Saffron Threads

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Frozen Family Fare

At the end of school last year, we gave out a few DIY ice cream packs.

What better way to say 'Thanks for a long year of teaching my children', than with a gift the teachers could enjoy with their own children and friends, over the summer break.

We bagged up sprinkles (chocolate/rainbow/blue-green/pink) and made some cute labels.

Added some colourful ice cream cups, spoons and a plastic scoop.

Wrapped some waffle cones in paper and attached this printable tag.

Arranged them in a disposable baking tray.

And gave them to our lovely, generous, caring, patient school/kindy teachers.

Monday, January 7, 2013

I Scream, You Scream

Summer has well and truly arrived.

So... I've taken it upon myself to celebrate with a whole week of ice cream posts!

I like ice cream a whole lot

It tastes good on days that are hot

On a cone or in a dish

This will be my only wish

Vanilla, Chocolate, Rocky Road

Even with pie, a la mode

(Vada Sultenfuss - My Girl)

These ice cream cone cupcakes were taken to Kindy for India's last-day-of-Spring birthday.

Very simple to make.

Bake cakes in mini cupcake tray (don't overfill them!)

Pipe a little buttercream icing around the inside of the mini cones and push the cupcake on to the cone.

Ice the cakes, going over the rim slightly (the messier, the better)

Add some sprinkles.

I covered a nappy box in pretty paper, and cut in some crosses to display the cakes.

This size is perfect for little mouths (can you believe that all the kids in her class ate all their cake/cone!)

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Simplify my Relationships

I have some wonderful friends. And for a long time I've wanted to acknowledge them on this blog. So it's time for some raps.

(Domonique Bertolucci thinks that there are six types of friends.

Most of mine fit into one (or many) of these categories.)

The friend that's cooler than you: Ange, Liz, Bek, this is you. Younger, hipper, and heaps of fun.

The friend who is up for anything: Debb, this is you. I text "bad morning", and you enthusiastically meet me for coffee within half an hour.

The friend who you aspire to be: Tash and Martine, this is you. Always interesting, inspiring, and encouraging.

The friend who doesn't know your other friends: Lauren, Jo, Adela, Leilani, this is you. My new friends! It's a privilege to get to know you more.

The friend who's honest: Jayde, Karen, Anna and Melissa, this is you. You give me reliable advice and feedback.

The friend you've known a long time: Kathryn, Ruth, Kate, Melanie, and Wendy, this is you. We don't see each other much, but when we do, it feels like we can take off just where we left.

There are others, of course, who I love and cherish and appreciate.

And if I see even less of you all this year, I hope you won't wonder if I'm your friend.

Because I need to simplify.

To prune off some lovely green leaves.

And spend more time enriching the roots.

My children are blessed to have 4 Great-Grandparents, but they hardly see or talk to them.

So much history, culture, and love to pass on.

And it goes both ways.

I don't want them to miss out!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Simplify my Homemaking

Housework never ends.

Even in our modern world.

Pass many hours of a day tiding, over many weeks, and you will not be surprised that many stay-at-home Mums feel bored and inept. It is monotonous and impossible (at least in my small children-at-home world) to finish.

But for some reason, tidiness seems to have become a mother's success measuring stick.

I'm not going to buy into this any longer. I want to look after my house (I actually enjoy many aspects of cleaning, and my house is quite organised). But I don't want my days to be crowded with stress about the toys on the floor, or the height of the folding pile. So I will be content to do what I can today, and then do more tomorrow. I hope that this relaxing of the rules on how neat my house must be, will give me some more time to gather some broader homemaking skills. Skills that we have largely lost because of our craving for tidy. Soap making, composting, mending, bread baking, preserving, and cheese making are all traditional skills that I have always craved to learn and use. Sewing and crafting are already practices that I love. I can't wait to cheer up my Mummy brain with this variety of homemaking practices in my life!

(Now, you might be wondering how adding extra things into my routine is adhering to my 'simplify' resolutions? To me, simple living is cutting back anything that overcrowds my brain, heart or life, and this in turn brings freedom and new opportunities.)

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Simplify my Ordinary Day

This time I have really put time into thinking about my new year resolutions.

I've been thinking about it for weeks.

Be better at my job as a parent? YES!

Be better at my job as a wife? YES!

Be better at my job as homemaker, Jesus-follower, daughter, sister, friend? YES!

It's a bit overwhelming. A bit burdensome. A bit full.

A bit what-i-do-with-almost-everything-in-my-life.

I crowd it up with dreams of more and better and best.

What I really need is some pruning.

Some cutting back the excess branches.

Some simplifying.

So, less is more for my resolutions this year. And hopefully I will uncover some fresh, green life underneath.

First things to be cut back are a few daily time wasters:

Facebook; Pinterest; Blog reading. Particularly on my phone. I check often because it is right there. Instead, I can wait till the kids are asleep, and spend a good half hour catching up then. Thinking of all the great kid moments I will no longer miss because I'm checking my phone, makes my head feel clearer already!