April 28th 2015 - Toadstool table n chairs

April 28th 2015 - Toadstool table n chairs

Today me n hubby nipped out to a garden centre 15mins up the road as I want a Lemon Grass plant as wasps don't like the smell of it.  They hadn't got any and didn't know what I was on about!

Well we came back via a small market town, we've been there quite a bit as they have the Factory Outlet Store.  We nipped in.  This was a BIG mistake (in a way) as cost me an absolute fortune!

Outside the front of the store was garden furniture and things and amongst it was a Toadstool Table n Chairs.  It was lovely!  We mis-read the label and price.  We walked round the store and picked up few bits and it was as we got near the till we decided we would get the toadstool table n chairs even though it meant we couldn't get any wood to do the decking this week.  The sacrifices I make for my kids!

Well we thought it was £40 for the table and chairs...... errrr no, £40 for the table and £25 per pair of chairs!  OMG!!! (bearing in mind this is NOT RRP but cheaper!)  BUT they did have an offer of table and 2 chairs for £59!  So we got them.

They are really lovely and we have been and cleared the weeds from in front of fairy garden for them, not sure if this is where they are staying permanently or not, but where they are going for now.  If they are staying here we will have to level thee ground properly and possibly put some more of the purple stone chips down.  I think we have to re-think the entire fairy garden and re-make it bigger like where it was before (where the mud is to) and place the table n chairs at the back by the fence, with the fairies and toadstools at either side.

April 27th 2015 - Golden Pants Trophy

April 27th 2015 - Golden Pants Trophy

To go in my story sack for family learning I decided I would make and add a Golden Pants Trophy like the one the Pirates are hunting are hunting for.

I picked up a pack of trophies in £1 shop, this is one of them:

I painted the bottom part and the stem with gold glitter nail varnish - I think it had about 5 coats in the end to get a nice thick gold colour.

I then hunted the net for a pattern to make underpants and found this one:
 

As you can see I cut it in half to use as I would have had problems fixing an "all in 1" pair round the trophy because of the stem etc.

I had some gold sparkly/sequin material in the cupboard which I thought would be great and look really like a gold trophy:

I drew round the pants template and cut out 2 pairs of the pants.  I also added a piece of material across the top of the 2 pairs of pants but this didn't work so I had to remove it.  I stitched the pants together leaving the crutch area open so that I could get it onto the trophy.  I added some goldish ribbon to the pants to make the "Y-front" markings.

I stuffed the middle of the trophy with pillow stuffing and wrapped some all around the handles and the outside of the trophy.  I then very carefully (and hard) got the pants onto the trophy where I added more stuffing to them to make sure the whole of the pants were stuffed and the right shape.

I finally sewed the bottom of the pants together and the finished Golden Pants Trophy looks like this:

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and so are the boys who the story sack will be for.

April 26th 2015 - Bird House

April 26th 2015 - Bird House

I bought 2 Bird houses similar to these from poundland the other week, I'm not sure what size birds they are meant for as the hole is smaller than a 2p coin.  I had talked about covering them in shells before they went into the fairy garden but lil man has decided he wants them in it as they are.  He has placed them on top of an old tree stump and said that they are neighbours.

He is so happy to have his little fairy garden and apart from the wind knocking 1 ornament off the fence (luckily it didn't break) nothing has been broken or stolen.  Which is really good.

April 25th 2015 - Making a felt book

April 25th 2015 - Making a felt book

For the front of my story sack I want a small fabric book, I thought felt would be the best bet.  So I started to look for a simple design that I could use.  I couldn't find one.  Then I came across this Needle holder book and it was just what I was looking for.

So I set about making it, mine will have 10 pages in total which I plan to add "reading/book" quotes to each page.  My initial idea was to stitch them on the felt, then I realised that the sewing would go through and I couldn't use the reverse side of the page.  I tried fabric pens and fabric paint but they looked really big on the felt and not very nice.  My last idea and what I am going with was stitching the quotes onto another piece of material and fixing that to the book pages.  Whether I fix with glue or sewing i'm not quite sure.

I am going to write the quotes in pencil on the extra piece of material and then stitch over them, so that they stand out.

The middle of the book where I have sewed them together

1 of the purple and green pages inside

The book folded

April 24th 2015 - Hair bobbles

April 24th 2015 - Hair bobbles


What a horrid day!  Considering yesterday I was sat out in the garden in shorts and a vest top getting a sun tan, today I am indoors in a jumper with heating on as its turned cold and wet!!!


Anyways, todays pin.  Despite being the only female in the house (the cats don't  count) I can never find any hair bobbles.  I can wrap them to handle of hair brush, put them in a drawer, leave them on the side or shelf, put them in bathroom and when I go back they are gone.  No idea where they have gone but they have gone!  Clips and slides are just as bad.

Well I found this pin about keeping hair bobbles together with a carabena clip - so this I have done today.  I took a carabena clip from the craft cupboard and have put my hair bobbles onto it and put them in a drawer.  We will see if they still there next time I want 1.

April 23rd 2015 - Decking Squares

April 23rd 2015 - Decking Squares

If you have been following any of my blog you will be aware that we are in the process of building a decking.  This has been a long process as we have had to dig out loads of soil from part of garden to move to opposite end as garden is on a slope.  Hubby says I have got to be the only person that can buy a house that is on a hillside with a sloping garden and then want a patio (we did last year) and a decking that is also flat!

We started buying the decking squares last year every time we went to the big town (we are in a harbour town with minimal shops) where b&q is.  They have varied in price from £2.52 each to £2.97 and a few were on offer at 2 for £5.  I noticed yesterday that b&q had the decking squares we are using reduced to £2 each, I know that isn't much of a saving, but when your doing a big area on a limited budget it helps. 

I transferred £16 from the savings account (now has £2 in it!) and hubby got £4 for his petrol to a meeting today, I was given £10 that a friend owed me yesterday and we were going to use £10 from main bank account so £30 in total and 15 squares, when we got there they only had 25 squares (I needed 35 to complete area) so we bought all 25, yes it cost us more than we had planned BUT we don't know when they will be getting any more in stock - its a "as and when they arrive item" according to the store. 

We are stuck however, we don't have the wood for the frame work so work has had to stop until next week when hubby gets paid so we can buy some more timber lengths and carry on again.  I will have a decking by summer, but today and the past week has been like summer - very hot, garden thermometer is reading 26C.  If we have temps like that in April what is July and August going be???  I can't wait!

Today I have been sat around in the sun doing not a lot as I have re-hurt my knee after doing lots of walking and standing yesterday.  But I can cope with lounging around in the sun!!

April 22nd 2015 - Family Learning Story sacks

April 22nd 2015 - Family Learning Story sacks

Family Learning at the school has started a new course today - Story sacks.  This envolves us parents making a story sack based on a book.

We sat and discussed ideas that we could put in 1 based on a story about night pirates and included things like a pirate hat and eye patch, treasure chest and treasure, story book, fact book, map, material for the sea, moon and stars, a boat or ship, pirate puppets/finger puppets, pirate toys etc.

By next wednesday we need to have a story book and some ideas of what we are going to include in it.  Having 2 children at the school that did the last course with me I have got to decide if i'm making 1 between them (but as different ages this could be hard), or if i'm going to make 2 which means that they may not be as good as just 1.

I think this course could turn out to be really good.