In which I am hoarding toilet rolls...

New veg garden under construction... not very pretty yet!!

Yesterday one of my good friends left me a Facebook message to say that she had saved me two toilet rolls and two ends of celery.  It occurred to me that I have reached a frightening level of thrifting.  I suspect it's a short trip from here to crafting a felted tea cozy from clothes dryer lint. 

In case you're wondering what I'm doing with this miscellanea, I've been making little planting tubes from the toilet rolls for my veggie seedlings.  And did you know you can plant the bottom of a bunch of celery and it grows again?  Well pinterest assures me it will work, so it must be true.  

Gardeners are as a rule such a thrifty bunch.  Take cuttings for example.  I mean seriously you can cut a bit off another plant, bung it in the ground and it grows!!  Who knew?  If only I could do that with my Calvin Klein jacket.

Just a quick disclaimer to say that I'm totally new to this whole gardening caper and though I may occasionally sound as though I know what I'm talking about I can assure you it is just hot air.  The Mr and I have been having intense debates about the best way to get a bumper tomato crop as though we are some kind of experts but the truth is neither of us has the slightest idea.

I guess when I started this blog three years ago I had no idea how to use a camera and could hardly sew… so I'm hoping blogging about the garden is going to spur me into some kind of action.  I'll fake it until I make it so to speak. Wish me luck! 

Retro Minty

I was lucky enough to win a 'Debbie's birthday dress' pattern from Suz at sewpony.  I made one for Minty last night and (for once!) she loves it!

The dress is made with an old vintage sheet I had in my stash. I added a doily collar, partly because I was too lazy to construct a proper fabric one and partly because I was attempting to appeal to Minty's doily fetish (see this previous post).  The button is a sweet little vintage yellow button I picked up at a market when we were in Japan.

The shape of this dress really gives me a Sally Draper vibe so I made Minty a 'Sally-esque' matching headband.  Now I just need to train her up to mix the grown ups G and Ts and we'll be in business! Honestly I think I went a bit too far with the retro styling and the outfit would have benefitted from a bit of reigning in!  Next time I make this pattern I'll probably opt for a more modern fabric to give the vintage shape a bit more edge.

I made a size 4 even though Minty is five and a half, since she is very narrow around the chest.  Since the style is pretty generous in the bodice area this size is fine and even still has room for layering.  Next time I'll probably add a bit of length though, since the size 4 is a bit of a micro-mini on her!

The pattern was quick to sew up and had very clear instructions.  I'm sure I'll be making a few more Debbie dresses for Minty's summer wardrobe!  Thanks Suz!

In which I stick a doily on it...

I made Mint a bubble skirt out of some thrifted (vintage?) fabric.  She loved the fabric but something about the bubble shape offended her aesthetic sensibility.  Lately she's been really butting heads with me about what she will and won't wear.  It's extremely frustrating, since almost all her clothes have recently been deemed unacceptable.  I was on the verge of donating this skirt to the op shop when, as a last ditch attempt at pleasing her, I decided to sew a doily on one of her (most hated grey) shirts.  Suddenly the entire outfit had newfound appeal.  If only all dislike could be solved so easily… Don't like this pumpkin soup?  Don't worry I'll stir a doily through it… Don't want to brush your teeth?  Hang on a minute, I'll just wrap your tooth brush in a doily… Julia Gillard?  Just stick a doily on her.

A rabbit companion...

Here is a little bunny I sewed for a very special little baby girl.  I've been meaning to send her something for some time now but this year seems to have spun by in a blur.  So here is Mabel Rose.  Her introduction letter reads as follows:

Dear Dot,

My name is Mabel Rose.  I love reading Jane Austen novels and drinking restorative cups of camomile tea.  I also enjoy walks in the garden on sunny mornings.  My favourite flower is lavender.  I have a passion for astronomy and love mapping the stars.  As I currently find myself in need of a companion I was hoping I could join you for future adventures.

Yours Sincerely,

Mabel Rose.

I hope she is much loved.

The bunny pattern is from Fiona Dalton's book Hop Skip Jump.  She is made with thrifted plaid suiting, liberty print ears and scarf from some spotty goodness I picked up in Japan.

Halloween Party!

 

Hello strangers!  You may have guessed by my absence that things have been pretty busy around here.  I've been meaning to post here for a while now but The Mr. 'somebody' deleted all my photos from the shared flash card and there was a lengthy recovery process to get them back!  I may or may not have threatened to divorce someone if they didn't find my photos!!

So here is a belated look at the halloween party we had last week.  This is the first year we've really done halloween and it was so much fun!  I love any excuse to decorate the house!

This was my first attempt at pumpkin carving.  Someone should have warned me that it is actually hard work!  I think next year I'll invest in some proper pumpkin carving tools to assist in getting all those hairy bits our of the inside of the pumpkin.  I carved these with a drill and sabre saw.

