It's all about Easter

Phew, things have been busy preparing things for Playgroup today. Being one of the groups co-ordinators has turned into quite a job but not a bad one by any means. Being the week before Easter I had to organise something to do there.

Monday I was busy making these gingerbread cookies. It took a little while as I didn't have an egg shaped cutter so I cut them all out with a paper template & a knife. Tuesday morning saw me trash the kitchen while I iced them. Actually it was quite fun. I had about 54 cookies though so it took a little bit of time, but it got done nice & early. Tuesday afternoon saw the egg shaped cookie cutter arrive when Karen found one for me. (thanks Karen!). So I am set for next Easter now aren't I? (I suppose I do still have time this Easter to use them! ) lol These proved to be very popular though with the big people as well as the kids. Lucky for me I still have quite a few left.

We did have an Easter egg hunt too. The Easter Bunny snuck into the playground while the kids were inside playing. It was cute, as once they were told the Easter Bunny had been their faces lit up! The eggs got divided up between them all into little rabbit holders that I had cut out the other day too.

In case there were kids that couldn't have chocolate or there were some really little ones there that won't eat it yet, I made carrots! I figure the really young ones that can't eat chocolate yet, can at least eat their vegies!

So with Stu's help yesterday we made a bunch of carrots. They are pretty cute & really simple when you think about it! These are filled with mini Cheezels. Most of the chips/crisps here in Aussie aren't quite are orange as I had seen they have in the USA. But maybe that's a good thing when you think of all the colouring that must be in them. Anyway the eggs, cookies & carrots all went down well.

The colouring pages & the Easter Egg craft I took along too went down quite well as there were no colouring pages left & only a couple of eggs to decorate so the bigger kids all got stuck into glueing & decorating so that was nice to see. It is worth putting in a little bit more effort for a special holiday for the kids as usually you know they will enjoy the difference in routine which is hopefully something they will also remember. The mums enjoyed it too from the feedback I got so that was good. It all makes the time & effort worthwhile then I guess. (beside the fact that I enjoy doing it anyway! )

Now let's resume our regular craft programming schedule. lol

(April) You're the Easter Bunny when you smile

Yeah, Yeah, my hearts in a whirl

I love, I love, I love my little calendar girl

Calendar Girl - Neil Sedaka

My Creative Space & Thrifted Finds

Jumping in again on the creative space at Kootoyoo. It's a fun meme I think.
Also adding here to my thrifted finds with Sophie! Check out her blog too for other thrifted finds from the weekend. Very cool to see what treasures people come up with.

I thought I would show off my Golden Hands.



These are right out of the 70's craft books. Very groovy man.

But really they are quite good craft books & a lot of what is in them can be used these days but with current stuff that is a bit more trendy for now! That being said, it doesn't mean that I will actually make anything out of them either. But for $5 from a church fair I had to take them home with me. There are 18 of them. I am presuming that is the complete set. They are in really good condition too. Faded spines are to be expected after all these years but after a dust & a wipe they look pretty darned good to me! Just have to find somewhere to put them now!

I suppose really I should show you the single bed for BJ that I am in the process of staining & varnishing but it stinks too much out there so I won't. Plus it isn't very picturesque.

Or I could show you the things I have been doing getting ready for Easter at Playgroup on Wednesday but I can't show you that yet.

We've got a groovy thing goin' baby

We've got a groovy thing.

Simon & Garfunkel

My Creative Space

I'm playing along with Kirsty at Kootoyoo today & showing you my Creative Space. Rather different & unusual but hey, it's what I've been up to today.

On Sunday we took a plastic bin to the beach & stole some. Yep we stole some beach. Hahaha... & here it is. This is our sand box. BJ doesn't like sand. He doesn't like the feel of it I guess. He doesn't like touching it much still with his hands. He definitely doesn't like standing on it on the beach. This could be since his accident when he burnt his feet & his feet may be a bit sensitive to stuff we don't know. So we thought we would get some beach to play with. He has had it sitting around for a few days now & goes & has a little play in it occasionally. I really like the drift wood, the sponges & rocks though. He likes those too as long as the sponges aren't wet. We did put those in a tub of water today too to play in & they are very different wet as dry.

Lucky I remembered the bucket of pavement chalk in the cupboard. That was fun. BJ thought that was pretty ace to scribble but then of course I had to draw things for him so he kept giving it back to me. So we did a really big flower, which he did get down to sniff. lol Then a guitar one of his favourite things. He did strum it a few times too. Ok, so it is obvious I can't draw but it worked for a 1 year old!

So that's my creative space today, for most of the day. I did get a couple of sets of blocks done inbetween times but it is a slow process. Pavement drawing is much more fun. Now it is starting to rain so it will be all clean for some more tomorrow!

How we love to lie around

Girls with tans of golden brown

The girls on the beach

Are all within reach

Girls on the beach - The Beach Boys

Beautiful Books

Here are 2 lovely books I have just had from the library. Actually I still have A Second Helping here. But they are terrific! The first one, The Thrifty Kitchen is just lovely. It is a large hardcover book. Not only are the recipes lovely but I found all the hints & tips & info included more useful than the rest of it. I must admit I did copy a couple of recipes out but would have loved to copy most of the book.

