Cutie Booties:)

I decided today that I needed to use up some of the annoying bits of fabric you end up with after making big things! So I decided to have a look in some of my pattern books to find something super cute to make with all the bits and pieces...
And I made these!
I have decided that although i do enjoy this pattern and it was very easy to make, I need to redesign it... It is not how I want it.. I think I can make it better. I am going to take it to my sisters and get her to roadtest it... And then I am going to make it better.

Pattern making here I come!! hehe


I still like them though... I added the button. The original pattern had velcro... button may be a bad idea... I have limited experience with wiggly baby feet... road test will decide:)

New felt foods!

I really like my new camera:) And I like to make felt food... and the combination of these two things is quite exciting!
Check these out!:)


I like the tortellini... i won't lie. its super cute:)

Hmmm not my style.

It's a birdcage and its a handbag... it's so you can feel close to your bird. When out and about...

What about this one?

This lovely fashion helps you keep your small rodents closer... in your cable knits! hehe
Suki wouldn't fit. She wouldn't be impressed if i tried to encase her in the cables on my knits...

Pics from here xx.

YAY! New things!

Yay! New kindle clutches! I love my kindle... I love my kindle clutch... I also love using up my fabric stash, I feel like it makes my craft room a little bit neater... hehe

All are available here at my etsy store... although you probably guessed that right?:)

Spring.. where have you gone?

My mistake was that I got myself all excited when my hyacinth came out... I thought it was time... I thought the weather would be getting nicer... I was SEVERLY mistaken. It is still cold and yucky. Go away winter you are cold and make too much washing.

You can't tell me it's not the cutest thing in the world...

This is my Suki-La. When she was a baby... 8 weeks. How could you not fall in love with her?? hehe Check out how tiny she was!! She had to be held in a towel.. she didn't have erm.. great bladder control - she was a teeny baby!
Now she is coming up to 4 years old!

My kitchen has handles!

Check out mah handles! hehe I attached them:) They are GRIP handles from ikea and at a sweet $5 a pair how can you go wrong??
I picked them because they would not only be very neutral and simple but also because you can't really stuff up their installation... like i could with a handle on the front... I would probably make them all angley.. and not in a cool way...

With the grip handles I attached them using the width of a piece of sticky tape as my measurey guide, I then used my electric drill to put in some holes, using the actual handle as a guide and then screwed in the real screws... took me all of 10 minutes to do all 12 handles! yay! and so technical with my sticky tape... hehe

The new kitchen! Wellll almost...

My first before and during pics from our ghetto! Its not finished but close enough to give you a sneak peek:) here we go....

These pics show the kitchen as we walked in after the tenant of 7 years left! It needed a mega clean! Cigarette smoke stained ceiling, ingrained mould, lovely peely lino tiles and stiff with grease and oil curtains! Of course a lot of this went that night with some hard cleaning and curtain removal...

More recently the lino tiles were pulled up and replaced with some neutral bunnings tiles installed by lovely sister in law and instructional father in law! She now has a new skill... she doesn't know yet but she is going to teach me how to tile the laundry and toilet... hi Luey! Wanna play tiles??:) hehe Might be another pizza in it? hehe


The cabinets were also removed and yesterday we installed these new ones from the lagan IKEA range. Super bargain at half the cost of their more advertised Faktum range. Since we were going for white anyways to maximise the amount of light in a fairly dark room.... They were pretty easy to install, except when we hit the 60 year old hardwood frame... Can you see our makeshift loungeroom kitchen in the background? Convenient right?


Then this is tonight! Currently no handles... that is a job for tomorrow! And no bench tops.. that is a job for the professionals! Luckily we got them from the same IKEA range for a mega bargain.
The tiles will be padded out with similar tiles in the missing spaces and then all painted to match up. I also need to do a bit of a touch up on the paint job to fix up all the bits that are now uncovered and bright yellow...

But even though it is unfinished we are still super excited to put all our stuff in the clean, fresh cupboards and have a oven that doesn't turn off mid-cooking!

All up this renovation has cost us approximately $1500 and a large amount of hardwork! Yay for bargain renovations to fix up the rental! YAY!

Um excuse me...

But that is my pillow... And although you are a cute 2kg bunny and I am 6 foot 2 giant I would still like a little bit of pillow... Or even bed for that matter.. The general convention is parallel sleeping not at a 90 degree angle...
You can get away with it coz you are just so cute.

New Kitch!

This is what we moved in to this house with.... OBVIOUSLY in need of soooooo much work... not only in the cleaning stakes.. also the cupboard door stakes!! See that bottle of bleach? It got used... On the kitchen... still not clean.
Luckily the kitchen is now COMPLETELY gone! And today the floors are tiled (thanks Luey and Ron!) and the cupboards and oven are all ready to go in! YAY! Today! YAY! Of course it won't be finished today... Don't get too excited... But it will be a lot closer than this! hehe

Of course the weird ugly oil and filth coated curtain went away straight after this picture...

It's nearly Spring!

I hate winter... it is cold and dreary and generally yucky! But I can see the end! At my work new babies are starting too be born! Look at this goat cutey:) I love them. And it makes me so excited! Because it means Spring is coming! And Spring comes with the promise of Summer! Holidays... warm weather... shiney days... the beach! YAY!

(I also like to cuddle the new animals... )


Can't wait:) xx

More delicious ... felt food?

It's soooo fun to make!



Perfect for a tea pary or .... sushi fix? hehe:)

My first ever apartment....

The first time I moved out of home I moved internationally... This is our first ever apartment in Osaka:) Actually Uehonmachi... 6 floors up in the elevator with a wind-up shower. See those gorgerous shoji screens behind the bed? Cute huh? Until the hallway light on the other side of them is on 24/7. And the guy next door? He enjoyed techno. Loud techno...
Still I liked it:) I like shoji screens and tatami....

I have achieved a dream...

And that dream is to have my laundry powder in a glass jar... simple things...

(eclectic laundry room design by housetohome.co.uk)

Cup of sugar?

2 cups actually...

Making these home made oreos from Smitten Kitchen... of course I don't have enough sugar for the insides... guess I will be at the shops tomorrow!

Heres the recipe, may be you can make it... may be you have all the ingredients!

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (135gm) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening (copha)
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F (190°C).
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

I am only just finishing step 3.... step 4 and 5 tomorrow!

Make sure you watch the time... just burnt the second batch!

I like it best!

But I'm not sure Al would like bunk beds or my birdhouse/birdcage obsession getting this exciting...:)

Image from here. xx