 

Both the girl's costumes were made from restyled ladies' tops.  We picked up the cute little brooms at the supermarket.

 

This is my bat wall.  I just cut bat silhouettes out of black card and stuck them on the wall with washi tape.  

 

We had lots of scary themed food.  This was witch's hair (squid ink pasta).  There was also slime (zucchini) soup, cheesy maggots (risotto), ghostly meringues, bats blood (black current juice), worms in dirt (lolly worms in crumbled up chocolate cake), severed fingers (mini hot dogs with onion fingernails), plus lots more that I'm having trouble remembering!  Oh and we had some cocktails too!

All the kids made mummy cups.  I hot glued goggly eyes to some plastic cups and let the kids wrap them in white crepe paper.

 

Turi was a scary bear!

Happy (very belated) Halloween!

In which we get a bit of retail therapy...

All the extra work that comes with building a new house is beginning to take it's toll.  I'm tired and cranky and fantasising about taking caffeine intravenously.  I was supposed to take the kids to playgroup this morning but after realising we were going to be hideously late, and with both kids acting as though I was trying to strap explosive devices to their feet rather than simply put on their shoes, I decided we would take a day off.  Honestly I think spending two hours cooped up in a room with 20 or so other kids, when my own kids were already driving me to distraction, was going to make me homicidal.  Instead we got ready at a leisurely pace and I took the kids to lunch and to hang out at the playground.  

Then we all did a spot of thrift shopping.  Op-shopping is about the only kind of shopping I enjoy with the kids nowadays.  Unlike with most shops, kids aren't treated as pariahs and most of the elderly volunteers are actually pleased to see them.  The kids can happily play in the toy section without fear of breaking something (since most of the toys are very well loved already) and I can potter about looking at vintage sheets and doilies.  Everyone is happy!

We got some great loot today and all for a total of under $10.  First up is a fantastic little alphabet puzzle - each letter matches up with a picture beginning with that letter and on the back of the pieces are the upper and lower case letters.  

This cash register was a steal at $2.  It has a fully functioning calculator, beeps when you press the scanning button, has a scale on the top to weigh produce and of course a pop open money drawer.  It's a bit more 'plastic fantastic' than I would usually go for but Turi loves it!

We also got this alphabet pop up book.  It's pretty fragile and probably won't last long with Turi's snatching fingers but for $1 it doesn't really matter. Last but not least, I bought an embroidery hoop (not pictured) for a little kid's project I have planned for later in the week… stay tuned!

bath restoration

Just a sneak peak at my next project.  I picked up this claw foot bath for the bargain price of $200 on ebay.  It's in remarkably good condition with hardly any rust or chips in the enamel.  I can't wait to restore it back to it's original glory.  Anyone want to cast a vote for what colour it should be?  

In which Minty is ill and Turi plays at being an only child...

Minty has some kind of gastro/flu/miscellaneous childhood bug.  I won't get into gory details but let's just say it involves expulsion of bodily fluids.  The poor little soul was exhausted and only made it briefly out of bed this morning to fall asleep on the couch moments later.  On the up side the house was blissfully quiet all morning.

I feel a little guilty about how much Turi and I enjoyed ourselves.  I made a batch of scones and we had a private little devonshire tea together listening to Ella Fitzgerald and building block towers.  Then Turi 'borrowed' Minty's tutu and amused himself by spinning jauntily around the living room.  It was all very clandestine.

As my camera husband is still away on business today's photo is a 'reject' I took on the weekend.  It's a little noisy and the colours are a bit funky but it does capture Turi in one of his favourite spots for contemplation.  I picked up these lurid drawers second hand for $40 a while ago with the intention of revamping them but somehow still haven't found the time.  Since they are laminate I'm not really sure that it's worth the effort and anyway I can't seem to settle on a new colour.

Thrift week...

Here is a little wrap up of my thrift finds for the week…

a terribly tarnished candelabra - so wonderfully over the top it will make an almost ironic addition to our table- can't wait to whip this out at christmas

some fun chinese side plates (I was planning to hide these from the Mr as he does not appreciate my penchant for old crockery!!)

tweed fabric for little winter trousers for Turi and maybe another librarian skirt for the Mint (50 cents)

pillowcases to be made into little skirts and tops (80 cents each)

and some kids books with records - these were free with the amazing op shop jumper I shared with you on Monday

Pop over here to see more thrift finds.

Cable knit goodness...

Amazing thrift find for the week - this hand knit wool jumper for Turi which looks as though it was hardly ever worn.  Only $3, with a couple of free kids books thrown by the kind ladies in the Kooweerup op shop.  I think Turi looks like he's straight from the pages of a knitting pattern!

I'm flying solo this week.  The Mr has gone to Queensland on business… taking my camera with him.  Posting may be a bit sporadic this week as I suspect things may get a little crazy around here.