*e*

i love...

summertime

having my husband home

and

this

photo...

ivy's craft week - prairie girl

do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong era? ivy does. she deeply wishes that she was living "in the olden days"  - ie little house on the prairie times. obsessed with the ingalls family, anne of green gables, emily of new moon etc, she even refused to wear a bathing suit and instead swam in a dress all week at the lake, just because there were no bathing suits "in the olden days"!

because it was her craft week, and because i am just so kind (ha!), i agreed to sew the  prairie pinafore and bonnet she was so desparate for. we already had a thrifted dress (phew! banjo doesn't nap for that long!), so off we went to the fabric store one morning. we found the perfect pattern and she knew exactly what fabric she wanted and rejected my suggestions as they were too bright and, you guessed it..."not old fashioned-y enough". the pinafore was easy enough, i made it from inexpensive calico and the pattern wasn't so scary. but the bonnet - eeeK! just looking at the pattern made my head spin - i am not a pattern follower...luckily my mum was still awake and on video chat. she talked me off the ledge and helped me through each step. yay for intergenerational-international sewing lessons! oh and wasn't *i* the proud one once the bonnet was finished?! happy squeals all round.
theres been no swimming in it yet - but lots of running and frolicing and i suspect wonderful imagining going on in this outfit...


how i love this funny prairie girl of mine!

ivy's craft week - spinning

while in town last week, we couldn't resist a peek in the knitting shop. ivy loves collecting 'bits' of wool from the farms and has been talking about spinning. i thought we would have a look at the drop-spindles and figure out how to make our own...but then the sweet old lady in the shop gave us a (very, ahem!) long demonstration on how to use the spindle...and, well...it was only $9.95 and would i really go to the hardware shop, get all the wood, come home, use the drill and make one? no! so we bought it right then and there (but you could make one easily, i found instructions here).

she got busy right away with some wool roving from my felting stash. it is fun to watch it turn into yarn so quickly!

before we knew it, she had her own little ball of wool.

the dying part we sort of guessed, and it worked out beautifully! after gently dipping the wool into cold water, ivy sprinkled a packet of kool aid (bubblegum flavour i think!) and let the wool soak up the colour.

then hung it on a tree outside to dry. all the colour ran to the bottom and looked so pretty!

there was a long afternoon of waiting for it to dry...and then hoorah! she wound it up in to a ball and scurried off to begin knitting...

i overheard plans for this little pink ball to become a tiny purse for her sister (*heart swoon*). she couldn't be more pleased with the whole process, and hopes to get her own spinning wheel when she is a grown-up. "as long as they don't make them electric by then. because i like wooden things."

nicole, are you so proud?!! oh i am!

ivy's craft week - earth warrior pouch

i like to think of my ivy as a little earth warrior - she is always out to nurture and protect the environment - afraid of no bug or creature (me? terrified!), fearless of heights she scales tall trees and leaps off rocks, she finds the beauty and magic in every little nook and cranny and always runs off the beaten track for adventure.

she's pretty much the coolest girl i've ever known :)

since getting a pocket knife for her birthday, she carries it with her everywhere, usually pinned to her pants along with a handkerchief and string (you never know when you might need them) with a big safety pin. i suggested we make a little pouch for her goodies and she came up with an immediate vision...which i helped her with...even though i kind of had my own (separate) vision for it, i am SO GLAD i just followed through with hers...because it is so very her, and so very perfect!

wanna make one? here's what we did:

*sketch and cut a little pattern from paper, deciding on the right size and shape for your warrior needs!

*cut a front and a back for the pouch. the back piece we cut an extra inch taller, so it could fold over and make a flap. a sleeve from an old brown tshirt was the perfect fabric, and nice and easy using the sleeve hem for the pouch hem! no hemmming = happy mumma.

see?

an emblem of some sort is a must for all warriors. ivy wanted and ivy leaf (of course). i hoped my wonky leaf shape would turn out ok...we made a pattern then cut from another tshirt scrap.
*emblem sewn on. check!
*now line the front and back pieces up, and sew with a close-together zig zag stitch.more tshirt scraps! lucky my we have piles of those lying around - however would we craft otherwise?!! long strips were cut...

and then braided to make two long ties.

*ziggy-zag those ties to the back of the pouch, one on each side (and sew the loose ends closed while you're at it).

