I LOVE days like this...

Ruby has gone to her nana's for a holiday all by herself until we get there for christmas.  She is having the time of her life...and so am I !! 

It's just me and Marlise home all day until Daddy gets home after work, so we have plenty of time to do stuff together, just me and my baby.  Life is so much easier with just us two, and today was one of those perfect days...one of those days where you have lots of things you want to do, and you find time to do them all..and more !

On the menu today...bacon and spinach out to defrost to make quiche for dinner, butter out to soften for an orange cake , and buttermilk ice-cream churning - to go with the cake of course !

Ice-cream tastes best when you get to lick the bowl!

First  job for the morning was the orange cake. 

She looks like she's busy mixing, but really, she's busy sticking her fingers into the bowl.  Note the evidence on her fingers on both hands !

What?  No !  Nothing on my fingers mum...(such a beautiful innocent face - she can get away with anything).

Not long after, the cake was in the oven, and we had a visitor.  Ruby's little friend  came over to play with Marlise !  She decided the house needed a clean - no offense taken !!  So she cleaned up the lounge, picked up all the toys, wiped down the play kitchen and all the cups and plates...Katie, you can come over anytime !!!

So Katie cleaned and tidied and Marlise untidied, but they were both occupied, so I decided to make some hula hoops.

A while ago, I made  hula hoops for Ruby and Marlise using the instructions found here at Hinterland Mama.  Ruby and her friends have had so much fun with them, they really are a cheap and versatile toy - and I love that it keeps the kids active.  Anyway, the girl next door asked me ages ago if I would make one for her, and since I had enough materials left over, I told her I would...one day....today was that day.  We made a few more hula hoops, and Katie helped.

Here's Katie decorating the hula hoop with coloured tape - a good exercise for little hands.

..and here she is showing her style !!  She really enjoyed making the hula hoops, and ended up making one for herself too.

Here's our pile of hula hoops.  We ran out of tape so had to run to the shop for more...don't know why Marlise was so upset - maybe coz there were no pink ones???

But never mind, chocolate cake and ice-cream chased away the tears...it's healthy if it's home-made right?

mmmmm....so good, orange cake with chocolate icing = a jaffa cake ! 

PARCEL POST...I love getting parcel post, and today was a real treat.  I won these little wool creations on a giveaway.  They were generously donated as a prize from Playing Fair,   - a Fair Trade business.

And here's my other parcel - 1kg of beautiful Australian garlic, straight from the farm.  Check out Patrice Newell Garlic.  this was actually my birthday present to myself  ha ha!!  And I'm so happy.

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that you can freeze garlic cloves.  So I thought I'd give it a go.  This was 2 bulbs worth of garlic cloves, and that was enough - peeling garlic isn't the funnest way to pass the time.  I used some tonight though, and gee...how convenient is it to be able to pull out a clove of garlic ready to chop...loving it!  I just might get around to peeling some more some day soon.

Ho hum...are you still here?  Not bored yet?...There's plenty more...

Remember not so long ago, I learned how to crochet a dish cloth?  Well I've been busy crocheting some more - not today though!  As you can see, none of them are square, despite that being the objective !  I really don't mean to pick up and drop stitches so easily, it kinda just happens.  The last one I did was the best - the dark blue one with the border - its pretty square, so maybe I'm getting better...a few hundred more dish cloths and I might get it right...but then again who wants a boring square dish cloth anyway ?  These random shapes will still wash dishes.

This afternoon while Marlise slept, I sewed some gift bags...trying to do my part to be greener this christmas. 

And this is my little mermaid doll.  She's been waiting for some hair for about 6 months now, and today she finally got some.  She looks a bit awkward I know, I made a mistake with the pattern - cut it wrong, then I ran out of felt, but I still think she's pretty.

And my biggest project for the year - Marlise's doll.  I think she is so wonderful - quite proud of her I am!  I finished sewing her nappy today. 

So this was my wonderful day.  Wonderful because there was peace in my home, and I got lots of little things done.

upcycled pants...

One of my big girls, didn't want a certain pair of pants anymore, so I took them  with the intention of  upcycling them.   Upcycling is taking something and perhaps changing it a  bit, to give it another use, rather than throwing it away.  Here are the pants - I forgot to take the picture before I cut them.  I love the material !

It was easier than I thought to make a pair of shorts for Ruby.  I followed the line to get a straight cut and hemmed up the bottom. The waist band already had elastic and a string tie, so I just tightened the string to fit Ruby.  The shorts are kinda big and flowy, but she loves them - especially because they are her big sisters old pants.

Best part about these pants, is that they will grow with her - just have to loosen the tie, they could last another 10 years !!

Now for the rest of the original pant legs...There is enough material to make another pair of shorts for Marlise, and I'll see what else I can squeeze out of it...a headband maybe ?

Some Needle Felting...

Ruby and I made the most of the precious time we had while Marlise slept - which never seems to be long enough !  We got busy, well, I got busy and started making a needle holder using some scraps of felt and wool I had in my box of goodies.  And just as I was really getting in to it, Ruby decided she wanted to do something too.  So quick thinking sent her off to the kitchen in search of a cookie cutter "the smallest one you can find!"  So she came back with a christmas tree shape - not quite what I had in mind, a bit tricky for what I had planned, but oh well, she was determined. 

So we used a piece of white felt for the backing, and she wanted a purple tree - I didn't have any green wool so it wasn't an option, a purple tree is fine :)  The cookie cutter sat on the piece of felt, and the felt sat on a nice thick piece of foam....lots of safety talk followed re the felting needle and how to use it properly.  We filled the cookie cutter with the purple wool and she was on her way, poking and stabbing that wool - slowly and carefully (phew!)

Poking and stabbing down the wool.

a nice thick piece of foam was perfect for working on her lap - look at the concentration!

Adding the decorations

And look !  I've made a decoration for our Christmas tree !!

(Christmas really isn't that far away...)

This was Ruby's first attempt at 'real' sewing a couple of days ago.  I drew some lines for her to sew along, and off she went.  She was so proud of her efforts. 

We folded up the piece of felt and she sewed the edges to make a little purse so she could show off her sewing skills.  Here's the inside out version, with a button hole on the flap.

Here's the front cover of the needle holder I made today, i love it !