Spring Doily Coasters

I made these quickly on a whim on the first day of Spring in an effort to spruce up my online shop. I think it should have a colour theme to match the season!

four doily coasters in colours of Spring

four Spring doily coasters in lemon, lime, sky and pink

I didn't use a pattern although I was inspired by a picture I saw on pinterest of an old doily pattern from 1893. I didn't copy the pattern though, I just did a variation of it. I used the Australian made cotton I bought from Bendigo months and months ago, and also some pink Australian made cotton my mum gave me. I really like the colours and help gave me a lift to celebrate the new season. I think I used a 3.5mm hook for these.

afternoon tea, anyone?

No Cost Craft Activity for a Toddler

I have two aims for my son's home art education, the first is that it should be no to low cost, and the second is that projects will be useful in some way. Here is another no cost craft activity that resulted in a decorated box for Father's Day, this is a very good educational activity for this age group.

20 month old Thomas pastes recycled tissue paper to decorate a box

This week, Thomas and I pasted scraps of tissue paper on a cardboard box to decorate it for Father's Day. I save a lot of wrapping paper but most of it is too ripped to use again, so this tissue paper got torn up and pasted on. Thomas loved the feeling of the home-made paste, smearing it with his fingers onto the box, and also using his brush to paint the paste onto the box. I helped him rip up the tissue paper which he found difficult, but eventually he enjoyed slapping the pieces of tissue on top of the paste. This was a really worthwhile activity for him to do, its a great early learning experience (and I used to be an early childhood teacher long ago, so I would know!)

home-made paste made from flour, sugar and water cooked on a stove

Even the glue didn't cost me more than a 1/3 cup of flour, because I made my own. This was a simple clag type of glue made from flour, sugar and water, its perfect for pasting paper onto paper or cardboard. I'm not sure why the sugar is needed and I was out of sugar that day, so I just put in a tablespoon of brown sugar instead, and it turned out just fine.

toddler paintings make useful gift wrap

So far, that's two craft activities that have resulted in something useful. The first art activity I blogged about the other week resulted in some painted gift wrap for Father's Day. There's not a wasted piece of art and craft around here! There are so many things my son and I can do that are fun, productive and cheap - watch this space!

Variegated Yarn made from Felted Scraps

After last week when I tried my first felted join, I then wondered if it would be worth while to make variegated yarn from felted scraps. I have been keeping all of my wool scraps to felt at some time in future, so I decided to start trying it out to see if it was worth the effort.

scraps of pure wool no shorter than 3 inches

At first, I sorted my scraps of pure wool. I decided I would try some of the luxury 8 ply from Bendigo, pieces shorter than 3 inches were obviously going to be too fiddly, so I started with ones from that size up. It was quite time consuming, so the mix of colours should make the extra effort worth while. The pink, green and white was coming up quite nicely. I then spun it using the drop spindle my father-in-law made for me, because some of the ply were unravelling when I was felting the pieces together.

hand-spun felted variegated yarn made from wool scraps

I was short on time, so I only tried a small length of variegated felted yarn, just enough to make a 5 petal flower. I really should have just done a few colours, like white, pink and green, and not the one piece of purple, because one petal is purple while the other four are pink. I then gave the flower an extra felting treatment, to see if it helped the finish. I think when felting flowers in future I'll need to be more vigorous, so will probably pop them into the washing machine.

5 petal flower made with variegated felted yarn

variegated flower after extra felting

There was a small pile of tiny single ply scraps left over from making the felted yarn. These were the 1 inch lengths that I cut to thin the wool to make a place to join. I gave making a pair of tiny felted beads a go, they required a bit of elbow grease and still need more work, but I now have the general idea. I hope my mum can help make them  into a pair of earrings.

tiny 1 inch scraps of wool left over from making felted joins

I just love how I can make things from the tiny scraps of wool left over from other work. This is yet another reason why I like working with this natural fibre. It's more expensive than acrylic, but not a single strand is wasted!

a pair of tiny felted beads to make into earrings

Red & Blue Ipad Bag

Here is a red and blue drawstring bag I made for our Andriod, which is a cheaper version of an ipad, but quite a satisfactory subsitute.

simple red and blue striped drawstring bag for an ipad

When we went to Stanthorpe recently, we realised we didn't have anything to carry our android in, so I started making this little bag on the way out there, which is a 2.5 hour drive. I used this opportunity to practice on changing the colours, which I have always been unhappy with. Even with this new method I tried, you can still see where the colours change.

This time I tried hiding the start chain behind the last stitch of the round, which is then sl st into the 3rd stitch of the round, this totally covers that starting chain. You have to push the last 2 stitches around an extra piece of yarn which makes them a little bigger than the others, so you can still see the starting place. The only other way to do it is cut the yarn and sew in each and every colour change with a yarn needle, but that method still shows. I guess I'm just too much of a perfectionist! I'm now considering trying felting as a way to hide the starts, but that will only work when I use wool, not like this bag, which is made from acrylic.

