How to make a play kitchen for your kids!

Every time we go visit friends or our playgroup and there is a little play kitchen, Luke spends most of the time role playing. So I have been for the past month looking into buying a little play kitchen for him, one who won't break the bank. They can range from $130 to $400! I really loved the wooden kitchens but of course they were the most expensive of the range. Ikea has a really cute wooden kitchen on display at the moment but still our budget just doesn't allow us to buy it. After a lot of looking around I have decided to make one for Luke from an old empty packing box we had left from our move. After just one hour putting the kitchen together I was surprised by how great it looks. It was also a great activity to make together even if he is just 20months old, he was very excited by the process. So here is how you make a play kitchen for your kids for less than $10.

Supplies:
1 large empty packing box
4 roles of contact paper (any colour u like)
1 stainless steel bowl
2 felt sheets (black and red)
1 empty paper towel role tube
1 kitchen tap- optional
play food
play pots and pans
Stanley knife
ruler
pen


Instructions:

1. Find a packing box that will be a good hight for your child. A tall box could be used for a refrigerator or laid on its side for a sink and counter. I decided to use mine on its side because I wanted to use it as a sink and stove top. Tape the box shut in all its sides. 
2. Cover all the box with contact paper of your choice. 
3. For the oven, on the front side of the box, cut across the top and ½ way down on both sides, to form the oven door. Place tin foil on this pull down door to represent the window to look through.
4. Mark area beside the oven door to make a cupboard and cut so you have two doors so your child can put all their pans/pots and play food away when done playing.
5. Cut three sections of the paper towel tube to make three handles. I made one wider for the oven handle. Glue these on the top oven door and cupboard doors with craft glue.
6. Glue the black felt on the top counter area above the oven and make two red circles with your red felt. Glue the two red circles on top of the black felt to make the stove top. You can also glue some milk bottle covers on the side to make the stove top controls. 
7. For the sink get your stainless steel bowl and cut a smaller circle to insert the sink. 
8. I had an old kitchen tap which I used as a sink tap, this of course is optional.

REDWORK REDWORK REDWORK!!!!

Its been pretty hectic around here in the land of OZ. Luke is growing so fast, he is a little boy running around the house and outside in the garden in the spring sun. It seems like it was just last month he was crawling around the house. Its crazy how time passes so fast once you have kids! So not only Luke keeps me on my toes throughout the day, renovations have begun here too. Which means, money is tight, trades man coming and going and chaos rains in my little kingdom. Our bathroom renovations have come to a halt because of lack of fund and of tiles due to no more funds to buy more tiles but most of Luke's bathroom is done. Renovation in Luke's bathroom will commence again in November but our roof and ceiling will be fixed next month because May's freak storm damaged both.

Spring has finally arrived here in OZ and all the flowers are blooming, magpies are starting to swoop and the days are becoming warmer. Most of you know that we have a big back yard which has been neglected for years from the previous owners, so with spring here, there is a lot of work to be done in the garden. Rob took this week off, so we could do a so needed spring cleaning in and outside our house. So since Saturday we have been busy outside picking weeds with Luke and trimming back some of the bushes. Also I have been busy with my herb and veggie patch, adding some compost to the ground and planting some seedlings. Hopefully my zucchini seedlings with flourish and all my flower seedlings too.  

So you must be wondering why my post reads Redwork instead of gardening galore? Because I finally started on Kim's wall quilt, she just had her third baby girl a couple of weeks ago!!! So I am making for all three little ones a Redwork wall hanging. Its coming along great, considering I have never done any embroidery before, but pretty much its all straight stitch in red embroidery cotton thread, a no brainer really. If you would like to know more about the history of Redwork go here.So as you all can see, its been pretty busy around here. I will post some photos once the quilt is finished because I don't want to spoil the surprise for Kim, this also goes for the photos of the renovations seeing its not ready yet. Here are some more photo of Redwork but not made from me.Well take care everyone.

                                                       Life at Rosemary Hill

                                                                     Bunny Tales

                                                                      Agulhas da Meri

                                                                     Stitching Cow

                                                                    Feeling Stitchy

                                                              A cup and a catch up...

                                                    

Just Keep Swimming!!!

