Double Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cucumber Sandwiches

Well, a lack of chocolate in the house (again...I try!) had me hunting for a choc-chip cookie recipe on Monday! I decided that better than a choc-chip cookie was a double choc-chip cookie!

I looked through about 4 different recipe books (all claiming to be cookie lover heaven!) and couldn't find exactly what I wanted - so I decided to get creative again and make up my own! I started with an easy cookie base of butter, sugars, egg and flour...

My Daisy Girl is 8 Months Old

Time flies when you're having fun...

It seems only recently I was gushing {on my oh so new blog} over the fact my little baby bundle was 4 months old! Well, 4 months has passed and that little bundle has changed oh so very much!

She's a crawling, laughing, pointing, clapping, giggling, babbling 8 month old!

We grow more and more in love with her every day! She's just divine!

That expression "I could eat you up" became true the day we brought her home and I've been on the verge of taking a big bite out of this scrumptious girl for the last 8 months!! ;)

"Train a child in the way {she} should go and when {she} is old {she} will not turn from it"

Proverbs 22:6

Funtastic New Fabric!

Fabric-a-dabra!

It's no secret that I love new fabric! 

It's just one of those things I love - having a new pile 

of fabric to fold and unfold is just fabulous!

So it's no doubt a 40% off sale can get me to the shops quickly! 

{Well, in truth, I left it until the last sale day, an hour before closing actually!} 

Thankfully Miss Daisy decided to have a big afternoon sleep, so Daddy got to sit on the couch and Mummy was able to go and sift through fabrics on her own!

I love the feeling of grabbing a trolley at Spotlight with the intention of filling it up! 

And fill it up I did! 

things that go bump! {#2}

{N's Baby Bump}

Shhh... don't tell anyone, but this post is a little late... this brilliant bump is now a beautiful baby girl who resides on the outside of her mummy's tummy! But they are such stunning shots of a beautiful mummy and her daughters - so late or not, I want to share!

When I'm a Mommy

"When I grow up I want 

to be a mummy - a very 

good mummy - the VERY 

BEST mummy!"

One of the things I loved about teaching was discussing "When I grow up..." 
We all know children say the most wonderful things in their childish innocence and deciding on what they want to do for the rest of their life at the age of 5 can definitely be included in a list of 'cute things children say.'

Easter Craft Egg-stravaganza!

My little Daisy-girl is not quite big enough to make Easter Craft with me, particularly the sew-and-tell variety that I'd love to make! But that didn't stop me from searching high and low for beautiful Easter crafts.

Retro Mama

Here are just a few of the delightful handcrafts that I discovered in my Easter Hunt!

Fabulous Fabric Flower Tutorials

With a few sewing projects on the go at the moment I thought I'd blog about some other great sites.

Making all these boy gifts has made me excited to get back to some girly sewing! 

I've found some fabulous tutorials on making
gorgeous fabric flowers - super easy to sew & very effective on a headband or dress!

Here is a delightful looking rosette flower by Little Birdie Secrets

And a cute little ribbon flower collection by Hope Studios

Maize Hutton has done this gorgeous frayed flower - I think I'll do this one first! Lovely!

Kinda Wonderful did 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 days! This is just one of them! Looks like I'll be busy making all things floral!

Sew Ritzy Titzy has done a really trendy flower - a few steps in this one but worth the effort for the finished product!




Okay, I love love love these rosettes from Grace Violet - super easy and super effective... I'm dreaming up fabric combinations as I type! 

Anyways - I'm off to a beautiful lunch with my gorgeous friend and Little Miss-Daisy!

Happy Sewing - can't wait to make some of these!! :)

Update... :)

I (finally) made the last two singlets for the beautiful girls in my Mother's Group! Sorry it's taken so long!
Aren't they cute!

Flower Power

Tasty Banana Choc-Chip Cookies

When I was teaching (oh, I miss teaching!), I wasn't too fond of marking homework. It was quite tedious sitting at my desk on a Friday afternoon marking 31 or so identical pieces of homework. A4 books were fantastic for fitting homework sheets (if children trimmed/glued them neatly!) but were not so good for manipulating on tired Friday arvos!


There was that moment where I had to decide, do I drive the hour home now and deal with these Monday morning - or do I deal with them now and be free (or fashionably late) Monday morning! Often I went with an even split!

Now some teachers would say that identical homework is what makes it easy to mark - I guess it does. I feel a little like a robot when I do it though! Easier to mark doesn't make it more enjoyable - and if one of my kids asked me if I had read their recount or remembered what they wrote for their maths question I usually would have had no idea.

{Handmade} Nappy Wallet and Change Mat

I posted on Monday about some beautiful fabrics that I have in my stash that are not yet destined for a project! 

Well, having that fabric out on my desk right next to my sewing machine got me inspired.
 I decided to make a 'better version' of a little project that I did a while ago for my sister. 

Can you guess what it is? (The blog title might have given it away!)

{Particularly with all these babies being born at the moment, I thought I would find a different project to make - alongside the buntings, toys and blankets.}

My sister's 'first edition' was definitely a rough draft but still functional!
(I will try and scrape up a photo!!)

This one is definitely still a work in progress - my hubby has already come up with some "design flaws"! Daddies must be happy with baby products too you know!

I used fabric #3 with a pretty purple fabric I also had 'lying around'

I've definitely improved the design of this project since the last one (my scrawled pattern/instructions are a sight to see...) and aesthetically I think this one looks a lot better too!

______________

Before I show you what I made - my beautiful Daisy-girl - her Daddy took this when he got home from work yesterday, we were watching him out the window as he arrived! 

International Women's Day - 2011

Happy International Women's Day!

Would you believe...

Source: Herald Sun

I have written and deleted a plethora of statements here so I choose to conclude only with...

... food for thought! :)

New Fabric Makes Me Oh So Happy!

Fabric-a-dabra!

There's something quite exciting about a trip to buy new fabric! 

I love the trips where I'm not looking to buy anything in particular - suddenly I find myself sifting and sorting through row after row of fabric... 

I love seeing which impromptu fabric choices I end up coming home with that I {just couldn't leave on the shelf!} 

(I'm not sure that my husband shares the same sentiment!)

{tutorial} Making Fabric Baby Blocks

I love handmade toys!

My beautiful sister-in-laws have both created some beautiful handmade gifts and 

Miss Daisy has a lovely toy from each of them!

I have been reading some great blogs with some fabulous tutorials on handmade toys and other baby items! 

Understandably, there is a large pile of sewing lined up here at the moment!

Recipe: Peach Muffins

Peach Muffins

After seeing a recipe for a peach and yogurt slice I decided to go to the trusty Muffin Bible and create some peach muffines instead!

Sure enough there was a recipe for Peach Muffins... much to my delight they also had cinnamon sugar on top! Mmmm!