May... Let's Make it the Month of Melly & Me!

Melly & Me are quite new to me, but I think I am falling a little bit in love! They are two sisters from Melbourne (I don't think I am making that up...) and they design fabric, patterns & have an awesome book out too! I have a stash of their range Little Menagerie & have done a few different things with it. I have plans for a few more creations too! Stick around this month to see what I have created!

So firstly... I would like you to meet Phoebe!

The pattern for this gorgeous Elephant was really quite easy, however, it was a little involved. It must be said though, that all those little extra bits you do for the detail, really make a total difference to the finished product! I am so pleased with the way it turned out. These are going to make great newborn or birthday gifts for little ones!

I actually made up two of these. One for my mother-in-laws shop, Just Patchwork and the other for a gift for a friend's little girl, Sofia! Totally heart breaking though as Emily just LOVED Phoebe! So I can see another in my near future. I am actually thinking of making one in blue... Ellyvan from Jungle Junction?  :-)

Lexi loved Phoebe too! Loved chewing on Phoebe... though truth be told, she could have been chewing on anything for all she cared... she's at that stage. Everything to the mouth!

You can't buy the patterns directly from Melly & Me, but there are loads of stockists... one of which includes my in-laws! You can get a pattern here if you like. I definitely recommend this one!

Stay tuned for some more softies... and... you'll have to wait and see!
x

Easter Getaway!

So we were lucky enough to escape for an entire week for Easter. Destination: my in-laws beach house! Wasn't too hard to deal with  ;-)  Here's how we spent our holiday!

I played Wii for the first time. It was bowling... After I threw the ball, only some of the pins fell down...so I rushed towards the TV ready to push the others over. Everyone seemed to have a problem with this...

I showed Nanna & Pop my fav iPad app, the Wheels on the Bus. They were amazed.

I danced with new friends.

And run barefoot on the grass chasing bubbles.

And then it was Easter.

We ate chocolate.

We ate bunnys.

Poppy & Lexi had a serious talk about Bunnys.

We layed on pretty quilts & hugged bunny friends.

Daddy made me giggle so.

We seriously ate chocolate. Seriously.

We hammed it up for Nanna & Pop.

We played by the beach.

We did things our way. Just because we can.

We posed for pics.

We played with hats.

That fit me & my sister.

We set up dueling sewing machines.

And we sewed and sewed.

Daddy made us both laugh at the same time. He's clever like that.

Toast & I got to know each other really well.

We snuggled on Pop's chair with lovely quilts & watched cartoons.

And we were cute. Just cause.

x

Easter Fun!

Our neighbours are just lovely, and so I wanted to do some Easter crafting with Emily, to help make up a nice gift for them.

Here it is, part 1 - The egg dying: (I borrowed this idea from my friend Naomi when I was reading this)

Firstly I boiled some eggs, and then Emily and I did a little drawing on them with crayons. Okay, MUCH more me than her. I should have thought this through. I gave her a box of 24 crayons and an egg. She did a little drawing, and then had way more fun putting the crayons in and out of the box.

Next I put them in some dye baths. This is where I should have really done a little research first. I left them in for ages... then I read online that I should add some white vinegar. So I did for the next two, and they seemed to absorb the colour so much faster! I'll know for next time  :-)

Then I let them dry on some cut up paper towel rolls. And they came out looking like the very first picture above! Not bad!

Part 2 - Egg wrapping!

On Monday I was shopping and spotted these awesome egg wrapper things! I'd never seen them before. So all you do is boil some eggs, and let them cool. Then take a wrapper and place it over the egg as shown below, lower it into boiling water for 3 seconds and... wait! That's it!! How easy!!!

Obviously this was a mummy only task, but Emily thought they were SO pretty! Have to say... I agree. Pretty and easy. Lovely!

The finished product!

And last of all, we had to assemble the gift! We got a basket, a variety of chocolate eggs, our dyed eggs, and our wrapped eggs, and started putting it together. Emily was helping... but then she started eating! Should have seen that coming. Doh!

And here's the finished product! Happy Easter neighbours. I hope you enjoy!

x

It's the thought that counts...

Yesterday was our last mother's group for my 2 year old before Easter. I seen this GREAT tutorial for making Easter cookies here. The idea is to create cookies that look like Easter Eggs hiding in the grass. They worked out fabulous for Dana! But cookies just don't seem to be my thing.

I decided for some reason to google a cookie recipe rather than using the one in the blog post. I'm not sure why I did this. I just did. And I am not sharing the link, because they were just 'okay'. Also, in Australia it seems we can't buy pastel M&M's. But my greatest challenge was the 'green' grass!

Check out my pre-cooked cookies here. They look the part, right? Perhaps I needed a no bake cookie recipe  :-)

Here is the finished product. Very 'not happy' with the colouring! When they browned, they came out a terrible colour! Oh well, we packaged them up and tried to make them look pretty.

But is it all about the finished product? No way!! We had so much fun!

Some unexpected fun came at 7am when I realised we had no plain flour! Emily & I did a quick Woolies dash. Emily was in her PJ's and as the store was practically empty, I allowed her to run free and help me shop! What was not so much fun was getting home to realise that when Emily had woken me at 4:45am I had quickly thrown my top on.... inside out! Oppps! Luckily at Woolies I did the self service thing, so maybe no one even seen me!

But by far the best part is the sharing! Emily being proud of what we made and sharing that with her friends.

x

Happy Half Birthday Baby!!

So today my little littlest girl turned 6 months old! Wow, where does the time go? Thought I would share a bit of our day together!

Good morning Lexi Grace!!

The day started with some cuddles with my Daddy and big Sister x 

This was followed by an all girl bath - but I thought we wouldn't share those pics  :-)

So how do I know I am 6 months old?? Because I am wearing eating weetbix - just like my big sister!

And I can drink water out of a cup! Okay... so I haven't quite got the hang of it, but I have potential!

And I know I am 6 months because I had my needles yesterday  :-(

And now that I am 6 months, I have been promoted (?) to the back seat! Check me out! Cheeky as, and it seems I have more staying power than my sister  ;-)

Mum and Emily decided I needed cake to help celebrate this special day. I'm not so sure... I didn't get to make them or eat them! But they sure looked good!

The candle was fascinating!

Emily, chief taste tester of the cake batter, and cooked cake fully approved!

At the end of the day... still happy!

The only thing left to do to mark this occasion is to do a plaster handprint on the weekend! Mummy & Daddy need to work together to get this one done!  x