Swimming is a big part of OZ life so we decided to enroll Luke early for swimming lessons. I think is a great way also for bub and daddy to have some quality time together during the weekend. Also I can go swimming and do some sauna while they are busy with the lesson, so on the end everyone is happy. Luke didn't know what to make of his first swimming and cried a little, his instructor told us that it is normal and by the third time he will start to really enjoy it. By the second lesson he was enjoying it more and cried less. When the lesson is over we change Luke and give him his bottle and before we reach the car he is in a very deep sleep. Its funny because he doesn't even wake up when we strap him in the baby seat in the car and usually he is very light sleeper. So now during bath time Luke starts kicking the same way he does during his swimming lesson and he just laughs away while mommy gets completely wet. So here are videos and pictures of my little swimmer. Also I added the pictures of the little elephant Eli that I made, its my design also which is the first for me. Hope you all enjoy!!!!

Winter = crafty projects!!!

Winter for me was always cold, wet and windy when living for 12 years in Holland and as any one in Holland I was always complaining about the cold, the wind and the darkness that engulfed the land during the 6 months of Autumn and Winter. Snuggling under a warm wool blanket with woolly socks with a nice hot cuppa tea watching movies was something that I used to love to do in the cold dark winter months. This has long changed since we moved to OZ. Mind you, it is still cold for us here, Rob and I even bought a gas heater to warm up our little house in the evenings but nothing at all like the winter's in Europe. My red winter coat has been left in the dark closet and has not been worn at all this winter in OZ. I guess I am still not completely acclimatized to the weather because when I go out for walks with Luke everyone seems to be wearing their winter coats and scarves. But for me its just a nice sunny day and only a light jacket is needed to keep me warm. It has rained a bit, which meant that Luke and I stayed inside most of these wet days, giving me a chance to finish a couple of projects that have been sitting beside my sewing machine. I also went for a workshop and made Luke a very cute bean bag to sit, when he gets older. The shop that gives these workshops has become my favorite fabric shop in Perth. Its called Hot Possum, it is such a wonderful little shop with a great selection of fabrics. They also have a lovely blog where you can see all their quilts and other designs. So I have been busy while Luke sleeps or has his naps during the day. I managed to finish a little pram quilt for Kim's new baby boy. Also made some baby pants and a little elephant (which I forgot to take pictures) for Isobel. I think Kim must be receiving the parcel next week, I hope everything fits the baby because they do grow so fast. I also am working on Luca's quilt which I hope to finish for him for Christmas and my latest project is a cute cover for my sewing machine. I am still getting used to the mild winter here in OZ and still feel a thrill that most days the sun is out and the weather is around 20 degrees Celsius. I wake up to see the sun shinning outside, the blue skies greeting me and there are no clouds to be seen threw most of our winter days in OZ. But secretly I wish I could use my red coat again and walk on snow to hear my footsteps on the white silence and feel my red cheeks become numb from the cold wind blowing on my face on winter mornings.

So here are some of the pictures of the little projects that I have finished. Hope you all like it.

Hello hello from OZ... anyone out there!!!!

Hello my fellow bloggers.....I have missed my little blog very much!!! Sorry again for the strong case of disappearance that has been keeping me away form my beloved little blog. Can't stress enough how being a mom has truly changed my life. Gone are the spare hours that I had to add nice pictures of holidays to the blog or great recipes that I tried one afternoon or even better yet, the little craft projects that I used to do. But don't worry I might be less frequent on my posts but they still will be added with great pleasure, just not as frequent!!! So much has happened, cant believe that it has only been 2 months since my last post (it feels like 6 months!!).

OK... update on the baby front. Luke is growing so fast, he is not a newborn anymore, each day he discovers something new in this big wide world of ours. He is such a good baby, cant complain at all. He sleeps through the night and always wakes up with such a big beautiful smile in his little face. I wish I could wake up with such a smile in my face every morning, it truly makes you appreciate your life more, he is only 4 months old and already he is giving me life lessons. He is a very content little boy who always smiles and giggles, I'm in love...really! Motherhood has been one of the best decision of my life, really cant complain at all ....I am loving it!

On the craft front... I have been busy making baby pants which I got a tutorial made by a great fellow blogger Jessica who created it just for me (isn't she awesome!!!). Here is the link to her tutorial (http://balancingeverything.com/2009/04/21/how-to-make-easy-baby-and-kid-pants/), check out her blog is just great! Will post pictures of the baby pants that I made for Luke and some for Kim's new baby boy that I made but it will have to be another time cause didn't have the time to take the pictures of it yet...sorry guys. Also I made a baby blanket/quilt for Kim's little baby boy which also I have no pictures....naughty Alex!!!

