More September Roundup

I'm a bad blogger.  Bad, bad blogger.  I still have projects left over from September to post!  Eek!  Here we go...

 First we have the rude word plate I painted for my husband for father's day.  I took one of our vintage Crown Lynn Fiesta ware saucers and made up my own font and wrote a word he's been wanting on a plate for a while.  It is hung beside the very cool Super Fly plate made by OddOneOut and a random religious plate purchased with a bulk lot of items from Trademe.

 Next is the Flopsy Bunny hat for my niece, Sarah.  She's quite a personality and I think she kinda loved the funny floppy ears.  Modelled here by Lily who stuck out her rabbit teefs for the photo.

This Granny Strap D-Ring belt was made for another niece, Emma.  It was very helpful to get her waist measurement before starting so I could be sure it  wasn't complete guess work to get it right.  Finished in the nick of time while driving over to present the presents!  Whew :)

 

This bodum cover is actually still with me.  You see, Sarah and Emma's mum wanted a tea cozy for her birthday.  I started making one which said suitable for a 2-4cup teapot.  The bodum cover is made from 1/2 of one side of the tea cozy.  I'm not sure where I went wrong, but boy did I go wrong!  (Unless they meant it was to fit a 2-4 litre tea pot.)  This is for sale now at Oh, For Craft's Sake! online market for the bargain price of $20.  I will be hooking up another pattern for another tea cozy soon...

And one last super-sweet thing to share today.  This necklace was made by Lily and I together for a little friend's third birthday party.  Lily chose all the beads and I helped to string them onto some elastic cord.  After her mum explained what it was little Monique put the necklace on and didn't take it off all day!  Everyone who came commented on it and Lily was so proud :)

Crafty Daddy

I'm finally getting around to posting some photos of the big gift we made for our daughter's 5th birthday.  We took an underutilised storage area and made it into a fun, functional and colourful room for the girls.  My husband spent a lot of time painting, finishing off some unfinished bits, adding carpet, making shelving and a fold down blackboard table.  I made the colourful Asian curtains at the back of the room, and chose the teal blue for the curtains and bean bag.  Wall stickers and a TV/DVD player combo finished it all off.  It's a great little room and well loved already...and let's face it, the kids were already going in there before it was a play room so this is much better as we now know everything is safe and comfy for them.

 If you have an under-used space in your house, consider relinquishing it to the kids.  We really love that the kids now have a place to go and watch tv and spread out their toys without us having to hear and see everything!

Lala-what-sy? Oh I see...

So, our oldest daughter turned 5 yesterday!  Quite a milestone.  For her birthday, she wanted to go to "fancy pants" lunch at the Langham Hotel, which we did a few weeks ago.  Her mum had a skating party for her on Saturday as well.

What do you get a 5 year old for their birthday? Specifically when you've decided you're making it...  We asked a number of times what was the gift of choice for this birthday.  The Lalaloopsy doll came up a few times.  I had heard of these dolls through craftster before, because some clever person before me had crocheted their version and posted it up.  Another poster on ravelry shared a pattern for a Lalaloopsy style doll, so I set off from there.

I did some research and foudn that the pattern I was going to use for my doll was quite plain and didn't seem to have the same outfit or colouring as any of the "real" Lalaloopsy dolls.  After much deliberation on the Lalaloopsy website I decided I would make my doll to look like Berry Jars n Jam.

That's the original there - molded pink plastic hair, gingham dress and orange bows.  I can do that.  (well, not the molded plastic bit...)

And that's my copy.  Pink hair - check, "gingham" dress - check, orange bows - check!  She even has on white socks and knickers, how cute is that?

There was a bit of a panicy moment for me when we picked up our girl from her mum's.  She said, specifically, oh you don't have to buy me a Lalaloopsy doll anymore, Uncle Adrian got me one.  EEK!  But, turns out she loves my one, a lot.  I guess the 12 or so hours work that went into her was worth it.  Next stop, Marina Anchors??

PS - Another birthday gift post of the playroom we set up for Lily's birthday will come soon, as well as a post of the gift we made for her twin cousins.  And a post of what I made my husband for Father's Day.  Plus 3 more birthdays this month...wait, make that 4!

Birthday Bag

Our almost 2 year old loves playing with my old handbags and any money she can get her hands on.  When we were invited to a party for a friend turning 2, I had an idea for what to make.  This little crocheted bag with removable flower and Bank of Raya money fit the bill!  Now our little friend can carry around all her little treasures (but not too little, I didn't line the bag), jazz up her outfits with a brooch, and practice counting her money. 

Tea Towel Quilt

I've mentioned a special project I was making to celebrate my parents birthdays a couple of times on this blog now.  I finally finished it and it has made it's way all they way from little ol' NZ to Newfoundland where they live.  And guess what?  They LOVE it. 

I saw in a book some time ago, a really awesome batch with an amazing quilt.  The quilt was put together from vintage NZ tea towels and it was so cool.  I stored the idea away for a while wondering if I'd ever get to use it.  One day I saw a really great selection of NZ souvenir tea towels at great prices and thought about that quilt.  I was going to make one, albeit with new towels instead of vintage...

And here it is...

 Our munchkins loved this blanket and snuggled up in it pointing out all the different animals to each other.

 The back of the quilt was done in kiwiana print fabric with green/blue/red border.

The front of the blanket, 6 fun tea towels!

All in all, I had a pretty good time making this blanket.  There were a few "uh-oh" moments (like when I realised I didn't buy enough of the kiwiana fabric for the whole back and had to improvise the border) but in the end everything came together great.  And 2 packages of bias tape binding was just enough for the finishing touch!

July has passed in a blur...

Well, July has been and gone.  I've been busy crocheting for my facebook page and felt shop as well as making my youngest a granny square "quilt".  I also had 2 birthdays to cater for that fell in July and I finished the big project that is finally on it's way to my parents to celebrate their birthdays which fell in June.

On to some photos:

Granny Square Quilt - Galah-inspired colour way of grey, pink, and white bordered in black.  Another of these has just been ordered through my facebook page :)

Bella Beanie - for my niece Bella, a classic beanie with scallop trim and hand embroidered horse patch.  Modelled here by the always lovely, Lily.

Flower Brooch - hot pink and lime flower brooch worked up for a co-workers birthday.  Palm sized!

Sorry, still not posting photos of my parent's item as they haven't confirmed that it's arrived yet.  Once they've got it, I'll let you in on my little secret.

As for August, it will be busy again...orders to fill, and at least 2 birthdays off the top of my head falling in August and another 3 in early September, plus then there's Father's Day!  I will try to keep up the posting a little more regularly so I don't end up with a backlog again!

x

Quiet Time of Year

It's been a bit quiet around the blog lately.  Not many gifts need giving at the moment, and the ones that do haven't yet reached their final destinations yet so no posts about that until they do!

That's not to say I haven't been a busy aunty crafting away...

In fact, I've started a new facebook page where you can now buy the things I make.  Either from stock of things that I have already made or by special order.  For now, it's all crochet goods.  You can search on facebook for Hooked or click on my logo:

That's it for today, but stay tuned for another update soon.  My niece's birthday on 1 July, and I might post up a teaser of those gifts that haven't reached their recipients just yet....