Spring Festival hulabaloo

Hey ya'll! I haven't been posting much lately, not because I would have been relaxing with our little prince, but because I've been busy busy sewing. Couple of weeks ago I tossed an idea to my mum of going to the Narrogin Spring Festival. She loved the idea and that was the start of two weeks of madness in our house.

For two weeks all the tables in this house were covered in fabric. I don't know where we ate.. Did we eat at all? No recollection on that one. We lost 3 pairs of scissors in that madness and had to buy one new pair (two of the scissors have since been found again). We got a new, though second hand, sewing machine to help us out so we could both be sewing at the same time (thank you hubby for that). We started as soon as we woke up and didn't finish until our eyes were closing in on us. We sew without thread (so tired), sang kids songs and had a blast.

 The day was amazing! So many friendly faces and so many lovely comments and of course some sales too. We had reversible dresses, reversible hats (for girls and boys), reversible headbands, nappy wallets, travel drawing kits, animal masks, bags, shorts for boys, dresses for girls, hair clips.

Most of the products were made (at least partly) from recycled materials, old curtains, sheets and such. Very nice I say.

My favorites were the animal masks and the boys pants that have the funky pockets. Gotta keep couple of them for Noah I think. People loved the reversable hats and the travel drawing kits as I sold most of them. Also the animal masks and the dresses got a lot of attention during the day.

Noah was hanging out with me all day and did so well. Many people were asking if I'm on facebook, so as of yesterday, you can see a button on the right collumn of this blog. Click that and you find me on facebook! Yay!

Thanks mum for going insane with me over the two last weeks and for helping me out. You are the best!

For another butterfly girl and a way to keep your hands clean while eating

Dear Matilda, who is such a ray of sunshine and one of Emma's besties, turned one. I made the birthday girl a butterfly shirt (just like Emma's, as seen here) and a girly beanie. Very fitting for a garden themed party.

We had so much fun at the birthday party. So many toys, so many friends and most of all so much yummy food. Yes this is my darling girl and I have no idea why she was eating the cupcake like that. Maybe to keep her hands clean, maybe to entertain everyone. Who knows what goes on in that girls head.

Stripes and pom poms

Yes it's beanies again. I just love them. Had a play with some stripes this time and ended up putting some pom poms at the top too. And one without any stripes.

It is cold here! The wind is blowing like a bull mad and if it's not windy it's rainy. I am freezing, but also loving this. Trees are turning yellow and we can cuddle up in bed late in the mornings listening to the rain thinking how lucky we are that we can stay indoors. And when the sun appears we run outside to take the few rays in, feeling the warmth.

Victoria's Place

I have been complaining how there's not that many people here who make handmade stuff. Well let me introduce a new, totally awesome, shop in town; Victoria's Place.

Victoria is an amazing lady who's turned this house into an absolutely wonderful little shop, full of handmade things. She is supporting minority groups by selling the produce made by individuals, not by big corporations. Isn't it just a wonderful idea. She also has one big room for joga, that I'm planning on doing this Saturday at 6.30am.. We'll see if I can get myself up for that.

She's got clothes, shoes, jewellery, toys, nappies, books. It is just purely amazing place. And the best part is,
there is a little spot that looks like this:

Yeah, that's right! It's my hats and beanies!!! Wow I am so excited and in awe that she wanted some of my things, that I've made with my little fingers, to be sold in her shop. And there is more to come. I am just so stocked! Happy happy happy.

Week of hats - crochet cap

This beanie is Emma's favorite. I've made a few and she keeps pulling them on and trying them out. And with the brim, she looks very hip. She's learned to draw circles, hence the paper full of them. She just keeps drawing and drawing, I'm quite impressed. The paper actually looks like something I might have doodled during a phone call.

But more exciting than this beanie and the drawing (well maybe more exciting than the drawing) is what's at the back of the beanie.

Yay, it's my own little sign. It looks so cool with it in my opinion. I think I have to do some sort of instructions on how to make these tags, because when I started doing them, I couldn't remember how I did it last time. Remind me, I need them instructions for myself.

P.S I've got something exciting to share for you all tomorrow...

Week of hats - 2 in 1 cap

You see these sort of kids caps everywhere in Finland, but here I haven't seen any. So it was about time to intruduce these in this country too. Now someone is going to tell me that you get these in Australia too, but I'm just saying that I haven't seen them. I made it reversible and added an elastic at the back so it has a bit longer life expand.