A couple of weeks ago I took the day of from Luke, it was a Sunday and the Quilt show was in town here in Perth. So my mother in law and I spend the day with wonderful quilts and wonderful fabrics to buy. It was great but cant say I didn't miss my little guy...it was the first time we were apart and it was a little weired. I kept calling Rob to check if everything was under control. But apart from that, I just had a great time. All the beautiful quilts gave me so much inspiration to make new quilts and new little projects. Oh and I bought such fantastic Japanese fabrics, they are so cute but also have not had the chance to take some pictures of the fabrics so all of you could have a look. But I did already upload the pictures from the quilts in the show so I hope you all enjoy it. Really Australian quilters are so incredibly creative and artistic, I'm so lucky to be able to see there work.

In another note my brother is getting married tomorrow but sadly we had to cancel our trip to go back to Holland because we could only get really crappy flights which would mean that we would have a 32 hour trip in total to get there and also a 32 hours trip on the way back and I just could not do such a long trip alone back with Luke. So sadly we wont be able to share on his happy day with Vivianne but we will be there in spirit! My father has come to us for 10 days and I can really say I was proud of him, he is 75 and managed a long trip to see his grandson. It was very nice to have him here with me. Now my mom has to come and visit also hopefully in September she will be able to come for a visit. We are also planning to go to Holland next year in Spring.

Well that is all the news that I can think of at the moment so till the next post hopefully it wont be too long. Enjoy the slide show of Perth's Quilt Show.

Luca's Quilt in Progress

I was waiting till I moved to my new home to start Luca's quilt which I promised him he would receive for Christmas but my mother in law just gave me the extra push I needed to start. I reached for the stars for inspiration on this one and I already had all the fabric tones that I wanted to use, just got some extra material from my mother in law. I started by washing all the fabric that I was going to use seeing it was kept in boxes for half a year. When I hanged all the fat quarters outside to dry I realised that this quilt will be very very special. I am sure Luca's will love it and use well in his new home in France. After some color matching and some cutting I kept all pieces separate for each star. It does make the whole process easier and I am thankful for Tiiu's tip on this one. So I hope you all enjoy the small slide show of the progress so far and hopefully soon I will be able to post the end result! Enjoy.

Leo's Quilt is Ninshed

Wow, I have not been posting for a while now, sorry everyone! Just MY HUSBAND (hahahah I still cant get used to that word) and I are again on the move so things have been busy, busy, busy!!! We are leaving Fredrick Maryland USA on the 8th of April -sniff sniff. We are going back to Holland for two months just to finalize everything and then we are heading to BRAZIL for our honeymoon!!!! Oh I cant wait! For the ones who don't know I was born in Brazil and lived there till I was 20 years old than I moved to Holland were I stayed for 10 years and also where I met my HUSBAND Rob.

We met great people and made very good friends while living here in the USA this year, we will miss everyone very much. Not only that, but we will leave one family member behind: LUNA our pet ferret. I am very sad but she wont be able to go to Australia (they are forbidden to enter the country) with us, which is our final destination. So this goodbye will be very painful to me indeed. But for all it 's worth we found Luna a very good foster mom (Rita) who will take care of her very very well. Luna already met her and loves her place so it makes me a little less sad knowing my little girl is in good hands.

But enough of sad stories this post is actually to share with all of you Leos quilt which I finally finished and its on its way to France with Uta, Lance, Leo, Lucas and Colin (Miss them all so much too!) I really was happy with the end result. My mother in law helped me finish it which I really appreciate it because if it wasn't for her the quilt would have not been ready before Uta left the US. Leo really loved it and immediately wrapped himself around it! And as he would say "Leo's quilt is NINSHED!!!!" Have a look and let me know what u think. Please keep in mind, that it is a very simple pattern and this is only my second quilt ever made! Well everyone take care and will post again when I am in Holland! As the dutch would say Doeiiiii (bye bye)

Knitted baby Sweater for Isobel (Kim&Kieth's Daughter)

After such a long time, I am finally having some time to actually update my blog. I also have finished three projects so I am very happy to be able to add them here. I've also updated my photo album with pictures from Christmas, New Year and some of my projects so if you have some time to waste, check it out.

Its been a crazy end of the year and a crazy beginning of year. Rob and I still have no idea if we are staying here in the US or leaving and if we are leaving, were are we going; Holland, Australia or China! So we are trying very hard not to panic and just take it day by day. I am busy at the moment organising my civil wedding that will be on mid Feb. So busy busy busy, I also started 2 new projects and still have to start with Lucas quilt but I need to take my machine to be checked first. I am at the moment going to some knitting classes to learn how to make socks with circular needles. Its great fun and they look really cozy. These socks will be for me cause I always give my projects away and I decided this year (years resolution) to make more stuff for me hahaha! The other project that I started is a bolero sweater(also for me!) which you can get the pattern for free at Lion Brand.

