Saturday, August 31, 2013

My colourful day.

I was just looking through all my photos I took from today, and thought I would share them with you. As I snapped away I put them all on instagram, but I thought I would share them here too as they are so colourful. Hope you have had a lovely day. I have.

My new flowers!
 


Hanging more pompom garlands in my house

Listening to Mezz play some lovely songs with her hubby at the Yarraville Handmade market. Oh and she's wearing the dress I made for her.

Some amazing handmade items..oh and pretty balloons!

Loved this handmade vintage sheet patchwork tablecloth,

The handmade items I bought, hairclips, a doily purse, crochet bamboo facewasher, felt dinosaur garland, heart brooch and two cute cards.

Loving chai tea at the moment. Made lattes for hubby and I.
 
The weather today was amazing. A lovely goodbye to winter. Tomorrow is the first day of spring and it's supposed to be 25 degrees. It's also fathers day. We are having brekky somewhere nice. Then I think a sit in the sun is a must.
 
 
Yay, sunshine!
 
Taz xx

Friday, August 30, 2013

Wearing granny on my sleeve.

I have this cardigan that I opshopped a while ago, and its lovely. Its a nice pink, the right thickness to wear in winter and spring, and was handmade by someone, somewhere. I wore it alot, but every time I wore it, more holes would appear and stretch bigger and bigger. I'm part of a craft group with some brilliant ladies on a wednesday morning, so I took it there, with balls of yarn, a needle and crochet hook, and made it a group activity. We fixed it up, stopped the holes in their tracks, I crochet some granny squares and patched her, so that she can be worn again, and again. Sandy was my lovely hole stopper, while Rada, helped sew the patches on. Here it is, all bright and colourful..

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Speaking of all things bright and colourful, my doily garland that I won from Scrumdillydilly arrived in the mail. It was wrapped so pretty. It's lovely and hangs in my kitchen window.
 

 
 
 
 
 
Hope you have all had a great week. See you soon.
 
Taz xx

Monday, August 26, 2013

Spring Yellow Dress.

I made another dress, and this time, bravely gave it away. August for me is the month of birthdays. In 2 weeks I have celebrated 4 birthdays. Percy's 1st birthday, my mums birthday, my sis in law Mezz's birthday and my mum in laws birthday. I love birthdays so did not mind at all, another occasion to eat food, cake and spend time with family. I thought I would show you what I made Mezz for her birthday as well as show you how we celebrated.

I decided a while ago to try make a dress for Mezz as I have been making dresses a bit more and am often quite proud of how they turn out. Mezz really loves and appreciates anything handmade, so I knew, even if this dress was slightly not quite right, she wouldn't mind. I'm really happy with how this one turned out. Basic elasticated waste, upcycled vintage tablecloth straps and pretty yellow fabric, perfect to me. Here it is, as well as photos of her oh so cute Pompom Party.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Balls of yarn waiting to be turned into pompoms..
 


 
Everything you need at a party..cake plate, tea, pompoms!
 
 
 
Do you like the dress? And are you going to host a pompom party for your next event???!!!
 
I'm looking forward to sharing photos from Percy's first birthday, just trying to round them all up as I did not take all that many. See you soon, and happy last week of winter..yayyyyyyyyyy!
 
Taz xx

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I'm taking part in a upcycling challenge for charity...join me!


My sister in law Ash, who is a mighty fine crafter, writes the blog Go Mumma, and she is hosting a Winter Upcycling Challenge for charity. The charity is Green Collect, and the challenge, is to make something from upcycled materials. The item or items need to be something that helps you keep warm. I'm taking part, and have decided to make a crochet cushion cover with a upcycled napkin for the back, a upcycled vintage hanky bunting and maybe, only maybe, a Kitchen Linen Skirt. I know none of these really keep you warm, but they make me happy, which makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside! Great! If you would like more info, so you can take part, or to learn more about Green Collect, head over here for all the details. I know alot of you out there are fantastic at upcycling, so this is a perfect reason to make something! The items will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to Green Collect. Ash has also got a fab prize up for grabs!

Here are some photos of an upcycled vintage hanky bunting that I made for my lounge. I will be making one just like it for the challenge.


 




I plan to make a crochet cushion cover similar to this one I made,

and this is my Kitchen Linen Skirt I made a while back, that if I have time, will make one similar.
 
