Guitar Strap

Ok So this would have to be my best item thus far. Last night i was getting all wound up wondering what to make jacko from me. So i went through all the things in his room and hello!!! i saw this guitar. He needs a guitar strap. So i now had my heart set. I researched firstly what the heck one looked like, then a pattern, then how to wear one, then how to attach one to a guitar. Lucky i went through each step like that because i had a few problems with some of the patterns id seen. 1- Jackos Guitar only has the bottom button, 2- i didnt know how long to make it and 3- i needed to make it adjustable but didnt have the stuff i thought i needed. So with a good nights sleep on my side. I came up with this. An adjustable strap with cords to tie under the top frets. They are also popular and i watched a demo of a man tieing one on. You could use a shoe lace if you wanted but i used some nice cord i had. I got it right the first time and i am going to make more!

Home Made Spice Rubs

This batch of beauties are for My husband and cousin. deano likes his spice rubs so these are for him and Johnathon could use a little help! Home made spice rubs mmm

Hot Chocolate M ix

This is something else for Jacko from one of the babies. I have the nice expensive hot chocolate up in the cupboard in a safe place saved for when we have quests or for a Family Home Evening treat. One day i went to go use it and oh dear!!! there is none left. JACKSON!! he has been having a hot chocolate every morning for breakfast instead of the Milo i buy for that reason. Hmmm so here is some for himself. Home made hot chocolate mix

Personalized Glass

 I wanted to make Jackson a snack pack as he is always snacking. We call in the Snack Master! i wanted to decorate a glass with some fun stuff. Its funny what you find when your looking. I found out that there is a product you can buy in the form of a pen that you can draw on glass with. Then you bake it and its permanent, dishwasher safe and all!. But alas they are expensive, about $9 a pen. i know that isnt much if you get one, but get a few colours and you may as well have bought a crystal goblet. So red it was and i know its hard to read but i wrote all the things Jackson will laugh at on it. The glass is one of a few things that will go into his Snack Pack. Plus you will be able to read it better when the glass is full of Milk : )

I Also used the pen on these oil pourer things. My dad and Dean have the same bad habit. Both take the pretty oil holders outside to the BBQ when they are BBQing. This isnt so bad you may say....well it is if they leave the pretty oil holder outside overnight or in Deans case till the next time he needs it! So now they will have a designated BBQ oil pourer that they are responsible for. And with the fancy glass pen i found they wont forget what its for!

Note Book cover

I made this for Dean from one of the babies. Its just a book cover. There is a journal in it at the moment but its a common size and will fit most note books

For the Bath

 More toiletry bags for Pop and Jackson from kealin and Tyty, Guess which one is for POP!

In my house its, whats good for one is good for all. I made these face washer puppets for charna and Kealin. But with these i will put the home made soap crayons instead of the cut out sponges. I think the older kids will like those better.

Wooked Picture Master piece

This little number is Kealins creation. He had a grandparents day at school a while back and bought home the picture not long ago. He wanted to use it on THIS piece of wood! We made it work and i think Nan will find a lovely place for it.

Wooden Key Chain

Ok so now we are getting into a little wood work here. This is a key chain for Poppy from Jackson. Most of the men ie uncles and daddies are going to get one of these they were fun to make and i know Dean liked burning the wood with that thing you burn wood with : ) Dean cut the pieces, drilled the hole and burnt the wood. What did Jackson do? He had the idea!

Recipe Book and Apron Sets

 I decided to make Kealin and Charna some cook books. In this picture they arent compleately finished i have to add the spine and my mother has one of those machines at her house so i will do that later in the week. Its a picture book. With some recipes in writing and some with just pictures.

 To go with the recipe books i made little aprons for both of them. Very easy! Aprons are quick to put together. My kids love them.

 For Charna apron i made it more like a little dress. This style is quite popular at the moment, gathered bust area and an A line shape for the bottom. Ive been making them a bit. I just shrunk it a little.

Iphone case

Another Iphone case for yours truely. I had to make one for myself from one of the little ones.

Slime Kit

 When we were thinking up gift ideas. Dean was actually the one to think of the playdough thing.....but you cant really give playdough to a on the cusp teenager so we thought up this idea. Ok back up we actually thought of making him some slime you know a grown up kind of play thing! but as i started getting the supplies for it i thought maybe it would be more fun if Jacko did the slime up himself. And Thus the slime kit was born

Scarf

This is a scarf i made out of some sheer kind of fabric i had and i just crocheted some little pritties on the bottom and added Tassels. Lucky Nan!!

