WEEKEND SCRAPPING

In anticipation of the crazy week ahead, I made some time and sat down and scrapped on Saturday afternoon. My scrap supplies are in total disorder... everything is mixed up and just chucked in random boxes and i can't find anything! Hence, the random pages... i think a big clean up is due in the new year. My craft room is DEFINITELY not looking like this anymore!!

BITS + PIECES

* a little more christmas cheer going up around here... the tree is still to come out of the box, definitely a job this weekend.

* Josiah graduated Kindy this week...a little sad considering he is our last child. The same two kindergarten teachers have taught all six of our children in that same classroom, so I've gotten to know them well... it will be sad to say goodbye to that room on Tuesday. Not to mention that's also the day Molly graduates Year 7... packing the tissues for sure!

*I finally finished cutting my vintage fabric squares this week and got them posted off to Mardi for the swap. I'm so excited to see them when they all come back!

*We celebrated Molly's birthday with pizza at the beach, then back to our place for a sleepover. Spending the night with a bunch of 13 year old girls is...interesting...

*My boys have a naughty habit of pinching my phone and recording themselves. In one particular recording they managed to catch me in background as I dropped something on my foot...and jumped around and cried...they thought it was hilarious. Then they proceeded to listen to it over & over & over again. Apparently it gets funnier every time.

* I did some major renovations on a little old dollhouse for Hannah's birthday last Sunday. I've still got a few little changes to make to it, then I'll take some more photos. I managed to recarpet rooms, paint walls and lay kitchen floor tiles all one night! Now that's the scale I like to work on...

*I was excited to set up our nativity scene this week after scoring one at the op shop for $5. A few hours later I walked past it and had to giggle. A certain little person thought it needed something a little extra...and a Fur Real duck had been added to the fold. Obviously the scale is a little wrong, but she's staying. Whose to say there wasn't ducks in the stable?

SCRAPBOOKING

Firstly, a 'just because'...



I did this one way back in June when I applied for Scrap The Girls.
I just had to record those words...Mumma, you are warm and cosy just like my bed...
And the patterned paper was perfect for turning into a "quilt" with lots of little yo-yos and some handstitching...all done while watching some lame J-Lo movie on TV.



I made this one for Molly...it's her thirteenth birthday today... Eeeek!!
The criteria for this month's Scrap The Girls challenge is to use baby pics, so I thought, instead of giving her a card it would be fun to make her layout, use her newborn pics and write a little happy birthday message on there...

CHRISTMAS DIY bauble wreath

Remember the baubles I had been collecting from the oppie over the last few weeks?
Add one $2 styrofoam wreath, a dozen or so glue sticks and a couple of hours later... a kitschy cool christmas wreath, ready to hang!



First up I covered the foam wreath with fabric strips. This isn't really necessary but looks a bit prettier than having the foam peek through from underneath. Also, if I was to do this again I would use a flatter wreath, this one was a bit too thick especially once the baubles were glued on.



Trying to balance the decorations on the wreath to work out how it's going to look is pretty much impossible, so I just grabbed the glue gun and started sticking them on... starting with the larger ones is easiest, then use the smaller ones to fill in the gaps.



I would have preferred a few more smaller size decorations but I ran out in the end. Instead I glued on some coloured felt balls to fill in the smaller gaps and to cover up any big globs of glue.



And the finshing touch...this little lady! I was so excited to find her buried in a bag of odd decorations. She is the exact same kind of angel we had on our tree when I was a kid... and the one decoration my brother and I fought over every year...because putting that angel on top of the tree was like the best job, ever...

And now, the christmas decorating has officially begun in our home!

BITS + PIECES

* Tried to talk Josiah into taking an afternoon snooze...if mummy builds you a cubby, will you go to sleep? Um, no.

*Talked to the kids about their gifts and talents, and everyone had a go at naming what they thought someone else was good at.
According to Hannah, my talent is eating cake + doing the washing. Ha!

*My husband came home from work with flowers ( but not from him!) He often does building work for an elderly couple and they always send him on his way with presents for the kids, a bunch of flowers for me and a belly full of tea and cake. How sweet is that.

*The kids have been having fun with memory verses.

*I started a project from my Pinterest board "Stuff To Make". Feels good to actually make something, instead of just pinning and dreaming...

*Every week an elderly gentleman from church stops by for dinner. He always brings homemade bread + butter pudding and while I cook, he plays cards with the kids and teaches them Banjo Patterson poems.

*Took a photo of Hannah drawing on the chalkboard and realised how much she's grown since I took that photo for my blog banner.
And that I still forget to brush the girl's hair before taking pictures...

MEAN MUMMY

One of the (many) things we didn't consider when having six children was that one day, they would be bringing their friends home.
And then the number six very quickly jumps to ten plus...
Which for the most part is lovely. I like to make our kid's friends feel welcome in our home...and thankfully, our children have some great friendships.
So our weekends are full of sleepovers and playovers and in general, revolve around the children's social lives...which, not suprisingly are much fuller than our own. I'm sure all parents can relate...

But not this weekend.
I played "mean mummy" and banned all sleepovers and play overs for an entire weekend.

