Pom poms

I saw a great red hooded towel (at Sambag) and wanted to make one for India and my niece Rayya, for Christmas last year. I couldn't get any red towelling or pom pom trim at the time so we ended up with a more subdued version of white with peppermint green trim. I must admit that the white hood looks a little bit scary (KKK like?) from the back, but from the front her cheeky eyes and grin framed by that string of pom poms could melt your heart! I found out afterwards that the towel fits Elara too, though it's a lot shorter! Though I used towelling by the metre, you could also easily cut up an old towel, and hand towel (for the hood) to make this. I figured this pattern out myself because I wanted the design to be just like the one I'd seen (!), but there are plenty of tutorials for similar online.

Blossom bunnies

These blossom bunnies were last years Easter gifts for India and my niece Rayya, just 4 and 6 months old at the time! I used denim for the bottom third of the body and inserted a small sack of beads in the base to help them stand upright...alas they still prefer to lean! They were designed by Sarah at red felt flower, or can be found in the first 'softies' book.

What to wear on Wednesday: Vintage style dress-ups

If there is one thing I enjoy about packing up a home, moving, and unpacking your home again, it's the finding of old memories. So this week, or until we actually move, I thought I'd show some pre-blogging projects and/or recollections that make me smile.

This is a dress-up collective that I made for a lovely friend of Elara's. All in bone, white and pink vintage style, it included:

• thrifted, then embellished, gloves
• gold sequin bolero
• bridal veil
• fluffy shawl
• flower and lace hair combs
• fan, and a
• pretty pink parasol

It turned out a charming gift, and so much fun for me, finding and crafting all these little things!

Easter

We've had a wonderful Easter... I hope you have too!

The colour of love

Easter loves: blue skies, brown hot cross buns, yellow easter eggs, pink smiling lips, green grass for hunting, orange eggs to paint.

Easter love is... purple bruises, red blood, black sky, white hope.

Autumn + pyjamas = snuggles

Thanks to a few weeks of rainy weather, it finally feels like autumn! This only occurred to me as I tried to find a second pair of long pyjamas for Elara the other night. One pair is not enough if you have rainy days and no clothes dyer! So, I put her to bed in mismatched warm, and not-so-warm clothes, and quickly sewed up these pjs with some fabric remnants. The next night she was happy to have proper pyjamas and showed her enthusiasm by spilling pasta sauce all over :)

Rosie

Last weekend, the girls and I went to a garden themed first birthday for the lovely Rosie. I made her a rose/garden themed crown, inspired by Rubyellen's (at Cakies http://mycakies.blogspot.com/). It was made to fit for years to come (one year olds generally don't put up with hats, clips, bands or anything on their head)! I hope it always reminds her that she is a princess to the King who made the gardens!