Happy Birthday to my gorgeous son!!!

My darling boy is three today. It is the first birthday which he has been mature enough to understand that it is coming and to ask for things which he wants. For the past few weeks he has asked repeatedly for a scooter and a Woody (from Toy Story) so that is exactly what he got! (Along with a few other things, mostly Toy Story themed of course) he was so excited about his presents today and told his Grandma all about them on the phone, it was really cute to see how grown-up he is :) Also in big news.... I got my Uni results for this semester. I got two credits and two distinctions so I am super pleased with that. It was a nice pick-me-up from the blaaahhh of this week. It has been so hot, I haven't had the motivation to do anything. But tomorrow is a new day which is forecast as cooler, so I have my fingers crossed for an active day!!

Another busy week

 I really have to get into the hang of blogging regularly (not that I have any followers yet, lol) but I am just so busy. Next week is my son's third birthday so yesterday I spent a day spending up my husband's cash. It was a nice day out without the kids and I even managed to get to Spotlight for more fabric and supplies! So also this week I have finished a couple of stuffed animals, some shabby chic napkin rings and this really cute pair of cushion covers which are appliqued with Christmas baubles. I listed them in my Etsy shop and they have sold already! It was my first Etsy sale so I am really pleased with that :) It was also my first attempt at raw edge applique which turned out to be an absolute breeze, so I will be using the technique on EVERYTHING. My darling hubby's wallet also bought me some new seedlings so today Mr nearly Three and I potted them up. We have been trialling hydroponic growing and so far the plants have been growing well. We simply cut the top off of  Coke bottle, rinse it, fill it with Perlite, plop the seedlings in and fill it with a water/ grow chemical mix. After a while the bottle grows some algae but hubby likes the way it looks! Anyway, it was really nice to do something one on one with my son while little miss was aslepp. Hopefully we can keep gardening together :)

Little Projects

This week I have completed a few short projects for items which are in my Etsy shop. A trio of Christmas hotpads, a set of coordinating headbands and a set of napkin rings with purple yo-yo flowers. (So cute!) It was extremely painful to explain to my sixteen year old stepson what napkin rings are as the only type of napkin he has ever seen is a paper one from KFC/ Macca's and he didn't understand why it needed a ring! Anyway, here are the photos. On a different subject, hubby and I had our first night alone in three years last night!!! The afore-mentioned stepson is spending the weekend at his mum's and our two little ones slept over at my fantastic mum's house. Pasha is nearly three and has stayed over many times, but Lorna is only 18 months and tends to be super clingy at bed time so we were a bit wary. The whole night I was expecting a knock on the door, to have her handed back to me. However, she was a good girl for Grandma and had a great time. Hubby and I went out for dinner and then watched a movie at home. It was so nice to fall asleep on the couch together with no kids!! Then in the morning he let me sleep in while he cleaned up the house, so I am super grateful to both my mum and my husband. I am really hopeful that the kids will now be able to stay over a little more often, even once every month would be awesome. Anyway, I have achieved zero in the way of sewing today, so I had better get stuck into it!!!

Small pota-a-toes

To be honest, only mums who watch ABC for kids will get that title. But we do have some beautiful baby spuds thanks to our two and fourteen year old boys digging them up yesterday. Don't you just love the stunning array of colours? :)








I used some in the mash for shepherd's pie last night - red spuds are great for mashing. I have no idea what the type of potato is called but I love it anyway. On a different (but similarly coloured) note, my Ruby layer cake arrived so today I am constructing quilt blocks!!! After the floor has been swept and the shopping done...right!.

White Chocolate Christmas Balls (or blobs)

So my two little ones fought ALL day yesterday and I achieved pretty much nothing on my to-do list. Luckily they went to daycare today, so I've made and frozen a large batch of these scrummy white choc Christmas balls.

 For any of you who would like to have a go, here is the recipe:
Ingredients
200g glace cherries
1 cup of dessicated coconut
1 cup of skim milk powder
1 cup of icing sugar
9 cups of rice bubbles
1 packet of Copha (vegetable shortening)
200g white chocolate buttons

Method
1 Line 4 medium sized baking sheets with baking paper or foil.
2 Chop the glace cherries fairly finely, but not so small that you won't be able to taste them. I like to use the multi-coloured cherries for added visual appeal :)
3 Combine the cherries, coconut, milk powder, icing sugar and rice bubbles in a large bowl.
4 In a small saucepan, melt the Copha and then remove from the heat. Quickly stir in the white chocolate buttons, making sure they all melt. You can place the pan over the stove briefly if they are not all melting, just be very careful not to burn or seize the chocolate.
5 Pour the chocolate mixture into your rice bubble mixture and mix it all together with a spoon.
6 Using a dessert spoon, spoon balls of the mixture onto your lined baking sheets, then place in the fridge for a few hours to set.
Voila! You're done. These will keep in the fridge for about two weeks, if you can keep away from them that long. You can also freeze them as I have done for about two months in preparation for Christmas.