Let me know if you decide to take part. Im looking forward to auction day.
Any craft challenges your doing at the moment?
 
See you soon with a bit of a show off about a dress(for an adult) I made and gifted..first time ever!
 
Taz xxx

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Hundreds and Thousands Magazine...a new project!!!


Woo! I can finally reveal (because we now have a blog and fb page) a new very exciting, pretty project I am working on with the lovely Mezz. We are making a handmade magazine called Hundreds and Thousands and we are pretty excited! Neither of us have done anything like this before, but we are LOVING putting together a magazine that celebrates all things craft, cooking, gardening, people, places, opshopping and other lovliness! Yesterday was a productive day for us, doing a photoshoot for the front cover for our starter issue, as well as tweaking and pretty-fying some almost finished pages! We can't wait to have it in our hands, and to then share it with you!

Props for the photoshoot

Speaking of you....this magazine for us, is about celebrating what makes us smile. We would love for you to contact us at hundredsandthousandsmag@gmail.com if you have any recipes, craft, articles or ideas that you would like us to put in our mag for future issues (hopefully there will be future issues)! Please be patient and kind, as this is all new to us!

Please feel free to spread the word about our little magazine, over a cup of tea, on your blogs, twitter, fb or instagram! The more people who can enjoy this magazine, the merrier! We have made the hashtag #hundredsandthousandsmag, so feel free to join along!

 
Please pop over to our Blog and Facebook page and say hi, follow and like...if you want! Feel free to add the button I made to the side, with a link, to your page!
 
 
Thanks for reading, and see you soon!
 
Love Taz

Saturday, August 10, 2013

A change is as good as a holiday

I know this saying is not original at all, but it really is so true! I've not been desperate to go on holiday or anything, but I've made a few needed changes around our home, that now, make me feel happy, relaxed and I enjoy being in this space. So really, it's refreshed me, like a holiday would! These are all just simple changes. No building or renovating. All cheap and crafty. First, was our kitchen. I love my kitchen, which you can see here and here but we had a big round table sitting in the corner, which wasted lots of space, was never used for its real purpose(to sit and eat meals as family, and be the home for a pretty vase of flowers) and our kitchen chairs got trapped in the corners, so could never be pulled out and used. Silly me, did not take a before photo of any of these changes, but I'm sure you all have fabulous imaginations and can picture everything I am saying.

Anyway, the changes....we got rid of the big round table, and replaced it with a second hand, 1960's rectangle table. It means, no wasted corners, all chairs are used now, and a vase of flowers(fake), sit looking very happy in the middle. So far, its kept clean and tidy, with only family meals and a bit of writing, done on it. I also hung up a vintage blind, as I can't have too many bare walls in my home.


Im sure you can see how a round table would have wasted our space.

The next simple change was my sewing table and sewing machine. I promised myself, that my new sewing space would stay neat, tidy and organised. This is not as easy as I thought. If my sewing table has anything more than a sewing machine and pin cushion, I will not go near it! A couple of days before tackling the sewing table, I decided to buy myself a new sewing machine. I love my old one, but it was getting harder to use and my stress while sewing was getting higher. This has been a great, great change! I had also thrifted rolls and rolls of Ezi Stick vintage paper, ready to cover anything! I decided to cover my table, giving my new modern sewing machine a bit of charm, as well as clearing the table in the process! Win! It meant I could then get sewing, and I made myself this dress.

I didn't realise how tricky this paper was..ignore the bubbles!

I also made some simple changes that I LOVE in our bedroom. I covered a wardrobe with the ezi stick, and it lifts my mood everytime I look at it!







I also took down our white curtains, and hung up some much nicer ones. The room is very pink, so Im trying to add as much other colour to help!





I also made a pompom garland to hang above our window, just to make this room even more lovely. Its one room that was left bare for a while, but now am slowly changing it, as I love the sunshine through the window and can see me sitting on the bed with a cup of tea and some craft on sunny afternoons now.








Do you like the changes? Has it given you any ideas for simple ways to change a room?

What are some things you've changed around your home that's made a big difference?

Thanks again for reading, and a BIG BIG BIG thankyou to the 51 followers I have on this blog, never expected that many people to want to sit down and read about what I have to say!

Love Taz