Little Lamb Cards

Some little Spring lambs! I know, I know - a little late for Easter, but these are fun to make for any little Spring lambs you might know! Yashar and I made these – last minute of course – for his friends from our wonderful Saturday playgroup. Yashar actually really got in to this activity- I think it was because the cotton wool was so tactile and because he knows what sheep are he could make little ‘maa’ noises at them – very cute!

I’m sure you can work out how these was made pretty easily, but I have put it down step-by-step for your easy crafting pleasure! For the non crafty types, please look away!

1. Firstly, while Yashar was having a nap I quickly drew a little lamb and then traced a few of them on to some thick paper (I used watercolour paper). If you would like to make some of these cards and don’t feel like dreaming up the lamb yourself, please feel free to copy my one.

2. Now get the glue stick out! This is a favourite activity of Yashar’s! With some guidance from me he put some glue on each of the lambs’ backs very nicely. Then I had to sneakily tempt him away from the glue stick and give his hands a quick clean so that the cotton wool didn’t stick to his hands instead of the cards.

3. Yashar loves pulling things apart so we then spent some time breaking up the cotton wool.

4. And then I showed Yashar how to put the cotton wool on the lambs’ backs and away he went. For some reason, saying ‘pat-pat-pat’ as we went really gets him into doing this activity.

Yashar also liked ‘patting’ the lambs afterwards hence the slightly bent card in the photos!

The Pebble Vest for Spring

I decided Yashar really needed a little woollen vest for Spring. I found the free pattern for the Pebble Vest at The Thrifty Knitter (via Soule Mama). I really liked this pattern. It was so quick and easy to knit up. I'm a pretty slow knitter and this was complete in less than a week -I just worked on it most evenings while watching a movie or a couple of shows.

The pattern is sized for a baby, but I just used a thicker wool and larger needle size (5mm), added two extra stitches to the front and back (so CO 84 instead of 80) and it worked out perfectly. The finished vest measures 33cm lengthwise and 30cm across.

There is something about the vest that makes Yashar's little round tummy look so cute!

Making a Kusudama

As soon as I saw this on Folding Trees I knew it was my next project! You can find the tutorial on how to make the kusudama here (part 1)and here (part 2).

I used this pretty wrapping paper that you might remember from my little paper hand project. It worked really well for the kusudama because the back of the paper is a darker blue colour which you can see in the centre of each flower.

The tutorial doesn't specify what type of glue to use but you need something fast drying because you need to hold the paper in place until the glue dries. I used superglue, which was great because it dried so quickly but not so great for breathing in fumes :( and then there was the time I stuck my fingers together, um, make that three times. Argh!

In the tutorial beads are used to tie on the bottom. Instead I used some wooden buttons - you can see how I tied them on -just threaded the string through two of the holes and tied a knot above and below each button.

This project took a little while but was perfect for doing on the way to and from my mother-in-law's (much safer than knitting in the car!) and while we were sitting around there on Sunday (because just sitting around doing nothing much tends to drive me slightly insane!).

Notepaper: A download for you

Yesterday morning I made some mini note cards - not too big, not too small. They are about 10cm high and 9cm wide. Just the right amount of space to tell someone you miss them, or you love them or to thank them very much.

I thought you might like to send some little notes too, or leave a list of jobs for your partner (hint, hint!) or put a note in your little one's lunch box. So here is a download for you. They print six to a page. Just click on the link below, click on download and print away!

Click here for the mini notes download.

This is the very first pdf download I am posting - so fingers crossed and let me know if you have any problems.

**edit: reposted now and you should now be able to print without having to deal with setting up an account or anything like that. Yay!**

It don't mean a thing...

...if it ain't got that swing!
I got inspired while at my local coffee place when they were playing a track that sampled this classic jazz piece.

This was the result - some cool little cats playing some swinging tunes on the roof top.

I am having a little trouble getting these pics for the net to look crisp and clear like the actual work (it's all a learning process I guess), but I wanted to give you a peek in the meantime.
What have you all been up to? Making anything at the moment? Spring cleaning? Having fun on the weekend? I would love to hear from you...

Making paper flowers for Spring

OK, so I am crazy in love (with the emphasis on crazy) with this weeks project - paper flowers in blossom branches made using the tutorial from Dozi Design. I knew that I had fallen head over heels when Senol caught me staring lovingly at it. Lol!

This little crafty project would be great to make with kids -it is so easy. It just involves drawing a swirl on some paper, cutting it out and then rolling up the swirl of paper.

Yashar is a little young to be wielding scissors just yet but he had a great time collecting the branches with us. The blossom petals were falling down on us like little snowflakes. It made my heart all tingly.

And Yashar loved being held up in the branches to give the blossom a closer inspection.
After making the flowers I just arranged them on little twiggy bits on the branches with a sneaky bit of blue tac when needed (not often). I think a long thin vase would be great for this but the jug (which I love) was all we had. I used paper that was slightly thicker than standard printer paper and that had a little bit of texture to it which I think this worked well. Once the blossom falls off I will put some smaller paper blossoms closer to the ends of the branches. Hello Spring!

I really enjoyed making this! It's a terrarium - I found the instructions over at SmoothPebble (via Maya*Made).

