Happy Fathers Day!

Am not quite sure what prompted me to post after so many weeks; it's been a strange year and I am trying to put into words why I haven't blogged for a while but haven't quite managed it yet. (Hopefully I will soon...)

I have however, managed to do some crafty things with the girls for Fathers Day. They had such fun  making everything. As with all of the special days, I really object to mass produced rubbish. After lots of browsing I found so many lovely things for us to make; there really are some generous and very talented folk out there!

I thought this idea from Amy at The Ideas Room was super. We adapted it a bit as I wanted to treat Mr Bunny to a taste of home. So some Australian beer was ordered and the girls coloured in the little shirts and ties to add to them.

I picked up the wine carrier for nothing at the supermarket and mixed the paint from some leftover pots.
Then I stood back and let them at it. There was the odd splatter on the cheeks of one and the other one had it in her nostrils ( you don't have to ask) but they actually did a really good job of it and didn't fling it around the room at all!

Once it was dry they put the bottles in and I made a label for it. I think it looks fab; Mr Bunny certainly looked pleased with it!

We also filled a large jar with sweets to go on his desk. I cannot lie; this did involve a small amount of sampling by the twins. Obviously they had to make sure they were nice before they parted with them. The labels came from the Martha Stewart website. She has some very clever ideas and lots of free printables too.

We also made him a little book of vouchers for car washing, lawn mowing, foot rubs and other such Daddy treats. I did the ribbon and the girls did the stamping and punching.

Vouchers from Martha Stewart

After the big clean up and lunch they made handprints and I framed them for Mr Bunny to hang in his study. I couldn't for the life of me find a twin handprint poem so I re jigged one that I found online. I think this gave Daddy the biggest smile of all.

Add to that a much deserved lie in, big brekkie, relative peace and quiet, managing to escape without the twins this afternoon,  followed by a huge roast I think it's safe to say that we have a happy Daddy!
Hope you all had a lovely day, whatever you did.

Love,

No More Eggs!!!

I didn't manage to post much over Easter as we were rather busy visiting people and the weather was far too nice to be indoors. I did try and do as many crafty things with the girls as I could muster this year; they really do love it. I don't know why but the thought is always worse than the actual doing and they actually were really good!
I gathered lots of supplies the week before and boiled/blew the eggs out ready and they were rather excited.

I already had the red acrylic paint from Christmas but bought (what I thought would be) fun stencils for eggs too.
I had my own stash of supplies to play with when they were in bed. Egg painting is a tricky business; you can only paint one side at a time so it's a lengthy one too 'sigh'. I kept them on the work top and did a coat each time I boiled the kettle. Anyway, here are my supplies. Left over sample pots, very handy!

The girls were SO careful with their eggs. I put a little dab of sticky roller on the bottom of a tray so the eggs wouldn't roll about and each missy picked a colour.

The stencils were pants frankly. Despite much 'dab dabbing' and careful holding on the paint ran and the pictures non existant. Sooooo, we ditched them and they painted them all over, getting covered in the process. When they were dry the girls covered them in punched shapes, glitter and sparkly bits; much more fun!

They were exhausted after all that sticking and sprinkling so decided a lolly was in order; girls need sugar you know!

Why do so many of my pics have laundry drying in them?

I had also picked up some feathers and sticky bits to make some chicks so after we had washed our hands, faces and the table again they happily glued their creations.

I think they had a lot of fun despite sitting at the table most of the day. We also did some thumbprint chicks & bees which they really enjoyed. I had my fun once they had gone to bed, six pastel eggs decorated with my new Martha Stewart punch.

 and one polka dot one which I think is just lovely!

Happy Belated Easter, hope it was fun!

Love,

So where DID the week go?

I can't believe it's almost Thursday. I do look forward to them as it's the only day off from the twins I get.
My sanity or 'Twin Free Thursday' as it's known.

But I was full of good intentions to do so much this week. I made lists, set Calendar reminders and found lovely reasonable pictures.
In fact, I had so many things to blog about that I actually ended up doing none of them; consequently my little page has remained unloved this week.'sniff'

I had promised myself to join in with MochaBeenieMummy again on Silent Sunday. It's great fun to do, doesn't require you to be a fabulous writer or photographer ( although the standard of piccies is remarkable most weeks and puts my efforts to shame!) There are some lovely bloggy ladies who take part too.

So why didn't I?

It started with Sunday; which was spent watching number two son dance his little Tap shoes off at a fabby masterclass in London. It reqired a horribly early start and we didn't get home until quite late. It's a whole other post altogether as I was actually meant to leave him at his class and take the underground to a Vintage Fair.
(Something else I meant to blog about but haven't managed)

Then I wanted to take part in Magpie Monday. Missielizzie and I definately share a love of charity shop finds and I have lots of them to share at the moment. But Monday was spent doing huge amounts of laundry as being away on Sunday meant that the beds weren't done.

