.

I want the guests to be able to take away something from the day as they are all close family. I think it is important to have something that can remind you of such a special day.

So I have made some 'favours' for each guest much as you would at a wedding.

And they are all unique!

My daughter and I love doing crafty things together (though I very much doubt she understands what it is all about!) so I thought we could make something together for the guests.

I cut out squares of card which would amply fit one of her feet. I then painted the bottom of her foot (with water based paint) and printed it on the card... Surprisingly enough she found this quite fun though did not enjoy the cleaning up afterwards...

After the square had been left to dry I dated them and stuck them to cards...

There is now a batch of 15 of them, written and put in envelopes, ready for a week tomorrow...

Who knew there was so much to do for a 20 minute service!?

When's a jar not a jar?

When it is a vase!

Again, today I have been neck deep in trying to sort out the stuff for my daughters naming ceremony and I had my first panic when sitting discussing the arrangements for the day.

So? Have you decided on the table decoration?
Yes. Giraffe themed tags to go on the tea cups and brown and yellow table gems.
And centre pieces? What about the flowers?

Damn, I thought. I hadn't thought of those!

At this time of year the roads and gardens are filled with daffodils so at least that would make things easier... It was just finding something for them to stand in.

After raiding my garden cupboard I found three jam jars that were all the same and gave them a quick rinse (who knows what kind of insects and bugs had been living in them!)

I then measured a length of giraffe print felt which fitted around the circumference of the jar and cut it to size. I also took a length of giraffe print ribbon (the same as the ones on the name tags!) and stuck that to the felt.

I then stuck the felt to the jar and stuck a fimo giraffe to it.

I can't wait for the ceremony now... A giraffe themed afternoon tea - what more could a 7 month old wish for?!

Time for tea?

My daughters naming ceremony is in a couple of weeks time and I am slowly realising that there is a lot to do and not a lot of time in which to do it!

I also have very little money on which to spend it on as the ceremony has cost a lot more than I had hoped for so the ideas need to be quick, simple and cheap.

After the ceremony there will be an afternoon tea and I wanted to make it personal to my daughter.

A few weeks ago I made some name tags that I wanted to tie to the handles of the teacups. After making them I came back to them and I wasn't happy. So I would have to do them again.

This time I used some rubber stamp letters to spell out the names - taking time to make sure that they all fitted but instead of the names as I know them I did them from my daughters point of view. The black ink worked well against the tags I had bought.

On the other side I used letter outlines to have 'with love' in gold and stuck a giraffe that I had painstakingly made a couple of weeks ago (they were going to be used!!!)

The ribbon I bought was then threaded through the label.

I am much happier with the result ... So happy that the guests get to have a keepsake from, what I hope to be, a very special day!

Footsteps and memories...

One of the many joys of having a young baby is the fact that there are many little things you can do to give yourself a memento of when they were very tiny!

This imprint was taken when my gorgeous daughter was only 3 months old at our local children's centre.

Play dough was placed in a clean metal takeaway container and her foot was carefully placed and pushed... Careful that the dough doesn't go between the toes otherwise it can take an age to clean afterwards!

Liquid plaster of paris is then added until the foot is filled and there is about a 1cm deep above it.

Let it dry for 24 hours.

Then remove the plaster carefully and use a dry toothbrush to get rid of any excess dough.

And there you have it. I have mounted my daughters on a cheap memory box frame with a sheet of patterned paper...

This particular one is so easy to do that I am thinking of doing one when it is her naming ceremony too as she has grown a lot since this one!

Mammoth robotics!

I have said before that my husband loves anything that is really old (fossils, dinosaurs etc) so when this little project came up he simply had to make it!

It comes as a kit with easy to follow instructions but with many, many pieces...

For my husband it also had the added bonus of electronics to play with too which he said had clear instructions and took him a lot less time that he had anticipated.

The project took him an evening to complete but it was a wonderful way to while-away some time...

It also acts as a great thing for my daughter who thinks there is nothing better than watching the mammoth move across the coffee table... A definite success!

Under the sea...

When I told my husband that we were expecting our daughter the first thing he wanted to do was get the baby's room ready by painting a mural on the wall.

I left the design up to him and, because we didn't know the sex of the baby, he needed to find something that would suit either a boy or a girl.

He decided to do a sea scene...

As I have said before me and my husband are a bit batty about animals so he chose animals which we both like...

He drew the pattern on a piece of paper first all before tracing the pattern on the wall in pencil.

He then worked out what colours he needed and also looked through the half used pots of paint that we had left over from decorating the house when we moved in.

He then set to work.

After painting he then outlined the pictures in sharpie.

I love what he has done... It was a labour of love... What do you think?

Pull yourself together...

Most people when they go through the 'nesting' stage of pregnancy start cleaning out cupboards, painting skirting boards or just generally blitz their homes.
I made curtains.

 In the weeks leading up to my daughters birth I set about making two lots of curtains - one set for my baby-to-be and the second for our dining room. (I am going to add that our dining room leads to a conservatory so doesn't really need curtains... But as my husband learnt - never argue with a pregnant woman!) As these were replacing existing curtains which were already up when we moved in three years ago I used them as a pattern for the new ones. I pinned the material to the existing curtains to get the length and hung them up to make sure I was hanging it straight. The same was then done with the lining which was blackout material for the baby's room and just a cheap cotton lining for the dining room. In the baby's room the blackout material was quite easy to work with (although I needed to adjust the setting on my sewing machine so that the extra thickness didn't jam it).

 For the hanging loops I unpicked one of the existing ones to check for size. I cut out the desired amount (remembering a seam allowance), pressed and then sewed. The loops were attached to the top of the curtains between the main fabric and the blackout material to make it look a bit neater.

 In the dining room it was not quite as straightforward. The material that I had bought was not quite long enough for the proposed windows so I decided to lengthen them with a strip of black material attached to the bottom and use the same black material to make the curtain loops. The bottom piece was measured umpteen times as I wanted it to be straight and to look good. It was a tense moment after sewing everything on and hang inning the curtains for a final time ... But ultimately it was a success. As I had some of the main fabric left so made a couple of curtain ties using an existing one as a template and used bias binding to tidy up the edges plus a curtain ring as the finishing touch.

 Thankfully the curtains were finished in plenty of time for my daughters arrival - I doubt I would have had the patience after she had been born!

A bit about me...

I spend a lot of time making stuff. My brain is constantly thinking if things to make, do and mend. The problem is that I don't always get the opportunity to do this.

Five months ago my life changed forever in the form of a chubby ball of smiles and cries called Sophia. It changed for the better and has made me more aware of others and how crazy it is that anyone has survived being a parent with so little sleep! Despite all this I love being a parent. I also love being a wife. I also love my job.

I have been married since 2011. My husband is also a crafty type (although he would claim it is mostly 'scientific stuff' that he creates. I beg to differ.

I work as a drama teacher but also create props and costumes for productions hence the reason why some  times my work and home life seem to coldie more often than not.

So, why start a blog?

Well, for the things are created in our home. But also for somewhere to ponder. I want to post tutorials but also give inspiration to others. The crafts will be varied although my favourite pastime is being sat at my sewing machine...

I might also include a few book reviews ... I am a massive bookworm too ...

Other likes include an unhealthy obsession with rubber ducks and chickens... But I promise not to go on about those!

Sewing crafts, books and a young baby - what could possibly be wrong with that!