Tag - you're it

I have been making lots of these cute tags.  So simple to make - just use a large scalloped craft punch to cut out the shapes, hole punch and leave as is or add a simple eyelet and some string/thread.

I designed these papers I used and printed them on card stock.  Here they are if you would like to use them as well.

Grey paper
Pink paper

Makeover Monday - Thrifty Lamp

Remember my (potentially) pretty glass lamps that I picked up a while ago?  I bought a new lampshade for one of them and doesn't it look great now?  I love it!  I got the new lampshade at Ikea for only $10 so the lamp in total cost $14.99.  I love a good bargain too.

DIY ping pong

A has had it stuck in his head that he wants to play ping pong (table tennis - whatever you want to call it).  To the point that he made the net himself and he kept asking me to buy the bats (paddles? what are they called officially?).  Before I felt like going shopping for them I decided to have a go at making some.

Cut two handle lengths from a sturdy cardboard roll.

Cut slits on opposite sides (just eyeball it). 

 Use something round to mark out your circles.

Cut out the circles. 

Squish the circles into the cut slits on the tubes.

I have to say, these lasted longer than I anticipated.  I think we probably got a good 8 - 10 hours play out of them (over a few days).  If you want them to last longer you could use some duct tape to secure them as well.  I was just buying some time until I went to the shops (and also seeing if the desire matched up with the activity to be honest).  We had a lot of fun using these on our coffee table before we got annoyed with the small size and I relented and bought some bats and we are still using the net on our dining table now.  I have played many, many, many games of ping pong over the last week....

By the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I haven't been in this space for awhile so apologies for that.  I have some health issues I am dealing with but I won't bore you with the details - hopefully it will all be sorted out soon.  Aside from that, here's to a great year ahead!

Pudding origami box

Well, Christmas is upon us!  Last year has evaporated and the New Year is looming.  I can't imagine anyone having any last minute wrapping to do - no sirree.  But, just in case, I have this nifty little 'pudding' origami box design if you have a teeny tiny (or I should say 'wee', Lee) little present you might want to wrap.  The finished size of this box is just under 2" square (~ 4.3cm) so it would be perfect for small jewellery.  A link to the instructions on how to fold it is here.

{DOWNLOAD HERE}

The lid of the box is the slightly larger square on the printable of course.  Just fold it exactly the same and it will fit snugly over the base part.  One note for the lid, the first two folds are to highlight the centre of the square for you to fold towards - to save so much creasing on the finished product just take a ruler and pencil and mark an X in the centre on the reverse (white) side.  This will give you a neater finish at the end.  I forgot to do that on this one and you can see the more noticeable fold lines on top.

I have to say, they are quite therapeutic to make.  These are the first ones I made.  I need to find a use for them now...

With that, I am going to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (or insert appropriate greeting for your circumstances) and I am going to be back in the New Year!  Hope you all have a wonderful and special couple of weeks!  (fellow Minnesotans/normally snow covered bloggy friends, where is our snow????)

Dollhouse Christmas

Christmas is arriving with the speed of an express train it seems.  I keep having ideas for things to do, things to decorate, only to realise it will all be over very, very soon.  Miss E and I took a breather from activities, home work, house work, shopping etc. to sit down together and decorate her cereal box dollhouse.  It was a lovely 'slow' activity to do together.

Gift wrapping

Here is one idea for gift wrapping I am going with.  I printed out some sheets of paper I designed last year (snowflake in red here, dotty stems), wrapped red yarn around and popped it through some labels I designed and printed out from MS Powerpoint.  I really like how these turned out.  If you would like similar labels you can download them here.  It is a Powerpoint file so you can add your own text if you want (plus in three different colour ways).  I also did rounded rectangle ones that are WAY easier to cut out.  That little notch in the corner?  Pain in the butt....

Oh, I just realised I never posted a link to the snowflake paper in blue...oops.  Here it is if you want it.

Advent calendar

Phew, Christmas is approaching with the speed of a runaway train it seems.  I made up these quick advent chains today for my two kiddos (look! a sprinkling of snow - it is late this year I think).  I already have an advent box setup that I will use with the kids as well but I love the visual effect this one has.  This is so quick and easy that you could whip it up today before the kids get home from school and still be on time.

I printed off three of my paper designs in my Christmas themed colours of red, white and blue plus I used a plain piece of white paper.  Cut them all up into strips, loop and staple, loop and staple, add a bit of string at the top to hang from a curtain rod or wherever you like.  Now A wants to make a bunch more to hang elsewhere (I think my detail oriented side will win and I might have to use double sided sticky tape instead of staples on that one...).

If these happen to be your colours as well, I have created a pdf with all three for easy download (click here).

Oh, I had to share.  Mini trampoline meet pear shaped terrarium.....  (Just to explain - terrarium was on lower shelf on bookcase, kids rested mini tramp on it's side at the end of nearby sofa, mini tramp was bumped and fell over, leg struck my pretty pear.... boo hoo - but, it's just stuff, and no-one was injured so it is all good! - what do you think my chances are of finding another one in a thrift store??)

How was your Thanksgiving?

Well, I hope all my American bloggy friends had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday.  We aren't native here but I really enjoy this holiday and I wish we had something similar in Australia.  Actually, there is an official 'Thanksgiving Day' in Australia but no-one knows about it and it certainly isn't celebrated.  I might start an online lobby for it to be celebrated in July in Australia - we need a good celebration in the cold part of the year so we can enjoy the yummy hot food too (obviously the most important factor when deciding these things).  Turkey in December when it is steaming hot is not the best (though many of us labour on with it - and add fake snow to our windows to boot!).

Not having any family here, we had a very quiet, simple day.  We invited some friends over for breakfast (which was just lovely and helped stave off any homesickness) and then we put up our Christmas lights outside (before it gets too cold) and had a very simple turkey dinner.  In the morning I put out my berry branches and punched a bunch of circles out of craft paper for everyone to write what they are thankful for to hang on the tree.  The kids got really into it and continued on throughout the day until it was looking quite full.

My son isn't a confident writer yet so he dictated his list to me - this one is my favourite.  I felt good that he got down to appreciating some of the simpler things in life after he listed off things like the Wii and iPod first!