Hopscotch Throwing Bags

Chloe has taken a liking to playing hopscotch at school and there aren't many things to use as the throwing piece, so I made some for her. 

These are fabric rectangles, filled with rice and sewn shut, then a piece of plastic is sewn over top of it all so if the ground is wet the fabric and rice don't get too wet.

5 colours - using up my scraps

To show how big they are

Headband Holder

I was getting sick of finding headbands and heir clips everywhere so I decided to make a holder for all of Chloe's headbands. This decision was made about 2 months ago and this week I finally just made it. 

I had a strip of pink fabric left from when I made the binding for her cushions, and a nice long piece of pink ribbon which was really all I needed. I used a piece of rickrack so we could hang it on a hook, and the button at the top is purely decorative.

Full view - 3 sets of headband holders divided with some places for clips to sit

Side view

I just folded the ribbon and sewed across the top to make the loops

Rickrack for hanging (love my 3M hooks)

In use

Kids Room Cushions

I had been given a few pillow inserts quite a while ago and held on to them every time we moved. This last move has given my daughter a room of her own and I wanted to add some girly things to it for her as she likes girly things. First up was some pretty cushions. 

We went to David's Emporium to find some fabric and we found this heavy cotton that is perfect. She chose pink, purple and a spotty print. I decided that some contrasting piping would be fun too. It wasn't until I went to add the zip that I realised how much trickier it is with piping, but I got the hang of it and by pillow 3 I was a pro. I didn't cut the piping fabric on the bias, which is naughty I know, but I figured it would be fine for a kids room. 

She was super happy with the end result, and my boy liked the spotty one so much I had to make him one too. I put different piping on his so we could tell them apart, and he has a fun green zip.

Wedding cake - Moose toppers

When we got back to NZ I was asked to make a wedding cake for my brother-in-law. He and his now wife live in Canada at the moment and since they moved moose have been a bit of a thing. So I decided to do a simple cake with a cute fondant topper. Trouble is I have never done a real fondant topper before, and this one was going to have to be transported by plane and car from one end of NZ to the other.
I started with some trial runs to make sure I could get the right shapes, then I started making them about a month out.

The pieces - body, legs and head

The brides head sitting on a vinegar bottle to dry so it doesn't loose it's shape (I didn't have any foam)

Body with legs attached

Head in place

All put together and drying. Heads resting on silicone cupcake moulds. Flowers are just resting on top at this stage and her bouquet is drying too. The bride got a veil which the flowers were attached to with some more white fondant.

2 hat options for groom and bow tie

On the cake. I had them all made but the antlers came off in transit so I had to make new ones the day before. Thankfully I had made lots of each colour fondant and taken it all with me. I made the cakes at the location - a white chocolate mud cake and a sour cream lemon cake. I also make a dark choc mud cake as the cake was dessert and I wanted to make sure there would be enough.

Birthday Party 2013 - part 2

Wow, it has been far too long since I put something on here. Since the last post we moved back to NZ, my daughter started school and my son started kindy, we bought another house and moved JUST after their next birthdays and I now have my very own craft room. Last year I didn't have space to really do any craft stuff, but this year I have been going crazy as my sewing machine is permanently out.

But first, a catch up on the 5th Birthday Party. Here are some pics from the party (it was about 40 degC that day so we were melting!). We played a fishing game with magnets, pass the parcel, statues and water guns came out at the end. I have some more pictures on the other computer so will try and add more at some stage.

The Table: Scallop shell party bags on the left for goodies, dolphin and star shaped gingerbread biscuits, star shaped fairy bread, fruit shark and sea shapes crackers. My friend sent Ariel napkins, party hats and plates.

Finished Ariel cake. 

Hubby created this amazing fruit salad shark with banana dolphins from an image we found on the internet

 Finally, I had to add this amazing Toblerosaurus that hubby made for our boys 3rd birthday. He really wanted a dinosaur and after some google searching hubby decided that this was what he should have. I am not great with 3D stuff, but hubby took a round and a square cake and turned it into this. The toblerone pieces worked really well as spikes. The toes are white jellybeans, the eyes and nose are mini M&M's, the mouth is a slice of jelly snake and I can't remember what the whites of the eyes were. 

Toblerosausus

A 5th birthday party - part 1

My little girl is turning 5 this year. Where has the time gone? Of course this has to big a big party so I had to get started early. 

Thankfully she decided on a mermaid theme early and hasn't changed her mind, so I started with a few crochet creatures to get the creative juices going. 

The pattern was taken from here. I have since added another octopus, another fish and an orca.

The next thing I thought about was the cake. I had seen a few I liked on Pinterest and decided that there would be blue buttercream icing with fondant coral/seaweed on top. I got myself some gum paste mix at Spotlight and had a go at mixing it up. I have never worked with gum paste before but this was pretty easy to make. After last year with the marshmallow fondant I figured this would be a piece of cake, but it's trickier doing 3D shapes. The first lot sank on itself as the mix was too soft, so the next time I used toothpicks to hold it up. I am slowly improving and plan to try a pillow for a little Ariel doll to sit on.

Lots of coral and seaweed

Then I thought I'd better get on to the invitations. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and little girl agreed. I wish I had a colour printer here in Perth, but I don't so I had to go old school and draw with a coloured pencil and glue on cut outs.

Chloe wrote the names on Post It notes so mistakes could be easily re-done

Added to the pile was a treasure chest (see top pic) to be filled with chocolate coins. I am also in the process of making scallop shell goodie bags so will post pics when they are done. Only 3 1/2 weeks to go and little boys 3rd birthday the day before, and he has been requesting a dinosaur cake...

Superhero Capes

The kids were playing with blankets making them into capes and I was sad for a moment that I didn't have my sewing machine with me in Perth. Then I realised that I do have a needle and thread and that I am quite capable of hand sewing. So I grabbed out an old satin pillowcase that we aren't using anymore and cut it into 2 capes.

Final cape with initial sewn on the back in plain cotton. I did a blanket stitch around the letter and the circle. It bunches a little at the neck as I didn't do any shaping, but it really doesn't matter.

This is the cut up pillowcase with 3 raw edges. I left the open end with it's sewn edge - this was the top of the cape.

I also left the fold over bit there as I didn't want to have even more raw edges to sew.

I folded over the raw edge and did a large stitch along it to hold it down. I only had white cotton but thought the contrast would be fine (it's just a kids play thing). I sewed velcro on the outside corners for fasteners.

Full shot showing all edges sewn.