Spit and polish

I collected these pine cones from our garden a while back and am still contemplating various craft options for Christmas...but what of the receptacle?

I found it in my godfather's shed after he died and have neither restored nor used it for any purpose in the house for the last 15 years or so. I think I finally have enough confidence to say that I like it tarnished and as is, what do you think?

I probably have way to many Copperart flashbacks from the 70s to ever allow me to polish it up!!!

Look mummy...

"I've got something for you!"

Encouraging creativity

I've written before about the boy-child's love of drawing and his emerging creative streak. It has been an interesting journey to be sure. For as parents we were totally surprised by this, dare I say it "talent". As he is our eldest child we had no good reference point for what type of pictures a child of his age would or could draw...and to be honest he went from scratching on a page one week to drawing well formed pictures the next when he was about 3. He is turning 5 on Sunday.

This brings us to some important decisions though as parents. Firstly and most importantly how do we encourage him to keep his love of drawing? He draws ALL the time and uses it as a way of consolidating his learning and capturing extraordinary detail that he is able to take in all around him. His eyes are continually open to the detail of life, and in particular the colour of life.

Secondly, how as parents do we facilitate a creative life for him and for us as a family? By this I mean in part making it safe and OK to chose a creative career option in life. This one is close to my heart because as a child (and from a very young age) I designed houses over and over, to the point of near obsession....but did I become an architect - must to my frustration, NO! I chose the "safe" path, determined by what I was "good" at, rather than what I "loved". The man of the house is one of the lucky ones, his work and his passion are the same thing.

I've been doing some research in this area and will post more about this next week, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

BTW- that picture above is of a church inspired by the one that they moved on the SBS show "Monster Moves" ...made equally incredible by the fact that it was drawn about three weeks after he saw the show and also that he has never been inside a church!

Waiting for baby

We've ordered a beautiful Waldorf Doll from Poppy, Bean and Bloss for the girl-child's second birthday, and I'm like an expectant mother preparing for its arrival.

She (the doll) comes with a change of clothes, but a girl's gotta have more than a couple of outfits so I've knitted this little cardigan and have started on some granny squares for a blanket for the cradle. The cardigan was also a test run as I'm hoping to cast on the 2yr old version of this same pattern for the girl-child this evening. This was just as well because I stuffed up the garter stitch border, but I don't think the doll will mind.

Don't worry she's not getting all of this for her birthday, the cradle/blanket/sheets and the new outfit will be under the tree for Christmas. Now for the rest of the outfit skirt, pants, dress...what do we think?

Putting up

With the warmer weather I'm starting to turn my mind to planning my preserving for the summer. I've kept myself occupied with the odd bit of jam or boozy fruit here or there throughout winter, but it's the anticipation of summer's bounty and "putting up" for the long dark winter that I enjoy the most about preserving.

So, I've been playing blog skippidy do da and found three new gems that I've added to my side bar. The lovely Pickle and Preserve the guys that taught me what "putting up" is at Saving the Season and the oh so simply named, but choc full of great ideas Food in Jars .

Oh - and I know that it's an old photo that I've used before, but it's still my favourite!

One Saturday in Spring.

Last Saturday was a little bit of this,

some of that,

and a start to finish project in the afternoon....perfect.

Rust-oleum LOVE!

Trust me when I say that I am getting NO payment to endorse this magic spray, it is simple a case of true love.

I first read about this wonderful spray paint on the Door Sixteen blog, and since then I've used it to........turn hideous lanterns into something special for our spring porch;

...turn some also hideous pots into beautiful spring porch adornments;

...help organise the boy childs' art supplies;

...and so many many more projects that I've yet to share.

Our local Bunnings doesn't stock this magical mist, so I've had to make a few trips across town to stock up on my supplies. Why is it magic you ask? ...because it goes onto ANYTHING - wood, plastic, paper, metal and sticks like glue, but most of all it doesn't drip and gives a smooth-AS-finish...and as I said before it really is true Rust-oleum love!