Happy New Year....

A bit late, I know, but you know how it gets over Christmas/new year. With the whole family on holiday from work and daycare at the moment, my days are filled with family time, and constantly working against the forces determined to make my house look like a bomb hit it.

I have managed to fit in some crafting time, but the weather has been shocking so taking decent photos has been a challenge.

 Some last minute Christmas gifts I made for my cousin's children. She has 4 children under 4, two of each, so I just made them something little, because with 4 small kids you are bound to have way too much toys and junk in your house already, right? For the oldest girl I made some hairclips (pinwheels made using this tutorial), and for the youngest, who is only a few months old, I made a taggie square. For the two boys, who are in between, I made lizard hand puppets using this tutorial.

Yesterday we had a 4th birthday party to go to, for a girl who is a bit of a tom boy. I wanted to make something that is still kinda girly, but not all pink or purple or overly girly. A while ago I found a bag of half finished, or started and forgotten about, hexies. Since finding them I have seen a few bags on Pinterest that incorporated hexies or some other similar quilted shape (here, here & here). My version is a denim shoulder tote bag, with a hexy pocket on the front, lined with red polkadot fabric. I also made a little zip purse with hexy decoration on the front (first time I have sewed a zip, so proud!), and an I-spy bottle inspired by this one.

I offered to make cupcakes for the party, but then my cupcakes didn't rise, so I had the idea to turn them into cakepops, by putting them onto iceblock sticks, and they were a big hit. A happy accident that I will try to repeat one day. With the left over melted white chocolate and sprinkles I made chocolate freckles, and together with the cakepops they looked so cool.
The party was supposed to be kind of strawberry shortcake themed, but it was put together quite last minute, so a lot of the planned decorations and things didn't get put up. But I never miss an opportunity to dress up, so I put together a Raspberry Torte costume for me, and Little Princess was dressed as Strawberry Shortcake. I don't have photo's, but one day hopefully we will get to dress up in our costumes again.