baking tray printing

If you are a parent or carer at home with pre-schoolers (or even schoolers now that the holidays have started) and looking for creative activities to keep them occupied then look here for a multitude of ideas by Amber, a clever mum with her own "two little craftmonkeys". You can even sign up and have weekly inspiration popped into your inbox. Too easy.

Today we made our own hand printed Christmas Cards using this tutorial. Ruby (who is 4) was able to do most of this on her own with just a little assistance. She was just beaming with a sense of achievement at the end.



The thing I like about this activity is that other than a paint roller (which we purchased at the local hardware store for a couple of dollars) everything else you will need is probably in your house. This is good for me as I tend to do things on the spur of the moment with little (ok honestly usually no) forward planning. Yes Mum.... nothing has changed! Often my ways lead me to creative thinking as I'm left to find substitutes for ingredients or materials I don't have at hand. This has resulted in some disasters along the way but also made the making fun and the end product uniquely ours.

handmade advent

I made a decision that I wanted to make an advent calendar this year - something with fabric (of course) - but what?

Unfortunately that question remained unanswered for quite some time until I hit Flickr for inspiration. So many clever people out there!! My palms get sweaty with excitement sometimes when I'm glued to the computer drooling at the wonders created by crafty folk all over the world. Seriously, if you ever feel like you've hit a creative brick wall, just head over the flickr.com and search the topic of whatever it is you're attempting to create and "voila"..... you'll be back in business!!

Here's my proof.

1. Lego City advent calendar 7724, 2. kids' drawings, vintage print, 3. advent calendar? christmas tree decoration? popcorn bags?, 4. Advent Mantle, 5. Day 1, 6. Advent calendar 2008, 7. Advent Calendar 2007, 8. Advent Calendar, 9. Sankt Nikolaus today

Aren't they just fabulous?

So reinvigorated I came up with these little xmas socks. When I say "little" I do mean this literally as in hind sight they are a tad too small for practical goodies. Oh well.... I'm sure size is overrated! They look cute.

We missed the first 2 days this year but I think my little ones will forgive me and be more than happy with 22 surprises. I've mixed them up with a few sweets (which were discovered by the sniffer dogs within the first hour - mental note - keep chocolate in the pantry until the day of opening), treasure hunts and special outings (christmas lights, museum, beach, bowling etc).

This year due to time constraints I've stuck the numbers on but next year I plan to come up with numbered buttons as a more permanent decoration. I think they'd also appreciate a little adornment with the odd ribbon or trim. Anyway, that's for next year.

Also this week I managed to bake these gingerbread christmas tree biscuits for the kindy fundraiser.

I had to hide them from the kids and then buy them one each at the party. Yes! Slightly odd things to do - you see I stuffed up the recipe (while talking to DH I added too much flour) then to totally finish it off I burnt them in the oven. Total disaster! So after a trip to the supermarket for extra eggs I finally managed to bake 14 cookies which was just enough. Oh yeah, and I was doingall of this on the day of the event..... typical Fiona style!

Are you feeling creative this Christmas? If not, check out what others are up to here and get your handmade jiggy on!

and the winners are...

Chloe + Kaycee

Now the funny thing is that you both requested the same bird hammer toy! What were the chances of this happening? I think the only fair solution is to make a second hammer toy with the same fabrics. It's nice to know some of my designs can be equally popular with both genders.

Thankyou to all of you who took the time to enter the giveaway. While I'm feeling all festive and oh so generous I do have a runner up (this means everyone who didn't win) solution to offer. It goes like this...

For those of you who have fallen in love with the toy of your choice (and how could you not? :) I'm happy to reduce the selected toy price from $20 to $12 (plus the cost of shipping) for the remainder of the week, with Sunday 6th December 2009 the final day to purchase with this offer. This is the cut off day for international shipping orders before Xmas, so I can get them posted to you on the Monday.

If you would like to take up this offer please leave me a comment with your email address, or alternatively email me at: fee dot dyer at gmail dot com . I will require your Etsy Username (free to join if you are not currently registered) so I can adjust the listing to your reduced buying price.

If this all sounds confusing, it's really not, it's probably just my "I'm writing this at 1am" way of explaining it!

Time for zzzzzzz. Nighty night.

new packaging

I've managed to get one thing crossed off my list - new packaging. Yay! I know it's very simple but hey, that's me. Found these cellophane bags here on Ebay. These Etsy postcards are no longer available (I purchased them in 2008) but they are a great way of promoting both Etsy and myself as I've attached fede stickers to each one. The swing tags I designed and printed myself.

