Folded Paper Fun

(note: this was written on Thursday, but I've postponed the post until Sunday so I don't ruin the surprise for James)

I've been fiddling with origami lately, never something I've been particularly good at previously and so hadn't given it a second thought in an age. My passion, however, was reinvigorated while trawling the internet for some crafty ideas for 'manly' flowers as a gift for James.

I could find nothing that wasn't either fluffy or feminine until I found this website, it's got video tutorials and all sorts of awesome patterns. I settled on a mix of the lotus and lucky stars wired together to look like a bunch of flowers with buds. The only problem is I haven't stopped... I've been showing off my 'mad lotus skillz' all day and I'm fast filling a bowl with lucky stars!



At least my whole day wasn't spent folding paper... I also went op shopping and got a bunch of cute stuff for Elli and myself. I haven't got photos of my clothes yet, but I'll give you a run down of my score:

Spent - $43

Got -
For Elliotte: A Fairy dress (birthday present), a pink and red pinstripe skirt (also a present), an adorable denim dress (again, present) and a green formal dress that she's using to play princesses right now.

For Me: Three spring dresses; one black and white polka dots, one floral wrap around and one a 'trendy' minimalist t-shirt style and some cute fabric for making monsters with. I'll post photos once I get around to taking them.

I'm off to fill another jar with lucky stars!
xo.

Badge-y Mc Badge Badge

I purchased a badge maker a long time ago, possibly around the same time I had my daughter. Over the past three years I've used it in fits and spurts and never actually put as much time into it as the purchase price (and cost of shipping) would justify.

I pulled it out of storage a few weeks ago to make a batch of 70 badges for a friend's 21st birthday party. We had a badge making session... It was actually fun! My passion was reinvigorated and I was keen to churn out millions of my own designs!! Now, here is where I must explain a character trait of mine...

I have short lived, very passionate love affairs with hobbies. One week I'm going to become an installation artist, the next I plan to move to the mountains so that I can press flowers in solitude for the rest of my days. I'll rush out, purchase all the required equipment (see: badge maker, above) and then become deeply depressed if I'm not fantastic at it within 5 minutes. Or refuse to even attempt the craft until I have the same tools as the professionals (see: badge maker, above). Badge making was about to be shot in the foot again because I didn't have a fancy high end printer to make my designs look fabulous. Hell, I didn't even have a printer that worked reliably! (...or computer for that matter).

Then I had an epiphany! I didn't have to design and print pictures to make badges. We didn't for Ailsa's birthday, why did I have to use it for mine? I've been collecting vintage books for longer than I care to count and I've never really had a plan for the ones with the pretty pictures...

So I set myself a challenge. I had to fill a tub with badges within the week. I couldn't procrastinate and let my perfectionism get in the way... I had a deadline! And these are the results:

What do you think?
xo.

oh dear, how the time flies!

I was shocked into reality today as I wrote Mark a note for missing his first class... If it's the 9th of September today then I have exactly TWO months until my darling cherub Elliotte turns Three! I can't keep up with this year, each time I get on top of it, it manages to fly off on me again.

hard to believe she was this little nearly three years ago!

I'm planning to make her a mini kitchen play area, like this or this or this (and you can even buy the plans for this one!) and furnish it with all the fun mini kitchen goods you can pick up from secondhand stores for a few cents. With only two months to do it and only two days a week that I can work on it without her seeing it, I really should have started a long time ago.

I really must work on my time management skills in general as I have a friend's birthday coming up that I intend to craft for, Elli's birthday in the middle and Christmas not too long after that... Oh dear.

So today's post is all about my attempt to thrash out a timeline on what I must make and the time in which I have to complete it.

This Month:

• Start (and finish) Courtney's birthday present - I'll post pictures and a description after her birthday.
• Start Miss Elliotte's birthday present.
• Start planning the celebrations for Elli's birthday (I'd been pressing for a willy wonka party but we'll be having a Disney theme as she wants to come dressed as Tinkerbell... Which leads to the next task)
• Design the Tinkerbell costume and a Snow White one for myself.
• Have a Soap Felting day and make some Fabric Poppies, they'll make great gifts at Christmas.

I have many more tasks I'd love to get done, but I think this list is probably all I'm likely to manage.

October:

• Finish the toy kitchen for Elliotte.
• Finish planning Elli's birthday.
• Knock up a few quick Halloween costumes.
• Make the Tinkerbell and Snow White costumes (and whatever costumes Mark and Stef decide they want).
• Continue with the Christmas crafting, more indepth posts will come as I progress.

I will have to flesh the time line out more with a pen and paper, I don't want to ruin any present surprises by posting details here!

I have grand plans for Elliotte's Christmas present - I want to make her a collection of puppets and a puppet theatre to use them in. Once I've worked this plan out a little more I'll be sure to let you know how it's progressing!

xo.