But this post is actually for the very very cute baby sweater that I made for Isobel. Kim gave birth to her first beautiful daughter on mid December and I was working on a baby sweater for her since summer. It is finally finished and Isobel received the gift on her mom's b-day (it was not intentional because I am really crappy with b-day dates of my friends)! I was very happy with the end result and it really looks darling. Its a little too big for her at the moment so hopefully in two months she will be able to wear it. Well enjoy the pictures! Big hugs to everyone!

Project from Hell: Bitch Bag

My GOD when I subscribed for the class to make this bag in my local quilt shop I had no idea what hell I was getting myself into. Everything went wrong! First the pattern was not available, it only became available two days before the class. So Tiu and I had one night to cut all the fabric and the iron on interface. We stayed till 2:00 am cutting everything and than we found out we needed to iron all the interfacing too for the class puffffff!!!!! So we went to bed and decided to do the ironing in the morning before our 10:00 am class. We woke up at 7:00 am to start ironing all the fabric parts with the interfacing. We managed to do it all in the nick of time and hopped in a cab to the quilt shop. After an hour of waiting in the class we were told that the tutor was ill and had cancelled. So one of the shop assistants was going to give the class she had made this bag before but some time ago. You can imagine what a mess. She forgot some parts, so my front pocket is missing a lining. Than we went home with loads of homework because, of course its a hard bag to put together and the assistant could not really give a lesson from someone else. So off we went and not looking forward to all the work we had awaiting us. The next lesson I had two doctors appointments and was only in class for an hour. When I got there everyone seemed in a gloom and I could see we would have much work again to do at home. Tiu invited Linda to meet us at home and work on the bag before our next class. So we met at my house and worked like labour workers in a Chinese sweatshop. Lisa was very upset because her Singer machine was giving her problems through out the whole project (I was secretly thinking to myself "thanks god I have my bernina!" I felt very sorry for her.) and she thought the tutor didn't like her very much. So on the third lesson we worked very hard but the tutor had to go see the doctor and left 2 hours early. So finally I manged to finish the damn bag. It looks ok but there is some mistakes but for someone who just started sewing 5 months ago I think I did well. I did have help; if it wasn't for Tiu I think I would never have finished it. After so much grief and bitching I don't think I am trying to make this bitch oppps I mean bag again! But please feel free to leave me any comments and have a look at the end result. Well hope you all enjoy the slide show. Take care.

Leo's Quilt in Progress (Oh new online album)

I have started another quilt for a little guy I know who is very very sweet. I decided to make two quilts, one for Leo which you can see the progress bellow, and the other for Lucas his brother. I chose very simple patterns so I wont get lost. This time I am making it all by myself(that's why the simple pattern). So I hope it will work out! Leo passed by the other day to monitor my progress and be sure I am using the fabrics that he liked. Talking about pressure! We had sushi which he enjoyed but Lucas didn't like it at all...too sea weedy...hahhaha Well have a look at the slide show bellow. Oh by the way if you would like to check out my new photo album just click the link or the title of this post. I am changing album websites because the other one is giving me grief! Ok hope you guys like it.

My First Baby Quilt is Done!

If I look at it I still can't believe that I have actually made this quilt. I had help, of course, from Sue from the quilting studio...she showed me all the steps. It looks so cute and its very fluffy because its flannel material. I think Kim and Keith are going to love it. I am really happy with the colour scheme and also with the pattern. Now I am scared to start my next quilt alone and be disappointed by the results...silly! What do you all think?

Bernina, Bernina, Bernina!!!!

Great news... I bought my very first sewing machine 2 weeks ago!! I'm so excited about all the good stuff that I can make now. I have to leave the machine at the sewing shop though because I don't have much space in our new apartment in the US. All the girls at the shop keep asking me how I can do that..seeing its a new machine and its the only one I have...I guess I will have to manage just for a while. Its a very fancy Bernina 440 QE (quilter edition). It really feels like having a Rolls Royce hihihi...

I really enjoyed working on my first quilt with it. Its a great machine it has so many features that I got lost at the bernina class. I was amazed of what I can do with it. Its costly but its a machine for life.

My baby quilt is almost done. I am finishing the binding at the moment by hand. I am doing this quilt for a good friend of mine who is having her first baby. I think I will have a hard time parting with it, cause it looks soooooo cute. I will upload some pictures when its finished. Cheers