day twenty one: weekly organisation sorted

the new home-made planner

day twenty one and it is beautiful outside ... i am hoping it stays that way tomorrow as its grocery shopping day!  speaking of grocery shopping, i was busy making my list (using day eights eat sheet creation :)) and trying to figure out all the things we have to do over the next two weeks and which meals would be best for which nights given how busy we are going to be .... and then i was struck with a brainwave, i have pinned some very helpful looking organising planners to my ideas for organisation board over at pinterest!

 i went through the options and decided on two: one is a daily organiser for all parts of life and the other is a weekly cleaning/chores checklist ... both are equally relevant to me and they are both highly usable for a home schooling mum! i printed out 21 sheets of the daily organiser from simple organized living and three sheets of the weekly chores list from another great site life as mom ... both were free downloads which was a total bonus :) i also grabbed an unused exercise book and the cutter and glue.  as with most things i wanted to give these a decent go so have opted to use the organisers for three weeks to see if they work.

materials needed :)

i glued seven pages of the daily planner in and then one of the weekly checklist and then repeated this pattern twice over in the exercise book ... making my very own portable planner!

so good to have everything written down in one place!

outcome: this planner has already made a difference in my life ... as soon as i had glued everything in i wrote down all the things that had been on my mind and immediately i felt the weight that had been getting heavier on my shoulders disappear ... writing it all down and seeing how the weeks would come together (and where i had too much happening on certain days!) was a huge pressure off and i feel very positive about seeing everything in one place, something i can take with me, and add to with ease.  as for the weekly checklist, so happy for this, while i haven't checked anything off yet, i know seeing a list disappear is very rewarding and if the kids wanted to earn some extra pocket money i can now tell to them find something on the chores list to do that hasn't been done!

simple organized living and life as mom are both wonderful sites to go to for inspiring ideas for organisation, even while i was there printing out todays creation, i found more ideas from both sites that i hope to implement in the future ... check them out if you need help clearing your mind, i can highly recommend it!

photo fun challenge day 16: mason jar

all our school stationery is kept in mason jars .. love them!

day twenty: apple table candles

the finished product lighting our dinner

day twenty and the weather is COLD! so what better day to make some nice table decorations in the form of apple candles.  these candles are pinned to my seasons board on pinterest and the picture was found on the tumblr are so happy.

just a few bits and pieces for this creation!

the nice thing about this little seasonal craft is it uses everyday things and some $2 shop tea lights ... mine are strawberry scented!

the finished articles waiting for dinner!

once i had finished them i couldn't wait for it to get dark ... they looked so sweet on the table and were a nice little welcome to dinner for everyone when we are all feeling a little blue with the cold winter that has finally arrived :(

outcome: these little beauties are worth the two minutes of effort you need to put in to make them! they added such a nice ambience for a cold winter night and everyone in the family appreciated the effort i had made to make the table look cheery! ... we will definitely be having a candlelit dinner tomorrow night and the apples should be fine as i squeezed lemon juice on them to stop any browning :)

thanks to are so happy for the great find ... well worth the effort!

photo fun challenge day 15: action

pollyanna doing her maths, who needs a calculator when
you have fingers!

day nineteen: a ruffle skirt for my girly girl!

the finished skirt ruffles and all!

day nineteen and it's back to sewing! this time its a ruffle skirt that was pinned from the pinterest gallery to my general crafts board.  the skirt pattern originated from grand revival design blog.  can't say enough about the tutorials here they are awesome and so much beautiful eye candy! tanya is a very talented and i LOVE her fabric choices :)

ok, so i chose two coordinating fabrics from my stash and cut out the bits called for ... its not mentioned but you need two of each piece as illustrated in the photo ... loved having the photos and the written instructions because if i didn't understand one, when you put the two together it made perfect sense! again .. not a sewing goddess, i just try hard so i need all the help i can get with these tutorials and this one is one of the best i have used!

the two halves of the skirt ready to go together

my daughter, pollyanna, loved the two pieces, before i had even sewn them together she had them on twirling around in them waiting not so patiently for me to finish the new skirt!

outcome: such a sweet skirt and i will definitely make another one ... love all the ruffles, she feels like a princess and this was well within the realms of a novice with a sewing machine such as myself.

a big thank you goes to tanya at grand revival design for the very clear tutorial that helped me get through yet another sewing project ... check her site out its filled with wonderful things!

photo fun challenge day fourteen: someone you love

my sweetheart ... 

day eighteen: home made flower hair clips

the hair clip in use with its new diy flower!

