Family Sunday

On Sunday, Mr. D and I decided to go for a short drive to the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens.  I had heard the playground there was fantastic since a recent redevelopment and I wanted to have a look and check it out for myself.  I must say, I was more than a little impressed.  My phone photo's don't do it justice and they only show a few things on offer.  However, we will definitely be heading back there soon once this Spring weather decides to stay around for a bit longer.

I love the wooden carriages on the train.

Tree trunk stepping stones, what a great idea.

A fantastic cubby with it's own garden.

Perfect for playing shops.

Swinging together.

A quiet lunch before some exploring around the gardens.

Searching for Fairy houses.

Quiet creek running along the back of the gardens.

A trip to the park wouldn't be complete without throwing some rocks into the water.

Everyone had a great day and we finished it off with some delicious afternoon tea at Skydancers Garden, Gift and Cafe.  We will be doing this again soon, I'm sure.

Happy Crafting!
Kat 

Hospital- not a fun place to be

Well I am excited to say that it is school holidays here in Sunny Sydney and even more excited because my son (Mr 11) has just spent a week in hospital.  He went in on a Thursday and we came out last Thursday after a week I will never forget, and I don't think he will either.

He was complaining of pain when he was walking on the Monday afternoon and after I had a look and dressed it as a Planter Wart, something they catch very easily from Public pools where they have swimming with the school.  The day after I sent him to school for crazy hair day and was called at Lunch time to collect him.
After looking at it and getting worried I took him off to the Drs who said it was just a blister killing whatever was inside.

My 11 year old was not one to complain but the sleepless nights he was suffering from was bad for both of us.  Hubby ended up taking him to his GP on the Thursday morning but by the time he go back home to me his foot was bad.  I will not put up a picture of what under his foot looked like but this was the top.

Swollen and starting to get very red on top.  Off to emergency and thats when the fun started. 5 days of IV antibiotics, two strong antibiotics for 3 days and surgery to remove all the crap on his foot.
It is not easy keeping an 11 year old boy happy when he cannot walk and is confined to bed with an IV but he did it and after a little scare that the infection was going up his leg. we knocked it on the head with surgery and 2 antibiotics.

Surely this child isn't in hospital lol

Before surgery, the blue line was there to make sure the red didn't spread.

 Morning after surgery, what a long night that was. He didn't go to theatre till 9.30pm and didn't come back to the room till 12.30am.

You do what you can to amuse yourself in hospital.

Playing a new game on the laptop while his brother is watching TV.

We still don't know exactly what caused this but he is on the mend now and we have two weeks off to take it nice and slow so he will be back in full force for the start of school next term.

If you made it thru this post thanks cause it was a very personal post one that we don't normally put on our little blog.

Stay Well
SUZ

I Love a Vintage Find

My oldest sister (Suz) sent Mr. J and Miss E each a birthday present recently and I must say they were very spoilt.  Mr. J hasn't stopped playing with his jungle set.

When Miss E opened her present, I immediately fell in love with these amazing vintage sewing cards.  I LOVE them and all their vintagey goodness!  I don't know how Suz does it, but she always manages to find the best bargains when she's out op shopping.

I know what we'll be doing tomorrow when the weather turns nasty on us again.  (Oh how I can't wait for spring to stay a little longer!)

Happy crafting!
Kat

Fabric Cards

A good friend of mine recently invited us to breakfast for her birthday.  I had her present organised but when I went to get a card out of my card box, I discovered it was empty!  Rather than get out of my pj's to go to the shops, I decided I could make something using a few bits of fabric.  What do you think?

These were so simple, I think I will be making more.

Have you ever made your own cards with fabric?  What designs did you use?

Happy crafting!
Kat

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

My baby turned 2 last week.  I can't believe it!

This beautiful baby girl is now full of personality, knows what she wants and look out world if she gets hungry!  She also has a head full of beautiful blonde curls, who would have thought?

I wasn't planning on a party this year for miss E, but after being invited to all the 4 year old parties in our mums group, she had her mind set on a party of her own.  And not just any party.  She was set on a rainbow party.  Honestly, what 2 year old decides the theme of their party? Mr J certainly didn't do this, perhaps it's a girl thing.

We decided to keep the party small and not too much fuss but I made sure I threw a few rainbow things to keep her happy.  We had strings of rainbow balloons up around the house and a table decked out with some rainbow food.

The rainbow plate of fruit was a must.  Too much sugar for two year olds is not a good thing!

A few sticks painted in rainbow colors to add some height.  These were the most talked about thing at the party.

Rainbow jelly made a huge impact on the table and the m & m's were a hit.  Yes, I did sort them into colors!

You can't have a rainbow party without rainbow fairy bread.

And of course, a rainbow party wouldn't be complete without a rainbow cake.

We have also had a Ben 10 party here recently and there will be a blog post to come on that soon.

Happy Crafting!
Kat

Melting crayons and a star!

We are just finishing our two weeks of winter holidays and have had a lot of fun with all sorts of crafty projects and a few day trips so I thought I would share one of our favorite projects from the holidays. Melted crayons are all over the Internet at the moment so I decided that we should have a go. Both boys did one but since I worked with Mr L we made it a lot bigger. I am also lucky enough to have a heat gun so we used that instead of a hair dryer.

We have brightened up the house with a few packets of crayons and a canvas or two.  Now hubby wants one for work and the dentist has asked for one as well.  At least they are fun and easy to make.

I also took some time out while my parents were staying to finish my star blocks and sew them together.  I am really happy with the results but need to make it a little bigger so will be adding a border on as well.  Maybe a thin red peeper first then a border.

Sorry about all the threads.  I realised I hadn't trimmed them off before I took the photo.

I have so many projects on the go at the moment I am looking forward to getting back to a bit more sewing.  I even have quilt tops finished that I need to sandwich and quilt. I dream of more space to spread out but I am pretty lucky to have a room to myself (well almost).

Handmade Party Favours - 10 Inspiring Ideas

It's party season here at the moment.  My sons friends are all turning 4 and Mr. J's turn is coming up soon.  I have been in kids party planning mode and I'm loving it!

We have decided on the party theme (Ben 10), food and games but I'm yet to decide upon something to put in the party bags at the end of the day.  I know I want something that is handmade and budget friendly but that's where my mind goes blank.  I have done some Internet searching for inspiration and found a few good ideas.  Although I haven't finalized what I am going to make, my creative juices are certainly flowing.

Here are 10 of the handmade favors I found in my travels.

A Little Collage Bag - Lovely Design

Ninja Dolls - Craft Interrupted

Butterfly Snacks - Baked Bree

Noise Makers - Martha Stewart

Pencil Toppers - One Crafty Mumma!

Ribbon Rings - ikat bag

Wands - ikat bag

Monster Bookmarks - Tally's Treasury

Mushroom Pencils - Scissors, Paper, Wok

Beaded Bracelet - Mia's Craft Ideas