I bought a jar at the pazar (local market) with what would have to be the most ugly lid known to man, so I quickly covered it up with some linen. Then I used a little Eiffel Tower my sister brought me back from Paris and I cut some clouds out of an old milk container. I thought this would last better than paper because there is so much moisture in the terrarium.


Of course Yashar had lots of fun doing a bit of digging for this project. And then carefully putting the dirt into the jar for about 30 seconds before deciding to tip the rest of the dirt over his head!


I snapped a photo of him just before the 'incident'. I think this is his concentrating face!



I put it all together very late one night - which was lucky because if I wasn't so tired I could have spent hours on it. I am slowly coming to the realisation that I adore all things miniature - especially those totally overpriced miniature designer chairs you can buy in art gallery shops. I had thoughts of little flying birds and city skylines made out of wire...next time?

The search continues...

Not so long ago I told you about the ridiculous amount of hats I have been knitting for Yashar and my search for the ultimate knitted hat.

Along the way I made a hat using this pattern from SouleMama. This hat is really cute and quick to knit but I just couldn't seem to get it to fit right. :( I first made one that was too small and then made this blue one but it always seems to slip off. It kind of looked a little girlish too I think - and we can't have that! If I made it again I would use a thinner wool and it would probably be suited better to someone that didn't want to pull their hat off all the time!

Then I really thought I had found the one. I used the Thorpe/Topper pattern and it was so promising - a hat and scarf in one with lots of ear cover but... I am going to make it again with some modifications. Next time I will make the split for the scarf at the back of the neck a little lower, will make the ear flap parts come in closer around the face, will make the ribbed band around the top of the face a little longer and I think I will make the scarf parts longer. This one is a kind of weird length that means we usually end up tying it in a knot at the back. I will also try to find a nicer yarn next time -definitely something a bit thicker.

Then my mother in law made this and blew all of my hats out of the water! You might have seen this one in a few other photos I have posted here- I especially love the photo of Yashar wearing it in this post. I think this hat is so cute, the cream really suits Yashar and she also made a matching scarf with pompoms on each end.

But I am still continuing the search! Maybe by next winter I will find the ultimate hat??

Exactly!

I discovered this idea on Maya*made and all the instructions are here. Maya has a gorgeous blog with so many ideas ...I'm sure I will be making more of her projects soon! Some flowers were just what we needed - hello Spring! They didn't have any bulbs at our local nursery (wrong time of year I think) so we just grabbed some that had already started to grow and I used some linen I had in my stash to cover the tin and plastic containers we used.


Yashar had so much fun getting some extra dirt for these from the garden today - can't wait for the weather to really warm up. He is going to have so much fun!

And I think he is going to like watching them grow.

Finito!

Quinces are my new favourite fruit. The colour of them cooked and uncooked is gorgeous. And the taste - I like them cooked but my husband likes them raw - he likes the dry fibrous texture - yep, sometimes he's weird like that;)

And I especially like that they remind me of this painting, which I love. There is something about the subject of kitchens and food like fresh fruit and vegetables that appeals to me. Maybe it is something to do with their symbolism - of home life being worthy of our attention, of a warm kitchen, a productive garden, of growth and nature and the natural beauty of a pumpkin or some eggs (subjects in other favourite paintings of mine).


I have been meaning to make this recipe for a long time. Sorry I'm not sure where it is from - I have had it written down in my recipe book for so long now - but it seems like a basic jam recipe I think.

Quince Preserve:
4 quinces (about 1 kg total)
5 cups sugar
5 cups water
3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1. Bring quinces, half a cup of sugar and water to the boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 1.5 hours. Put quinces on a plate to cool and reserve cooking liquid.

2. Coarsely chop quinces, and return to pot (including seeds, cores and skins). Bring to a boil. Slowly stir in remaining sugar and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until mixture is thick and deep orange (about 25 minutes). Put through a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids. Let cool.

3. Transfer to airtight containers - refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Changes: Next time I make this , when the quinces are cool and I am chopping them (step 2) I plan to remove the seeds so that when it comes to putting it through a sieve the left over solids are ready to eat - I tried a little of them from this batch and they were so delicious and would be perfect with ice-cream or on muesli. Such a waste not to use them.

The preserve was so delicious. It didn't totally set but is beautiful and thick - for my first attempt I was very happy. If you have any jam making secrets let me know.

Today I had some on toast with parmesan cheese and we had some with yoghurt for dessert. So good! Quince and cheese are made for each other.

Making Mondays: His little hand

I love this - it was so quick and easy, looks gorgeous framed and is a special little Yashar keepsake. I came up with the idea when Yashar and I were drawing and I was tracing around our hands.

All you need to do is trace the little one's hand on the back of some wrapping paper (some nice fabric would also look great). Ok, this was actually a little harder than it sounds - Yashar does not keep still for more than 2 seconds!

Then cut the hand shape out and glue it on some nice textured paper (I used some thick water colour paper). I also wrote Yashar's name and the date underneath.

I put it in a plain box frame from Ikea and put it on some shelves where we keep some of Yashar's books and toys. I think it would be so nice to do one with a few hands lined up in it - either as he grows or with 'paper hands' from his cousins. Yashar is growing so quickly, it will be so good to have this record of his little hands. I hope you make this one too!

p.s. thanks for the new name!

pps. I have now moved to a new blog address: www.thelightgarden.blogspot.com
I hope you come over for a visit!