Some little facts that you might not have know about Australia: I had some visitors from Finland in January and it was a shock for them how much we avoid the sun. We have a rule with kids that we don't go outside unless we have a hat on. Our sunblock is pretty much always +30. People in Finland love getting a tan and sunbathe. Here we have adds on TV telling us how dangerous it is to try to get a tan. I know we get a lot more sun here and ozone layer has a huge hole just above Australia, but I also realized that there are a lot of people, non Australians, who think it's really strange that we're not all tanned.

I don't know why I thought of that. I think I lost the original thought that led to that information pack. Hmm. I guess this post goes partly under category random. Hope you're all having a great day!

Week of hats - bluebell

Oh I adore this beanie. I call it bluebell, because it reminds me of the flower. I miss wild flowers, they are my favorite. And inspired by wild flowers, I want to make all different wild flower beanies. This is the first one. I used cotton so it's very comfortable and not too hot even during the summer. I'm just in awe, I like it so much.

This time I used blocks to keep her entertained. As you can see, it worked pretty well. You stack them, you make them fall, you look at the images on them and so on. Blocks are pretty amazing and entertaining for a toddler.

I'm glad I took these pictures when I did, because she wore this dress last Sunday and somehow managed to draw on herself with a black marker pen without anyone noticing. Yeah it's pretty much ruined, because it didn't come off in the wash. Now I'm thinking of buying black dye and making it into a black dress. Hmm.. We'll see.

Week of hats - bonnet

Let's have a week of hats shall we. Why? Well I will tell you very soon. But for know all I can say is that I've been making a few different hats. First of a bonnet. I put ric rac at the edge and I think it just made it extra cute. I like the look of this bonnet since it's not the traditional type of hat that kids wear. What do you think of it?

I've shared previously ideas how to get good pictures of your toddler who just doesn't want to be still, here and here. This time I gave her a big basket to play with and just went with that. She was carrying it around the yard proudly, putting rocks and other treasures in there. Then she thought the smartest thing: "what if I would go in there myself." Oh the fun one basket can give you. 

Beanie - bepo, same thing

When my little baby was very very tiny spot in my belly my sister in law asked what we were calling her. She was pregnant at the time also and they were calling the baby in the belly "beanie". We didn't really call the little one inside me with anything at the time so she asked what beanie is in Finnish. "Pipo" we said (note: we said it, so she didn't have clue how it was written). A while later, actually on new years eve we got a message: "Happy New Years to you guys and Bepo! xxx Tom, Shell and Beanie." And since then we called her bepo. 

So why did I tell you that story? Because I just remembered it and because my little bepo is 10 months and I had forgotten bepo for a while and I want to bring it back and call her that again. And also I've been making her some bepos or beanies, which ever one you prefer. So here they are (two beanies are missing from the pictures, because one I've given away and one is for a bigger girl so way too big for my Bepo):

It was a beautiful day so we went to the closest park to have some fun and take pictures. Bepo loved the slide but even more fun was eating sand and then grass and then the beanies.

The instructions for the pink beanie and white beanie are here and here (though I modified and made my own way a bit). Brown one I made up myself.

Pienelle tytölle - For a little girl

Parhaan ystäväni pieni tyttö sai nimen viime sunnuntaina (ja mikä ihana nimi se onkaan). Tietenkin minun piti tehdä jotain hänelle. Päätin tehdä jotain lämmintä nyt kun talvi vaan tuntuu kylmenevän ja kylmenevän. Tein näitä hieman kiireessä ja ainoa mikä onnistui oli tuo ristipisto ja kirjonnat. Jos katsot oikein tarkkaa seuraavaa kuvaa (eikä välttämättä siis tarvitse) niin huomaa nuo virheet. Huh huh, kaikki siis vain sen takia, että en osannut tehdä päätöksiä ja sitten kun olin päätökseni tehnyt, päätinkin muuttaa ideaa ja kaikki meni mönkään. Joka tapauksessa pipo ja tumput silti toimivat ja pitävät pienen tytön lämpimänä ja se on tärkeintä.

My best friend's little girl got a name last Sunday (and what a beautiful name it is). Of course I had to make something for her and as the winter seems to be getting colder and colder I had to make something that will keep her warm. Pretty much the only thing that was successful was the cross stitch and embroidery. I was in a hurry to make these so i stuffed up because I couldn't make decisions. So if you look at the next pictre very closely (no need to necessary) you'll be able to spot the faults. Nevertheless they still work and fit and will keep her warm which is the most important thing.

Onko jo joululahjat tehtynä? Itselläni taitaa tulla kiire, kun en ole ehtinyt aloittamaankaan. Kymmenen päivää enää.

Have you done all your presents already? I know I'll be in a hurry, because I haven't had time to start yet. Ten days till Christmas.