"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life."
- Rachel Carson
27 February 2010
Silvery grey
"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life."
- Rachel Carson
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Noah's invitation
Noah turns 5 next month and he'll be having a small party (5 guests). I made these simple invitations for him to give out - all done in Photoshop and I just printed them on plain white cardstock.
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26 February 2010
Fun facts at lunchtime
I'm not the best mother in the world - in fact, I don't think anyone is. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. But occasionally I have flashes of brilliance that make my children happy and make me feel like a good mom - this is one of them. (Notice how I don't blog about yelling at my kids, hmmmm?)
Daniel is our little "geek". He is sensitive and smart, loves reading, drawing and is interested in nature and creatures and facts. He adores museums and enjoys documentaries. His favourite thing about Cheese Strings (which I seldom buy) is that each one has an interesting fact on the wrapper. So I thought he'd love to have a little factoid in his lunch box each day.
Before the school year started I looked up some facts on the internet, printed them out on coloured paper and cut them up. They now sit in the kitchen cabinet in this little Ikea plastic tub ...
... with some tape:
Each morning when I make the kids' lunches I tape one of the facts inside the lid of Daniel's lunch box:
Here is today's fact:
He loves them! And he loves sharing them with his friends at school too. And I love that he's learning a little something (and so am I, when I make his lunch). And other than the time it took to print and cut them, which I did while watching a show on the internet, it doesn't take any extra time to do this for him.
Daniel is our little "geek". He is sensitive and smart, loves reading, drawing and is interested in nature and creatures and facts. He adores museums and enjoys documentaries. His favourite thing about Cheese Strings (which I seldom buy) is that each one has an interesting fact on the wrapper. So I thought he'd love to have a little factoid in his lunch box each day.
Before the school year started I looked up some facts on the internet, printed them out on coloured paper and cut them up. They now sit in the kitchen cabinet in this little Ikea plastic tub ...
... with some tape:
Each morning when I make the kids' lunches I tape one of the facts inside the lid of Daniel's lunch box:
Here is today's fact:
He loves them! And he loves sharing them with his friends at school too. And I love that he's learning a little something (and so am I, when I make his lunch). And other than the time it took to print and cut them, which I did while watching a show on the internet, it doesn't take any extra time to do this for him.
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Making jewellery
What fun to turn some beads I got off Freecycle and some jump rings and eye pins ...
... into a necklace that I love. My first attempt at making this kind of jewellery and I'm pretty pleased with it!
I also made a first attempt at stamped jewellery - this is for a friend who has two daughters and a son. I can see my errors (I really need a bench block but don't want to spend the money) but I hope she likes it anyway. I also like that it kinda hints at dog-tag since her husband is in the military.
... into a necklace that I love. My first attempt at making this kind of jewellery and I'm pretty pleased with it!
I also made a first attempt at stamped jewellery - this is for a friend who has two daughters and a son. I can see my errors (I really need a bench block but don't want to spend the money) but I hope she likes it anyway. I also like that it kinda hints at dog-tag since her husband is in the military.
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24 February 2010
Snow berry
"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each."
- Henry David Thoreau
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22 February 2010
Shoe love
As you may have gathered, I freakin' LOVE shoes. Adore them. Unfortunately I have weird feet and can't wear regular heels (pumps) because I walk out of them and they flap on my feet like flip flops, even when they are the right size, with or without tights, even with heel grips. I just can't do it. I have to have some sort of strap across the top. I also can no longer walk in heels over 2.5 inches high, even though I used to wear 3.5 inches to work way back in the day. I don't wear heels frequently enough for that to be possible nowadays.
Fortunately I've found plenty of cute shoes that meet my criteria and at the right price. I very, very seldom spend more than £20 on a pair of shoes and often spend as little as £2-£3. I shop eBay (yes, you can get new shoes for next to nothing on eBay) and places like Asda and Tesco (grocery stores). I especially love colourful shoes - they just add a cheeky something to your outfits (see here and here).