Maybe this means I am one step closer to biting the bullet and taking that stand at the Stitches and Craft Show in Adelaide in March.....

Last day today to enter the XMAS GIVEAWAY. One of these toys could be yours!

my saturday

The last 2 mornings I have been the first out of bed. This is not normal! The early riser in the family is out of sorts with a broken big toe. Broken in 3 places by a concrete sleeper...yeah...ouch!

So Sach and I got started making the regular Saturday morning pancakes. When it comes to making anything of the sweet variety in the kitchen this kid insists on taste testing everything that goes in. Raw eggs, flour, butter ....you name it, he'll give it a try - and then claim that it is "nice". He's hilarious!

Make a Smilebox collage

I'm excited about Christmas. I know I've already said this, but I am! The last 2 years have been way too busy to relax & enjoy the festivities (both times moving house & renovating), so this year I'm going to make up for it. My brother and his 7.5 month pregnant wife are coming to Adelaide this week and we're having a Christmas themed evening at our house. Planned my menu today - roast beef, roast vegie free-form pies, roast smashed potatoes, green beans with pine nut butter and for dessert, a fruit mince and apple crumble tart (I know this will definitely be a winner with my dad).

I'm feeling this week ahead is going to be one of those crazy ones. We have a day surgery hospital visit, baking to be done for a Kindy fundraiser, a Kindy Xmas Party, the Wiggles Concert, a family dinner to host, the outside renovations & tradesmen to be managed, toys to be finished and a fat footed husband to be taking care of. All of this on top of the normal weeks activities with 2 pre-schoolers. I'm taking a deep breath.

Make a Smilebox collage

So we finished our day today with a pizza picnic on the loungeroom floor while watching Scooby Doo. Simple Saturday. Fun day. One of those days where everyone was just happy to be at home. Dad with his foot up on ice, daughter happy to snuggle next to him, and son entertained for hours trying to sinc the wiggles music on the computer with his wiggles guitar (nothing like a bit of "hot potato" distortion).

I tried this Smilebox software tonight which is not really what I was aiming for, but I can see it has potential to be fun in other ways. Seems to have some great capabilities for slideshows - must go and check it out a bit more.

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Don't forget to enter the Xmas Toy Giveaway to be drawn on Dec 1st. Two readers will be winning the toy of their choice from my Etsy shop. Good luck!
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xmas giveaway

Ho Ho Ho

The festive season is here and I'm in the mood to giveaway fede toys to two lucky readers.

UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS TO CHLOE & KAYCEE - YOU ARE THE WINNERS!! See here if you entered

In fact I'm feeling so warm and fuzzy, I'm going to let you take your pick from my shop here (select your favourite $20 toy) and leave me a message with the details as listed below.

I'll be picking the names out of my Santa hat and announcing the winners here on Tuesday December 1st, one for a boy and one for a girl.

Please remember to leave me the following details

1. your name

2. the toy you wish to receive

3. is it for a boy or girl

Good luck!

5 weeks?? no way!

Ok yes I concede it has been 5 long weeks since I've popped in to share my wisdom with you..... err hem.... which should mean that I have a super informative, intelligent post to write today. Should mean. But what it actually means is that I have so many things swimming in my head that I really don't know where to start. Here's my attempt at a summary.

1. Spent 12 wonderful nights on the Gold Coast in sunny Queensland - swimming, theme-parking, eating, drinking, walking & lots of laughing

2. Man of the house resigned from his job and has now spent a total of 34 consecutive days at home with us - all good!! I'm not one of those wives to complain when he's home..... I love it. After all, he is my best friend and we work well together as a team. It's just such a shame one of us has to earn an income... lottery win would be handy!

3. Decided to stretch Christmas to it's full potential this year and put the Christmas Tree up on November 15th (day after our Xmas Pageant). Why not? The kids are so excited... it's contagious

4. Outside renovations have started.... yay! Today is day 4, fence posts are going in as we speak.

5. Had an interview with the Herald Sun for an upcoming article about me & my toys... stay tuned

6. Sachin fell out of the car on his face (yep hands didn't get there) and looked like a patchwork for a few weeks

7. Adelaide had a unseasonal record heatwave for November with 10 days over 30 degrees (Celsius) and the hottest ever November day at 43 degrees (109.4 F)

8. The new golf club baby rattles finally made it into my fede shop

9. The beautiful glass mosaic splashback has been installed in the kitchen (only took 12 months) - thanks Frank! Yes, I love it. Photos will come soon.

10. Sachin learnt to ride his bike, pee on the toilet & use the computer mouse all in one week!