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!

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....

A Challenge for Myself

In order to change the way I feel about gift-giving, I've challenged myself to make all of the gifts I give for 2011.  Last year, I made some of the gifts I gave away and I felt better about giving those compared to the gifts I purchased.  It's more satisfying to have people, especially little ones, like the gift you designed and made for them than to LOVE (for the next 5 minutes) the pink plastic toy you bought without putting much thought into it. 

Right now I'm brainstorming ideas for the first birthday of the year, coming up in 2 weeks time.  Any ideas for a crafted gift to give a horse mad, turning 12 year old girl who loves green & purple?  I had an idea of something to crochet up but I'm wondering if it's too "granny".