A couple of days ago I sorted out the cupboard in the boys' bedroom and got rid of some odds and ends and added an extra shelf that was stashed behind our wardrobe. Now I can fit all of my shoes onto the shelves (but not the *gulp* 8 pairs of boots I have).
They make me so happy! I still need orange and grey shoes to add to my little collection.
For what it's worth, here's to demonstrate how affordable these shoes were:
Red patent: £12 at Tesco
Red sandals: £15 at New Look
Pink peeptoe T-bar shoes: around £7 on eBay (new)
Pinky-purple shoes with cutout detail and centre buckle: £15 at Tesco
Purple shoes with cutout detail on side and double strap: £18 at Next outlet
Blue sandals: around £4 on eBay (new)
Turquoise satin peeptoes with patent heels: £12 at Asda
Green patent with double strap: £12 at Asda
Yellow with white piping: around £3 on eBay (new)
White floral: around £4 on eBay (new)
Yes, the risk of buying shoes on eBay is that they might not fit right. But when you buy 6 pairs for around £3-£5 each (including shipping) and can only wear 4 of them, that still only means it works out to around £18-£30 for 4 pairs of shoes. Bargain. And all you do is put the ones you can't wear back on eBay - and sometimes end up selling them for more than you paid. Try it!
Fortunately I've found plenty of cute shoes that meet my criteria and at the right price. I very, very seldom spend more than £20 on a pair of shoes and often spend as little as £2-£3. I shop eBay (yes, you can get new shoes for next to nothing on eBay) and places like Asda and Tesco (grocery stores). I especially love colourful shoes - they just add a cheeky something to your outfits (see here and here).
A couple of days ago I sorted out the cupboard in the boys' bedroom and got rid of some odds and ends and added an extra shelf that was stashed behind our wardrobe. Now I can fit all of my shoes onto the shelves (but not the *gulp* 8 pairs of boots I have).
They make me so happy! I still need orange and grey shoes to add to my little collection.
For what it's worth, here's to demonstrate how affordable these shoes were:
Red patent: £12 at Tesco
Red sandals: £15 at New Look
Pink peeptoe T-bar shoes: around £7 on eBay (new)
Pinky-purple shoes with cutout detail and centre buckle: £15 at Tesco
Purple shoes with cutout detail on side and double strap: £18 at Next outlet
Blue sandals: around £4 on eBay (new)
Turquoise satin peeptoes with patent heels: £12 at Asda
Green patent with double strap: £12 at Asda
Yellow with white piping: around £3 on eBay (new)
White floral: around £4 on eBay (new)
Yes, the risk of buying shoes on eBay is that they might not fit right. But when you buy 6 pairs for around £3-£5 each (including shipping) and can only wear 4 of them, that still only means it works out to around £18-£30 for 4 pairs of shoes. Bargain. And all you do is put the ones you can't wear back on eBay - and sometimes end up selling them for more than you paid. Try it!
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What I wore to church today
My new green shoes:
Add a brown corduroy jacket and I'm good to go:
Cardigan: Bhs
Skirt: On sale at an outlet store (I can't remember which one)
Corduroy jacket: Next outlet store
Green shoes: Asda
Necklace: I can't remember
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I'm still here
Sorry I haven't blogged this week. For the first three days we were away visiting my friend Rebecca and her family. It was so nice to see them, to get out of routine, to chat and to visit her Weight Watchers meetings (she's a leader). I came away feeling so motivated and focused and on track with WW. I realised that I just hadn't been getting that from my current leader so I'm going to try another meeting and see if it helps me to stay focused.
Other than that we haven't done much, just a walk to the beach on Friday. I've signed up for a 10-week course starting in April - Certificate in Counseling Concepts (I'm really excited). It snowed again today but has melted (thank goodness). I don't think I mentioned that our house is on the market and there is a viewing on Monday afternoon so tomorrow I'll be getting everything spic and span. So ... nothing exciting happening here, really.