Picture Wall Hanging

So not everything we make is something functional or cuddly. This is something i made up using all my "scrapbooking" skills : ) its a little picture hanging decorative thing with Baydans picture on it and a few little decos. Cute and i hope nan like it

Playdough

Have i ever mentioned the fact that i hate playdough? well i do. I would much prefer to make a batch of sugar cookie dough and let the kids play with that then at least we can eat it!! Anyway my kids LLLOOOVVVEEE the stuff. So to be a nice mummy i made some up as gifts. To Charna and Kealin from Tyren and to Tyren from Baydan. Bay will probably try and get his mits on some but there is no way he is having a tub to himself!!

Mixed CDs

So the lines of what IS hand made were blurred here. really what does a 12 year old boy, who only cares about sport make?? Our family loves music. Most days at about 4pm the radio or ipods go on and the TV goes off. Sometimes it results in more dancing and fooling around than cooking dinner or cleaning for the day but hey. So anyway Jackson decided to make mixed CDS for a few of the family members. I think he did one for me too but its not there as, shhh its a secret. I think it counts because he spent time going through music and getting peoples favorite songs together. I think there cool he did a great job.

Throw pillow

 So Jackson is always holding a pillow. HE sits on the lounge he grabs a pillow, he lays on his bed to do something he grabs a pillow, he sits on the floor he will scramble for the nearest pillow, and not only does he have to always hold one he chews the corner of it!!! so charna in her wisdom wanted to make Jackson his own throw pillow. Very easy two squares of fabric sew it together. Add a zip don't add a zip its your choice. Ha but lets be completely honest now! last week in our supply shop i found these for $5. we compared prices and the insert alone for this size is $3.99 and for an extra $1.01 the cover was sewn already. So Charna had a  blank canvas to work with and the only thing she wanted to do was put his initials on the front and a heart on the back. If we decided a while ago to do these im not sure if i would have taken this pre made short cut but really $5 for a pre covered cushion in a quality fabric i couldn't walk past it!!

Teacher Gifts

 So in the nick of time we got the teacher gifts out, as the last day of school was today. I always have done these since Jackson was in kinda and i got the tradition from my mother. She used to give lovely smelling soaps in fabric bags. Jackson gave his teacher coasters as well, as she had him for 2 years and its his last year in primary school. One of my favorite stores (spotlight) was having a sale on these gorgeous tins 3 in 1 so i divided them all out and made peanut caramel corn (who wouldn't like that) to go inside. I lined the tins with baking paper to make them be extra cute and i decided the theme this year for my "food treat" gifts was going to be red and white hence the string. I also used little metal decals to help secure the strings they add an extra layer of cuteness. I hope they like it!!

Hanging Jewelery Holder

I made this for my mother. (note to self tell mum to stop reading my blog for a week) I was really stuck for what to do for her. I saw one of these in a catalog the other day, and remembered that i have scrap plastic stuff from my bags left over. So this is what i did. I couldn't tell you measurements and things because i made it up, and i am quite proud of myself. To let you know what it is....its a hanging jewelery holder, im going to make another one for charna it was real fun.

Iphone case

 This is the iphone case Kealin wanted for his dad. I wasnt even sure how to make one so we thought it up together. Kealin chose the fabric and arranged the colours. Ok Ok the truth is that this is our 2nd attempt, the first one was too small and too short. And this one was just right. We padded it and everything. Kealin did all the ironing and measuring and colour coordinating. I just sewed it. Turned out pretty good i think.

PJs for Pop

These are the Pjs Charna wanted to make for poppy. I suggested a multitude of different things but this is what her heart was set on. I wasn't even sure if i had enough fabric (in boy colours) that would make a pair that would fit him. So after an extensive search we found this lovely pattern in an amount that would clothe a country, i hope he likes them!.

Decorated carry case

So Jackson wanted to make Kealin a box!! Dean and i found this carry case when we were supply shopping. I suggested to get loads of pictures that Keain likes and decorate the box that way.

When the kids are sick i normally buy them those kids mags that they have near the checkout at the super market. I told jacko to find some old ones of those to cut up. Could he find any? NO! plan B was born. Use old pokemon, bakugon etc cards to cover the box and then he said he wanted to fill it with the rest of the cards he doesn't use anymore. (Jacko has like a whole bunch) I almost cried what a sweet kid. Kealin has always coveted those cards.

Home Made Puzzle

I found these pre made puzzle pieces made from wood, and so i went through the kids books to see if there were any that were damaged so i could use them. Instead i found coloring in books with glossy covers that weren't being used anymore. Soooo i took the cover off measured everything up and again Mod Podged my way to another hand made Christmas present, These will be for tyty

Decorated Coasters

So Jackson told me that his school teacher loves the colour Aqua. So this set of coasters are for her. I made them using pre bought plain coasters, but you could make your own. Then I mod podged (yes its great stuff) the fabric to them. They have about 3 coats to make them nice and shiny. I hope she likes them.

