Red Robin Christmas Cards

We've been making Christmas cards this week. Last year we had
 reindeers, this time we have little red robins!

We really enjoyed our card making last Christmas and I wanted
a design that was as easy and simple but equally as effective as the
reindeers, something that we can all do together. I thought robins
might work. They're very Christmassy, appearing in cards, postage
 stamps and all manner of festive decorations every year and they're
cute too. So I came up this little idea to make them:

We started off with brown paint (we used children's washable paint)
and using their fingers, the girls made three or four brown circles
on the cards. Lulu needed a bit of help with this but Markie did hers
 all by herself.

When they have dried, Markie and I coloured in the bottom half

of the circles with red felt tip pens to make the robins' red breast markings.

Then it was adding the little details - eyes, wings, legs. 

Ta dah! Four little robins! 

I then used alphabet stamps to write the Christmas greetings
and it was done! Simple, quick and lots of fun.

We're really pleased with these and we're looking forward
to giving them to friends, family and the girls' teachers. As always
I'm glad that we can do things like this together, that they're happy
to help and join in, and I have the time to craft and be with them.
It makes this time of year even more special and really great fun.


We'll have more Christmassy things to share soon.
Thanks for stopping here. Enjoy your weekend!

Party Invites

It's that time of the year again when we start making plans for the
girls' birthdays. They're both June babies, born two years apart
almost to the day. Markie was born on the 13th and Lulu arrived via
elective c-section on the 14th. June gets a bit busy around here as
you can imagine, but it's a nice and fun sort of busy. We do different things for each of them on their birthdays but they usually have
 a joint party and this year it's on Saturday the 6th.

Parties need invitations and this time I made my own again. I've used
 my typewriter to write the message and I'm pleased that I did. It has really made the job easier and quicker. Then I just added the balloons
using craft paper cut in small circles and drew the balloon strings
 with a pencil. They're simpler compared to the ones I made
last year but I like them just as much.

It's been fun making these invites. I hope all of Markie and Lulu's
friends will come. They're both very excited about it and are really
looking forward to all the fun and games. They've been to friends'
parties and now they can't wait to have their own. I'm hoping, as
always, that it will be a good one for both of them. I'm sure it will be.


The sun is shining brightly here this morning. I hope it's the same
where you are. Have a lovely Wednesday!

Simple Pleasures

Simple everyday things that have made me happy this week:


A beautiful hand painted card from Markie for Mother's Day

School got cancelled on the Friday so she wasn't able to bring

this home til Monday. It doesn't matter at all that I got it a day later.

I think it's wonderful! 

French toast and bacon for breakfast

We have these every Saturday. It's yummy and filling, our all time

favourite way to start a weekend.

Repurposing these set of face cloths

They're nicely soft and thick, and cheap too. I've added ribbon
hanging loops and they're now our new kitchen hand towels.

Meatballs made by my husband with help from the girls

We had them for dinner last Wednesday but there are still enough left
for another meal and sandwiches for lunch. Can't wait!


Lulu's lovely way of arranging her toys

There's always some sort of pattern and order in the way she places
her toys next to each other. She says she's "putting them in right
order". I wonder what she'll be when she grows up.



A bunch of daffodils

Whether in buds or in bloom, they're one of the best things about spring.



Washi tapes from Wilko

I love their spring colours and they're brilliant at prettying up
 jam jars and just about any old thing.

Simple things, simple pleasures.


Hope you've all enjoyed the lovely sunshine today.
Thanks for stopping by here. Have a nice week!

Last year's makes

These were all the things I made in 2014. Looking back now
I feel very lucky and pleased that I've used a lot of my free time
 creatively and have made some nice and useful things for myself,
my family and our home. I crocheted, knitted, embroidered and
did some machine sewing. I tried my hand at covering a lamp
shade, furniture painting and dress making. I also discovered
the joys of using washi tapes and making my own cards.

Overall it's been a good year for making and I hope 2015
will be the same. I have a few projects planned already
(first on my making list are crocheted pot holders)
 and I can't wait to get started!



Wishing you all a fun and very creative 2015.
See you soon!

Five on Friday

Hello! Today I'm taking part in Amy's 'Five on Friday' posts.
As it's the day after Christmas I thought I'll write about
five of my favourite things this festive season. Thanks to Amy
for organizing this and for letting me join in.

So, my five favourite things this Christmas...

1. Making Christmas cards with my girls

We had a lot of fun making them and we're so pleased with
how they've turned out. I'm really looking forward to doing more
 of this with them next Christmas.



2. Our festive flapjacks

I'm really glad we've found a way to add a little bit of Christmas
flavour to our favourite homemade treat. It's another thing I've
enjoyed making with my girls and I'm really happy about this.



3. Slices of pannetone dipped in amaretto

This is a very grown up way of enjoying this Christmas cake
and it is so good!



4. Time with my family

Being with my favourite people in the world is always wonderful.



