36. Vintage Baby Bibs

Bad Auntie Alert. These bibs are for my newest nephew Max who was a Christmas baby. As you can see, they're a little late. Better late than never though, and I love the way they turned out.

I found a 1.2m square Fiji souvenir table cloth at a thrift store late last year.  The worn soft cotton is the perfect thing for catching those inevitable baby spills.

I wish I'd made some vintage bibs when my own two kids where babies but really, at that stage of my life cutting up an old tablecloth and fashioning it into a bib was the least of my concerns. Which is why these make the perfect gift!

I used a basic bib pattern but they're so simple you could draw one yourself. All you need to do is make a rectangle then round the corners and draw a curve for the neck. I sewed mine right sides together leaving the neckline open so I could turn them out. Then I sewed along the neckline and added some bias binding tape for the ties. Before you turn it out clip the curved edges a bit with some scissors so they sit nicely and don't have bulky corners.






Little Max's Grandma grew up in Fiji and there have always been stories about life in Suva and paintings of Fiji around. So when I saw this fabric I knew where it belonged.

Bula!

Cat Party

Over the summer I've been helping a friend to plan her son's 5th birthday party with a cat theme. I can't lay claim to having made everything in these pics but I wanted to show you all of the different elements. It was such a great day, the kids had a ball!

Pin the tail on the cat.
Signs leading up to the house made by the kids.

Pinboard with cats tails in the dress up area.
Cats ears 
Paint your own whiskers

We found these great tins at a recycling centre for 50 c each and made a Cat Food label for each one.
They became the goodie bags for each guest and were filled with marbles, bubbles, and a chocolate.

Other than cats our other decorating inspiration was yarn.

The kids made their own ginger cat pinata. 

This says it all really!

The Cat Lounge - a nice spot to relax and read a book about... cats of course!

Kitty Kibble which was some delicious maple syrup and almond covered popcorn - yum!

Cat Fruit Monster
Photo props!

The craft activity was 'Make your own collar' using cereal rings and a cardboard tag.
Cat lapping game - the winner won a 'Best in Show' trophy.

Thank you Bel for having us and letting me in on the party planning fun, and an extra special thank you for making the entire party gluten free so that B could eat to his heart's desire.

35. Step Stool



I have to share this step stool make over even though I can't honestly claim the credit for it. This is my husband's creation made from an Ikea step stool worth $14.99. It shows what you can do with something plain and cheap if you have a little time and creativity. 

Here's the stool before it was painted. Actually, this is a new one. Our one had been left outside and was watermarked and looking pretty horrible.

After painting it red he found the images he wanted before printing them on our home inkjet printer. He wanted to do a Mexican theme so we have Day of the Dead skulls, roses, and of course, Frida.



I love the little circles of tin foil that he's used for the eyes of the skulls. He glued everything down and then when it was dry he gave it a couple of coats of clear varnish.

Using decoupage is one of the quickest and easiest ways to transform a plain piece of furniture and you can tailor it to whatever your taste is. It's very budget friendly too.

Happy crafting!

Superheroes, Cops, and Cowboys

January has been the month of dressing up in our household. It started with some improvised capes made from pillow cases, some glittery masks, and much giggling.


In the last couple of weeks I've been busy sewing costumes for Ben's preschool and he's been so excited to see what he'll be playing with when the term begins again.  His teacher requested some vests and capes and left the rest up to me (love!) so I've had a great time browsing fabric shops and sketching designs.



I have another two Western style vests to make and I'm on the lookout for the perfect Fire Fighter red fabric.

For the capes I couldn't resist making these gorgeous bird wings even though cutting out all of those feathers just about killed my ol' aching RSI arm.



If you'd like to try them yourself the tutorial is available here at pluckymomo.

Then came the rest of the capes. These are so wonderfully easy to make, even more so if you've just completed the wings above! All you need to do is buy some non fraying fabric, I bought a synthetic stretchy velvet which was on sale for $3 a metre. Measure across your child's shoulders across the back and add 4cm. Then measure down their back from neck to mid thighs and add 5 cm. Cut out your rectangle, fold over 5cm at the top and sew a seam to make a casing. Thread through a piece of thick ribbon or cotton tape with a safety pin. Secure the tape within the casing by sewing a small seam in the middle of the casing. You're done!




It's amazing what a little thing like a scrap of fabric can inspire. I gave the kids my silver leftovers from the capes and they fashioned them into superhero capes for their toys. The next 2 hours were spent engrossed in  a dramatic game of imaginative play.




It's been really fun getting behind the sewing machine again this month. I'm looking forward to starting on some clothing for the kids. I've already made Jemima a lovely soft cotton jersey knit nightie and a pair of 3/4 length pants. She's got very definite  ideas about fabric just like her mum so there is always some *debate* when we go fabric shopping together!

An Announcement!

It's the curse of the December blogger that when you're at your busiest making and creating you can't share it with anyone! Christmas is now over so I can at last show you some of the things I made for family and friends.






These are some vintage linen napkins that I bought at a market for $6 for a dozen.  I bought a hand carved rubber stamp set on etsy.com for $5 and some fabric paint that's set with an iron. After a few practice runs on some scrap calico I printed up two sets of napkins. I used the same stamps to print some plain white cards and envelopes using a silver ink pad ($3).




For my sister and her husband I made a picnic mat out of vintage linen. I bought an old thick white table cloth and printed photos of her and her kids onto printable fabric sheets before sewing it all together.

I've been working hard on this design for a special reason - born again creations will be open for business starting with vintage picnic blankets coming soon! I have a huge selection of vintage linens and I aim to have a selection ready for sale in the next couple of weeks. They'll be advertised here and on my Facebook page. Each blanket will be one of a kind with a waterproof backing and will be able to be folded up and tied for easy storage. In addition to the blankets I pre-make, I'll also be taking orders for personalised picnic blankets with photos and text like the one you see above. They make wonderful wedding presents or gifts for the grandies. Watch this space!

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