Yes, there was only going to be six children in this house for 48 hours if it was the death of me...

There would be no taxi service available. There would be no trips to the video shop or into town or to the beach...or to the supermarket for more food supplies. Full stop.
It was a case of find yourself something to do...and just do it.

It's now sunday evening and I am pleased to report that the children have survived.
Oh yes, they have complained, whined, plotted and pleaded...not to mention carried on & on & on & on & on about how utterly bored they are......but they have survived.

And I got to see a movie with some girlfriends AND I managed to get a little DIY crossed off my to do list AND I even scrapped!





Hope your weekend was a relaxing one like mine!

THRIFTY THURSDAY a little bit of christmas

To be honest, I've never really gotten into the whole "decorating for christmas" thing. Pretty much every year we travel back home to Geraldton for christmas, leaving straight after the kids finish up at school and usually staying for two or three weeks...so there has never been much point. The last time we stayed in Bunbury for christmas was three or four years ago...and at the time we had six children under the age of eight , had just sold our house and moved into a rental for six months... and were owner building our new home...as in buliding it ourselves. That six months was all a bit of a blur and I didn't even put up a tree. Terrible, i know.

But this year is different. We're staying at home. Family is coming to our house. And I'm getting excited about food, decorations, presents...

After finding this wreath on Pinterest I was determined to build up a collection of vintage baubles...which thankfully hasn't proved too difficult... Vinnies had huge big bags full for only 50 cents each!
And the added bonus was opening up the bags to find some cute little decorations inside that were exactly like the ones we had when i was a kid...little flocked santas, styrofoam bells, nylon thread covered balls...ah the nostalgia!

So this is on my to-do list... A vintage bauble wreath for the front door!

HEADS UP - DESTASH SALE

Okay... So I've finished a bit of sorting out and will be destashing some items in my etsy shop tomorrow! Keep an eye out :)

SWAP ANYONE?

The lovely Mardi is organising a vintage fabric swap over on her blog, The Love Supreme. She was inspired after finding this gorgeous vintage patchwork quilt at the Op Shop. Ahem, and for only eight dollars!! Lucky girl.

So, swap along and you'll soon have enough 6x6 squares of vintage goodness to make your own. And if you are needle and thread challenged like me, there is good news! Quilting extraordanaire
Janelle is going to help us along with a tutorial!!

So. excited. And ready to dust off that machine :)

So spread the word. The more that join in...the more squares!

Go here to check out all the finer details and sign up!
(overseas participants welcome too)

A GIRL WITHOUT FRECKLES

"a girl without freckles is like a night without stars"

i found a print on pinterest with this quote and knew it was perfect for my Molly. i think this one will go next to the mirror in her room as a reminder:)

this one is for the new challenge over at Scrap The Girls...a "classic" challenge of pink, polka dots and multiple pics. Come play along!

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE (free printable)

Another free printable for you :)
Download and enjoy!

jodie x

DESTASHING

I'm planning on restocking my etsy shop with a few goodies this week. Not anything new, just some stuff I've been hoarding. Like lots of pretty woven ribbon. I'll keep you posted on the date.



And a little sneak. I sat down and played with paper and glue last night and it was so good!
I have missed it.
This one is totally inspired by my new book Painted Pages. It's really just lots of bits + pieces collaged together. Not too many commercial supplies... and no title.
Next I want to try this on a canvas. Which seems far more daunting than a piece of cardstock.
Which is silly, really.

HOME SWEET HOME (free printable)

this was the idea i had in my head after i received these vintage sheet fat quarters from Lea a few weeks ago. covering walls with art + prints can be pretty expensive so lately i've been scouring the web for free printables and challenging myself to get creative. then i thought why not make my own...i have zero patience when it comes to working with photoshop and graphics but i thought i could do something in 'real life' and just take a photo of it!
a few days ago i got busy matching fabric + words + scrabble tiles and starting taking pictures. today i took a quick visit to kmart to get my first one printed, and i'm pretty happy with the result!
i've got half a dozen more waiting to be printed off...but here is Home Sweet Home...the first of the series!

And because i really want to share the love around, you can download and print the file yourself from here!

enjoy!
jodie x

going 'home'...

heading home for the week means...



playing farm footy.
that's where the trailer and the green wheelie bin become goal posts.



catching tadpoles down at the river...





climbing Poppy's mulberry tree to get to the best ones on top... lennie and i remember sitting under this very same tree as teenagers, stuffing our faces with fresh mulberries!



and then there was some jumping off the jetty...



once josiah saw all the big kids doing it, he was pretty keen to take the leap himself...



once he got up there though...and looked down...he wasn't so sure! There was a bit of deliberation...alot of running back and forth...stopping and starting...yes-ing and no-ing...and lots of egging on by his big brothers and sisters. (i think they were all pretty keen to just give him a little nudge (push) into the water but i'm glad they managed to restrain themselves)



finally, he jumped! And of course i pressed the button too late and pretty much missed it...doh!



yesterday we made the eight hour trek back home.
and thankfully we were blessed with one whole hour of this...