5. Our Noche Buena, a traditional Filipino celebration
on Christmas Eve

I love that we have made this Filipino tradition a part
of our family's Christmas celebration. Noche Buena is a time
 for thanksgiving, a special time for families to be together,
and of course, an occasion for delicious Filipino dishes.
We made spring rolls, pork estofado and leche flan (creme
caramel) for our little feast and it was lovely.




Family, tradition, food, baking, crafting...they made my
Christmas this year and it's been a happy one.

....................

I am joining in Five on Friday, taking five minutes from
our day to enjoy five things. Please go and visit the other
people who are also blogging about Five on Friday this week.

Amy from Love Made My Home
Kristie from North of 49
Patricia from A Place for Everything
Katharine from Art-e-facts
Selma from Eclectic Home & Life



Thank you for taking time to stop by here.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day yesterday.
See you soon!

Reindeer Christmas Cards

Last weekend my girls and I tried our hand at making
Christmas cards. When I say tried our hand, I mean it literally -
we used thumbprints to make festive little reindeers!

I got the idea for this from here.  First I helped the girls make
thumbprints on plain white cards. We didn't have any brown ink
so we just used whatever we've got at home which was orange! 

 It was very exciting. We've never done finger painting before and
 it was a bit messy at the start but we soon found a way
to make neater prints and it was so much fun.

After the ink had dried we added red paper dots for reindeers'
noses. Again we just used whatever material we have available.
Little red buttons and tiny red pompoms will work perfectly too.

Then it was time for me to draw the eyes, ears, heads and antlers and
 stamp a festive greeting and we have our reindeer Christmas cards!

It was great fun making them and the girls are so proud
of their handiwork. Markie is excited to give them to her friends
 and teachers in school and I've posted some to friends and
family already. I'm looking forward to making more cards
with them this weekend. I love us making things and being
creative together especially this Advent. Being able to involve
them in our festive preparations is wonderful, making this
time before Christmas special and meaningful for our little family.


I hope all your Christmas makings and preparations
are going well. Have a lovely week!

Hello!

How are you all? Apologies for not being around 

this past week. I wanted to keep up with everyone's posts

 while we were away but the holiday house we stayed in 

didn't have internet access and when I tried using my phone

I couldn't for the life of me remember my Blogger password.

So I've had to wait til we're home to get back here and it is

lovely not only to be in our own house again but also to be here. 

I've missed you all and I'm looking forward to catching up

with everyone's blogs this weekend.

Today, our first day back, we've been taking it easy. It looks
like we haven't managed to bring the sunshine and warm weather
back with us but never mind, it's still much nicer to be home.
Before I go I'd like to show these cards I made last week. I was
able to fit in a bit of making time in between packing and getting
things ready for our week away and made these three. It was
half an hour's fun with washi tapes, buttons and alphabet stamps.
Next time I'm back I'll share with you a finished crochet project.
Til then, take care and have a lovely weekend!!!

Back soon!

Lovely Happy Things

I've enjoyed some crafting time this week and this always
makes me happy.

I've been doing a bit of embroidery and crochet and
I have also made this birthday card for a friend--all fun,
happy making projects.



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A new magazine and a cup of tea--always a treat!

.............................



It was my birthday on Thursday, a very wet and cold day.
But despite the horrible weather it was a wonderful day, full of
beautiful treats and presents. I felt very loved and spoiled.

I'm still not too sure though about being forty. It is such a big,
grown-up age and I don't feel forty, not yet. But I guess that's
a good thing. As they say, you're only as old or as young as you feel.



.........................



I've made another new top and I love it.

I'll tell you more on my next post--soon!




Thanks for reading.
Wishing you all a lovely, sunny weekend!

Making Cards

I've spent most evenings this week making invitation cards
 for Markie's upcoming birthday party. It was actually my husband
 who suggested that I make them as we're trying to keep costs down.
 I wasn't too keen on the idea initially. I've never made my own
cards before and I have a few WIP's I wanted to get back to and
finish this week. But I changed my mind when I realized I have
 everything needed to make them--blank cards from an unused
 Christmas card making kit, alphabet stamps and washi tapes--
so why not try. And having warmed up to the idea, I thought this was
 my chance to have a go at making washi tape cards like those lovely
ones I've seen online. And so my card making evenings came about.

I started off by sticking strips of different washi tapes to plain
 white paper. I then cut out the shapes I needed before gluing them on
 to the cards. It was easy and I had a lot of fun with the four designs
 I'd chosen.

The idea for the cupcake and ice creams came from some appliqued
bags I made last summer (you can read about it here) while the bunting
and balloons were inspired by a card that Lulu got on her first birthday.
The bunting was also a great way to make use of small pieces of
washi tape-covered paper that were leftover after I've finished
making the other cards. 

I've made a dozen in total and I'm really happy with them. I'm
also glad I tried my hand at something new. As for washi tapes, I'm a
big fan now. I think they're so brilliant. My husband have said the cards
are 'too nice' which is a great compliment. I hope Markie's friends
will like them too and they'll all come to her party. That will make her
really happy.



Thanks for reading. I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!