Another baby gift

Baby Max has arrived! After writing about my lovely friend MJ and her Baby Shower gifts here, I've made one more gift for bub. Let me introduce you to 'Wombie'.

I had a piece of dyed chenille leftover from Harry's pram liner, and thought it would be perfect for a furry wombat. I'm thinking he can be used as a feeding pillow to start with, as well as a toy / pillow for Max when he gets a little older. It's just so cute, I'm thinking of making one for Harry too.

I followed a pattern from One Metre Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. I really love handmade gifts, and I hope MJ & Brett, and most especially Max, will love Wombie too.

I'm sharing at The Haby Goddess and Sugar Bee Crafts.

Ombre Dresser

The first of my house goals for 2012 is Emma's room. Having never really done anything with her room, and finding a few pieces to inspire me, I thought I'd start here first. You can find my mood board here. My first project is this dresser...

I mentioned in a previous post that I'd found a chest of drawers on the side of the road. Coming back from the beach I saw it, legs in the air and drawers strewn across someone's front yard, and thought, she's perfect! When you're learning to paint furniture, what's better to work on than a free dresser! At some stage she must have had a mirror attached to the top, given the shape of her back legs, so I'll keep my eyes open for a replacement.

As I'm sure I probably would have done given the chance as a teenager, the dressers' previous owner had painted her name all over. Including on the inside back of the frame. Hence we're calling her Jacqueline.

I've had these two gorgeous dressers pinned on pinterest forever. I wavered, but in the end decided to go with my original inspiration.

I was all fired up to finish the dresser a few weeks or so ago, when I realised that I had thrown away the drawer pulls. THROWN AWAY VINTAGE DRAWER PULLS. I spent a few days kicking myself, and then thank goodness, found some others on the net. (I am still kicking myself, but I will get over it!)

Here she is...

Emma is happy and so am I. She has some... ahem... blemishes, but we'll look past those won't we! So that gets the ball rolling for Emma's room - hooray!

I'm linking to Primitive & Proper, Make Grow Thrift by The Habby Goddess, Miss Mustard Seed, and  Primp Your Stuff Wednesday.

Baby Shower Gift

One of our truly lovely friends MJ is due to have her first baby at the end of January. I'm so excited for her and Brett (and secretly looking forward to cuddling a new baby too!) To celebrate, MJ's parents recently held a baby shower with all their family and friends. Of course a handmade gift was in order... can you tell we already know she's having a boy???

This was my first ever go at a 'quilt' - pickup trucks on one side and some vintage chenille on the other! It's bassinette size - I always found I needed small blankets / mats to take with me when we were out and about, so I thought this would be a good size. (BTW - can you see the gorgeous man in the background? Just before Christmas I picked up a wing back chair from freecycle... for free!!!)

The taggy toy is similar to one I had made for Harry and he loved it in those early days. Just as the books recommend I slept with it for a few days before he arrived, and then put it in his cot when he went to sleep. More of that vintage chenille here, along with ribbons of different colour and texture.

I also offered to bring a plate, and it was suggested I bring something that could go with coffee and that people could nibble on in the afternoon. So I picked up the ingredients for Rocky Road that morning and made up a batch.

In case you're wondering, my Rocky Road is really easy and yummy too. Here's my recipe...

• 1 x block of 250g chocolate. For me, the key is not to use cooking chocolate or melts, but a plain block of chocolate.
• 1 x packet of marshmallows, cut in half.
• 1 x Turkish delight, cut into small squares.
• 3/4 cup of walnuts, cut into small pieces.

Melt the chocolate over hot water. Place marshmallows, nuts and Turkish delight into a large bowl and then stir in your melted chocolate. Pour onto a tray and flatten to your desired thickness, then into the fridge to set.

I have one more baby present in the works for the day he arrives. Another book + toy gift like these, though I'm trying a different animal this time. Will post when he's finished!

And a home goals update - have purchased a mirror for the hallway. Just needs a lick of paint and it's ready to go.

Home Goals 2012

Over at the Nester, there's a link party on for 2012 home goals. This is totally new for me. Before about June / July last year I was about as interested in home decorating and improvement as I am in strip mining (that is to say, not at all). Now I'm into the groove, and going to get to work!

1. Emma's bedroom.

I've started a few projects here, but nothing is finished. For my sweet, all singing all dancing three year old I want vintage girly girl. I ask her what she wants, she wants pink. Here's a little of what's inspiring me...

  burlap letter; doily table runner; dandelions; book shelves; suitcase table;

union jack pillow; chenille pillow; quilt; dresser; spray painted kitsch.

2. The Entry
Right now the entry into our home is a nothing space. Literally nothing. There is nothing there at all. So I'd like to do something there - it's the first space people see when they walk in the house and I'd like it to say something about the people who live here!

Here's some thoughts on the matter...

entry; mirror; table; letter

wood; entry; painted rug; suitcase; entry.

After this, well, things start to get a little crazy. 'Cause actually every room in our house looks like it's barely breathing. But I am reminded via the link party to stop apologising for my house. So I won't. These are my priorities to start the year rolling. Here we go!

From the Side of the Road

Last year I was driving along near my home when I noticed a very large pile of 'junk'. When I say large, I mean spilling onto the road, across at least one property and spilling onto their neighbours front drive. I slowed down. I thought, if everyone else can find cool stuff on the side of the road, then I can too. And I did!

This thing was dirty. It had mold - you can see it coming up from the bottom of the picture. The previous owner had even stuck an engraved plate on the glass. But I knew I wanted a BIG picture for our bedroom and couldn't afford a frame the size I wanted. This was it, and here it is.

I was going to say that I'm not sure about the picture, but as it's been hanging for a day or so now and it's growing on me. I like the idea of the greeny gold for our bedroom. Maybe it will stay. It does reminds me that the whole room could use a makeover... I'm not even game to show a picture of the room! Let's just say we have a lot of orangy coloured stained wood. I just need to convince Danny how much better it would look with a coat of paint!

Since then, I've had a bit more luck with finds on the side of the road. This chest of drawers, named Josephine (her previous owner painted her name ALL over her!), is currently waiting for some draw pulls before being revealed.

And we got a tip off from a colleague of Danny's; he was putting this old wooden desk out for collection on Saturday if we were interested... were we ever!

So a few painting jobs on the go, and I've just gotten all my winter material out to start planning some outfits for Emma and Harry for winter (yes, I start early!) Nothing like being busy.

Thanks for visiting!

Catherine

PS. don't mind my blog appearance, we're under construction!

2012 - Happy New Year!

All across the blogosphere there are posts about New Year's Resolutions. I've been reading and thinking and revisiting to do lists, and then reading and thinking some more.  The thing is, I actually know what I need to do, and have known for some time...

All those things I want to do - drink more water, eat well, stop snacking, exercise, blog more - can be summed up by this. I want to take more action this year. I can talk a good game, but this year I want to act.

So on to a big year then...