*add a button closure to the flap to finish! (coconut shell button a happy find at joanns)

put on your pouch and off you go - hands free action wherever you go...with your essentials nice and close!

ivy has worn the pouch every.single.day since we made it and can i tell you how much this little earth-pixie-warrior makes me smile with her adorable style? A LOT :)

ivy's craft week - dreamcatchers

last week while banjo was napping, i indulged ivy's crafting desires on a morning basis. oh, it felt so lovely! (laying on a quilt in the backyard crafting is so much better than house cleaning) i'm sad at how busy life feels so often, and how with three little people i so rarely sit and do simple crafts like this anymore - like ivy and i used to do all the time when it was just us.

she has been wanting to make a dreamcatcher for such a long time, so after some scurrying around the yard for twigs, and a quick hunt for a video tutorial for the string tying bit, we were all ready!

supplies used:

twigs, wire, wire cutter, scissors, embroidery thread (not pictured, we originally tried with dental floss as suggested in the above video, but ivy didn't like the plastic-y look. the thread worked fine and looked much nicer!), beads and feathers.

*first step - gather and tie twigs with wire to form a 'circle' (we are not perfectionists here!). kind of like a skinny wreath. mumma may have to assist with this bit.

nice circle!

*watch the video linked above and you will go "ah ha!" like we did as we saw how to loop/tie the string to create the pretty dreamcatcher web.

*final step - adorn with beads, feathers or dried flowers. we tied and tucked them into our loops.

*help your little sister make one too, then hang in bedroom to catch all your dreams!

stay tuned all week for more of ivy's crafting adventures...

i love summer, but...

i'm so tired!

with mick away for the month, friends coming and going, swimming, swimming, more swimming, farm visits, girls fighting, neverending snacks to prepare, banjo and his mischief making, family crafting and staying outside for as many hours as possible...the life is drained from me by the time i tuck my sweaty little people into bed at night! (well, to be truthful it's more like by 2pm)

i am marvelling at the richness and intensity of this summer season.

and sleeping like a log!

regular blogging to return one of these days. when my children become less demanding - so 10-15 years from now?!!

(photo by ivy)

round and round the garden...

my little earth lovers

never before have i been so, so appreciative to spend time outdoors! we've always been nature-loving-fools but knowing we can't take good weather for granted makes us frolic in the beauty even more. we have come full circle now in experiencing all four seasons here - and um, wow, what an experience!

the girls and i spent a magical afternoon at the creek, soaking up the silence and shade, imagining the fairies coming out for parties at night. it was such a lovely time spent together...and due to the absence of a certain mischievous boy - very relaxing!
there was a lot of paddling, sliding down rocks in their undies, building fairy houses and rock towers.

then, as we walked downstream there were dramatic cries of "POOR mutha URth!" (which, i might add - i hear every time i swoosh a bug away)  as we found tons of rubbish strewn in the creekside. YUCK! we fetched 2 plastic bags and quickly filled them up...declaring it 'a gift to mother earth and her friends'!
the girls did all the work themselves (while i 'supervised' to make sure they didn't pick up anything dodgy or dangerous) and quite eagerly too - unlike if they were doing any such chore at home ;)

note to self, take rubbish bags wherever we go! it's a teeny something we can do in return for our dear mother earth.

would you and your little people like to give a gift to 'mutha urth' this week too? email me a photo of you & your full rubbish bags and i will post them all proudly here at the end of next week...and if you include your address we will send you a handmade card too!

i know, i know! where have i been?

sorry for abandoning you folks! we've had a busy few weeks, and with summer craziness (read - i never get a moment to myself), i've fallen to the blogging wayside. there's lots to catch up on - we've had some visits with old friends, swervin' mervyn popped back in town for a week and my laundry pile reached record heights!

this weekend dad, the girls and i hit the road for windham, ny where there was a world cup mountainbike race. my brother sam was supposed to be there but injured himself and had to have surgery back in perth (what a bummer)...as much as i wanted to see my bro...i also wanted to see my bff bina! it was so great to catch up and cheer her on as she flew down the hill in all her pink glory!

we love us some sabrina. can't wait till the end of the race season when she comes to stay with us for 2 weeks!

(i couldn't resist snapping a shot of this aussie spectator - check out the wifebeater, stubbies and thongs, classic!!)