Medical party

My amazingly talented friend found out, while she was here, that she was going to graduate from med school. I wanted to do something special for her, since I can't be in Finland to celebrate with her, so while they went flying around Western Australia I got busy.

I got the medicine syringes and the urine cups from the pharmacy and filled them with jelly, lemonade flavour in the syringes and mango flavor in the urine cups. Then just some marshmellows as cotton balls, mints as aspirin and raspberry cordial as blood. 

Today she has officially graduated.

CONGRATULATIONS SUVI!

You are going to be an amazing doctor.

Dip your feet in the sea

If you ask me about Australia I'd say it's stinkin hot during summer and lovely every other season. It's dry and ugly right now and beautiful green every other season. Yes, if you ask me about Australia, I will tell you that summer is not my favorite season here. 

Then we went on a fishing trip to celebrate my darling husband's birthday and we found this spot:

Needless to say anything. We are obviously living in the wrong spot. 

And on our way there, this is the view we were looking at from our car:

Oh dear how breathtaking! So I will take some of my words back, Australia can be very stunning all year around. So dip your feet in the sea and enjoy the view!

 HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY to each and everyone of you.

Best thing is

Friends are an amazing source of strength and happiness. It's like free therapy. So after having my best friend over for 3 weeks I feel very content and happy. Where our lives were once very similar, we are now worlds apart. Literally we live on the opposite sides of the world, I am home with the kids when she has just graduated and become a busy doctor. Still when we get together it's like the time has been still for years. Nothing has changed. She's still her funny self and I'm still the not-so-with-it me. Loved having her and her husband over. Couldn't have had a better start to the year.

Picture is of us in Albany, Western Australia.

Birthday balloons // HOW TO

Here's another step to keep my new years resolution. Nothing says more birthday than balloons, and even more balloons that say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! So instead of cards I'm sending balloons around! Wouldn't it be fun to get a balloon in the mail and then when you blow it up, there is a message on it for you. I also thought of putting some little presents inside some of them. That way the birthday girl/boy has to first blow it up so that they can see the message and then pop it to get the present.

If you want to make them too, here's a quick how to. Just write your messages with permanent pen and go nuts.  

Not everyday is easy.

On a day when she stands on a chair and pees because I didn't give her the flyswatter... I am reminding myself that I love her and that she's cute and sometimes she is also really good. I am also determined to have chairs that don't have padding on them. I find myself also grateful of this heat as now the chair I hosed will dry quickly. She really is her own little person, she really is a terrible two at times.

Pictures were taken a few Sundays ago when we sat on the couch as a family and daddy did mummy's hair and mummy did daughters hair and daughter was playing with the son and the son was just looking at us like we were a bunch of weirdos.

My big bag

Yeah BOY, I finally got some inspiration to sew. I found this fabric on the top shelf in one of the cupboards when we moved in. It had been something, yeah something, I have no idea what. But that instance when I saw it, I fell in love with it and wanted to make a big bag out of it. Almost two years later I have done it! It must be the year of miracles. I LOVE it! I just made the handles too long, so I gotta look into fixing that at some stage, maybe in two years time. I have enough materials to make another one too, so I might just do that.

I have lately been doing bets with myself, and I wanted to see how much things I could fit in it. This is how it works: I bet I can't fit shoes for our whole family in that bag. I bet I can't fit all of my kids dublos in that bag. Etc.

Oh yes I can!

Oh yes I can!

New year - new start

I have never in my life made any new year's resolutions. Never! This year however I am making one. Only because I am ashamed of myself and I really really know that I can do better. I need to do better. My family and friends mean the world to me, I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for them. And last year was my lowest point as I didn't send one birthday card or present or anything to that matter. That all needs to change this year! I want my family and friends to know that I am thinking of them, that they are important to me and that they matter!

First step into keeping my resolution is this calendar that I whiped up. I let Emma paint on it and then I wrote a funny thought that I saw. I am now trying to fill it with all the birthdays that I need to remember.

 

Now it's on our fridge so I can be reminded everyday. I'll make a new one at the end of each month. Next step though is to make some cards to send. 

Have you made any resolutions? If you have, how do you make sure you keep them?

Urban turban // TUTORIAL

There is no better way to start a new year than by making something really chic for yourself! Hence I started my new year by making a very cool urban turban. I saw the idea somewhere in the internet on a Finnish site that I can't find anymore (if anyone knows where the instructions are, please let me know, so I can give the credit to who it belongs). So it is not my idea, but I will share you the instructions, the original was in Finnish anyway.

Super easy, very quick too and I think it looks darn cute. And the best part, you DON'T need a sewing machine!

1. Cut two pieces out of strechy material. First one will make the turban, second piece will be the rose on it. First measure your head circumference and half that. Fold your strechy material to that measurement. Then measure about 35-40cm up the piece. Start cutting straight up the piece and about half way start curving as in the picture.

The piece that makes the rose can be as long as you want. The longer your piece, the bigger your rose. Mine was about 35cm. Again fold the fabric in half and start cutting so that you are making more narrow all the way to the end. I started at about 8cm and when I finished the width was about 4cm.

2. Make foldings to your turban and hold them down with pins. Notice how I've turned the bottom and left few cm unfolded.

 3. Then take some thread and a needle and sew the foldings. Super easy, just go up and down with yout needle.

 4. Pull so that it gets a bit tighter. You can take the needles out now.

 5. Sew the straight part together at the front. I did all this by hand! Now all you have left is the rose!

6. Take your rose piece and start from the narrow end, sewing the two pieces together, again just up and down with your needle.

7. Pull it tight and you have yourself a rose! You can sew a bit at the bottom so it holds together.

8. Then all you have to do is to attach your rose to the turban and your urban turban is ready to be worn!

Lastly take a picture of yourself and admire how cool and talented you are. Yeah I did that, as you can see. Feeling very chic!