Bottle Carrier Urgently Required!

My baby girl is growing up fast, and this summer she's taking her first classes of Sport and Dance!! It's all very exciting for a girl who's three but tells anyone who will listen that she's really soon turning four!

The classes in themselves are going well I'm happy to say, but we did find a slight obstacle... it turns out we've chosen the most commonly found water bottle in the village, and at their age, kids hardly notice the tiny name label stuck to the side or bottom of these bottles!

It was time to find an alternative solution, which did not involve forking out more money, and it came to me in the form of a 20-minute tutorial by believeinspire.com.

As instructed I went on a hunt for some sturdy fabric and soft lining. I had a scrap of fabric from an old cushion cover and a shirt of my husband's, which were eagerly waiting to be picked out... and then I got sewing!!

I must admit the whole project took me well over two hours, but it was enough for me to be able to close the sewing room at the end of that afternoon, knowing that my sewing table was clear of that one particular project, rather than thinking that I'd just added another one to the looooong list! I was well satisfied.

As for my daughter, she was flattered to see a brand new 'handbag' added to her collection, especially when she recognised the personalised touch with the first letter of her name!

All in all a very fruitful Sunday afternoon :)

Green Kiwi Day

Where I come from, nurseries will try to get all kids into the spirit of any festivities that may be coming up. Since they tend to fall short of 'special occasions' during the summer months, my daughter's nursery would cleverly dedicate each summer week to impart the knowledge of a specific colour by combining it with a corresponding fruit.

To help engage children, the parents would be asked to dress their kids up in the chosen colour on the Friday of that week. Fun, right? Indeed I would always look forward to that tiny strip of paper that would ask me to dress my little pumpkin up... until, alas, Green Kiwi Day was announced, and it dawned on me that our house was void of green children-wear! What else could I do, but rummage through my unworn clothes for some inspiration??

And during this exercise I came across an old, hardly worn, olive green, cotton shirt, with bell sleeves. I stopped the moment I saw the colour, unfolded the garment, and let my imagination flow... and there it was, the idea in the figurative light bulb... I would make a maxi-dress out of the bell sleeves... it was just the right length, width and fabric for a maxi-dress!!

Here's how I went about it:

- I first unstitched the sleeves from the bodice;
- I unstitched the sleeves so I could lay them flat;
- I lay a jeans sleeveless dress belonging to my daughter, on top of the flat sleeves and cut around the perimeter of the dress
- I basted the side seams and the shoulders, made sure it fit my daughter nicely, then stitched the seams properly with my sewing machine.
- Finally I embellished the neckline with sequins

Et voila!

How to make your kids' clothes last longer

Kids grow up fast, that's a life fact. And they grow out of clothes just as quickly. Another life fact. Needless to say parents this time of year will be drawing up budgets to replenish their children's  wardrobes in time for the new season. In this post I would like to share a somewhat silly little idea that can help you get more out of your kids' clothes.

 I cannot count the number of times I've watched my daughter proudly prance around in her autumn long-sleeved t-shirts, when I'm having her try them on for spring, only to realise the sleeves are already too short for her. "I've just finished my hunt for that reasonably priced shirt, like yesterday!", I'll find myself thinking. That's not to say I won't be full of pride to see that she's already outgrowing these items, but my heart still aches as I fold those shirts away and stack them in our 'baby clothes storage'.

The other day an idea hit me though, and I immediately got down to putting it to action. What if Little Miss could keep on wearing that shirt for just one more season, wouldn't that be great?  So here's what I did:

1. I fished out one of these outgrown shirts, as well as a proper short-sleeved shirt.

2. I placed one on top of the other aligning the sleeves.

3. I marked where I wanted the long sleeve to be cut down to.

4. Snippety snip, and off went the long sleeves

5. I turned the 'outgrown' shirt inside out, and turned up the sleeve hem twice for a neat finish.

6. After basting and top stitching the sleeves, my girl had another summer t-shirt all ready for her wardrobe.

Do you have any other tips and tricks to share about the topic? Leave a comment with your ideas, would love to read all about them!

A Sausage Pie

Which nation boasts more than 1200 types of sausage? You got it: Germany! And it was also the land of poets and thinkers that gave birth to this impromptu dinner. During an enjoyable trip to Europe's logistics hub, we could not resist bringing back a pack or two of their delicious Wurst, thinking that we would easily be able to hold a BBQ night with our friends and give them a taste of Germany as well. Trouble was that the summer took longer to kick in than usual (in fact it doesn't feel anything like June as yet at all!) so the BBQ was put off to an unknown date, while the expiry dates on the packs grew nearer and nearer. Being the pie-fan that I am I thought it would be an excellent idea to stick the sausage into a pie and anglicize the little German devil... and indeed it was! Here's what was needed:

Ingredients:

• 300g Schinkengrill sausage
• 2 eggs
• 200g fontina cheese (or a soft cheese equivalent)
• 1 roll of puff pastry

Method:

1. Chop the sausages into 2cm discs
2. Grate the soft cheese
3. Beat the eggs in with the cheese.
4. Cover the base of the oven dish with puff pastry.
5. Place the chopped sausage in the pie.
6. Pour the egg-cheese mix on top of the sausage.
7. Cover the pie with puff pastry, pressing the sides with a fork to seal the pie.
8. Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.

A Bow for a Girl

When I'd first shared the news of my pregnancy I was blessed with a shower of gifts, well-wishers and second hand items for the coming baby. Seeing as we didn't want to know the gender of the baby we received items for both boys and girls... which implies that I now have a few boyish numbers to girl up!

A pair of dungarees are meant to be unisex.. unless that is they carry the word 'BOY' all over them. I thought to myself, what is girlie enough that might go well with a pair of tomboy dungarees. And then it hit me, how about a bow??

What do you think of this? Ever tried something like this yourself? Leave a comment; tell me about it :)

From useless to useful

A while back my husband gave me a beautiful wallet which I still use to this very day. I still remember how happy I was to get it, and how I'd admired the sturdy box it had come in!

So I'd filled up the wallet straight away and set aside the box for future use. Over time I cannot recall the number of times my husband's complained about my hoarding tendency with these such boxes... until he saw what I made of it this week that is!

I bought a gift for a friend which did not come in fancy wrapping or boxes, so it was up to me to jazz it up! Out came the sturdy wallet box together with a gorgeous wrapping paper which I'd managed to keep intact because it was so so pretty... and I got down to business - that of covering the lid with this fancy wrapping paper.

The box itself was far too big for the item I'd bought so I sewed together a tiny bag, filled it up with cotton wool et voila, I had myself a nice cushion bed for the cute present!

Flower Headband

Because spring has finally arrived it is mandatory to channel the all-consuming positive energy that comes from the extended hours of the day and sunlight into productive action.

Pinterest gave me what I was looking for - a way to embellish a plain headband by attaching a handmade fabric flower as shown on mellysews.com.

I rummaged through the bagfuls of scrap fabric, fished out an old striped t-shirt and a plain summer dress and  15 minutes later I had created just what I'd had in mind! Only have to hope that my seven month old doesn't take after her mother; as I recall my mum used to say I had a knack for stripping headbands off the moment we'd step outside the house just as she wouldn't be looking!