Is there a pattern here?

The Gallery is another blog event that I have wanted to take part in for a while but always either miss it or don't have the right type of picture!
This weeks theme was trees but I have been so cold this week that I haven't really been in the mood to venture out to take any. The lovely Tara assured me on Twitter that the beauty of it is that you can join in anytime so I am absolutely determined to do so next week, on Wednesday...

I have been a little busy though, besides administering love, mummy hugs and clean pj's to the small people I have started to write my very first tutorial.
I hope it will be simple to follow and someone will actually try it and let me know if it's not a dreadful disaster? I have made a couple of these lovely necklaces for the twins last Birthday

 Aren't they pretty? Which is more than can be said for the face Dimples is pulling at lashes. 'ahem'..moving swiftly on.

I plan to make some more to match their new summer frocks this year and I think it might be fun to make some up using some Vintage beads if you have any that are beyond repair? (Of course, I could never advocate breaking up the precious Vintage ones!!)

So that's about the week sewn up. Not much accomplished but onwards and upwards,
Hope you all are faring much better,
Love

Just had to share!

I know Christmas is almost over and so I apologise for this post in advance. Having been horridly ill for most of it I didn't get chance to share many of my creations this year, notably the twins Christmas outfits and the cute gift tags I designed.

So here is a shameful display of my talents, limited such as they are.

Aren't they adorable? The tops are all my own creation too. The headbands are altered ones from a large unmentionable department store. The leggings by me too, fur topped with large dots on. The fur cuffs are removable, marabou sewn onto red headbands, inspired hey? (Although sewing with marabou is not something I am anxious to repeat unless bribed with large amounts of chocolate)

Here is twin two trying on the half finished outfit very patiently for me. You can see the Reindeer more clearly on this pic, sans ribbon bow of course.

I also made some rather nice gift tags this year too. Darling husband has been very generous in creating a lovely, organised craft area for me so I was able to stamp and punch my merry afternoons away. I think they are very sweet and I do love red & aqua!

Last but not least, I saw some adorable little Christmas Trees and just had to try my hand at them. You buy them from the Miniature Village Websites, the sort that sells things for Train sets. They come very dark green. You bleach them and dye them and roll them in glitter. I love them! I shall be making lots of these next Christmas now I know how easy they are. Even if they did make the kitchen a tad whiffy, I think you'll agree that they are well worth it?

Just a shame you can't really see just how sparkly they actually are.

I promise, no more Christmas posts, I am undecking the halls or whatever the term is, this weekend. So I will be full of the joys of spring, bulbs flowering, new projects and maybe the odd resolution or two.

Love

Christmas has finally arrived

at our house!!
For anyone that knows me offline this is not news but for anyone reading this that does not know, " I LOVE Christmas".
I love the absolutely everything. The shopping, the decorating, the build up, lighting the fires, making pomanders, the whole thing.

It does take rather a long time to decorate the house we have SO many decorations. All very tasteful may I add - none of those flashing lights or multicoloured tinsel garlands thank you. A couple of lanterns glowing outside, lots & lots & lots of fairy lights and this year we have paperchains for the first time since I was terribly small. I have forgotten just how much I love them, they are so fun for the dining room which is essentially the Childrens room. The dining room is very red this year.

I even went as far as to paint the old fireplace bright red. Probably a tad toooo far but in my defence, I had bought a darling, cheery bright red & white polka dot table cloth and the poor old fire looked so glum that it had to be made happy again.

See?
It's a very happy fire now, complete with new mirror and very jolly Vintage inspired Wreath.

I have also painted a very drab chest of drawers a pretty eu de nil green & recovered a very sorry for itself lampshade with adorable polka dot fabric and white pom poms. Isn't that a fab word..pom pom. You have to say that in a very deep voice- "tiddly om pom pom"..
Anyway, having put the paintbrushes away, I put lots of paperchains up and added to my very old tree some new finds. I also had some cuties to put on the new fireplace. I don't think they would have looked half so nice on the drab coloured one?

Aren't they adorable?

There's lots more pretty things around the house this year but I can only add so many pictures at a time. I really must go and finish the bows on the girls Reindeer outfits tonight!
Can't resist adding a sneak of my new favourite bauble before I go.

Hope you're all having fun decorating and keeping warm!
Much love,

Recipe for happiness.............

Just had to share my newest creations......... and their
srummy models :-)

Two baby pink tulle tutus.