The Hobby Horse Pa Murphy made

And here is the hobby horse Pa Murphy made for Thomas, isn't it great? Thomas is just the right age to appreciate this, he loved it straight away. He's very lucky to have a crafty grandfather who can make him really cool things!

the hobby horse Pa Murphy made

Other things Pa Murphy made for us are the wooden blocks and toy cars, and the drop spindle I posted about yesterday. Thanks, grandpa!

a cosy scene by the fire

The Drop Spindle Pa Murphy made

When we recently went to Stanthorpe to visit my husband's father Brian and his wife, this hand-made drop spindle was waiting for me!

home-made drop spindle by Pa Murphy

I'm very keen to learn how to spin my own fibre, I've tried spinning plarn, which is made from recycled plastic bags. I had a go making some plarn while still there so we could see how well it worked. We then shortened the dowel and put a notch in the round weight so the yarn can be secured as you spin. It worked quite well then, and I'm really looking forward to doing some more spinning. This is hopefully what I'll use if our attempt at growing potted cotton is successful.

here is Pa Murphy in the garden wearing the green beanie I made for him

Brian loves gardening, and he needed a beanie to wear when he was out in the cold. This green gardening beanie I made for his birthday was perfect! I followed the divine hat pattern which is available free from Rheatheylia.

Best 2nd Anniversary Present Ever

I am sooo excited about this present David has given me early for our 2nd wedding anniversary! The traditional gift to give for the 2nd wedding anniversary is cotton, and last night I was talking about how I needed some cotton seeds that I could grow organically.

the best present ever arrived in the mail and cost less than $5

David got a weird look on his face, went to the car to get a package he had to sign for from the post office that afternoon. He decided he should give me it early in case I started looking for seeds myself! These Upland cotton seeds are the most thoughtful present I could get from my husband! I was so impressed tears came to my eyes and my skin got goose pimples! And, it only cost $3.50. I'm easy pleased, aren't I?

fluffy Upland cotton seeds I will try and grow organically in pots

I can't wait to plant these, we will do more research but it sounds like we could have a crop in 6 months, even if we plant them into pots! The reason I was thinking about growing cotton is because we are reconsidering our decision to be renters. Our rent is going up in the new year, and there are some very cheap houses for sale near where his factory is moving to, so hopefully there will be more to say on this in the next few months. We shall see ...

Grey Mohair Cable Beanie

I bought 2 balls of 12 ply Australian mohair wool blend by Cleckheaton on impulse and thought I would make a beanie. This cabled design is the result, which we wore recently on a winter holiday.

David models the grey mohair cabled beanie

We took it with us to Stanthorpe when we went there to visit my husband's father and his wife. It's a lovely thick beanie that's very warm, but the mohair is a little scratchy on the forehead skin. I will wash it and see if that makes a difference.

Thomas and David in Stanthorpe this winter

For this pattern I used a 7mm hook because I read the label without my glasses. When I checked later it actually recommends a 5.5mm hook! But I had already started so went with this chunky look. This chunky cabled pattern started with a round of 10 dc (9 dc + 3 ch), then increased for 5 rounds on the crown. The pattern down the sides is 2 ch (fpdc, dc, sk 1 fptr, back 1 fptr, dc) repeated. For the brim I switched to a 6mm hook and just did rounds of sc. Perfect for a winter beanie!

Toddler's Comfort Pillow with Slip

I've been meaning to do this project for a while, I'm hoping it will help Thomas with his sleeping. But finding an opportunity to drag out the sewing machine when one's major task is to care for said toddler is not an easy task!

toddler comfort pillowslip with bubble minky fleece and flannel for a nice soft texture

I bought the material weeks ago, but only got to make it last Tuesday when Thomas was having a fun day at the day care centre, which we call "Playcare" or "Playschool"! First I made the cover for the actual pillow using a scrap of bright material my friend Hazel gave to me, which was perfect for the job.

a bright cotton sea-theme fabric was perfect for the cushion

When it came to the slip, I realised the stretchy material of the green bubble fleece would not be easy to sew, I had to plan how it would fit with the flannel so it wouldn't stretch. I made up the slip, but it turned out wonky. Oh well, it will still do the job! I made sure the cushion was going to fit inside the slip before stuffing it with chunks of old pillow, then I sealed it up.

In the end, the slip measures 22 x 11 inches, or 56 cm x 28.5 cm (thanks to grandma's tape measure!). I had a pillow a similar size and shape when I was small. I remember I was so attached to it, it was very hard for me to let it go. I hope this pillow will bring comfort to my son as he grows a little bigger and learns to sleep better. And hopefully not for too much longer in our big bed with his mummy and daddy!

My Grandmother's Tape Measure

This will seem like a very mundane thing, but since my mother gave me my grandmother's old tape measure, I've been really enjoying how much more sensible this tool is made compared to others.

my grandmother's tape measure has both centimetres and inches going in the same direction

This one not only has inches as well as centimetres, but it has both going the same way. Nothing else in my house does this, not even my tool shed tape measure. One ruler I have which is my favourite because it also is transparent, that has inches, but they go in opposite directions. If I want to know inches I have to turn the ruler around. My grandmother's tape measure is the best because straight away I can see the conversion to inches.

Is this a case of "simple things amuse simple minds"? Well no, I just like things that are made properly and do the job you need them to do. I wish more things were like my grandmother's tape measure ...