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!

Thrift Store Thursday - doily bowl

Have you ever made one of these?  Stiffened a doily with fabric stiffener and draped it over a mold?  This is a very quick craft and great for kids too.  Miss E saw me make this and wants to do some too.  I have a whole heap of doilies from my Nana but I can't quite bring myself to make them into bowls so the thrift store will be my friend again (yep, had to twist my arm on that one...).

I think I am going to use this on my desk to hold office supplies (like my covered bulldog clips).

Furoshiki wrapping cloth

So, this is what I made with my stamp.  A japanese furoshiki cloth for gift wrapping and a little matching stamped tag.  I will do a tutorial for this by the end of the week.

I think these are lovely and simple and I love the reusable nature of them (I will be including a little note about the art of Japanese gift wrapping - tsutsumi - with each Christmas gift I use these for).

Stamp me

If you have been around here for awhile you might remember my foray into stamp carving.  I busted out my snowflake stamp for some plain white fabric.  I hope to finish up this project tomorrow and I can show you what I have done with it.  I highly recommend stamping fabric though!  Very satisfying.

On a totally unrelated note, I have had A home the last three days with a nasty cold (imagine green slimy nose and gross cough and you have it).  I never, ever tire of his Lego and Playmobil people setups... they crack me up and I love watching his imagination at work.

Do all kids like to line stuff up?  

If I don't get back, have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving on my mind

Well, Blogtoberfest has ended and I really enjoyed it.  I am quite happy with my effort even if I did miss the last day!

Did you all survive Halloween ok?  We really had fun.  It was hectic but a great deal of fun.  For our kids there is always that element of 'is this the last time I get to do this?' as well.  We never know where we will be in the next year so we really enjoy these things while we can.  For the record, Halloween in Australia (well, from when I lived there anyway) is not very big.  Some people might have fun Halloween parties, might decorate a little bit and so on but nothing like here in North America.  Trick or treating is pretty uncommon too.  It is gaining traction though so maybe it might be more popular when we get back.  It doesn't feel quite the same though as it is usually already hot by the end of October so the whole autumn atmosphere is missing.  Anyway, that never stopped us from putting fake snow in our windows at Christmas even in sweltering heat!  We are funny (odd?) like that.

Well, now that Halloween is over, we get to think about Thanksgiving coming up and then Christmas.  In the spirit of that, I will show you what I have pinned for inspiration for Thanksgiving so far.

Definitely making these for the kids...

Might use some of my blue mason jars like this for our table decoration.

My little fabric acorns would look cute hanging from branches!

I would love to build a little black bench for the front porch (need to do that before my garage gets too cold!).

I love this card.  I think I might buy it just to frame.  The illustration work is so cute and vintage'y (that is a word...).

Click through here to find all the original source links.

Day 30 - Quick last minute Halloween decorations

Halloween kind of came too quickly for me this year.  I have been pinning fun ideas, recipes etc. and then, bang!, it's here and I am not really ready!  Sometimes I spend way too much time thinking about and planning for something rather than actually getting it done.  Tell me I am not alone in that! (no need to respond Anonymous - aka B!)

Source: create.northridgepublishing.com via Catherine on Pinterest

I did manage to do this idea above though, at the begging of my children to decorate properly (you mean the electric jack-o-lantern in the window and the foam bat on the front door isn't enough??).  This isn't my house obviously but I used this idea on our front door (and side glass panels), as well as adding a couple of hanging black lanterns with orange candles on either side of the porch entrance plus some carved pumpkins and fake spider web I had from last year and we are looking quite festive now!  I will have to try and get a photo of it for tomorrow.

Lesson learned? - start decorating for Thanksgiving immediately and I might actually have it done a few days before the day!  Ditto Christmas....

Day 29 - why do they make lamps like that?

Well, the last 3 days have been crazy busy!  Between play dates, windows needing replacing, gymnastics classes, karate classes, school functions, girl scout functions and trying to keep on top of washing and so on, the last few days have been a blur.  Loads of fun but a blur.

I did manage one little thing I wanted to share with you though.  This is one of those ultra simple little problem solving ideas that just makes you feel quite a bit clever.  I shall explain my dilemma.

You know what I really don't like about bedside lamps?  Where the switches are located.  They are either up under the shade which requires having to sit up to turn off (yes, I realise how whiny and pathetic that just sounded but bear with me - I am guessing I am not the only short armed or very tired person who finds that annoying when you are all snuggly in bed ready for sleep) or they are placed on the cord about a foot down from where the cord enters the lamp base.  Why?  How is that supposed to work?  The switch always falls down behind the bedside table then.  I just don't get that design.  Why don't they all just have the switch in the base of the lamp like hotel ones mostly do?  Well they really should.  Maybe I will design a bunch of bedside lamps just like that and everyone will sigh with relief that they can buy them...

So here is my solution.  Cable ties.  Simple as that.  Tie that sucker to the bedhead so you can reach it easily (but it isn't really visible if you slide it down close or below the mattress line).  Now, obviously, I have the type of bed that is easy to use cable ties on but I am sure, if you have the same problem and a different style bed, this could inspire you to find a solution.  I love it!!

Day 26 - Random stuff

I still have my awful, awful headache (if it goes for longer than a day even after taking painkillers is that technically a migraine? - I can still function though).  All thoughts of crafting/making over our bedroom have been abandoned for now.  So far today I have managed to get dressed and fold two loads of laundry and that will have to be it.

Yesterday, I did get my movie program framed (not hung obviously).  Wow, that yellow looks neon in this photo.  It is actually a much calmer sandy yellow in real life.  Didn't that frame come up a treat?  I love it now.  Our bedroom is going to be white, grey and yellow with touches of purple when I am done.  I have some fabulous ideas and can't wait to show you.

Oh, I also managed to walk the kids to the bus stop this morning and lookie what I found beside one of my distant neighbour's rubbish bin?  Niiiice.  I have been looking for one for the kids playroom for all my indoor plants to live on for the winter so I can have them in the sunniest room in the house but be able to wheel it out of the way when needed.  I had a quick look at it as it seemed broken but there is just one little screw missing and it could use some new glue.  Easy peasy.

One other random thought, I just thought I should let you know that all the planets must be aligned in some 5,000 year random pattern.  Want to know how I know?  Not one, but two, family members random socks all matched up!  Amazing but true.