My Creative Space

One day soon, little hands will help small people climb up high in these branches,

show animals (and let's be honest, probably trains too!) that they can play and rest in the shade,

and help dragons and dinosaurs reach up to munch on the leaves to fill their bellies,

and I look forward to sometimes sitting back and watching the adventures, and sometimes being part of them.

This thrifted woollen blanket is going to be a playmat for my kids. The plan is to dry-felt a river and make trees and rocks and flowers and hills and lots of things the kids can move about and set up in whichever way they want.

I started with this tree. It is made using beautiful felt that I got from a new online shop, Me & Ewe. It is 100% wool and hand-dyed.... by my sister. She's taken a big jump into her own business and I'd love you to stop by and check out the gorgeous pure wool felt she has... and to say hi to my taller-but-she's-still-little sister!

For other spaces full of creative goodness, Kirsty's got the list!

My Creative Space - My Baby Doll

Remember old "What's her name?".......? Well she's all fixed up and it wasn't too difficult. Here's what I did....

Unpicked about 10cm of a side seam and pulled out the stuffing.

Washed her in the washing machine and hung her on the line (Steph, I can hear your cries of fear from here!).

Soaked her head in a bowl of boiling hot water which smoothed out the lumps and bumps and gave her face a good scrub.

Restuffed her with lots of new polyfill stuffing.

It is amazing what a difference these few things made.

She is now slightly less creepy (honestly, who can be that happy all the time!) and I must admit it is kinda cool to see my kids playing with something I used to play with... especially now that she sits up properly to be fed.....

...although I think I need to let me boy know that she is not ready for solids just yet!

Head over to see Kirsty for more creative spaces.

My Creative Space - Wallet

We have lift off....

A new project that has been bouncing around in my head for a while has finally been started. Let's hope I arrive at the other end on this in one piece!

Moon walk on over to Kirsty-the-Cleaning-Fairy's place to visit other spaces of creativeness....

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...

My Creative Space - Birthday Bunting

This week, it's about a birthday, a bunting and a new family tradition.

It was my Mr's birthday on Monday and a surprise arrival from Gina helped me make an idea that had been floating around in my head into something real .... a Birthday Bunting.


Each family has their own traditions, some we grew up with and some that begin with us. My Mum used to let us decide what was for dinner on our birthdays... this is a tradition I loved and look forward to carrying on with my children. And this bunting - that will be dragged out and hung for all our birthdays - is our new family tradition.

For more creative spaces, head over to visit Kirsty who needs a little TLC today.

My Creative Space - My Baby Doll

This is my baby doll and highchair from when I was small. She is well travelled, moving interstate and spending time packed away in the roofs of 5 houses as my parents moved around. I am very grateful that despite having to lug four lots of cradles, highchairs and dolls from house to house, my parents never thought of getting rid of these.

So as my kids are now starting to pretend, it was time for "I can't remember her name*" to come down from the roof.






The kids do a great job of keeping her well fed and making sure she has lots to drink.....


but still, she's in a bad way. Her stuffing has flattened making her way too floppy, she needs a good wash....

....and a bad position in the plastic container has left her head a little oddly shaped.... making her look just a bit too creepy. I apologise to those who will now have trouble getting to sleep tonight! But on the plus side, look how happy she is within herself!

So after her success with Webster, Dr B Cardigan has been paged and the operating theatre (aka washing machine/sewing machine) is being prepared.

For more creativeness, head over to visit Kirsty who is settling into her new space.


From last week: Issue 10 of MixTapeZine is on its way to Teddy Bear's Wednesday.

*OK, I'll admit it. She wasn't a favourite! I do remember my Cabbage Patch Doll's name was Eartha Ivy.

My Creative Space - The Sorting Game

A few posts back, I made up a board to sort and play with some dinosaur toys the kids have. I got the idea from a friend so I decided to make up a game for her kids.

Because she doesn't have dinosaurs, I made up a set of 4 shapes - circles, triangles, squares and rectangles - in 4 colours - red, blue, yellow and purple.

Similar to the dinosaur game, on one side of this game board, there are 4 white shapes. This side is used to identify the different shapes and sort them by type.


On the other side are 4 coloured blobs. This side is used to sort the shapes into the different colours.


Like last time, this game board is made from plywood wrapped in one of the kids' old fleece blankets, then covered with black fabric.

I also made a bag to store the board and shapes so:
- they don't get lost
- my friend doesn't curse me when she finds little shapes all over her house (not that she would ever curse me!)


