Family Snaps

It's been awhile since we took some family photos. Seriously, I mean a long time. So when the kids were all dressed up for church on Sunday (In their new clothes) I decided it was a perfect opportunity to get some quick photos.

This was the best group one I could get.  Haylie just wanted to get down and the others kept looking at her. I still think it's cute though. I still hadn't done Lachlan's hair at this point so just ignore it!

Before Lachlan was ready, Buzz was teaching him how to tie his tie and shoelace's, I got this snap of the girls.  Again, Haylie did not want to sit down and Caitlyn was being ever so helpful!

Here is my gorgeous Amie. She is getting more grown up by the day. After the school holidays she starts school. Very exciting!

Then there is the beautiful Caitlyn! If Amie is looking grown up then Caitlyn definitely is!  She turns 3 in a few days. When we got this dress she loved it but when we put it on to get ready she got all upset and didn't want to wear it because it didn't 'dance'. Amie was twirling round the lounge room with her dress swinging out making Caitlyn very upset. In the end I told Caitlyn that she could wear when of my necklaces. She was happy with that and that is why she is wearing pearls.  Well, when Amie saw Caitlyn wearing a necklace she burst into tears and said that she wanted one too. So I found another necklace and all was calm again!  I can't wait until they are teenager's, Not!!

I'm a bit late is posting about this but I wanted to show you how easy it is to make a really meaningful gift. Amie graduated from Kindy at the end of Term 2. She enjoyed it the moment that she started there.  her teacher has been the same for the whole time.  Every day when Amie would go in she wouldn't do anything until she had said hello to Carolyn. Anyway, i wanted to give her something to show how much I had appreciated, and Amie had enjoyed, having her as a teacher.

Here she is with Carolyn getting her bag of stuff (Certificate, book and CD of photos) ready to jump into school.

After looking around on the internet for a bit I found the perfect gift.  Amie and I went a chose a plant. She liked this one because it has pink flowers.

Amie chose the ribbon and helped by putting the stars on the pot.  She liked this ribbon because it had butterflies on it.
I took a photo of her and using Photoshop Highlighted her face and added the text "Thank you for helping me grow".
We also gave her a box of M&M's with a cute poem. I can't remember it now though, but it went through a bunch of colours and gave them a meaning.
Carolyn loved it all. We will miss her but since we are still at the same school we will still get to see her. Also, next year Caitlyn starts Kindy!  I hope she is still there!!

More Craft Ideas

So here are some more craft things that I have been trying.  I am really happy with how they turned out.  They are going to be for Amie's bedroom.

The first one is a magazine or book holder.  Buzz had a couple of black ones that he wasn't using anymore so I covered the back and sides with this cool wrapping paper I found (I'm into spots at the moment).

I them made this tag to go on the front. Originally I was going to make a label saying 'Books' but I love how it ended up. This way it can be for anything. Books, magazines, colouring books, etc. And if it doesn't work in Amie's room I'll keep it myself!

The next thing I made, with the same paper was a pencil tin.  When Jessie stayed with us I kept one of Chases formula cans knowing that I could put it to good use. I spray painted it white and then covered it in the paper. I then wrapped the ribbon around it and tied it up. I used double sided tape to keep the ribbon from moving.

I then used some letter stickers to put the word 'pencils' on it. I did also spray paint the lid (it was gold) but it keeps flaking off. I'm going to try a find a paint that is more for plastic.

Anyway, I hope you are all liking these ideas. I am having fun making cute things without spending lots of money.

Getting crafty

Lately I've been feeling very crafty. We have been trying to save money so I've been finding things that I can make as gifts or for around the house by using things that I already have.  It is actually really fun.  

These note pads were one of the first things that I tried.  I think that they turned out really cute.  I got some notepads from Go-Lo for $1.50 for a five pack. They are 4x6 size. Then I raided my scrapbook paper. I cut a strip 4 inches wide and starting from the front folded it over the top. Before I stuck it down I cut two pieces of ribbon and tuck them on the back using double sided tape. I then stuck down the cover, again using double sided tape. I tied the ribbon and then used a rub-on to add some more decoration to the front.

Everyone always needs notepads so why not make them something special. They only take about 10 minutes to put together. The hardest part is choosing the paper, ribbon and decorations!

Cake Disaster

Well here it is. The cake disaster. I was attempting a few 'firsts' with this cake. My first square cake and my first layer cake.  Maybe I overdid it!

This picture was taking early in the afternoon. It got worse the closer it came to the party. You can see the bottom starting to bulge a little, especially on the middle block. The sides were coming away because it was sinking and pushing on the fondant.

Here you can see the lean that it had. The night before they all stacked on top of each other nicely. the only thing that I had done in the morning was put the decorations on the blocks. i do like how they turned out. I also really liked the colours.

Here is a close up of the fish. I made the scales by using a straw to cut out the circles and they a lightly pushed them onto the fish. I was so proud of this fish.

Here is the Teddy Bear. I think he looks very cute. From this angle you can see the bulging starting to happen a bit better. Also it you look closely you can see the skewer sticking up inbetween the layers. The night before they were level with the top of the cake. It goes to show how much that is actually sank.

Lastly, here is my whale. another cutie. Again with the skewer. So that's it. That is my cake disaster. The reason that it sank, I believe, was the cake. I didn't make the cake. We got a chocolate mud slab cake from a bakery and cut it into the blocks. I even froze them, but it was just too moist. It was incredibly soft and crumbly and moist. Next time, if there is a next time, I will take the time a bake the cakes myself.

Incredibly, I did make it to the baby shower with a cake. I bought a mudcake from the cheesecake shop and decorated it with chocolate, all in less than an hour and half! i didn't get a picture though!

So, I know that it has been awhile since I blogged. I got caught up reading so many other wonderful blogs that it made me think that mine is so boring. I guess I got writing block! Anyway after looking through some recent photos I found a few things that you might find interesting.

After my Doll cake turned out ok I wanted to try using fondant on another cake. It was my Nana's birthday so I made her a mini cake. I used my Sprite cake recipe and a mini pan. I also had the idea to make it look like a present by adding a bow. I had read a bit about it and it didn't sound very hard. Once the cake had cooled I put on a layer of frosting and then roller out my white fondant. There was a couple of marks in it, but I was happy with how it went. I then rolled out the pink fondant. Using a ruler and a pizza cutter I made my ribbons. To help the bow stay up I rolled up some tissues and put them in the loops until they had hardened up.

All in all I was happy with how it turned out. 

My next cake was really a disaster, but I'll leave that for next time!

Monday Mayhem

Today, like every Monday, is a little crazy, but I wanted to post some of the cool blogs that I've been looking at recently.  I love to look at blogs. You can get some many ideas.

The first one is had some fantastic, easy and cheap decorating ideas for your homes.  I want to try so many of her ideas. One day, when i have a house of my own, I will be able to start and I can't wait!

Now for some yummy treats. I found Bakerella's blog awhile ago (Thanks mum) and just love it. She is so creative. I have tried her cupcake pops and loved them. So just comes up with the coolest ideas.

I found this cool website called Parent Hacks. Parents write in with things that have worked for them. You can search through a variety of categories are are sure to find something to help. Since we are working on organisation and cleaning at the moment I just loved this one.

Well that's enough for now, I better get back to cleaning my house. Hope everyone has a good week!