I think Stuart likes the book as it explained how to make the perfect poached egg. Well I tried it & well it was pretty darned good if you ask me. We have something special for brunch on Sunday's. The other day we had poached eggs, wilted spinach & hollandaisse sauce on toast. It was good. Even the hollandaisse was good. Yes I made that too. Next Sunday if I remember to get some ham I will do Eggs Benedict. My favourite. But the one with the spinach was good too. Can't be straight out of the garden home grown spinach leaves.

The other book is lovely too. If you have check out my review & the book Ladies, A Plate, from ages ago you will know how much I loved that one. Well I didn't think the second one could live up to the first. When do sequels do that? Not often. But this is just as good as the first. Really it is. There is one recipe I will most definitely be trying very soon. I don't know if I will be sitting down to copy out a whole bunch of them. In the meantime they are hanging around my wish list on fishpond waiting for me to be rich! Hahahahaha...

Happy St Patricks Day

There's a Leprechaun in my room. He swats me with a broom.

That's the reason I forget the words of this song.

Well he shows me a four-leaf clover, and before me song is over,

It's buried in a bowl of Lucky Charms.

The Leprechaun Song

Stashbusting with a Granny cushion

I am really trying hard right now to not buy new stuff to craft with. I am trying really hard to use the stuff I have. This week I have done a little of that.

After I finished my granny blanket on Monday I started on some Summer Garden Granny Squares. Lucy was so kind to put the pattern for these on her blog. They are pretty cute & just slightly different from a regular Granny! It didn't take me long to make these squares anyway. This time I also used Lucy's method of joining squares together. I did try this on the blanket last week but it gives a back & front to the piece you are making so I didn't like that for the blanket. Pity as I really like the look of it. It worked nicely for my cushion though. Then, if 2 tutorials of Lucy's weren't enough, I used her idea of the cushion cover too. I had a couple of op shop jumpers in a box. This one was already cut into but I managed to squeeze just enough out of it to make a backing. Could have used a little more but oh well. ( Oh & it isn't cashmere or anything nice like that - just chenille I think. I just can't find cashmere or wool in the op shops yet. Waiting for them to put the winter clothing out!) Then along with a yellow crochet edge & some chains for button holes I added the buttons from mum & Oma's button tins that I raided again. It's not a bad cover for cheap as chips & to add some colour to the house. I love colours! Lots of colour! I think it looks nice & cheery & with the cooler weather coming it may be just what we need for snuggling on cold days.

Now we in blogland just need to thank all the wonderful people out there who also blog & leave behind all these terrific ideas & tutorials for us all to share in. There is so much inspiration out there. Now I just need to get bothered to started something else. I have so many things I want to do I am a bit overwhelmed with choice right now & don't know where to start! But it will be stash busting anyway, whatever I find to do!

There goes my baby

She knows how to Rock'n'Roll

She drives me crazy

She give me hot & cold fever

She leaves me in a cool cool sweat

Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen

Woohoo! My Blanket!

I am a bit happy today as my granny blanket is done! I started this back in November or so. Can't quite remember. But I taught myself how to crochet with these. Some of my early squares are a bit dodgy but hey you can see how I progressed! I just hope the whole thing stays together now! I tried a couple of different methods to sew them together. I really liked one, but it made a front & back & with a blanket I didn't really want that.

It is for BJ really. He knows it is his. I put it on the floor to look at it when I had finished putting the squares together. He sat on & then lay on it. Then hid under it. It was a battle to get it back. He took it back off me & then put it back over on the floor so he could hide again. When I started the border I put it out again. He tried the same this time & then started to pull the thread. Lucky it is crochet & not a worry about unpulled stitches. I'm quite pleased with my first effort at such a thing. It is a bit wrinkled on the edges still. I really should block it. I made up my own edge & maybe it was a bad idea as it may be just a bit too wrinkly looking. I don't know if blocking it will help that. Maybe I won't bother though, BJ doesn't seem to mind. The edge gives it character. It is amazing how different the squares look though once you sew them up. Anyway, I'm happy with it. It's not perfect but it was a nice thing to learn & BJ loves it so I'm happy!

Sunday, Monday, Happy days

Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy days

Thursday, Fridays, Happy Days

Saturday, What a day

Groovin' all week with you.

Happy Days Theme Song

Still here but busy!

Now there's a surprise. If I wasn't busy with a toddler that would be stranger I think.

It's been a funny old week. But I guess I had better get used to it. I have been able to fit in a little crochet & stay tuned in a few days for a cool update on that. Well I think it is cool anyway.

We've been busy in the garden. Lucky for us it is a long weekend though. I don't know if a garden is ever finished with work that needs to be done. We are concentrating on the vegies though as we have finished a lot of the summer ones & are trying to get some planted for winter. We put a few seeds in pots today. BJ & I that is... he got quite into it as you can see. He needed to put a glove on like me for one thing. Never mind that they are mens size so they were huge on me. But here we are putting seeds in. He put seeds in the holes. Well sometimes he put 2 seeds in the holes! lol He really likes to help & he really likes to copy & boy does he pick things up fast. It's so fun doing things like this with him.

Then of course you must water the seeds. Ok, we nearly could have made mud pies but oh well. He had fun & hopefully he will enjoy watching them grow as much as we will! lol

I spent a lot of time today putting the last of the vegies in the freezer. We have done quite well & hopefully we can keep it up. I think we are going to be living on pumpkin soup for the winter as well as potato soup probably though! It should be interesting! Maybe some tomato soup occasionally for some variety!

Hot potato, hot potato

Hot potato, hot potato

Hot potato, hot potato

Potato

Potato, Potato, Potato

The Wiggles