This game is easy to make and could be made from scraps and recycled/thrifted materials. I had plywood left over from another project but an old wooden/cork placemat would work just as well.

I love this game because it is handmade, can be played with 1 or more kids and has some learning involved. I also like to imagine it is fun! Like the dinosaur game, I have plans to make a dice and can see potential for different games using the board and shapes.

For more creative spaces, head on over to visit Kirsty who is getting all excited about making things in her new house.



And because I'm silly, I have an extra copy of MixTape Issue 10 (the current issue for a few more days!). I'll randomly choose a comment and send the issue to that person. If it's you and you already subscribe, then you can let me know I'll choose someone else. MixTape is great, especially when read while lying on the couch with a cuppa or coffee or other drink of your choice! If you want to subscribe to MizTape, you can here.

My Creative Space - Assessed with Dogs

My space this week has gone to the dogs! My niece is obsessed - or if you ask her "assessed" - with dogs so for her 5th birthday, she has a new bag to carry her every growing collection of dogs.... and other special treasures.

I wanted a basic lined bag with a zipper closure, easy for 5 year old fingers to open and close, and secure enough so as not to lose anything while out and about. I have made and love the shape of Nicole Mallalieu's Make Up Purse so I enlarged the pattern and added handles.


There is fusible wadding on the outer fabric so it feels soft but also gives it structure, and I followed this tutorial to add a base using template plastic. I used two pieces of plastic for extra strength.

And because I had some little bits of fabric left over, there is a matching snap purse.


Thankyou to the lovely Miss Marzie for coming to my rescue with some perfect fabric for my dog-assessed niece.

My niece's party is this Saturday and the invitation says to "Come as your favourite jungle animal". Seriously??!! What was my sister thinking!
This is what I have so far.....

While I am confident I can talk my way around a leopard being in the jungle, has anyone ever seen a jungle cow?

Not sure what I am going to do next but if I run out of time, I could always cut out eye holes and the kids could go as jungle ghosts. Is it a spooky coincidence that Saturday is Halloween??? Oooooooooohhh.....

For more creative spaces, head over to visit Kirsty who just can't get red out of her space!

My Creative Space - Thread Sketching

Or should I say "My Frustrating Space"! I have been desperate to get refashioning and after seeing this beautifulness on Clutterpunk, I was on a mission.

I started by trying some thread sketching and was really happy with my first attempt. I think this was due to the amazing tips and techniques so well described by Gina.

If you haven't yet discovered Clutterpunk, pop on over and say hello. Gina is gorgeous and lovely and clever and she'll make you want to do stuff (good stuff!!).

Then I got started on my Op Shop top....

... and this is when the frustration set in. I wanted to create the same style of the felted woollen vest I refashioned earlier this year but this fabric was not as easy to work. The changes look quite simple but it seemed to take forever to get to this point and... I don't love it.


The square neckline seems to have worked OK but I just can't get it to fit well and it just seems... well.... boring. Maybe it will come together in the end but I'm not even sure I want to finish it. Hmmmmmm.


Head over to Kirsty's place who, although may be hiding under a pile of squares, will still be able to point you in the direction of lots of creative people to visit.

And if you want a quick laugh, have a look at what my Mum has done over here. This is the sort of stuff she did for my sisters and I when we were little. She is awesome.

My Creative Space - Dinosaur Game

I bought these dinosaurs when I was teaching after watching how much the kids enjoyed playing with them. And sure enough, they are also very popular with my two.

Aside from just good old fun, they can be used for counting, sorting and classification so when my friend told me about a game her husband had when he was little, my teacher brain* started ticking and I made up a game board.

On one side are white pictures of the six dinosaurs. This side is used to identify the different dinosaurs and sort them by type. There is also the opportunity for language development through talking about the different dinosaurs and describing their individual features.


On the other side are coloured dinosaur footprints. This side is used to sort the dinosaurs into the different colours. This side will also help with colour identification and recognition.


The actual game board is made from plywood, wrapped in one of the kids' old fleece blankets, then covered with fabric.

As the kids get older, we'll be able to use the dinosaurs and game board to make up our own games and activities. I'm already thinking I'll need to make two dice - one with the dinosaurs and one with the colours.

For more creative spaces, STOMP STOMP STOMP your way over to see Kirsty.


Edited to add:
A few people have asked where I got the dinosaurs from. It was through a school supplier just for teachers but I have found them online here and here. I haven't bought from these companies but I thought that at least you will see what they are called and look like if you want to shop around. They are expensive because they are a teaching resource.



*surprise surprise, it still works!!