Kids making

Today the littlest love and I went for a walk to collect some of the last Autumn leaves. Despite the gorgeous sunny days we are having, the winter chill has hit and the trees are almost bare.

We had a lovely time crunching in the brown, dried up leaves. We chatted about the shapes, sizes, colours and patterns. Lulu made some pretty leaf rubbings using oil pastels and then added some vibrant Autumn colour using some water paint (food dye with a few drops of water).

Next up was an easy peasy collage. I cut a big piece of clear contact and peeled off the backing.  Miss 3 arranged the leaves ever so carefully on the sticky side. I love this kind of collage...it's quick, it's easy for little hands, no glue means no mess and it makes a pretty piece of window art.

And finally, some snaps that were taken during a little Autumn getaway in our caravan recently.

Are you ready for Winter?
Has the cold weather arrived at your place yet or are you still enjoying the Autumn warmth?

Thrifted

Running a bit late with my op shop show and tell...

I popped into Vinnies after school drop off, as you do and spotted this piece. 

My brain started ticking. I was thinking terrarium among other things. 

Actually, I spotted the top and when I went to pay my $1.00 the gentlemen mentioned the bottom 'was round here somewhere'. He fished about and presented me with the base. I happily paid my $2.00!

Oh the possibilities are endless!

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Any lovely ideas???

Did you have any luck at the oppies this week?

Linking in with Flea Market Finds

Making lately

A little floral skirt for a sweet little friend of Lulu's.

Some pretty gift tags...so happy to be cutting into a badly damaged tablecloth from the oppy.

Upcycled envelopes. Love making these.
I think there might be some therapy in all the cutting, folding and sticking.

Banana bread, baked weekly at our place. Lasts no more than a couple of days.

Talin's crowns. With all my heart I believe every thought, wish, prayer, facebook message, dollar, crown counts. It does! It all counts and whatever you can do to show some support to little Talin and his family counts.

Have a wonderful week!

Talin's Crowns

If you are sewer/sewist (and you don't have to be a super dooper good one) and think you can spare a little time...
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read Stacey's plea for help.
You would helping one gorgeous little boy celebrate his birthday in style.

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Thrifting and making

Some beautiful fabrics were found recently. I adore them both and there is a couple of metres plus of each.

Some pretty laces which will soon be making their way into some sweet packs for Little Bits of Pretty.

And a little show and tell of some recent sewing from some previous thrifted treasures. I made this skirt for the littlest love. With the cooler weather here now, she needed something a bit snugglier. The fabric was thrifted last year sometime, for a dollar or two. I made some binding for the hem from a pretty vintage floral sheet. Lulu wasn't too keen telling me 'I donnnnnn't like it'. The addition of a little doily pocket soon won her over. Phew.

 

I think it will be very cute with some tights and boots and a little knit on top. I am so happy to have made something from my huge stash of thrifted fabrics. 

Another thrifty revamp was this op shopped frame. The print was waterstained and so after removing it, I gave it a pretty coat of teal paint and popped in a favourite teatowel. The teatowel was a freebie from here. Unfortunately I had to snip some off the top and bottom to fit the frame. The frame was $3.00, I had a piece of glass cut which cost $13.00 but still a good price for such a large frame, I think.Now to hang it!

I hope you've had some success at the oppies lately too.

For more thrifted treasures, pop over here.

 

This week

We headed to Sydney for our big girls quarterly health check at Cystic Fibrosis Clinic.
Being almost a 5 hour drive, I treated myself to the new issue of Inside Out to read on the way. I slept for the first half of the trip and after that it was too dark for magazine reading.

Our boy lost his first tooth. Apparently, he was eating his muesli bar at recess and 'thought it was oats and spat it out on the ground'...never to be seen again! He told us he was going to dream happy dreams so that he would smile while he was asleep and the tooth fairy would see the space and know he lost his tooth (as suggested by Lola of Charlie and Lola fame)

My car wouldn't start. Thank you Pa for doing the school run-my dad is the best. Truly! Thank you Grandy for putting in a new battery. My father in law is the best. Truly!

My orchids look like this! How lucky am I? Look at their happy faces.

I mopped the floorboards! They looked fabulous and I wondered why I didn't mop them more often. Well they looked fabulous for about 5 hours. Then I saw all the crumbs and pencil shavings and family life and remembered why I don't do them more often ;)

I have eaten way more than my share of Peanut Butter Cups.

The littlest love and I went for a drive to the country oppies and picked up a few treasures...
These linens amongst other things.

The Mr had a day out at the races. I skipped it this year. The thought of dressing up, organising the little loves to be looked after and then getting up to them the next morning was put in the too hard basket. This morning we donned our winter woolies and headed to the soccer field at 8.30am. The Mr had to suck it up despite feeling the aftermath of said races. One child refused to wear her gorgeous crocheted beanie because it was 'toooo itchy' and the other complained about being cold and bored and hungry.

And this little boy...well he ran around happy and smiling.
He has certainly grown in confidence this past year.

His favourite bit though...shaking hands at the end.

Have you had a happy week? A busy week?
I still haven't read my Inside Out mag. Maybe tonight.