Other than that we haven't done much, just a walk to the beach on Friday. I've signed up for a 10-week course starting in April - Certificate in Counseling Concepts (I'm really excited). It snowed again today but has melted (thank goodness). I don't think I mentioned that our house is on the market and there is a viewing on Monday afternoon so tomorrow I'll be getting everything spic and span. So ... nothing exciting happening here, really.
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15 February 2010
What I wore to church today
No the most flattering picture but oh well.
HOW adorable are my shoes?? I had to get some sunshine in somehow.
Cardigan (John Lewis): eBay
Corduroy skirt (Next): eBay
Cream top: I can't remember
Fishnets: Asda
Yellow shoes: eBay
Necklace: charity shop (thrift store) (it has silver, amber and topaz coloured beads)
HOW adorable are my shoes?? I had to get some sunshine in somehow.
Cardigan (John Lewis): eBay
Corduroy skirt (Next): eBay
Cream top: I can't remember
Fishnets: Asda
Yellow shoes: eBay
Necklace: charity shop (thrift store) (it has silver, amber and topaz coloured beads)
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13 February 2010
7 February 2010
High-contrast playmat
I bound the playmat, so that is done too. I made it in blacks and whites (with a pale blue backing) because babies love high-contrast patterns.
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2 February 2010
Baby quilt
When I visited my friend Karen last week Saturday I was so inspired by her quilts that she's working on that I came home and hauled out my fabric the very next day. I pulled together the bits of fabric that I had that would work together and made the front and back of the quilt and fastened it together with buttons, with a fleece blanket inside instead of batting.
On Wednesday I was out with a friend and I bought some fabric to bind it with and yesterday I finished the binding. I love this colour combination - aqua, raspberry red, pink and touches of white, and the cupcake fabric makes me smile.
My cousin is due to have her baby soon and if it's a girl she'll be getting this quilt. (If it's a boy then I need to bind the high-contrast playmat that I made a while ago - he'll receive that.)
Front:
Buttons:
Back:
Detail on the back:
On Wednesday I was out with a friend and I bought some fabric to bind it with and yesterday I finished the binding. I love this colour combination - aqua, raspberry red, pink and touches of white, and the cupcake fabric makes me smile.
My cousin is due to have her baby soon and if it's a girl she'll be getting this quilt. (If it's a boy then I need to bind the high-contrast playmat that I made a while ago - he'll receive that.)
Front:
Buttons:
Back:
Detail on the back:
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Freezer storage tip
The freezer part of our integrated fridge-freezer in our kitchen has two shelves and then a drawer at the bottom. The shelves quickly become a jumble of bags of frozen veg and boxes of food. You'd often see me scrabbling around and having to haul food out to find the peas and corn.
So I decided to rethink how I stored them. I recycled three 2-liter plastic milk bottles for the corn, peas and frozen chopped onions.
As you can see, they fit perfectly into the space:
Here is an empty bottle:
To fill the bottle with veg I use the little funnel that came with our dishwasher (for filling the dishwasher salt container) - it's perfect:
But if you don't have one, the cut-off top of a pop bottle will do the trick:
Voila - filled with a bag of corn. You want to squish the bag well before opening it, to ensure that all clumps of corn are broken down - that way they don't jam up in the funnel:
So I decided to rethink how I stored them. I recycled three 2-liter plastic milk bottles for the corn, peas and frozen chopped onions.
As you can see, they fit perfectly into the space:
Here is an empty bottle:
To fill the bottle with veg I use the little funnel that came with our dishwasher (for filling the dishwasher salt container) - it's perfect:
But if you don't have one, the cut-off top of a pop bottle will do the trick:
Voila - filled with a bag of corn. You want to squish the bag well before opening it, to ensure that all clumps of corn are broken down - that way they don't jam up in the funnel:
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