Decorated Picture Frame

A bit of modesty here from my son. A Picture from Key to His poppy. He made me take a picture of him (although it was like pulling teeth to get this one) so he could put in a frame that he painted and mod podged. Isnt he handsome!

Baby Stuffed Beach Ball

Beach Ball anyone? I made this its a ball for my baby. Again ill have to put the link up for this pattern i will need to learn to do that first. Was finished in 30 mins seriously was great

Activity Case

Well She has to be done soon!! Charna again. I have to admit i did most of the sewing here but charna did all the cutting. i make a clear zippered purse that is smaller than this that goes with my nappy bag i sell. And charna was stuck on making a big one for Kealin to keep all his craft stuff in. The circles inside are old crayons melted down. I saw the idea years ago on Martha Stewart. You cut the crayons into pea sized pieces into a cake tin shape if your choice (i chose these little cake ones) melt them i a warm oven, take them out and as the cool they will release themselves. Other wise pop them in the fridge they will come straight out. And then she printed up some pictures of some Dinos for him. Simple but smart hey!

Toiletry Bag

Charna again! Yes charna is a go getter and she loves to sew. This is her toiletry bag she made for her dad. She sewed all the lines (as they were all straight lines) and i just told her where to sew. I saw this pattern a while ago on some blog tutorial i was reading and i just tried to remember how it went. thank goodness it worked out!!! And no unpicking!!! Ill try and find some links on how to do this and then get someone to teach me how to put them up so you can do it too!!

Carry case

So this is another of Kealins creations. He wanted to make charna a bag, while dean and i were shopping for supplies we came across this wooden carry case for a few dollars. When Kealin saw it he was excited he chose the fabric, the flowers and how to put them on. He is very specific when it comes to his craft, actually everything : ) Anyway i did suggest to him to cut the fabric into smaller pieces but noooo! he arranged it and this is how it turned out. I helped him trim and maneuver the fabric but really Mod podge does the rest! As for the flowers Kealin told his mumma where to put the clue (as it was a hot glue gun) and he stuck them on. I know its hard to believe for some people that my 6 year old  BOY could do this. Come over i say and meet him He is awesome.

Bath Packs

 So These are Kealins Bath packs for his younger brothers. Last week he was sick from school and we had a chance to sit down together and research some ideas. The face cloths were originally a hand puppet idea. I told Kealin i had some toweling and we could make them into bath toys, (my kids LLOOVVEE face cloths) so the decision was made. Kealin cut everything out even the spikes on the dragons but mumma did the sewing. We just made up a shape and i made sure the eyes were on very securely. For the sponges i just bought cheapy ones from the supermarket and Kealin drew the pictures and cut them out. I had him think about and practice what he was going to do first so that we knew it would fit on the sponge, and you could tell what the picture was when it was cut out. And Then He choose to put them into a clear plastic bag i had spare from sheet sets i bought, (i keep all these things) one for each pack. Maybe if we have time, and i can find borax we will make soaps to go in them.

Photo Cube

So i suppose the beauty of having young kids that cant craft for themselves yet is that you  get to do it for them. Unless you don't like crafting therefore it would be a thorn in your side but then you woulnt choose these activities if that was the case...Anyhow this is a picture cube for my dad, i wrote on there "for Poppy" so i suppose it can come from one of the little ones. These are featured a lot on the net there are tutorials all over. But i have two words for you MOD PODGE ha ha see how easy that was. Pick some pictures and some decos and mod podge away.

Felt Books

Jackson can create too

So Jackson has been busy making these felt books for his baby brothers. It was his idea and i think they turned out great, these will be a keeper for sure. So he layered a selection of colours together 6  i think in total. These pieces are A4 size and so he cut the lot on half and what do you know he had two books. Mumma sewed a colourful spine on them using a bias binding method, and then he did the rest. He has some pretty awesome little pictures in them. In Tytys he did shoes and suns and in the Bays one he did shapes and bolder pictures. So he really used his brain!! Love it

Stuffed Dinosaur

 Another gift my talented daughter has made, was this dinosaur. She used the same method  used for the stuffed bear. We drew the "best" dino we could onto some scrap paper cut it out and then found some cute fabric, pinned down the dino, cut around the dino. Then Charna drew a long line of the spikes and sewed them. Tthen with the help of mummy we pinned the spikes into the dino and then sewed it up leaving an opening at the belly to stuff. Mumma sewed up the opening and attached the eyes Whalla! a present for TyTy