125 yards tulle-hand tied on no-roll elastic, umpteen yards of
baby pink satin ribbon, four yards oyster pink chiffon ribbon-curled,
six pink gerberas with pink crytal centres.......
and sixty teeny tiny crystal hearts hand glued by moi........
with love of course!
Add to that two satin ribbon wrapped headbands with baby pink gerberas and a crystal centre.

Then...................

Take two very excited five year old birthday princesses
and this is the result :-)

Aren't they just gorgeous girls!

Happy fifth Birthday girls and thankyou to their mummy for letting me post their pics :-)

Thankyou to Kimberley at Angel Babes Tutus for the quick ship of the tulle from the US too.
Her tulle is just the softest and she has a great range of colours!
(She also does custom orders and accessories for your little princess.)

A New Chapter

After almost 16 years of a male dominated household I'm not ashamed
to admit that on finding out that the new arrivals were to be girls my first reaction
was not a happy one...........
The thought of dolls, prams, and all things - wait for it...
PINK did not fill me with glee at all.
Having grown up in a household where women
were all things annoying, mostly bitchy, secretive, backstabbing and that's on a good day!!!!
I really wished I'd paid for sex selection LOL

However, almost three years on I have to admit a sneaky liking for girly things!
Although the house, or my poor sons will never be the same again it has given me opportunities to explore things I had forgotten how to do. In my quest to dress my girls in any colour other than pink and the challenge to tidy their hair in anything other than the overpriced, chinese cr*p from Claires I have discovered a whole new world of crafting and made so many new friends in the bargain.

My newly twin shocked brain was addled........ the endless round of feeding,
changing, winding etc had left my poor head so tired.
I was sleep deprived and housebound.
The only conversation I got was online and so during the long periods of
screaming and thowing up I sat with one on a shoulder and found things to do
with my brain that it so desperately needed - namely a challenge.

Ok so it's not quantum physics but anything new learnt is going to keep
the ole grey matter ticking along nicely right? :-)

Bow making, tutu designing, hair clippies and so many millions of other cute and adorable things have been my saviour during my long hours of confinement in the house. The ladies on the yahoo groups have been a constant source of knowledge, laughter and kindness. I can't begin to thank them enough. Girls, you will never know how much you have brought to our household! Thankyou all so much.

I can now happily spend hours fiddling with grosgrain and tulle. Can create something to wear in a matter of hours and have managed to find something to share with my girls and that in itself is worth a big hug. The fact that I may possibly be able to make a living doing some of these things is a possiblity I had never considered.
I don't profess to being the master of the boutique bow yet but thanks to the fab videos kindly provided by Jessa on youtube I can sit here trying :-)
Her Etsy store is testament to her fabulous bow making skills.

Other ladies I just have to mention are Nancy whose unique sense of humour has brightened my day more times than she will ever know:-) Have a browse of her Etsy shop- it's full of fabulous creations.
Also, Janelle who has a great site and blog and is always adding fab new clippies is another lady who has been so helpful to me.

These and countless other moms who take timeout of their busy lives to add their pics, tips and advice, all free of charge are worth their weight in gold. Big hugs to you all!

Fran xx

p.s I still hate pink really and girls do squeal and whine a hell of a lot but I'm learning to live with it............. LOL

The wee small hours

Have been staying up rather late recently, 2 am or later. "yawn"

I'm so tidy when I get creative as you can see :-P
Am working on several sets of clips to send to a friend who is fundraising for her little boy, Ollie.

He has CP and is currently terrorising his loved ones in his whizzybug wheelchair :-)
He is one of a pair of gorgeous twin boys and on top of his disabilities
suffers from seizures, little man is just soo brave!

He needs treatment that will cost his parents sooooo much!

If any other bowmaking momma's would like to help by
donating a bow/clip/headband I know Tracey would just love to hear from you!
http://olliesfund.co.uk/




They're for a lucky dip at the fundraiser fete for Ollie :-)

Will hopefully get time to make some more this week
and some larger bows in Spring colours.
My first chance to really use my lovely, shiny big kick :-)
(thankyou darling xxx)
I think they are too cute!!



Hope they go down well!

ooooh yummy!

I'm feeling a bit smug, I made some yummy, yummy cupcakes and some

cookies for the first time EVER and they came out just perfect.........

well almost if you don't count the icing bag bursting half way

though and having to use a freezer bag..........

I don't think I will try to make these again for a while.

Gumpaste stuff is sooo much harder to do than it looks ok? :-)

These little beauties took about six hours to make 16 of them

and then they had to dry for about 4 days.

Isn't that cute! edible glitter too.....

Ok -so they were the easy part but look how flat the tops are,

I was sooooo happy, happy, happy that I didn't have to squash

them down or cut the tops off,

that would have got really messy....

Ta Daaaaaaaaaa! One finished cupcake. Isn't that pretty?

Love,