day eighteen and pollyanna is growing her fringe out so i was inspired to make some pretty hair clips to get the hair out of her eyes!  i pinned these beautiful hair clips from the pinterest gallery onto my general crafts board and the original tutorial comes from squiggly twigs.  this blog is gorgeous and has lots of free tutorials as well as a store to buy patterns from, loads of wonderful inspiration here!

the small amount of bits you need :)

super duper easy, you need some large ric rac (18" for each flower), hot glue gun, and some plain hairclips.  the original version used bobby pins but as i had plain little snap ones i thought i would test the waters with clips.  the instructions also called for a bit of felt to cover the back of the flower but this is not necessary.  i did end up using the felt as it made the back of the flower nice and neat and a good base for which to glue the flower onto the hair clip.  i also glued as i rolled to give the flowers a little more robustness ... my daughter is my princess but she gets really dirty for a princess!

outcome: i love these so much, i NEED more big ric rac. i am going to use these on cards, mini albums, more hair cips, anything really they are addictive! ... they only take about 10 minutes to finish and most of that time is spent waiting for the glue to heat up ... really cool and we love them in this house!

many thanks for the inspiration from squiggly twigs, they are such a neat idea and every little girl will love them i am sure!


photo fun challenge day 13: reminder of childhood

i remember going for my passport photo when mum and dad
took mo and i overseas for the first time ... now its ben and
pollyanna's turn!

day seventeen: carrot cake recipe

a delicious, moist carrot cake

day seventeen and i was up EARLY baking today's creation before spending time with two lovely friends crafting, then having dinner with some lovely neighbours who helped us out while we were away ... so good to have so many lovely people in my life!  todays carrot cake recipe was pinned onto my recipe must do's board from fresh in the kitchen, a site full of clean, refreshingly simple recipes from new zealand.

outcome: can i just say this carrot cake was a one bowl wonder that took no machinery to make, was SO incredibly easy .. oh ... and it tasted smashing! yes that's right, it was a huge hit after dinner tonight, took 10 minutes to make (15 if your husband won't grate carrots for you) and then it does the rest in the oven by itself for an hour while you shower and clean the one bowl and spoon you used to make it ... sweet, doesn't get any better than this when you have a busy day ahead of you!

big thanks goes to the lovely fresh in the kitchen website that clearly has well tested, delicious recipes :)

photo fun challenge day twelve: sun flare

this is as sun flared as it gets for winter in nz!

day sixteen: sewing a peasant top

the finished top in all its redness!

day sixteen and its yucky weather outside so the perfect day to do some sewing! today's inspiration came from my general crafts board, a peasant dress from the gorgeous blog ta da creations ... super cool blog, love the materials she uses.

ok i didn't have enough fabric that could coordinate well enough to make a full on peasant dress, so i made a top version! pollyanna chose the material she wanted from my stash ... hence the red polka dots you see here!  i used a kwik sew pattern to form my measurements and we were away ... did not take too long and whala a top was added to the wardrobe of my youngest!  actually the top was done with enough time to make a pair of boy shorts as well ...

i'd take a photo of them too but the oldest has them on (even though its cold and raining) and won't let me take a picture ... sigh ... next time i ask him to try something on to see if it fits, i'll remember i need to take the photo first!

outcome:  can't wait to pick up some material and make the full on peasant dress ... in the meantime i have a daughter who is very excited to have a new top and a boy that says the new shorts are so comfy he won't take them off ... awesome, productive day i'd say!

thank you so much to ta da creations for the inspiration to sew my children's own clothes ... its inspiring ideas like the peasant dress pinned to my board that make me get up each morning excited to create .... love that feeling :)

photo fun challenge day eleven: silhouette

love her!

day fifteen: a goodie bag for the librarian

the goody bag ready to give!

day fifteen and its friday ... yeehaa! as home schoolers the library is a big source of books for us ... and we have one librarian who is amazing, always helping with books and putting holds on books for the kids and i that she knows we will love.  so today's pinterest 365 challenge was a goody bag pinned to my home school projects board from the sweet blog of sun scholars.

all that's required, bag, lollies, bag topper :)

i originally intended to gift these goody bags to the kids after we returned from the library for their reading time ... and i still will one day soon :) ... but for today i thought they were the perfect gift for our librarian who does so much for us AND loves to read!

outcome:  the concept is easy and with a little design on powerpoint, a clear bag, and of course some worm looking lollies you are good to go ... easy, quick, and a much nicer surprise for her than the chocolate bar we gave her last time and this shows how much we care.

big ups to the sun scholars blog, it has lots of lovely crafty goodness and no doubt i will find more inspiration from her site to pin to my boards that i can try later in the year!

photo fun days nine and ten: fresh fruit and animal

day nine's fruit ... mmm lemon season

day ten's animal ... cookie the kitty!