A saved tree, another tradition and Merry Christmas

We didn't have a Christmas tree and didn't really want to buy one... real or artificial... for lots of reasons. But when my Mr and I drove past this dead tree lying on the side of the road, we knew we'd found our tree. It is different and odd and not what you would expect and we love it.

Hanging on it are decorations that have meaning to us including two new ones this year, the first of a new tradition (who would have thought that having children would make me get all tradition-y!) - each year we'll make a new decoration for the tree. This year, I made my two little reindeers. Next year my little reindeers might make their own.


Also on the tree are two little stockings made just for my reindeers. Thankyou Trixi. They did make it off the kids' fingers and onto the tree!


So all that's left to say is Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. Thank you for stopping by my 'place' this year. It has been amazing to meet so many wonderful people whose paths I would never have crossed until I started blogging. I hope you all enjoy the time spent with your special people, whatever you are doing and whatever you are celebrating. I look forward to chatting to you again in the new year. xxxx

Woof woof, woof woof

It's full steam ahead in the 'Handmade Christmas Present Department' over here at MBC Headquarters. On the finished list is Poppy and her Puppies for my dog-assessed niece.


My Poppy has 4 puppies, including twins. I thought my niece would think this was pretty special as her mum is a twin and she has twin cousins.


There is also lots of discussions with my niece at the moment about families and how they are all different.... just making sense of her changing world and the world around her (as we are all trying to do I guess!). So joining Poppy and her puppies is Mr Poppy.


This cute pattern is an Audrey & Maude design available from here and here. I made Mr Poppy at 100% and Poppy and the puppies at 90% of the original pattern. The pattern says to use felt for the ears, tail and legs but a lack of appropriate coloured felt and a need to get started and finished, resulted in machine sewn bits.


And a big thankyou to all the good wishes you guys sent me about getting back to work. It was ridiculous how nervous I was! This motherhood thing can do wonders for your self confidence in some areas, but it can take a battering in others. Anyway, I am happy to report that within a few minutes, it was like I had never left. I even wondered at one point if I had actually had children! So it all went well and it looks like I'll be doing some more work in the new year.

My Creative Space - Recycled Musical Shaker

We had a hard rubbish collection round here not long ago, and when I saw an old vaccum cleaner on the side of the road, I was reminded of a session I went to at uni about making your own musical instruments. So I grabbed the vaccum cleaner hose and now we have some shakers for the kids to rock out with, with Mr on the guitar.

Here's how to do it....

You'll need a hose of some sort (I used a vaccum cleaner hose), electrical tape, rice or lentils or stones and a stanley knife.

Form a circle to decide the size of the shaker.

Cut it with the stanley knife. This is what you'll have.

Use the piece of paper to make a funnel to pour the rice/lentils/stones into the hose.

Cut about 3cm into one end of the hose. Be careful not to spill the rice/lentils/stones out the other end.

Cutting the end helps to push one end into the other end of the hose to form a circle.

Cover the join with electrical tape.

Wrap the tape around several times to make sure it's secure. You could tie ribbons or pieces of material on it for extra bling.

That's it. Not only does this reduce landfill by a little bit, the kids get to play with something they helped create and they can make beautiful-ish music! All they have to do is shake, shake, shake.

And it seemed that a bit of bouncing, jumping and rocking from side to side helps too!

For more spaces that are full of creative stuff, stop by Kirsty who is also making music...

Ready to play in the sun

It's all about hats, hats, hats round these parts at the moment. After making sure my friend's girls are ready for the sun, I finished off hats for my two kidlets.


Using Nicole Mallalieu's Kids Hat pattern again, these are made using lightweight denim with a band of fabric on the crown that matches the fabric used for the brim lining.

I've almost finished another two hats for a friend's kids and while I'm almost hatted out for this Summer, I can see my sewing skills have improved.... which is great for the next project....